THE PILGRIMAGE

A “Pilgrimage” is defined by Webster’s as a journey made by a person to a sacred place as an act of religious devotion.  Some may not believe that a fishing destination meets such a description, but over the year’s, for reasons I describe in detail in my first book, Heaven on Earth: Stories of Fly Fishing, Fun and Faith, my annual trip to Montana’s Madison River has become a pilgrimage.

In short, in July of 2002 after I experienced one of the toughest trials of my life, I experienced some unparalleled days of fishing on the Madison River.  Some may call it dumb luck, but I realized it was Divine Providence.  And, since that special experience, I go there every chance I get to remember.

This past July, I shared this special place with a good friend, Scott Johnson.  We fished the Madison for two days, July 4th and 5th.  Following are some photos and my journal entries from day one of this pilgrimage:

Thursday, July 4th.

Scott and I woke up at 4:30 a.m. and drove over the divide to the Madison River.  As always, the river valley was so beautiful, but the river was surprisingly low.  We started off fishing near the island below the bridge and Scott started hooking fish regularly.  He was using a heavy two-nymph rig with a split shot and was getting down and dirty. In fact, he was fishing the deeper, swifter water where I would not have focused.  After all these years, I am still learning. 

At first, I struggled to catch anything.  I was using a Red Fox Squirrel Nymph and a Gold Ice Dubbed Nymph and got no strikes.  So I borrowed a heavy Brown Rubber Leg from Scott and tied that on as the dropper.  In the boulder runs below the bridge, I finally hooked and landed a nice rainbow and hooked a Whitey, which got off.  I was glad to finally get the skunk off. 

First big rainbow of the trip.

I worked my way up past the bridge during the glorious sunrise.  Every time I fish this stretch and observe such beauty, I cannot help but remember why it’s my Heaven on Earth.  

First light on the Madison is simply magical.

Once I made it up to the boulder runs above the bridge, I began to see a few rises.  The Madison River is so dang healthy.  I saw Salmon Flies, Golden Stones, Yellow Sallies, Crane Flies, midges, tons of different caddis flies, and pale morning duns spinners. 

On Wednesday, when my family and I went into the Slide Inn to buy my license and some streamers, Kelly Galloup personally told me to look for the PMD spinners in the early morning.  Actually, here’s how the conversation went.  As I was buying my license and some streamers, I asked Kelly, “Are the big bugs out?” Kelly responded, “Oh yes. Watch for the spinner falls in the morning.”  I thought: Spinner falls!  What the heck is he talking about?  Then, I realized Kelly might of thought I asked, “Are there any bugs out?”  I kept a mental note that Galloup mentioned the PMD spinner fall in the early morning.  It was a good thing because that little tidbit made my whole morning. 

When I saw the first rises, I said out loud, “I’m switching to a dry fly.”  I started out with a CDC Caddis and caught a little rainbow right off the bat.  I worked my way up to the big log jam, where I found the Brodin Net eleven years ago.  Since then, this particular lie has always been special to me.  I cast the CDC Caddis up into the riffle behind a boulder and watched the tell-tale rise.  I stuck him and fish blazed out into the main current.  I was able to put the breaks on him and bring close, but missed him twice with the net.  Below me, the fish did a head shake and was off.  I was a little bummed, but still stoked to have hooked such a nice fish on a dry fly.  All of the flies that I used had barbless hooks from either Henry’s Fork Angler or Trout Hunter. 

With Kelly Galloup’s statement  in mind, I then switched to one of Harrop’s CDC PMD’s.  I have never seen a more realistic pattern in my life.  This was the ticket!  I carefully worked the water and watched for the rise.  Within five minutes, I hooked into another rainbow almost as big as the first.  This one, I landed and took a few pictures.  I was ecstatic: Big fish on tiny dries on the Madison, it really does not get any better than that. 

Big fish on dry flies is the height of fly fishing.

Following my footsteps from years past, I worked my way up to the exact same riffle where I caught the brawling brown eleven years earlier.  Somehow, I just knew there would be a fish there.  Call it faith!  With the sun over head, the water had that same golden glow as it had that day so many years ago and was perfect to see my fly.  I cast the tiny dry into the bumpy riffle and watched it drift downstream and a huge brown rose and sucked it in. 

Beautiful Brown Trout taken on a CDC PMD from the Golden Run.

I fought the fish hard, but with the light tippet had to be careful.  I finally netted him down by the log jam, where we netted the big fish with the newly-found Brodin Net years ago.  It felt like de ja vu.  Some may say a mere coincidence, but I maintain it was Divine Providence.  Like I said, this place is sacred. 

After catching these beauties on dry flies I made my way down to Scott, who was fishing down by the bridge.  I apologized for leaving him and reported that the PMD spinner fall was irresistible.  My morning was saved by them, and on the Madison of all places.

Stay tuned for Day Two!

If you enjoyed this post, please check out my book, Heaven on Earth.