The Ignorant Angler

One of my favorite pastimes is visiting DePuy Spring Creek in the Paradise Valley of Montana. Catching a break in the weather, when the daytime temperatures warm enough to fish, goes a long way in breaking the monotony of winter.  When cabin fever starts to set in, I eagerly watch the weather forecast, hoping for a forty degree day.  Better yet, I hope for a day without a forty mile an hour wind.

The daily ritual usually begins with my arriving at the creek early, usually too early to fish comfortably. I'll build a fire in the wood stove, knowing full well that I'll be back in short order to thaw frozen fingers, or to untangle a snarled hand tied leader that has acquired a few extra knots.  I'll pour a cup of coffee, maybe tie on some new tippet.  I'll kick back, look out the window, and admire the view of the  Absaroka Mountains.  After sufficient dawdling, I'll head back out.  Maybe, just maybe, there will be a midge hatch.  Rising trout will dimple the surface.…

Before the days of instant gratification, the internet, cable tv and the like, there was this thing called paper.  As a kid I remember leafing through Orvis catalogs and admiring bamboo fly rods.  There were Dan Bailey catalogs from a mythical place called Montana, a place that would later become my home.  Of course, these came in the mail, and it took awhile.  Getting a response necessitated scrawling out a letter on an 8 1/2 by 11 inch sheet of notebook paper, stuffing it into an envelope, and blowing a nickel on a postage stamp.  Weeks later, if the addressee didn't figure out that the letter came from a kid, they responded.  Getting a letter was a big deal.

On weekends I looked forward to shows like Walt Disney and Wild Kingdom.  We had network TV, there was no cable.   Outdoor programming was limited.  There was a show called the Flying Fisherman, hosted by an elderly gentleman(Gadabout Gaddis), who flew around the country and bought us fishing on TV.  I was thrilled.  Imagin…

This is my favorite photo from 2012.  Why?  Well, it captured all of the elements of this particular trip.
The river, the floating, spey casting, the guiding, and the scale of the country.  Great weather too.
As an aside.....I'm continually tweaking the blog and have added a slideshow of a few favorite images (see tab at page top)