What Snow?!?

Compare the same shot I sent you five days ago!

 

RCR

 

 

 

E'13's Log-O-Meter

Easter Greetings, gang, from Extravaganza Headquarters, where things are in full springtime preparation for this year’s eleventh foray into the wilds of Montana Ritz-Carlton style!

 

As we begin our final preparations for this year’s blessed event, as it is with each year, all eyes begin to myopically focus on the soon-to-commence runoff when ensuing warmer weather begins the snow melt at the higher mountain climes and what ensues is a torrent of snowmelt that begins in thousands of rivulets, merges into hundred of creeks and eventually flows into our major rivers ending up in the Clark Fork of the Columbia River (which flows right through downtown Missoula) ending up eventually at the Columbia River’s Portland mouth after a brief traversing stint through Canada.  This runoff is both our friend and our potential enemy.  As to the former, the runoff cleanses our rivers of diterus that has formed over the prior year and resituates fish that have been accustomed to certain waters, making the waters both cleaner and newer to our targeted bounty.  Too much of anything is too much, as is the case with the annual runoff.  Witness two years ago in 2011 when the runoff was 200% of 20 year seasonal plus the snowmelt’s equivalent water content was 200% of normal, making a massive 400% of normal combined runoff that sent us scurrying via motor coach over to Missouri River to fish its more dam-tamed waters (which in and of themselves were legendary…but, as you E-11 veterans know, huge fish in bountiful numbers we nonetheless caught!). 

 

Simply stated, the runoff is the engine that drives our Extravaganza fishing experience and where we want to be is just where we were last year, right at 100% of 20 year average flows.  

 

With the recent snow that we have had here in Western Montana, the snow pack numbers are smiling on Extravaganza 2013.  Whereas 45 days ago when we were tracking in the low eighty percentiles of seasonal snow pack averages, those percentiles are now in the high eighty percentiles, with the Blackfoot drainage now pacing in the 94^th percentile (up from the 82^nd percentile last month), the Bitterroot Basis reporting in the 86^th percentile (up from the 78^th percentile) and the Clark Pork now pacing at the 88^th percentile (up the 82^nd percentile).  Equally as important, the average snow water equivalent in the snow pack is in the mid 90 percentiles (as opposed to being in the mid 60^th percentiles just 45 days ago).  

 

All in all, gang, so far things are tracking perfectly for E-13.  Mother Nature can be fickle, however, and, as you rookies will soon see first hand, for the past several years we have been flow charting the annual runoff (using our home Rock Creek as a baseline) and visually you will be able to follow our in-stream Log-O-Meter which tells you just what is coming down the stream.  Witness the first of the two pics above, taken just about an hour ago, showing a mild, meek Rock Creek flowing at 284 cubic feet per second (“cfs”).  By comparison I have attached a picture mid-last year’s runoff when the Creek was flowing at 1800cfs (or over 6x the current flow).  This is the perfect-for-fishing level of the Creek that we want come June 15^th with the arrival of our Wonderful Ones.  By further contrast, take a look at the top of the cross log—this logjam was created during the massive 2011 runoff when, at 5200 cfs (or 18 x the current flow rate) Rock Creek was a raging unfishable maniac as were all of our other surrounding rivers, and the water flow was over the top of the cross log.  By way of further reference, when the water just kisses the bottom of the cross log, the Log-O-Meter is telling us that our Rock Creek flowage is at 2,000 cfs.

 

Again, we will be watching water flows and May temperatures (which will be the regulator on those flows) very closely in the week ahead; for the time being, the stage for E-13 is set very nicely, thank you very much!!

 

Best to all from the wonderful scene of it all,

 

Rock Creek Ron

    ---<’///><

 

 

 

 

 

Skwala Hatch: Boat report Last Day

What a great report below from Brian "Moraine" Shepard on his final, fifth
day of fishing with son "Fear The Beard" on the Bitterroot River with our
outfitter John "The Great But Propaneless" Gould!

Visualize yourselves, gang, on this very sane river doing the very same
thing in just under 90 days!!

Bueno, bueno, bueno...thanks for the great report, Brian, and congrats on
a(nother) great day/week of springtime fishing here in the Rocky Mountains!!

RCR---<'///><

Subject: Boat report Last Day

Florence to Lolo float. This was a repeat of our first days float. The first
day float was spectacular but today was even better.
The river had risen a bit so we were able to fish more places.The day
started out slow Josef had 10 fish before lunch to my one. The one was a
double up.
After lunch things started happening fast. Not many risers but still they
were taking the dry flies pretty good. Browns, bows and cut-bows all.

Josef and I started doubling up which made John a very happy guide. Josef
was trying to keep count of how many fish we caught but after 12 or so he
lost count. At this point we started counting double ups . We lost count of
double ups at 9. There may have been on or two after that but at that point
who cares, we had doubled up more times than some boats catch in a day.

A the end of the day I mentioned to John I thought we had caught maybe 40
fish. He started to list the catch 10 before lunch,at least 9 double ups and
a whole "ass pile" of other fish. He reckoned 50-60 fish caught!!!!

Yep most fish I ever caught in a day, even though Josef caught most of them
I was an active participant.

Josef had a 20.25" brown and 3-4 others that were in the 18-20 inch range.
I had 3-4 16-18 inchers .

