The Jordan blog

On the Fly

By Avery Jordan

Outdoors - March 23, 2024

I started fishing young... maybe eight years old. At least that was the first time I remember going fly fishing. It was Father's Day, 2009 when my dad took me to ~some~ river; to this day I still don't know where we were. my best guess is somewhere along the Deschutes River in Oregon. I remember it was a fairly slow day, though I did catch my first fish on a fly rod. it was a tiny brown trout, barely eight inches long. I was hooked, so to speak.

From there, I was always happy to go fishing with my dad, eventually getting into fly tying in middle school. I even made it to the semi-finals of a local tying competition hosted by our local fly shop Fin and Fire. It was fun to think I managed to out-tie all the other adults who had been tying for years, but looking back I think they were just letting me have a good time. I eventually leaned away from tying, getting roped back in during my senior year of high school. The culinary teacher, Brandon Shotwell, started a fly fishing club that met once a week. I was his TA at the time, so he forced me into it - and I was glad that he did. Besides getting pro-deals from Orvis, the club reignited the love for fly fishing that had gone dark.

After high school, I made my way to Bozeman, MT to pursue a degree in Mechanical Engineering. I promised my dad I would go fishing every once in a while, but my studies proved to be too much, and I soon left my waders sitting in the bottom of my duffel, forgotten. Nearly four years later, after a bachelor's, and an originally unplanned master's, I got the invitation to go fishing again. Hey, that'll be fun, right? Throw on the sandals and spend a nice day out on the river? It was marvelous.

Gallatin Brown

First day out fishing in years - absolutely destroyed a hopper-pattern fly on topwater.

Thanks to that day, I had again found my love for fly fishing. Seeing that trout take a fly right at the surface was (and always will be) exhilarating. My fishing partner for the day, Daniel, was fairly new to fly fishing rivers, so I made sure he fished the same run I did, and he hooked up to a nice-sized Whitefish! and then another Brown! It is always a blessing to be out on the river, and when you catch a fish it is just the cherry on top. We were both so happy to have hooked into some fish, and we were eager to get out and do it again.

Over the next few months, we made sure to get out and fish more, taking quite a few trips to both the Gallatin and Madison rivers. I recall one day in particular when I dragged Daniel out to a spot My dad took me after freshman year called Greycliff Campground. My dad and I didn't have too much luck but 5 years later Daniel and I had a field day! after a 90-minute drive, I was anxious to get into some good fish because when you claim to know a spot, you had better prove it! Having only bites here and there for about a mile of river, I had spotted a section of river that I knew had fish in it. Big ones. I yelled to Daniel, maybe 100 yards away: "It's streamer time!" I wasn't sure if he heard me, but I threw a streamer on and proceeded to swing a big old ugly bug through a section of the river.

Lunch on the Madison

Lunch this day consisted of Safeway sandwiches and Coors Banquet - as it should.

Wham! Fish on! Easily an eighteen-inch Rainbow (20 inches? 24? It's a fish story, who knows.) It made a fast run across the stream, jumped a foot out of the water, and spat the hook. Daniel, who must have thought I hurt myself given the yell followed by expletives, came running. I immediately told him to throw a big bug on and get to swinging. I think my excitement scared the fish away because there was nothing for the next 20 minutes. We decided to take lunch, pictured above, and then we got back into it. I had decided to move across the island to where Daniel was. Lo and behold, I had hooked into another Rainbow. Again I was whooping and hollering as this time I had managed to keep it on the line. A fourteen-inch Rainbow, absolutely beautiful. Now that I had my excitement, I turned Daniel on to the spot I had just scored. Going full guide mode, I (somehow) got him hooked into another nice-sized Rainbow. We were having a great day.

After a great day, we figured the best way to end it was to indulge the fruits of our labors. Bringing home three trout, we put them on the grill with SPG (salt, pepper, and garlic); the holy trinity of cooking. Paired with salad, chips, and salsa, we were thoroughly satisfied.

Here's to many more days on the river. Cheers!

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