Inspection On Wednesday

THE PAVING IS FINISHED

The Bridge Is Beautiful
many perfect pull-outs

we're a bit sad

Just 60 Feet To A Beautiful Riffle And Run Stretch
On The Gibbon River: We Can Handle It!

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.. Final approval from the Division Of Federal Highways is expected on Wednesday - or so. The Gibbon River Bridge Project is about finished. It looks like a picture book.

New Picnic Area.

.. Rock work along the roadway blends with the native stone and is artistically done. The bright yellow and white paint on the roadway sets off the road like nothing else can. It won't be beautiful for long, but it will be ohhh sooo much nicer to travel.
.. The volcanic potholes are gone. The off-camber diminishing radius curves are a thing of the past. The abrupt shoulders are just a bad memory.
.. The lack of parking or pull-outs along the road between Gibbon Falls and Tuff Cliff has been remedied by the addition of at least 15 new, (and very spacious,) wide spots.
.. It's been over a decade in planning and construction. It's hard to describe the change. Simply put; it's a modern road, well designed and competently constructed.
.. There is no more fear for the impending disaster of an approaching motor home. Room for the contemporary condominiums on wheels was adequately provided for: now then, about the dotards behind their steering wheels.
.. We were treated to a brief tour of some of the improvements, (thanks guys,) and have a pile of images to show you.
.. We suspect that the fishing pressure along the Gibbon River, (below the falls,) will increase mightily because of the wonderfully placed parking areas. The neighbors are already planning where and how!

Wide Access & Stop Signs.

.. The old picnic area at the base of the falls is now a scenic pull-out with small hills and a twisty one way road, (paved just yesterday.)
.. There is a new picnic area up-grade from Gibbon Falls at Iron Springs. We haven't had the legs to climb to this area in over 30 years - nice to visit old friends.
.. There is now a monstrous parking area for vehicles above the falls and a nicely paved walking and viewing area with powder-coated handrails and giant boulders for sitting and decoration.
.. The overlook is just as spectacular and far safer than the old disaster area. There are traffic separators and the congestion that was so common in this area should be greatly reduced.
.. We're going to miss the easy access to the narrow canyon riffles above the falls. However, the person in charge of restoration of this section understands the needs of crippled old farts and has assured us that the walk along our favorite riffles will not be too strenuous.
.. We did have time to visit with the river about sundown, (just a pleasant 60 feet from our trusty horse,) and danced with a small Brown Trout. We are going to save full exploration of the new access points for next season, (it'll get us through the winter with sneaky planning.)
.. Enjoy the images below. They are fairly sizable and a click will fill your screen.

Brand New & Pretty As A Picture.

Beautiful, Strong, Unobtrusive Rock Work - CCC? WPA?

We Get To Inspect A New Fishing Access
At The Revamped Picnic Area Below Gibbon Falls - Woot, Woot!

Beautiful, Unobtrusive & Dead Straight - SAFE!

Plenty Of Room For "Hippos Of The Highway."

Lots OF Room & Good Visibility.
Note Silt Dam Along The River's Edge.

Just An Easy Cast From The Road.
Does It Get Any Better?

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.. If you survived the slide show, we've a secret for you. The Yellowstone River around Sulfur Cauldron is fishing so good that it's worth the trip from West Yellowstone.
.. Also, the deep riffles and runs above Buffalo Ford are full of fat and feisty 20" fish. These are Cutthroat Trout so eager to dance that they will jump in your vest and pick the correct fly for you.
.. What Fly? Nothing exotic. A nice, (not too bushy,) Woolly Bugger in the size range of 2 or 4, (xl long hooks are good.)
.. Black, of course and a bit of flash in the tail is helpful. Yellow bodies are a near sure bet as well.
.. Drift the pools, or strip the edges, the fish are just waiting for you. Fish hard, fish long, cover water. Now you know - don't catch them all.

FWP Hard At Work

PROPOSED ACCESS FOR
YELLOWSTONE RIVER

Between Columbus & Reedpoint

public comment now open

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.. A 71-acre parcel, located between Highway 10 and the Yellowstone River, was purchased in 2008 by the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks with $550,000 from Access Montana, a fund established by the State Legislature.


