September 11

For a long time I've thought that I should write something profound or thought provoking about September 11. The feelings we all have for September 11, since the year 2001, are personal, private or shared, but personal. The feelings are still there today; the shock, the fear, the bewilderment, the raw hurt. Just writing about it now brings back the stress and uncertainty and a little bit of a panic attack.

I remember driving to work with Rick that morning, wondering if we should go on to work or turn around and go back home. We switched radio stations, but even they couldn't figure it out. Not sure, we drove on to work. Being close to Phoenix International Airport, we noticed numerous jets flying overhead to land. Not knowing then what a task it was to bring the aircraft down safely and quickly. The day was spent glued to the radio and watching TVs that co-workers had brought into the office. I remember the feeling of helplessness. I remember thinking about the night before, spent with family, one of comfort and security. The day before had been our anniversary and it was wonderful and nostalgic. Overnight it all changed. Now today was frightening.

The following week was horrific for me as the TV played it out, over and over, 24 hours a day and yet I had to watch it. I know Rick had to be on edge, but he was there to comfort me and let me cry and talk. We hope never again to have such an attack on our country with so many innocent lives lost. I know Rick and I have not forgotten 9/11. I think we should all be reminded of the tragedy, somehow be reminded of the loss and the hurt, so we never forget.

32!!!!

32 wonderful, accepting, cherished, magnificent, thrilling, blissful, adventurous, gratifying, tender, amazing, loving, compassionate, superb, fun, tremendous, considerate, devoted, treasured, exciting, breathtaking, remarkable, extraordinary, astonishing, fabulous, caring, delightful, fantastic, fulfilling, great, loyal, understanding, appreciative, satisfying, marvelous, rewarding, supportive, tolerant, grand, unforgettable years!

Happy Anniversary to us!

See Mom, FUN!

I called my Mom this morning, had a nice talk, and told her that we were having a ton of fun! As if she didn't already know!

I was thinking of her when I caught this one.


For the fisherpeople out there, I caught it on a size 18 spinner. I used a few nymphs, emergers, and dry flies today. This was the only fish I landed. Hooked a lot and missed a lot. Great day on the river!

Sittin' on the river bank

Rick & Clover

Thanks to our friend Kristen for this wonderful photo

When we fish, Clover stays on the river bank waiting for us to return. Then we have to play fetch with a stick. What a happy dog!

Broken record?

It's been a few days since we've checked in. Did you wonder what we've been doing? Can you guess? If you said "FISHIN!" you'd be right.

If I said it's been a couple very good days of fishing would it sound like a broken record? Not every day is exceptional, but we've had some. The last few days are running together in my mind because we've been fishing so much. We fished one day for at least 6 hours - from before 10 to after 4. And yesterday we headed down to the river around 11 and didn't return to the moho until 6! The weather has been cool to warm and the fish have been hungry! These 'trico days' are really different from June fishing, and we're really starting to enjoy it!

Depending on the temperature, the tricos (mayfly genus tricorythodes) hatch and hit the water, and with the cool temps, it was a little later in the morning. We were happy to see our fishing friend Steve on the river when we arrived yesterday. We started looking up and down for rising fish and Steve said "come on out here, there's plenty of fish." Rick went upriver of Steve and I went downriver. Steve was like the pickle on a fishin' sandwich, me on one side and Rick on the other.

This is where I start sounding like a broken record (at least to me). The fishing was good! How many different ways can I say it?

I think (for now) we've figured out the flies and we're close to figuring out the fish. We all hooked a lot of fish which means the flies worked. But we lost a lot of fish because the flies are so small and the line is 6x (very fine). Rick and I each had a lot of hooks straightened out. It seems everyday there are always those really big rainbows that run and jump and get off the hook or break the tippet. The ones that you would really liked to have landed to see it up close.


I started with dry flies and caught fish, but then switched to very small nymphs. Caught a lot of fish with a standard set up, then took off the weight and strike indicator. I fished the nymphs as dries and caught some really great fish. Then when it felt like things had changed, put the weight and indicator back on. When the 3 of us fish together we share flies and information. Although I think I'd enjoy fishing alone, I have so much more fun when it's shared with friends.

