072615

Headed south yesterday on a winding, rambling journey to a destination that had little to do with water, yet everything. Life is full of contrasts, black & whites, rights and wrongs, ying and yang, good and evil…Mine is anyway, or my perception is for sure. I credit the thinking to Star Wars, everything either was or was not.
Anyway, I have been wanting a motor boat for several years now so I pulled the trigger this spring and got one on order. Growing up in and around motor boats, I had pretty much lost the affection for loud and smoke until a trip to the Bow River a few years ago with some buddies. About 2 minutes into that first day, I felt things I hadn't felt since my teen years, racing the Ranger around Cedar Creek wide open. The idea was seeded and finally harvested yesterday, kind of.
I had been looking at jet boats for several years, but hadn't found one that was economically feasible and gave me the sense that there was a less than 50% chance of killing myself on a river at full throttle. I came across a Hog Island skiff last year at the ICAST show in Florida and did some more research. It's plastic and pretty much indestructible….I will test that theory, can handle and outboard jet, rows ok, and has all the bells and whistles of a small flat's boat. It took awhile to get all together, but tonight it sits in my driveway.
Along the drive to Victor, Idaho - where I met the boat delivery folks - I stopped for some photos in crappy light and poked my head in a few fly shops and caught up with some folks. The report goes like this.
There are a lot of campers on the lower Madison, Clutes was full at the ramp and above, there is a new Game Warden in Ennis, Delekta was having a Gumbo feed/fundraiser to honor his dad and raise some coin for Montana Hope, Galloups has sex dungeons and silk kitty's, Island Park was a zoo with Pioneer Days, Ashton is oddly located, the Tetons are spectacular, Driggs and Victor have grown a lot and have some spooky good restaurants, World Cast Anglers has a great fly shop and a bunch of good dudes working there, the Tetons are even better during sunset as are the fields and parks between Driggs and Ashton, people drive too fast at night through Island Park, the nights get cool at Island Park, the new boat is pretty badass. Now, that is a runoff sentence!
I was going to fish the Ranch this morning but opted for home and sometime with the family. Taking the boat to Helena tomorrow for the mechanical installations, hoping to get it out sometime this month.
While driving home, I went through a quick rundown of places that I've wanted to go over the years, but never could…now I will.
First on the list you ask? Not a prayer, but if you get the call…you should probably say yes as there is a whole new world out there and I'm going to get lost in it.