The 2009 Runoff Begins!

Extravagant Ones:

The 2009 runoff begins, as shown graphically on this discharge graph!

Using our home-based Rock Creek as a baseline, you can see the (record low) 2007 runoff and last year's (record high) 2008 runoff history, against which we now begin plotting the 2008 runoff show. The runoff today is at a rate of 988 cubic feet per second (cfs), or roughly double of that of the last two years. Each year has its own, distinct runoff fingerprint, witnessed by the fact that portions of Montana had several feet of snow just this past week!

Let the fun begin, remembering that ideal fishing conditions for us would find the Rock Creek discharge rate right around 1850 cfs come June 20th—Opening Day of Extravaganza 2009.

"Y'all" can follow the chart and this year's runoff progress on this blog where a link to the updated chart will remain on the right-hand sidebar (scroll down to Rock Creek Discharge Report).

Best to all,

Rock Creek Ron

FW: Extravaganza Entomology 1A

 

 The Pink Panther's [enfeebled] reply:

Those are last year fly's (sic) , even  (Group A's SRHS graduate of '64) Brad  (Colton) knows a house fly, horse fly, catch on a fly, eat on the fly and a coctail and then fly. p 

 

RCR

<///'>< 

Extravaganza Entomology 1A

 

Fellow Flyfishing Enthusiasts:

 

Many of you Extravagant rookies out there have been asking, "Just what kind of flies are we going to be using and how big are they?"  Well, remembering the adage that a picture is worth a thousand words, attached is a photo depicting some of the flies that we will be using this year together with a hand-drawn (accurate) measuring stick right beneath to give you perspective.

 

In general, we will be primarily be using two kind of flies:  (a) dry flies to replicate the adult form of the bugs that the fish are feeding on and (b) wet flies, or nymphs, to replicate the immature form of the bugs. 

 

Since these bugs are in their nymphal stage for 95+% of their life, guess what, that form gets eaten 90% of the time.  When the bugs transform into adulthood (much like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon), all hell breaks loose, however, because free eats have just shown up in the air and on the water and the fish can get a bigger bite with less effort. 

 

There are literally hundreds of different types and sizes of bugs that "hatch" (i.e. come out of their cocoon) on the Montana waters.  Thus, you will see that your guide has, literally, hundreds of different flies with him on your boat.  The time of day, the time of year, the heat or coolness of the day, and the river that you are on will drive the appropriate menu selection.  Simply stated, what is good for fishing in the morning often is not in the afternoon; what is good one day on a river is often not the next; and what is good at a particular time of day on one river will be totally different than on another river.  Hence, a guide.

 

The attached photo gives you an idea of the range of bugs that we will be using (you got it, depending on the time of day, the weather and the river) (for you of inquisitive minds, yes, I tied each of these flies for your viewing enjoyment). 

 

Here's a summary:

 

The fly at the top is a streamer, used when all else fails or to go after big fish.  It is 3" long, weighted heavily with lead, has a tungsten cone, and made of rabbit fur (affectionately known as a "double bunny" with two different strips glued together on a size 4 (i.e. huge) hook.  I show this to you for comparison purposes, as, most likely, these will stay in the fly box--they hurt when they hit you (or the guide) in the head, and the hooks (even when unbarbed) are a nasty date.

 

The large fly on the left is an imitation of an adult salmon fly--the first hatch that will occur post runoff.  There are actually two salmon flies--I gave you a top and side view of this "battleship fly" which floats on top of the water enticing fish of all sizes to rise to the surface and dine.  The salmon fly hatch starts in early June and may still be going on for those of you in Group One and, perhaps, Group Two.  This bug lives under the water for 2 1/2 years and, right about now, as a stone fly, literally crawls out of the river, attaches to a nearby stone and then sheds its shuck to emerge as the flying battleship that it is.  Like most of these bugs, since it only lives a few days in its adult form (to mate, deposit eggs back into or on the river and expire), the bugs have no mouths, do not feed and, therefore, do not bite--nice, huh?!?