At one point Rick teased me and said, "Hey! What is this?" and I said "It's lady's day!" And after netting one for me he said, "You're on your own." Soon I had a fish on and landed it and Rick said "At least count to ten before you get another one!" and I raised the rod tip and said "TEN!" with another fish on. I didn't count the fish Rick and Steve caught, but I think they must have caught as many as I did. As Rick & I were leaving (Steve had to cast to just one more fish), Rick said "Today was a really good day." I grinned and said "Oh, just a typical day on the river." Steve stopped fishing long enough to add, "Today was not a typical day on the river and you can put that on your blog."

Rick and I love to fish together. Teasing and congratulating each other just adds to the fun. We laugh so much! Rick was thrilled that I caught so many fish. Just like I'm always happy for him to catch lots of fish.

Thick with Tricos

Yes, we fished today. Even though it was very cold. Cold to us who still are wearing shorts and sandals and wet wading. It was about 49 degrees with a promise from the Internet weatherman to get up to the low 60's. The weather forecast is for warmer weather in a couple days, perhaps in the low 70's. We went out this morning around 11:00 and encountered many others in hopes of hooking a big one.

When we got to where we wanted to fish we saw maybe 4 boats there and upriver. Tim Tollett was helping a couple guys catch some nice fish and we enjoyed watching for a little while. There were a few fish working on the home bank and we had fun trying for them. Tim said he'd be on the move soon and he was after his clients caught a couple fish each. He was there first and didn't have to move for us. We don't own that spot, but he knows we like certain places. What a nice guy. I had to kid with him when his client hooked a big fish that kept going into the far current, just a little deeper than he was able to go with his waist-high waders. I encouraged him to go after the fish and he said "yeah, you could come and help me."

The tricos were in the air and I can't help but be amazed at the number of teeny tiny bugs clustered together forming clouds. It's hard to describe unless you've experienced it. It's like a snow storm and sort of like tiny hail hitting you in the hat and ears when the wind blows. It was like confetti with a mind of it's own. The clouds of tricos would swarm, but mostly they got blown about. We did not dare open our mouths and we tried not to inhale deeply through our nose. It was amazing, and perhaps tomorrow I'll try to get some more photos like the others I shared a couple days ago.

With a one day life cycle, they hatch, mate, come to the water to lay their eggs, and then die, becoming spinners. The clouds of tricos were thick today (just like a light snow blizzard) and then suddenly they were a blanket of little airplanes on the river. It was like a confetti flow of tiny white airplanes, wings outstretched. I'll try to get some photos of the carpet of tricos tomorrow also. The fish loved them!

A boat drifted by as I had hooked and was landing a nice size brown, and the person rowing said "Crazy!" I'm not sure if he was commenting on the brown jumping out of the water or me fishing in my shorts!

I fished with a size 20 spinner and attached a smaller BWO emerger behind it. I caught a few fish on the spinner and also a couple on the emerger. And once again Rick made sure I was in the best spot while he was busy changing flies, going from dry to nymph and then back to what I was using. I walked a fish to the bank and asked Rick to move into my spot. He moved and caught a couple nice trout and we were both happy. The wind put a nice upstream chop on the water and we could not see our flies nor the rising fish.

The wind had been blowing from the south, and remember the promise of warmer temps? Well, the wind shifted and blew colder from the north, making casting no fun at all. We both said 10 more minutes and when time was up we were ready to head back. Only a couple hours of fishing today, but we spent the rest of the afternoon in our warm, cozy mobile fishing lodge. Happy to have caught fish and happy to be warm.

I've looked at the hourly forecast for tomorrow and at 9:00 AM it's supposed to be a balmy 42 degrees. But the wind is supposed to be almost nothing. We'll find our warm jackets and hopefully not have to fight the wind. Just the cold.

River Fashion

I've thought about designing a new line of clothing for fisherpeople and calling it "High Water Mark". When we got here at the river we put away our cold weather clothes and brought out the wading shorts, t-shirts, long sleeved fav fishing shirt, and water sandals. It's become our fishing uniform. We brought a number of older items to wear out and throw away at the end of fishing season. You know, the slightly worn t-shirts with maybe a little spot of stain. And who cares that your shirt has a stain on it when you'e fishing? You should be looking for fish, not at my clothes.

After wearing our shorts for a couple days we started to notice a definite discoloration line, a high water mark, of river muck on our backsides. Although the river is at times crystal clear, there is muck in the water that discolors clothing, forming a high water mark. We wash out our shorts to try to keep the high water mark from becoming permanent, but I think my shorts are destined to forever be my fishing shorts. I also have a few old t-shirts that show how deep I've gone into the river. White is the worst to show the brownish-yellow high water mark. If I could design the clothing with the high water mark part of the design, you know, "it's supposed to look like this," then it wouldn't look like I'd waded into a muddy river.

