TPFRs,
First I'd like to thank the fellow anglers who provided me with guide recommendations before my trip :). I was able to find an opening on short notice with Dennis Alverson (Thanks for the info Mollie!), a 5th generation Montanan, who lives and guides(fly-fishing and elk-hunting) in the Livingston area. Before I made my way to Chico Hot Springs outside of Pray MT (situated between Gardner and Livingston and flanked by the Absaroka Range on the east and the Gallatin Range on the west). I stopped at Dan Bailey's Fly Shop in Livingston to pick up some flies and pick their brains for best access points for some DIY fishing. The guys were very helpful and with some hoppers and BWOs off I went.
I stopped at the LochLaven Fishing access, geared up and went down to the stream. Had the whole river to myself and within 15 mins pulled in one mountain whitefish after another. Saw several large trout rising but couldn't quite match whatever they wanted. Before I knew it the sun was fading fast and back to Chico I went to soak in their hot springs (highly recommend).
On a bright and beautiful saturday morning, Dennis picked me up from Chico Hot Springs and we stopped by Angler's West Fly Shop to pick up a few hot flies and then 10 minutes later, we were on the water. Little did I know the night before would be a foreshadowing for the morning to come. We hit pocket after pocket of whitefish on the dryfly. Finally, we hit some 12 inch browns and some smaller rainbows before we made our way downstream. The biggest challenge that morning and then later in the day, was trying to find a fly that we could see in the glare that the fish would also take. Fortunately, Dennis had us covered and we would blind cast into the glare and use our reflexes if we saw a strike. One of the best moments of the morning was not seeing the fly, but see the water explode, yanking back on the line to see the fly come off the water and see another fish attack it mid-air (successfully!). Before I knew it the day was winding down, but the fishing didn't. Dennis knew the river like the back of his hand and we'd go through a section of water and Dennis knew the spots - if you could make the cast, you were basically guaranteed a strike (thankfully for me the casting practice paid off). The hot flies of the day was a size 16-18 Purple Haze dry behind a larger Size 10-12 Brown Deer Hair Caddis cast into the nervous water. In the end many fish were had (whitefish, bows, browns, and even a few cutts), a few big ones got away, but the pictures will speak for themselves. Also, for you politicos on here - Former SCOTUS Justice, Sandra Day O'Connor was on my flight - she loves to fly-fish! Cheers, Kevin
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