Annual Pre-Extravaganza Lower Sac Expedition Report

As shown above, E-17 Oners Scott "Crack" Mc Adams and John "SOS" Reimann joined yours truly and Extravaganza veteran Cam Carlson the Friday of Memorial Day Weekend for our annual one day expedition to fish the Lower Sacramento River just outside of Redding, California. The trip was a successful one with 30+ fish landed between the two boats, many in the coveted 20"+ category--a precursor of good things to come during E-17!!

Getting REALLY close now, gang!

RCR---<'///:><

FW: The Up-and-Down-Again E-17 Flow: To The Mo The Ones Will Go!

From Group Two veteran Tim "Squawfish" Rodgers:

WOW
thanks for the heads up Ron
Mardi and I are excited regardless of where we fish.
You might as well answer the question of whether or not a Missouri fishing license will be required. Just saying....... :):):)!!

Tim Rodgers
@ WVM

Group One: "To the Mo We Go!"

A nice note from Group One’s Craig “Craig” Benjamin who gets to visit his namesake three times (count ‘em!) during Group One:

Top of the Morning, Ron,

Looking forward to the event with great anticipation.  You know I will feel very comfortable in my home town of Craig, MT.  Once again, thank you for your planning acumen and boundless generosity.

 

All the Best,

 

Craig, (MT)

 

 

Craig Benjamin, CFP
Marquis Financial

 

The Up-and-Down-Again E-17 Flow: To The Mo The Ones Will Go!

What a different flow year 2017 is turning out to be! 1970 cfs this morning...

Because of the tardiness of this year's runoff, I just advised the Wonderful Ones that, in discussions with our Double Up Outfitter John "The Great But Propaneless" Gould yesterday, Group One is now definitely going to be fishing the (very) fishy waters of the Missouri River just outside of Craig, Montana and, looking ahead, depending on the course of the runoff over the next two weeks "there is a 50-50 chance" that Group Two will likewise have that same exceptional experience. Things are a bit far out to prognosticate for Dem Threes but stay tuned and we will keep ya all in tune!

Mo to follow!

RCR---<'///:><

Today's E-17 Log-O-Meter

RCR---<’///:><

 

 

FW: E-17 Slow as You Flow, Flo!

A sweet reply from understanding Group One veteran Craig "El Senor Feo" Benjamin:

O Captain, my Captain.....Lead us into the great unknown. Upon your orders, we trust.
Whether you lead us to the local terrain and tributaries or we travel afar to the Mighty Mo, we will take orders with a smile and deliver unto you the riches of our angling skills.

Craig Benjamin, CFP
Marquis Financial

E-17 Slow as You Flow, Flo!

Well, gang, the blessed event is getting nearer, and nearer, and nearer! So much so as this is my travel week to Montana, with your trusty E-17 black Lab Ma'am and yours truly, her driver, headed to Montana this Friday (yep, in less than 72 hours now!) to do the final prep for Extravaganza 2017.

And what do we have in store for ourselves, you might ask...and the answer to that is that the runoff jury is still out. In talking with our Montana Matters Troubadour Shane Clouse (who will be entertaining this year for Group Two as is his tradition), he describes this year's runoff as a steady drip off, with a consistent but not torrential volume of downhill flow.

Looking at our own Rock Creek, yesterday's flow was right at 1,610 cfs--not too different from last week's flowage even with 80 degree weather both over the Memorial Day Weekend and in the forecast for the next several days. Daughter Trina "Boots" Clausen (now a resident Missoula lawyer) reports over the weekend that waters she observed were high but folks were still fishing.

So the verdict is still out as to whether the Ones will "Go To The Mo", a decision that will probably wait until next Monday--the last day that I can cancel without penalty our already reserved motor coach transportation (as and if needed).

As for me, I simply can't wait to arrive at Headquarters and to be able to give you these updates as your On The Scene Reporter!

Best to all on the cusp of it all,

Rock Creek Ron
----<'///:><

Der Log-O-Meter @ 2,140 cfs!

----<'RCR:><

 

 

 

Back On Flow!

The runoff each year is directly correlative to ambient Missoula temperatures, as is reflected on our updated Flow Chart. Looking ahead, temps are now forecast to be in the low 80's for all of the next week and I expect that we will see a resultant precipient increase in water flows.

Today we are flowing at 2,140 cfs in and along Rock Creek.

That being said, there is still over 100% of seasonal snow water unmelted snow in the upper climes, meaning that there is a bunch of water yet to head downhill. I am hopeful that by a week from Monday (June 5th) [the day we need to make a go-no go decision for Group One on whether we will be bussing over to the Missouri River] that things have literally run their course and that our water system has begun to settle down such that we can fish locally--a decision which is very much a Group One toss-up at this point in time.

