Frosty Morning

It was 4 below at my house this morning at 6AM.

I'm guessing it was 10 below here at the lodge.

It was 7 below when I took these photos this morning.

I counted 23 elk in this herd this morning. There is at least one young bull in the herd. Can you spot him? I think he is the 5th or 6th head from the left. If I did this correctly, you should be able to click on the pictures and they will pop up much larger.

Sharp Hooks and Tight Lines,

Ron

Rock Creek Rams!

Check out these bad boys!

Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep rams on Rock Creek Cattle Company. Photo by Kevin Morley

Talk about Ram Tough!

Rock Creek Cattle Company's own Kevin Morley was out and about last Friday and found our resident herd of Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep. He sent these photos to share.

Bighorn ram flanked by ewes at Rock Creek. Photo by Kevin Morley.

Very nice Kevin, and thanks.

According to the Montana, Fish, Wildlife and Parks webiste, this herd is known as the Garrison Herd. They have a pretty extensive write up and management plan for your reading pleasure if you are so inclined.

Here is the link, http://fwp.mt.gov/content/getItem.aspx?id=39737 with the Garrison Herd part beginning on page 132 of this PDF. There is some interesting stuff in there.

Thanks again, Kevin!

Sharp Hooks and Tight Lines,

Ron

Hell Freezing Over?

Our low for the month so far has been -24F. I don't know what it takes for hell to freeze over, but I'm betting this is close.

It has been unseasonably cold. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Place yer peepers on this pic of Ice Creek, formerly known as Rock Creek.


OK, so we haven't really changed the name to Ice Creek, though we could and it would fit perfectly. There are a few small pockets of flowing water that have not iced over, but not many.

The damned ice dams actually raise the ice and water level in the creek. Don't know if you can tell by this photo but the ice/water level is definitely out of it's channel.

Same thing is happening to the Clark Fork. Very slushy and much of it is iced over.

The good news is, we are supposed to hit a warming trend next week with temps getting up to near freezing for afternoon highs. Whew, I'm sweating already. Somebody pass the Copper Tone.

By the way, there is an official weather report station thing in Deer Lodge. It is two blocks from my house, on the Clark Fork river. It is at the Circle H Growers greenhouse/nursery place. I was talking to Ed, the owner, and I think he said it automatically updates every 15 minutes. Here's the link to he weather page at Circle H Growers.

Obviously, no fishing is being done in the rivers around here. Even if you could put on enough clothes to stand in a river waving a stick, yer stick would freeze. So would your line. Too many icebergs floating along too.

What about ice fishing, you ask? Sure, probably in the not too distant future. The bad news is what I know about ice fishing you could put in a rocks glass and still have plenty of room for bourbon. The good news is, someone has volunteered to teach me about it.

I'll let you know more about that in a few days. I think the ice needs to get a bit thicker first.

Sharp Hooks and Tight Lines,

Ron

Spawning Browns in Rock Creek

German Brown preparing for the spawn in Rock Creek. Photo by Joel Thompson

Most of the golden leaves have fallen. They seem an offering from the Cottonwoods to the spawning Brown trout, migrating from the Clark Fork to Rock Creek. The decomposing leaves break apart in the creek's currents, as our Browns do their thing to make new lives.

Rock Creek Brown in spawning mode. Photo by Joel Thompson

Joel, Ron and I have seen several pairs of spawning trout throughout the creek. A few of the fish have been impressive. Some are brightly colored, some just big, some big and brightly colored.

16" Brown Trout preparing to spawn in Rock Creek. Photo by Joel Thompson

We have initiated an honorary no-fish regulation for Rock Creek, until the Browns are mostly done spawning. We hope to encourage more fish to make their homes here on Rock Creek. We feel they will find life enjoyable and productive here, just as our members have all season. So, look for new scaly, slimy faces when you wet a line next season, and hold your mouth right, in order to hook one!

In Wild Waters,

Zac Sexton

Home On The Range

I had the privilege of going on horseback ride yesterday with Matt Buckley, our equestrian guru.

