Bitterroot Fishing Report

 

 

Well, Gang, on the heels of five prior fishing days by father/son combo Group Oners Brian “Moraine” & Nicholas “The Czar” Shepard, I spent this past Saturday with our Double Up Outfitter on the chilly waters of our main-targeted river for Extravaganza 2014, the majestic Bitterroot River…and what a day it was! 

 

Single-handedly, I caught (and released!) upwards of 30 glorious trout—rainbows, cutthroat and browns—on a combination of nymph rigged San Juan worms and dry fly skwalas, with the highlight of the day being landing our first E-14 twenty incher, a gorgeous side-channel 20” brown that ingested a dry fly presentation and bent my 5 wt BIIx Winston rod fully over (it literally looked like a paper clip for a good portion of the fifteen minute battle) such that even Propaneless John said he wished he had a picture of the doubled-over rod (so many and feisty were Saturday’s fish that my right wrist literally ached at the end of the day…I know ,all together, “aww, poor guy!”)

 

And, speaking of pictures, I had with me one of our formerly trusty Extravaganza cameras and took close up shots of over 20 fish which I was going to regale you with, only to discover back at the house that the camera had given up the ghost and only had recorded bands of purplesque colors.  Well, I am glad, if something like this first-of-a-kind debacle had to happen, that it happened to me and not to any of you…and I can assure you that you will not suffer the ignominy of it all as right now, after over five hours of internet research yesterday morning, I have headed this way sixteen (count ‘em) new Canon PhotoShot A1400 cameras which I have selected to be our replacement Extravaganza boat cameras.  These new beauties feature 16 megapixels, a (rare to find) viewfinder plus display screen for taking shots, burst shooting ability, and, like our now former PhotoShot cameras, are powered by easy to replace AA batteries, making swap out and changing on the river both possible and simple.  An 8GB chip that we will put in each camera will provide capacity for literally hundreds of high quality photos which, as in the past, post Extravaganza, we will upload for you on our E-14 photo gallery for your permanent post-E14 usage and downloading.  THAT was the big catch of this Saturday, all—a(nother) Extravagant upgrade!!

 

Strap it on, gang, based on what Der Shepards and I witnessed first-hand this past week, we are in for a(nother) heck of a great Montana fishing year!!

 

Best to all,

 

Rock Creek Ron

 

    ---<’///:><

 

 

 

 

 

E-14 Weekend Fly Fishing Muse

I just couldn’t resist sending one final passage to you this week from E-14 Headquarters (this as found in Nick Lyons’ “1001 Pearls of Fishing Wisdom” with attribution to Henry Kanemoto):

 

                                “Flyfishing is like sex, everyone thinks there is more than there is, and that everyone is getting more than their share.”

 

As for me, yes, I am going fishing tomorrow to get at least my share, whatsoever that may be!

 

Rock Creek Ron

    ---<’///:><

 

 

 

FW: Mo Sno!

Not a bad idea, Group One Rookie Mike Murray:

Need to build a pipeline to California
 
Michael A. Murray
 

 

Mo Sno!

…the snow keeps on a-fallin’ here at Headquarters, gang; the photos above are of just last night’s new snowfall. 

Snow Water Equivalent in the Bitterroot Basin is still holding right at 150% of 20 year median, with precipitation tracking at 125% of 20 year averages…winter is having too good of a time to give it all up!

 

I am going to brave the elements and fish tomorrow with our Double Up Outfitter; temps may reach as high as a balmy 50 degrees with a 70% chance of rain…oh, the lengths I go to in order to provide accurate early season reporting to “y’all”!!

 

RCR---<’///:><

 

 

E-14 Spring Fishing Update

Get a hold of these beauties caught (and released) within the last 48 hours here in Extravaganzaland!  That is Brian’s son Nicholas “The Czar” in the photos, btw, not son Josef as earlier errantly reported!

 

RCR---<’///:><

 

 

FW: Shepard a.m. Going Fishing Report!

And an observation from Group One Veteran Chris "No Limits" Barger:

What are ya ice fishing? Do you match the hatch with snow flakes;) burr it
makes me cold looking at it

Chris Barger

FW: Shepard a.m. Going Fishing Report!

From Group One veteran John “SOS” Reimann who knows of what he speaks, as he has been propaneless with the Great One:

I hope John brought the propane!!

 

 

 

Shepard a.m. Going Fishing Report!

Waiting for John .
Snow day in Missoula.

Pyramid Lake Fish Report

No sooner do I report to you on Chuck “Heleena” Ballweg’s Trinity trip than he writes and photos:

 

JB Walker and I fished Pyramid Lake in Nevada last weekend for the famous Lahontan Cutthroat.  We caught 10 each on Saturday and 10 total on Sunday.  We fished with fly guru Rob Anderson from Bucketlist Flyfishing.  This is a very unique fishery where you wade out to the top of your waders and climb on a step ladder to cast nymphs, wooly buggers or foam beetles out off of a ledge into deeper water.  Fish caught ranged from 3 to 6 pounds.