More to follow, gang, as this year's tale continues to unfold!

RCR---<'///:><---<'///:><

An E-17 Fishing Muse

I was recently blessed with a subscription to Angler’s Journal, a fishing publication, and came upon the following excerpt from an article by Cathy Newman from its Spring 2017 issue which spoke to me:

             

              “I knew little about freshwater fishing; my experience was limited to a line dipped in the small, placid lakes of central Florida.  This was Huck Finn-type fishing with a bamboo pole, a red and white plastic bobber and a worm dangled before a willing catfish.  Fly-fishing in the swift current of a steam, I would learn, was different—and difficult.  Norman Maclean, author of A River Runs Through It,  has written that, ‘If you have never picked up a fly rod before, you will soon find it factually and theologically true that man by nature is a damn mess.’  Maclean is right and, as a minister, is well-qualified to comment on the theology part.  Mastering the unfurling line of a double-haul, I discovered, really does put you in a state of grace.

 

              “My first trout was a rainbow caught on a blue-winged olive on the Delaware River.  When the rod bowed and the line lifted, my heart leaped higher than the fish.  There was, I discovered, existential calm to be found in the rhythmic flicking of a wisp of feather and fur at a rising fish.  A Trout Unlimited conservationist once explained to me that of all major sport fish, trout are the most demanding of pristine habitat.  ‘When you have trouble in the environment,’ he said, ‘trout are the first to go.  But when trout are where they ought to be, all is right with the world.’

 

              “Standing in the cold pull of current in a steam, I felt that rightness.”

 

May the trout be with you, all (as will soon be the case)!!

 

RCR---<’///:><

 

 

 

E-17 Monday Flow Down

Gang: Looking above, this year's runoff is, at least, the tale of two rivers: You can see that the flow has diminished and, hopefully, bottomed out on Rock Creek at its current 1,520 cfs rate this morning, but take a gander at the above pic sent to me Friday evening by daughter Trina "Boots" Clausen of the Clark Fork of the Columbia River brimmed to its banks with runoff (into which all local rivers flow)...if and when anyone can figure out the conflicting meaning of these two conflicting images, I sure wish they would send me a memo!!

RCR---<'///:><

E-17 Friday Flow-Down + Log-O-Meter

Here you go, gang: Your Friday Flow-Down Report with accompanying Log-O-Meter visual (see the clearance beneath the cross bar?? That proofs the current flow of 1690 cfs as being less than the crossbar's 2,000 cfs!).

This year's runoff has been one of frustration on this end. We started out so well, with a robust increase in water flow, only to have things screech to a roaring relative standstill. In trying to make sense out of this, I did an analysis of the high and low Missoula temperatures for the past 12 days and uncovered the following: Although the average high has been a runoff-acceptable 60 degrees, the culprit has been the unusually low nighttime temps of just 35 degrees which, when combined with a further drop of 10 degrees on the mountain tops, has created nighttime frigid temperatures literally freezing the runoff flow!

Looking ahead, between now and the end of May (next Wednesday), Missoula daytime highs are forecast to be an average of 70 degrees, and, blessedly, nighttime lows are to be an average of 43 degrees which should be just enough to allow the flow to continue, rather than freeze, during darkness.

We shall see what the weekend has to offer us!!

RCR---<'///:><

Two Twenty Inch Mo Browns

Here's a sampling of what the Mighty Mo has to offer us all (if so drafted)—two great twenty inch browns (which are mixed in with the river's even more prevalent gaggle of mega rainbows) as displayed by Larry T.,  Headquarters' caretaker and E-17 bbq co-maestro and caught by him on the Missouri River just outside of Craig, MT just five days ago!

 

RCR---<'///:><

 

 

Group One's Craig Benjamin in Craig, MT!

In reply to my note a few minutes ago about our most likely trekking over to Craig, Montana, to fish the Mighty Mo, Group One's Craig "El Senor Feo" Benjamin was quick to supply us with his wader-doffed portrait under the town's train signage. Craig (MT that is!) is a very small but world famous fishing town, euphemistically known as "a drinking town with a fishing problem". Each year, several thousand drift boats are launched to fish its fishy waters...on a map, you will find Craig situate just north of Wolf Creek, about a forty minute drive north of Helena, and the home of two fly shops, one in parity for each of the town's two bars!

RCR---<'///:><

Your E-17 Un-Flow Report

Read and weep, folks, as this year's runoff is turning out to be a delayed and, indeed, frozen one.

The flow along Rock Creek has now dropped to 1,850 cubic feet per second and, with the recent SNOW in Western Montana, the upper elevation snow water content, instead of declining as it does with runoff, in just the last week has now INCREASED by 15 percentage points in the Bitterroot Mountains (the supplier of most of our E-17 fishing water) and by 28 percent in the Lower Clark Fork River Basin.

