Girrrrl Power

By Daniel Kiely, 7-01-09

	Day 4 was the longest stretch yet. Over 24 river miles.

I’m telling you, Day 4 of the 320 was something else.  John and I had two guests in our boat– Clark Fork Coalition Development Director Stacy Senterfeit and Shelly Jones (aka “Buns") from Paul Babb’s office (Chief Executive of Butte-Silver Bow City and County).  In boat two, birthday boy Paul Roos joined us for the second straight day to guide Nick and Mary Babson (CFC board member and his wife).  Paul’s best birthday gift on the day came in the form of Mary’s 23 1/2 inch radio-tagged brown trout.  What a fish!  And Mary is some angler.  Checking out a tagged trout is something else– I’d never seen the likes of it before.  Just shows how far this river has already come since the removal of Milltown Dam.

Man, this stretch from Drummond to Bearmouth is gorgeous.  Tons of birds– osprey, ducks, geese.  Saw three beavers– more evidence of a river on the rebound.  Longest day on the river yet– we put in around 10AM and didn’t come off the water until 11PM at the Bearmouth Chalet in the moonlight.  John and I spent most of the day switching off on the oars and letting the girls fish.  “Buns” Shelly Jones did great up at the front of the boat and I got to try my own hand at guiding a little bit.  They always say the best way to learn is to teach someone else, right?  Meanwhile, Stacy got real zen-like from the back and brought in a bunch of pike minnows before finally landing her first brown trout at the 11th hour (literally– the 11th hour).  We were all glad to see her bring the brown in– most of all John, as Stacy had already lost quite a few of his special hand-tied flies in the willows.

The night wound down quickly and we lost track of time. We were only just past the Hillbilly Bridge at 8:30 and still had a good couple of hours to go.  John decided to glam it up, Hollywood-style, and put on a brown mouse pattern after dark.  He hooked and lost a brown trout around 10:30.

Pulled out at the Chalet, joked around with the Coalition support staff, re-fueled on some summer sausage, and fell into bed around midnight.  Nice to have a bed and a shower– thanks to the Chalet staff for putting us up on late notice.

In all, covered about 24 river miles today.  Not too shabby for a guy with bloody palms.

Don’t forget– join me on Friday when the 320 floats through Missoula .

See you then,

Daniel Kiely

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