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Greg Vieth
Membership Chairman

I'll try not to repeat what Mike had already told ya'll in the last newsletter, but possibly put a different perspective on how a "Montana Virgin" would see this wonderful place with childlike wonderment and sometimes actions.

Flying into Bozeman via Minneapolis/St.Paul on Northwest airlines Thursday was quite different(small airport). Smoke filled mountains were seen throughout our trip from the 2000 Western Fires and greeted us upon arrival. My first suggestion is to find a cheap cooler after getting your rental car. Ours served us well! Our drive to Livingston was brought to climax by my first sight of the Yellowstone River. I had finally made it!

After finding some of our fellow Ozarkians at the Conclave school grounds and discovering my first place photo win, we made our way to check in at the famous Murray Hotel. Neat old historic place, parking sucks! Steve called me a few days before leaving St.Louis to fill us in on weather (it was 95-100+ instead of 75. Normally, you would pack polar fleece) and fishing info before leaving home and mentioned the Murray Bar seemed to be the hotspot for us (and was) of who's who.

The 9th Street Bridge was the call for fishing that evening after leaving the live auction and our friends at the Civic Center. They had run out of food several times, I had no money and it was very warm inside. Trico, caddis, pheasant tail, prince nymphs,"lightning bugs" and MICE at night! I didn't bring one. I fished Cracklebacks, midge patterns, soft hackles, buggers and brown mohair leeches on a 9' 5wt St. Croix Ultra Legend. I also brought a Redington Red Start 8/9wt. for chucking and ducking. Life was good and I was in Montana with my first fish on the end of my line.

My "fishing skills" had to be shared with my other love, photography. I had all intentions of keeping a daily written journal, but instead kept a photo journal (another tip). My memory is foggy when so much is done in such a short period of time (sometimes being alcohol induced.) I carried a good 35 mm w/APS and zoom, 35 mm with black and white, 35 mm disposable w/APS for my vest or chestpack, a video camera with 2 batteries and a tripod. I ended up with 10 rolls of film, an hour long video and another hernia. Overkill, but I'm glad I did it. A few pictures will be entered in next years contest.

Another interest of mine is entomology (bug huntin'). Friday morning, I found many live 2in. salmon flies and spent casings as well along the Yellowstone. When the hatch comes off earlier in the year it must look like 747s flying in your face. I swear a few had serial numbers!

After getting a glimpse of Paradise Valley and the Absaroka/Beartooth Mountains, we came to the original entrance to Yellowstone Park in Gardiner Montana. Passing by the rebirth of the 1988 fires gave us hope for the present "matchbox" problems in the West. The drive into the park takes you past Ponderosa Pines, sulfur pits, mud volcanoes, geysers, steam vents, elk, bison and many clueless tourist. Our destination, Pelican Creek.

Mike and I both used our backpacks as our carry-ons. I had fishing gear, change of clothes, meds and contacts with me just in case our baggage lost us on the plane(tip). We were now geared up for a hike into the forest. Lightweight pants, sunscreen/bug repellent, chestpack and hiking boots were very helpful. It's not advisable to bring food to a place where the Grizzly lives but do pack water and a compass. Next, actually use the compass before starting your hike(tip). I didn't! Just in case we were not alone we tried to make a little noise along the way(tip). Don't know where we went wrong, but the trail disappeared and so did our hopes of fishing that beautiful creek that day. The company was good and so is life. The storm on the way back drove us to Livingston (the storms come up quick, so have a rain jacket). Ended up on the Yellowstone again and had my first and only Cutt ever and saw my partner also doing very well. Line eating rip rap edge the river. If you have a stripping basket, bring it(tip).

Trying to get a meal in Livingston after 10 PM or almost anytime was a feat in itself. We finally had a wonderful dinner with the Temper's and Antonic's at "Uncle Looie's Ristorante" and breakfast at the train depot diner the following morning after hearing a band doing long forgotten "Grateful Dead" and "Little Feat" tunes the night before.

