Project Healing Waters-Fall 2015

Saturday was a perfect end to a successful, albeit challenging season. It was the fall event with the Great Falls Chapter of Project Healing Waters. We had ten participants fishing with five guides and we all had a blast. I want to thank Terry Jenner for corralling the vets and for allowing Montana Dream Fishing Outfitters to help out. I also want to thank the Oasis in Wolf Creek, MT for a great meal afterwards. Thanks to Dave Carnahan, Stephen Caldwell, Matt Hargrave, and Jim Murray for their hard work putting these guys on fish all day, (and for teaching them how to take selfies.)

Yes, it was the last booked event for me but the fishing is just getting good so if you're willing to take a chance on the weather, epic days on the river are still to be had and I'd be more than happy to help you put the wood to them. One way or another, I'll be out there to take advantage of the conditions finally turning in our favor.

Keep 'em where they live...

Every Man Needs His Cave

 

With the guide season winding down and the football season now in full swing, I've made huge strides in completing the Cave. I picked up the mount on the right yesterday and added it to my collection. The deer on the left was the first deer I ever shot with my bow. It weighed in at 215 lbs. after hanging for three days, which is pretty damn impressive. The deer on the right was shot last year. I never weighed it but the neck on that deer was a full two inches bigger than the first and it was shot well before the rut.

 

The rack wasn't all that impressive but still cool so I did a European of them and swapped it for the biggest deer my dad shot while he was alive. Those antlers were mounted on a plaque that hung in our basement when I was a kid. We liked to play kick-ball down there so the antlers took quite a beating. I actually tried remounting them several times as a kid but never got them to look right. About 20 years ago, we did have a taxidermist mount the horns on a deer I shot in Wisconsin but the body was too small for the rack and the guy did a horrible job. These guys at Trails West in Helena definitely did it justice. So the body was from the deer I shot last year but the antlers are a remount from some 40 years ago. It's hard to tell in the picture but when you compare the two, you can really see how different whitetails from different parts of the country can look. Plus, the deer I shot last year was and old, old deer that might not have lasted much longer.

 



 

 I still have a little work to do but it is comfortable and it does reflect the boys in this family. (Notice what's on the big screen? The king of man caves; the Dan Patrick studio in Milford, CT.)

 



 

 

The house is coming together and since I don't like to spend much time in the woods during the opening week of the rifle season out here in Montana, we'll be on to the next phase of the house, which is the kitchen. Eighteen boxes of cabinets are scheduled to show up today...

 

Keep 'em where they live...

Finally!

 

The good news; it's been a long time coming but the blue wings are finally here. The bad; I only have two more days on the books to take advantage of them...

 

It is true. We did get into the blue winged olives yesterday and fish were happy to eat them on top or swinging soft hackles. With the temps last night getting down into the low 30's and that trend not going away, they should be here for a little while. They're about a month late so a lot of folks missed out on them but those that want to book a late trip, you should have the river pretty much to yourself and fish will be happy. Give me a call. It's pay-back time...

 

Keep 'em where they live...  

 

Streaming Big Browns on the Missouri

 

Hold on, hold on. This is a little misleading to say the least. We headed down low for day one of three with Susan and Bill and their party of four out of the Trout Shop. The weather was perfect and the fishing was going to be stupid good. We thought we might even get some blue wings and for the first couple hours, it was good. In fact, I think Susan caught her first trout on her first cast and she said, "That could be either a really good thing or really bad..."

 

We did get a bunch after that but mostly small fish and then the pseudos showed up and fish got PICKY. We hit a dry spell even though we could see fish up. We threw big stuff and little stuff and shortened things up and did just about everything we could but they weren't going to play nice so we started chucking and ducking the big uglies. The brown in the photo was caught two casts after changing colors the first time. Again, it was ON! But then it wasn't and that was the last fish we had look at a streamer. Bummer.

 

The folks were cool though and even with a tough afternoon, we had a good time and look forward to fishing a different stretch today.

 

Keep 'em where they live... 

 

A Little Va-kay

 

I jokingly tell people I retired at 37 and now I just fish...(and hunt, of course.) I moved out to Montana full time 10 years ago because I was tired of working for 50 weeks of the year just to take all my vacation and spend any money I saved to be where I really wanted to be. The reality is though, that as fun as it is and as much as I enjoy what I do, there are other things to see and a little break from the dream is nice. Patrick, Jill and I headed south this weekend to Salt Lake City for some kid-fun. Patrick and I dominated the go-karts at Lagoon. 

 

 

 





 



The Loveland Living Planet Aquarium was also very cool...

And check this out; a BMW truck Lego set at the Lego Shop in Salt Lake. Can you see the price of this thing?? That's right, $229.99. Man, I'm getting old. That would have never flied when I was a kid.

