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...

Carp art!

Custom carp painting on leather mounted in a net

Check out this cool fish art my girlfriend got me for my birthday.  It is painted on leather and strung into a wooden net with fly line.  The artist said it was her first carp.  She got the hysterical, I'm about to freak out, carp eye and face perfectly.  Awesome!  She usually paints trout and salmon and her work can be found on her facebook page and on Instagram Pulham Paintings (@pulhampaintings).

Orvis Down the Hatch Fly Fishing Festival - Missoula 2017

Montana Fly Fishing Magazine - Spring 2017

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

Two Weeks

In two weeks, I will regain some semblance of my life back.  It cannot come soon enough.  The boat is done and more beautiful than when it was brand new.  I will post a follow up to the last post soon. I still have to put all the parts back together.  The second maiden voyage will kick-start a new era.

It is truly spring now.  I have seen many osprey and pelicans.  The Oncorhynchus genus are spawning throughout the state now.  The carp are also getting going for real.  I need some good tent/boat time. I may also get some SW Florida time soon.  The chronicles should get a lot more fun in the coming weeks!!

Until then, I'll listen to old Grizzly Bear at my desk.

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.

Where am I?

Spartina grass redfish flat?

Is this a spartina grass flat filled with redfish in some tidal channel in South Carolina?

Carp flats of Clark Canyon, Montana 

Nope!  It's the carp flats of Clark Canyon, Montana.  I walked for miles and found no carp in the flats at Clark Canyon, yet.  Still hard to beat a long walk with the dog and some taco bus on the way home!