# Tomorrow starts the fun



## Mean Gene

Got to the RV here in Ennis on Tuesday evening and are all settled in for the summer. Been tying flies, and today I did a little organizing, and I think I've got my main box stocked well enough to start hitting the lakes. Even tied a small box full of attractor patterns just to experiment with. I'm hoping the damsel hatch this year produces the same quality fishing it did last year. Gonna make an excursion over to the Hamilton area the end of this month to try out our cargo trailer conversion while we attend the Hard Times Bluegrass Festival. Meeting with the contractor again on Monday trying to get a building plan/schedule put together in the hopes that by this time next year I'm sitting on my own front porch in the mornings drinking coffee and enjoying the view of the Madisons. Not going to the movie this week because I have no real interest in watching Elton John's life story, but next week looks promising. Heading out to fish a lake in the morning and see if the trout are interested in any of what I've tied. No matter what, it'll still beat working.


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## Out of focus

Man that sounds like the life! Good luck on the trout


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## Mean Gene

Out of focus said:


> Man that sounds like the life! Good luck on the trout




It wasn't a bad first day.


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## Mean Gene

2nd day of fishing over on Henry's Lake was pretty good as well. First time I've ever fished that lake. Netted 10 and had 3 come unbuttoned. Damsels are almost ready to start popping.


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## HaydenHunter

You ever fished Hebgen?


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## Mean Gene

I haven't yet this year. Caught some nice fish there last year though.


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## HaydenHunter

Long ago I heard that the waterfowling can be decent at Hebgen.


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## Mean Gene

I saw lots of geese there last year and a decent number of ducks.

Today I fished a lake that was very good to me last August but it was pretty slow. Netted 5 and lost a couple others. Still beats working.


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## MALLARD KEN

WOW !!! That looks awesome. Congrats on some great fishing... nice to see some posts on this states site. I have been here almost 5 years and can count on my two hands the number of members I’ve seen posted. I always like to read your sto. I guess I will start posting more and not lurk maybe it will catch on. Thanks again for the pics, very inspiring.


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## Mean Gene

MALLARD KEN said:


> WOW !!! That looks awesome. Congrats on some great fishing... nice to see some posts on this states site. I have been here almost 5 years and can count on my two hands the number of members I’ve seen posted. I always like to read your sto. I guess I will start posting more and not lurk maybe it will catch on. Thanks again for the pics, very inspiring.



Hey there Ken! Heck yeah post away. I'd love to see some action here. Billings it says. I've not spent much time there, basically just stopping for gas and lunch on my way through. 

I did fish again on Saturday, and caught some nice ones, but didn't get around to putting up any pictures. Yesterday we spent the entire day into the evening helping some friends move. I brought over my 7x16 enclosed trailer and it was a good thing as we had a good rain in the afternoon. Would have been a disaster without it. Been having thunderstorms every afternoon/evening since we got here two weeks ago. It's my understanding that they've been occurring daily for the last month and a half. Had lightning strike a tree here in the RV park yesterday. Went down through and came out at ground level. Cut a big path in the grass and blew roots all over the place. I understand the guy in the trailer next to the tree didn't think too highly of that.  I hate lightning and refuse to be out in it. I've never cared for it, but after I had one of my fire fighters on the engine get whacked 10 feet away from me I really learned to hate it. He did survive and is doing fine. In fact he's about ready to retire as a division chief. I still remember throwing him into the cab of the engine and running code 3 through town to get to the hospital. The other firefighters at the station cut him no slack. They wrapped his helmet in aluminum foil, attached an aluminum lightning bold to the helmet, and wrote "Sparky" across each side. 

Nice thing about these T-storms is A) it cools everything down very nicely each day and B) the entire valley and surrounding mountains are lush green. Well, gonna hit the lake again tomorrow...we'll see how cooperative the fish are.


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## HaydenHunter

Mean Gene said:


> Nice thing about these T-storms is A) it cools everything down very nicely each day and B) the entire valley and surrounding mountains are lush green. Well, gonna hit the lake again tomorrow...we'll see how cooperative the fish are.


You forgot C. The fact that out west here a rainstorm doesn't lead to high humidity in the air shortly thereafter. I love it!


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## Mean Gene

Went to Hebgen today, and it was very slow. I think the hungry fish decided to sleep in this morning. Still, what great scenery for the drive there.


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## Mean Gene

Bugged out at 5:15 this morning and went to a lake not far from here. Felt a bit nippy for a summer morning and on the ride over the readout on the dashboard said 37 degrees. Didn't take long for it to warm up though and by the time noon rolled around I was wishing the temperature was back down there. The fly of choice right off the bat was a purple body bead head pheasant tail. When they stopped slamming that I switched over to a black wiggle tail on the bottom and a sparkle purple body woolly bugger with a black hackle. They ate both flies, but did seem to like the bugger better. Around 11 I put a sparkle green body wiggle tail on the bottom and picked up a few on that, but they still seemed to like the purple bugger better. When we quit at about 12:30 I'd put 31 fish in the net. Never caught any real big fish, but plenty of 16-18 inchers. All in all it was an enjoyable day on the water.


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## HaydenHunter

Nice!


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## NWRINGNECK

So I’ve been watching your posts with interest on your adventure. Looks like your are living your dream. 

Now my question. Wondering about a wiggle tail fly?

My quick research showed it used on large flys for pike or saltwater fishing. Care to share a picture of your wiggle tail pattern used above? 

I’ve returned to fishing the way I was taught back in the 60’s trolling flys with lead line for the local trout. There are some nicer Browns in several of the local lakes that I plan to target this fall with larger buck tails and other larger flys. This fly style might be an option for me to look into.


