Group Two, Day One Yellow Hatters!

 

 

 

Group Two, Day One---Bully!!!

The Tattoos braved continued chilly and partially rainy weather conditions there in Montana that have permeated all of E-17 to date to launch 8 boats onto the famed Big (“A River runs Through It”) Blackfoot River with absolutely stunning results:  while Group One, fishing the fish-filled Mo for two if its fishing days, posted an impressive ten (10) to our Twenty Inch Board the Tattoos on their very first day of fishing posted nine (9) such beauties!!  What a day on the water that was.

Thinking that they had a Yellow Shirt in the bag (or on their heads, that is) famed father-daughter fishing partners Tim “Squawfish” Rodgers and Mardi “CT” Rodgers boated four of the Father’s Day nine, including dad’s 20” rainbow and, shown above, 27” bulltrout matched by daughter’s 20” rainbow and 20 ½” bulltrout only to see rookie Brooklyn fly fisherman Dave “Big Bull” Brennen post is own 21” brown (shown above) matched by a 31” Blackfoot bulltrout, also shown above!  Hmm…let’s see—between the three of them, not counting the multiple other fish that they landed on Day One, the Board fish alone tallied to 139.5 inches, gang, or almost 4 lineal yards of fish between them!

 

And then add into the mix the 21” bull caught and released by Jerry “The Juice” Pantaleo and the 20” bulltrout landed by Greg “Goodliving” Livengood and we are talking a whole bunch of Blackfoot bull here, gang, so much so that, to honor their all-Extravaganza single day bulltrout fishing record all five received Yellow Hats to commemorate the truly amazing performance.  Indeed, the Magnificent Five.

 

Right now the Tattoos are back on the water mid-Day Two and it will be most interesting to hear their boat reports this evening, the subject of tomorrow’s E-17 Datedown!

 

Best to all from the scene of it all,

 

Rock Creek Ron

     ---<’///:><

 

 

Holy E-17 Flow Spike, Batman!!!

Get a load of the spike in the flow that occurred mid-week with the massive rain storm that we had here which, being a warmer than normal one, had the impact of melting a good portion of the accumulated snow pack that I been telling you about!! 

While walking our Mascot Ma’am along Rock Creek Road a bit ago this morning I met Johnny from the Rock Creek Mercantile (our Extravaganza land purveyor) as he was driving upstream to see what damage, if any, the storm had left in the form of downed trees blocking the Creek.  With current flowage right at 2750 cfs (about half of the mid-week spike) he stated that the rivers  are all “calming down” but not as quickly as everyone had hoped.  We WILL find local fishable water for the Tattoos, however, come their Day One this Sunday and you can expect better fishing reports as the days ensue.  But, as can visibly be seen, simply stated, noting like this spike has occurred during the past decade that we have been charting Rock Creek.

 

Mother Nature is still the boss in these here parts, in case you have yet to learn that!

 

Best to all from the scene of it all,

 

RCR---<’///:><

 

 

 

FW: Thank You Wonderful Ones!!

A poignant note from Group One Yellow Hatter Craig “El Senor Feo” Benjamin:

 

Dear Ron,

Once again thank you for the incredible life changing adventure that is the Extravaganza!!  As you know I turned Great Wall Joe onto this sport 3 years ago and he is hooked…. And his fishing skills have greatly improved as his 4 fish on the board can attest.  Additionally, we may have set the bar too high (EXTRAVAGANZA HIGH), but Slow Tom is a lifer and already counting the days until the boats launch again. 

Ron, You’re a gentleman and a scholar and your generosity is only exceeded by your good looks!!!!  That saying may be laid on a little thick, but it is a saying that my dad used to say.  When I get a chance to use it, I think fondly him and of the memories he and I shared together……. Including teaching me how to fish on the abundant lakes of Wisconsin. 

 

All the Best,

 

Craig

 

Craig Benjamin, CFP
Marquis Financial

 

FW: Thank You Wonderful Ones!!

A nice note from returning veteran and E-17 Yellow Hat awardee Tim “The Marauder” Moratto:

 

Hi Ron,

Thank you for including me in group one. I had a great time!  Everything was perfect.

 

Thanks for all you did.

 

Sincerely,

 

Tim

 

Timothy R. Moratto CPA, Partner
PISENTI & BRINKER LLP

 

Announcing the Line Up for E-17's Group Two!

