Inches Up -- Water Down

SNOW PACK
ABOUT AVERAGE

Or Slightly Below

spring will tell the tale
(photo courtesy of North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences Winter Tour of Yellowstone)
[[click photo for Yellowstone slide show]]

.. As the mid-winter-warm-up wends its way toward spring we again check the snowpack figures. The numbers are not as depressing as we feared. But, they're not as good as we'd hoped.
.. If the 90 day forecast holds and spring brings what the National Weather Service anticipates we can look forward to the following:

". . . estimated streamflows between April and July suggest that the Gallatin River will be running between 86 to 96 percent of a 30-year average. The Yellowstone is predicted to run at 92 to 104 percent, the Madison River between 78 and 81 percent and the Jefferson River 81 to 101." [LINK]

.. That's not all bad for the anticipated river flows. The Billings Gazette, and The Bozeman Chronicle both have run articles in the recent past. It seems that water is important to us all.
.. The maps below show the snow pack, and the streamflow forecast. It has been, and could be worse. We'll wait another 30 days and see how it turns out. [Click image for source.]

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.. It seems that the Sacramento River salmon are being done in by pumps and water exports. Thanks to the Trout Underground for following this catastrophe.
.. Jeff Kennedy, of Drawing Flies fame, is busy in these down-times and we miss the daily offerings. He's posted another couple of flies, and gotten some good press from Field & Stream.
.. The Montana State Legislature is busy wasting time with your money as it introduces another, (happily defeated,) stupid bill. Read about "Junteenth" and how our legislature spends its time HERE.

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Valentine Fish

NOT YOUR EVERYDAY FISH

That's Probably Best

a cod by any other name

.. Straight from Norway comes this note. (LINK)

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After five years in the Barents Sea, as far north as Svalbard, millions of skrei flood in every winter towards the northern coast of our country. Sexually mature, potent and on the prowl for a mate they bring the ocean to a boil.
After these first five years of life the skrei is muscular, supple and in the prime of its life, fit enough for the long journey home to Lofoten and the northern coast of Norway. After a fatiguing voyage a real charmer returns to its birthplace to make love.

The Casanova of the Seas
While other species get right down to business, the skrei tilt their heads gently in towards one another in a tender sign of affection and glide away slowly before five years of yearning take a powerful upper hand and the pace increases, belly to belly. The ocean comes to a boil and millions of new eggs are fertilised.

The skrei season commences on St. Valentine's Day
On the day of love, Valentine's Day, the 14th of February, the skrei has achieved the objective of its yearning and long journey. That is also when the skrei season begins for those of us sitting around the table. The love fish is perfect for the day on which we are reminded of the Roman priest Valentine who left behind him history's first known love letter.

Skrei – in the name of love
Skrei is some of the healthiest food that you can serve someone you care about. Nutrition-wise skrei is a veritable fountain of youth. Seafood contains few calories and is rich in proteins along with the important omega-3 fatty acids, which are so tremendously good for both the body and the brain.

Omega-3 provides increased energy and better spirits, strengthens the heart, improves the blood circulation and counteracts memory loss and faulty concentration by providing the brain with nourishment. That is why many find that they experience weight loss, improved intelligence and greater vigor by eating more seafood.

---- And that is certainly just how we wish to appear in the eyes of our beloved on the day of love.

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A Different Place

IT'S FAST BECOMING THE PAST

Some rural rules:

1. Pull up your droopy pants. You look like an idiot.

2. Let's get this straight; it's called a "gravel road." I drive a pickup truck because I need to. No matter how slow you drive, you're going to get dust on your Lexus. Drive it or get out of the way.

3. They are horses, cattle & oil wells. That's what they smell like to you. They smell like money to us. Get over it. Don't like it? I-90 and I-94 go east and west, I-15 goes north and south. Pick one.

4. So you have a $60,000 dollar car. We're impressed. We have quarter-million dollar, air conditioned tractors that we drive three weeks a year.

5. So every person in every pickup waves. It's being friendly. Try to understand the concept.

6. If that cell phone rings while a bunch of geese are coming in, we WILL shoot it out of your hand. You better hope you don't have it up to your ear at the time.

7. Yeah, we eat Walleye & Rainbow Trout. You really want sushi & caviar? It's available at the corner bait shop.

8. The "Opener" refers to the first day of deer season. It's a religious holiday held the closest Saturday to the first of November.

9. We open doors for women. That is applied to everyone, regardless of age.

10. No, there's no "vegetarian special" on the menu. Order steak. Or you can order the Chef's Salad and pick off the two pounds of ham & turkey.

11. When we fill out a table, there are three main dishes: meats, vegetables, and breads. We use three spices: salt, pepper, and A-1.

12. You bring "coke" into my house, it better be brown, wet, served over ice. You bring "Mary Jane" into my house, she better be cute, know how to shoot, drive a truck, and have long hair.

13. High School Football is as important here as the Vikings and the Seattle Seahawks and a dang site more fun to watch.

LINK

We Love Firefoxes

ESPECIALLY THESE

Cabin Fever Reliever

wallpaper edition

We'll Contact You

MUM'S THE WORD

Why The Silence ?

stay tuned

.. According to a story in the RUTLAND HERALD Dick Cheney may or may not be the guest at the $175/plate fundraiser for the American Museum of Fly Fishing.
.. Catherine Comar, executive director of the museum was quoted in the story: "We're not discussing this. We'll contact you when we're ready to discuss the issue. The board (of directors) is having meetings. When we have any information to offer, we'll contact you."
.. We, like the Rutland Herald, are waiting for some information to confirm or deny the veracity of the story that the museum has decided to "Honor" itself with the presence of the former Representative from Wyoming.
.. We're reminded about the recent post in FLY RIVER about the many socio-cultural divisions in fly fishing and wonder just how much this plays into the Cheney flap. Is this story accelerated by the east coast elitists finding a western elitist to rub elbows with? Or is it just that the disparity of ideals and actions is ignored when it comes to gathering up money?