We decided we're brought along too many clothes this time, so leaving a few pieces behind in the laundry room for someone else is not such a bad thing.

These guys with the umbrella boat insisted that the shade was only for the dog. It reminds Rick & me of the African Queen.
Just about anything goes on the river (fashion, I mean) and as you can see, most fisherpeople choose to wear waders. There are only a few of us who faithfully wet wade. It honestly doesn't matter what you wear or even if you land a big fish. Or what model fly rod you use or what your hat looks like. What matters is doing something you enjoy and having fun.

(The first 2 photos at the top of the post are of Rick. I love the 18x zoom on our Nikon CoolPix P80 camera.)

At the end of the day...

Rick said "Today was a really good day." So simple and so right.

We ended the day with a couple hours of fishing catching.

We awoke this morning to frost on the pumpkin and a cold 32 degrees. We rarely feel 32 degrees in Arizona and this is only the first of September! Yikes! What will the coming weeks be like? We skipped our morning session of fishing and went to town for groceries. And a stop at Tim Tollett's Frontier Anglers for the latest scoop on flies, fishing and a dose of friendship. Although we do see Tim on the river, we almost always catch him in the shop. What a pleasure to be able to share a few minutes with him and Mike in the shop. They are knowledgeable about the fishing and flies of the local rivers and willing to share what they know. Rick always finds some new fly tying material he needs. One of the guides we know, Ryan, also happened to be in the shop. We hadn't seen Ryan on the river lately and that's because he's been on the Madison River most of the summer. He talked about how good the fishing has been on the Madison.

We stopped for an authentic Mexican lunch at Fiesta Mexicana, the white school bus converted into an eatery. The food is very good and really Mexican. You just have to get over the atmosphere.

We fueled up the Honda for the first time in months. Safeway offers a discount on fuel based on grocery purchases and we had earned 40 cents off. It still ended up costing us $3.48 per gallon. I'm afraid of what diesel will cost when we have to fill up the motorhome.

We were back to the campground and on the river around 2:30. We started out tossing dry flies, but there were only a few fish feeding on the surface. I missed 4 very willing fish and after that they just weren't interested in what I had to offer. I looked at Rick a little upriver from me and he'd switched to nymph fishing. I switched to a large crane fly (if it's the last thing I do, I'm going to get one on a crane fly). Watching Rick hook a couple and miss a couple, I moved near him and thought about changing. He hooked the brown trout in the photos and I had him bring it to shore for a couple photos. He showed me the small nymphs and offered to set me up while I fished with his fly rod. I insisted that he continue to fish and I'd change up. He gave me a couple nymphs, went back out to the middle and I followed shortly. He wanted me to fish in the best location and within a few minutes I hooked a rainbow trout that ran up, down and all around. It was almost comical and Rick was smiling the whole time. I stripped in line over and over and it still ran around like a crazy fish! I brought it to me, about 4 feet away, and it got off. Nice fish! I looked at Rick and we both laughed. We went back to casting our nymphs and Rick coached me to fish a little closer to me. I put the fly within 10 feet of me and I immediately had another rainbow on. And it was another speedy one. I eventually brought it to me and (without a net) removed the barbless hook and let it go. It was a good size fish. I said to Rick we should have gotten a photo of it so we'd have one brown and one rainbow. But it was free and back to living in the grasses where it belonged.

It was about 5:00 and the warm sun was turning to a cool evening. I looped my hand through Rick's arm and we walked together back across the river. It was the end of the day, a really good day.

Goodbye August, Hello September!

Where did August go? In fact, where did summer go? August went out with the promise that we are into cooler fall weather. The last morning of August was a little cool, but not as cold and windy as we thought it was going to be. We started off on a leisurely morning, having already talked about not fishing the night before. We hung around the moho and did some 'chores', but around 11:00 Rick just mentioned, ever so casually, sort of in a whisper, "Do you want to go fishin?". I smiled and one minute later I had the long pants off and my fishin' uniform on. With it being Labor Day weekend there were 2 other campers now in the campground, besides us, and they were fishermen. I wasn't sure how many people would be in "our little stretch" of river, but I left Rick getting his gear set up and headed off to the river with the dog. (I'm the luckiest person to have Rick to care for me.)

