2nd Year Survivor Anniversary/Stillwater Float

Saturday, June 23rd was my first day floating the Stillwater this summer. To make a long story short, it was awesome! I was hesitant to go on a Saturday as I try to avoid the rivers on the weekends. But with the float season expected to be short due to low water, I had to take advantage of the day off. Plus, it was suppose to be 99 degrees and the flow was about 2300cfs
which is about the fastest flow I have floated it.

But, since it was my 2nd year survivor anniversary, I wanted to get the heck out of the house. My friend and I got up to the put in point about 8am and launched about 830am. The water was "gin" clear. As it turned out, it was one of my best days on the Stillwater in 8 summers! I netted 12 nice trout, all about 14-16 inches and my friend got about the same amount. PLUS, we were the only ones on the river the whole day. I later found out their was a caddis hatch on the Upper Yellowstone River and that is where most of the fisherman went. Also, the lower Stillwater was off-color so that may have turned fisherman away, not knowing to go further upstream.

It was as if God planned my whole day for me. The weather was not as hot as forecasted, (typical meteorologists), there were clouds which is good for fishing, hardly not a breeze (rare on the Stillwater), and no one else on the river, plus lots of action. What a way to celebrate my 2 year survivor mark!