What I did This Summer

It started on Memorial Day weekend with a well-intentioned trip to the North Platte River in Wyoming. I had a business meeting in Colorado the following week so I thought I would stop in on my brother-in-low in Casper and spend a pleasant few days on the Miracle Mile. We met up and spent an enjoyable afternoon near the Mile and caught a fish or two. On the way home the smell of hot brakes and the telltale pulse of warped rotors signaled trouble. Suffice to say that I was lucky to find a brake shop open on a Memorial weekend Sunday but unlucky in having to spend $1300 on brakes, rear axle seals, etc. Anyway, after the repairs I was able to spend another day fishing on the mile and at Gray Reef.

 

North Platte River, Wyoming

 

A second opportunity presented itself in July with a business trip to Billings. I had read of the Boulder river south of Big Timber from tales of Wade Rivers so I booked a cheap motel in Big Timber, MT for a mid-July weekend. Unfortunately, my early summer luck followed me. Heavy summer rains had made for an extended runoff period and the Boulder was boiling cauldron of churning waters at most places. And, the Yellowstone was the color of a chocolate malt from Meyer’s Dairy in State College. I was able to find a couple of relatively calm area in the Boulder where I did not have to risk life and limb to wade or catch a fish. It’s a beautiful valley, but I did not run into Tom McGuane.

Boulder River, Montana

 

 

Lions Head, Boulder River Valley

 

Boulder Bow

 

Boulder Valley Eatery

 

 

Lastly, the better half, Cricket the flyfishing beagle, and I were able to spend an enjoyable vacation during the first week of September in Paradise Valley south of Livingston at the Yellowstone Valley Lodge. Incredibly, the Yellowstone was still running high and off color from recent rains. However, DePuy and Armstrong spring creeks were in perfect condition.

Yellowstone and Depuy Confluence

 

We also spent enjoyable days on the Gardiner, Lamar, and Soda Butte in the Park. It was hard to wade out of Soda Butte on the last afternoon after fishing brown drakes to willing Yellowstone cutts.

Armstrong Spring Creek

Lake on Beartooth Plateau, 10,500 feet

Gardiner River

Better Half and Cricket the Flyfishing Beagle on the Lamar YNP

Soda Butte

Soda Butte Yellowstone Cutt

Absarokee Sunset

 Well, that was my summer (or most of it). Now its just waiting for that white stuff to fall from the sky and the temps to fall into the negative region.

The road goes on forever and the party never ends!!
Best to all
Matt

BWS - Fishing Creel Contest

 

Big Woods Summit  May 21st-26th.

 

 

This year we will be introducing a new contest to run along with the one fly contest on Saturday.

This will be a homemade fishing creel.  It may NOT be a purchased creel.  The creel must be multi-functional.  It must be capable of keeping beer cold and hold fish. 

Mike and Mike will judge and determine the winner of this new event….  

Take notice of the Gold Fish and beer cans.
 

Saturday, March 22.  Looks like we voted for a good weekend…cloudy, 40% chance of showers, 54⁰.  Hope the fish cooperate.  See you at Rony’s in Pleasant Gap at 9:30 am.  Find Rony’s along RT 26 just south of town.  Those not making breakfast can call me at 570-295-6878 to find out where we will be fishing and gathering.  Got the RBF Mobile Command Unit running.  Got the RBF Mobile Command Unit running and will have smoke salmon to share.  I'll attempt to have coffee and hot chocolate available.

Safe Use of Adhesives - Click on link below

RBF Educational Series

Why am I not surprised?

Over 30 Years Ago

December 1983, Joe Fisher, owner of J. Kennedy Fisher Co., Carson City, NV visited the Chief's rod shop.  In the early 80's I was building and selling over 100 rods per year using Joe's blanks.  The very same blanks used by the R. L. Winston Co.  Joe brought me some of his experimental boron blanks for being a good customer. My high school baseball coach and I went in business together to buy the blanks at distributor prices.  We were selling the blanks and Fisher rods to other shops.  I showed my rods at TU spring shows for a couple of years.  After that my customers brought me more orders than I could handle.  I was very proud to be asked by TU for a rod that they could raffle off at the TU National Convention in 1984.

I still have a few J. Kennedy Fisher blanks including the brown fiberglass used by Winston.  After some research, I believe that I am the only one owning these blanks.  I recently sold one on the Internet for an obscene price.

Father's Day and Christmas orders kept me away from the stream and the woods.  I debated quitting my full-time job and opening a complete fly shop.  The Fair Maiden set me straight.  I continued my job as a safety engineer and only built rods in my spare time.  Around 1985, I bought a large supply of bamboo blanks sold by Herter's.  I sold most of them but still have a few to complete for myself.  I continued to repair and refinish good bamboo rods, working on Leonards and Paynes, to name a few.

