Der Icicle

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Valentine's Day Report!

Happy Valentine’s Day Eve E-12ers and greetings from Extravaganza Headquarters!!

 

As the above photos depict, it is indeed winter here in Extravaganzaland as we now approach the mid-winter mark it these here parts.  When Your Hostess With the Mostess arrived on the scene last week, we were greeted with temperatures in the mid-teens which have since “warmed up” to an almost balmy 34 degrees but were accompanied by nearly three quarters of a foot of snow.  Why do we fish in the summer, you ask??  Well, one look at the marvelously carved icicles that now adorn our front porch and at, my favorite, the now popsicle-like frozen chains that otherwise serve as our downspouts tells the story, along with rivers that are now ice-encroached on their banks making bank fishing as foolish as it is dangerous.

 

The goings-on outside notwithstanding, I can assure you first hand that, inside, preparations for this coming year’s epic Extravaganza are in their advanced stages, such that, in now just over four (short) months, when the Wonderful Ones grace Missoula with their presence not only with the temperature outside more than doubled but the flora that abounds here will have adorned its summer best to greet you open armed.  

 

Regarding snowfall (that now increasingly important statistic—it is the snow gathering in the upper climes that will provide the fodder for this spring’s runoff and our summer fishing waters), right now amassed snow in the key Bitterroot River Basis (where more than 75% of our boats will fish this summer) is 92% of its twenty year average, which is fantastic news for us all.  Unlike last year (when, come June and July, the accumulated snowpack was so high and massive in its snow water equivalent that we had to abandon our local rivers and travel by motor coach over 150 miles [each way] over the Continental Divide to (most successfully, btw!) fish the Mighty Missouri River), we are well on schedule to fish our three targeted local rivers—the 52 mile long Bitterroot River, the lower portion of the Clark Fork of the Columbia River, and the world famous Big “A River Runs Through It” Blackfoot River—with the great success that we have had in all other previous Extravaganzas.

 

Look ahead later in the month for your recommended E-12 travel itineraries.  In that regard, I am pleased to announce that United Air Lines is going to reinstate its daily non-stop flight from SFO to MSO which, for those who can take advantage of it, will shorten your incoming and outgoing travel times.  Wait, however, for a bit before making your reservations as, unlike any previous year, as a bonus for those of you in Group Two and Group Three, you will have the right to extend your trip (at no additional charge other than expensed related to the concert itself) to attend our June 29^th Montana Matters concert featuring our own Shane Clouse and world famous animalist Jack Hanna at the Flathead Lake Lodge…more on both in a bit.

 

So bundle up you winterized Extravaganzers; we wish you each a Happy Valentine’s Day as you begin visualizing yourself here in the bosom of Mother Nature’s bounty in the not too distant future when the snow has melted away, green has replaced drab brown, and the animal population that otherwise graces these parts has reemerged from its winter hibernation.

 

Best to all from the scene of it all,

 

Rock Creek Ron

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