Stella is coming along quite nicely. Life is good at 10 weeks old. She comes when called, will sleep most of the night in the kennel without a peep, is alert to the cap gun but not scared and overall is a mellow pup with a solid tempermant. Like Huckleberry, she has found out that the wood stove is the warmest place in the house. She looks to Huck for nearly everything when around the house, but will wonder out on her own through the snow to explore. My 5wt is rigged with a pheasant wing…….her instincts are there. The cuteness is puking out of her, but she can’t help it. For me, the start of upland season it is like waiting for Chrismas to come when I was 6. When Santa was, well, Santa Claus…..a fat, jolly old man with presents who flies around the world with a bunch of reindeer. The opener of upland bird season is very far away. ….233 days to be exact.
As for the fishing? Well, there are trout rising on the Firehole River at Biscuit Basin to midges. Ofcourse we can’t fish for them, but I find it good fun to point out these 10 inch brown trout to the folks on my tour. Most of the them think I’m crazy, as trout really aren’t on their radar. It happens to be a highlight of my day, unbeknownst to them. These browns sit downstream of the bridge, in the slicks of the bridge pilings and rise. The water is warm and they are active, all due to the geothermal charge from Yellowstone’s Hot Spot. The Madison Valley has more snow then last year at this time. Getting around is not an easy task and there are snow drifts in places which are quite high. While you could catch a few down there right now, I am waiting for February and warmer weather.