Recognizing old friends

Can you believe that we've been here 2 weeks now? Each day we see someone we haven't seen since last year. Most of them remember us and wave as we walk down to the water. It's so nice to see them again, doing well and fishing. Rick and I are somewhat unique among these flyfisherpeople because not many women fly fish and they remember us fishing together. We have to ask some of them to remind us of their names - not because we are getting old! We remember most of them, just not all their names. Sometimes it easier to remember their dogs names or where they are from and then we recall their names. That's not a sign of old age!

Some fisherpeople are easier to remember than others. Some have unique drift boats. Some are real characters. Some always wear the same colorful hat and that's a big help in recognizing them. The problem is once you put most people into baggy chest-high waders and fishing boots, put a jacket, a floppy hat and sunglasses on them, and strap a fishing vest or fishing pack to their front side, they all start to resemble one another. Tan and sage green are popular clothing colors on the river. ("They" say earth tones don't scare the fish. Huh?) With all the gear on, most fisherpeople become a generic form. It's convenient when they wear a distinctive hat so we can recognize them.

Rick and I both wet-wade which consists of water sandals, shorts, and cold legs. The high temperature has been 90, but the water temp is only about 50 degrees!

On our first day we met a friend who was wearing a wide brimmed dark colored hat, like a cowboy hat, and he had a very bright neon orange fanny pack. Although he was 'gloved' up with his waders, I thought that orange fanny pack would be easy to distinguish the next day. We sat on the riverbank with him and between fish we caught up on life. Well, the second day we saw him he was wearing a different hat, a white one, and he had a new sage green chest pack. He waved to us and I had to ask Rick if that was him. Just when I thought I had it figured out...

Fly fishing seems easy, but in reality...

While talking with fishing friends, I realize that perhaps on this blog I've made it seem easy to catch big fish on this river.

I should state very clearly that fishing here is tough! On most days we hook and land rainbow and brown trout. They are usually beautiful, big, healthy fish. But there have been many hours spent just trying to hook a fish. There are many reasons we catch fish here, one being persistence.

Perhaps it's because we've fished here for 5 years and know the river.

Perhaps it's because each day we know the flow of the water. And how it's changed overnight.

Perhaps it's because we've tried fly after fly to find the one that works. Different color, different size, different pattern.

Perhaps it's because we walk the length of the accessible river, over and over again.

Perhaps it's because we study the fish and know what they are eating. Eating right now, today.

Perhaps it's because Rick is a great fly tyer and able to create new flies each afternoon and morning. (An understanding of entomology helps a great deal.)

Perhaps it's because we've been fly fishing for more than 30 years.

Perhaps it's because our fishing friends share their knowledge with us.

Perhaps it's because we're patient. And we're here to have fun!

We've seen many fishermen arrive at the river and fish their hearts out, but walk away without a single hook-up. We've seen many fishing guides with clients try their best to catch fish. Some do, many don't. Sorry if I've made this seem like an easy task. It takes time and hard work to be a successful fly fisher, but this is the kind of work we like.

Sharing Fly Fishing With Others

Our friend Steve has his sister and brother-in-law visiting with them for a short while and he wanted to share the thrill of fly fishing with them. He asked Rick and I if we would share our knowledge with them and we enthusiastically agreed. We love to share our love of fly fishing with anyone who wants to learn. They both have fished with lures before and had been fly fishing once before so they were "quick studies." The dry flies have not started to hatch yet, so we have been nymph (wet flies) fishing since mid-June. Dry fly fishing is totally different than nymph fishing.

With a little practice they both were able to cast the nymphs upstream to get a natural drift of the flies. They both were able to mend the line so it didn't drag the flies across the surface like water skiers. Most of the time they were able to keep a tight line (helps to hook the fish.) And with good sunglasses it's easy for them to see the 20+ trout that stack up behind you in the water. They were amazed at the size of the numerous fish all around us. (The fish tend to stack up behind you because you are stirring up the gravel and insects, which they eat. Just like chumming, but that's for another post.)

What was more difficult, and something we could not easily simulate, was what to do the instant a fish takes the fly. The fly is under water, dragging on the river bottom, and you are supposed to be watching the strike indicator that is floating on the surface. Nymph fishing is a reactionary type of fishing - meaning you react when you see the strike indicator stop, bump, or go in another direction. That means a fish has taken your fly and you need to set the hook.

Getting the timing and reflexes just right when the strike indicator moves is something that takes lots of practice. They both hooked a number of fish and we told them how difficult even that can be on this river. Steve walked across the river with his sister and she was able to hook and land a few nice trout. It was a pleasure to share our love of fly fishing with them and we hope to be able to fish with them again.

Rainbow Sunset

The sunset yesterday was the color of Rick's fish! Beautiful!

Where the love of RVing & fishing began

Rick and his family often took vacations with their 1955 Aljoa trailer. His dad says he always caught the most fish.

Mods to our MOHO #1

Although we think our motorhome is near perfect, we've made a couple modifications we think other RVer's might find helpful. And maybe some of you who live in 'stick & brick' homes might find them interesting.