Matt has come up with some amazing rides for us this year and it is an absolute pleasure to ride with him. Due to the time constraints, I was only able to go on a 2 hour ride which was a real bummer as it was a perfect day for a ride. That said, my butt is a little saddle sore so maybe it was for the better. We rode up a drainage to the west of the home ranch and before long we started seeing elk.

Elk calf on the range. Photo by Joel

The elk calf in in the picture got separated from the herd and began to follow us. I guess the horses looked close enough to being its mama so the little guy felt comfortable following us. As soon as we crested the top of the bluff, we encountered the rest of the heard below us and the calf took off running for them. It was pretty cool to have him tag along as long as he did.

Horse Wrangler, cowboy poet and all around great guy, Matt Buckley. Photo by Joel

The vistas from on top of the bluff were simply breath taking. That is Matt in the picture and if you look real hard in the valley below, you can see the herd of elk.

I can't say enough good things about Matt. He is professional, kind, enthusiastic, witty, and just fun to be around. He is als a great cowboy poet and if you take a ride with him, I encourage you all to get him to recite some of it for you! Trust me, you will not be disappointed! Matt has taken our equestrian program to the next level and I encourage everyone to book a ride with us in September.

September is a great month on the ranch. The temperatures are mild and the fall colors are just getting started. Plus the elk are starting to get into the rut so you will likely hear them bulge at all times of the day which is a very cool thing if you have never experienced it before.

We have all level of rides for all level of riders and can do rides from an hour long up to.....well as long as you would like to go for! Come and enjoy the ranch from the back of a horse. You will never regret it!

Feeding Your Addiction,

Joel

Rock Creek Fishing Report

The creek has been fishing pretty good in the evenings lately, but it was a little slow today when I was out with Jill Caruso and Matt Donald. They were in from Seattle and wanted to try their hand at fly fishing so after a little lawn casting lesson, we headed for the creek.Matt Donald and Jill Caruso doing a little lawn casting practice.

The creek has risen about 4 inches overnight which has brought temperature down and probably had fish feeding all night on the behavioral drift of nymphs and larvae and probably lots of terrestrial bugs like ants and beetles being washed in from rising water.

I don't know for certain but I think the rise in water is due to less irrigation water being taken out as hay fields are being cut and very little irrigation is going on at the moment.Jill Caruso with a Rock Creek Brown that took an Elk Hair Caddis Dry

We did get a few rises on elk hair caddis, golden stones, chernobyl ants, beetle and even San Juan Worm dropper.

Matt Donald with a Rock Creek Brown that took the San Juan Worm dropper.

Thanks to Jill and Matt for a great morning on the creek. I really enjoyed sharing it with you. Come back soon!

Sharp Hooks and Tight Lines,

Ron

Creek Fishing Well

Rock Creek has been fishing very well recently!

Cary Patterson with a nice Rock Creek dry fly Brown

The spruce moths are out in force and a good dry fly pattern to use is an elk hair caddis. I'm liking the gray and tan body flies. Size doesn't seem to be really important, within reason. Hoppers are also working pretty danged well. I know Zac has been dropping different nymphs from his dry for his guests and the fish are eating those too.

Paul Hayne and one of Rock Creek's fine dry fly participants!

I fished the Clark Fork with my nephew a couple of evenings ago. Spencer turns 9 years old in a couple of days. This was his first time to fly fish. He landed his first brown trout on a dry fly and to say he is excited about and hooked on fly fishing would be a real understatement. Elk Hair Caddis, PMD's, Parachute Adams, Purple Haze and Rusty Spinners are all working on the Clark Fork at the right time of day.

Mornings and evenings are proving best right now. Middle/heat of the day, not so much unless you have plenty of cloud cover.

We have had several afternoon showers roll through but not enough to muddy the waters. We take a break if there is lightning in the air, otherwise we're fishing!!

Sharp Hooks and Tight Lines,

Ron