You must see the International Fly Fishing Center at the Lincoln School, Dan Bailey's, George Anderson's Yellowstone Angler and any other fly shop in town to purchase their flies for local patterns and info(tip). I brought my vise and materials, but didn't have time to tie.

We spent the next day "Conclaving." Having my brush with famous names such as Kreh, Wulff, Krieger, Aimonette, Clark, Carnaghi, Smith, Hargrove (you get the picture) brought us to another foodless FFF barbecue. Sharing "Moose Drool" with Jerry and company was very memorable though.

After a tip from Tom Hargrove, we made our way through the Gallatin Forest Sunday morning to Falls Creek Campground on the scenic Boulder River where Tom and Steven Hovis had been hiding out. Still wiping the scotch out of their eyes, they gave us flies tied the previous night by lantern light and the lowdown on the river. My first brook trout ever were taken on that day from one of the most beautiful stretches of water I have ever seen. Mike led the way under absolute bluebird skies with Contact Mountain (10,007 ft.) as our background. No smoke in sight. Large salmon flies were prevalent on this section of water as well. Scattered here and there at the base of the mountain were lovely A-frames that blended into the surroundings. Who owns these places? We fished hard until seeing signs of a much larger presence. We waded back and did our laundry at the camp water pump. Life is good.

Our drive to Craig, as Mike said, was incredible! We really knew things were bad when a chopper with a water bucket passed overhead. You could actually smell the hardwood burning! I can't fathom 12-14' snow drifts in a place that now resembled the Mars landscape. I think it's probably the picture in my mind of the Missouri River in St. Charles that totally contrasts what it's like in Montana. It's big, intimidating and gin clear. It definitely wasn't as affected by the drought like the Blackfoot and Madison were. Some tributaries were bone dry. I have never seen anything like what the next 3 1/2 days brought on. Life is good.

I can't say enough about the Missouri River Trout Shop and Lodge. Good food, nice facilities, friendly folks, highly recommended (big tip)!

Our meeting with Tim Plaska of Missouri River Expeditions Monday morning was pretty much how I envisioned him, worn waders, burley beard and all. The sky and water was full of life and death that morning at Holter Dam. I can't really describe the feeding frenzy. It looked like the fish were feeding on an oil slick rather than thousands of spent tricos and the dance continued in air. This was my first guided drift boat trip, but I had more luck with photography than fishing that day. The back of a drift boat has many things to hook your line around. So, if you still have that stripping basket handy, this is a great time to use it (another big tip). I did manage to land one really nice brown and hooked into a really big fish while wading off a confluence past an island. After it jumped 3 foot out of the water and broke me off, I turned around to see Tim shaking his head. "Had a bigin' didnja?" he asked. After picking my jaw up out of the water, all I could say was "yep." "Whatcha usin?" "My last brown mohair leech." I have never felt fish with shoulders like Montana fish do in Missouri or Arkansas. It's unreal!

Our wonderful shore lunch consisted of prawn cocktails, pasta salad, soda pop and pound cake with strawberries and whipped cream and lots of jaw jacking. Life is very good. I would however take additional beverages of your choice.(tip) I would have killed for a bottle of water. A bottle with a filter would have been ideal (a tip to myself and hint to my wife for my birthday).

Pelicans, heron and hawks filled the sky and wild horses, cattle and mountain goats roamed the terrain. We took out at Craig Bridge. It was BEER THIRTY!

Each night we would call our wives from the only phone in Craig I think. It's located outside, next to a neon "Bud" sign in the lodge dining room window and had hundreds of trico, pmd and chartreuse midges every night doing their mating ritual on the glass. We really weren't the only perverts staying at the place witnessing this, trust me. We did however smoke a cigar afterwards.

We went the following morning back to the Holter Dam "oil slick." We had high horizontal winds and the largest trico hatch I have ever seen. It felt like someone throwing gravel at you while every orifice on your head is being stuffed with live bugs by some unseen annoying hand. At times it really hurt. Incredible!

Fishing awesome rises from various access points and landing fish that you've worked for what seemed and may have been hours taxed us Wednesday. I found endless numbers of 1 1/2- 2' spent caddis casings. (anyone know how to clean them up)? Time out was in order as we headed west, cameras in hand.

