What's new?

The weather is new. It had been shorts & t-shirt weather for the first couple weeks, but this last week is new. For the past few days we've had cold days and afternoon thunderstorms. Brrrr cold! We're somewhere between a low of 40 and a chilly high of 50 degrees. Yesterday was drizzly, but we had a nice morning = so we fished. When the big, black, billowy thunder clouds rolled in we walked the short distance back to the motorhome. Those who were floating the river in their drift boats tried to stay dry until they can get to their take-out spot. Not too bad if you are prepared and the wind is blowing the right direction to take you down river.

The forecast yesterday was for rain all day, but at 9:00 AM it was sunny, so by 10:00 we were on the river. And we fished for about 5 hours. Until the rain and approaching thunder chased us off. We're careful when it comes to avoiding lightening and know when to call it a day.

There were lots of people trying to catch fish today, but it was a tough task to figure what the fish were keyed on. And once we thought we had it figured out, the fish changed what they were eating. We talked a while with Russ Kipp, owner of Montana High Country Outfitter, Lodge & Guest Ranch, who was guiding a client. We've met him on the river for the past 5 years. He's on the river almost everyday and he knows what's happening under the surface. His client was catching a good share of fish and he was willing to share with us. Russ even netted one of my fish when I brought it close to shore. If you're curious, here's a link to Russ' website. http://www.mhct.com/index.shtml  He's a very nice guy and he knows how to fish.

Today was supposed to be another really cold day, with rain forecast. We had a leisurely morning, enjoyed breakfast and coffee, Rick tied a few flies and then we watched a good movie recorded on the DVR. We watched The Five People You Meet in Heaven based on Mitch Albom's book and we thought it was pretty good. Around noon I could see blue sky peeking through the clouds so we 'wadered up' and walked to the river. We'd seen a lot of people walk to the river so we weren't too surprised to see a crowded stretch of river. We could hear thunder off in the distance as we walked upstream to where 4 friends from Idaho were fishing. Rick put on a fly that Russ Kipp had recommended the day before and caught a fish right away. I was changing flies when the thunder got louder and the wind picked up. I mean it really started to blow. And it was cold! The river had white caps and looked like it was flowing the wrong direction and I almost lost my hat (that's tied tight to my head!) Rick hooked another fish (that broke him off) as he made his way to me and said "lets go! It's cold!" The wind got fierce and the sky got darker and we just barely made it back to the motorhome before it started to pour. It was not just rain, it was a frozen rain. Not quite hail thank goodness. Our 4 friends stopped by the moho to invite us to dinner which we gladly accepted. I was drenched getting to the car - only about 20 feet away. When I started the car, slushy ice coated the windshield. When we got to the restaurant there was frozen slush ice around the entrance. Rick had been sharing his flies with our friends and he tied a couple more of the new fly so they could fish the rest of the afternoon. After the early dinner we decided that we'd had enough cold weather for one day. The temp had dipped to 39 degrees in the afternoon, the surrounding hills were cloaked in gauze like clouds, and the thunder was still occasionly reminding us of the earlier freezing rain.

As Rick says -- there's always tomorrow. ~~ I just checked the weather forecast for tomorrow and the temps are supposed to be colder, with a possibility of snow. I think I'll wait to tell Rick.