I only owned one factory fly rod.  My dad bought me a Shakespeare Wonder Rod that I used for many years.  I built my first rod in 1968. Today, I have several rods in various stages of readiness.  I should get busy as I now have the time.

I have enjoyed my rod building experience.  Once in awhile, I will meet someone on the stream that is still using my of my rods....and loving it.

91.609 million miles

That's how far the sun is away from my position on the earth today. It rose at 8:07 a.m. and set at 5:47 p.m. and reached an altitude of 26.3 degrees above the horizon. What do all these numbers mean? It means that winter is slowly (very slowly) receding from this icebox on the 100th meridian and 46.1833 degrees longitude. High temps for next week will be around 5 above zero to 5 below zero. Interestingly, the sun will slowly move farther away from my little spot on the frozen prairies until sometime later this year. For example, tomorrow the sun will be 91.622 million miles away. Soon, we will hit the rapidly accelerating and exponential part of the daylength curve and I will be able to drive back and forth to work without using the headlights on my vehicle.

I'll ask the question again: what do all these numbers mean? It means that I've got cabin fever and am sick of this f***ing cold weather. Nuff said

Matt S.

RBF Pro Staff Cookbook "Recipes for a Good Day" Progresses

Everything from Bowhunter's Buffalo Meatloaf to Roast Raccoon and most things in between.  200 pages and counting.  It will debut as a PDF file possibly by the time of the Baetis Summit.  Still trying to find a reasonable quote on printing. 

There Goes the Chief

Truita - Catalan translates to "trout" or "omelet".  The Chief has a recipe in "Recipes for a Good Day" for Truita de Truita.

Western Summit 2014?

Fellow Prostaffers:

I've been tying various flies for the last 2 hours with visions of rising trout sipping dry flies as the sun sets on a placid stream. No doubt this has been facilitated by the several Black Butte porters (Deschuttes Brewery, OR) I have quaffed during the same time. Perhaps even further lubed by the Narwhal stout (10% ETOH by the same brewery) that I imbibed.

Anyway, as I daydreamed of said trout, I thought about the last western summit we held in Montana in 2008. Seems to me it is time to reacquaint western trout with the skills of the eastern angler. Including the sight of a lone flyfisher at evening hatch with a Richardson chest box and a George Harvey dry fly leader stalking risers in the dusk.

Sorry for the faux fishing writing and hyperbole. What I mean to say is, is anyone interested in meeting up in Montana this summer for some good fishing and a good time? If so, please let me know. I'd be willing to help make arrangements and even meet some folks at airports and drive. If there is interest in fishing on the Missouri River, I can prevail on my nephew (guide with the Trout Shop in Craig, MT) for help in setting up a  great time in the Missouri and surrounding waters.

Just wanted to start the discussion.

Shutdown Blues

Agrontrutta is currently idled by the ill advised (and inconsistent) shutdown of the federal government. I’ll not go into my opinions of the current situation (at least not until after I get my next paycheck); howver, I’ll share a few pics from my late summer vacation with the better half and Cricket the Flyfishing Beagle in the Black Hills of South Dakota in early September. We spent about four days at the Spearfish Canyon Resort near Spearfish SD in early September and yours truly fished Spearfish Creek and Little Spearfish Creek in Spearfish Canyon. It is very scenic and great small stream fishing.

 Matt searching for fish along Spearfish Canyon.

 The Better Half and Cricket the Flyfishing Beagle at the petrified wood park near Lemmon, SD. A real off-the beaten-path attraction (sort of like the town with the largest ball of twine).

And the icon Mt. Rushmore.

The Better Half and Cricket the Flyfishing Beagle on Little Spearfish Creek

Log jams.......... deep pools......... bolder gardens.........

With this summer drawing towards its 2/3 mark beckons the question of this falls activities. Last fall there was a small deployment sent to Erie, Pa for some steelhead. The Pro Staffers were faced with some arduous conditions on the streams but,  dumb fish were still caught.

I am contemplating on making another run up there again in October for some early season steelhead. I've got a friend, Brandon Nolan, that has the 'desire bug' to go and lose his steelhead v-card. Slinging big streamers for big fish in little water.

I am curious as to if there is anyone else that would be considering a trip to the north? I wouldn't consider it a full blown gathering or make the recommendation for an Erie Gathering. However, it would be nice to get some Officer support there from a Ranger.... Either way the enlisted have always been able to get the mission accomplished. As of right now there's my buddy and I that are planning a trip. Anyone else is welcome to go.

Big Woods Summit 2013

Ok, so who is coming to the Big Woods Summit this year? I will be arriving on Wednesday May 22nd and I will be leaving the following Monday May 27th.


