Mother Nature Always Win(d)s; No Fishing Today

By Bill Schneider, 7-11-08

	Caption: Historic Fort Peck Hotel, Fort Peck, Montana. Photo by Bill Schneider

It’s 9 am Friday, and I’m supposed to be two hours deep into my first fishing tournament, but instead I’m sitting in my room at the Fort Peck Hotel typing this update.

Today, like every day, Mother Nature had her way. It’s a “wind day.”

We were up at 5 am, checking our spinners, taping numbers on the boat, getting ready to rock and roll, but then the wind kicked up. On our way to the marina, we meet a long line of boats leaving, so we finally talk to a guy. “They called it,” he said, “too windy. Even blew the potty over.”

Officially, in the rulebook, it states that if winds hit 25 mph on a sustained basis, the tourney is canceled for the day. Today, winds are supposed to hit 50 mph on Fort Peck, which means even the Mike Newton’s 20-foot Mighty Warrior would seem like a sea kayak caught in an ocean storm.

It isn’t over. Experienced with the possibility of high winds, tournament directors have Plan B. The two-day tourney will now be on Saturday and Sunday, instead of Friday and Saturday, assuming Mother Nature cooperates, that is.

Drat! No fishing today. No chance to show the pros my stuff. No opportunity tonight when they release the results to hear them say, “Who is that guy, Schneider, on top of the leader board? Let’s find him and sign him up to some sponsorship contracts.”

That will have to wait until tomorrow.

So, we all head to the same place for breakfast, a small bar/café/casino called the Gateway, which calls itself “The Best Dam Bar by a Dam Site” across the street from the Lakeridge Mercantile, which has five ice machines and night crawlers the size of small garter snakes.

The Gateway’s modest parking lot instantly overflows and looks like a massive boat show. Inside, I’m having a great breakfast with a lot of frustrated folks, but all in support of the tourney director’s decision. Like Mother Nature, safety always wins.

Again, people are free with information (and not much seems like misinformation, but I could be naïve). Many guys are all decked out with their logoed shirts and hats--Lund, Ranger, St. Croix Rods, Mercury, and many more. Technically, they aren’t pros; they just look like pros and probably fish like them, too. They receive some assistance from companies.  Out in the parking lot, their boats are covered with sponsor’s logos, almost starting to look like pro angler’s boats, which are painted up just like NASCAR cars.

The rest of today, I’m relaxing and working at the Fort Peck Hotel, owned by Carl Mann, who is also an outfitter and host of the television program Columbia Country. Life could be a lot worse. This hotel is almost worth the trip. It was originally used to house the workers who built Fort Peck Dam, and now includes the Missouri River Bar and Grill. Downstairs, you find modern rooms, but upstairs, where I’m staying, the bathroom is down the end of the hall instead of in my room. At first, that seemed like something I couldn’t do, but now it seems like part of the experience of staying in a place like Fort Peck, a quiet destination hidden away like an oasis in the grassy vastness of eastern Montana. Be sure to check it out if you ever get out here in The Other Montana.

Check back tomorrow when, hopefully, I’ll actually be fishing my first tournament.