Fishing Variety Pack...

[Big Sky]

I didn't have to work Friday and couldn't think of a better way to spend my time than fishing. I first zipped down to Holter Lake and was a little surprised to find that 90% of the ice was gone. Just a little bit of ice in the marina's on the east side of the lake. I imagine it's all melted by today. Anyway on my third cast I caught this little rainbow. I have some friends that wanted some trout so in the cooler he went. I was thinking it was going to be a great day of fishing, but it was the last strike I had on the lake.

After a frustrating 3 hours of not getting a single bite I decided to hit the Missouri River between Holter Dam and Cascade. I did manage to hook and lose three trout. Two of which were pretty darn decent. As in 20" or better. This average brown was the only other trout that was unfortunate to stay on the hook long enough for me to land. I let him go though as I have a soft spot for brown trout.

The real surprise of the day though is when I hooked and landed this perch. It was on a section of the river where perch are very uncommon. Anyway I always enjoy a nice surprise. For those that were wondering every single fish was caught with a marabou jig.

 

[Big Sky]

The next day (Saturday) I decided to fish the warm water side of the Missouri River. One of the great and unique things about living here is if I drive 45 minutes one way I can have blue ribbon cold water fishing for trout on the MO and if I drive 45 minutes the other way it's fantastic warm water fishing on the same river. I'm not sure there are very many places in the whole US where one can do that on the same body of water. It's pretty cool actually. I had a couple friends join me on Saturday. The wind blew around 40 mph or more the majority of the day. I got pretty wind burned. However I had a good time exploring the shore, messing around climbing cliffs, and taking photos. Why was I doing all that instead of fishing? Well it's like this. I never got out of ear shot of my fishing rods and they had bells on them to indicate a strike. I spent most of my time right there with those rods, but I didn't catch a single fish. My partners each caught one fish each. It was a pretty brutal day for only two fish. The first 3/4's of the day it was stupid windy and the last quarter it rained and snowed on us. However I enjoyed the company and would still have rather been there fishing than stuck behind my desk at work!

Here's one of my pard's with one the of the bigger sauger I've ever seen caught. They aren't big by nature, but for it's species this one is really decent.

Here is the other partner with his sole walleye. Again a very nice river fish.

We had several pairs of geese roosted in the cliffs above and behind us. They sure were noisy, but I did have to admire their choice of roost. No non-flying predator would present even a remote threat to them. I had to scale a cliff to get a photo of this pair. When I got back down the river my partner commented he was glad I didn't fall and break my hip. To be honest I did question my sanity for scaling those cliffs, but boredom will drive a guy like me to do crazy things. It's all good though I got a decent photo or two, and I didn't fall. So it was worth it.

A close up of the cagey pair. I was close as I could get before spooking them, or falling off the cliff myself. All in all it was a good weekend!

 

[Schaaf]

Awesome! I love seeing a good Sauger, I caught a 7 pounder last spring that still has me excited.

 

[JCS]

What a couple of good days of fishing.

 

[Deleted member 20812]

That's a really nice sauger. I love that stretch of river.

 

[MThuntr]

I've had good success pitching crankbaits into the Missouri. The purists go nuts when you huck a #6 Shad Rap out and reel in an 18" Brown from the bank.

I need to get out and torment the local fish using your black maribou technique.

 

[RobG]

How far upsteam do the sauger live?

 

[Deleted member 20812]

How far upsteam do the sauger live?

Pretty sure that Morony Dam is the furthest upstream that you'll find them anymore with any regularity.

 

[Big Sky]

JLS, I got checked by your girlfriend Wendy again on Saturday. That's three times in the last 7 months. I'm starting to see a pattern here...

 

[Big Sky]

RobG, if I had to guess I'd say the majority are from Morony Dam and down river from there. We used to catch the heck out of them on the Yellowstone when I lived in Sidney.

 

[Wapiti Warrior]

We caught 6 sauger in the 4-6 lb range one day on the yellowstone river. We kept a couple for dinner but won't do that again, they were terrible tasting...

 

[Coyotes-R-Us]

We got some very nice walleye last weekend ( even in the wind ) down past Loma drifting through the deeper holes jigging minnows .

 

[Coyotes-R-Us]

JLS, I got checked by your girlfriend Wendy again on Saturday. That's three times in the last 7 months. I'm starting to see a pattern here...

I have been checked three times in one day by her...

 

[kansasdad]

That Sitka camo pattern really blends in with the sauger.

 

[Big Sky]

Coyotes-R-Us Three times in one day would not bring out the best in me. I've lost my patience with her before and that would send me over the top!

Kansasdad, I was thinking that same thing about that Sitka camo.

 

[Deleted member 20812]

I've lost my patience with her before and that would send me over the top!

Maybe you need to meditate more

 

[Big Sky]

Maybe, but the one time I did lose patience she was really out of line. I will say this, though, she has been a lot more cordial since. Then again I usually let whoever I'm with do the talking.

 

[Bambistew]

Nice mixed bag. Makes me ready for spring.

 

[JBS]

You guys worked hard for those fish. Ms. Kamm seems to go out of her way to be ridiculous. She issued me a warning for trespassing on BLM.

 

[Big Sky]

I'm not going to turn this into a Kamm bash, but I will just say if one hunts or fishes anywhere in her region it is very likely one will meet her. She has a way of showing up everywhere. As for the experience of meeting her, the only thing I can guarantee, is that one's mileage will vary!