Favorite Fly Fishing Waters

[Al Agnew]

Yes I took it this way tongue in cheek Al but again with all this talk on and off about stream access wading and canoeing it kind of got me riled up. Discriminate about an idiot and you discriminate us all. If it a place he really shouldn't be he will pay for it tearing up his rig. I love your passion for creeks and smallmouth but me Joe Public and all the Joe Public's shouldn't be chastised and kept from our waters. Forgive me for being grumpy last night.Kind of like seeing your access laws you have in Montana compared to what the Mrs. and I deal with when we spend our two weeks in Wyoming. So much more fishable water you have. I would never hope you loose what you have up there. Speaking of which we are planning on spending the bulk of our time in Montana when we go this summer. If I may I will be picking your brain for places we don't know about,BilletHead

Like I said, I had no ideas of keeping Joe Public off that stream, and my idea would have no effect on canoes and kayaks, just jetboats. Believe me, I'm on your side as far as public access, but I look upon jetboats on such small streams, even if somebody is stupid enough to run one, as being no different from riding ATVs up and down the stream bed. It's a question of harming the resource AND seriously being in conflict with other users of the resource.

The smallest stream I've ever run my jetboat on is Big River from the Hwy. 21 bridge at Washington State Park up almost to Blackwell. And that was one time, at high spring water level, with the river flowing about 700 cfs (by mid-summer that stretch can get down well below 100 cfs). And for me, that was really pushing the envelope more than I should have, though I had no trouble. I just wish everybody that owned a jetboat would agree that some streams, even if marginally runnable, should be off limits...because there is no way that MDC or the state legislature will ever mandate something like that.

[Smallieguy87]

That creek is pretty small. Maybe 150 CFS worth of flow on the lower end. Often not floatable in the upper reaches. I'm sure that a Riverpro could run it, but why? It's a short haul to ramps up our downstream on the Big.

I have no idea why anyone would do that. All I could do is look and shake my head. Big river is literally just a few miles away and its a good ramp right there by Washington state park. Maybe he did it just to see if he could?

[Big Brown Trout]

At my age, I just like to feel my rod throb.

i don't think to much about my smallie experience. I just tie some flies that are dark with chartruece or some crawdad flies and go out and swing em. I don't over think or romance smallie fishing as for me it's just something to do after the trout bite dies off. that said i always have ALOT of fun and I usually do decent catching them. I hit secluded spots on indian and elk (few and far between) and i often hit up shoal. This years plan included whitebass, trout, smallies, carp then brownies more or less in that order.