I suppose one could say the same of small children, cats, mechanics and kleptomaniacs.

Like most fly fishermen, I’m devotedly attached to a handful of small, shiny otherwise obscure fly fishing gear.

Granted, after falling victim to the piles of stuff foisted on neophytes by silver-tongued fly shop masters, my assemblage of essential gear has dwindled considerably over the years. Some might suggest that winnowing to be the result of wisdom earned on the river.

On the other hand, and much more likely, striving for functional simplicity and being a cheap bastard often forges a powerful symbiosis.

Even after admitting that, after the recent and uncharitable theft of a set of clippers that had graced my vest and chestpack for a decade, the lure of a shiny new clipper bauble proved irresistible.

I like small, shiny, otherwise trivial gear.

Tags: Why I Fish

Les Voyageurs Sans Trace–Fun, Retro Trailer from Ian McCluskey on Vimeo.

From Ian McCluskey on Vimeo – “Here’s a fun trailer for our new upcoming full length documentary, ’Les Voyageurs Sans Trace,’ a quest to rediscover the 1938 French kayak expedition down the Green and Colorado Rivers.”

Tags: Inquiring Minds Want to Know

Tags: Pic of the Day

Wayne writing over at Will Fish for Work put up a very informative post last night about the latest skid steer produced gravel shuffling over on the Bitterroot around the Mitchell Slough neighborhood.

He’d done a bit of metaphorical digging himself (well done, by the way), and while there’s no doubt a ‘rest of the story’ to come, he offered up some very pertinent information gleaned from a conservationist with significant expertise in the area. Here’s part of his post ‘More on channel manipulation on the Bitterroot’.

The post by False Casts and Flat Tires on the apparent channel manipulation is nothing new to the river (or some other Montana rivers), it has been going on for years. It seems that creating diversions or channeling for the purpose of irrigation is in line with state laws pertaining to the use of water for that purpose. Local soil and conservation districts and sometimes the Army Corp of Engineers are responsible for the permitting and oversight of whatever process is necessary in the issuance of the permits. Fish, Wildlife and Parks are involved in the process only to the point of making recommendations. It is however, up to the soil and conservation district to make the final decision to allow a permit regardless of FWP recommendations. Each local soil and conservation district is allowed to determine the fate of a permit based on their own bias. So, if your district relies on heavy use of irrigation then it’s possible that permits deemed necessary for irrigating may get more favorable treatment than say, a steady year round flow of water to preserve a healthy aquatic river or stream habitat. I had no idea the soil and conservation district had so much in common with the supreme court.

There are water rights in the area (Mitchell Slough) that are no doubt being exercised and more than likely some kind of permit is in place (or should be) that allows the holders of those rights to divert the water by any means allowed by state law. Apparently there are three types of water rights pertaining to Mitchell slough; irrigation (probably not this time of year), stock water, and fish and wildlife.

Wayne goes on to hit on something that we’ve been thinking for some time, particularly after the issues that erupted with regard to potential access restrictions proposed in last year’s Montana legislature.

We wholeheartedly agree that ‘we’ need to be paying more attention. Wayne put it this way-

One thing for sure is that we need to be paying closer attention to our stake in water resource and stream access issues. It’s not a good thing to have situations like this pop up “after the fact”. We would be better served by heading them off before they even get started, keeping up on what our local soil and conservation districts are doing, monitoring Army Corp 404 permits, keeping tabs on legislative issues etc. In other words, being proactive and taking action.

From where we sit, that’s right on the money. The question of the day then just might be who is ‘we’?

And that’s a damn good question. Some will argue that there are plenty of organizations in place to keep an eye on river things – TU, the Montana Stream Access Coalition, the Public Land / Water Access Association are some of the suggestions we hear bandied about routinely. And they’re fine groups that do good works on budgets stretched tighter than my dress jeans after Thanksgiving dinner, staffed by a surprisingly compact group of passionate volunteers. Some of these groups target fairly specific issues, like access, a prime interest here under the Big Sky if you haven’t noticed already.

Wayne and I have been chatting a bit about this via email, and while it hasn’t been said in exactly these terms, we both agree that the ‘we’ needs to be a bigger team, actively monitoring (ie, local Soil and Conservation Districts) and heading some of these kinds of changes off at the pass.

Unquestionably the frustration being expressed across a couple of beers at the pub needs to be aired, but it also needs to drive more boots-on-the-ground, cooperative, rational river and stream management. It can be done.

More to come.

Tags: Access

It happens every year about this time. I just can’t help it.

The daydreams about summer start in earnest. Daydreams about fly fishing uncrowded waters, creeks and big blue ribbons, demonstrating flawless skill while scores of brightly colored native fish are released with a smile.

Somehow I look like a young Robert Redford in these ethereal visions and cast with the authority and grace of John Juracek or Joe Willauer.