 

I'm back on the river for the next few days. The weather looks awesome right now but it's hard to put any stock in the forecast. If it turns out cloudy and rainy like it says, the fish should be happy again.

 

Keep 'em where they live...



Scudz, Scudz, and More Scudz

The Putnam group rolled into town last week for their annual fishing trip. They've definitely been one of those groups I've looked forward to fishing with over the years and appreciate Sneaky Pete introducing me to them. The conditions were a little tougher this year than what they're used to but we definitely got them some good fish. AGAIN, the psuedos are still the predominate bug outside of the midges on the upper stretch and with the sun and wind, dries are pretty much out. However, there is still a lot of grass in the river and still a lot of these guys.

Now, scuds aren't a big secret on any tail-water. It's kind of the main staple of fish; especially when there aren't a lot of other bugs. They are, however, probably the most forgotten trout food in the water and I know of a lot of guys that have come back to the fly shops with their heads down because they didn't think to throw them.

Keep 'em where they live...

Attitude is...the Only Thing

I was woken up at about 3am to lawn furniture getting blown across the deck. I couldn't get back to sleep thinking about how bad the next day guiding was going to suck. They were predicting sustained winds in the 30's and gusts into the 50's. I kept looking at my phone while getting ready; hoping the dudes would cancel but no dice.

On the way to Craig from Helena, there's a construction zone in the Little Prickly Pear Canyon where a good number of signs were blown over as well as two of the porta-potties. It would have been kind of funny and I even thought about stopping and taking a picture but instead my mind went back to, "God this is going to suck," and I kept driving on.

I texted my buddy John and begged him to work for me. I even told him I'd give him everything I had in my pocket...he declined. I kept driving.

We all showed up at Pete's place to wait for our dudes. We huddled behind his chicken coop trying to get out of the wind. They were about 15 minutes late--just long enough to give some hope that they'd bail but of course, they didn't. We were still on.

My guys were a dad and his son, Fritz and Garrett. I've fished with them before and was a little bummed I drew them yesterday given the conditions. I really like fishing with them. They're both good anglers and they like to learn new things. They also have realistic expectations and above all else, they have a great attitude.

We figured we'd do a short float and with the wind shifting out of the west, I thought we might get a couple breaks. At least we'd get out there and see how it was and make the best of it. Our first order of the day was just not to get skunked. That was accomplished in about 10 minutes. Then they both landed one and in the first hour, we boated about a half dozen. The next order of the day was to lose count and by lunch, we were well past being able to keep track of the number of fish we were landing. The fishing was so good we didn't even notice the wind and it was just another lesson this crazy lifestyle/occupation/passion can teach.

Keep 'em where they live...

Pass

I was incredibly fortunate to be granted permission to hunt a local ranch yesterday. I was looking for a big mule deer. I'm not a trophy hunter but I would like to get one for the wall. I think it would be cool to get a good representation of each animal I've hunted for throughout the years for display but obviously, I'd still use the meat. While hiking around I spotted this guy hiding in the brush. When I first saw him he was 77 yards away. With the wind howling, he didn't hear me or smell me. I was coming up from above and behind him.

He wasn't exactly what I was looking for but he was a really nice whitetail so I thought I'd try to move in closer to see if I could get a shot. I slid on my ass for forty-five minutes trying to close the distance. This was at about fifty yards. By the way, lots of prickly pears on this ranch...

 

 

And then forty...

 





 

I was able to get about 35 yards and actually drew my bow back on this guy but he's not what I came out here for so I gave him a pass.

 



 

I certainly didn't plan on being out as long as I was. I did a pretty epic hike through some crazy country and saw some amazing whitetails but the mulies are still chilling where I can't get to them. I will go back when they decide to start chasing does. 

 

When I was working for AYA, we had a ritual of stopping at the first gas station we came to for a junk-food fix. Exhausted and sore, this was breakfast and lunch for me. Ahh...the good life.

 







Keep 'em where they live...



About Time

All we needed was a little weather...Yesterday we got it.

It was suppose to be cold and rainy and WINDY. Looking at the forecast, many guys were planning for a quick out for their clients when it got too gnarly. Before meeting my dudes, I was already thinking it was going to be a short day but not to shoot myself in the foot, (still being mindful of a predicted 35 mph wind from the north,) we did a short but not too short float from Craig to Dearborn. It's a good thing we didn't go any farther--not because of the weather but because of the fishing. It was absolutely ridiculous.

So why the fire? It was cold. We did get out for lunch and start a bonfire and warmed up, which turned out to be huge. It did only get up to about 43 degrees and it rained all day but the wind only blew for about 15 minutes and the rest of it was pretty damn smooth sailing. It's about time the weather man is so wrong on the good side of things.

Keep 'em where they live...