 

The medium sized fly on the right is another stone fly, the Yellow Stone.  This will be our "go to fly" for each of the groups, as the Yellow Stone hatch will be in full bloom (along with the Green Drake hatch)--these bugs are about 1 1/2" in length and still constitute a substantial meal for a hungry trout.  Trout need to have enough "meat" to merit a trip from below to the surface to chomp, and this fly has that--if they use more energy than they ingest, they will eventually expire. As such, you can expect explosive "takes" on these floating flies, as the trout claim their bounty.  Hence, polarized sunglasses so that you can see both your fly and the takes.

 

The smaller dry fly in the middle of the page is a caddisfly which hatch in profusive numbers in the heat of the day and during the evening hours.  In good years, like this one, driving through a caddisfly hatch often requires turning on windshield wipers to see your way through.  The mess left behind on the car is truly impressive, as are the swarming of trout when these bugs are on the water.

 

The smallest of the dry flies (right below the streamer on top) are mayflies.  These are bugs that, unlike the stone flies which crawl out of the water, rise to the surface from the bottom as they hatch.  As such, during the rise and while they are on the surface removing their shuck and spreading and drying their wings, they are sitting ducks and the trout will often line up in feeding lanes and stay on the surface slurping these little guys in.  Try finding that floating fly in foamy or choppy water without polarized glasses twenty feet away!

 

The bottom two rows are nymphs of different sizes, shapes and colors.  You can see that size does not matter at this level, as some of the more effective of these are under one half inch in length.  These are fished under the water underneath either a colored floating indicator (so you can see if you have a take by the indicator submerging or just stopping) or as a "dropper" attached by monofilament tied to the hook of a floating dry fly.  Under this latter approach, which is employed once you have your casting under control, you can get two shots at feeding fish and the best of both worlds--shots at both the fish feeding on the surface and those munching on nymphs below. (The bottom row are flies that I have developed after several years of fishing Rock Creek and they have proved to be extraordinarily deadly on not only the Creek, but also on all of the rivers that we fish.)

 

So there you have it, Entomology 1A.

 

Best,

 

Rock Creek Ron

 

   

Sixty Days and Counting!

Fellow Extravaganzers:

 

It is hard to believe but, sixty days from today, Group A will have come, fished and conquered and, right about now, the venerable twos of Group B will be arriving on the scene to see just what Extravaganza 2009 has in store for them!  On my end, I have (finally!) put a spat of traveling behind me that found me this past week in Helena (for the marvelous roll out of our Montana Matters campaign with the MT governor), Missoula and environs, Salt Lake City, the Bay Area and then the next day off to Denver (twice), Kansas City (both Missouri and Kansas) and then back to the (windy) Bay Area via San Diego.

 

Needless to say, there was little time for fishing on that serial trip but there was sufficient time to check in with our wonderful outfitter, John "The Great" Gould to get a firsthand report that the Bitterroot Basin precipitation and high elevation snowfall is "in excellent shape" and right at 100% of its 30 year rolling average, portending only good to great things fishing-wise for Extravaganza 2009.

 

The runoff now becomes an item of major interest to each of us.  For you rookies out there who have short Blogesque recall, when the snows in the upper mountain reaches begin to melt the water mixes with resident silt and finds itself into the literally thousands of streamlets and water flows the eventually wind their way downhill into one of our three targeted Extravaganza rivers:  The Bitterroot River, The Clark Fork of the Columbia River, and The Big ("A River Runs Through It") Blackfoot River.  The result is that the otherwise relatively clear rivers take on a mocha-like appearance and texture such that river bug life go dormant as do the fish, the latter just trying to prevent themselves from being washed downstream and unable to see clearly enough to actively feed. 

