Tuesday, June 30, 2015
A Thank You from Sarah Bates!
Hi Ron,
Many thanks for your warm hospitality last night, as well as the opportunity to share a little about our work with your guests. I really enjoyed the time visiting over dinner (which was outstanding), and I especially appreciated hearing the awe and wonder in the stories of people experiencing this part of the world for the first time.
I loved meeting 11-year-old Joe, whose enthusiasm and curiosity reminded me a good deal of my son Noah. I predict that Joe will be back to Montana in search of huckleberries, hot springs and bison, and I expect that he’ll carry the seeds of conservation forward from this experience.
We’re very lucky to enjoy your support and friendship.
Warm wishes,
Sarah
Sarah Bates
Deputy Director, Northern Rockies, Prairies & Pacific Region
NWF's Sarah Bates Reports
National Wildlife Federation Regional representative Sarah Bates updates the Threes on the now 80 continuum of wildlife federation preservation efforts of the WDC based National Wildlife Federation
Dynamic Allinger and Chadwick Duo
Montana Wildlife Federation Executive Director Dave Chadwick presents to the Threes as former National Wildlife Federation Chair Steve “Boo” Allinger looks on—this is, indeed, a dynamic wildlife duo!!
Head of Fisheries Pat Saffel Presents
Just as he wonderfully did for the Ones and Twos, Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks Head of Fisheries Pat Saffel presented to the Threes on the most timely subject of rapidly rising water temperatures and declining flowages, winning himself an Honorary Yellow Hat for being with the E-15ers on three (count ‘em!) successive Mondays!
Group Three Doubling Up!
Fishing partner Scott "Not so Flash" Gordon and I doubled up on the
Blackfoot River yesterday -- one good size Rainbow and one pretty Cutthroat
in simultaneous casts. Sweet! Catch and release of course! Ready to put in
on the Bitterroot this morn with our awesome Guide Chad and sweet Golden
Retriever Georgia. WOW reviews for Extravaganza '15!
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Announcing the Line Up for Group Three!
With temperatures now soaring up twenty (count ‘em!) degrees here in western Montana, indeed, the Wonderful Threes are going to have a hot time in the ol’ town when they all arrive by this Saturday (some are already here and, with several coming from thousands of miles away, more are headed this way tomorrow in order to be on the scene by Saturday noon).
Group Three is my couples group and it is fun to see how the Extravaganza has grown over the years from primarily a stag function into a true family affair. Headlining the returning Threes is Houston commercial realtor par excellence Martin “Mad Man” O’Malley and his wonderful attorney bride (now of 38 years, btw!) Cynthia “Houston” Day Stratton. Returnees also include John “Joe’s Agent” O’Dea, this year as my guest not only with returning son “Bamboo Joe” but also with bride Jessie and daughter Jane—with all names beginning with the letter J, now affectionately known in these here parts as “The OJs.”
“Little Richard” Deveau is likewise returning (nee of the infamous “Sailors Four”) this year driving here in his new wheels with bride Cynthia (yep, we will have a gaggle of Cynthias!) who will reunite with brother Kers “Dead Drift” Clausen (so named by the guides two years ago for his propensity to immediately fall asleep while others are actually fishing) whose this year’s rendition of “Sailors Four” will include his daughter BJ, the notorious “Not so Flash” Scott Gordon, son in law David Levy and newbie, former Richmond Yacht Club commodore Susie Hubbard. Being a family affair, E-15 will also see the return of my son Tyler “Lefty” Clausen along with his girlfriend Chelsea “Osprey” Pollak and with returning good friends Jim “Happy Hooker” Brubaker of Denver, who is bringing with him his rookie Floridian buddy Jim Bardin, and our great Group Three venture capitalist George “Onefer” Choe as well as Eduardo “The Pisco Kid” Barrueto all the way from Patagonia, Chile, who is a veteran now having fished with E-15’s Groups One and Two!
New to the fold, and coming in from New York state, is past National Wildlife Federation chair Steve “Boo” Allinger; from the State of South Carolina, to celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary, Mark “Z-Man” Zion and his bride Julia “Z-Woman”; and from Seattle, Washington, our newest additions of the father-son combo of Don and Steve Bowzer.
Check out the states of origin for this group, all: (1) California, (2) Colorado, (3) New York, (4) Texas, (5) South Carolina, (6) Florida, (7) Washington, and (8) Coyhaique, Chile—not too shabby for this western Montanan event that treats all comers with equal (dis)regard and (dis)respect!!
Stay tuned, as this is the final chapter of Extravaganza 2015, and it will be fun to see just what the fish gods have in store for the Wonderful Threes!!
