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Mend, mend again, big mend, mend downstream, don't mend yet. These are all words that I say probably a thousand times a day. I might have heard someone even say I said it in my sleep but I can not confirm that. How important is the mend?

Biologists report record-level trout numbers on the Missouri River.
March 21, 2013 12:05 am • By EVE BYRON Independent Record

It's a good time to be trout fishing in Montana.

Biologists with Fish, Wildlife & Parks said fish surveys on the Missouri River in the past few years have shown record or near-record numbers of rainbow and brown trout. For example, they estimated 7,312 rainbow trout greater than 10 inches long per mile near the town of Cascade, compared to a long-term average of 3,036 for that stretch of river, according to Grant Grisak, a FWP fisheries biologist.

This week I will heading over to Fort Smith, MT to start the season off on the Big Horn River. I am excited to get things started and get back in the rowers seat. My first trip is scheduled for the first weekend of April but I am going over there for Easter for a quick scouting trip. I will be fishing with long time friend and great guide Cam Coffin from Blue Ribbons Flies in West Yellowstone, Montana.

With a new fishing season upon us I have received all my preseason orders to restock me for a busy summer. All Montana Troutwranglers trips are all inclusive, meaning I will supply you with all the gear necessary to have a successful day. Need waders, I have them, need a rod, no problem, flies?

We are getting near that mystical time of year when both the Yellowstone and Madison rivers see a hatch like no other. The skies grow dark, the surface of the water becomes alive and the trout rise from bank to bank. I am speaking of the Mothers Day Caddis Hatch.

I have been itching to get back on the water lately and this weekend looked like a perfect day to float the Yellowstone. The weatherman was calling for 50 degrees, no wind or precept. A perfect recipe for fishing the stone.

This spring I will be traveling over to Fort Smith, Montana to spend the month of April guiding on the Big Horn river. I have spent quite a bit of time over there before the crowds arrive. This is a superb fishery that has the largest trout population in the entire state of Montana.

Right now we are in the grips of an icy winter. We have seen temps in the -20 degree range lately. Needless to say I haven't been on the water the past few weeks.

I have traded in my oars temporarily for a whistle and a stopwatch. This winter I have been traversing across the state over snow packed roads in the big yellow dog.