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Latest Update: June 19, 2001 by Ben Marcus

10:21 JUNE 19, 2001 THE CABIN IN WISE RIVER, MONTANA

MONEY
Fishing license, flour, canola oil, chili, milk, cereal: $66.00
AOL 800 charges ($6 and hour): $24.00???
Kicking it in Montana: Priceless

The cleaning lady just left and the last thing she said was, ńIf youÍre going to eat elk, marinate it well. I put it in tacos or spaghetti sauce or something to cover it up. I grew up eating elk and I donÍt really look forward to it. Men might be different. ItÍs a little too wild for me.î

Well tonight we are going to be eating elk. Frank and Edith from Troutfitters and going to flow us some elk steaks. Mike gave me a shopping list which I fulfilled an hour ago, when I went to Wise River to buy my fishing license. I bought a small bag of flour and some cooking oil and two cans of chili. DonÍt know what he has in mind, but itÍs something to look forward to.

Mike and Rich are on the river, and I envy them. Floating this river is something I am looking forward to. It is just an epic stretch of water, as perfect a trout river as I have ever seen. ItÍs one of those rivers that looks like it was designed by a zillionaire with taste. Bank fishing is fun, but drifting is the way to go. Maybe they can set us up with a three-man boat, or maybe IÍll just go on a solo trip. Even if I donÍt catch fish, IÍll get to see the river at the riverÍs pace.

But I have work to do first. I am starting to compose the Jay Moriarity Memorial, and I think IÍve got the angle. There have been over 200 posts about Jay on the Aggroville chat forum, and I think IÍm going to bounce off all the different sentiments in there to cover all the different aspects of Jay, and the people he has touched. Jay taught surfing over the past few summers for the OÍNeill Europe Surf School. When you combine that with all his friends in Santa Cruz and all the people who knew him through magazines, he has come into contact with thousands of people.

So today I have sent e-mails to Bill Morris and JayÍs father Doug and other people who posted stories about Jay on Aggroville. ItÍs going to take a few days to talk to people, but IÍll eventually solve the puzzle. I enjoy that.


The cute cleaning kids.

The cleaning lady was here with two cute kids and filled me in on the hunting and fishing situation around here. There is a five-week rifle-hunting season at the end of October. Again, I think that hunting is fun: blasting up into the hills on foot or horseback or ATVÍs. But killing is a waste. Live and let live I say, although people here do eat what they kill, even if itÍs a little too wild for some. Maybe weÍll make elk pizza tonight.

IÍve got the radio on and the creek is gurgling outside the window and the birds and chirping and the cows are mooing and the clouds are scudding and IÍm going to sit here and think and write. Now that I have a license I may take a few breaks to go fishing.

There are mosquitos all over the house. I guess they come out to feed when it warms up. IÍm covered in bites. Hope theyÍre not malarial.

21:45 JUNE 19, 2001 THE CABIN AT WISE RIVER, MONTANA

ńHoney! WhatÍs for dinner????!!!î

ńWhy itÍs your favorite. Elk steaks, shot from a pickup truck.î

ńOh no! Elk again!!!î

Elk is what we had for dinner. Elk steaks breaded with flour and fried in canola oil, courtesy of Chef Locatelli, with sides of garlic rice and chili beans. Sounds good? It was so good, makes you want to run home and slap your grandma.


Mike and elk.

Elk is good. ItÍs the other red meat. It was tender enough even with the frying, and it didnÍt taste at all like chicken. It tasted like beef plus. Of course, we double-drowned it in rice and beans and salt and pepper, but even on its own it was good. I feel less sorry for Lewis and Clark right now. If they had trout to eat and elk to eat, then they werenÍt doing too badly. I read the intro to the Journals of Lewis and Clark last night. This was just the introduction and there was a lot of information. Apparently Lewis and Clark were good men who got along well and knew what they were doing. They only lost one man from Saint Louis to the mouth of the Columbia, were never assaulted by Indians and really accomplished the impossible. According to what I read, the only time they really despaired was in the Bitterroot Mountains, when they ran out of food.

