A little brown sugar

Ye olde brown trout face

I had some work training at the Warm Springs Ponds today.  Checked in on the Upper Clark Fork afterward. The brown trout are not quite in the insane zone yet, but they are definitely starting to get excited to eat meat.  My carp leech to be exact.  Also, above the ponds, the cutts are eating streamers.  Yup.  I have been told a million times that cutthroat are not piscivorous by a bunch of fisheries biologists.  I guess I'm a science denier on this one but I do have tangible proof.  On the other side of the continental divide, the carp bite is still on.  However, the calm clear days are few and far between.  It's trout time in Montana.   

Montana's Ringing Rocks

Montana's Ringing Rocks under smokey skies

Next time you are in the Butte/Whitehall area and have some extra time or are looking for a way to burn a few hours in the mountains with your family, check out the Ringing Rocks. For whatever reason, the rocks ring like a metal bell when hit with a hammer.  They only work when they are still solidly attached to the outcrop.  If you hit the loose ones or try to bring one home, it will not ring.  It's definitely weird and cool.

Here's a video I took. Turn the sound on!:

To get to there, get off Interstate 90 at the Pipestone exit and head to the dirt turnaround on the north side of the highway.  There is a couple of dirt roads that branch from this location.  Take the road that seems to head east.  It is marked with a skinny brown sign that says "Ringing Rocks."  Follow these skinny brown signs up into the mountains with your high clearance vehicle for 4 or 5 miles.  My girlfriend got us all the way up there in her Subaru but that is not advised.  It was fun to watch though. You can also go part way and walk the rest (about 1.5 miles) if you drive until the road gets crazy and pull off on the side.

A clear day at Ringing Rocks

Fly fishing for carp in Montana presentation today - by me!

Tonight at 6 pm, I will be giving a presentation on the fun, joys, and heartache of fly fishing for carp at the George Grant Chapter of Trout Unlimited Annual Meeting.  The presentation will start shortly after 6 and will be in the conference room.  Come have a beer and learn about one of the most underutilized and fantastic fishery in SW Montana!!

Christine's Makeover Part 3: A New Begginning

Christine is reborn!

It was a ton of work and it took a bit longer than anticipated but the great boat makeover is over!! She had her second "maiden" voyage on the Big Hole River yesterday.  I was too excited about it to actually take good pictures but you can expect more to come.

Click here for the before pictures. 

Inside back after interior paint with doors and seat benches removed

The back deck got a non-slip additive in the final coat of paint to make it a great casting platform and the dog doesn't slip all over the place anymore. The entire floor surface also non-slip.  All wood surfaces received at least 3 coats of marine spar varnish and are glowing again.  They look even sexier than ever with some patina.

Inside front after interior paint with doors and seat benches removed

Shiny, stinky, and beautiful!  We accidently picked a different color for the inside this time.  It has a light blue tint which I love.  It looks a lot cleaner and more boaty than the old color.

Finished boat, ready to fish!

Here is a crappy picture I took while we were loading up to float in the morning.  You can see the floor system, the doors are back on, and the new rower's seat is installed.

The boat looks better than when it was brand new.  This is the first major overhaul since I first built it 8 years ago.  I beat the absolute crap out of this boat and now she's ready for a bunch more.  Some of the work I had to do this time, I should have done when I built it. So, it was a much larger project than it would have been otherwise.  While wooden boats do require some love every couple of years, it's absolutely worth it.  Even if you didn't build your boat, you'll still get a great feeling when you see how gorgeous your boat looks on the water after some winter love.

There will certainly be better pictures of this posted soon...

Celebrate Earth Day by helping to plant 800 native trees in Butte!

Fisheries Biology Presentations on Jefferson and Beaverhead Rivers in Butte

There is a public meeting tomorrow April 12, with presentations by Montana Fish, Wildlife, & Parks at Butte Brewing Company in Butte, Montana @ 6 pm.

Ron Spoon will give information on the Jefferson and Upper Missouri Rivers.  Matt Yeager will give an update on the Pointdexter Slough restoration project and provide the reasoning behind the new brown trout regulations in the Beaverhead River.

Local fisheries info, good folks, and beer?  Slam dunk!

The Worlds Most Sophisticated Drift Boat Sails Lake Berkeley

Photo from the Montana Standard

A story in Butte's Montana Standard described the successful launch of a drift boat drone. It was developed at Montana Tech. They had had some technical issues with the launch earlier in the week. The boat is designed to be remote controlled and also collect water samples of the toxic pit water.

Live from your Montana St. Pat's Headquaters

Happy St. Patricks Day from Butte, America!  Check out the live cam from the M & M Bar brought to you by the Montana Standard.  St. Pats is on Friday this year and Butte is going to be a crazy place to be today.  Stay safe everyone!