Best to all from the scene of it all,
Group Three is my couples group and it is fun to see how the Extravaganza has grown over the years from primarily a stag function into a true family affair. Headlining the returning Threes is Houston commercial realtor par excellence Martin “Mad Man” O’Malley and his wonderful attorney bride (now of 38 years, btw!) Cynthia “Houston” Day Stratton. Returnees also include John “Joe’s Agent” O’Dea, this year as my guest not only with returning son “Bamboo Joe” but also with bride Jessie and daughter Jane—with all names beginning with the letter J, now affectionately known in these here parts as “The OJs.”
“Little Richard” Deveau is likewise returning (nee of the infamous “Sailors Four”) this year driving here in his new wheels with bride Cynthia (yep, we will have a gaggle of Cynthias!) who will reunite with brother Kers “Dead Drift” Clausen (so named by the guides two years ago for his propensity to immediately fall asleep while others are actually fishing) whose this year’s rendition of “Sailors Four” will include his daughter BJ, the notorious “Not so Flash” Scott Gordon, son in law David Levy and newbie, former Richmond Yacht Club commodore Susie Hubbard. Being a family affair, E-15 will also see the return of my son Tyler “Lefty” Clausen along with his girlfriend Chelsea “Osprey” Pollak and with returning good friends Jim “Happy Hooker” Brubaker of Denver, who is bringing with him his rookie Floridian buddy Jim Bardin, and our great Group Three venture capitalist George “Onefer” Choe as well as Eduardo “The Pisco Kid” Barrueto all the way from Patagonia, Chile, who is a veteran now having fished with E-15’s Groups One and Two!
New to the fold, and coming in from New York state, is past National Wildlife Federation chair Steve “Boo” Allinger; from the State of South Carolina, to celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary, Mark “Z-Man” Zion and his bride Julia “Z-Woman”; and from Seattle, Washington, our newest additions of the father-son combo of Don and Steve Bowzer.
Check out the states of origin for this group, all: (1) California, (2) Colorado, (3) New York, (4) Texas, (5) South Carolina, (6) Florida, (7) Washington, and (8) Coyhaique, Chile—not too shabby for this western Montanan event that treats all comers with equal (dis)regard and (dis)respect!!
Stay tuned, as this is the final chapter of Extravaganza 2015, and it will be fun to see just what the fish gods have in store for the Wonderful Threes!!
Best to all from the scene of it all,
Rock Creek Ron-----<’///:><
Montana Natural History Center Wows The Twos!
Showing their tattooed guns, Montana Natural History Center’s Ramey Kodadek and Lisa Bickell present to the Tattoos on the Center’s heart-warming successful efforts to get kids out into nature—the targeted charity for E-15 for whom we are going to buy a bus!!
Patagonia Arrives at Extravagazaland!
Magic Waters’ Eduardo “The Pisco Kid” Barrueto of Patagonia, Chile, first serves pisco sours to sweeten up the Tattoos and then presents on the true magic of his “Montana Sur.”
FW & P Presents!
Montana’s Fish Wildlife & Parks Fish Fisheries Manager Pat Saffel (i.e., “Da Man”) gets his Group Two tattoo before presenting his stunning underwater fish footage to the assembled Twos!
Day Three, Group Two
Two twenties highlighted Day Three of fishing for the Tattoos, leading off with “Wee Brandon” Sweeny shown above signing in on the Twenty Inch Club board with his 20” Bitterroot brown immediately followed by Mardi “CT” Rodgers for her Yellow Shirt and Yellow Hat winning 23 ¼” Bitterroot brown—putting her in high cotton along with her E-15 MIA sister, Alia “Snowflake” Rodgers who was in the Central Valley attending a pig show (of all diverse things) where, amongst the 150 other piggers, she won best of show and a whole bunch of pig-related gear, including a pick-up truck drop in pig hauler, not to mention a wad of cash—these two gals are both super stars and it is nice for them to each be amply rewarded, though they may be a bit harder to live with as a result!!