.. The access will consist of a road, a parking lot for approximately 20 vehicles, a latrine, and a railroad crossing with automatic signals. Total cost for the improvements will be an additional $130,000 to $180,000. The area will be open to primitive camping, The possibility of a campground is awaiting further funding.
.. The access will cross a section of the Holmgren Ranch and will also allow access to two islands owned by the state.
.. The comment period is now open to the public and extends until the end of the month. The Draft Environmental Assessment is available HERE.
.. Comments on the Holmgren Ranch fishing access site environmental assessment can be sent to Terri Walters at FWP, 2300 Lake Elmo Drive, Billings MT 59105 or by e-mail to twalters@mt.gov. A copy of the environmental assessment is also available to the public at the FWP Region 5 office at Lake Elmo.
.. Phase one of the project could start a couple of months after the finding is issued, (in February, 2010,) and phase two completed by the end of 2011 - funding considered.
.. You can read the story posted by Brett French in the Billings Gazette HERE.

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Big Time In Billings

INCLUDING
THE KITCHEN SINK

Cabela's Graces Montana

Sidney Comes West

.. Just a note to let you know that you can enjoy the superstore phenomenon in Billings, Montana. Trot out to the new Cabela's for a two-week-long "Grand Opening."
.. Much has been made of everything inside the store from it's famous "Gun Library" to the specialized fly fishing section that has been regionalized just for us, and almost as good as Walmart.
.. Gifts and prizes galore are awaiting lucky attendees to the opening. Just think; in these tough times you could even win a 224 sq. ft. log cabin worth a joyous $18,000.
.. We are thinking of skipping opening day in Yellowstone National Park and driving to the Cabela's in Billings, Montana. There will probably be less people there than on the Firehole River.
.. Read the press clippings below:
-> New West,
-> Big Sky Business Journal,
-> KULR.com,
-> KTVQ.com,
-> GreatFallsTribune.com,
-> GreatFallsTribune.com (II),
-> Market Watch (How's Cabela's doing?).

A Dream Opportunity

SUN RANCH ON THE BLOCK

Not Enough Castles Sold

.. The 18,500 acre bit of paradise on the Madison River is for sale. It is encumbered with conservation easements and has some fancy home sites still sitting vacant. It's a pretty nice property and owns both sides of road and Madison River for an obscene distance.
.. This bit of paradise has fouled the dreams of several mega-plutocrats, and it can do the same for you.
.. For a mere $55,000,000 you too can move into the neighborhood, irritate the neighbors, restrict and redefine traditional land use, live elsewhere, shop elsewhere, shake up Bozeman, and drive in for interviews with the influential barons of the New Montana. Then, in a few years you can then sell it to another like-minded interloper. The Montana Monopoly Game for the rich continues.
.. If cows and conservation was such a good idea - why quit now?
.. Read all about it at NEW WEST.
.. Get the company line HERE.
.. Meet the plutocrat HERE.

Gone To The Gov.

HB 190 FINAL VERSION

Just Needs Signature
(P.S. Hebgen Flows To Remain "normal")

.. We told you we'd let you know. The third, and final, reading of the Montana "Clarify Bridge Access" bill has been completed.

It passed by a vote of 96 - 3.

.. It's headed to Governor Brian Schweitzer for a simple stroke of the pen.
.. The bill's language is HERE - HTML, or HERE - PDF. The PDF Version has line numbers, and is new this year. The history is HERE.
.. It's not a perfect bill, but it goes a long way toward clarifying access stipulations and provides the means for public access as well as attachment of fences to bridge abutments for property management and stock control.
.. Montana has a stream access law that is the envy of fisher folks throughout the nation. It's provisions are a goal for many other state's fisher folks.
.. It even has it's own Wikipedia page, in case you need to know the definition of "ordinary high water mark." The page also describes the legalities of portage above the ordinary high water mark to avoid obstacles and obstructions. It's worth a read.
.. The clarifications in this bill are a good compromise and they protect the rights and detail the obligations of both fishers and land owners.
.. As far as fishers are concerned the important part of the bill is Section 3:

Section 3. Fencing for livestock control and public passage -- negotiation -- costs. (1) At county road bridges for which public access is authorized pursuant to [section 2], each fence attached to or abutting a county road bridge edge, guardrail, or abutment for livestock control or for property management pursuant to 7-14-2134(4) must provide for public passage to surface waters for recreational use pursuant to this section.

