Bighorn Legends

Drift Boat Row on the Big Horn

"Crank loud music and pour free drinks and everyone turns out for après fish," Dan chides handing a drink to anyone who walks up. Guests, guides, and canines, the whole town turns up on our door step tonight. Two bottles of Gin, 1.75L of Bourbon, and 30 beers make a lot of friends in the Saloon free town of Fort Smith, MT. So does everyone wanting to know what flies you used to out fish the 20 other boats on the River. Beers, Bourbon, and Bugs, tonight we're legend.

"You raped the Left Bank at Grey Cliff!" cries Bryant, not the only guide in town to admit being thrashed by "the guys with Reithmiller." A hard rowing, fish whisperer of a guide, Reithmiller quietly rigged Dan and EC with 'secret bugs' and doubled them up 6 times on three passes of the Cliff's left bank. "The Kid in Back" as EC comes to be known, is the talk of the après fish gathering for his prolific results from the tail gunners seat.

Dan, Pete, and the Kid in the Back

"Ssssh" Reathmiller signaled across the River to Bryant in hope the 8 boats lined up on the right bank would not jump in on his stash. Not to be deterred from acquiring knowledge of the days' winning line up, Bryant went straight to Reathmiller's house that night.

"WHAT WERE YOU DOING TODAY?"

Whether Reathmiller let him in on the secret or led him astray we'll never know. Either way, Tymon and I are starting day two with Bryant and Reathmiller's secret rig.

Today Dan and EC are out with Pete Shanafelt, Tymon and my guide from yesterday. Pete is co-owner of Bighorn Anglers, fishy as hell, and Fort Smith's nice guy. Pete has the River dialed. Leader lengths are measured to the inch. Flies are precisely changed as the river's ecology and depths change over the 13 miles between the dam and the takeout. He's All-Pro. The same can be said for the rest of the Bighorn Angler crew. They are "all in" on the Bighorn and word is out - they put on a good show.

After boating over 160 fish of consequence on day one, the 4 of us are jacked to start day two. Bryant pushes off. Tymon and I have lines in the water quicker than the anchor can be stowed. 200 yards into day two and the magic rig is already 8 fish behind our day one pace. Boats all around us are hooking up. Bryant's pissed as evidenced by a change of flies with the boat ramp still visible. Dan and EC are nowhere to be seen.

Bryant rows back up stream for a second crack at the first run with our new rigs. We pass 4 boats on the way up with at least one angler hooked up.

"All right boys, lines right," Bryant calls, followed 200 yards later with "what's wrong?" as we go 0-fer, again.

The Calisher Crew is still MIA.

10 minutes later we're finishing another rig change as Dan, Pete, and EC finally drift into sight.

Chris and Bow

"We didn't just forget one thing, we forgot EVERYTHING," Dan explains their delayed start. The Calisher Sister's had pushed into the River before realizing their entire lot of gear was back at the lodge. To say the least, it's a slow start all around.

Fortunately everything can change in an instant on the river and does when the little orange balloon at the top
of my rig that indicates a strike is abruptly pulled to the bottom of the channel. The culprit, a red twenty+ Bow. Brian looks more relieved than happy, but his words are nevertheless "I'm happy." Not for the fish as it turns out however. "I got guys who can cast, know when to set the hook, and land fish. Can I fish with you guys all the time?"

A big first fish changes everything.

Yet by 3 mile, a takeout named for it's distance below the dam-side put in, our fish count is a fraction of day one (though good my normal standards). To the extent there was doubt day one was epic, it is now clear.

The Missle

At 8,000 fish per mile it's humbling to consider we already floated over 24,000 Brown and Rainbow Trout. Frankly, at 8,500 CFS, I expected a shit show. I rigged a sink tip with big Buggers ready for two days of chuck and duck casting to fish pushed to the banks by heavy current.

Instead I set the hook on another hard take in deep holding water as we drift through three mile. My reel
screams as a red-striped rocket takes off down stream. Bryant doesn't want to bomb through the next two holes so he bounces me to the shoreline. I reel like mad while sprinting down the bank playing London Bridges with a series of 10 foot shoreline tree itching to play accomplice to the thief making off with my bug. Bryant bags'em with a sweet net forehand.

Now we get it. Today is about quality not quantity. Fierce fighting Rainbows out number Browns 4:1 today where the reverse was true yesterday. Our count of 18"+ fish well exceeds day one by the time we pull into Last Chance, the last deep holding water before the take out at Mile 13. With only a few scattered hook ups in the past two hours, we're realistic.

Tymon and Date

When our first pass of Last Chance turns up another 18"+ acrobat of a Rainbow, we've decided to row
back around for a second pass before the fish is even in the boat. When the second pass produces his twin brother, we're rowing back around for a third pass.

Bryant switched over to his program of flies before Last Chance and is now kicking himself for not going with what he knows all day. When our fifth pass yields a double hook up of big Bows, Pete puts the Calisher Sisters on Bryant's program for their last pass.

Après Fish

After 5 in a row, I choke and drag to much of the mossy bottom fouling the hook. Tymon saves the pass bagging our 7th Giant in six passes and just twenty minutes. The Sister's hook up on Bryant's rig as well. The Kid in Back who skipped his Prom to celebrate his 17th birthday with three over amped middle age fly-fisherman gets the last word, a twenty+ Bow that is right in there for fish of the trip. Perfect.

The party moves from the porch of our Cabin at Bighorn Angler's across the street to Hal's for Ribeye's and
Baked Mac & Cheese. Kyle, Sweet Cheeks, Bryant, Pete, Amy, nearly everyone is in. With no disrespect to some epic high water fishing in May, the trip maker for us is simply the effortless camaraderie with the crew in Fort Smith doing whatever they can to make the Big Horn a legendary fishing destination.

EC (the Kid in Back), Tymon, Chris, Dan

The Birthday Kid in Back with the last word at Last Chance