I need to start thinking about the menu for this year’s event. So let me know if you are coming and what days you will be there.

Bowhunter

Recipes for a Good Day

Here's a preview of what's to come....

Camp Coffee

Agrontrutta                                                                                                                        Bismarck, ND

Fly fishing camps require certain essentials. Coffee from a campfire in the morning, for example. Whether it’s at Salmon Forks Camp on the South Fork of the Flathead River in the “Bob”  or at Lyman Run in Penn’s woods, camp coffee clears the head and gets your mind right. At Rossiter Lodge we cheat and drink the brew from an electric coffee maker because we can’t be trusted with fire that early in the morning. Coffee from the Trout Shop Café in Craig, Montana is the next best thing to camp coffee.

John Gierach captured the cosmological connections of camp coffee and gave some practical tips on its making in Trout Bum. Ernest Hemmingway in Big Two-Hearted River has Nick, the story’s protagonist, trying to remember how his friend Hopkins (“Hop”, killed in WWI) made camp coffee—boiled or simmered. Nick boils it and the bitter tasting result reminds him of the right way. He ends up sweetening the black bitter brew with the syrupy dregs from a tin of apricots.

 I can’t channel John Gierach and the closest I’ll ever get to Papa’s spirit is Hemmingway Flats on the Missouri River. I don’t even have my own camp coffee recipe. So, here’s one I stole from Tom Perini’s Texas Cowboy cookbook. It’s actually from Richard Bolt, a cook at the Pitchfork ranch near Guthrie, Texas.

The night before: Fill coffee pot (1 gallon) with water to one-inch below the spout. Add 1 to 1 and ½ cups coffee grounds (depending on strength). Let sit overnight.

In the morning: Put over a low fire and bring to a simmer. Take the pot off the flame and dash it with cold water (settles the grounds). Enjoy.

Baetis Summit

Voting is nearly over.  Looks like March 16 was chosen.  We might want to think about having the Summit on March 23.  We still have winter here in Centre Co.  I don't think we will have any dry fly fishing.  Fish still  can be caught on scuds, eggs, pheasant tails and streamers.  Think it over.  I won't be doing any fishing.  I'll have the Fair Maiden's Butternut Squash Soup to serve.  I'll bring the RV to serve as a comfort station.

Trophy Display

I won’t lie.   I wanted to win the 2  Fly Contest.  I don’t know why, but I did.  I figured the best two flies to use would be a #10 Rusty Spinner and a #10 2XL Hare’s Ear but I chose a Caddis and Beadhead.  I believe that you must have confidence in your flies and I can catch trout in sewer with those flies.  The rest is history.  The infamous trophy is being displayed in our living room next to my antler collection.

Blue Wing Olive Summit

Well it’s that time of year, vote for your choice of weekends for the Blue Wing Olive Summit.


I believe there may be a Trout Legend fishing contest the weekend of the 9th.

Voting will end March 2nd   Good Luck

Annual Christmas Summit

Today the annual Christmas summit was held on Spring Creek. Today’s event was highlighted with the new Big Woods Summit Grand Champion award. This coveted award was determined by the 2 fly fishing competitions held this past May and sponsored by the Rossiter Lodge. This award was delay during the annual BWS because of the thousands of hours of R&D that was required for development of the award.

Chief was crowned the Champion during the event.

Chief being presented the New BWS Grand Champion Journal.

The coveted BWS award…..Won using a Caddis and a beadhead...

Rules for the annual BWS event.

1. Winner must display the award in a living section of the house and post a write up on the RBF Blog

2. Winner will add something to the award.

3. Winner must present the award to the next winner and read the journal entry at the BWS.

4. The award will be determined by the annual fishing competition or in special case by the Chief and VP’s

Good Luck and Carry On

And yes we did manage to catch some fish...

Season's Greetings

Various reports via social media indicate that the annual Christmas fishin gatherin was a success today. Look forward to any and all reports of the goings-on from Spring Creek today. In the meantime, here are a few meager pics of my few and far between flyfishing sojourns around south central ND this summer. I found a quiet place to target small mouths with a fly (streamers and poppers) on the McClusky canal about an hour north of Bismarck. The canal is a remnant of the last big pork barrel western water project in the west. It was to take water from Lake Sacagwea to central and eastern ND for irrigation of field crops. Never was realistic and basically was a boondoogle. Its lasting legacy is as a fishing spot for the likes of me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Agrontrutta parked alongside the McClusky canal in southcentral ND.

A couple of smallmouths that fell for streamers.

Hope all prostaffers and their family enjoy a peaceful and loving Christmas time and a prosperous New Year. Carry On!

Buddies