Tom's Montana Journal

   

Tom Vara's First Montana Trout

           

Jim Reynolds the creator of Tom's dream trip

                           

 Montana Day 1

            Today we had to wake up at 3:30 A.M. to catch a flight at Newark Airport. When we were all at the airport everyone looked excited to go to Montana but at the same time everyone looked very tired since we woke up so early. Our first flight brought us to Minneapolis, Minnesota where we had to catch a second flight shortly there after. We finally arrived in Billings, Montana where everyone was eager to get to the camp where we were staying. Before we went to the camp we had to go food shopping and get ready for the days to come.   We had to drive 2 hours east of Billings to get to the camp which was along the Bighorn River. After this we ate and then went fishing. We had a choice of going to two places either the Meathole or 3 Mile access which were fishing areas along the Bighorn. I decided to go to the Meathole. 

Kyle Sisco

                                    

Frank Sisco along the Bighorn River

Here I landed 2 big rainbows and had 2 other fish on. After this we all went back to the campground and went to sleep. Today was a long day of traveling but it all paid off at the end when we got to go fishing. It was a fun day.                

Bighorn Rainbow

                    

Fort Smith, Montana Day 2

            Today we woke up around 7:30 A.M. While we were waiting to eat breakfast everyone was getting their fishing gear ready so we would be able to get an early start on the river once we finished eating. After we ate everyone went to fish the Meathole again. It was a slow start for me, while I watched others pull out huge fish, I wasn’t catching much. This morning I only landed one fish. This was only my fifth time fly fishing so I was still learning and slowly getting better.  

Matt Bozzuffi

We took a break around 3 and ate a big meal. After that everyone rested a little and some people tied flies, I decided to go to sleep for a little. We then headed back down to the river around 7 when it cooled down a little. It was like a hundred degrees earlier on today. We then separated into groups where some people went to 3 mile and others went back to the meathole. I decided to go back to the meathole. On our walk to the meathole it was extremely hot with all our fishing gear on. This time I landed two fish and had a couple on but they got off. After this we went back to the camp and went to sleep. I was amazed today about how many fish would be swimming right at your feet when you were fishing. I realized today how lucky I am to be able to learn how to fly fish in Montana. I also feel as if I am slowly getting better each time I go out.       

Colin Etzel- Hardman

                                                 

Fort Smith, Montana Day 3

            Today was our last day at the Bighorn River. We woke up around 7:30 and started our day. We ate another huge breakfast. After that we split up into groups and went to the meathole or 3 mile. Today I wanted to try something different so I decided to go to 3mile. When we got there Bill Z. gave me a couple of egg patterns which turned out to be extremely useful. In the morning fishing trip Bill showed me a fishing hole to try and right away I landed 3 fish out of that hole and had another 4 fish on but they got away. This made me excited and feel as if I was getting better at fly fishing. We then took a break around 3 and we all ate and rested. Then we went four our night fishing trip around 7. Since I had a successful morning at 3 mile I decided to go back there. I wasn’t having the best of luck this time here so Mr. McKinney and I moved up to a new spot. There I learned a lot when Mr. McKinney taught me how to fish a dry fly, and Bill and Mr. McKinney showed me how to fish the currents and high stick. Right after they taught me the same egg pattern I was using in the morning and I used what I just learned and I caught one of my biggest fish I caught on this trip. It put up a real good fight. After this we started heading back and Mr. McKinney and Mr. Z told me about the guy who made this whole trip possible for me, Mr. Hummon. He sounded like a real great guy. Today I learned a lot about fly fishing and am excited to use what I learned tomorrow when we go to Yellowstone.

 

Bill Zahurak Demonstrating Singing Techniques

Day 4 Montana-Wyoming

            Today we all woke up around 7 and started packing. We left Fort Smith on a 5 hour car ride to go to Gardiner, a small town right outside of Yellowstone National Park. I was excited to see new areas of Montana, and I was really excited to see Yellowstone since it has always been one of the National Parks I wanted to visit. On our way we made many stops.

Sandy McKinney, thanks for all your efforts

We went from the desert to the mountains which I thought was amazing. As we drove we saw many beautiful views which all seemed like Kodak moments, for a little it seemed as if I couldn’t put my camera down, I just kept taking pictures. We traveled through Beartooth Pass which was a really step and windy road that climbed up the mountain.  Then we stopped in a small town on our way to Gardiner. Here we picked up our fishing licenses for Yellowstone and ate dinner here. In this town there was an old lodge that was built in the 1930’s. I thought it was really cool looking and was amazed about how they built buildings back in the 30’s. Instead of using just one piece of wood they would use a whole tree.  After this we went through Yellowstone to get to Gardiner. I thought that Yellowstone looked amazing just when we drove through it and fished the Soda Butte, and I was excited to see more. I fished the upper section of the soda butte with Mr. Reynolds today. Mr. Reynolds and I even had a little competition to see who can land the most fish just for fun. Of course he one but I landed 10 fish on mainly dry flies. I used a lot of the techniques I learned the previous days and they seemed to help a lot.

