Will There Be Beer?

A tale of two fishing styles

Americas symbol? or "rats with wings"?

 I need to get one thing straight. I know this blog is the Montana Fishing Hermit, which is a little misleading.  I USED to be a true fishing hermit.  then I met my lovely wife Julie and the days of loading my personal pontoon, mountain bike and camping gear into the car and heading out to the rivers of Montana changed a wee bit.

"Clay style" fishing

One constant is maggie, she has logged more rivers than most people I know.

Those days are not completely gone, and actually now I have two fishing styles:  there is fishing "Julie style" and fishing" Clay style".  Most of my posts have been of  Clay style fishing, which involves putting in a lot of hours driving to rivers and floating and fishing, basically an all day affair.  I can fish for 12 hours straight and not really think anything of it. Julies limit is maybe three or four hours.

yours truly with a North Fork Flathead cutthroat, montanas state fish

Julie style fishing is bigger production, and can involve as many as 20 adults and children. Not exactly stealth fishing mode.  Needless to say this involves a little more planning than just throwing my rod and vest in the car and heading for Rock Creek.  Don't get me wrong Julie loves floating, and as I like to say "trout don't live in ugly places" (except maybe the Missouri).  Julie has even become a good rower and even enjoys it. The only problem is one shouldn't bark orders at ones wife.  Saying things like "slow down" or "you're too close" or "lets cross and fish that other shore" have to approached delicately.

A "Julie style" fishing expedition

A "Julie style" river expedition usually involves our neighbors Nate and Jenny, and their two kids Chloe and Riker, The Foxes and their four kids Barret, Cale, Burke, and Campbell, and an assortment of out of town guests and whatever friends she has seen recently. Suffice to say stealth mode is not an option. Also, a perfect Julie day is about 90 degrees and cloudless, not usually thought of as trout weather.  

Julie and Campbell

help, pirates have taken the ship!

Barret tests the South Fork

Jr entemologists discover a stonefly nymph

Cale discovers a Flathead River hot tub

I remember talking to a guy where I work and lamenting about all this before a trip to Polebridge to float the North Fork.  His reply was one of the wisest things I can remember, he said                                                                                          "will there be beer?"                                                          and I thought to myself of course there will be beer, lots of beer!  

    

            Lets Go floating!

Burke models this years favorite river beer Tamarack brewings Hat Trick Hop

Maggie launches after a stick, if she had thumbs i would teach her to row.

Kevin Fox and son Cale in their boat

See you on the river. you will hear us coming!