2014 Northwest Outdoor Writers Association Conference Roundup...

41st Annual Northwest Outdoor Writers AssociationConference was held recently in Polson, MT at the Kwataqnuk Resort overlooking beautiful Flathead Lake.

Top left photo, Kyla Merwin, NOWA Executive Director and Dennis Clay present the Fred L. Peterson Award to Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation for Best Supporting Member;

Top Right Photo: None other than your intrepid reporter grabbed the Enos Bradner Award (Former recipients Gary Lewis (left) and Milt Kiezer). "In recognition of your commitment to uphold the professional standards of outdoor communication and your outstanding dedication to the Northwest Outdoor Writers Association." To be sure, Kind, Humbling and Flattering. Well deserved? Well, I'll leave that for others to debate.

Bottom Photo: You are probably wondering "what the heck is that?" and you would be right. Pal Bert and me pondering "what the heck is that" one of a table full of items we must ID in order to win the Annual What The Heck Is That Contest. Each table at the Awards Night Banquet competes not so much for prizes (which are minimal at best) but for, you know, the glory goes with whipping ass--and yes, as usual, our table won. Imagine. And yes I am kidding...all just a big part of the fun and camaraderie joining NOWA entails.

Next time I'll post some shots of the Annual Photo Shootout Contest and...well stay tuned, you're gonna love the results...or more likely hate 'em...your call.

Montana Fly Fishing: Little Flies/Larger Trout

Last few days with all the storm fronts blowing through have ramped up the midge and BWO hatches. While at times the wind has been a bit too much in between gusts you can manage to get your bug on the water, in the feeding lane, the trout are eating almost any reasonable match. Regardless whether midges or olives, my best fly has been a simple Deer Hair Emerger size 18 or 20. As you can see the wings on the above are synthetic (Enrico Puglosi, Trigger Fibers) rather than deer hair--seems to work almost as well as the natural hair and I find it easier to tie on size 20 hooks. Body is simply dubbed hare's mask, the rougher the better.  For what its worth I fish the teeny-weenies on a 12 foot leader tapered to about 4 feet, 6X. Tippet to fly is a double surgeon loop which seems to add a little to its appeal over my usual clinch knot...OK could very well be more the mysterious workings within an old man's noggin...what can I say.

And yes, this Poindexter brown is skinny, too skinny; to my way of thinking another good reason to get on with the improvements ASAP.

Montana Fly Fishing: Big Hole Dropping...

...faster than your basic "anvil tossed in a swamp" as Ol' Lefty might say.Friday evening, a few hours after I shot this (4000 cfs) the river spiked just under 6000 cfs--which is not quite double the highest peak all last year (3500 cfs). This morning it is running about 3000 cfs...Judging the forecast for the next few days is on the cool side the river should continue to drop and the fishing pick up daily. I'd be surprised if it didn't fish well even today tossing streamers or the always reliable turdnworm duo off the banks; look for skwalas, especially later on in the day.

What the future holds, who knows. With snowpack as high as 170% of normal anything like a heat wave might send the high snow runoff runnin' right off the charts--higher even than the record setting 14,000+ of a couple years ago. If stays cool, why hell, Friday evening's 6000 cfs might just be it...stay tuned.