There were people fishing and I saw a fisherwoman I met before and she pointed out rising fish upstream that she couldn't get to. She was also nymph fishing and I was dry fly fishing. Anyway, I waded out to the middle of "Mickey's Corner" and cast to rising fish for a few minutes before Rick arrived. He checked on me and went upriver, above 4 other people, and he proceeded to land 3 or 4 trout. And he missed a number of others, using a size 22 Griffiths gnat. A couple of fishermen moved in behind and up from me to nymph fish. I missed a couple before I hooked a nice brown trout. I started backing out of the river with it and looked for Rick and saw that the 2 guys had stopped fishing and were watching me. I mean really watching me. I sort of gave a wave and said "finally." I brought it to the bank, released it and went back to fishing. The 2 guys moved upriver and away from me when some others left.

The wind picked up a little and it started to rain, really just sprinkle hard. I didn't care much since the bottom half of me was soaking wet. Rick came down to where I was and I pointed out some fish and he started fishing to them, a fair distance away. As the water keeps receding, it's gets easier to cast to the far bank. Rick hooked a couple fish and I hooked a couple fish, and it 'sprinkled' off and on for a while. Our upper halves were getting colder and Rick said a couple times "whenever you're ready" which is his way of saying he's ready. The couple fish I was trying for were tucked under some grasses that had built up and the protective currents were making it difficult to get the fly to them with a natural drift. Out of the corner of my eye, upriver, I saw a ring form on the water in a back eddy of still water. There were grasses completely encasing the still water and it seemed no current was directly flowing through there. I gently cast my fly into the still water, but nothing happened. I thought I'd just seen a bug on the water perhaps. I went back to fishing, but again caught sight of the ring on the still water. I turned and for a second time I quietly put my size 22 spinner where the ring had been and BAM! I had a big rainbow tail-dancing! I looked at Rick, fishing about 15 feet from me, and he'd been watching me. He had a big grin on his face and I said "I don't know who's more surprised, me or this fish!" After only a few seconds that seemed longer, the fish was off. Although the rain had stopped, the temps had dropped and we'd had about an hour of good fishin'. Yes, I'll be sure to put a fly into the still water next time we are there.

I made a spicy pasta dish with fresh roasted green chiles and Alfredo sauce for dinner. The overnight temps are supposed to approach freezing so Rick has taken precautions to keep us from freezing (the water hoses, etc). We awoke this morning, the first day of September, to more sprinkles, cold temps (36*), and thankfully no wind. However, it's been a day of reading, a DVD movie, and for the first time, having the electric heater on. I made blueberry pancakes for breakfast and lunch was grilled cheese sandwiches with creamy corn and roasted pepper soup. We're supposed to have cold weather for a couple more days. We're getting more extreme temperature swings, with a couple days of cold and then a couple days of warm. September is supposed to bring great fishing conditions.

A lot of the time I feel we're on vacation, an 'eternal vacation' as our friend Nan says. After 8 months of being retired and living in our motorhome, we're happy campers! We love living in our motorhome and these cold days when we spend a lot of time in it we feel like we are just living life. This is our home. We're not on a vacation, but really living.

30 Minute Big Sky Sunset

These 3 photos were taken over 30 minutes. The view is from our motorhome.

What a difference a day makes!

Almost the opposite of yesterday! For fear that we will be invaded by another group of fisherpeople and have to vie for a spot on the river, I will say the fishing was tough, but fabulous! We just keep going smaller with the flies and today we went small enough. Although Rick did joke with me about catching the 'dumb' fish, I know he was very happy that I caught lots of fish. And they are not in any way dumb. They are smart and we just have to think like a trout, be a little smarter, and outwit them. I wish that we had a way to video tape the day, because it was pretty awesome - to me.

Three years ago today I had major surgery and a week long hospital stay, so today was an anniversary to celebrate. I've been healthy (we've both been healthy) and very thankful for the life we have together. The folks living in the gulf area are on our minds as this is also the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Our good friend Eric called us today as he was evacuating from his home in the eastern gulf area of Texas. Lets hope the current approaching storms goes easy on them.

I caught more fish today that ran and jumped and ran some more. Because we are using 5x and 6x tippet I've set my drag a little looser than normal. Usually I tighten up the drag and stand my ground, but with finer tippet and big fish, I give them a little slack. When the fish take the fly, and then realize they are hooked, they jet off upriver, downriver, and right back at 'ya. Today I had an equal number of brown and rainbow trout and I think they all jumped out of the water! I had a really big rainbow on that was quite an aerial acrobat and darted all around us. It started off downstream and I followed. I yelled to Rick that if I landed it he'd need to take a photo. I followed it a little bit and Rick continued fishing. I couple minutes later the big rainbow and I did a LDR = long distance release. Rick didn't miss a cast. What a great fish that was.