 

Water flows during the runoff become torrential:  Attached is the graph that we have used during the past two Extravaganzas which, starting Monday, we will post on Der Blog for 2009 comparison purposes.  Using our own Rock Creek as a baseline river, you can see how in 2007 (the blue line on the chart) the runoff started at the same 550 cubic foot per second ("cfs") level as in 2008 (the red line), but, wow, what a difference the ensuing weeks showed:  in 2007 we had near record LOW water levels (resulting in the July and August fires that almost wiped all of us out along Rock Creek [see www.montana2007.blogspot.com for a chronicle and photos of those fires] while last year water flows were at century-high marks, forcing both of our first two groups to abandon local waters and trek over the Continental Divide to fish the headwaters of the Missouri River (with excellent results, btw!).

 

Tomorrow's headlines today reveal that, this year, on our April 29 chart's beginning date,  Rock Creek is already flowing in excess of 1500 cfs (three times of it flow during each of the last two years), which is promising, as it shows that there is, indeed, plenty of water in the upper mountain watersheds where we now want that runoff to proceed and then recede (returning down to about 1800 cfs on Rock Creek) for fishing conditions to become "prime time" come Opening Day of Extravaganza 2009.  It is then, at that reduced yet higher-than-normal water flow, that the rivers are each flowing at a healthy rate, their water's turbidly having cleared up, with bug life actively resuming (see the next ensuing Extravaganza email for your [annual] entomology lesson!), and the fish awakening to "Joe's Free Eats" and making up for the nourishment that they have lost during the punishing runoff with your rods and offerings at their beck and call. 

 

How punishing is the runoff for the fish and aquatic life, you ask??  Well, imagine our placid Rock Creek flowing behind Extravaganza Headquarters at the rate of a garden hose and then accelerate that flow to that of a fire hose and you have a pretty good visual image of the intensity of the annual runoff.  During last year's hundred year high water flow, the Creek's banks were eroded, hundreds of trees uprooted and sent shooting down stream, and it took until post-Extravaganza for water conditions to return to a safe, fishable state.  Fortunately, we can now wait another hundred years for that event to happen again!

 

So, gang, begin thinking ahead to the days we will share together in Montana; start looking for all of that gear that you veterans have received in prior years and putting it aside for a quick air flight to Missoula and, for your rookies out there, hang onto your fishing lines as upcoming, right after the annual entomology report, will be forthcoming you annual Camp List, detailing just what you should consider packing and taking with you as you prepare for your first adventure into wonderful Extravaganzaland!!

 

Best to all in eager anticipation of it all!

 

Rock Creek Ron

     <'///><

 

Montana Matters to Filmcamper Julian!

Labs Over Rock Creek!

Extravagant Ones:

 

As Your Hostess With the Mostess and I pack to return home to the Bay Area tomorrow, I want to let you know that Spring springs eternal this afternoon, as witnessed by the attached pictures of mama lab mid-delivery with three of goodness knows how many pups will be there in the end (the smallest of which was just moments old when the above pics were taken!).

 

There was a bet on the Creek as to just when "D Day" would be; your Hostess won the bet by picking today...hmm, I wonder what her prize should be?!?

 

Best to all for the glorious scene of it all,

 

Rock Creek Ron

   <'///><

 

Extravaganza 2009 Headlines Missoula; Filmmakers Unite!

Welcome, Extravagant Ones, our official filmmakers for Extravaganza 2009 (shown above, sans one, together with last year veteran filmmaker [on the far right] Jennifer Bell):  Julian Jamerson (age 13); Indigo Ryan (age 13); Erik Gjetmundsen (age 14); Erin McCarter (age 16); "Mac" Enich (age 16); and Chad Dawson (age 17). 

 

As was done last year (resulting in our excellent, now award winning film "Journey To The Soul"), these lucky six budding filmmakers have been chosen from over 20 applicants as our Extravaganza 2009 scholarship awardees to mix among us, film as they deem fit, and produce for international consumption a film to be entitled "Montana Matters" to be rolled out as part of the Montana Matters campaign most appropriately) on July 4th.  This year's film camp will commence on June 22nd and finish up (with final film "in the can") on July 2nd, thereby spanning each of our three groups!

