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Welcome again to yet another year of Living the Dream!! Took a bit of a break over the winter, what with all the skiing I barely had time to sleep and eat, so needless to say the blog took a backseat. After putting way the ski gear the fly rods have been recommissioned and my drift boat sent to Idaho for a rebuild! Here comes another great year!

Anyways... Fishing is in full swing here in Montana, and some great fish have already fallen victim to bunny fur and deer hair latched to a number 4 hook. Jeff from Simms caught this beauty just minutes into our day and set the tone for a great day of ripping streamers. This summer is shaping up to be my busiest yet, aside from a short vacation to Hawaii and a concert that my new band is playing you can find me in the middle of drift boat somewhere in Southwest Montana, at least until the first snowfall.

The Great Migration

For those of you that are not tuned into the everyday goings on of my life, you should know that Montana is no longer safe; yet another Texan has migrated to the northern most southern state. For those of you that have been fortunate enough to gaze upon this states majestic beauty, then you will have no problems understanding why another Texan will now call Montucky home. What better way to welcome ones buddy than to put him on some world class fishing??

Late Night Blogging

So I know I promised that I would post more regularly and I have not made good on that promise. Between working and getting ready for the move to Bozeman I have had a full plate. Brandon arrived in the great state of  Montana this week and is getting used to cooler weather and the occasional rain cloud. Classes start on Monday but I was already booked to work so that will be the first blemish on my record at a new institution (don't worry Mom I don't actually have classes on Monday, it just makes for good reading).

Tonight was pork chop night here at the Roost and let me tell you that if you missed this you really missed out. Three inch thick chops cooked to perfection go down wonderfully after a long day on the river. Unfortunately I haven't taken any good pictures recently, not that there hasn't been anything worth taking pictures of; rather the lack of motivation to get up, open the camera case and risk falling out of the boat ruining my camera. So for the first time I give you a post without a picture accompaniment. But realistically, how do you follow the last pictures. I mean come on, those are fish of a lifetime!!

Catching Up

So I feel the need to apologize to my readers for the recent delay in post updates. I can't imagine the angst that must fill your heart every morning when you sit down at your computer to check in on the life of Bubba, only to see that Bub must be too busy to update the blog. So here we go: got hate mail from the last post, Dad came and caught a monster, guide day, guided some fellow Ags, Twin Bridges Rodeo, guide day, took three number seven split shot to the back of the head, guide day, went back to river X caught another monster, guide day, fixed a leak in the palace, helped Mike Z change a blown tire on the side of the highway after escaping certain death, guide day, caught a million on the Beav, day off fishing with Joe and Ke'lah, guided today and left out the boring stuff like doing laundry and washing the boat. I would like to promise you that I will be better about updating, but sometimes going fishing on a day off sounds better than sitting down to write. Again I feel the need to apologize for my selfish actions and will do better to keep everyone in the loop. However, if the posts are not coming fast enough and the material is not satisfactory please leave a comment; or if you feel that you have some insightful commentary please feel free to enhance the experience for your fellow readers. All that you have to do is set up a Google account and post!

Learning Right From Wrong

So from time to time when a fella catches a decent trout and it has been a slow day I will allow the client to hold the fish for the picture. Now this can be risky, in the event the unsuspecting trout ends up under neath the floor in the boat. Before I describe any further the gong show that took place with a beautiful specimen, I must clear something up right away. It does not work to the anglers advantage to grasp a majestic wild trout as if they were attempting to get the last drop out of their tube of toothpaste! Two reasons, the fish will wiggle twice as much, wouldn't you?? and fish, if you were not aware do not have an exoskeleton and cannot withstand 100 lbs. of pressure directly to the pumping station.

Now that I've got that out of the way, it is time to pick on a recent client. A client that supposedly had caught fish on every continent and in every country and most certainly did not need me to throw any pointers his way in the angling department. However, since I have put up with poor angling and what he considered poor fishing, it is my turn! First, his hook set resembled a ribbon routine from the 3rd grade class, his mend was actually the primary influence for character Zorro and his trademark Z. As unbelievable as it may sound this particular angler actually caught fish, one worth taking a picture of. Seeing as we had not been filling the boat with them all day I decided to let him hold the fish and take a sweet "dude" grip and grin. Needless to say Mr. World Wide Fly Fisher had apparently, similarly to his angling abilities, not perfected the art of gracefully holding a fish for a lovely memory. If memory serves me right, this fish bounced off of every surface within sight; the side of the boat, the bottom of the boat, top of the cooler, oar, all the while being batted around like a junior juggler for the Ringling Bros. This poor fish finally found the water and swam over to my feet, as if to beg for mercy. After reviving the fish, he sat in the shallows for awhile straightening out his life and recounting the events that had transpired. Needless to say that trout will think twice before inhaling a hot pink worm. So remember if your guide allows you hold the fish, be nice to it!

                                     No fish were harmed in the making of this post.

The Double Guide Experience

So yesterday I got the opportunity to hop in the back of Willow's boat with a great guy, Todd. After a few cups of coffee and the usual debate over where we should go and how we should fish, we were off for a marathon float. The day started with an exhilarating dive into the Big Hole River chasing my camera that floated out of the back of Joe's boat; apparently it takes more than 2 fishing guides to launch a boat. With a safe capture of the camera, protected by a bomber Pelican case, we pulled away and began pounding the water with less than optimal results. Of course, if you put 2 guides and a dude that can get'r done in the boat together, some meat is probably being tied to the end of the string. We turned a dozen or so on dries and big streamers, but after an hour of watching fish chase and failing to land said fish we reluctantly picked up the bobber rods. A slow start ensued, but thanks to Joe's astute guiding prowess and flawless fishing tactics it quickly picked up after stuffing our beaks with a fair amount of groceries. The remainder of the day was filled with good fishing and even better camaraderie. A short hail storm slowed us down for a minute, but we regrouped, licked our wounds, and commenced to slaying. All in all a great day to be on the water. Thanks to Joe and Todd for a boat load of laughs.

New Faces

I must begin today's post by relaying this extremely important message: Montana is awesome!! In the past week I have seen almost a dozen moose, bald eagles, forty-leven fawns in the river bottom and caught some absolutely amazing trout. The fishing has finally reached an acceptable level, one that is keeping me happy on a daily "guiding" basis. The fish have moved into the places where they are "supposed" to be and are starting to bite the flies that I select. All in all, the past few weeks have been great. The sandal tan has set in deep and is most definitely a permanent fixture, unlikely to fade with time. Yesterday brought some great clients in the boat, a father and son from Casper, WY. A trip that Rooster didn't want to take because he didn't know them. Turns out meeting new people is not always a bad thing. These guys can huck it! "throw it under that tree branch, but not into the bushes!" Ker-plunk!! A perfect cast every time!! and it paid off for them. These boys were used to mountain streams and 9 inch trout. Needless to say we did a might better than that, putting over 20 lbs. of fish in the boat before lunch!!