E-14 Update

Greetings, Fellow Extravaganzers!

 

I am on the eve of leaving for Washington, DC to attend the annual meetings of the National Wildlife Federation and, in addition to the individual messages that I have sent out to each group separately, want to give you this update on where things stand for this year’s blessed event.

 

Well, just when we were looking for the snow in the upper mountain climes to recede, a contraire, the snow it keeps on a-comin’ such that, as of today, the snow water content of our targeted Bitterroot Mountain Range is now boasting 184% of 20 year median, meaning that, for at least Groups One and, possibly, Two that the Mighty Missouri River more likely than not will be in our E-14 offing.  In fact, earlier today, I contacted Beach Transportation and reserved (on a tentative basis) a 50 person motor coach for each of our Group One and Group Two fishing days and confirmed that Commander Cliff (our long-time friend and driver) is on standby to be our land guide.

 

We will begin tracking the flow this week and, soon, you will begin receiving a graph that depicts this year’s runoff as compared to the last seven that we have been tracking.  As in the past, our sampled river is our own Rock Creek, as the runoff for it is indicative of the runoff of our primary targeted rivers, the Big Blackfoot, the Clark Fork of the Columbia and the Bitterroot Rivers. 

 

If, again, “it’s to the Mo we go”, that is not a bad thing, unless you are particularly fond of your sleep (something highly overrated at any Extravaganza!).  What it means is that we will arise around 5:30 a.m., meet Cliff and Der Motor Coach at the foot of our Rock Creek Road, and proceed over the Continental Divide through Helena, the state’s capitol, and head northward for a 9:00 a.m. arrival at Craig , MT.  There, as we have done in the past, we will be based out of the Headhunters and meet our E-14 already enlisted guides (who will have travelled over the night before to be on the scene before we arrive).  From there we will launch on the Missouri River right below Holter Dam, and fish just as if we were near Missoula.  The Mo boasts, however, over 5,000 trout to the river mile and average over 18” in length.  As you veterans know, we track and have a sign-in board for 20”+ trout, and, in the course of our 2011 Mo-ventures, we caught and released 111 twenty inchers, almost ten times the number of a “normal” Extravaganza year.

 

Again, we shall see what we shall see, but all signs are looking towards a(nother) Motor Coach year, particularly for Group One and more than likely for Group Two.  In every event it will be a(nother) banner year for us and we have more surprises in store for you (again!) than you can imagine!!  Keep your eyes peeled on the upcoming flow reports, as that will be the tale of the Tale of E-14, and a whale of a tale that will be.

 

I will reach out to you next Monday upon my return with a report on all that I saw and learned in my new capacity as a NWF director as well as date you down on Missoula-based developments.

 

Best to all in awe of it all,

 

Rock Creek Ron    ---<’///:><