Chuck Ballweg

Trinity 23 inch Brown On Board

Congrats, Group Three rookie (to the Extravaganza, only!) George Choe who, along with fishing partner Chuck “Heleena” Ballweg, trekked north  up to the Trinity River outside of Redding, CA on March 16^th in search of steelhead but, under the tutelage of primo The Fly Shop Guide and great friend Lonnie Boles, caught and released the above 23” (as in nearly  two feet long) brown trout. 

While fishing a few weeks ago together on the Delta, Heleena told me of buddy George, “he sure may not cast as well as others but he sure hooks and lands more fish than most!”—is that damning one with faint praise, or what?!? 

 

Hmmm, I am wondering if George’s new Montana moniker shouldn’t be “No Cast”---whadayathink??

 

It is starting to happen, folks…yep, it’s starting to happen!!

 

RCR---<’///:><

 

 

 

First Fish Pics of the Year!!

Say hello to our fantastic Double-Up Outfitter John "The Great But
Propaneless" Gould (so named for his propensity to forget to put on board
propane for his otherwise would-be hot bbq lunches!), Group One's Brian
"Moraine" Shepard (named for his fondness for fishing the glacial moraines
during our past Alaskaganza trips) and three poses of their gorgeously
colored Bitterroot River cuttbow (a neuter cross between a rainbow trout and
a cuttbow trout--the mule equivalent of our fishing waters). Are the early
Spring colors on this beauty something, or what?!?

Moraine and son Josef "The Czar" are fishing five (count 'em!) days this
first week of E-14 sanctioned fishing during the skwala hatch--a stone fly
that emerges from the chilly Root waters annually between the Ides of March
and Tax Day. The father-son duo report that they are averaging 20 fish a
day in the 16-18" range similar to the cuttbow featured above and are
fishing in chilly climes, with ambient temperatures ranging between the mid
20's to the mid'30's...yes, the early stages of our 2014 fishing
Extravaganza...brrr!!

Bravo, both brave (foolhardy?!?) warriors...fish on!!

RCR---<'///:><

Mo Geese!

….as photographed by Group One’s Brian “Moraine” Shepard!

 

RCR---<’///:><

 

 

 

And the answer to E14's Quiz #1 is...

… as shown above, migrating snow geese as first identified by (1) Group Three veteran fisher/hunter par excellence Chuck “Heleena” Ballweg, followed in order by (2) Group Oner Tarry “Winsome” Winfrey (on his second guess, btw), (3) Group Twoer Lori “Fawn Lady” Ware, and (4) Group Threer (right in order, I might add!) Martin “Madman” O’Malley.  Dishonorable mentions go to fellow Oners Winsome (who first replied with “I believe it is birds” and rookie Mike Murray who suggested “a flock of white-tailed Ptarmigan”!!).

 

As Tarry states, “those of us who did not go to the Napa Concert never would have known”, for what your Hostess and I witnessed this past Saturday with Group One’s Brian “Moraine” Shepard in tow—see next email for Moraine’s wonderful photos—was truly a marvel:  the annual migration north of literally tens and tens of thousands of snow geese on their way to the Artic to nest, en masse, only to return their flight come Fall.  We saw this spectacle at Freezeout Lake, just northwest of Great Falls, MT, where the geese come to feed on the left overs of the malted barley harvest (gaining up to one third of their six pound body weight in the process). 

 

If you have ever had a Budweiser beer, this is their barley source, so “this geese is for you!”

 

Congrats, Chuck, a 2002 vintage bottle of Rock Creek Red will be waiting for you upon your E-14 arrival!

 

What a spectacle this was to behold, folks—mark your calendars now for the November 1, 2014 Montana Matters Napa Concert when next year’s installment of our Freezeout Lake adventure (plus a bunch more cool trips that I am putting together this week) will be auctioned off…ya gotta be there, all, so mark that date on your social calendar because, yes, because it does matter!

 

Best to all in the after-flutter of it all,

 

Rock Creek Ron

    ----<’///:><

 

 

E-14 Quiz #1

A bottle of coveted 2002 Rock Creek Red to be delivered upon your arrival at E-14, fellow Extravaganzers, to the first E-14er already not in the know who can email me what is depicted in the attached photo (taken this past Saturday with Your Hostess With The Mostess and RCR in the picture’s school bus, btw). 

 

Contest ends and answer to come at 3:00 p.m. MDT time later today and, as a hint, no, Alfred Hitchcock has not made a psychic return!

 

RCR---<’///:><

 

 

 

E-14: Dressing for the party!

One of the add-on features (and, in my opinion, benefits) to fly fishing is designing and tying your own flies.  Witness the attached  collection of nymphs that I have designed and, as recently as this weekend, improved.  The first three of these shots are of mayfly nymphs that I have created for fishing right out back on Rock Creek (when you design a fly you get to name it, so these are called “Rock Creek Rogues”), added to which this weekend was an epoxy-like material (you can see the left overs in the first photo dried on my ritzy cardboard holder) to give their wingback cases a hardened shell and three dimensional look; the last is of caddis fly pupas (self-named, “Pop’s Pupas”) which use the clear-coated material to give the underlying hook-strung beads a true three dimensional, really cool aura—these are my newest  design. 

