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,

Rock Creek Ron-----<’///:><

The Twos In Memoriam

Bless you, Tattoos!

RCR & KBC----<’///:>-----<’///:><

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---<’///:><

Mo Fish Pics!