A Day In the Life

I was in Missoula Friday night for the Orvis guide rendezvous when I got a call from Headhunters to guide on Saturday. I took the two-hour drive over at around 2 o'clock in the afternoon and had just met with my cousin after eating lunch at the Dinosaur Cafe in the back of Charlie B's. The plan was to drop my puppy off at my cousin's clinic and then meet my cousin at her condo to get keys so I could stay there for the weekend while participating at the rendezvous.

Just to give you an idea of how important these early season trips are, when I saw Headhunters come up on my caller ID I immediately answered the phone. I didn't expect to be asked to work the next day so I told Julie I needed a minute to figure some things out and I'd call her back. Five minutes later I did call her back and took the day.

So in a minute all my plans for the weekend changed. Instead of hanging out in Missoula I was thrust into "go" mode putting together all the pieces trying to make a showing at the rendezvous and be ready to work the next morning. I got back to the Holiday Inn where the rendezvous was taking place at around 6pm. I hung out until 8:30; long enough to say hello to a bunch of people and pick up some free stuff. I had to find a car wash because my truck was trashed so just east of the entrance to I-90, I found a gas station/car wash and went to work. I was on the road by about 8:45 and back in Wolf Creek at 10:30pm.

Fortunately, all my gear was in my truck already minus a couple rods. I had taken a buddy and his son out last week so the rods were already rigged up and just had to be put in the truck. I needed to round up some beverages and some other miscellaneous stuff but I was in pretty good shape. The boat was clean enough but needed to be drained so I took out the plugs and propped it up over-night and tried to go to sleep. With all the driving and running around and honestly, being a little excited to be working, I slept about 2 hours that night.

Seven A.M. came early. I was very tired and crabby. I made a pot of coffee and chugged three cups. The sun was out and the wind was down. My mood was getting better. By the time I got to the shop to meet my guys, I was back to "go" mode and ready to have some fun.

My guys were cool as hell; the weather cooperated and the fishing was great. We had a blast and the guys are going to be around all summer as they complete their title work for the oil companies so they plan on bringing more people out to fish. It's a great relationship for me and for the shop and I hope to take these guys and their families out again...well worth the effort and the changing of plans I would say. Thanks a bunch to Julie and Headhunters for the opportunity and to Jet and Chris for a great day.

Keep 'em where they live...