For those of you fortunate enough to travel 94 through ND, this might be a familiar sight.   More about ND shortly.

Out of Wendover…

…so after the 400 mile run from Reno to Wendover on Sunday, it was on to Salt Lake City and points East.  Thought more about it and decided I had unfinished business in Bozeman.  Called Linda and she agreed as long as I’m home by the end of September.  Took a left turn at SLC and headed north.  This was Monday morning, and it would take me two days to get to Bozeman.  Arranged for a guide and drift boat to go down one of the many rivers around Bozeman all day Wednesday.

Road from West Yellowstone to Big Sky to Bozeman

This was one very beautiful stretch of highway.  Will want to drive it again!  SIDE NOTE – The State of Montana puts crosses on all the highways where there were fatalities.  This particular stretch of HWY 191 north from West Yellowstone to Bozeman had such a disproportionate number of crosses, I had to ‘use the Google’.  It turns out:

“U.S. Highway 191, the north to south, double-lane route running between the suburbs of Bozeman by way of the ski resort community of Big Sky to the national park gateway town of West Yellowstone is often a perilous, ice-covered deathtrap in winter. Winding along the banks of the famous Gallatin River, hidden in the shadows of two mountain ranges, coated with humidity that wafts off the river and then ices over, favored by semi-trailer-truck drivers who always seem harried for time, it is heart-palpitating.”

Skiers take note!

Bozeman Campground ‘Locals’

Stayed in the same campground (with the hot springs) and was chatted up by some of the guys in the tent camping area of the RV park; they remembered when I came through a few weeks before.  The building boom is so great in Bozeman that there is no housing for many in the trades building these places.  When I walked around the campground this time, I realized about 50% of the sites were long term folks.  Those without an RV are subject to living in ‘tent cities’ in RV parks.  One fellow (from Hastings MN) was doing siding work and another was a hardwood floor specialist.  Interesting fellows – young and chasing the money.

Fly Fishing the Madison River

Dario, my guide, and his dog Jake picked me up at 7:15 AM and off we went into some of the prettiest country east of Bozeman.  There also was quite a bit of BLM land that you can camp on and be right next to the stream.  Most of the rest of the land heading toward Big Sky is owned by Ted Turner and don’t be caught on any of his land.

Caught 6 trout with the largest being a 16” Brown and a 14” Rainbow.  I only missed a couple to three dozen, but I am committed to fishing this way.

Dario explained he fished the same river the past 3 days.  Day 1 was great (of course).  Day 2 was horrible.  Day 3 was hard fishing, but we (I) caught and the other guides said it was tough also.  We fished beneath the surface (rather than on the surface with dry flies) and on your fly line, you will have (from the top) a small bobber, a split shot (weight), a larger fly, a smaller fly and if you were in Colorado or Idaho, a 3^rd fly.  This way, if you catch a fish, you will know what they were attracted to and modify your flies.  Dario had thousands of flies and the combinations are limitless!  He had over a dozen boxes like you see here.  Every couple of minutes, he would try different combinations.  Also, truth be told, a few of those changes were required as I screwed up with my fly fishing technique and created a few rats nests.

Note the sleeping pooch here 🙂

Karma and the Fly Rod

In all transparency, I did something I now regret when I was younger and it has paid me back in fish karma.  40 years ago, there was a store in Minneapolis called LaBelle’s.  It had everything from Jewelry to Sporting Goods to Appliances.  Back then, before barcodes, they simply put a sticker with the price on the product and that was it.  I thought the fishing rod that I bought was certainly worth the $8.99 price tag I put on it.  Bad Boy!!!  40 years later, I am fishing with this rod all morning and doing very poorly right when it really counts.  Dario suggests a change in rods and the rest was documented.  I will pay full retail for my next rod.

Friday

Stopped in Dickenson, ND a bit earlier for a conference call and could not find the city park, but, since I was early, got my haircut and then set up for the call across the street from the shop.  $20 haircut – actually more than I pay in NYC, but it was worth it with the use of  the vibrating massage on my shoulders and neck!

Couple final thoughts I wish I had my camera for…

…in Eastern Montana, the cute Japanese family that all had to have a photo taken with the bus.  No English was spoken but a good time by all!

Most interesting English spoken today…comment by what I would think a bachelor farmer would look like…’I had no idea they are still making that vehicle’.

Farmer Tweet…I would think most farmers or farm produce haulers do not have twitter accounts and they must use their own methods of social communication.  That would explain the very clean letters rubbed out from the caked-on dirt on the back of a sugar beet truck going across Eastern Montana…F##K THE NFL.

Home stretch coming up!!!