 

Also shown above is the IWFF marquee welcoming the Extravagant filmmakers (and their parents) to IWFF's flagship Roxy Theater earlier this evening where, as shown, they heard not only from Rock Creek Ron and Kocktail Kathy ([y]our "Hostess With The Mostess") but also (now famed public speaker) filming veteran Jennifer Bell.  Not to be forgotten is a close up of the Moose Tile [located in real life two tiles above Jennifer's head in the first pic], commemorating and permanently recognizing Extravaganza 2008's collective $10,000 contribution to the fine efforts of all of our (close) friends at the International Wildlife Film Festival.

 

Up for another tile this year, Extravagant Ones?!?

 

Best to all from the (chilly and yet wintry) scene of it all,

 

Rock Creek Ron

 

Easter Montana Greetings!

Easter Greetings, Extravagant Ones, from the wilds of Montana!

 

As shown above, Der Brown and Cutthroat Bunnies (along with unshown abundant rainbow trout) were good to Group Three's Brian and Nicholas Shepard (up in these mountain parts to sample the wares of the [marvelous] Bitterroot River along with daughter Trina and RCR himself)--all of whom ended up with camera fare yesterday, with Brian and Nicholas spending a second day on the water this Easter Sunday. 

 

The highlight of the (yester)day for each of us were "the ones that got away", with Trina seeing three huge browns rise to her skwala dry fly on a backwater Bitterroot tributary and with Son Nicholas missing the fish of the day--a 24"+ brown that snapped the line like it was yarn which resulted in veteran Extravaganza guide Chris Stroup literally falling to his knees in their raft, with head-between-hands, and heard to be saying, "That was the biggest fish I have even seen so far this season!" 

 

As I told Nicholas at dinner last evening, "It is the fact that you were here and that you had that huge fish compliment you with his take that is the important part, not that it failed to reach your net."  Those sage words, perhaps, were of little solace to our wounded warrior, but they sure brought a knowing smile to Son's lips as we put a bow on yesterday's wonderful adventure!

 

More Good Easter news from the mountain front, gang:  The snow pack in the Bitterroot Mountain Range (our barometer) still holds at 104% of normal this mid-April day; a chill is still in the air preserving all that remains; and the forecast ahead is for a land office year streamside for Extravaganza 2009.  Soon we will be posting our annual runoff chart (now with two past years to compare the actual runoff to) and, as the days grow longer (it was still light here at 8:00 p.m. last evening) and warmer only good things lie ahead for those 54 of your now lined and signed up for Extravaganza 2009!

 

Our Easter best to each of you and yours from all of us currently sited at, truly, "The Last Best Place"!

 

Rock Creek Ron

 

FW: Early Spring in Montana!

 May the big fish bite, may you catch only the big ones, to teach them a lesson so Brad & Jeannie do not out fish PP 

 

The Pink Panther returns!

 

RCR

<'///>< 

Early Spring in Montana!

Extravagant Ones:

 

I thought you would enjoy the attached photos taken about an hour ago along Rock Creek which give you a peek of what the now snow-barren landscape here looks like, as well as a peek of Group C's Brian "The Stick" Shepard in turn peeking along the river's edge.  Brian and his son Nicholas are visiting this Easter Weekend to enjoy two days of fishing with Double Up Outfitters, the first of which will find me accompanying them tomorrow along with my Spring breaking college sophomore daughter, beautiful Trina.

 

This "tween" time of the year finds Montana in a quiet hush--with a barrenesque landscape contrasted with buds-a-popping on the Larch pine trees (Montana's only deciduous pine tree); with the rivers' waters a bit muddy from recent rainfall yet still fishable before the yet-to-come Spring runoff; and with the air still crisp but not laced by the bitter, biting cold that it contained just a month ago when your Hostess With The Mostess and I were last here.

 

Hopefully tomorrow evening The Stick (named for his keen ability to cast [and at times snap in pieces] his fishing stick, btw) and RCR will have tales of fishing glory and pics to back them up to share with "y'all".

