Browns, Blisters, and Beef

By Clark Fork Coalition, 6-30-09

What a weekend.  Days 1 and 2 of the Clark Fork 320 have come and gone. John Havlik (my guide in the photo) and I put in bright and early on Saturday for the Racetrack to Arrowhead Park stretch.  Thought I’d be a nice guy and offer to row John for a while first– certainly didn’t expect him to jump at the chance as quickly as he did.  Within 15 minutes, he had a big brown on the line.  A good omen and a good start to the day– even though it wasn’t my fly that brought ‘em in.  My wife Kay hopped on the boat for the afternoon and after some killer guiding from John landed another brown and spent the rest of the day fishing like a rock star.  I’m telling you– there’s nothing as beautiful as a woman with a fly rod in her hands.

We’ve already been joined by some pretty remarkable people.  Brian Kevin, a freelance writer covering the 320, spent the past two days floating beside us in his kayak.  He’s kept us laughing, especially when we hit some tough spots on the river.  Not one, not two, but three times we had to lay flat in the boat to avoid low bridges or cattle guards.  Pretty crazy– I hadn’t expected that.  The hairiest moment came when we only had about 1/2 inch of clearance over the boat.  Tightest I’ve ever seen on any water.  But we made it.

Later on Saturday, we met up with Jason Morrison, the Ranch Manager at 5 Rock MS Angus Ranch on Racetrack Creek.  He put us up for the night in his farmhouse and grilled up a set of organic steaks straight from his herd.  5 Rock was the first ranch in the nation to begin leafy spurge mitigation using sheep grazing on the property, a technique that’s now being used across the West.  The Clark Fork Coalition’s own Ranchlands Community Coordinator, Bryce Andrews, came downstream to join us for dinner, and he and Jason spent the night talking cattle, soils, and riparian protection while John and I nursed our sore muscles.  That night, we watched a herd of 80 elk traipse across the ridge across the way.

We had two other boats with us on Sunday from Kohr’s Bend to Phosphate Bridge– the Clark Fork Coalition has found plenty of guides and clients from across western Montana to float along with us every stretch of the way and keep us company.  My friends Cindy and Harry, fellow board members for the Coalition, joined up on Sunday with their guide, Josh Lauer.  Josh is also going to be guiding me in the lower river later on.  Cindy is the most phenomenal angler I’ve ever seen, and she certainly taught me a thing or two.  She pulled in a nice native cutthroat to round out the afternoon and we all tipped our hats to that one.

I’ve got blisters the size of quarters on my hands already, but pulling fish out of the water helps ease the pain.  It’s been plenty hot, and as soon as we get off the water the mosquitoes are going to town on any square inch of exposed skin.  But it’s all worth it, just to see the restoration in action on the upper Clark Fork River.  Meeting folks like Jason from the 5 Rock Ranch, watching other fishheads like Cindy casting nine feet to the banks, and floating through braided floodplains brings it all home for me.  This river is on the rebound.  We’re seeing native fish, elk, and great blue herons.  We’re meeting property owners and we’ll be floating with county commissioners and mayors.  It’s not only a watershed– the Clark Fork is a community.  I can’t wait to see what’s around the bend.

Visit me at www.clarkfork.org/320blog.  See you tomorrow,

Daniel Kiely