City Girl, Country Boy: Gone Fishin'

Labor Day weekend came so quickly this year but as a tribute to what everyone calls "the end of summer" we decided to spend part of our weekend on the river (unfortunately the other half was spent painting the new house).

Armed with some fly rods and a drift boat (thanks Tyson!) we headed out with some friends to enjoy a summer staple here in Montana; fly fishing. I had never been fly fishing. Finding some worms under a rock, attaching them to my little tiny fishing pole and heading down to the resevoir with my grandfather was about the extent of my fishing knowledge. Not to mention that catching a little yellow perch is nothing compared to the trout found in the Missouri River.

Griff decided that Tyson was going to teach me to fly fish. He bowed out that one gracefully after our second snowboarding trip. Let's just say I was not very happy with him that day. So Tyson gave the basic lesson, taught me what to do and pointed me in the right direction of the fish. Five minutes in, Tyson, his girlfriend Michale, and Griff all screamed "Fish on!" "Fish on what?" was my instant response until I realized that it meant there was a fish nibbling on my line and I was supposed to pull up and set the hook. Better luck next time?

After about 25 minutes of "practicing" I gave up. I'm not patient enough to stand there all day and get no return on my investment of time. Of course, no one else seemed to be having great luck either. Until Griff got a pretty nice looking rainbow that fought him like heck until he tired it out and gracefully guided it to my awaiting net (netting is much easier than actually catching a fish let me tell you).

As the day went on we laughed and joked and enjoyed the company of Tyson, Michale and little Kona. Griff ended up catching another rainbow to be the only successful fisher of the day. And we even hunkered down and waited out two huge rainstorms mid-river. Not it's time to hunker down and wait out the winter so we can get back on the river next summer.