Mike Cline
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When is your permanent move? Funny, my family might be joining you in that decision…
Jay
Its a balancing with my current job which I hope keep, at least in some form when I move. My goal is a complete transition by summer’s end, but should be in Bozeman off and on all year. Time will tell.
I will look forward to a trip to the Creeks.
Mike
Just seeking a little free advice from the board. I am wanting to hit the road and escape the office for 10 days or so in March or April. I have never visited Montana and really want to go. I need to do this vacation as cheap as possilbe so I will forgo the use of guides and lodges and look for ‘clean’ but cheap motels. Thanks.
ConnorConner, I don’t know if you are going to be anywhere near Atlanta for the weekend of 26/27 Jan. If you are, checkout the Atlanta’s Fly Fishing Festival in Gwinett http://www.castlow.com/gaswfe.html. One of the guys attending is Rooster Leavens, a guide who runs the Stonefly Inn in Twin Bridges, MT ($59 night) in some cases. http://thestoneflyinn.com/. He runs a really top-notch outfit. I know there’s some really good fishing early in the season on the Big Hole, Beaverhead and Jefferson if you know what your doing. Rooster can tell you and get you on the right track.
I fish DePuy pretty regularly
Jay
Well when I get up to Bozeman on a permanent basis you’ll have to give me the tour.
(including reduced rates at the Paradise Valley spring creeks, which are worth it for a day).
Jay
I was in Bozeman two weeks ago and took a little sojourn over to the Paradise Valley Spring Creeks for some photos. We were in MT to close on our new house, so fishing was out of the question (women). However, on Saturday we drove over to Livingston to look at the Creeks and take some photos. Tons of fish, a few rising and no one was fishing. What a bargain for $40. They were in great shape and the weather was in the 30s.
DePuy’s Upper Section just below Armstrong-January 5th, 2008
DePuys Upper Section just above the Fisherman’s Hut.
Armstrong Spring Creek just above DePuys.Mike Cline
Merry Christmas and Happy New to you all from here in Montana! I look forward to meeting more of the people on this board in the New Year!
JoelJoel, it will indeed be a happy New Year as we close on our new home in Bozeman, MT on January 4th.
Zach,
Check out: http://www.customink.com/categories/hats/1/styles?loc=viewall.
I know my ripe old age of 33 has me a bit more “aged” than the iPod 20 somethings but I have to ask the younger crowd what you all think of, have heard of, and know about the Zune?
Wow! 33 Puberty? Ripe maybe, old NOT! Don’t insult us 60 year olds. You’ve got at least 40 years of fly fishing adventure in your future. Is the Zune is a bonefish fly from Zimbabwe??
Zach,
WHY?? Are these Mountain Khakis so good? I have several pairs of North Face pants I wear all the time both under the waders and wet wading. I am super satisfied with them. Why should I think about Mountain Khakis?? I intend to look at some locally, but would like to know what makes them (over others) a good choice?
this book.
http://www.newswiretoday.com/news/25003/
The old man did a good job….not that I am biased. 😉
Lando, I haven’t read the book but I will—however please make the connection for me, WHY would you be biased???
Mike, That is a lot fo meat!! For sure! even the floating “balls” good stuff…
To be correct, those are Boobies not Balls
Mike Cline…that top box looks like it has an animal pelt in it! I half expected it to growl at me. HA! What a great meat box.
Those are just #8s and #6s.
For Spotted Bass I have three classes of flies–buggers, clousers and floaters–an the occasional nymph when things really slow down. A recent purchase of a Bugger Box has all these in one now.
I’m of the opinion that a rod breaks for one of three reasons: User Error, Manufacturer’s Defect, or a Nick in the graphite (which is probably just a specific user error). What I’m getting at is if a salmon does indeed break your 8wt, it is most often your fault. The drag was set too high, your leader test is too high, or maybe it was the clouser slamming the rod on your forward cast. Point being…unless you are trying to pull a salmon out from under a tree jam…something else should break before the rod.
Now I’m well aware that this is a generalization, and that there are probably plenty of counter examples out there. I would certainly be interested in hearing some since I have yet to break a fly rod.
I envy those of you who have not broken a rod. I haven’t been that lucky and I am in agreement with Andrew that user error is the biggest factor. Although I’ve landed some very large fish on lightweight rods, Last year I broke two rods–A Sage 5wgt and a St Croix 7wgt. One on fish the other while falling on my ass streamside. This year I’ve broken two Sages-a 5wgt when I dumped my kayak in rapids and just last week I broke my 7wgt XP on a two pound lizard fish. My kayak was anchored on a pothole in four feet of water and 10 mph winds. The Lizard fish went directly under the boat upwind bending the rod almost double and the second section from the tip just snapped. No doubt the countless hits from tungsten cones, beads and dumbells all summer long weakened that spot on the rod. Thank God for lifetime warranties. At 60 years old I am pretty confident that I am going to fall out of my kayak again and fall on my ass more than once in the next few years–User Error, its inevitable.
When you book guided trips with an outfitter instead of an individual guide by name, you never really know who’s going to be your guide for the day—luck of the draw. Over the years there are four outfitters that have consistently provided me some of the best guides in the business. No matter when I booked the trip, they’ll give you a guide that knows his stuff.
1) Arkanglers run by Greg Felt in Salida, Colorado—This is the outfitter for the Arkansas river and surrounding area.
2) Parks Fly Shop, Gardiner, Montana. In the 20 years I’ve been fishing with Parks, I’ve never had a poorly guided trip.
3) Four Rivers Fishing-Twin Bridges, MT – Fished with Rooster Leuvens and his crew for 4 days in October and it was a top-notch experience.
4) Lopstick Lodge (Bill Bernharts), Pittsburg, NH. This is the outfitter for the Connecticut lakes region.My worst experience with a guide happened when I booked a trip for a friend and myself on the Yellowstone River several years ago with George Anderson’s Yellowstone Anglers in Livingston, MT. The guide turned out to be surly, obnoxious, had a dirty boat and generally gave us the impression that we were a burden on the trip down the river. Although I know George Andersons outfit has a good reputation and I appreciate that, but this one bad experience will forever send me elsewhere.