I moved around a little today, up and down stream (to give Rick a chance to fish where I had caught the 'dumb' fish). When I moved out, Rick moved in and caught at least 3 fish. Nearby there was a little cove with lots of grasses growing up to the surface, and there were about 6 fish that I could see rising. I hooked one, a brown trout, that jumped and ran upstream a short way. It shot under and through a couple of the underwater grass bushes that now grow to the surface and I was not about to lose my special fly, the only one like it I had. I followed my line under a couple bushes and the fish shot off downstream, under another river bush. I again followed my line and found my fish again. I was able to bring it to me and get back my fly. Of course I displaced all the fish that had been rising there.

I moved back closer to Rick again and hooked another hot fish. It darted towards me and then changed it's mind and headed for Rick. I thought it was going to go between his legs, but it veered off to the right. I was lucky today to land many of my fish. Rick hooked and landed a number of fish, but I know we both missed more than we hooked. Fishing is tough, but fun. And better than working.

We saw 2 drift boats today. Jeremy again and Tim Mosolf from Tollett's Frontier Anglers. Both of these guides are on the river almost everyday. Tim said he'd be guiding for another month and a half with clients. We talked about how cold it will get and hope it's not soon. We have 'weather' coming in tomorrow afternoon (and sticking around for a few days) so we're getting on the river early. Setting the phone alarm. Our friend Eric said he needs to see more fish photos so we'll try to get some photos -- if we can stop fishing long enough. Until then, here is one our friend Steve took about 3 weeks ago. Thanks Steve! Love your waterproof camera.

Don't inhale that... cloud of smoke ?

While we were thinking of getting on the river this morning (9:oo -ish) we saw a group of fishermen walk in. And we'd seen a couple boats put in and a few more fishermen walk in earlier so we figured there were a few people elbowing for a prime spot. We thought about skipping the morning session, but I wanted to see what the river looked like. The flow has been steadily dropping and is now lower than when we arrived in June (78 days ago, but who's counting?). It was cold and a little windy, but I put on my fishing uniform of shorts and sandals and a couple layers of long sleeves. Rick had on pants, long sleeves, and a fleece vest. I didn't take my rod, but did bring the camera.

Actually, there was a group of 5 from North Carolina and a couple other couples. One of the boats hung around the ramp and fished which made for a lot of people in the short stretch of the river. Even with all the people, there were more bugs than people. I asked a few if they were catching anything, and they all said no. I listened to the conversations and they were all marvelling at the clouds of tiny tricos in the air. But no one was catching any fish! A couple other people said they had hooked one. They all expected the fish to be gorging on the miniscule trico mayflies, oblivious to which flies were fake and which were real, but the fish were underwater, watching all the visitors and watching the fake flies.

The clouds of bugs were so thick that it looked like smoke. I thought to myself, "don't inhale too deeply, don't sniff one up your nose, and don't open your mouth."




We saw a friend who encouraged us to get our gear and fish, but we thought we'd wait. We wandered the riverbank and a short time later saw fish rising and that was all it took. We gathered our rods from camp and headed back to the river, making our way upstream of everyone else. It wasn't long before Rick spotted a couple fish and left me to try for them. He went on upriver in search and found these ducks.

Rick made his way back to me and by that time (noon?) most other fishermen were vacating the river. It was either lunch or time to give up. There were just a couple others within sight when I hooked and landed an 18" rainbow on a size 20 spinner. I had missed a couple on a larger spinner and Rick said go smaller. He hooked a half dozen fish and a couple broke off his 6x tippet. I got a little bored with the small stuff and put on a BIG crane fly that brought up 3 nice trout, but I reacted too quick and kept them from getting hooked. What a thrill to see these fish jump on that BIG fly. Around 4 PM we were the only ones on the river and with the wind blowing hard enough to make casting difficult, we decided we'd had enough. As we walked out we met another man and woman fishing, or thinking of fishing. We talked and found out they were from Arizona also. After about 10 minutes the game warden drove up and asked to see their fishing licenses. We'd met the warden a week ago or so and he remembered us. If you fish Montana (or any state) be sure you have a licence and follow the regs! Montana makes it easy by offering the licensing process on-line now.