Montana -July 2010

For those who still get ABPF, I posted some photos of my recent trip.
Spent 5 good days fishing before "Montana's Revenge" struck and I began
my worship at the porcelain shrine for 4 days. Nasty, nasty stuff that
knocked me out for the remainder of my 10 day trip and made for a
worrisome plane ride home on the 19th. Just now getting back to normal.
Warren left on Thursday, and had a brief fling with it once he got home
to Bozeman. Danl caught it on Friday, and headed home (driving slowly,
but stopping frequently, i suspect)saturday.

Because the tribs we usually fish were still too high and too cold
(@46-48F), we stuck with the Madison as our main venue. Lots of big
fish this year. Danl dredged a bit, but I fished only with dries. All
of the big fish were caught on dries...with Danl getting a 26" brown on
a rogue salmonfly pattern. He and Warren caught several 20+, I caught a
couple. Lots of 14-18 inchers. Drifted from Lyons to Palisades one day
in the old Gink boat that Warren has restored. Nice ride, but we used
it mainly to get to fishable spots. Warren hasn't changed much...a bit
pudgier. His new girlfriend called daily, but didn't get to meet her.

Lots of guide boats on the water in the float stretches... I still don't
like drift boat fishing. With the onset of the illness, we didn't get
into the park or get to float the Yellowstone as planned. Still, it is
always a good time sharing a fishing trip with Danl and Warren.

The salmonfly hatch was odd, sparse and sporadic. best hatch occurred
between hebgen and quake...and that is where we caught the biggest fish.
i missed one that chased my salmonfly on top downstream and that i
know was 28" or better. biggest trout i have ever seen on the surface.
it's amazing the difference between a 16" and 20" trout, but a 28" looks
like a ferocious orca in comparison. for every fish we caught, we had
10-20 that came up and looked or slapped at the fly.

one day, we watched an osprey tease and dive bomb two bald eagles. The
eagles were pretty laid back about the deal, but once there was a brief
entanglement when the eagle turned upside down in flight to repel the
osprey and those huge legs with talons could be seen from the distance.
i was so into the viewing i never thought to do a digital camera movie
of it...awestruck, i reckon...but a memory i'll enjoy.

despite the bowel explosions, it was another fine time in Montana, laced
with new mysteries. Took the Ennis route back to Bozeman, and discovered
an interesting cemetery on the way and just off the main highway on the
east side of ennis. some art-sy headstones...and a few millers planted
there. the bikini hatch floating the lower madison stretch between ennis
and bozeman was notable too.

jeff

On 07/25/2010 10:03 AM, jeff wrote:
For those who still get ABPF, I posted some photos of my recent trip.

Hi Jeff,

Sounds like you caught Giardia. Nasty stuff. Did you
drink the water by chance?

Thank you for all the pictures! For those of you who
can not get ABPF anymore, Jeff's pictures have shown
up on:

http://www.usenet-replayer.com/group...s.fishing.html

-T

Miller, you are insane! Wet-wading that water! Only a madman would do that.

Nice report and some great pictures. Thanks for sharing. The pup sure
has grown, and still looks adorable.

Be well.

Dave

On Sun, 25 Jul 2010 10:53:41 -0700, Todd wrote:

On 07/25/2010 10:03 AM, jeff wrote:
For those who still get ABPF, I posted some photos of my recent trip.

Hi Jeff,

Sounds like you caught Giardia. Nasty stuff. Did you
drink the water by chance?

Thank you for all the pictures! For those of you who
can not get ABPF anymore, Jeff's pictures have shown
up on:

http://www.usenet-replayer.com/group...s.fishing.html

-T

Thanks for that - very helpful indeed!

Some fine pictures in that bunch, Mister Jeff. Aside from the "plumbing
issues", looks like a great trip!

Cheers!

Nice. Too bad you got the Blackfoot's Revenge.

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

On 7/25/2010 1:53 PM, Todd wrote:
On 07/25/2010 10:03 AM, jeff wrote:
For those who still get ABPF, I posted some photos of my recent trip.

Hi Jeff,

Sounds like you caught Giardia. Nasty stuff. Did you
drink the water by chance?

Thank you for all the pictures! For those of you who
can not get ABPF anymore, Jeff's pictures have shown
up on:

http://www.usenet-replayer.com/group...s.fishing.html

-T

don't know what it was, but i didn't "drink the water". nast stuff
indeed! there was a bug going around the west yellowstone
area...apparently lots of folks got it. so many that there was a
comment in last week's blue ribbon flyshop newsletter on the problem.

jeff

Well, it wasn't MY fried eggs. So, who did the cookin'? Strange that
all three of you came down with it.

Dave

On 7/25/2010 1:59 PM, D. LaCourse wrote:
Miller, you are insane! Wet-wading that water! Only a madman would do
that.

perhaps...but the madison was quite comfortable. grayling was a bit
chilly, but the meadow allowed me to get out of the water...and that
last day of fishing i woulda sh*t my britches for sure trying to get the
waders down. barely made it into the willows yanking my wading shorts
down...but, i'm proud to report no t-shirts were sullied or lost.

Nice report and some great pictures. Thanks for sharing. The pup sure
has grown, and still looks adorable.

thanks. gia warms our hearts. she literally knocked me over for that
photo.

Be well.

doing my best. and same to ya.

jeff

Dave

On 7/25/2010 5:37 PM, rw wrote:
Nice. Too bad you got the Blackfoot's Revenge.


so...um...am i fully innoculated now?

don't know if i can endure another skirmish. if given a choice, i think
i'd prefer the "man called horse"/richard harris initiation, or a simple
scalping, instead.

danl reports he lost 15 pounds from it. i didn't eat anything except a
few saltine crackers for 4 days, but i don't think i lost much weight.
not even a decent weight reduction for me!

On 7/25/2010 7:32 PM, D. LaCourse wrote:
Well, it wasn't MY fried eggs. So, who did the cookin'? Strange that
all three of you came down with it.

Dave



G

lots of folks got it. kelly galloup said his daughter had it before i
did...danl and warren came down with it 2 days after me. a flyshop
newsletter (sent to me by a friend after i got home) said it was making
the rounds of the campgrounds and west yellowstone. some kind of nasty
virus perhaps...don't think it had anything to do with food poisoning.
i've had that this year too (oysters). very different. anyway, it was a
sh*tty ending to what was otherwise another great fishing trip out west...

jeff