Montana Fishing: More on HB 309

The link below will take you to the Montana Standard and a more comprehensive article by Nick Gevock on the disasterous ramifications anglers face should HB 309 pass...
http://www.mtstandard.com/news/local/article_f70389fc-3364-11e0-8e41-001cc4c002e0.html

Spring Tease

March 1, 50 degrees, no wind to speak of and a brand spankin new fishin license in hand to boot, well hell I'm outta here...gone fishin that is. And wonders of wonders upon arriving at my predetermined spot not another angler in sight...how good is that? Well pretty damn good actually as 2nd or 3rd cast and I'm already hooked tight to what eventually turns out a fat ol' brown trout...not so long, maybe 16-inches but unlike the snaky lookin brown the Ruby gave up the other day this sucker is fat, maybe not high-summer fat but fat enough. Better still unlike his skinny, roll over play dead cousin this one is a real scrapper...

For the next half hour or so hits are fast and furious, alas actual hook-ups are not. Blame it on reactions too long allowed to lay dormant or more likely just another painful reminder Chuck my man you just ain't gettin no younger...blame it on whatever but I just can't seem to get a good hook-set to save my sorry butt.

But like most slumps this one finally ends but...But the trout, another fat brown, is indeed foul hooked--caught by the tail I have a helluva time hauling it close enough to net and then...and then I miss. When seconds later the hook pulls out I almost feel like cheering...really.

Now it is going on 4 p.m. and the shut down is like flipping switch. Not a single bite mind you in the next three runs...Time a call it quits.

Big Hole River Use Rift Brewing

With the river use rules up for review this spring it should come as no surprise some non-resident anglers and I suppose some outfitters and guides would take advantage of the opportunity to change things more to their liking. The surprise to me though is that the Big Hole River Foundation would allow itself to become embroiled. The Foundation was chartered in the first beginning on the premise of protecting the river from abuse--dewatering, pollution, over-crowding, et al. The River Use regulations were put in place primarily to allow citizens the chance to dodge the increasingly heavy boat traffic--largely outfitters and guides but increasing numbers of non-residents--real or imagined--were tossed into the mix as well. In a nutshell the River Use restricts float fishing by outfitters and guides and non-residents, a sort of rest-rotation system, on one section of river each day of the week. For instance Divide to Melrose is closed on Sundays from Opening Day through Labor Day. And another section is closed on Monday and so forth.

As a guide the only problem I have is my aging, scattered brain doesn't program so good anymore and I have to use flash cards to keep it straight. I suppose there are outfitter and guides out there who have a big problem with the current system but I honestly don't know any...haven't heard any bitching other than most think generally a waste of time but most just say hey, who the hell cares there's a lot of river so just go somewhere else. I have heard non-residents whining, oh poor me, a heinous example of blatant discrimination...to which I say get a life, like there are far more pressing problems out there to fret and fume...

Back to the Big Hole River Foundation: My two cents says they are making a huge mistake getting involved in the first place. No matter how it flies--and I can't imagine FWP changing things at least not much--by taking a stance somebody's gonna be PO'd. And as we all know a PO'd customer is not a happy camper and highly unlikely to continue lending support--which of course all foundations large and small depend on for their very existence. So there you have it. Yes, yet another rant by a tired old man, sorry I just can't help myself...maybe I need to check myself into rehab? Nah, I ain't that far gone...

A River Runs Through It

In our family there was no clear line between religion and fly fishing. We lived at the junction of great trout rivers in Western Montana, and our father was a Presbyterian minister and a fly fisherman who tied his own flies and taught others. He told us about Christ's disciples being fishermen, and we were left to assume, as my brother and I did, that all first-class fishermen on the Sea of Galilee were fly fishermen and that John, the favorite, was a dry-fly fisherman.

Thus begins the book that would become a blockbuster movie that would forever change the sport of fly fishing...Good or bad remains of course open for debate and a discourse I for one have a strong opinion--but since no one will listen anyway and not withstanding anything I say will not change things one iota, I will leave it go and just say that the book is among my all time favorites and if...if you haven't yet, trust me you are as they say missin' it big time. Besides a great story line the book is filled with wonderful passages:

Poets talk about spots of time but it is really the fishermen who experience eternity compressed into a moment. No can tell what a spot of time is until suddenly the whole world is a fish and the fish is gone. I shall remember that son of a bitch forever.

Eventually all things merge into one and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters.

See what I mean.