Technically 2025 was our first Christmas in the house, but since we had just moved in, our decorations were subdued, consisting basically of our tree and stockings. This year we had more time to prepare and managed to get all of the living room decorated as well as some lights and window decorations. We enjoyed a relaxing couple of days before and after the holiday before turning our attention to the week between Christmas and New Year's. What we noticed, shockingly, is that Paradise Valley, Montana was due for a considerable warm-up, so we jumped at the chance to fish the spring creek in December and booked a hotel in Livingston for three nights. Usually we do rentals, but that entails packing more food as we typically make breakfast, lunch, and dinner, so this time, we elected to keep it simple. Hotel breakfast, lunch that we packed, and dinner out since it was only for a few days.
We left early from Olympia the morning of the 28th, making it to Missoula around dusk. It had snowed in the days prior, so slipping and sliding, I took Birch for a walkie while Shaun unloaded our overnight bags from the truck. We enjoyed a guilty pleasure of chicken and dumplings from Cracker Barrel (I know, I know) before letting the food coma envelop us into a deep sleep.
The next morning we were on the road around 7:30 and made it to the Madison River by mid-morning. This was a transition day as far as weather was concerned. It was sunny but very cold and windy, and my guides were consistently freezing despite the warm sun. The fishing was slow, and truthfully, I was not enjoying myself. I stuck it out for a little longer but eventually we both tired of the conditions and decided to move on and toward Livingston so we could check into our hotel and prepare for our first day on the spring creek.
After a surprisingly adequate hotel breakfast, we headed to check in at the Spring Creek around 9 am. It was still very cold, but a totally cloudless sky awaited us. As we've experienced before, strong winds in Livingston are not always representative of what's happening at the creek, and we were thankful for this to ring true once again as the ripping winds completely subdued when we pulled into the driveway of the out-of-place antebellum style mansion. There was another group already checked in and readying their gear, so we headed away from them. As with our past couple of trips to the creek, the calm conditions really did us no favors, and the realization it was going to be a tough day of fishing set in early. Despite that, we fished hard yet had nothing to show for aside from awe-worthy scenery and adorable pictures of Birch in his favorite habitat. We didn't even see many fish on this day, and the ones we did were ones we spooked as we unsuccessfully tried to move stealthily along the banks. Frustrated and hungry, we called it a day and headed to find some dinner.
It was New Year's Eve, and we were hoping to close the year out with some quality fish. We arrived at the Spring Creek around 9 am after stopping at a fly shop to refill on a couple of necessities. Starting from a different point than the day prior, we hoped we'd see more fish, but we were disappointed once again. A few isolated rises in the big pond, fool's gold because those fish rarely take any flies from either one of us. After striking out there and combing the gully for fish, we decided to take an early lunch and regroup. Though the sun was warming the air, it was still a bit chilly to sit outside for lunch, so we took refuge in one of the huts and enjoyed hot soup and the last of the year's Christmas Tree Cakes (IYKYK). We headed to our old reliable spot and cruised the banks once again where we saw more fish than the day prior but no risers, and in general they still seemed less active than anticipated. We each changed fly setups a few times. I finally decided to try a small scud called a Ray Charles. I grabbed a half dozen for 99 cents each once when I was purchasing some other flies. I bought them for alpine lakes, but they were listed as a good fly for the spring creek, so I brought exactly one, size 20. Shaun had spotted a fish close to the bank, nestled in a feeding lane and perfectly set up for a left handed caster. I gently made my way down the bank, 20 feet or so upstream. Luckily I didn't spook it with my movement or entry into the water. I knew I only had a couple of chances at this fish, so I had to make quality casts. My first one was perfect, and as I watched it float just to the right of the fish, it moved over quickly and ate the trailing nymph- the Ray Charles! I set the hook, and a golden brown trout immediately jumped out of the water, twisting and turning, trying to dislodge the fly. I had on 6x tippet, and this was a pretty good sized fish, so I was hopeful it would not make a big run. It made two quick runs, but I was able to gain the advantage, and Shaun netted it just 15 feet from me. This fish was beautiful with striking red spots on its anal fin and tail. We snapped a few pics, Birch inspected it, of course, and then we released it to challenge another angler another day. My day was made, and I didn't make another cast. I didn't need or want to do so. For another couple of hours, I played fish spotter and dog wrangler. We decided to hang it up and head back to the hotel where we had a very glamorous NYE- Taco Bell and college football, a special treat for Birch, and asleep by 9.
Early the next morning we drove to the Park, intent on heading to Lamar Valley to look for wildlife. There was some ice on the roads, and it was slow going. We were making poor time, and it just increased the time Birch had to spend hostage in the truck because of NPS rules, so we decided to bail and drive home as it was still very early. As we passed into Washington, the weather began to deteriorate with freezing rain, wintry mix, and poor visibility. Snoqualmie Pass looked to be a mess and getting worse. We decided to grab a hotel in George, WA and make the rest of the drive the next morning when temps were much warmer. We ate some leftover bagels and cream cheese and enjoyed more football before bed and had a smooth trip home the next day. Here's to a fishy year to come!