Even though it’s high summer in said daydreams, the wind never blows, the skies glow with that crystalline blue of the north country, hatches pour off the water’s surface like clockwork, drifts are drag-free and no one ever sunburns.

Maclean was right, the summer days in Montana really are almost arctic in length.

One of my favorite times to be on the big waters is early, early morning in summer, well before sunrise. Even in real life there are few if any other fishers rigging at the ramp, even if another early rising group joins us they’re subdued by the early hour.

Critters are still on the prowl, the morning’s coffee simply tastes better early and the river is just waking up for the day.

One sacrifice often made to this glorious early summer morning run is breakfast; it’s easy enough to brew a pot of coffee early (if you’re doing this right most of the coffee huts won’t be open yet) but cooking breakfast usually falls by the wayside.

We stumbled across this breakfast-on-the-run answer years ago, but only recently tweaked our Bacon Breakfast Cookies to make them worthy of the summer daydream above.

Packed with oats, nuts, sharp cheddar cheese and the mother of all good things food – bacon, these breakfast cookies are far, far tastier and teeming with more nutritional muscle than elvish lembas bread.

Make up a batch of these and you’ll start looking forward to missing your sit-down breakfasts.

Here’s to your summer river daydreams.

2/3 cup butter
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 and 1/2 cups quick oats
1/2 cup wheat germ
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2/3 cup chopped walnuts
8 slices bacon, cooked crisp, crumbled

Prep work. Preheat your trusty oven to 350. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, quick oats and wheat germ; mix well. Grate the cheese and chop the walnuts.

Bacon time. Cook the bacon to crisp, drain, then crumble when cool enough to handle.

Make a dough. Combine the butter and brown sugar in a stand mixer; mix until smooth. Beat in the egg, then add the vanilla.

Add the combined dry ingredients in 3 additions, mixing well.

Stir in the good stuff. By hand, stir in the cheese, walnuts and bacon.

Make a cookie. Form into 1/4 cup sized cookies and bake on parchment covered baking sheet for 12-14 minutes. Cool completely before storing; keep best in the fridge or cooler.

Enjoy.

Tags: Friday Feast

Montana fly tying video | March brown cripple | Bigfork Anglers from Bigfork Anglers on Vimeo.

Tags: Flies

Our hats are off in remembrance of Doug Christensen, 87, of Ketchum, Idaho. Long time river warrior and conservationist, founding member of Idaho Rivers United and tireless contributor to a number of worthy causes. Read all about his legacy here.

Tags: Water Worth Saving

New Belgium Brewing has long been on my favorites list.  Their brews are right up my alley, and you have to like all their seasonal choices throughout the year.  For some time now, I have been meaning to try their Mothership Wit.  Yesterday I finally did.

It was worth the wait.  Mothership Wit is the first organic beer made by New Belgium.  Honestly, I am not really one to buy into the whole organic craze.  Does it really make that much of a difference?  I don’t know, but some will argue that point to the death.

Mothership is a spiced wheat beer, featuring coriander and orange peel flavors.  Those two blend very well together and the sweet and sour flavors provide a nice balance.  My first one I drank straight out of the bottle and as such didn’t get the full flavor load until the bottom of the beer.

After that, I did what you should always do with spiced beers.  That is, pour most of it into a glass (chilled, preferably) then swirl the bottle around to mix the spices up and pour the rest on top.  This will mix all the flavors together, giving you a more enjoyable drink.

While wheat beer has never been my absolute favorite, Mothership Wit is the best I have tried so far.

Tags: Thirsty Thursday

Cane Rod from Luke Bannister on Vimeo.

Nice build, Luke.

Tags: Gear

The guys writing over at False Casts and Flat Tires (Missoula) stumbled across a nothing-short-of-astounding change to the Bitterroot in the vicinity of the infamous Mitchell Slough…

The Bitterroot is one our favorite rivers. Its close proximity to Missoula, a strong trout population and the fact that their are still a few hidden gems where you can find some pretty respectable fish.

One of those gems is gone. Yes the Bitterroot is infamous for completely rearranging itself every year after runoff. However runoff cant do what a bulldozer and concrete barriers can.

The Mitchell Slough debate is a hot topic in the valley. The public’s right to legally recreate on public water vs.  landowners protecting their property and the water that runs through it. It’s been a debate that has gone on for years with some pretty, now infamous, celebrities involved on the landowners side. It’s not limited to fishing access but includes waterfowl hunting and a host of water based recreation activities.

Fences across the waterway making it impossible for fisherman to legally access the water to feeding ducks and geese so no one can legally hunt the “baited” birds along the slough.  These are the tactics that keep the public out of Mitchell slough. All of these efforts to keep the public out and for some “Rockstar” who actually sees this water maybe once or twice a year… Fine, you win. Keep the slough.

