Monthly Archives: April 2012

Brokedown Mountain Palace – Scrambled or Over Easy?

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So, are you gonna eat those or what?

Continued…

A few days into a great week of fishing on the Missouri River near Craig, MT and camp was pretty much settled in.  We’re into our norms – when people get up and shake off the whiskey, PBR, and way more food that you should eat from the night before and start thinking about getting back on the water.  That means breakfast, and breakfast means a big meal so that lunch on the river can be the easy one for the day.

Planning meals for a large group, even with a base camp, can be an occupational hazard.  Luckily, this group is pretty easy about food – if it’s hot and had at least two legs, it works.  I’m a big fan of breakfast, and eggs are good binders for peppers, meat, onions, and cheese.  In fact, most breakfast’s were either left over London Broil, Venison smokies or Elk backstraps.  Throw in some pig and it’s done.  It’s a good thing we brought five dozen eggs, cause the cardboard container they are housed in can get moist in the cooler, and well….the dogs came in handy for clean up.

One of the many..

 

The fishing was outstanding.  Most days consisted of getting on the water around 11 am, and watching hordes of midges take over the surface of the river.  There were few boats, mostly we were the only anglers on the water.  Over the course of the week, we developed a nice pattern on the lower river, between Stickney and Mountain Palace.  Midges, BWO’s, and when it got slow on top, drifting a Fire Bead Czech with a Ray Charles underneath.  Now, this particular style of fishing – in the words of a local guide, can be very technical.  And it’s true – the fish were in specific spots and depths.  Sean McAfee, who guides for Linehan Outfitting Company, knows this river well and shared just enough to get the rest of us in line.  Fish the braided water over the weed beds, 8 foot leader, a split shot – well, for those who enjoy sub-surface fishing, this is what works.  I prefer to fish dry flies, and the Comparadun in size 18 worked.

 

Fishing HQ

 

Among the basic camping sites along the Missouri, this was the most appealing.  Away from Hwy 15, at the terminus of great dry fly water, and wide open.  The Fly Fishers Inn, in the background, was once the hub of activity on the MO – prior to the sleepy little town of Craig becoming a Mecca for tailwater fishing in the West.  When your home water is blown out, the MO is a sure bet.

I heard that the property is for sale – a little more juice than I have in the pitcher right now, but the location sure is sweet and it’s turn-key.  If you want to own it, maybe we can work something out….

It’s quiet on the MO at night – except for here.  This apparently is breeding central for Canadian Geese, and the males were competing for cliff-side nesting space, and for females.  And we heard about it all day and night long.

Next up…Shuttleman’s.

 

 

Brokedown Mountain Palace

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Going home, going home, by the waterside I will rest my bones.  Listen to the river sing sweet songs, to rock my soul.  - Garcia, Hunter

Springtime is more than an awakening from the long slumber of winter, when the rivers rise and the hills begin to sing with the sounds of the shift towards longer, warmer days.  I imagine that many fly anglers, ready to shed their waterproof layers and expose their ashy legs to the warming sun, go through the same shift that I do – a springtime awakening sets the stage for the year.  A few years ago, I became so busy with trying to create a life for myself and my family that I pushed the coming season aside, forgetting to live.  This is not to say that I neglected to breathe, to walk in the water, to love.  I simply felt that I was stronger than the connection between the changes in nature and my life, that they could be overcome by hard work for someone else’s benefit, all for a paycheck.  And things, material things.  Things long since discarded, given away, lost.

I returned from Craig, MT a few days ago – floating the MO river with a small group of valued friends.  It’s my annual spring trip, carefully planned for after the Orvis Rendezvous, this year held in Missoula.  Last year, I made the long trek to Casper and was awarded the 2011 Orvis Endorsed Fly Fishing Guide Of The Year.  This was a tremendous shift in my life; validation for hard work and dedication, but also a burden.  The only way to say this is to say it honestly – it’s human nature to strive to be better.  A cohort of mine at Orvis, Jody Frederick, who did a wonderful job managing the Rendezvous this year (as always Jody!) posted a quote on Facebook earlier today:

“Don’t bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.” -William Faulkner

Getting out of your own way is a struggle sometimes.  And Jerry sings…“sometimes the lights are shining on me…”  It’s a timely quote as I left for the Rendezvous this year reflecting on what the last year was, who my friends are, what was important.  Most importantly, who I was and what I still wanted to do.  Fulfillment.

   As the sun went down over my home, and I traveled East towards Missoula, down roads filled with lyrics and lines, the sense of springtime enveloped me.  Towards the end of the road marking the way to the rest of the year; accelerating towards the river faster and faster, let’s get there.

Spring has come, and the river’s are rising.  Full of the debris from a long, cold winter.  As they rise, the trees pulled back to the ground from which they came become summer homes for the developing fish.  Habitat, created by the seasons.

Brokedown Mountain Palace.  To be continued.