After those Wonderful Ones literally blew in here, blew around here and, yesterday, blew out of here, all decks are now cleared for the arrival of E-17’s magnificent Group Two.  Known affectionately as “The Tattoos” (for past acts of portably tattooing any and everyone is sight with their custom made Circle C tattoos), this year’s assemblage of Twos is star-studded with a plurality of returning veterans, most all of whom have now fished here together for the better part of a decade.

 

Leading the pack is my dear friend and partner in our Blackfoot house, Napa grape grower Tim “Squawfish” Rodgers (so named for, years ago, his trying to count a squawfish in a side bet we had on a slow day of fishing together as to who would catch the next fish—he insisting that this disdainful species should rise to the dignity of a trout!) who again is joined by his high school-attending daughter Mardi “CT” Rodgers, who, year after year, wears yellow home as she fishes this second group.  Joining in the two-fray also is wiley, world travelling fisherman and international wine broker Joe “Campari” Ciatti and his team of Greg “Good Living” Livengood, Stewart ”LA” Marlborough and rookie Ken “NMI” (as in “No Montana Name”—yet, that is!) Petrilla who will be reunited by returning Tattooers Al “Good Earth” Baylacq and Dakota “Son of Good Earth” Baylacq and, after a brief respite, Kevin “CPA” Sweeney and his beautiful wife Christine “Double Rainbow” Sweeney (so named for a double rainbow that appeared along Rock Creek Road the last time they were here as they were telling me of the hailstorm that they were caught up in that day while fishing!).

 

Juicing things up are Madera-based grape and pomegranate international marketers Jerry “The Juice” Pantaleo and his Seattle-based veteran partner Brad “The Maven” Miller, each of whom are bring offspring to celebrate this coming Father’s Day weekend with us, the form bringing his rookie daughter Gianna and the latter to arrive with returning high school son and veteran Jack “Son of Maven” Miller.

 

Rounding things off and coming the furthest of the Tattoos (all the way from Philadelphia) is distance education financier Mike “The Haystack” Stakias and his rookie son in law David Brennan—all of whom are in for far, far better weather than the Ones were faced with and far less driving, for recent river rises notwithstanding, the Tattoos will be fishing our local targeted river—the Clark Fork of the Columbia River, the Big (“A River Runs Through It”) Blackfoot River  and the majestic Bitterroot River.

 

Bring it on Twos!!!

 

Best to all from the soggy scene of it all,

 

Rock Creek Ron

    ---<’///:><

 

 

 

E-17's Group One Wrap Up!

The Ones have now returned home and, as we wrap up their experience here in Extravaganzaland, it is fair to say that “they came, they saw and they froze”!!  Setting an all-time Extravaganza record, every night we had a fire in the inside fireplace, in between times the Ones motor coached to the Mighty Missouri River for two days of fabulous weather-friendly and fish-friendly conditions returning to fish our local waters only to see the rivers blown out overnight by a wild rainstorm, complete with thunder and lightning, that “blew out” our three targeted rivers such that, those that dared to venture out on the rivers for their third day of fishing, were met with torrential winds and rains, all except, that is, for Santa Rosa CPA Tim “The Marauder” Moratto who, fishing solo with his 15 year Extravaganza veteran guide Chris Stroup, ventured out to fish the lower Clark Fork for a 20+ fish day, including the above beauty, a “20.01” brown (see the water dripping from his gill plate!), that earned The Marauder a(nother) Yellow Hat to add to his decade plus Extravaganza collection.

 

The big fish of the trip was Demetry “The Ghost” Kondrascheff’s 21 ½” Mo brown, and, as shown above, The Ghost took home with him Group One’s coveted Yellow Shirt for it—congrats to ya, Ghostman!!

 

If there was such a thing as a Medal of Valor for Extravaganza participation, those Ones that fished the third day would be each entitled to one.  Classic to the boat reports of that third day of fishing was the assembly of all the non-Stroup armada of our boats huddled under a Blackfoot River bridge seeking relief from the relentless upstream wind that made dead drift fishing almost impossible.  Nonetheless, the reports were valiant ones, including significantly rookie Shana “The Smile” Bagley Howe’s first ever fish caught on a fly—one that she held onto for dear life and full meaning was given to her of the phrase of “A River Runs Through It” as it was on the Big Blackfoot (the river of which that famed book was written) where that fish was caught and released—congrats, my dear, for as the rest of your Ones know, indeed, a river now runs through you!

 

Best to all from the scene of it all,

 

Rock Creek Ron

    ----<’///:><