May and June are typically the wettest Montana months so it is realistic to expect that the upper climes' accumulation of snow is not yet over. Right now it is 51 degrees in Missoula with temperatures forecast to sneak up into the upper 60's and lower 70's in the upcoming two weeks with a smattering of additional rainfall.

What does this all mean, you ask??

Well, as we have done during three prior Extravaganzas now, today I am making stand-by motor coach reservations to trek us over to Continental Divide as we have done before to fish the fishy waters of the Missouri River (just below the Holter Dam in Craig, Montana) where the fish count is 5,000 trout to the mile and the average fish is over 18" in length--in 2011, while fishing the Missouri, we logged in 110 twenty inch fish! With high local waters around Missoula, the fishing is non-existent (the turbidity in the water makes the water the color of mocha coffee such that the fish can't see your flies!) and those waters become unsafe for the navigation of our drift boats. Andy your comfort and safety is our number one priority.

I will keep you fully posted as things develop, but, for the moment, Group One and possibly Group Two should be thinking that fishing the Mighty Mo might be in your near future!

Best to all wondering about the flow of it all,

Rock Creek Ron
---<'///:><

E-17's Frozen Runoff!!

The attached pics tell the story, gang—this year's runoff is truly delayed…rack (another)one up for Mother Nature!!

 

RCR---<'///:><

 

 

 

Where Did Da E-17 Flow Go, Joe?!?

After a weekend cool down in western Montana, the decline in flowage is reflective of slowdown! Today, Rock Creek is flowing at a reduced 2,350 cfs, a number more in norm with historical averages for this mid-May date. Current snow water equivalent at the upper elevations in the Bitterroot and Lower Clark Fork River Basins is still tracking right at 120% of twenty year norms, with the Upper Clark Fork (way upstream of Rock Creek) now having dipped to 95% of twenty year norms.

Year after year, I never cease to be amazed at the wild variations between each year's runoff and, with this week's forecast in the Missoula area holding in the low 60's, my bet is that our 2017 red line begins to level off right at 2,500 cfs for the balance of the week...but we shall see what we shall see!

Best to all on the cusp of it all,

Rock Creek Ron
----<'///:><

Updated Flow Chart

On the sidebar is the updated Flow Chart, gang, and, as you can see, the water discharge this May 12th (2,750 cfs) is the highest it has been since we started our charting 10 years ago! There still is plenty of water to find its way downhill, however, so all eyes remain on the future runoff numbers. Visually, we started this month with the same amount of water in the upper climes as we did in 2009 (the black line on the chart) so that will give you a visual on just home much more there is to flow downhill in the next four weeks!

RCR---<'///:><

Getting Headquarters Ready for Your E-17 Party!!

RCR---<'///:><

 

 

E-17 Log-O-Meter

Just having heard from Group Three's Scott "Not So Flash" Gordon (so named for his missing his air flight to E-14 by arriving at SFO too late to have his oversized bag checked—he and his bag actually arrived two days later!!), "NSF" inquired yesterday about the status of our Log O Meter—our Creekside visual barometer of just how big the flow is.  In reply, I asked Peanut, our caretaker and E-17 kitchen master, to take a gander down Rock Creek and to photo this otherwise serene shot of trees that were laid sidewise along one of the Creek's side channels during the unusually high 2011 runoff (one of the years we had to bus over the Continental Divide to find quieter waters to fish), and attached is her wonderful work product.

 

The Log O Meter has been a wonderful barometer for us, for as the water level touches the bottom of the cross log it is flowing right at 2,000 cubic feet per second.  Yesterday's readings were over 3,000 cfs and, by comparison, in 2011 the water flow was OVER the cross beam!

 

Bravo, NSF, for getting the Log O Meter back on our radar screen—we will now provide weekly pics of this now Extravaganza historical monument!!

 

RCR---<'///:><

 

 

 

From Group Three Veteran Scott "Not So Flash" Gordon!

this guy loves to fish

 

A Touching Love Story

 

A cool way to take a casket to the cemetery

The funeral procession pulled into Waukegan Cemetery.  Several cars of family members followed a black truck towing a boat with a coffin in it.  A passer-by remarked, "That guy must have been a very avid fisherman."

"Oh he still is," replied one of the mourners.  "As a matter of fact, he's headed to the lake as soon as we bury his wife."

 

 

 

 

Holy, Batman, We Now Have an E-17 Runoff!!

What a difference a weekend makes, gang!