Eight (count ‘em!) of the Day Three Two boats found their way to the famed “A River Runs Through It” Blackfoot River where Mother Nature dealt different sets of cards. Aces were dealt to (a) the indomitable pair of Shanna “Banana” Rodgers and Lori “Fawn Lady” Ware who boated fifty two (yes, 52) fish with the largest being an 18 incher and who now refer to each other as “The Set Sisters” under the tutelage of their veteran guide Chris Stroup; (b) the duo of Zane “Coyote” Wiley and John “Little Enchilada” Reynolds with their 20 fish, the largest being a 16 incher; solo fisherman John “Big Enchilada” McGhee with his 19 fish (the largest being of 16 inches); and lower cards being dealt to (c) the SS Miller with a father-son combo with a mid-teen fish yield and son Jack “Crushed Him” Jack saying of father Brad “Maven” Miller “I crushed him again with my 10 fish on board”; (d) to the duet of Al “Good Earth” Baylacq and Matt “Politician” Brown whose caught trout of the day added up to 30 inches; (e) to the fishing pair of Tom “sockeye” Thornhill and Chris “No Name” Holland whose 9 canyon fish did not match the spectacular view that they enjoyed; (f) and Joe ”Compari” Ciatti fishing with Adam “Iron Man” Eichorn sporting 20 Blackfoot fish with the largest being an 18 incher; and (phew!) (g) finally, the SS Panteleo where father “Jerry The Juice” fished with son “Tony No Neck” to tantalize a dozen fish in the 14-16” category.
In addition to the Twenty Inch landing vessels noted above, our final boat was on the Bitterroot with that dynamic duo of boats, with Patagonia, Chile’s Eduardo “The Pisco Kid” and Greg “Good Living” Livengood fishing with our Double Up Outfitter to yield over 20 root-a-toot fish with the largest being an 18 incher and the feat of the day being Eduardo’s cast over a log to feeding fish only to hook one, have it jump over the log towards him and then into that now well-used Double Up net—bravo, mi amigo!!
So there it is folks, the final report of the final day of the Tattoos—oh, did I forget to mention that yours truly was the winner of the nightly Tattoo Cry Dye kerchief for my mention (at least a dozen times) during the boat report how Brad “Maven” Miller kindly left my lent-to-him primo rod in Hooters!!
Congrats, Tattoos, on a job well done!
Best to all from the scene of it all,
Rock Creek Ron---<’///:><
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Group Two, Day Two
Four of our fleet of eleven (count em!) Tattoo boats returned on Day Two of their extravagant time here in western Montana only to learn that what is good for the Ones is not necessarily so for the Twos. The four boats housing Al “Good Earth” Baylacq and boat mate John “Little Enchilada” Reynolds; Tom “Sockeye” Thornhill and Chris “No Name” Holland; Greg “Good Living” Livengood and Adam “Iron Man” Eichorn; and Zane “Coyote” Wiley with John “Big Enchilada” McGhee all found the Clark Fork’s pickings to be minimal, what with rising temperatures and lowering water levels. The big boat of the foursome was the SS Thornhill/Holland which boasted 30 fish mostly in the 13” category, with the largest being Sockeye’s 18” rainbow.
With good cloud cover, the Bitterroot was by far the better and most prolific choice of the day, with six of the Tattoo boats on that wonderful river, with the Root showing how fickle things can be, witness father-son duo Brad “Maven” Miller and young Jack “Crushed Him” Miller on the same stretch with RCR and fishing pal Joe “Compari” Ciatti, the former boating only a handful of fish while the more experienced latter landing over 25, including an 18” double rainbow and brown combo along with Compari’s very first Extravaganza twenty incher—yielding him, as shown above, a Yellow Hat for his bounty. The father-son combo of Jerry “The Juice” Pantaleo and Tony “No Neck” Pantaleo fared at the Miller level on the Root but the combo of Gisella “Doc” Carapia and Mardi “CT” Shepard doing much better (at least CT, that is!) as well as the father-son duo of papa “Cpa Kevin” and son “Wee Brandon Sweeny landing 25 fish, including a 22” sucker fish that papa was wise not to push for entry in the Twenty Inch Club! The last of the Rooters was solo Matt Brown who covered 11 miles of river to net 10 fish, with the largest being precisely 17 7/8ths inches.
And then there was one last boat who chose to drive all the way up the Blackfoot River to float the majestic canyon of that river (my #1 favorite float, btw!) only to reap a 20 ½” brown for Shanna “Banana” Rodgers and the biggest fish of the day, a 23” bull trout for veteran Lori “Fawn Lady” Ware—both shown above boasting yellow, with Fawn Lady now in the lead for Yellow Shirt privileges with only one more day of Group Two fishing.
Things are literally heating up around here in Extravaganzaland and it will be interesting to hear this evening’s Day Three boat reports as the Tattoos wind up their Extravaganza 2015 experience(s)!!
Oh, I almost forgot, Fawn Lady awarded her daily Cry Die kerchief to Brad “Maven” Miller for his non-stop complaining about poor fishing while others rocked and of having to pick up the guides’ tab at Hooters for being the last boat in…tsk, tsk, tsk Maven!!
Rock Creek Ron---<’///:><
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