23/6/13 – Fly Fishing Rock Creek Montana

Peter and Miriam and the girls went for a ride to somewhere nice. Nate and I on the other hand packed the truck and set off for an exciting day fly fishing Rock Creek. Luckily for me the ‘bugs’ that the trout are feeding on don’t start hatching until the day warms up so none of this 0400 start time nonsense – I knew I was born to go fly fishing when we departed at 0830! First up we stopped off to buy the fishing license and met a guy who teaches fly fishing in NZ and said he met a guy there who looked good but didn’t catch anything… nah only joking Hans.

Actually a number of these guides work taking people flying fishing all around the world and Rock Creek Montana is currently rated one of the best fly fishing places in the world, so it was a busy season. Nate had given me a few pointers on technique and a sock in the driveway to practice my aim, but there is nothing better than doing it for real in the wilderness. Nate who is an experienced hunter has all of the gear so we set off with high expectations but nothing would prepare us for the events that were to unfold.

After turning off the I-90 highway at the site of the upcoming ‘Testicle Festival’, a ‘balls to the wall’ annual event where testicles have been celebrated Montana style for over 30 years with all the ‘prairie oysters’ (fried bull calf balls) you can eat, a rowdy and raunchy party crowd and a lot of ‘skin’ displayed by people of all shapes, sizes and levels of intoxication we travelled up the road that follows the creek for some 40 miles.

Eventually Nate selected a spot that was clear of bushes on the edge so that I wouldn’t catch my fly on the back cast and set me up with a fly that would be easy to keep afloat. I displayed an ‘adequate’ technique but there were no fish in this location! Well actually there were heaps of fish but I couldn’t tempt any of them to take my line. So we soon set off to another picturesque spot that had a suspension bridge and big boulders for the fish to hide under.

Still no fish but an interesting drop toilet that was obviously used only by ‘mountain men’! On the way to the next spot we identified the states from which people had come here to fish by their vehicle number plates. Folks were in from Washington, Georgia, Utah, California, Wyoming and Texas. Did you know only 1 million people live in Montana so the wildness is pristine and the wildlife is abundant … and so everyone else in America wants to come here to fish and hunt ... and ruin things!

 

So Nate and I moved away from the ‘crowds’ to a heavily wooded area that required some cross country trekking. After setting up we waded in to the cold water (the last of the snow melt) and set about the task at hand. Luckily I was dry and warm in my wetsuit waders, fishing boots, hunting vest and hat and was happy to cast away, albeit a little unsteadily on the slippery rocks, in the hope of the ultimate prize.

It was not long before I got an outcome, but it was definitely not the outcome I was expecting.

Not long after setting up and I was 20 yards upstream from Nate I heard a huge splash and spun around thinking that he had fallen in. He spun around expecting (more likely) that I had fallen in. What had actually happened is that a moose had literally jumped into the stream from the brush and was now standing midway between the two of us. All three of us froze. I began telling myself the SPRAY mantra (stand still, prepare, round up, act human and yield) but was ‘concerned’ after seeing Nat’s face.

He was looking to the bank. Could it be that the moose had been chased by a wolf or better still a bear? In my ignorance I was only terrified. Nate on the other hand, who knew that a cow with a calf at this time of year will rear up on her hind legs and cut a person to death with their front hooves, was calmly in a state of sheer panic.

Thoughts like – ‘Peter will have to book an extra bag for the flight home because that’s all that will be left of our guest’ crossed his mind or ‘will I run or dive under if the moose attacks me’. Neither was looking a successful option as we were weighed down in thigh deep water and moose are more adept in water than on land. Luckily for us, and I’m sure because of Nate’s calm conversation with the ‘beast’ letting her know that we were probably the first humans she had ever seen and ‘we come in peace’, she turned and wandered off to the other back to graze for a while before heading off downstream. Being conscious of the fact that no one would believe us, we then both clambered for our cameras and tied to catch a glimpse of what was by now a most confused but thankfully calm moose.

I got off a few good shots but Nate had ‘accidently’ caught yet another trout while the drama was unfolding and had to deal with the fish on the line before he could take a photo!

Being alive I thought was a good outcome and I was quite happy if this day didn’t get any better. But it did – I caught a fish! The trout varieties here are Cut Throat, Rainbow, Bull or Brown and as indicated by the two red stripes on the gills, I had caught a good size Cut Throat (the local species). Woo Hoo! I was now on the scoreboard. Wendy Sinden 1 - Hans Sauer 0.

After a few more casts (like 300 since my adrenalin was rushing), we decided to pull up rods and have some lunch. Who could eat at a time like this but Nate was in charge so I followed the pack leader. We were on our way to a lunch spot when Nate spotted a ‘hatching’. This is a spot where for maybe only ten minutes the swarm of ‘bugs’ land  and lay their eggs. Needless to say the fish enter into a ‘feeding frenzy’ and the fishing is good, very good. Without much need for explanation, Nate screeched to a halt, reversed up the truck and in one bound grabbed his rod and leapt into the water. There was none of this sit on the bank and check out the fly count and the patterns in the water for the fish. It was on! We were in a purple patch. Nate caught and released about twenty fish and I caught another one! It was now Wendy Sinden 2 – Hans Sauer 0.

Upon cessation of the egg laying the fishing died down a little and we decided to finally get some lunch. When I looked up I was immediately alarmed - had Nate seen another moose or was it a bear? No. He looked at his phone and saw the time and a missed call from Miriam. We were due to go to dinner with other guests at 7pm. Given it was a 2 hour trip to get back home and it was already 4.30pm we ‘pulled up sticks’ and set off home. As Mother Nature had been very good to us today, we hoped Miriam and Peter would be too. They didn’t honestly think we would be home on time did they??

Dinner with Autumn and Anthony was great. Autumn is the new Grade 1 teacher in town and Anthony is a Law Professor at the University of Montana. Peter was really keen to do a job swap and had a great time hearing all about the Law Program here. After tourism, students seeking a law degree is the next biggest income earner for the state of Montana! The local oysters were plump and delicious and since we had eaten elk all week we went down market and had a steak.