It’s been a busy week on the Missouri River front. I find myself suddenly swamped with editorial assignments, and reveling in the fact that, yes, I would rather write and manage photos than sleep.
I spent one afternoon free of shop work (the benefit of starting the workday at 0600h is that you wrap up in time for an afternoon fishing session) with Jake, the youngest member of the Headhunters crew, on nearby Holter Lake chasing carp. Trying for access to the far side of the lake, we parked at the base of Holter Dam and lugged two Diablo sit on top kayak / stand up paddle board hybrids up to the lake.
It’s no picnic in the summer heat, and that lake water was looking rather inviting by the time we had all the gear up to the stop.
We patrolled the clay cliffs and flats on the far side of the lake, paddling against a strong headwind and enjoying the lesser-trafficked coves. We laughed and thought that if we closed our eyes and tried really hard, we could almost pretend we were on some tropical flats, a nice boat drink waiting for us back at the beachside tiki bar.
Our eyes back open, we took in the smoke-filled summer skies of Montana and the pine trees and cattle on the shore. Yep. Back in Montana.
Jake caught his carp, I got my photos, and we called the day a success.
The next day brought the team Headhunters “busman’s holiday.” We closed the shop down for the day – gasp! – and guides, shop staff, housekeepers and shuttle crew joined forces for a float down the river and an afternoon party.
We floated from Prewitt to Pelican, at one point rendezvousing five of eight boats near the Hardy Creek Bridge for conversation and shots off the Redbreast bottle John thoughtfully brought along. Travis, coming off a cold, put fly fishing ingenuity forward and emptied a fly cup to use as an improvised shot glass.
Jim, without doubt the most veteran shuttle driver on the river, was able to float with John and impressed the lot of us with his skills. He brought in a nice fish on a retro hopper, something that delighted the rest of the shuttle crew to no end. Go, Jimmy go.
Post-float, we all retreated to a guide compound for an afternoon of excellent food provided by Mark, conversation and a series of yard games that grew rapidly more entertaining the more drunk everyone became.
Let’s just say the frisbee skills required in Polish horseshoes morph in distinct correlation to amount of beers consumed during said game.
It was an awesome afternoon, and we all came away from the day refreshed, full of stories we could laugh over the next day and ready to take on the rest of the season. That’s the way to get ‘er done.
