1. Troutnut Forum
›
2. Fly Fishing
›
3. Looking to move to Montana, Page 2

They say that if you can remember the 60's you weren't really there...I was there and I kept notes...:)

Spence

But, do those notes make any sense NOW??

;oD

Jonathon

I’m pretty sure I was there, but then again maybe I was just hallucinating. Back then I was pondering on solipsistic philosophy so it could have been just my imagination. The mind………what a terrible thing to waste.

Scene from the movie "Drugstore Cowboy", set in 1970:

A commercial comes on a television, with an appropriately hippie-looking guy who says, "Last time I dropped acid I drew a picture."

He holds up what looks like an extremely abstract painting.

"Groovy, isn't it?"

Jonathon

P.S. Sorry MO, your thread has apparently been hijacked by a bunch of old hippies...

Sorry! What can I say? You always can tell when a thread has run its course...We are happy for you...Jealous of you...Montana's great...What more can I say, but good luck to you mister!

Oh...When you find yourself in halfway decent housing and need a fishing partner...Look me up! Back in the day I have slept on the ground in a sleeping bag in Alaska, slept under an over pass on a highway that was new but not opened yet up near Roscommon and can't count the number of vehicles I have slept in from Alaska to Tuscany, but roughing it to me now is a bed smaller than a queen and a shower too small for me to get my girl friend in...:)

Spence

Spence, I'm not sure this thread has "run it's course." All we've done here is to quote Frank Zappa and tell MO that he needs to have a guest room (tent?) ready for us. Where's all the advice on finding a place to live, a job, the best fishing holes, learning the hatches, tying the patterns, etc...? C'mon, all you Montana guys, give this poor Midwestern boy something to go on here!!

Jonathon

P.S. And Spence, I just got one more thing to say to ya, buddy:

"HELP, I'M A ROCK!!"

Depends on your skills for jobs. There is a lot of seasonal always available all summer long. As far as ties go Parachute Adams 12-20, Elk Hair caddis 12-20 various body colors, madame X in various colors 6-12, and whatever bugger/streamer patterns ring your bell (don't forget some p.t. and hare's ear to go along. Those are what get me through late spring until the first hard frost. Also it helps to practice casting with the wind howling from several different angles.

Aaron,

Now there's some good advice...Before I headed out one time in 1995 a good friend built me two rods...They were Sage RPL's..One a 4wt and the other a 5wt...If I stood on one side of the Madison and you were on the other, say around $3.00 Bridge...I could hook your hat with these "bad boys'!

I remember a wonderful float one morning on the Madison. That morning's fishing still ranks as one of my best mornings ever. After we had stopped for a stream lunch our guide said that we may run into some bad weather in a bit and we should keep our rain gear handy. I thought he was nuts because it was a beautiful sunny day...

About 45 minutes later we were hunkered under some shrubs on the western side of the river with the wind howling and vertical rain...All day long the warm air rises up the edge of the mountains and hits way colder air up there. The clouds gather up there and eventually break free from the peaks...These mountains create their own weather systems and storms and they are for real...10-15 minutes later it had passed and the sun was back out and all was right again.

I was hitch hiking across Montana in May of 1973. One night we were picked up by someone in a pick up and my buddy and I rode on hay bales in the back watching the northern lights. He came to a cross road and was heading south and when he was dropping us off he asked if we may not want to stay with them for the evening because he was afraid to leave us alone in the middle of no where. "Boys. It can get pretty damn cold out here at night. You sure you want to chance it? You have to respect this part of the country here or it may hurt you."

I think there's some pretty good advice there..."You have to respect this part of the country here..." Realize, that if you don't, it can hurt you...They have real weather there and it can change in a moment with little notice.

What's not to love out there? Really now...Come on!? Pack them bags and go!

Spence

Browning, MT. holds the record for most drastic temperature shift in 24 hours, it was 100 degrees from fifty to -50 the next day.

Ouch! That's the kind of temp change that you hear about shattering rocks in the desert etc...If someone didn't know what they were doing they could get hurt out there! It's worth taking the chance though...IMHO.

Spence

I was there for the first time in 1967. I've been back at least thirty-five times in the past forty-two years. My first trip was only for one month and I drove out in a 1968 GTO. From 1969 - 1972 I would quit my machinist position at the end of May and drive out in my 1969 VW Campmobile for June, July, and August. I usually returned to NJ between the last few days of August and Labor Day.

I know it is going to be a stretch for most of you younger guys to believe this but Armstrong Spring Creek was a no fee deal back in those golden years! Yes, one could fish there as often as one chose to for no fee. At that time access was being underwritten by a number of sponsors. I remember 3M was one and a beer named Lucky 7 I think was another. When Armstrong did become a fee based creek the daily rod fee was just $25 - and it stayed at that sum for many years.

