On the Rise

I've been spending quite a bit of time on the water these past few weeks and we saw the best fishing in the last few days. With plenty of the big bugs showing their faces, and their inability to dodge diving night hawks, the fish have been active. We managed to turn a handful on big foam patterns, but the fish really aren't keyed into the salmon flies yet.

While on the river yesterday the Big Hole rose almost 700 CFS and continued rising through the night. With temperatures holding in the mid 70's the snow will continue to melt and the rivers will once again rise this summer. Unfortunately there was a tragic accident yesterday on the river. A rafter turned over his raft and was never found, the other members of the raft made it safely to shore but the rower did not. The entire fishing community in and around Southwest Montana knew within hours and our thoughts and prayers are with the victims family. If you decide to float the rivers in the next week or two have an experienced rower in the seat, life jackets handy, and always keep your eyes down river.

Have fun and please, always be safe!

Week-In-Review

We had a great party at The Stonefly the other night and if you weren't in attendance you missed a good 'ole fashioned shin- dig! Pigs were turning, faces were smiling, glasses stayed full, guitars were picked, and we shut the town down!

Needless to say I was feeling less than spectacular the next morning, which happened to be my first morning to wake up in "Uncle Rico's Palace" recently amended to the "Leaky Can."  I received my orders at o...9:30 and I was headed to the Missouri River for a few days. We had a great time on the Mo' staying at chateau de Parks with Jay and Steve. 

In other news we just got back from a few days down in Idaho fishing the Henry's Fork. A beautiful river and some great folks at TroutHunters made for a good time. We even coaxed a few fish to the surface!


David lassoed this fine brown right out of the gate and put the mojo on us for the rest of the weekend!

All in all it's been a great couple of weeks! Happy Father's Day to all the dads, including my own. I'm being summonsed to row Rooster and Dayna down the river for a Father's Day party float, so I better go wash the boat out and fill the cooler!!

Keep fishing and stay in touch!

Not quite summer..

If your boss ever asks you "should we go fishing today or tomorrow?" GO TODAY!!! Or you will most certainly regret it. We passed up the finest weather day we've had in weeks to do work, then when we want to go fishing we get slapped in the face with a taste of winter....isn't it June??? While all of you back home are complaining of the heat...try this on for size it was probably 35 or 40 yesterday, snowing, and the wind was howling. It felt like I was rowing into a jet engine blast, meanwhile dodging errant casts!!

Even though the weather turned south on us, we managed to scrape out an hour of great fishing. So really there is never anything much to complain about up hear in Big Sky. Like they say, "If you don't like the weather in Montana, wait 15 minutes and it will change."

Getting in the Groove

While the rest of the state is hauling sandbags and wishing they had built their houses on stilts we are staying relatively dry here in Twin. I spent a few days on the upper Beaverhead learning the ins and outs with master guide and friend Joe Willauer and his wife Ke'lah. With gusty winds and cold temperatures, it was typical early season weather. It was good to get back in the rowers seat and watch others have some fun. Thanks to Joe and Ke'lah.

Settling In

After 3 days, 2400 miles, road closures, flooding and 2 hail storms I finally made it to Twin. As usual I didn't even get one box unloaded when Willow appeared ready to hit the water. With every river looking like the Brazos we headed to the Beav, to find every gaper and jobless Montanan pounding 2 miles of river. Of course we slipped in and almost instantly had them asking "What are they biting?"....uh...just some fly this shop guy said would work, I think it's called a prince??

So after knocking the rust off the 'ole casting arm and landing a few great fish, I commenced to unpacking and settling in. Only the finest accommodations will suffice for the Stonefly guide staff. My home, dubbed "Uncle Rico's Palace" is what one might call a classic. A classic what, I have no idea...My roommates are cool though, 3 chubby mice, Gomer, Holice and Gus and one very friendly squirrel, Waldo.

 The best part is there is a drop down guest bed, so if you are feeling froggy, jump on up!!

Well I'm off to chase some more fish around, thanks for reading and remember, if the sign says "Road Closed" there is probably a good reason why.

The start of a good thing...

Well, here it goes. Blogging. Never thought I would be doing this, much less on my own blog. But I will be leaving soon and many of you don't know what it is that I will be doing. Thats OK because I don't either!

All I know now is that graduation is May 13th and my time in Aggieland will come to a bittersweet end. I have spent 5 great years here. Best time of my life!! I wouldn't change a thing and I can't ask for more. I've met some great people, occasionally did something productive, enough to walk across that stage anyway, and will miss Texas A&M and all the tradition. But it's time for a change, time for something new. So a week or so after graduation look for my tailights heading North. I couldn't be more excited about my future and hope everyone will find their way to the high country at some point. There will always be a place to crash, a cold beer to quench your thirst, a trout to cacth, one more powder day, and the always beautiful sunset.

PEACE!