I have been fortunate enough to live in Montana for a mere four years. My time there dramatically changed my interests and outlook on life. The slower pace of living, vast spaces and the Big Sky stole my heart. After recently moving back to southern California I have been itching to leave suburbia and get back to presenting dry flies to rising cutthroats amongst rugged country.

My good friend Ricky and I spent a couple months planning a trip in which we would start in Idaho and work our way through various parts of Wyoming in hopes of catching trout fattening up for winter all the while avoiding snow, grizzly bears and tourists.

Fishing was pretty rough. We had a few good moments, but overall the conditions did not cooperate. Low water levels and a shift in weather patterns seemed to be the culprit. The weeks leading up to our trip consisted of day time temps nearly in the 80's and 90's with warm nights only for us to arrive to a week of 50-60 degree daytime temps and night temps dipping into the 20's. We would bet money that had we fished the next week or two when the trout were more acclimated we would have done pretty well. The fish we did catch were deeper and wanted slower presentations, unlike our hopes of evening BWO and Trico hatches that October can offer.

Despite the tough fishing, it was hard to complain knowing we were in places that not many others have set foot in. While I could have had my camera rolling the entirety of the trip there were many a times I left it in the truck to truly be present in what feels like one of the last places untouched by man.

Enjoy some visuals.

- Kyle