The previous 4 days were awesome as well. Not as many fish as today but
bigger fish. Yesterday we caught 4 smaller fish and the rest, 15-16 of them
were in the 16- 19 inch range with one 20 inch rainbow.

I am pretty sure we caught at least 20 fish every day!!!!

It does not get better than this, spring fishing in Missoula.


I will have the photos for you on a disk tomorrow.

Brian "Moraine" Shepard

First Fish Pics

Fellow Extravaganzers: 

 

See what happens when a camera works!  Grab a hold of the attached gaggle of pictures taken by Brian "Moraine" Shepard (so named for his favorite fishing spot near Alaska's Rainbow River Lodge when we fished the Alaskaganza several years ago) featuring son Josef "Fear The Beard" Shepard (so obviously named) on their second day of fishing the Bitterroot this week (the first day they described as "good to great fishing, so much so we had no time for pictures!), featuring two great specimen of the fishing bounty in these here Montana parts:  the first two of a twenty inch Cuttbow trout (so named for the slash mark under the mouth and the commingling with rainbows as evident by the red lateral stripe) and the latter several of pure Cutthroats, sans comingling.

 

A twenty inch trout here is a mammoth catch, so much so for each of our Extravaganzas we have a special Twenty Inch Club and sign-in board for those who are lucky and deft enough to see, hook, land and release one of these beauties.  A twenty inch catch is a wonderful and elite one, witness last year, where putting over 100 boats on the water during E-12 yielded 25 twenty inchers.

 

Bravo, bravo, bravo, Shepards Duo…what a wonderful way to start this fishing season.

 

Best to all now in the reality of it all,

 

Rock Creek Ron

   ---<'///><

E-13: Springtime In The Rockies!!

Greetings, Fellow E-13ers from Extravaganza Headquarters!

 

The attached photos give you a pretty good idea of the springtime extremes that exist here at the epicenter of all Extravaganzas:  Driving snow in near-zero conditions followed by quick melt-offs in mid-40 degree weather followed by nights dipping into the wee teens accompanied by rolling snow flurries and their bone-chilling winds.  For you rookies out there, the first snow shot is taken from my office steps looking up and at our main house.  We keep our buildings heated all winter long so, while it may be a bit chilly outside, the insides welcome us with open arms to spend the on-average 10 days a month that your Hostess With The Mostess and I spend here (she being resident here all summer long with (y)our E-13 trusty mascots aged Cocker Spaniel “Sir” and his much younger and bouncier now four year old Black Lab “Ma’am”).  The third photo gives you a perspective of the layout here, with me currently typing this note from my MT office which is located on the ground level of the building on the right hand side.  Check out the cool nature-made hanging icicles which the frigid temperatures creates out of our chains-in-lieu of otherwise needle-congested downspouts and give greeting to our patio eagle who oversees our lawn casting on the day(s) of your arrival(s)!!

 

Now I was all set to send you our very first fish photos of the year—the product of a most chilly first two days of fishing with our Double Up Outfitter John “The Great but Propaneless” Gould, but, as luck would have it, my failure to check out our otherwise virtually bullet proof cameras left me this morn with purple blurs of otherwise pristine rainbow and cutthroat trout that we caught (and released) on the Bitterroot over the past two days.  Your Hostess and I fished together on Saturday in the midst of intermittent snow flurries and a biting cold that chilled both of us to the bone and, then, the next day daughter Trina “Boots” Clausen and I did the same float under blue skies and landed gorgeous (you would have loved the pictures!) rainbows on bamboo driven dry flies during this annual early skwala fly hatch—a stone fly hatch that is limited to just certain rivers and to fisherfolk who have no sense at all to get inside out of the cold!  The largest of our bounty was a gorgeous 19” rainbow that your Hostess landed (again, you would have loved the picture of both fish!) and, by far, even better than the gorgeous views of the snow-clad Bitterroot Mountains was the warmth-driven crackling sound of the fire in the fireplace each night après fishing.

 

With now two boats launched this 2013 season, I am leaving the picture taking to Group One’s Brian “Moraine” Shepard and son Josef “Fear The Beard” Shepard who are currently resident in our co-owned Blackfoot house and, right now, are on the Bitterroot’s water with Propaneless for their first of five (count ‘em!) days of skwala hatch fishing—an annual right of passage for Moraine & Co.!  …and you shoulda seen those great shots I took for you, gang!!

 

Best to all from the frigid scene of it all (as in it was 16 degrees outside yesterday when Boots and I headed out to go fishing!),

 

Rock Creek Ron

   ---<’///><

 

 

 

E-13: Hard to believe!

E-13ers:

 

From, and with thanks to, Group One’s, long time (and long in the tooth) veteran Brian “Moraine”Shepard!

 

RCR----<’///><

 

Hard to believe Montana did this, but Montana has followed that idiot newspaper in New York and released a map of the location of all gun owners. Their locations are marked in red

 

 

E-13: Sure sign of hypothermia - chewing cork!

Fellow E-13ers: 

 

Say hello to Group Two returning veteran Helena, MT MD Jeff Georgia who, below, pridefully shows off a lunker of a rainbow trout recently caught in snowy climes on the Missouri River with his E-13 Sweetgrass bamboo rod.

 

Bravo, Jeff!!

 

RCR---<’///><

 

p.s.  You can put ten size 22 flies on your little finger.

  

 

Today the river was 38 deg. I got this one on a size 22 dry midge. Note engraving on reel. Thanks again. 

-Jeff