Last days of fishing

I might post twice in one day! There is a very weak wifi signal in this campground. It belongs to a nearby RV park, but I bought ice there and got permission (not that they can control who taps into their unsecured network!).

So, no pictures tonight; I just thought I would write a little. I fished the upper end of the Big Hole river last night and this morning, and it was everything people said it was: pretty, full of brook trout, hard to access in places, and very buggy. In this case I'm not talking about nice friendly bugs the trout eat, but the other kind, that eat fishermen. The mosquitoes were in thick clouds, in some places on the river and also in camp. I wore lots of bug spray and only got bit a couple of times, but it was annoying having them constantly buzz near my ears and eyes. I have seen some fishermen wearing a net hanging from a wide brim hat, like a beekeeper might wear. They look ridiculous but I was wishing I had one. The most annoying thing was, I was not able to get in the camper shell and close the flap fast enough and at least 6 or 8 of the little nasties got in there with me. I brought my bug spray to bed too, and it was nasty business spraying it on myself in bed but it only lasts about four hours so it was necessary. And hard to sleep with them buzzing in my ears.

On the plus side, the fishing (for brook trout) was very good and the river was pretty and very peaceful. Anytime you see more big game animals then other fisherman, you're in a remote area. I saw other guys fishing this morning but last night the score was 4 animals (elk) and 0 other fishermen.

After this morning's fishing, I struck camp and drove a number of miles down river. I did this partly to escape the mosquitoes, and partly because I'm not (quite) done with exploring new water for this trip, and it's almost over. I fished only a little while tonight and caught one fish. Tomorrow morning I'm going to walk downstream from the campsite, maybe starting early and swing some streamers for the big browns I hear haunt these waters, then try to catch a few more rainbows, on dry flies if there are any rising fish, and then I'm done. After that it's three days of driving, a short visit with a friend, maybe a quick look at some landmarks on the way, and then home.

It will be good to be home. I'm not tired of fishing, but I've had all the camping and camp cooking I need for one summer. My meals have gotten simpler. I haven't been cold in the mornings, so cold cereal was a fine breakfast many days. A few times, my "big meal" of the day was a sandwich, chips and salsa and fruit and cheese at lunch time. And lots of my suppers have been jerky and snack food on the river bank, or else a very hastily prepared meal at 9:30 PM when I got back to camp.

My camps got simpler too. I haven't set up my canopy in the last three camps. That's just beggin' for a rainstorm but I'm lucky so far. I fished in the rain one day at Yellowstone but it stopped before I got back to camp, and everything was boxed up and most of it in the truck because of the bear concerns. At this point, I won't be spending two nights in the same place again, so if it does rain I'd probably rather tough it out then deal with a canopy that has to be packed up wet in the morning.

The nicest thing about tonight's camp is it's right next to a cascading rushing part of the water. It's almost a little loud, but I'll be able to hear it when I'm inside the camper going to sleep, which is a nice thing on the last night in an actual fishing camp. There's not any trees here, but I'm enjoying watching the moon poke out through the clouds. It's almost full now. I guess my fishing excitement or my energy level has toned down some, because while I'm wondering how good the night fishing might be under that moonlight, I'm not quite energetic enough to go try it. And that's just fine.