One of many Cutthroats on Soda Butte

Every couple of casts I would get a hit, it was a lot of fun. After this we went to Gardiner and unpacked and then went to bed. It seemed that everything I was learning was finally coming together and I was starting to do well. That night I was anxious for the next day to come so we could fish again and I could see more of Yellowstone.

Day 5 Wyoming

            We woke up today and started to plan for our fishing trip. I asked the mentors if I could take a break from fishing and go see Yellowstone since it’s always been something I’ve wanted to see. Mr. Goldthorne, Kyle, Kennedy, and I all went and drove around Yellowstone today. We got to see the hot springs, old faithful, many other geysers, the paint pot, the grand canyon of Yellowstone, and many other beautiful sites. I thought

Old Faithful

  Yellowstone was awesome and one of the best national parks i've visited. We also saw a lot of elk and bison in there which I thought was cool since they aren’t roaming around wild in New Jersey. After this we meet up with the rest of the group. We then went fishing in the Soda Butte again and this time we went to the central part of the river which was better for casting since it was a lot more open for a back cast. Here I landed 8 fish but had a hit almost every cast, which would never happen in New Jersey. Mr. Reynolds and I had the bet going again just for fun, unfortunately he won again but it was still fun. Today I learned more about the flies and which fly was which and when I should use them. The mentors told me about the hatches and which fly I should use during them which seemed to help a lot. Today I saw many beautiful sites of scenery and had a lot of fun fishing again. I’m really enjoying this trip. 

Beautiful view from the Soda Butte Valley

Day 6 Wyoming

            Today was our last day at Yellowstone. We woke up around 7 and started planning our day. Mr. Reynolds and I decided to go to Buffalo Creek, which was an awesome decision. Here it seemed as if every cast a fish would hit. This creek was made up of a bunch of pools so we just kept working our way up the creek fishing each pool. Mr. Reynolds gave me a goal of catching 50 fish today and I was thinking there would be no way I could catch 50 fish in a 3 hour period of time. Well I was wrong. I ended up landing 56 fish, I couldn’t believe it, it was so much fun. The fish ranged anywhere from 3-14 inches. We then went back and ate with everyone else. Then we had o decide where to go fishing for our night trip. We all decided to go back to the Soda Butte. I wanted to fish new water so I went to the lower part of the Soda Butte. There the fishing was slow since it was hard to make a good cast because the wind was blowing so hard. At first I got a couple of hits and had one or two on but they got away. When the night was almost over I thought I wasn’t going to catch any this time. But then I made a couple last casts and ended up landing a nice 14 inch cut throat. We then went back and went to sleep. Tomorrow we will be traveling to Bozeman.

 

Released Cutthroat

Day 7 Montana

            We woke up early today and started packing our things. We left Gardiner and headed up north to Bozeman, Montana. We saw a lot more beautiful scenery along the car ride. When we got to Bozeman we went to Montana State University. After we unpacked we went to the center of Bozeman and went shopping. There I got a few gifts for my family and a few things for myself. After that we went to Colin’s aunt’s house and ate dinner.

Janice Cartwright opens her home in Bozeman

There we had fun trying to use his aunt’s lasso even though we had no idea what we were doing. She had a fake steer head tied to a hay bail so we tried to lasso that. After this we had trouble finding a place to fish since the rivers were closed because of the hot weather. So we went south to fish part of the Gardiner. We had a slow evening catching fish. I only landed one fish that night. After this we went and got ice cream where I saw a site I would never forget. Mr. Thorn made his own road into the gas station parking lot. After this we went back to the university and went to sleep.

Day 8 Montana

            When we woke up today we found out that the rivers were still closed so we decided to change our plans. Instead of staying at Montana State University for 2 nights we headed up to the Upper Canyon Ranch and spent an extra night there. On our way we first stopped at the Kambich Ranch which was a two hour drive. There we went fishing on Jack and Corrine’s pond.

Jack and Corrine Kambich's Ranch along the Big Hole River

Before I went fishing I hiked up a hill so I can get a good view of the place. We saw a great view of the ranch and other land. Then I hiked down and started fishing. Before dinner I landed one fish. Then after dinner which was huge steaks and the best beans I’ve had, we talked to Jack for a little then we started to fish again. I had a goal of catching two more fish after dinner and I ended up landing three fish. All of the fish in the pond were anywhere from 12-15 inches and they were rainbow trout. I had fun at Jack’s ranch, they seemed like really nice people. After this we headed to the upper canyon ranch which was another hour and a half car ride. We got there around 11:45 and then we all went to sleep.

 

Dan and Jack Kambich greet Kyle

  

Corrine Kambich Center

Day 9 Montana

            I woke up today and looked around to see the Upper Canyon Ranch for my first time in the day light. It was a really beautiful ranch with many mountains all around. I think its crazy how much land these people own out in Montana, I’m kind of jealous.

