If you’re an angler, there are few fish so momentous as your first real lunker. It’s an initiation of sorts, and it sets the tone for much of what follows. In my case, the lunker happened near Philipsburg, Montana, on a tributary of Rock Creek....
On the porch like night peelings, bags of red hackles. The fisherman is dressing, capes of moose mane around him. In his vise, he wraps the waist of a minnow with chenille. We wade downstream. I am barefoot. The fisherman stands, thigh deep, seining insects. Perhaps today in this blizzard of cottonwood it is the caddis that...
We descended from the school bus onto the rugged dirt road along the border of the Kelly Ranch west of Bozeman, Montana. On this, the third night of Mountain Time Arts’ WaterWorks performances, the crowd was the largest yet. No one who showed up for...
Eating at the Gallatin River Lodge and Grill is a lot like reconnecting with a long-lost friend. The kind of friend you have always loved but lost touch with over the years. The kind of relationship that is rooted in a foundation of nostalgia but...
I used to fish the Blackfoot Indian Reservation and its array of prairie lakes every spring, just as the ice came off the surface of those waters and wads of giant rainbows cruised their shorelines. This was a targeted hunt for one giant fish — something...
For Jody and Sandi Marler, the move from fast-paced city living in Chicago, Illinois, to the serene mountains and rivers of Paradise Valley in Southwest Montana was a dream come true. While they were both confirmed city dwellers — he worked in construction on high-rise...
The story of early photography in the West is largely (and necessarily) a history of outsiders looking in. It’s a story about preexisting biases and seeing what we want to see. The educated and affluent capturing a moment in time to show it to the...
As anglers, many of us have moments that define us — be it a first fish on a fly rod, bringing a steelhead, permit, or tigerfish to hand, or playing a part in your child’s first caught fish. I’ve been blessed with several of these...
What do you pack for a day of fly fishing? Aside from the essentials, there are the elements to deal with: You’ll need layers to protect yourself from the blasting summer sun or the biting late-fall winds. And don’t forget the camera, or to stock...
As the executive director of Montana Trout Unlimited, David Brooks spends his days learning the ins and outs of legislation and issues as they pertain to fisheries. Dedicated to conserving, protecting, and restoring Montana’s coldwater fisheries and their watersheds, he’s the guy we approached to...