So, elk is good food. We had two steaks a piece, a little white wine. And then we went fishing. This day ended well but was mostly bad. I did a good impression of Homer Simpson today, walking into the most mosquito-laden parts of the river, getting endless snags and not catching any fish. On my first trip I went to a little dam spot just above Troutfitters. It was swarming with mosquitoes and I was wearing my hat and spraying myself with off, but I am covered in bites. (Mike gave me a long-sleeve shirt for this evening. Duh.) There were fish rising and I was casting okay but I didnÍt get any action. After swapping a bunch of flies and untying endless snarls (that double-fly rig snarled a lot) I walked up to the van to find Ike. I walked up the bank, under a fence, up another bank and about 50 yards to the car. I found Ike hiding underneath the van, apparently cowering from the mosquitoes. When I turned around I saw my fly line stretched out behind me. I had the fly caught in my leg and the reel was stripped down to the backing. I couldnÍt believe I could walk that far and not feel a tug. It was as impossible as what Lewis and Clark accomplished, (in a different way) but I did it.

A guy in a truck pulled up and said ńThat looks like the backing to a fly line!î and chuckled at me a little bit and then took off because the mosquitoes were too thick. I reeled in the line the wrong way, picking it up from the hook end and looping it together. What I should have done is walked all the way back and reeled it in, but I was so embarrassed and shocked to have 50 yards of fly line strung out that I started picking it up. Mistake. I looped the fly line and backing into a horrendous snarl. I threw it all in the van fighting off about a thousand mosquitoes and went back to the house.

Doh! Really, really dumb.

I went back to the cabin and checked e-mail. Felix Alfaro called me and gave me a quote about Jay when he was ńa little chubby kid riding longboards at 38th.î I also got return e-mails from a few people. I talked to Jeff Clark today briefly. He was at OÍNeills in Santa Cruz and didnÍt sound too happy. Jay was JeffÍs tow partner and good friend, and Jeff is really feeling it. A lot of people are.

This memorial will be easy to write. IÍm going to structure it around a few of the posts on Aggroville, which come from a wide variety of people. Jay touched a lot of people-in person and through the media. He taught surf camps all over Europe for OÍNeill Europe. People loved him. I have to do a good job at this, but I got a good start today. Once you figure out structure, it gets easier.

As for fly-fishing, itÍs all about gear and local knowledge. I know how to cast and tie knots and do the fundamentals pretty well, but every river is different. My rods are both rigged for steelhead, and all the gear is too heavy for trout. Mike and Rich are using very light rods and lines and leaders, because the water is clear and trout are smart.

It took me an hour to untangle the fly line and backing, and I ended up cutting some of it. I tied a decent nail knot to reattach the backing to the fly line, and then I went back to the river. This time I was a little up from where I was before, but it was still malarial.

There were fish rising all around and I was casting okay but my dry flies werenÍt floating. I got bit to pieces and didnÍt catch anything and lost some more flies and just all together was very frustrated.


Our humble adobe.

I went back to the cabin and worked some more, then Rich and Mike showed up. TheyÍd caught 52 fish between them while drifting today. Those guys are spending $500 a day for the cabin, boat and guide, and they want to catch fish. They laughed at all my bites, and then felt sorry for me. I brought in my rig and asked what was wrong. I was using the floating line on the end with a leader and a tippet on the end of that, and it was too long. Mike took off the floating line, tied a butt of leader to the fly line and then I had a tapered 5X leader that he tied to the butt of leader. My rod is a meant for steelhead but it will work well enough for trout. Rich finished the rig because Mike had trouble tying knots.

I had bought groceries today and Mike cooked the elk, beans and rice. I was the taste tester on the elk, and was surprised at how good it was. That almost tempts me to get into hunting. If you go out and shoot something you actually like to eat, then hunting isnÍt all that horrific. This elk was shot from the driverÍs seat of a pickup truck, which isnÍt very sporting. It still tasted good.

After dinner Rich took pity on me and drove me up to a place called SportsmanÍs Corner. He tied a nymph onto the end of the leader, and showed me a spot he really likes. ńYou want a place where thereÍs fast water in the middle and slow water against the bank. Trout hang out in the little deep crease between slow and fast water. They donÍt want to swim too hard and they want the food to come to them.

