Slight Of Hand

WINDOW DRESSING

The Parks Ploy

you do the math

RYAN ZINKE: NEVER ONE TO MISS A GOOD PHOTO OP

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..We're thankful for the crumbs. The check for $78,333 presented to The National Park Service is Donald Trump's first quarterly pay as President of the United States.
.. This will go a long way toward offsetting the anticipated  12% ($1.5bn) cut in funding to the Interior Department. The gesture is not lost on us, the small folk from Montana.

THE LORD GIVETH

.. Of course Donald Trump could not take the time away from tweeting to present the check in person.
.. Being the master of spin and spoof Trump allowed the press secretary to do it at the national press conference.
.. This is in keeping with his Old Testament Christian values.
.. As is said in Job 1:21, "Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord giveth, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."
.. Job, on the other hand, did not have the advantage of a million dollar loan from his father.
.. Ryan Zinke seems to have lost his cowboyan attire and is sporting the D.C noob uniform: an off color azure suit. He's well on his way to fixing the Interior Department.

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.. The Madison River inside Yellowstone National Park has settled into it's seasonal pattern.
.. It is periodically bank full as it goes through it's nocturnal / diurnal swings in response to daytime temperatures. The river is just a mite above seasonal averages and closing fast on a runoff regime that will not disturb the redds that have been filled.
.. The Gallatin River is just a skoosh more rambunctious for this time of year. It is running at more than 200cfs above seasonal norms and the discharge is pretty steady due to the near continuous mid level snowpack melt.

RED WORM

.. The neighbors have been splashing around in the short stretch of cold water between the north boundary of Yellowstone National Park and Taylor Fork.
.. The challenge in this stretch is finding a fish with the energy to open it's mouth. Large nymphs, wet flies, and small streamers have been having some success.
.. They must be fished low and slow. Hitting a fish in the nose is most effective!

RED REBEL  -  old fashioned wet

.. Neither the occasionally bright day, nor the thirty and forty degree temperatures seem to have been sufficient for a steady or prolific midge hatch.
.. The snow flies have been reluctant to maintain their usually steady hatch that we have seen in the last few years, (except near Quake Lake on the Madison River.)

THIN WING STREAMER

.. Quake Lake is producing some nice fish at the boat ramp where the Madison River debauches into the ice filled lake.
.. Breakup is under way and for those willing to reach the shore near Beaver Creek the rewards should be significant.
..  Well greased streamers on short, heavy leaders, that are occasionally twitched near the surface on the retrieve have been wildly fairly successful.

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.. We awoke early after a night filled with digestive dreams. That is not an all bad thing. Yesterday's dusting of snow has melted and the temperature is on the rise. We'll finish the coffee and stroll down to the best biscuits and gravy in town. It's nice to have someone else do the dishes for a change.

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WALLPAPER:  CLAM CHOWDER