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## NWRINGNECK

Ok I got it. An articulated fly


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## Mean Gene

NWRINGNECK said:


> Ok I got it. An articulated fly



No, single hook. I'll get a picture up. It's a fly originally developed by a guy named Jay Fair who fished Eagle Lake in Northern California a lot. Short coupled hook with a long, sparse maribou tail.


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## Mean Gene

Headed over to the Hamilton area tomorrow for the bluegrass festival this weekend. Looking forward to having some fun listening to music and then sitting with folks and picking tunes. Been awhile since we did that and we're looking forward to it. 

http://hardtimesbluegrass.com/


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## Native NV Ducker

You will have a good time.


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## Mean Gene

Native NV Ducker said:


> You will have a good time.



Had a great time for sure. I'll post up some pictures when I get them cleaned up. Got fuel in Darby Sunday evening at the station in the market parking lot. Believe that was your coffee hut right there? Obviously it was closed then...I'll stop in the next time.


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## Native NV Ducker

Yup, that was us


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## Mean Gene




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## Mean Gene




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## Mean Gene




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## Mean Gene




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## Mean Gene




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## HaydenHunter

Kind of an older demographic at the festival but it's nice to see a few young'uns picking up instruments.


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## Mean Gene

HaydenHunter said:


> Kind of an older demographic at the festival but it's nice to see a few young'uns picking up instruments.



Yep, and the benefit of that is when everybody leaves after the event the place is spotless.

Fished a small stream yesterday, which means small fish, but that's fine by me. Felt good to sneak up on holes and try and get a fly back under overhanging branches. Lots of fun, and the dog had a great time wading back and forth through the water.


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## Mean Gene




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## Mean Gene

A friend and I tried a new lake today, not too far from town..We caught three fish between us, so it wasn't a barn burner, but it was a pretty spot, it was a new adventure, and we had fun. On the way back we both agreed that the trip was well worth the effort. Sometimes just trying something different is all it takes to make a great day.


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## Mean Gene

Another rough day at the office for us:


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## Mean Gene

Very pleasant day today. Slight breeze when I got to the lake and by 10 it was flat as glass. Hunted gulpers all day...love doing that...hooked 13, netted 9. Mostly rainbows, but there was some brown kinda action as well. Pheasant tail was the go to fly.


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## Mean Gene

And yet another horrible day of retirement.


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## Mean Gene

It was a buggy day.


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## Mean Gene

Slowed way down, but it still beats working.


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## Mean Gene

This retirement thing is brutal. Can't wait for the house to get built so we're here full time.


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## Mean Gene

We were headed to the movie this evening, and just before we went to step through the door of the theater we heard bluegrass being played. We walked across the street to see what was going on and found 3 guys picking at a benefit thing. We talked to them briefly and got a name and phone number from the bass player, then headed back across the street for the movie. When we went in they said their equipment wasn't working and weren't sure if it would that night. We opted to try again tomorrow afternoon and went back to listen to the music. They asked if I wanted to pick some with them, and I figured, well, no guts no glory, so I did. Very nice guys from Montana and Idaho. What a great evening at the park in Ennis, Montana! Catching fish in the morning, pickin' bluegrass in the evening. It doesn't get any better than that.


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## HaydenHunter

Ain't it cool how stuff happens, Gene?


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## Mean Gene

HaydenHunter said:


> Ain't it cool how stuff happens, Gene?



Yep. Now, if we could just get that scull boat on those Idaho wigeon....


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## HaydenHunter

Is it a two person scull boat?


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## Mean Gene

HaydenHunter said:


> Is it a two person scull boat?



Yep.


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## HaydenHunter

Looks tight for two. Do you sit side by side?


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## Mean Gene

HaydenHunter said:


> Looks tight for two. Do you sit side by side?



Nope. Gunner is in the front with his legs under the bow cover. Yeah, it's tight, but extremely effective.


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## salthunter

I’ve sort of skipped thru your posts 
My father-in-law’s favorite place is Ennius

I killed my first elk in the gravelies

And I really messed up on a building lot on Hebgen

I know it’s a bit of a drive for you
But if I don’t have much going on I may head up to red rock before everything freezes for a few days


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## Mean Gene

salthunter said:


> I’ve sort of skipped thru your posts
> My father-in-law’s favorite place is Ennius
> 
> I killed my first elk in the gravelies
> 
> And I really messed up on a building lot on Hebgen
> 
> I know it’s a bit of a drive for you
> But if I don’t have much going on I may head up to red rock before everything freezes for a few days



I'd squeeze it in if it worked out timing-wise. We'll be leaving for the winter September 26th and back in the spring to do the house.


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## Labsforme

Gene, ya'll getting soft? Flatlanders snow bird. 
FYI I usually go to Niland once a season to run trials.

Jeff G


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## Mean Gene

Labsforme said:


> Gene, ya'll getting soft? Flatlanders snow bird.
> FYI I usually go to Niland once a season to run trials.
> 
> Jeff G



Nah, our house won't be built until next summer, so all we'd have to live in in Ennis would be the RV. Not too excited about the prospect of winter in Montana in an RV.


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## Mean Gene

Back on the water today for the first time in two weeks and it was a good one. Almost got to test out my bumper and grill guard on the way out of town with a couple jumpy deer. A few miles down the road I had to slow down and drive through a herd of elk. Just before I got to the lake a passed a field with about a hundred sandhill cranes in it. While I was fishing I had blue wing teal and mallards all around me and about mid morning approximately 400 honkers came in a landed. Put 20 fish in the net this morning...all nice sized and very healthy. May only get one more trip in before we head to Oregon for the winter, and I really, really don't want to go. I'll be very glad when the house if done next year and we don't have to leave.


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