Well it is here! Today marked the last fishing day of Extravaganza 2008! Let's hear those reports!
Extravaganza rookies Bruce Mowat and Gary Ford had guide Kurt on the Bitterroot. Gary pulled in 6 fish on the day, and Bruce was very near pulling a bagel, prompting the boat to stay out late to get him a fish. The extra effort resulted in Bruce getting his fish, the guys getting back an hour late, me standing around in a parking lot for an hour, and Kurt being relieved of future Extravaganza guiding. Long live Kurt!!
Bruce with the fish that ate his bagel and cooked Kurt's Extravaganza goose:
Cam and Jeannot Carlson pumped up the volume and got 25 fish on board, hitting on both dries and nymphs. Jeannot had a 18" rainbo and Cam a 18.5" rainbow as the big fish, hitting the salmon flies.
Guide Drew removes a fly from Cam's posterior:
Jim Hendrickson and Diane Denham had a small volume, but the take was still huge. They got 3 fish in 4 hours... but two of those fish were over 20 inches! Jim got a 21" rainbow and Diane got a 20 1/4" brown, both getting on the board of the Twenty Inch Club!! Congratulations!
Diane:
Grady Garrett and Penny Shawback had an interesting day on the ultra high running Bitterroot. Grady started off hot, getting a 16 and an 18 inch rainbow in quick succession. Penny started off slower, but hit big in the afternoon, getting 18 and 19 inch trout, and the two enjoyed their highest fish count ever! But the real action was at the end. Because of the high flow, they ventured onto a highwater side channel, which led them deep into a farmers field, and they had to portage the boat some and lift it over a fence!
Grady with a prize rainbow:
What to do?
Up and over!!
Brian and Josef Shepard had some decent fishing and outstanding wildlife viewing on the Blackfoot. They got close up views of a bald eagle and a black bear. They also hooked some trout, and Josef hooked a 21" whitefish, biggest ever seen by guide Tony! Congratulations?
As for myself, Nicholas Shepard and I fished the middle section of the Blackfoot and absolutely crushed out there. Nicholas had an 18" brown 10 minutes into the day which would be the biggest fish we would see, but we both caught a grip of little guys, 10-14 inchers. They were flying through the air on big jumps and bigger sets, with Nicholas at one point whipping one into me, and then dropping into the boat! Nick also bagged the dubious Slime Slam, a sucker, a squawfish and a whitey.
Long arm shot of our crew. Myself, guide Evan and Nicholas:
Fred Johnson and Gene Gene the Fishing Machine rounded out the reports. Fred reported that Gene got a baby bull, an 8" bull trout! The two together amassed a 25 fish count, lotta whiteys for Fred and a lot of trout for Gene. Fred actually caught a bird out of the air, which went for his dry fly as he casted! he had a bird on the line with it in the air! We are all strictly catch and release out here though, so never fear, the bird was released unharmed.
At this point RCR burst in, to lead the Group in wishing Fred a happy 65th birthday!! I don't think Fred planned to let us in on the secret, but the crafty Ron gleaned the information from the fishing license.
And it was back to the report, for the finale! Gene fought and landed a 22" rainbow!!! This nets him the Yellow Hat, the Yellow Shirt, and Twenty Inch Club Glory!!! Congratulations Gene!!
Gene and his whopper:
Here, RCR displays the most prolific Twenty Inch Club in Extravaganza history!!
That is it for the evening! I still can't quite believe the Extravaganza is coming to a close! Thank you so much to all who participated, you really made this year a total success!!!!
I need to go to bed!
Dave
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