.. As far as land owners are concerned the same section is important for detailing the kind of access to be provided and the negotiated costs associated with the provided access.
.. We would hope that both state and local sportsman groups would get on board and establish programs to provide the means of access and defray the costs associated with them. This would be an important step in relieving the cost burden assigned to counties and Montana FWP by the current bill.
.. We greatly appreciate the hard work done by all of our state legislators and the consulting agencies and organizations.
.. Last session this issue was a morass of name calling and pigheadedness. This year, conversational cooperation won the day.
.. We may soon see access stiles sprouting across the landscape. It won't happen over night, but it will happen. This is a good thing.
.. With the population growth and in-migration of wealth to Montana there will continue to be conflicts and concerns about the issue of stream access. We hope that the conversational tone of this rational compromise will set the stage for civil reconciliation in the future.

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.. P.S. a note in the Bozeman Chronicle details the repair plans for the intake structure at Hebgen Dam. Check it out if you are interested in fishing between the lakes, or the rest of the downstream Madison River.

OH NO, Mr. Bill

SCUTTLED AT THE END

HB-455 Probably Dead

Big Sky Rivers Act Flushed

.. As we promised, we've monitored this bill. Sadly, for Montana's streams, the big money and thoughtless greed of real estate interests have dumped it in the toilet.
.. Votes in the House Local Government Committee and executive actions seem to have doomed the bill.
.. Thank your local real estate developer the next time you see them. Now rivers such as the Yellowstone, Gallatin, Madison, Jefferson, Smith, Missouri, Clark Fork, Blackfoot, Bitterroot and Flathead will soon have their banks covered with palaces of the rich and invasive.
.. Major development of condominiums and luxury retreats will sprout like the riparian vegetation that is there now. Stream access will fall to "property rights" defenders, and soon Bozeman will look and smell like Central Los Angeles, or Downtown Milwaukee. The invaders should feel right at home.
.. No 250 foot setbacks will be enacted. "Local Control" added to the bill did not satisfy the plutocrat's of development. Their watch words seem to be: "IF IT'S THERE - BUILD ON IT!"

READ THE UGLY DETAILS HERE.

.. Best get to the Gallatin River before you can't see it!

Spring Weather: Clear & Cold

PARADISE FOUND
grass is greener here

.. Cruising home without a bug on the windshield is one indication of the success, (or lack thereof,) of an outing to the local troutery. It does happen, even in paradise.
.. As we returned from a visit to the mouth of Beaver Creek, (see map,) our musings strayed first to the joys of solitary fishing, which hadn't happened, and then to the nature of paradise. Oh, there was a fish caught - two actually, but the adventure was rather pedestrian - having to share such meager success with the neighbors and their fish buckets and garden hackle.
.. Our musing on the drive home produced a question: 'Just what is paradise?' How do we find it? A private paradise, king of the realm, master of the universe, fish in every direction, salubrious weather, no bugless windshields, no driving to the water, no ten foot snow drifts, no long underwear. Is there such a place? Of course there is: VATU VARA!

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.. Now there's a paradise: assured privacy, remote yet accessible, within our means, good neighborhood, and it's available. We could own an island.

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.. We're going to call our new best friend Cheyenne Morrison.