 

In the interim, a blessed Good Friday to each of you from the scene of it all,

 

Rock Creek Ron

 

   

Call to Extravaganzers: "Montana Matters" Campaign

Extravagant Ones:

 

After nine months of preparation, on April 18th the MT governor will officially launch our brand new Montana Matters campaign--an international fundraising effort that I have helped to forge between two beloved-to-me organizations: the 74 year old Montana Wildlife Federation (MWF) and the 35 year old International Wildlife Film Festival (IWFF)--see links to each on Der Blog.  The campaign will be supported by original artwork, the www.montanamatters.com website, original bronze statuary, a wonderful cd compilation entitled "Songs of Montana" featuring Shane Clouse's newest release "Montana Matters", hats, tee shirts, bumper stickers, stamps, hoodies, monogrammed aluminum water bottles and, yes, even our own "Montana Matters" private edition M&M's (gotta have those!).

 

I would like to reach out to each of you 2009 Extravaganzers and to encourage you each to become part of the launching of this wonderful campaign in the following fun, simple-to-do, and (relatively) painless manner:  

 

MWF will be dedicating its entire next newsletter to "Montana Matters", with feature articles on why this this great state is just that and including comments from individuals (local and afar) responding to the proffered question, "Why does Montana matter to you?" Also available in that to-come edition of MWF's newsletter are an abundant number of personal advertising slots (economically) priced @ $60 each.  I would like to encourage each of you to take down one or more of those to say "Montana Matters to ________", filling in the blank space as you deem appropriate.

 

Here are some ideas for your consideration:  "Montana matters in Ft. Myers, Florida to Jim Nici"; "Montana matters to Fred Johnson of Danville, CA"; "Montana Matters to my Sonoma, CA dad, Brian Shepard"; "Montana Matters in San Rafael to Brad Colton SRHS Class of 1964"; "Montana Matters in Sun Valley to my wife Penny Shawback"; "Montana Matters to me, Terry Wilson of Napa, CA"; "Montana Matters to my wife of 10 years, Kathy" [yikes, I'd better take that one!]; "Montana Matters to Extravaganza 2009" [Ibid.]; "Montana matters to my soul:  Doug "Popeye" Hamilton, Santa Rosa, CA"; "Montana Matters to my dog, Sir, Rock Creek, MT."; "Montana Matters in Abu Daubi"; "Montana Matters to me because I am retired.  Larry Klaustermeier, Novato CA."; "Montana Matters to me because I fish there.  Tim "Squawfish" Rodgers, Napa, CA."; "Montana Matters to Technology Finance Partners in San Bruno, CA".... you get the idea!

 

So here's all you have to do:  (a) just forward this email to Craig Sharpe, MWF Executive Director, at csharpe@mtwf.org together with your [short, witty] Montana Matters message; and (b) then send your [tax deductible] check payable to "Montana Wildlife Federation" to Craig's attention @ P.O. Box 1175, Helena MT 59624 together with a copy of your sent email and, voila, the deed is done.  Yes, multiple messages can also be sent in the same email--@ $60 per message, that is.  Since the newsletter will come out around June, this is a great Father's Day idea (hint, hint, Tyler & Trina!).

 

ALSO, send a cc of your email to me and a bottle of coveted Rock Creek Red will go to the chosen wittiest paid personal ad of the bunch--is that fun for an excellent cause, or what?!?

 

Let's see, "Montana Matters to..."

 

Best to all,

 

Rock Creek Ron

   <'///><

 

 

 

A Little Group B Confusion

 The following note was recently received from Group B's Inimical Paul Klass--clearly a rookie and clearly in for an awakening (literally)!

 

RCR

 

<'///><

I have not received any information on the golf tee times for group B.  Personally, I prefer to sleep in, have a few Irish coffees and hit the course about 11:00am.  We then hit the 19^th hole about 3:30pm for cocktails.   Our limo driver drops us off at back base camp about 5:00pm in time to greet the low life fly fisherman and have more cocktails before dinner and more cocktails.

 

What a life,

 

Paul D. Klass
Total Planning Concepts, LLC
 

p.s.  Comments to this are encouraged  below!