When Fly Fishing Can Be for the Birds

It’s Andy here today. Ann is in OurLittleCorner plugging a gap, so to speak.

I am reporting back from three days of fly fishing with our son, Travis, on Montana’s Clark Fork and Bitterroot Rivers . I’ll spare you from having to admire the umpteen photos of us with big goofy grins while holding the lunkers we caught; you’ll just have to take my word that we managed to catch our share of nice cutthroats, rainbows, and browns.

And you’ll have to take my word that there’s nothing quite like the rush you get when a well-presented fly suddenly disappears in the swirl of a hungry trout’s attack (especially when such a small percentage of my flies end up “well-presented”). But for me, there ‘s much more to the sport than catching fish. Although it sounds corny, experiencing the beauty and marvels of nature around the rivers and streams we fish is as satisfying as outwitting the wily trout.

I was especially fascinated by the birds on this trip. Although I’m not a knowledgeable birder, I do get a kick out of seeing species that don’t hang around in Glen Ellen. What a thrill it was to come across a great blue heron taking off sounding like something from Jurassic Park, and to see kingfishers darting across the rivers and swallows flying inches above the water. Overhead, we saw bald eagles soaring and perched in treetops. And ospreys, with their distinct call, seemed to dominate the airways, perhaps scoping out the very same trout we were stalking. [Editor’s note: click on the below image to see a video from the Cornell Osprey Cam which offers a fascinating peak into the world of ospreys in the vicinity of where we were fishing].

But the bird that fascinated (and surprised) me the most was a duck. Actually, it was lots and lots of ducks. I had never in my life seen a spectacle quite like what we witnessed on the water. Fortunately, I was able to get my smart phone out of its waterproof bag in time to record the below video.

Travis and I had no idea of what kind of ducks these were nor why they would be in such large groups. [Editor’s note: I subsequently learned from birdfact.com that a group of ducks swimming on the water is called a “raft.” ] Our guide told us that these were merganser ducks and that it was not uncommon to see such large numbers paddling up the river. He also told us that they were not very good to eat because their diet of fish made their meat”fishy,” but that he would occasionally shoot one as a treat for his hunting dog (which was way more information than Travis and I needed to know — but we were in Montana after all).

When I got home from our trip I did some research on Common Mergansers (their proper name) and discovered that they are truly amazing creatures. For one thing, swimming in large groups like we witnessed is more than a show of species solidarity; it’s an effective fishing strategy. They hunt cooperatively by driving fish into shallow water where they can more easily catch them in their serrated bills. We didn’t get to see them actually going after fish, but the below video of mergansers “flock fishing” somewhere in Finland gives you a good idea of what a merganser fishing frenzy looks like.

How they raise their babies is just as interesting as their communal fishing practices. According to a 2018 NYTimes article (source of the below photo of an adult female merganser leading up to 50 ducklings), mergansers raise their young in a “day care” system called a crèche. The females, who often lay their eggs in relatively close proximity to one another, leave their ducklings in the care of a “matriarchal female” while they go off to molt their feathers [editor’s note: the article does not explain why the “matriarchal female” doesn’t need to molt]. Evidently, such a system allows mothers to spread out their offspring and increase the odds of their survival.

I could go on about the birds we saw, but you get my drift — catching fish is just part of the fly fishing experience. And speaking of getting my drift, I did learn one important lesson on this trip about drifting. To see what I learned you need to watch the following short video to the end.