Opener Ahoy!
While the above isn’t the only reason Rachel and I moved out here, let me tell you, it didn’t hurt. There hasn’t been a whole lot of open water, as the trout opener is actually this weekend. There’s a small stretch on the Madison between Quake Lake and Hebgen Lake that’s open, and while I’ve been finding no lack of fish, it’ll be nice to be able to fish some water other than this mile or so stretch.
On Wednesday, I went out, and caught a fair number of fish, including a pretty big cutthroat, which you don’t see too many of in the Madison. I also got my first look at mountain goats. They were up on the mountain as I walked to the river, and then I waded upstream a half hour or so later, and they were just upstream from me, drinking out of a pool in the river. I fished on past them, sending them back up the side of the mountain, but on my walk back, they were down on the flats surrounding the river. I watched them from about 20 yards for close to half an hour. That morning, I had decided I didn’t really need to bring my camera and my binoculars. That afternoon, I decided I’d never go out without them.