Montana FWP and Trout Unlimited to Give Presentation on Clark Fork Restoration and Fishing

Jason Lindstrom, Region 2 Fisheries Biologist for MT Fish, Wildlife, & Parks and Casey Hackathorn, Upper Clark Fork Program Manager for Trout Unlimited (National) will give a presentation on the ongoing restoration of the Clark Fork River and its awesome and resilient fishery.

The presentation is tonight, March 9 at the Pour House Pub (next to Ace Hardware on Harrison Ave.) at 6:30 pm.

The Pour House is a tap room and growler fill station with 24 craft beers on rotation.  They also have wine and cider.  The meeting will be in their backroom.  I can not think of a better place to drink beer and learn about Clark Fork river updates and get some insight on this amazing and unbelievably resilient fishery!!

See you there!

Congratulations to George Grant Chapter of Trout Unlimited!!

Congratulations to the George Grant Chapter of Trout Unlimited for their highly successful 2017 banquet.  Unofficial results show that this year's banquet may have had the largest turnout in Montana Trout Unlimited history!!

Take that Bozeman and Missoula!!  With all your population and money, you got beat by little old Butte!

George Grant Chapter of Trout Unlimited Banquet 2017

The George Grant Chapter of Trout Unlimited will be holding its annual banquet this Friday, March 3 in the same great place as last year, next to Jo-Anne Fabric in the Butte Plaza Mall.  There are a ton of really nice live and silent auction items, a great dinner catered by Casagranda's Steakhouse, a bunch of games and activities for children, beer and wine, and much, much more!

Come on down and help the coolest TU chapter with their main fundraising event.  I'll see you there!!

George Grant Chapter TU meeting/presentation this Thursday!

This Thursday, February, 14, the George Grant Chapter of Trout Unlimited is hosting its monthly meeting and a series of presentations by MT FWP Fisheries Biologist, Jim Olson.

This meeting will take place at 6:30 pm at the Quarry Brewing, 124 W. Broadway in Uptown Butte (in the old Grand Hotel).  I'm assuming that the meeting will take place upstairs.

FWP Fisheries Biologist Jim Olson will present a report on the Big Hole River fishery post-fungus and also on the discovery of PKD (the disease that closed the Yellowstone last year) in the Big Hole River.  Additionally, Olsen will give up some information on where to find hogs in our mountain lakes!

The Fly Fishing Film Tour Comes to Butte, America this week!

The 2017 Fly Fishing Film Tour comes to the beautiful Motherload Theater in Butte, Montana this Thursday, February 9th.  The show is sponsored by The Stonefly Fly Shop and it starts at 7pm.  I'll see you there!!

George Grant Chapter Trout Unlimited Pint Night

Governor Bullock and Butte come together to protect public lands

Montana Governor Steve Bullock speaks to a crowd about his efforts and promise to protect public lands and access.

The transfer of Federal land to the states and the protection of Montana's great Stream Access law have taken center stage in this election cycle.  Governer Bullock came to Highline park in Butte last Friday for a short rally.  Folks from the George Grant Chapter of Trout Unlimited, Highline Hunters and Anglers, other groups, and concerned citizens enjoyed a nice day in Butte and a visit from our most public lands freindly gubernatorial candidate.

Public Lands Rally in Butte Tomorrow!!

Join (the always dreamy) Amanda Curtis, Governor Bullock, and Butte hunters and anglers in Skyline Park Tomorrow!!  See you there!

Montana Tech Restoration Seminar Presents: Robert Moler of EPA

The public is invited and encouraged to attend this, and all Restoration Seminars!

Montana Tech Restoration Seminar Presents: Marty Bennett

Montana Tech's Restoration Seminar presents Josh Vincent of WET

These seminars are open to the public and everyone is invited!

Annual Meeting George Grant Chapter of Trout Unlimited tonight

George Grant TU's Annual Meeting

"The George Grant TU Chapter’s Annual Meeting will be held from 6:30 to 8 pm on May 9th in the Perkins Family Restaurant & Bakery Conference Room, 2900 Harrison Ave, Butte MT.

The meeting will include a presentation by Jim Olson, FWP Fisheries Biologist on How Fish See and a report on the Big Hole River followed by Dave McCumber, Montana Standard Editor, describe how an effective cleanup of Silver Bow Creek can be achieved.

The Board of Directors will give a general Chapter report, treasurer report and hold an election of GGTU board members. The following Trout Unlimited members have been nominated to serve on the GGTU board for three-year terms: Rich Day, Paul Olson, Steve Luebeck and Scott Reynolds. Other nominations will be accepted at the meeting." - GGTU