Thanks Jake and Dona McDonnald at the UCO

:right  We went to breakfast and planned out what we were going to do today. I chose to go fishing around the middle of the Ruby River. We went there and it was a smaller river but had a lot of deep pockets. Here I had a couple of hits but only landed a few grayling and a white, 3 fish total. I had a lot of fish on but they kept getting off, I started getting a little frustrated. When Bill called me to go back to the car to head back to the ranch I took apart my rod and realized why the 6 fish I had one got off, it was because my hook bent and was in an L shape. This just made me laugh at the situation. After we went back to the ranch we played a couple games of horseshoes. Then we helped Lane and Jack clean up the rocks in the arena so they could have a rodeo there later on.

Upper Canyon Outfitters Roping Show

We then ate and then went to the rodeo were a couple people were roping steer, a couple people tried wrestling steer, and Lane showed us his tricks with the lasso. This was really cool since you would never see this back in Jersey. Then we planned out our next day and then went back to the cabin and played a couple of board games. Then we went to sleep. 

Day 10 Montana

            We woke up and started another day of fishing. We had a couple of rivers to choose from. Since I heard it was fun to fish Ledford Creek,

Ledford Creek

I  decided to go there. When I first go there I looked at the river it was only 2 or 3 feet wide and I wondered how big fish were going to live in it. I also saw the high grass around it and could only think about how much I was going to snag my line on the grass. In this stream we caught a couple of fish ranging from 8-16 inches. Most of them were brown trout. I landed 3 big fish all brown trout. I had a couple real big browns on but they took my line under the bank where they got off. At Ledford Creek I felt that my casting got a lot better since you had to have perfect placement since the river was only 3 feet wide and you had to land your fly in a drift in this small river. After this we went back because a storm passed through. We ate and played some more horseshoes back at the ranch.

Dave Thatcher with Ruby Rainbow

Then a couple people went out to fish but I stayed around the ranch and had an easy afternoon. I went and fished the pond they had on the ranch which was stocked with rainbow trout. When I went there they were feeding the fish pellets so it was hard to catch a fish on any other fly that didn’t look like a pellet. I kind of felt like I was cheating since they were feeding the fish pellets. So then I decided I would hook a fish and hand the rod of to a little kid Andrew, he was about 5 years old, who was watching us fish. When I hooked a fish I would let him real the fish in while I held the rod and told him when to real and not to real the fish in. It seemed that Andrew was having a great time. Every fish he caught was the biggest fish he ever caught and was a “monster fish” to him. He then started calling himself a pro fisherman after he landed about 5 or more fish. It made me happy that I made the kids night. He must have landed about 10-15 fish. After this we went back to the cabin and played some more bored games. Then we all went to sleep.

Day 11 Montana

            We woke up today and had another big breakfast. We then planned out who was going to where. I decided to go to the Middle Fork along with Mr. and Mrs. McKinney. The fishing started off extremely slow, barely any fish were rising and no one was getting any hits. I only got one hit and landed one fish within the first 3 hours. During this time Mr. McKinney helped me improve my cast and taught me different things to do when it was windy out. I felt as if this helped me improve my cast a lot. After I improved my cast he allowed me to go off on my own for a little and it was still slow so we moved down stream to where the East, Middle, and West fork all come together and form the Ruby River. All of a sudden things started to pick up and I landed 5 more fish within the last 45 minutes of fishing today. I caught a nice 14 inch brown trout. After this we went to the Wilcox ranch for dinner and a little country concert. The Wilcox were really nice people and excellent cooks. The concert was also really cool and it allowed us to learn a little more about the west. I never really listen to country music but I really enjoyed myself here. After the concert we went back to the upper canyon ranch and went to bed.

Carol, Steve and Grandpa Wilcox at our Western concert

Day 12 Montana

            Today was our last day of fishing. We woke up and decided where we were going to go fishing today. I wanted to go back to the Upper Ruby since it fished well the other day. I went with Matt and Colin. Within the first couple of casts we all landed our first fish, which was a good start to our last day fishing. We worked our way up steam landing a lot more fish. We all landed a lot of fish over 12 inches. I was using everything I learned over the trip and by the end of the day I landed 14 fish, which was an excellent end to the trip. I landed a lot of cut bows and rainbows which were all around 14 inches. It was another fun day of fishing and I couldn’t have asked for anything more for my last day of fishing. We probably covered around a mile and a half of the river today. We then went back to the upper canyon and unfortunately had to pack our bags to go home. We then had to say our goodbyes and thank Jack and Donna for their excellent hospitality. Then we headed back to Montana State University where we would spend our last night. On the trip of was taking my last looks at the beautiful scenery of Montana and I was thinking about how much I would miss this place. When we got there we went to bed since we had an early flight back home. That night I thought about what an awesome trip this was and how much fun I had on it. I also thought about how much my skills improved and how much I learned during this trip.

George at Kambich's pond

                                                             

George and George Polachak a trip neither will ever forget

Day 13 Montana

            We had to wake up for an early flight today. We all said our goodbyes to some of the people on the trip and headed towards the airport. We then left when back to New Jersey. This trip was a very fun trip and I wouldn’t hesitate if I had the chance to go on it again. I had a really fun time. Everyone on the trip was really nice and I had a great time with them. I knew I would miss Montana and was hoping I would get to go back in the future.