 

Next step is to see what the trout think of ‘em!!

 

RCR---<’///:><

 

 

FW: Springtime in Montana!

Aptly noted by Houston-resident veteran Group Threer Martin “Madman” O’Malley:

Ron,

Some of us think of this as ‘Winter’!

 

Martin O'Malley

Springtime in Montana!

Greetings from E-14 Headquarters where, yesterday, the sequence of attached pictures shows that Spring in Montana can be and is a wild and varied one…more to follow!

 

RCR---<’///:><

 

 

E-14 Update

 

 

Gang: 

 

As we celebrate the first day of Spring tomorrow, here’s your latest update on the snowfall and water content of this year’s bountiful snowpack:  The Snow Water Equivalent in our Bitterroot River Basis has now crept upwards from its last-reported-to-you 149% of 20 year median to 167% of median, confirming what your Hostess With the Mostess tells me from Headquarters, to wit:  snow keeps on a-fallin’ in them thar hills, assuring now that our fishing waters for Extravaganza 2014 will, indeed, be plentiful.  Comparably, compatibly and confirmingly, the water year-to-date precipitation levels in the Root’s Basis are running at 129% of twenty year averages, boasting a robust seasonal bounty (California drought conditions notwithstanding—Montana is where all of CA’s water went, all)!

 

“How plentiful are things this year?” you ask…, moreover, “Will we have to trek over the Continental Divide to fish the Missouri River due to excessive runoff??”  Well, the answer to that question will be found in the second element of the runoff equation (now that the snow pack is in), namely what ambient temperatures will be during the months of April and May…and that is a HUGE variable from year to year.  As temperatures rise, the snowpack at the higher levels begins to melt, creating the “runoff”—the period of time when our fishing rivers become torrential in volume and their color devolves into that of mocha coffee, filled with the turbidity that accelerated water flow creates. As you veterans know, as the runoff approaches, we will be tracking it graphically and IF the months of April and May are cooler than norm, then the retained mountain water come E-14 will be larger and our water flows will be higher; however, if we get a hot and dry May, the runoff will accelerate during those early months and our fishing waters will be more mellow.

 

In either event, come low or high waters, as we have done in every one of our previous Extravaganzas, we WILL fish each and every one of our E-14 fishing dates…it just remains to be seen what water level and temperature hand(s) will be dealt for each of our groups.  And as E-13ers can ably attest to, the hand that is dealt to one group can vary dramatically from that dealt another, witness the mid-60’s temperatures for the Tattoos in Group Two (and lights out fishing) last year as contrasted to the high 90 temps dealt to Dem Threes a week later (and resultant tougher sledding on the fishing waters).

 

Ah, the wonderful vagaries of Mother Nature, mother to us all.

 

Best to all Springing forth with it all,

 

Rock Creek Ron

   ---<’///:><

 

 

 

Pre-E-14 Delta Stripers

Gang: 

I had the great pleasure and honor to fish with Group Three veteran Chuck “Heleena” Ballweg this past Saturday and, attached, are the results of our attempt to fool a few Delta striped bass (an anadramos fish that migrates this time of year from its salt water haunts off the California coast into the fresh water of the Sacramento Delta).  Unlike drift boating, we were jet boating around the Delta during a weather-perfect day in search for these amazing fish!

Thanks for a great day, Chuck!!

RCR---<’///:><

 

 

An E-14 NWF Thank You!!

Fellow E-14ers:

 

As part of our sign-up this year, we all wrote checks to the National Wildlife Federation the proceeds of which are directed towards the sustained and remarkable efforts of Tom France and his stalwart Missoula office staff.  Tom, in his own attached words, thanks each and every one of you for helping him out in his office's mission for preserving the natural beauty and bounty that Montana enjoys and offers to us…for, indeed, as Tom states, "Montana Matters"!!

 

Bravo, Tom—you are a great friend and masterful custodian of our natural resources…we look forward to fishing with you and your joining us in person during Extravaganza 2014.

 

Best to all in the earnest preparation for it all,

 

Rock Creek Ron

  ---<'///:<

 

p.s.  Decades ago, Tom France leadership and his coordination of NWF's efforts were single-handedly responsible for the reintroduction and resultant repopulation of wolves into the Montana and Yellowstone ecosystems…he be "Da Mon", man!

 

Extravaganzers in the News: 2014 Napa Basketball League Champs

Congrats to veteran Group Twoers Tim" Squawfish" Rodgers as coach and
daughter Mardi "CT" Rodgers as star player for their recent impressive Napa
League basketball victory (see impressive scores below!):

Here you are Everyone,
Mardi is #30 in the team picture

Playoff game: Walsh 37-10
Semi final: Walsh 30-27
Championship: Walsh 23-7

2014 Optimist League Champs

Nothing but heroes in E-14, gang!!

RCR---<'///><

FW: Missoula Bike left in snow

Group Oner veteran Tarry "Da Roofer" Winfrey shows his California upbringing:

 

That guy needs more Air in his tires

Missoula Bike left in snow

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!

 

RCR