The further west into the Helena National Forest (which was actually closed internally) we headed, the sun started a magic act. Sometimes looking like an orange/red tennis ball to totally disappearing from the salmon colored sky. We stopped at the Blackfoot River, found porcupine remains (another first) and dipped a line. Mike quickly hooked into a whitefish and brown trout. Again we set out. Heading into Lincoln, you could tell the town folk and wildlife were equally stressed. Each afraid of losing their homes. Deer ran in the streets through town. Quite a few of the rivers and access points we wanted to fish were closed! It was time to turn back and cross the Continental Divide at Rogers Pass again. It's BEER O'CLOCK!

After having dinner at "Hookers Bar and Grill"(across the road from the lodge) I treated Mike with a taste of scotch back in our room. After that, I packed some and found myself back at Hooker's swapping stories and flies until all hours of the morning with independent local guide Jim Kirkpatrick. He actually convinced me I was on the right track with my oversized streamers. He swore putting match the hatch flies into the midst of a billion flies was silly. Giving them something just a hair bigger or totally different, but with a good presentation made the difference (I think a good tip). Scott Sanchez at Dan Bailey's sold me on the "Double Bunny" years ago by winning the Jackson Hole One Fly contest. I tied some up months ago after meeting him at Feather-Craft and never fished one (not a good tip). So what does this all mean? Remember the mice? Big flies, big fish!

I probably did miss the best fishing Thursday morning as Mike said, but I wouldn't trade the chance meeting and hangover for anything. Maybe I met someone that confirmed something I already knew or at least felt but never acted on. I'm sure more than one bass fisher has caught a large fish on a Budweiser plug! Be different when times are tough.

The drive to the airport was something else. In between bouts of unconsciousness, I somehow focused long enough to take some good shots and short video of a fire somewhere between Helena and Bozeman. We knew we were cutting it pretty close with the rented Explorer (and our luck with the Firestone Wilderness Tires) and our flight, but we made it. Leaving Montana made me well up (or was that realizing I left my spare video battery and charger in Craig) and reality was near. The storm we flew through and the additional stop for fuel in Fargo, along with the sprint through Minn/St.Paul airport to get our connecting flight didn't help matters.

Please, if you go to this magical place do clean your waders, boots, net and anything else that may have been contaminated by whirling disease spores. We were given bottles of "Bright Water"made by Scott at the conclave barbecue and I have since used it. Nobody wants to be a "Typhoid Mary!"

I think I came away with a pretty good travel log and some new friends and acquantances. Mission accomplished! Perhaps someday I'll return to "Big Sky Country" and still be able to go there with the eyes of a child, but perhaps a bit wiser.

I hope our Montana experiences help the next club virgin in some small way.

Before we get started, I would like to offer two caveats. First, the fly rod used by your friend may not be the rod for you. The only way to find out what rod suits your casting style is to cast several rods from different manufacturers and rods of different line weights lengths, and actions.

The second caveat is not to get caught up in how far you can cast the line. Unfortunately, we often get caught in the trap of saying, "This rod is a cannon, look how far it can throw the line." Very rarely does a person cast 100 feet of line to a fish. Most of your fishing will be within 40 feet of where you stand. A rod that can cast 100 feet of line may be terrible in casting line to the first 40 feet of water. In testing a rod resist the temptation in making your decision on how far the rod casts. Rather, concentrate on throwing 20-40 feet of line. Ninety percent of your casting will be in this range. Imagine you are on a stream and casting to fish. Ask yourself how the rod loads at these distances. Do you need to get a lot of line out to flex or load the tip for short casts? Does the rod make an accurate cast? Does the rod shoot line easily? Does it have a delicate presentation? Is the rod forgiving when you need to change your casting style? Does the rod develop adequate line speeds at short distances for dry fly action? Can you cast nymphs or wet flies with 10 feet of line? These are the things you should be thinking about, not how far the rod casts. If you occasionally need to cast longer distances see if the rod will cast up to 60 feet. That will take care of 99% of your casting situations. Enough said.