I'm going to start with the one I think is the best. Our 3 burner stove top is covered with 2 pieces of Corian counter top, each about 24" x 12", and each piece is fairly heavy and slippery. Taking both of those pieces off and carefully placing them somewhere out of the way each time we wanted to use the stove was, ummmm, difficult. I knew someday I'd drop one.

There are 2 short videos at the end of this posting showing how easy it is now to remove the pieces so we can use the stove.

Rick borrowed a friend's dremil tool and carved out 2 small indentations about 2 1/2 inches from the back and 1/2 inch deep. (I think others have carved the Corian using a drill bit.) A key point is to slant the indentations so the cover sits slightly slanted backwards. First, the rear cover is lifted and moved to the back and then the front cover is lifted and placed into the indentations on each side, slanted backwards. The back cover piece sits behind the front piece. Everyone who has seen it thinks it's a great idea and it's not difficult to accomplish. Rick finished the task within a few minutes with only minimal dust.
Click on the play button to see the short videos.

"Secret Fly"

We've had fellow-flyfishers ask us to share our "secret fly" with them. Some out of curiousity, some so they can tie their own flies and come fish with us. As of yesterday, this was catching fish for us. But who knows what the fish will want today. (Click on any photo or slideshow for a close up view)

Every year we see some of the same people, in fact, quite often we meet up with friends on the river. Each day we've been here we've seen someone we know. One family from Virginia left just about the day we arrived so we missed them. But another family from Texas is hoping to get here in a couple weeks. Let us know if you're going to be in the area. We'll tie up some extra "secret flies." (Guess its not a secret anymore!)

Daily Fishing

Since arriving here near Dillon, we've fished everyday except the one day we drove into town for groceries and cowboy music. In between fishing I've been organizing photo files on the computer and we've been taking care of other personal business that's just a little more cumbersome while 'on the road.'

I have lots of photos and 'stuff' to share with you and have been working on a few different posts. Check back later to see if I've got them done. Fishing has been great and somedays we are the only 2 in sight, but then there are other days where we sit on the bank for a while waiting for everyone to float on by. This is a very popular river right now because most others within a days drive are still running muddy. I'll try to catch up on our blog so check back later.

A bit of local entertainment

We've been busy, fishing and visiting with friends. Where does the time go each day? How did we ever have time to have fun while working? We snuck it in whenever we had a free minute. I have to tell you, and I'm not rubbing it in, but we are loving life and having fun! Whatever you're doing in your life, we hope you are taking time to enjoy some part of each day.

Today we met up with a fishing friend just as we were getting ready to drive the 20 miles to town for mail and groceries. He invited us to dinner at the local diner with he and his wife, and then we went to the local museum for a very enjoyable bit of cowboy music - old-time cowboy music. The entertainment was provided by Debi Zohner, lead singer & accustic guitar, and Angela Hurley, who sang harmony. They are honest to goodness cowgirls, at least as close as it comes nowadays. Their husbands were there in their boots and cowboy hats, one reporting that he had just finished up branding 900 head of cattle. We thoroughly enjoyed the traditional songs such as Tumbling Tumbleweeds, Cool Water, Ghost Riders in the Sky, and some bluegrass and gospel. They played for 2 hours with a quaint intermission of homemade cookies, brownies, coffee, and punch. Many of the songs were unknown to me, but they all told a story. We could just image the cowpokes singing around the campfire or singing to the cattle as they rode herd at night. A nice way to spend the evening. Just a wonderful, relaxing, small town, down-to-earth, toe-tapping, honest to goodness good time.

Problem with PhotoBucket slideshows

It seems that PhotoBucket (where I host many of our photos) is having problems with their site, but it appears they are trying to resolve the problems. Yesterday I couldn't access my photos, but today it's only the slideshows. I can't view them when I go to PhotoBucket and I can't view them here on our blog. And I like to include lots of photos and slideshows! So please check back again later to see if they resolve the problems. Don't you just love computers?!?!

Any ideas for another photo hosting site? What do you use? It's easy to leave us a comment.

We've got our Groove back!

It's been a year since we've fished, any fishing, and fly fishing especially is sort of a skill. Well, it is a skill and one that improves the more you practice. It's a physical activity, one that requires some knowledge of entomology and stream topology, along with quick reflexes, timing, good polaroid sunglasses, and a little luck. Well our first day of fly fishing was OK. In fact we both saw many fish and hooked many fish, but only brought one or two to the landing net. What's the saying? "The worst day of fishing is better than the best day at work." Our first day fishing was a good day that got us warmed up. Not our feet, but our reflexes.

The second day of fishing was what flyfisherpeople hope for. Warm weather, natural surroundings, lots of fish and not many people. We figured out what the fish were feeding on and imitated with size 20 nymphs (like a tiny piece of rice), we could see the fish holding in their feeding lanes (currents where the food floats in), and our reflexes had improved since the first day.

I took some time to sit on the grassy bank taking in the hillsides and used my camera on something other than fish. I hope to get some pix of the beautiful birds that make Montana their home.

Happy Father's Day!

Wishing you a fabulous Father's Day!

We want to share some of our favorite memories from our recent adventures. Hope you enjoy the slideshow.