SUMMER LOVIN’

I took today off from work so I wanted to make the most of it. For starters, I took my two bird dogs out for a hike this morning. We went to one of my favorite coverts, the Royal MacNab, where we hunt sharptails and ruffed grouse in the fall. Unfortunately, we did not see any birds, but we did see a cow moose and her calf. I mostly wanted to see how my pup, Misty, handles when she is not in the backyard. Although she ran off two separate times, she handled pretty well for the majority of our hike. Overall, I was very pleased. That pup has so much energy it is contagious. She attacks cover with abandon. Now, if only I can harness that energy so that she hunts with me.

After a good hike, we dropped Misty off at the in-laws and Sunny Girl and I headed to our favorite blue ribbon mountain stream. This stream is full of wild Yellowstone Cutthroat, some surprisely big, which rise readily to a dry fly. To catch them, I used a big Size 8, Yellow PMX, which did the trick.

This is the starting point for fishing a fun stretch of the creek. I call it “jungle fishing” because the creek is choked on all sides with thick foilage.

Sunny Girl and I waded our way up the stream catching numerous cutthroats in the boulder-strewn pocket water and runs. In my opinion, Yellowstone Cutthroats are right up there in beauty with the brook trout, but the fact that they are natives make them all the more special.

A handful treasure.

Love that pocket water! The wild flowers were in full force. Indian Paintbrush happens to be my very favorite.

Sunny Girl, my favorite fishing buddy.

Regrettably, the creek happens to be adjacent to a heavily-traveled, dusty road and, as a result, dust covers everything. As we worked our way upstream Sunny Girl must have sucked in a little too much dust and she began to cough incessantly. I couldn’t help but think of the movie, Zoolander, and with a grin imagined Sunny saying, “Cough . . . Cough. I got the black lung Pop!”

To sum it up, we did not catch any hogs. However, I saw one that was easily 15 or 16 inches, which I spooked with my clumsy wading. Dang it! Notwithstanding, this was a near perfect afternoon of fishing. And to top it off, my two older girls and I enjoyed a Mexican feast at Senior Iguana’s in Pocatello, Idaho. Who can argue with the fact that Chile Rellenos and Chile Verde Burritos are good for the soul? I live for summer days like this!