As we get into the final stretch of the trip, the group continued to float the Bighorn River. We're still sweating, but the fishing is still very good! It's been a very productive few days; we've really been able to dial in what was working from our previous days of fishing and the kids all managed to land nice fish with some especially large ones making it to the net. It's fun for us guides to watch these guys continue to get better everyday and it's been very rewarding for them. Floating the same river for a few days is a really great way for newer (or very experienced!) anglers to pick up subtle things that you may miss the first time around.
After a few more fruitful floats, we headed back toward our base camp in Ennis. We did the groups' laundry and decided to blow up the inner-tubes and have a lake day. Watching the group in relaxed settings like these is cool - it's clear that they've made lasting friendships and really enjoy being together. After our relaxing lake day, we had a hard fought game of ultimate frisbee at the local high school soccer field, an LFFE tradition.
On our final day of fishing, we headed back to the Three Dollar Bridge access site on the upper Madison for one last hurrah. The kids landed many fish here and it is awesome to see how their skills have progressed during the trip. Everyone arrived with varying skillsets and experience fly fishing; by the end of the trip, they've all 'leveled-up' in multiple ways - from casting to reading water to fly selection. We're now leisurely packing up at camp and getting ready to take off tomorrow. Before dinner, we'll head off for a final game of ultimate frisbee. We'll grill steaks tongith for our final meal and go to bed with full bellies. The group all seems to share the bittersweet feeling about going home from what has certainly been a memorable trip. It's been a really good time - thanks for sending your great kids to fish with us!
Signing off,
The guide crew
