Thursday, June 23, 2011

Fly & Drive

Wow! How life can get away from you if you let it. Sorry I haven’t written anything in a while.  That’s assuming there’s anyone reading this to care. Well since my last post about Gigi and me taking our first trip together in the new boat we have gone fishing again over Father’s Day. The river is still running rampant but the tributaries are clearing up and leaving more of the river fishable. We both caught several fish and had a great time. How could you not have a great time fishing? That is barring the serious tragedies. I can’t think of a single time when I was fishing that I didn’t have a good time. Even the times when I was fishing by some other means than fly fishing, which is dam seldom. Not that I am a purist or anything I just enjoy fly fishing way more than any other type of fishing. Although it is a bit of a stretch to call the fishing I’ve been doing lately fly fishing. I mean really! I fish with a bobber (called a strike indicator by fly fishers) and put split shot on my line, then I use a fly tied to resemble a worm. If I wasn’t using a fly rod, fly line, and worm created in a fly tying vise it wouldn’t be fly fishing. Personally I think all fishing is good, but will fly fish over all others if given a choice. I am so looking forward to the next 5 days. It is my 19th wedding anniversary we are going to spend the next two days fishing ending with a fly fishing film festival/tour thing in the trout town of Craig, MT. The films will be shown on an outdoor deck with plenty of adult beverages. It amounts to a great small town street party in a trout town (my favorite kind). Then we will head to Ennis, MT (another trout town but with unfishable water due to the horrendous amount of run off) and will spend two days running fly shops and playing golf. Gigi has taken a pretty strong liking to golf and fly fishing is my true second love. So every year on our anniversary we do our annual “Fly & Drive” trip. Fly fishing and driving golf balls. Usually we do the fishing farther from home but our home water is the only fishable water in the state right now. I have a pretty deadly cast out to 40 feet and not to bad beyond that, but I can’t hit a golf ball for shit. For me golf is a great way to send time outdoors with my wife and, what else, smoke cigars and drink bourbon. The weather is going to cooperate that is if the weather man is not full of horse pucky. Well Gigi just came home and read what I have just written. She (in a way only my wife could do) informed me she can think of several times that I didn’t enjoy going fishing when I was “cussing and swearing”. Well those were portions of trips when she was rowing or not fishing correctly, but that is another story for another time. I did enjoy those trips though even though there might have been some shall we say tense moments. I have since mellowed and all is well going into year twenty. I need to go now. There are leaders to tie and mend as well as other chores to prepare for the Fly & Drive like making sure the cigars and bourbon got put in the camper. Here’s hoping to see you on the river.

Monday, June 6, 2011

First trip together in the new boat

I am sitting on my patio doing my usual, smoking a cigar and drinking bourbon. It’s what I do when I can’t go fishing and don’t have to work. Come to think of it it’s what I do when I can go fishing and don’t have to work. I just fish while I’m doing it. This weekend a great time was had on the river. My wife and I spent Saturday fishing the MO. It was her first trip of the year and in the new drift boat. We took along a bottle of Champaign that we’ve had lying around for several years. Don’t remember where we stole it from. Must have been a wedding, but I just don’t remember. Maybe I’ve drank to much bourbon, or not enough.  It was a pretty standard day on the river caught some fish and celebrated our first day of sunshine and first trip in the new boat together drinking Champaign and eating strawberries for lunch. My wife the, wine snob, gave me a short but sweet lesson on Champaign informing me that what we were drinking was not REAL Champaign. It was instead a sparkling wine from California. She said REAL Champaign comes from the Champaign region of France. Whatever! The cork popped loudly and it was bubbly.  The weather was true summer weather. Hot 70 something and sunshine. The river was still flowing at 14,000 plus cfs. The fishing was deep nymphing with lots of split shop. We did get a nice rainbow that measured 19 ¾ inches. After reaching our takeout we head for the porch at Headhunters and drank more, ate tacos, and caught up on the latest BS. Another couple from Idaho was there and we swapped fish stories (otherwise known as lies outside fishing circles) and shared a few opinions. All said it was a great time.

I am going to have to spend some time learning how to incorporate pictures into my blogs to make it a little more interesting. Please hang in there anyone who is reading this and I will try to make things more interesting.

The wife is gone on business this week and will be spending next weekend visiting siblings so I will be playing bachelor this week. Next weekend I will most likely be back on the river as it is what I love and live for. A guy I was talking to commented that we should be home mowing the lawn, and I agreed saying how bad I was feeling about that. Oh well maybe another day. For now I guess I will just have to have another drink, smoke another cigar, and wait for the next chance to hit the river.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Anxiously awaiting the weekend

I am really looking forward to this weekend. According to the weather report it will be the first really nice weekend we’ve had this year. Temps are supposed to be in the 70s with a high of 80 for Sunday. If all goes as planned Saturday will be my wife’s first trip in the new drift boat. The water will still be high and fast, but fishing should be decent. It will be deep nymphing watching the thing-a-ma-bobber strike indicator. Personally I like all methods of fly fishing, but my favorite is catching big fish on streamers. Dry fly fishing is what most fishers prefer, but I love swinging streamers and the feel of a big fish slamming the fly. One of the best experiences for me is to target a specific fish and catch it. I have done this with all techniques, and no matter what technique you use it is always a thrill. You get more of a sense that you caught the fish because of your skill instead of just a chance encounter. Last Sunday I was fishing a tandem fly setup on a 12 ft 2X leader with 2 BB split shots.   I caught several fish, but the best was the last. I was about to call it quits when a nice bow rolled just within casting range. I couldn’t let the challenge go unanswered. On the second cast the fish took my fly. After a good fight the fish was landed and released. I am hoping to get my wife into several good fish. I have as much fun putting others into good fish as I do catching them myself. As usual I am also looking forward to a good cigar and a couple of bourbons on the porch at Headhunter fly shop at the end of the day. If you are ever in the neighborhood let me know and I’ll be glad to point you in the right direction. If I can I will even join you. One of the best parts of fishing here in Montana is the people you meet. Being a world class fishery people come from all over to fish the MO. You meet a lot of really interesting folks on the river and in the local watering holes. Hope to see you on the water, porch, or watering hole. If your not into chucking and ducking with heavy artillery you may want to wait until August though. Fishing is always good!