In selecting a rod the three most important factors to consider ( other than price ) are rod length, line weight, and action. For trout and smallmouth bass fishing my recommendation is an 81/2 to 9 foot, five to six weight rod with a medium fast to fast action. This rod will cover all of your flyfishing needs in Missouri, the Northeast and most of the West. If you are fishing the Green River, San Juan River, face strong winds or you are fishing streamers then you are probably better off with a six weight rod.

Rod lengths generally fall into two size categories: 71/2-8 ft., and 81/2-9 ft. Each grouping has its advantages and disadvantage. Shorter rods tend to me more accurate, but this is offset by less mechanical efficiency, since the rod tip travels through a smaller arc. Think of a small lever. It takes more effort to develop line speed and flexion in the short rod. Shorter rods are typically used on smaller streams where you are using lighter gear. They also have the advantage of not getting hung up on bushes or overhanging trees.

Long rods are less accurate, as there is more opportunity for the rod tip to travel out of the casting plane. However it is easier to cast a long rod. With a long rod you can hold more line in the air and cast farther. Long rods hold more line on the water which helps load the rod more efficiently than short rods. Longer rods generally roll cast better than short rods and with a tighter loop. Probably the biggest advantage in a long rod is the ability to mend to position your line on the water and hold the line off different current seams that might cause drag. You've all faced the situation where you cast to slack water, but there is a fast current seam between you and the fly. As soon as the fly hits the slack water the line is pulled by the faster water and you get major drag. The solution is to use the long rod to hold the line up above the fast moving water.

If you are a beginner my recommendation is to start with an 81/2- 9 foot rod. If you want to fish dry flies on small spring creeks, then go with the shorter rod.

Fly rods are designed to be matched with a particular weight line. Rods must flex which comes from the weight of the line. Generally, the size or pulling power of the fish will determine the line weight. A heavier rod meant for big fish requires greater line weight to cause the rod to flex. Lighter rods used for smaller fish require less line weight to flex the rod. A rod and line weight must be properly matched or the angler will have to significantly alter his or her casting stroke. If the line is too light then the rod will not flex and you have to increase the speed of your casting stroke to develop sufficient line speed to flex the rod. This is going to cause you to tire. On the other hand, if the line is too heavy the rod will overload and make for a sloppy presentation. In case you were wondering, the line weight refers to the weight in grains of the first thirty feet of line.

My recommendation for beginners is to start with a rod with a 5 or 6 line weight. this will cover most of your trout and smallmouth bass situations. For smaller trout on spring creeks, or for panfish, I suggest a 3 or 4 weight rod. For largemouth bass, and small salmon use a 7 weight. For big salmon, steelhead, bone fish and permit go with the 8 or 9 weight. As a final suggeston I would stagger my rods either going with all odds or all evens, assuming your spouse lets you have more than one.

The most confusing characteristic of a fly rods is the action. as a general rule the action refers to how and where the rod bends. A fast action rod is one that is stiff and bends at the tip. A medium action rod flexes half way down the rod, and the slow action rod flexes all the way down into the butt. It takes along time for a slow rod to flex and return to the normal position.

Historically slow rods were used to fish wet flies. The fly would move slowly through the air and retain its wetness so it would sink rapidly. Moving the fly rapidly through the air shakes out the water or dries the fly. This is good if you are dry fly fishing, and this led to the advent of fast action rods. Fast action rods give a fast, tight loop. However this does not necessarily translate into a delicate presentation. Tight loops can slam the fly onto the water if you are not careful. Medium to softer action rods have a more open loop which is thought to give a more delicate presentation. Of course the experience of the angler and the ability to adjust ones casting style impacts this greatly. For an all around rod my suggestion is a medium or medium fast action rod. If you fish exclusively dry flies then I would go with the medium fast to fast action.

Well, there you have it. I'm sure I didn't get it all right and I'll be hearing from the reps and club experts. However, I hope you grasped the concepts and you have sufficient information to make an intelligent choice on your next fly rod.

Tight lines,
John Walker