Unemployed Flyfisher: 40/40 club

I can remember back when I first started fishing with the long rod reading an article in one of the flyfishing magazines I was a frequent reader of the Madison River being so productive that some guides were touting being able to put their clients into an elite 20/20 club. They claimed that their clients were catching 20 or more fish of 20 or more inches in a day. It sounded incredible and filled my mind with thoughts of big fish and lots of them. Whether or not this actually ever was the case on the Madison I won't comment on. I will simply say that generally speaking when someone shows me a picture of a 20" fish it is not a 20" fish. In addition, I often now read articles written about locations I know quite well and let's just say the stories are often fascinating works of fiction. Perhaps outdoor writers are novelists at heart..but I digress.

Later in my pursuit I read of yet another 20/20 club. This club consisted of those who caught 20 inch fish on size 20 or smaller flies. I don't remember or simply never cared enough to notice if it went a step further and required you to catch 20 such fish in this manner in a day. Virtual all of us who've fished tailwaters have caught 20" fish on size 20 and smaller flies.

Fishing the winter of 2010-2011 in Southwest Montana I've now inducted myself and a fishing buddy as charter members of the 40/40 club. Membership is reserved for an exclusive group of anglers. Nearly every time the thermometer reads over 40F the winds are blowing over 40mph. I'd like to call it the 50/50 club but this pursuit is full of enough hyperbole. It is a rare day I see anyone else out braving the wind on an otherwise beautiful winter day. Perhaps it's because they have jobs...perhaps it's because they have enough sense to not try and cast into a hurricane.

Here are a few pics from yesterday's 40/40 club meeting.