Montana Duck Hunters Rejoice....

...season opens tomorrow. But with temperatures expected to soar well into the 80s it might not be too ducky a day, eh? No dedicated ducker by any stretch, I decided to fore-go getting baked and instead open the season early...And while we won't be dining duck anytime soon I did manage to nab a couple keepers...as always click pix for a larger view...

These blue-winged teal don't know how lucky they are...cuz presented a set-up like this well hell even I could hardly miss...right? Right!!!

Ain't never et a goldeneye...anyways no regrets this time around; actually damn glad to have the camera in hand instead...pretty nifty shot if I don't say so myownself...

Took some doing to finally get this guy to hold still long nuff to press the shutter and...well as you can see the pose could have been a lot better but as someone once mentioned an eye is an eye or...perhaps more to the point you can't win 'em all...

Then too someone once mentioned "even a blind hog finds a acorn once in awhile" To whit...sort of standin' on my head trying to focus on the wild licorice failed to note the two spiders...as I say...well hell...

 Like the bugs, not much a do 'bout duckin', just another nifty shot...'specially when you add in holdin' back Kate one hand workin' camera tother...I say way ta go Gale!

Fly Fishing: Salmon Fly Madness....

...Big Hole style.                                    (click photos to enlarge)

Nothing I know of so lights a fire under even the most casual of Big Hole River Rats as news of the long awaited arrival of the insectus gigantus stonefly better known as the Salmon Fly...

Sometime in June the big three-year old nymphs begin crawling ashore and up into the greenery where they shuck their nymphal skins and emerge....

...as adults. After drying their wings the big bugs fly off into the bushes and trees. Mating occurs a day or so later and when conditions are just right the fertile females buzz out over the water crash land on the river, lay their eggs and perish.

...meanwhile hopeful fly chuckers chuck all sorts of god-awful big creations hoping of course to land...

...a gawdawful big brown trout...otherwise known as giganticus browntrouticus...or if you prefer...A By God Goddamn PIG!!!

So there you have it, time is now, place is of course the Big Hole. Start your hunt down below Glen and work up river a few miles each day. Cast your favorite offering, preferably in tight to the bank, drag free or with just the slightest twitch. If at first you don't succeed try and try again...And when you do finally hit paydirt I can hear it all now, "Like shucks weren't nothin to it"...Right? Right...over and out...Chuck