Gallatin Days – July ’09

Posted on July 18, 2009, 8:08 am, by JB, under Destinations, Fishing Life, Water.

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The Gallatin is often viewed as the “poor cousin” of the Madison. While the Gallatin’s waters don’t tend to yield the size of fish one might expect from the bigger river one valley over, it can still be a fun place to wet a line. Indeed, with a little exploration and a walk, you can even find some solitude on the very waters that “ran through it” in a certain movie.

On this trip, Kel and I decided to put in some focused hours on the Gally, and we were well-rewarded. The water was just slightly off-color (which I think was a good thing), and the caddis, PMDs, and stoneflies all made an appearance. No truly big fish, but a solid collection of “decent” ones, along with the usual mess of ankle-biters. I also had a perfect “spring creek” style situation on a tiny side-channel that, for me, was the highlight of our Gallatin time (more on that later).

The set-up of the day(s)? Adult caddis up-top, with a pupa and single shot on the drop. PMD combo (emerger and nymph w/shot) also pulled a few up, but the best fish came to the caddis. Dead-drifted, twitched or swung, the two-fly set-up picked up fish in all the right spots. I’ll get a few pix of the Gallatin’s residents up on FF&W over the next several days. Stay tuned for that and more…

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