Fish or make bait

We've had a few windy days here in Montana which makes it a little difficult to fly fish, especially if you're fishing with dry flies. When you're fishing with nymphs you have some weight on the line making it a little easier to cast. More like "chuck and duck" and with 20 mph wind you have to duck more often. Around noon on Wednesday, 7/30, we decided it would be a good day to go to town, replenish groceries, and visit the local fly shops. Oh, and get lunch at the white school bus Fiesta Mexicana Restaurant. Yum yum! More on that later and perhaps a couple restaurant reviews.

Rick usually gets up an hour earlier than me and ties flies before breakfast. (Just a note to anyone who cares, I usually stay up an hour or more than Rick in the evening.) He can always find new tying materials that he needs, so we went to 3 of the fly shops in Dillon -- Tim Tollett's Frontier Anglers, Tom Smith's Backcountry Angler, and Uncle Bob's Outdoors. They are each a full-service fly shop offering guided trips of the local rivers. I'm looking for new wading water sandals because my Columbia sandals that I've had for years (that I love) are falling apart. Rick put some Sho-Goo on them, but I don't think they'll last the summer. I didn't find new sandals, but yes, Rick did pick up some much-needed tying materials. We also enjoyed discussing fishing conditions with the owners of the fly shops. We're thinking of spending the entire summer on the river to experience the changes the river undergoes throughout the season.

We bought the groceries we needed for the next week or two and headed home in time for a late dinner of shrimp, rice, and salad.

My Mom buys her Teva sandals on-line and I'm going to go on-line and find new Columbia or Teva sandals. Last year's models are usually half the price of this year's new designs. With the price of gas it will be cheaper to have them shipped to us rather than drive 2-3 hours to a store that might have what I want.

We've heard that a lot of people are staying close to home this summer because of the price of fuel. They call it a 'Stay-cation'. It sure is nice that the fishing is so good here so we don't have to travel around to find the hot fishing spot. Fishing in another state would also mean $150 for 2 more non-resident season licenses. The campground is really empty for this time of year, with only 2 other campers besides us. There were a couple tenters for a couple nights and there were 2 other RVs that left today. So out of about 45 sites, there are only 3 campers. Pretty slow business for the owners. Thankfully they have an auto repair business that helps carry them. He gets a lot of business from the surrounding ranches and farms that keep him very busy.