We parked in a grassy parking lot of a nice campground, and then Rich did some casts with the nymph. Technique is everything. Keep the line behind the fly, let it drift naturally down then retrieve it quickly once it hits the slow water. Trout will follow the thing all the through the swing, and then hit it when youÍre bringing in the line.

It took him a couple dozen casts, but he finally got a fish on, a decent little rainbow. Rich put all the line on the reel and took in the slack, then let me bring the fish in. He adjusted the drag and then said, ńWhen it wants to run, let it run. When it stops running, reel it in because itÍs coming back at you. Keep the rod straight up. If you give it any slack, it will throw the hook.î So thatÍs what I did. The trout ran three or four times, then I reeled it in a little and finally got it to the bank. It was a nice little 14 inch rainbow, full of piss and vinegar. It took me a while to get the hook out, but when I let it go it took off like a shot.

So, I got the feel for having a trout on, and learned that you have to let those fish run, because the tackle is light and the hooks come out easily.

Rich let me start casting, and corrected my technique. He said I cast fine, and I explained that IÍve done a lot of fishing, IÍm just clueless about lines and leaders and flies. Fly fishing is like English history. There is a lot to know.

Well I didnÍt get an bites or fish, but I could have. IÍm going to go back to SportsmanÍs Corner tomorrow and flog the hell out of it. Hopefully there will be some kind of hatch and I can throw out some dry flies.

Ike behaved like a brat today. Mike is allergic to cats, and he kept opening the door to MikeÍs room and sleeping on his clothes. I must have pulled him out of there 10 times. The door doesnÍt shut and even with a chair and pillow in front, Ike can still get in. HeÍs a clever cat. A good leaper and he can open anything. This morning Rich was on the john and Ike walked in and opened the first two cabinets under the sink.


Cat of leisure.

This evening I let him run around when Rich and I were nymphing. When I went to get him he ran away and I chased him a good stretch, He did that two more times, even leaping out of the van and running, which was a first. DonÍt know what got into him, but he redeemed himself at dinner.


Rich and Mike and Prarie Dog Pie.


After dinner I surprised Mike and Rich with some prairie dog pie. While I was fishing the edges of the river, Ike prowled the edges of the highway and caught six of the little critters in two hours. He was proud as a peacock so I skinned them and baked them prepared them in a store-bought pie crust with some cloves and cinnamon. Delicious.

 

 

 

 



TRAVELS WITH IKE
June 19, 2001
June 18, 2001
June 17-18, 2001
June 16, 2001
June 15, 2001
June 14 , 2001

NORTH COAST
March 14, 2001
March 11, 2001

March 8, 2001
March 4, 2001
March 3, 2001
March 1, 2001
February 20, 2001
February 19, 2001
February 18, 2001

February 17, 2001

February 16, 2001


ALASKA 2000
November 19, 2000
November 18, 2000
November 15, 2000
November 14, 2000
November 14, 2000
November 12-13, 2000
November 11, 2000
November 9, 2000
November 8, 2000
November 4-6, 2000
November 3, 2000
November 1, 2000
October 31, 2000
October 29, 2000
October 27, 2000
October 26, 2000
October 25, 2000
October 22, 2000
October 22, 2000
October 21, 2000
October 19, 2000
October 17, 2000
October 16, 2000
October 16, 2000
October 14, 2000
October 12, 2000
October 11, 2000
October 10, 2000
October 10, 2000
October 9, 2000
October 8, 2000
October 7, 2000
October 6, 2000
October 6, 2000
October 5, 2000
October 4, 2000
October 3, 2000
October 2, 2000
October 1, 2000
September 30, 2000
September 29, 2000
September 28, 2000
September 27, 2000
September 25, 2000
September 24, 2000
September 23, 2000
September 22, 2000
September 21, 2000
September 21, 2000
September 20, 2000
September 19, 2000
September 19, 2000
September 18, 2000
September 17, 2000
September 16, 2000
September 15, 2000
September 15, 2000
September 14, 2000
September 13, 2000
September 12, 2000
September 10, 2000
September 10, 2000
September 8, 2000

September 8, 2000

PHOTOS
October 1, 2000
October 1, 2000
September 27, 2000

 

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