Hi families!
The Montana Road Trip Adventure is officially under way! Everybody arrived safely in Bozeman yesterday (except for one who join us today). The day went smoothly. It's always fun watching guys get to know each other, make connections, talk about what they're most excited for. Everyone arrives with some nerves, but it doesn't take long before they're laughing and having fun.
After collecting our bags, we loaded up the van and got on the road, headed toward base camp. The 41 mile drive takes you southwest out of Bozeman and into the Madison Valley, the world famous Madison River flows through Ennis along with a number of other pristine trout streams making the fishing never far from camp. When we got to base camp, we settled in, unpacked a bit and played some ultimate frisbee. After running at altitude, we were hungry! We ate some delicious smash burgers before a sunset orientation talk from Will Lillard and a little stargazing before bed. Everybody is getting excited to get out on the water! The first day of the trip, we are going to knock out our community service project working with the Madison Conservation District to do some water quality sample testing. It's an awesome way to get the guys thinking about how delicate the waterways are and the importance of playing our part in keeping them healthy. We will split the group in half so everybody will get to have a half day of fishing and a half day of learning about water quality research and data collection.
We have a big itinerary planned for the trip starting with next few days fishing the world famous Madison River here in Ennis and the near by Ruby River. We will camp on the Madison River, giving us the best opportunities to fish great evening hatches. Following the Madison and Ruby Rivers, we will head over to Paradise Valley and float and fish on the Yellowstone River for a few days before floating and finishing up the trip on the Bighorn in eastern Montana, the number one rated trout fishery in the lower 48!
Everybody is excited for a great trip and excited to learn more about all the aspects of fly fishing from casting and mending to knot tying and fly selections and entomology. It seems like we have a great group of guys -- we're off to create memories, catch fish, and make new friends. Until next time...
Tight lines,
The guides and the guys