BTW Nelsons had two sessions to fish and each session cost the princely sum of $10.00! The first session was dawn to 1:00 p.m. and the second was from 1:00 p.m. to whenever you wanted to quit, usually we quit when we could no longer see! We always booked the afternoon session because the PMD's rarely started to emerge, in decent numbers, before 1:00 p.m.

Those really were the golden years when cane was still king and Gladding 6x tested at 1.2#. You had to have a light touch and patience to land 18" and larger fish on that gossamer tippet.

Temperature changes like that totally make it worth it. Plus it scares away all the Californians. I have made it a point to watch the weather channel before I leave the house. It has saved a day a time or two when you are crossing the continental divide.

Matt,

You the man!!!

Spence

Thanks for the memories of the spring creeks...I can only imagine and dream a little...I fished Armstrong's in 1995...A couple years before it was washed out during a spring thaw...I got there around 6-6:30 and had a wonderful morning on midges...Once the sun got up a bit it slowed down, as you said, until the PMD's started up in the afternoon...

Hi Aaron,

Spend much time on the Missouri? Dumb question... Let me rephrase: How's the Missouri doing? The last few years I fished it, it was so full of 16" to 22" fish, everybody started to worry about a population crash. Only river I know where you can come upon a big riffle only to discover it's fish working in a flat. Those that don't know the river think I'm kidding! My son went to Carroll so I had to visit him a lot... a lot! Had to get SOME use out of the rental house in town I was paying for, whether I crimped his style or not. People think it's all about floating and guides, but there's a lot of great (and accessible) wade fishing if you know it well. Oh, and that jibe about Californians? Alas, if it were only true... 'Cause I'd move there in a heartbeat. Fishing's actually pretty good here now... because they all seem to go out your way from the talk you hear in our local Fly Shops! Where do you think all those "sports" in the guide boats come from?

Spence - Gary Lafontaine wrote about Montana weather change in what I think was his last book - Fishing the High Country Lakes, I think. Anyway, he tells the story of just such an event as described by Aaron, only he was lakeside and a backpack trip away from the trailhead! Damn near lost his life and the life of his dog. A compelling and sobering read...

Motrout - If access to great fishing is primary - Hard to beat Butte because it sits on the intersection of 15 and 90 and is big enough to have major services. It's hard on the eyes (sorry Butte) because of all the strip mining scars, but that keeps the R.E. prices reasonable and there's some pretty areas nearby. It's Hard for a fella from back East to grasp the distances out west, but location is a much bigger factor because of it. Being at the hub of 15/90 puts you a decent drive away from ALL the great fishing locations. Missoula is much prettier, but its proximity to good fishing is not even close. Frankly, it's a little off the beaten path regards the best flyfishing. Too many movie stars and Jetsetters as well (the result of too many Brad Pitt movies). Drove R.E. prices through the roof. Now if you like bird hunting as well, Helena is hard to beat and only a little further away than Butte. It's a nice town and would probably be my choice. The rest are just too small if you like shopping, hospitals, dining out and such.

Regards,

Kurt

Missouri River? No I do not like the crowds. I like the smaller freestones. No people to work around and the fish are more receptive to my awful flies and clumsy thrashings. The Missouri is perfect for for out of state fisherman looking for a guide a big fish, even the Californians ;). Or, for Matt who self guides and from what I have heard knows more about the river than some of the people who fish it regularly in the area. It is one of the benefits of living here thinking that the "crowds" on the Mighty Mo are really crowds.

Hi Aaron,

Don't blame you. To bad to hear it's gotten crowded. When I fished it a lot, I could find lots of stetches that I had to myself. Oh, the occasional drift boat would come through every half hour or so but the river is so big they would just give me a wide birth. At least far enough away that they didn't bother the fishing or make me feel rude for ignoring them. Like you said though, crowding is relative.

Thanks,

kurt

Strangly enough...I have something to add to this...on both ends. I lived in Big sky for 3 years, so I fished the Gallatin, West Yellowstone and the Madison. You can't go wrong in this area. Perhaps Bozeman? FZ is the man! I never thought I'd be on a fly fishin=g site a hear Zappa qoute:)

Looking for a place to live, work and fish in Montana? I live in Billings. We have the best and most diverse economy of any city in the state. We have an excellelnt quality of life and the leisure time activities abound. My streams and rivers of choice are the Yellowstone, Big Horn, Stillwater, Boulder, Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone and the NE corner of Yellowstone Park i.e. Soda Butte, Lamar and Slough Creek. I tie flies and build fly rods as my hobbies. Now for theplug. I am a Realtor contact me though email at frosty@realtor.com if I can be of service.

"Is that a real poncho, I mean is that a Mexican poncho or is that a Sears poncho? Hmmmm...no fooling!"

FZ again by way of JMD