But keep your greedy hands off OUR river.

I don’t want to get on a soapbox or a moral high horse, but what I saw last week really upset me as a fly fisherman, a recreation management student and as someone who believes we should protect what resources we have left…

Read the rest of the tale here, view the pics and prepare to be pissed off.

In a day and age when, at least in Montana and around much of the intermountain West, folks are damned antsy about river stewardship and access issues, to (ostensibly) stealthily craft what appears to be a fairly major modification to a river bed like this might seem to be the absolute picture of arrogance and short-sightedness (some might even say stupidity).

Arrogance has defined much of the Mitchell Slough debate over the years. That’s pretty much obvious to anyone willing to spend the time to delve into the history of the tussle.

As to being short-sighted, our friend Al the Pal (AtP), who’s lived in the Bitterroot for his entire life and manages a business there, has laid eyes on the most recent handiwork and agrees that it won’t last the first average or better run-off season.

He’s much more interested in the fact that this appears to be a somewhat unsuspected salvo in a long-standing battle and suggests some in the Valley might just see this as a taunt that demands an answer. AtP claims to have overheard an interesting pub discussion recently in which various alternative methods to rearrange gravel in a river bed were being discussed.

More to come.

Tags: River - Bitterroot

FLYMAGE. FLY TYING 3 from Flymage Magazine on Vimeo.

Tags: Flies

Riding High: A Season on the Fly from The Fly Fishing Film Tour on Vimeo.

This one’s been making the rounds; well worth a gander if you haven’t already.

Tags: Fish Stories

I tend to agree with Mark at Headhunters that, from the sometimes skewed perspective of a predominantly blue-line fly fisherman, February is probably my least anticipated and enjoyed month of the year.

Back in home country the novelty of winter’s cold and snow has passed (this year’s bizarre weather excepted), the days are still achingly short and it’s often as cold as it will be during the year.

Typically that means it’s time to work hard at fighting off the shack nasties by catching up on tying, finally dragging the gear out to clean and reorganize for the season, and getting some of that heavy-lifting reading done. It also means it’s time to do a bit of wishful thinking and plan out next season’s ‘special’ fishing objectives.

Almost a month ago I wrote about how native cutthroats had been on my mind this winter. I think I’d like to chase down a native Redband most of all (edit – now recognizing that it’s indeed a rainbow species).

Clint Muhlfeld (Montana FWP) wrote a status update on Montana Redbands a few years ago for the Montana Chapter of the American Fisheries Society; he told much of what anglers need to know right up front…

The Columbia River redband trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss gairdneri), a subspecies of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), is native to the Fraser and Columbia River drainages east of the Cascade Mountains to barrier falls on the Pend Oreille, Spokane, Snake and Kootenai rivers (Allendorf et al. 1980; Behnke 1992). Logging, mining, agriculture, grazing, dams, over harvest and hybridization and competition with other trout contributed to the decline of redband trout abundance, distribution and genetic diversity in the Columbia River Basin (Williams et al. 1989; Behnke 1992). Consequently, many populations are restricted to isolated headwater streams that may serve as refugia until effective conservation and rehabilitation strategies are implemented.

The Western Native Trout Initiative website is chock full of great information about all of the native trout species of the West, and you can dig through their Redband Trout Assessment here.  And note that’s their nifty image above.

Practically speaking, this means a trip to the Yaak and the Kootenai in Montana and / or parts of the Spokane drainage in eastern Washington along with some hiking and hyperventilating to get into the backcountry where these guys are holed up these days.

It’s been years since we’ve had the pleasure of being on the Kootenai or the Yaak, perhaps some of the most overlooked fishery gems in a state renown for its fine waters. Sure, it’s a long reach to get back there but it’s certainly not country overrun by Sports and the Escalade crowd. Amen.

Addendum – kudos and thanks to Jerry Schoen at UMass for the polite reminder that my insinuation that Redbands were part of the cutthroat clan was evidence of my progressive insanity.

Tags: Native Fish

Chatting via email this morning with new Chi Wulff friend Dr. Aaron Adams of the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust about various stuff, including politics in Florida these days and he served up the quote of the day…

I wonder how much research/conservation we could’ve done with the ~$30 million they spent here on ads in the past week.

Our answer: a hell of a lot and all of it without the associated political heartburn.

We also chatted a bit about the nifty program BTT has recently served up in the form of a new members drive. A simple donation of $50 dollars (one night of burgers and beers) not only supports the premier warm water research and advocacy group in the world but enrolls you in a years worth of monthly drawings (Howler Brothers this month, then Cheeky, Orvis and so on).

Read all about it here.

Tags: Native Fish

Montana Wild Fish Reel 2011 from Montana Wild on Vimeo.

Tags: Fish Stories