"Say, 'SHY,' heard that lonely ol' rock is on the market again." -- "Really; sand fleas?" -- "What's the 10-year hurricane forecast look like?" -- "No, not that many! Oh, global warming, huh?" -- "What invasive species?" -- "C'mon, the damn thing's a petunia!" -- "What'cha mean the infestation?"
.."Oh, and the lagoons are that warm? And the fish went where?" -- "What kind of fungus and mold?" -- "Not in your underwear? Really? Chlorine and Clorox?" -- "What kind of bug? Protected? EATS WHAT!" -- "Pincers? How big? Toxin?" -- "Oh not that kind of crab. Them too?"
.. "Are those evening breezes still a delightful surprise every day? What's a doldrums? E-gad, and the well went dry?" -- "But can't you use desalination? HOW MUCH? You just have to be kidding! Import it from Israel? French duty on what kind of technology? A license fee? Every year?"
.. "Well how's the beach looking?" -- "Disappeared? Oh that global thing again, huh?" -- "ROCKS? No more sand? That much?" -- "What kind of bird? They're big! Bite? No guns? Nesting sites? No development? But that's the cabana site! Oh, not now eh?" -- "The turtles what? Can't go on that part of the island either? Who can? But not the owner?"
.. "MEL WHO? Really, only 35 km? Don't like him there either?" -- "Thinking of selling? That bad? His son?" -- "What about ol' Emori? He still there? Still own the grocery store on the next island?" - "What, the whole damn thing washed away? Groceries and all? But . . . , oh another 40 miles, and what kind of tax?" -- "No gasoline for the generator? -- What's that mean? Ahhhh, generator rusted because of the salt air; got it!" -- "New storage tank regulation? How small? Weekly deliveries, that's insane! Environmental what? Down there? Oh, well"
.. "What lawsuit? Displaced local Fiji residents? How much? King Who? And the boat he came on . . . can't be true! Prison? Extradition?" -- "Foreign national permit? For fishing? Daily? In U.S. Dollars?"
.. "Well, 'SHY' it was good talking to ya, hope you pawn that pile off on some unsuspecting billionaire. Sure, next time you're up this way. It's not bad. Went up to Beaver Creek and caught a couple of fish. No, about 16" nothing remarkable. John says hi, take care."

Bugless windshields are a genuine indicator of paradise!

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Earth Be Warm - Ice Be Gone - Strange Be Found

RAPID COLONIZATION BENEATH VANISHING ICE
Montana Stream Access Still Under Attack

.. From beneath the Weddell Sea ice shelves comes a community of creatures straight out of your most vivid nightmares. Reuters reports about new Antarctic expedition.
.. Of the hundreds of animals discovered beneath what was previously over 5,000 square miles of ice are the possible 19 new species: 15 possible new species of shrimp-like amphipods and four possible new species of cnidarians, organisms related to coral, jellyfish and sea anemones.
.. The region has been characterized as one of the world's most pristine deep sea environments.
.. The ice shelves were at least 5,000 years old and collapsed in two stages over the last dozen years. One crumbled 12 years ago and the other followed in 2002. Global warming is seen as the culprit behind the ice shelves' demise.
.. Thick settlements of fast-growing animals called sea squirts, which look like gelatinous bags, which apparently started colonizing the area only after the ice shelves collapsed.

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.. Senate Bill 78, and House Bills 424 & 642 in the Montana Legislature are causing a stir. The access to streams in Montana is still under attack. K. Durham, in New West spells it out for those folks still unaware of the crisis. The current battle is not only about access but it challenges the concept that citizens of Montana own the water. This is a nasty grab by the wealthy.

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.. Speaking of the wealthy, read how the ultra wealthy are doing in Big Sky, Montana, (and elsewhere,) in the report by The Independent News & Media Limited. We leave you with a description of THE YELLOWSTONE CLUB:

The highest-end "destination club" in the world, is a private holiday resort set in 13,400 acres of countryside in the Montana mountains. By winter, The Yellowstone is a powder skiers paradise; by summer, there's a Tom Weiskopf-designed golf course, together with some highly regarded riding, walking and fly-fishing.

There are fewer than 300 members, recruited on an invitation-only basis. Their identities are a closely guarded secret, though regulars are rumored to include Bill Gates, Dan Quayle, and Brad Pitt. With an entry fee of $250,000 (£130,000), plus annual subscriptions of around $10,000. And you'll need to buy a house within the resort at somewhere between $2m and $155m.

Beware Of Flying Carp

Prepare For The Attack

via: Scattershooting

Come Visit - We're Vanishing

.Short & Sour.

.gone fishing.

.. The "Last Best Place" is about to vanish. New West gives us the details about how it's done, HERE.
.. Out of state scofflaws are robbing Montana blind. LINK.
.. Fewer people are fishing. LINK.
.. Business in the middle of nowhere. LINK.
.. National Parks see fewer campers. LINK.

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.. Sorry for the brevity.

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.. For Your Mouse:
- Trout Underground,
- Protect Your Waters,
- No Se Nada,
- The Map Room,
- Cutthroat Country,
- Bud Lily's Fishing Report,
- Blue Ribbon Fishing Report,
- Blue Ribbon Journal,
- MRO Fishing Report,
- Good Grits,
- All About Fly Fishing.

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