The Haps

Winter finally came back to see us here in SW Montana, hopefully it will stick around for awhile this time. The snowpack has diminished to 80% levels around the region over the last couple of weeks. I have a good "feeling" about the coming season and water conditions for some reason though. If we get our usual Feb and spring snows...we'll be in great shape.

The lower Madison is usually pretty good this time of year but we've been getting some real mixed reports over the last week. One guy hammers 'em and the next only got 2 all day. Working in a fly shop, you usually have to filter some info on both ends of the spectrum to find the truth. However, some reliable sources have been saying they've been doing good on pink scuds followed by midges, lightning bugs, etc. 

Usually when the water temp is cold over there, like it now you really have to make sure that you have the right amount of weight to get a slow drift through the deeper holes. If you know what a bucket is and how to find them...then you're in for a good day this time of year on the lower.

I've been working on marketing stuff, 1099's, and general shop duty the last week and a half. I have to admit that I like my job, both the guiding and the shop part of it. 

I've also been tying flies for NZ in the evenings...have some very sexy new dries for this year's trip. There are a whole lot of dudes from the area going down there this year, it's a big place with lots of water, but I would still just assume not run into anybody there. I had the unpleasant experience a few years ago of having a guide walk in on me with two clients from Bozeman on a weekend on the Oreti. It was bad enough and the fact that the lady wnated to talk to me a bout Simms and Bozeman in the middle of the day on the Oreti just made it worse. Thats why when in NZ...I'm now French

Saying Goodbye To Phil

Yesterday was Phil Braun's funeral and a chance for a lot of folks around to say their final good byes. If you didn't know Phil, he was a fixture in most of the local shops throughout the year. A retired Athletic Director of a New Jersey School District, he's been in the area since the early 80's and loved fishing just about as much as anyone could.

Phil would spend a couple hours a day or two every week just hanging out in the shop, pretty much ever since we opened in 2000. I grew to enjoy having him around as he always had some great opinions about politics, sports, women, and life in general.

I'll miss saying his name in the same way the the Cheers crew yelled for Norm when he walked through the door. I'll miss his fish stories and fly shop gossip. Mostly though, I think I'll just miss the Phil that I consider my friend.

No one loved fly fishing lakes with his wife and friends more than Phil Braun.

January In SW Mt

It seems like the last few months have been as hectic as ever in regards to just taking care of life things. Holiday visits to Ohio and Texas have kept me busy with non-fishing related stuff more so than not, but I did manage to sneak a few fishing outings in there.

I fished for Great Lakes Steelhead one day in December on Rocky River, just west of Cleveland. The day started off about 18 degrees and snowy. The river was rather small compared to waters around here and full of slush ice and anchor ice was prevelant in all of the fishy looking runs. We stuck it out and got a few fish late in the day. Bruce lost one that was about 8 lbs. right at the guide's hand (he didn't bring a net) and we each landed a couple in the 5-6 pound class. 

The family and I just returned from 10 days in Texas, we were originally supposed to got Turks & Caicos but we dithced that trip thanks to the economy. Texas was fun-filled family adventure that ostly involved being really busy going form one place to another. My parents have a beach house west of Galveston and we spent a few days there but the weather was not ideal for fishing the flats. The remnanats of Huricane Ike were everywhere, pretty amazing actaully.

I think the area has some real potential from a fly-fisher perspective as there are miles and miles of shallow flats and lagoons right out there back yard with Redfish and Speckled Trout. My plan is to learn that and start hosting some trips down to the area in 2011. I found one guide in the area that seemed like a great guy but he only does it part time for the time being.

The weather here in Bozeman has been fantastic latley and people have been getting out by the droves. I went to the Upper Madison above the West Fork yesterday. I think we found the only spot in SW Montana that didn't get above freezing yesterday! We still manged to get 20

-30 fish between us in about 3 hours of fishing. Clear skies and a snow covered landscape made for some really beautiful scenery and a great day. There were hundreds of elk scatterred through the Valley as there must be some late season hunts keeping them on the move.

I'm getting ready for the New Zealand trip and trying to get caught up on the shop things before we go.