Take a look at our updated flow chart and look what warmer weather has now done to this year's runoff: Up from last Friday's 1250 cubic feet/second runoff volume (which was a thirty percent increase from earlier in that week), fast forward to this morning and witness a tripling of that number to 3,350 cfs, memorializing that, indeed, this year's runoff is now in earnest.

We started with 125% of 20 year average snow water content, so there is still plenty of water to come down hill!

Best to all amidst the runoff of it all,

RCR---<'///:><

The 2017 Runoff Begins!

Well, gang, it sure took a while but here we are on the Cinco de Mayo and, voila (to mix multiple languages!), our 2017 runoff is off and running off!  The flow on Rock Creek has now increased to 1200 cubic feet per second (a 50% increase from Monday of this week) which is reflective (and responsive to) temperatures in the low 80’s in Missoula the latter part of this week, and the downhill push of water should continue to accelerate next week when temps are forecast to approach the 70’s all week long.

Bueno, bueno, bueno…margaritas for all!!

 

RCR---<’///:><

 

 

Your E-17 Montana Camp List!

 

Fellow E-17ers: 

 

Years ago one of our guests asked me to prepare a “Camp List” of suggested things to bring and not to bring with him to that year’s Extravaganza and, as I sent to you back in December to assist in your holiday shopping, I once again attach and send to you that packing list of items to consider bringing as well as leaving home as you prepare for your foray with us into the wilds of Montana next month. 

 

As things quickly become more and more relevant, take a close gander at the attached Montana Camp List (which I have posted to Der Blog along with this message) and begin setting aside items that you will need to have with you as you journey to Missoula anon.  We have washers and driers on site as needed, so, as a mantra, “less is more” is a good guideline particularly since casual shorts and jeans are the order of each evening as we convene après fishing.

 

Wow, one month from today I will be on scene doing the final preparation for this year’s escapades and that timing makes the attached list all the more relevant, as your travels shortly follow mine!

 

Give me a shout if you have any questions or concerns!!

 

Best to all,

 

RCR----><’///:><

 

 

E-17's May Day!

Greetings, all, as I welcome you to the flip side of my European get away--what a wonderful time it was to be on a first class AMA Waterways vessel gliding down the Danube River with a terminus in Budapest last week! Things of interest included cathedrals, abbeys, cobblestones, cornerstones and learning of two new-to-me taxes that impacted the middle ages: (i) a roof tax where folks were levied on the square footage of their enclosed roof (which explains why most castles are roofless today, as, when they were abandoned, their roofs were removed to sidestep taxation) and (ii) a window tax where, in other locales, homeowners were levied on the square footage of their windows (which led to many larger buildings seeming to have from afar a multiplicity of windows when, in fact, most were just frescoes painted on their outside wall!).

Well, today is May Day, gang, and with this advent we now begin in earnest our final preparations for Extravaganza 2017 and begin our annual "runoff watch". Witness the attached flow chart that, for the last ten (count 'em!) years we have compiled to track the annual runoff using the water flow of Rock Creek (right behind our Headquarters complex) as a base line for comparison. And away we go!!!

This year we are starting out meekly and mildly with, today, a current discharge rate of 858 cubic feet per second (the amount of water passing by each second as measured by monitoring devices placed in the river) with the expectation that, with current snow water equivalent in the upper climes now tracking at 120% of twenty year averages, with the coming of warmer western Montana weather (it was snowing on Rock Creek as recently as last week!) the melting of snow will accelerate and, correspondingly, the downhill flow of water will increase. Our goal is to track the great bell curve experience we had in 2009 (the black line on our flow chart) such that we get a good upwards push of discharge by later in the month with a precipitous fall come June 1st such that the flow is then right at 170 cfs (cubic feet per second) which harbors excellent fishing conditions come your arrivals into Missoula shortly thereafter.

As you can see from the tremendous variances from year to year, each year is a different story and, in looking at long range forecasts for Missoula (often an activity for only the foolish as weather there unpredictably changes literally every half hour!) temperatures climbing from the current projected mid-50's highs up into the 8's later this week (which should kickstart this year's runoff) and then mellowing out into a fairly routine and traditional averages in the high 60's and low 70's. Missoula's elevation is 3,000 feet and most of the snowfall that will be melting off is at twice that elevation. For those of you with a meteorological background, you know that temperature decrease by 3 degrees with every 1,000 of increased elevation such that a 60 degree Missoula reading equates to a 51 degree upper clime reading and, therefor, snow melting.

Ah, gang, indeed the final and yet opening chapter of E-17 begins and I will be giving you flow chart updates each Monday, Wednesday and Friday and you can watch the red line on our chart (which will track this year's runoff) evolve.

Bravo, bravo, bravo!!

Best to all in eager anticipation of it all,

Rock Creek Ron
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