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FOR THE RECORD

.. Cheney's Record [LINK]
.. American Museum of Fly Fishing [LINK]
.. Staff and Directors of the AMFF [LINK]
.. Tickets: AMFF fund raiser at New York Anglers' Club [LINK]
.. New York Anglers' Club restaurant: violations record [LINK]
.. New York Anglers' Club restaurant: information [LINK]
.. Rutland Herald [LINK]

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.. Thanks to the Trout Underground for the tip.

DA DICK

MOLDY & BUSTER ALERT US

Williams Right On

check the Mike Mayer Response
photo courtesy illiterate electorate

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.. The desperate fund raising effort of the American Museum Of Fly Fishing is proceeding apace and their feeble attempt to justify their efforts ignore the damage done by the guest of . . . . . "Honor???"
.. An interesting and insightful response to the Ted Williams piece is excerpted below. "Trout Bums" beware.
.

This situation is a textbook reflection of a much larger and more insidious problem within the "sport" of fly-fishing, specifically that, while fly-fishing does hold within it a rich and honorable tradition of conservation and enlightenment, it also caters to some of the most childish, self-centered, pompous, small-minded, newly rich, rightwing one-generation-from-cracker wannabes (I think I covered it all, but forgive me if I missed any) on the planet. I'm no animal rights activist; I fly-fish and tie flies whenever I get the time; I eat meat and even eat fish, even trout, on occasion; and I even raise a small herd of those damned cattle to help protect my hold on an allotment, although under tight control and certainly never in anything close to riparian habitat.

But, it has always been my belief that, when you take something, you give back and set the stage to keep things whole. So, I have worked hard, used to work harder before the Butch/Sheeney Administration made it seem so futile, to get fly-fishers, trout anglers, to understand that it is only honorable to repay our disturbance of the waters by acting to preserve and conserve the resources, especially the remaining native trout species, from which we derive our pleasure.

A fraction of fly-fishers join me in embracing this obligation; but, more and more, the majority only seem selfishly interested in preserving the populations of feral rainbows and browns that have come to infest their pet streams. The thought of temporarily foregoing a fishing experience in order to remove non-native species and preserve a native trout that should be in the stream is just not a sacrifice that they are willing to even think about. Bob Jacklin's role in coalescing opposition to the renovation of Yellowstone waters is a relatively minor, but clear, example. Their attitude seemed to be "damn the natives; we just want to fish." To the extent that old Sheeney likes to fly-fish, which I am sure is exaggerated for publicity sake, his role in the worst despoiling regime in America's history both illustrates my point and mocks any tradition of honorable sportsmanship that the museum may still want to cling to. ...and I'm not alone in my sentiment.

One of the greatest of America's fly-fishing gurus, a guy who used to tour the conclaves with his buddies in the heyday of the late 80s and early 90s, recently confessed that his love of the sport is tainted today by the hypocrisy of those who profess the sport, but have no clue about the underlying ethics of conservation.

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So be it.

It's That Time

OF GROUNDHOGS,
CANDLEMAS,
& BUDDY

Ours Is A Yellow Belly

feasting for football

the day the music died

.. There was a fine sentiment expressed yesterday by Best Fly Fishing Yellowstone: "February always brings new hope to my fly fishing mind and heart."
.. Despite the culture or country; societies in the northern hemisphere invoke a persistent buoyancy of the human spirit about this time of year.
.. The worst of winter seems gone. The days and evenings are softer. And, of course, our pineal gland is feasting on a bit more sunlight each day.
.. With the Vernal Equinox nearly 2 months away it's a psychological necessity for us to anticipate more salubrious fishing weather. And we do.
.. Be it pagan rituals, lost in the European mists of time, or the Christian celebration of Candlemas this is that part of the calendar that demands optimism.
.. The appropriation of this feast time by the groundhog and the NFL is just the latest in a long line of optimistic anticipatory rituals. We note with some levity that the losers of the Super Bowl have a "next year sentiment" too.
.. It may be Groundhog Day, Candlemas, or the eve of the day the music died; but it is still winter in the high country.
.. However, it stayed above zero last night, and although out yellow-bellied marmots are still sleeping peacefully, and even if the music died, and even if the Cardinals lost -- hope of spectacular fishing bursts forth from our fur and feather and floss debris in the sanctum of the tying room.
.. The fishing, these last few days, has been just short of spectacular on the open water in the neighborhood. The snow, alas, is not too deep and the afternoons have provided ample snow flies for the trout.
.. Midge clusters have been cooperatively large, and dimples on the water have been abundant between the lakes in the Hebgen Tailwater. Most of the neighbors have enjoyed the reduced tourist traffic this year and have had nearly enough time to visit with our aquatic fauna.
.. There are fewer unknown vehicles in the parking spots, and even fewer out-of-county license plates.
.. The storms have been pretty soft this year. Mother has compensated by throwing in some cast-busting winds and ground blizzards that would do Point Barrow proud. Happily, casting skill is less important than stalking skill this time of year.
.. The high country seldom pays much attention to the circus at Gobbler's Knob. We know that there will be at least 6 more weeks of winter. And that's not bad.
.. An olde rhyme from Scotland was way ahead of Phil on this day:

Candlemas Day
If Candlemas Day be dry and fair,
Half the winter's to come and mair.
If Candlemas Day be wet and foul,
Half o' winter's gane at Yule.
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.. We'll let the congealed sausage gravy from breakfast fight with the chips and dip from yesterday evening as we head to the tailwater. Wind be damned; it's a good day to fish.