Social Distancing

I can't think of a better way to distance myself in the name of the coronavirus than fishing. So yesterday, with the temps in 40's and a slight chance of snow, Cutter and I took the drive over the Divide to the Blackfoot. Apparently, I was one of dozens of Montanans that had the same idea.

When we arrived, there were two guys just packing up at the parking area/campground where I wanted to fish. They said they hadn't touched a fish so now knowing the deck was stacked against us, I decided to try it anyway. Two guys had already fished this stretch which is never good, they didn't even see a fish and they supposedly fished it pretty hard. Challenge accepted. 

I caught two. Not a stellar day by any stretch of the imagination but I'll take that as a win. I only fished for a couple hours and I had fun. Driving out, I noticed trucks, mostly Toyota Tacoma's, parked all along the highways with dudes and chicks trying to address their cabin fever needs as well. I think it's great. Get out there folks. It's good therapy. 

This is me teeing off on hole number 15 at the Palms course in Mesquite, NV. It was two days before they closed down all the casinos and non-essential businesses in Nevada. Given that was a bit over two weeks ago and I feel 100%, I don't think I could have planned the timing any better and I'm confident I'm Covid-clear. Seventy-degrees in the desert and six in Helena? I'll take it. 

Let's break down the form, though. Heals are flat, rolling a bit on the back foot to create some torque. Rotation looks good and head is tucked into my shoulder. I need to work on straightening that left arm though. That might be where I'm losing distance. 

So let's talk Covid-19. It's a big deal, obviously, but there are still a lot of people not taking it seriously. The way I see it, we do the hard now and we might be able to guide this season. Gov. Bullock started early, closing schools and bars and restaurants and I feel like we were able to get out in front of this thing here in Montana. We have 71 confirmed cases right now. Around 3% of those folks tested came up positive compared to around 15 to 20%, which is the national average. March 15th was around the first positive test in Montana. March 18th, there had been 11 positive cases with all of them reporting international travel or attendees at a specific conference where they had common interactions with other cases. 

With community transmission now occurring in Montana, the number of positive tests have increased by anywhere from 25 to 50% per day. Again, that is a lower transmission rate than in many of the hot spots where the virus seems out of control. The problem is, if we relax our social distancing policies and the virus is still present and there's no vaccine, another outbreak is certain to occur unless there's a miracle that some of our leaders think is going to happen and the virus magically disappears with the warmer weather.  

The flip-side, many people across our country are calling for a complete shutdown or, shelter in place policies for every state. That would mean those of us in states like Montana, would have to remain in our homes unless we needed to go to the grocery store or go to the doctor. That doesn't make any sense to me. I know it doesn't seem fair to those folks in higher density populated areas, but if I jump in my truck and drive to the river by myself, who does that hurt? I'm certainly not going to catch anything from anyone or give it to anyone.

The other thing I hear is we should open up our businesses sooner than later even though we don't have a handle on this thing just to save our economy. "Sure, we're going to lose some senior citizens and some weaker members of our population but they were going to die anyway..." 

Are you crazy? That's like saying, "Sorry mom but I need to get to work so I can pay for my boat and ATV and all my other toys so...I guess you're going to die..." I'm sorry but I just can't get on board with that. I love you mom. 

Without getting all political, (which I guess it's probably too late for that,) when we can, we need to step up and take care of the weaker and the less advantaged in our communities. We're not playing football here. We're not competing or trying to win a game. We're talking about people's lives and I believe that where you stand today on this, defines who you are politically and spiritually. Even just listening to the experts and taking this seriously and doing your part is something. But what I hope happens, is this episode that we're all going through exposes our leaders for who they are and we can make more informed decisions on who we support in the future. (Shit, I just totally went all-political on you. I'm sorry.)

Looking Ahead

It's still March and I hope and pray that with the weather warming up and all the efforts that are being made, life goes back to some semblance of normalcy soon. That would mean we can salvage part of our guide season although it's obvious that it will be delayed a bit. Nobody knows for how long and all we can do is keep our fingers crossed. Right now, my spring trips are pretty much non-existent. I have a fraction of the bookings I would normally have and to be honest, I don't blame people to not want to plan a trip if they don't know they can safely travel or that any restaurants or hotels are going to be open anyway. However, I am hopeful we can get back to business, safely taking out locals who want to spend the day on the water in the open air who don't have to subject themselves to traveling in tight quarters. That doesn't mean I'm going to open up my business though, if the experts call for us to shut it down. Right now, I'm not seeing how we could comply with social distancing requirement as set by the Governor's office and the CDC with having to transport folks in a truck or even getting three people in a boat. 

As for pre-booked trips for the summer, I have reached out to my clients and have assured them that whatever happens, the relationships I have with them is what's most important and I will do what I can to maintain that relationship for the future when this all calms down.

So what am I doing with my "free-time"? I'm tearing apart my yard and prepping it for seeding grass. 

Having a dog isn't all that conducive to growing grass so I've fenced off half the back yard and nuked it. In a couple weeks I will plant seed and hopefully, have a kick-ass yard sometime in mid-July. Or at least, a really good start. 

While I can, I'm also going to do a ton of recon for my guiding business. We live dead center in the middle of the state with tons of opportunities for wade-fishing small streams. It's time to figure some of those streams out. 

I might even shoot a bear. I always buy a license but never really have time to put the effort into hunting them. Maybe this is the year? 

I'm also spending a lot of time writing. I'm not going to lie, the idea of writing something important or interesting enough that millions of people would want to read seems a little pretentious even for me but I have seven chapters written now and let me tell you, I'm going to take you for a ride you won't soon forget. I've gotten to the good parts and it's been a fun journey. The name of the book is, "The Death of a Fly." That's all you get for now.

Keep 'em where they live...