Happy Independence Day, from Extravaganza World Headquarters!


That's right, it is time for the annual 4th of July bash here on Rock Crik! But first, we have to check in and see how Group Three did in their first day on the water yesterday!


Owen and Valinda delivered the first report. Valinda caught the first fish of the day which was a whitefish, but she went ahead and kissed it anyway. But that's Valinda, and she has threatened to kiss every fish that she gets in the boat! Both she and Owen did very well for rookies, with Owen landing a 19"er just before lunch and Valinda getting another 19"er in the boat right after lunch. Valinda maintains that hers was longer as it was a little curled up during measurement, but that's the breaks. Looks like she's really getting the hang of that part of the fishing! (the lying and exaggeration, that is.)


Josef Shepard interjected that he could hear the Cowings from his boat all over the river! Prompting Owen to admit that "they could have gotten much more fish if Valinda hadn't been laughing so much."


Some re-education did take place early on, as guide Dave told them both to try to forget everything they had learned about casting from RCR the night before! Competing casting theories? Sorry Ron, I'll have to trust the guides on this one!


Ron fished that day with son Tyler Clausen and the two had a wonderful time out on the river, in a "Aces and Spades" kind of day. Famine or a feast, isn't that always the way? Tyler actually hooked two fish on the side! I guess he was going with the old hopper dropper, and would set before the fish chomped his dry fly, bringing the nymph right up into the side of the fish. Now those are some finely honed reflexes. When I was fishing, it was all I could do to say "huh?" when the guide was hollering at me to "SET!!! SET!!!" Tyler also scooped up a fish with his net from the bank without using his rod!

Success!




Father son team of Jim and Eric Killin are another couple of Extravaganza rookies who enjoyed success on their first day out. They finished with a 20 fish day, a strong showing for some first timer. Although, it did take Jim a bit to get going as he reeled in 9 or 10 whitefish before he got a trout in the boat! And maybe got another 50 hits that he was too slow to set on (I don't know what that feels like.)


Eric, a recent fishing enthusiast, handled the transition from bass fishing to trout fishing with aplomb, and got some beautiful trout. Big one on the day was an 18" Rainbow, which actually snapped off the tip of his rod during the fight!! Apparently 'Tipless' Eric Killin doesn't need a whole rod to bring in the prize fish.


A final note on these two, Jim has a tradition of taking all his kids on a big trip of their choice at the end of their high school careers, and this is the one Eric and he chose. A grand tradition indeed, and we're honored that you've chosen to fish here with us!


Next up were Andrew Thorpe and Nicholas Shepard. Now, Nicholas has a Yellow Hat from 2006, but the guys didn't look like too much of a threat to capture one this day, with a big fish of 10" on the day. But every day on the river is a good one, can't think of many better places to be, except maybe on a computer updating your blog.


A housekeeping matter or two as well. I discovered when I hopped back in the van that these knuckleheads left their camera in there! Can't get any sweet fishing shots if you don't have a camera, and you might suffer the Extravaganza curse: no camera=no fish over 10"! Also, 'Broken Rod' Andrew reminded us of a valuable lesson, always break your rod down before you put it in the car, or your rod will get destroyed!!!!

An interesting and unidentified red fish:


Jeff Gelow and Vicki Thorpe were a little late arriving but they had a good excuse: they were fishing with Kurt. But they had a great time on the water, and off the water, as the day started with two hours of ground school before Kurt cleared them for takeoff on the river. And it paid off! Vicki got a 17 incher and later Jeff would get a 17" trout as well, even if he didn't get it until 6:15, which of course disqualifies him for any sort of prize consideration. Sorry Jeff, thems the rules!

Vicki Thorpe, Andrew Thorpe, Jeff Gelow:
In addition, the night before, Vicki had foolishly bet RCR that Jeff would talk more than Kurt. Ron couldn't stop laughing as he accepted the bet, it was like shooting fish in a barrel! As Vicki would later admit, "I lost that bet big time."

Extravaganza rookies Penny Shawback and Grady Garrett had huge smiles on their faces in the morning and again during the reports, these two had a blast out there.

Their big fish was a 12" brown, but Grady says it put up a big fight! But the biggest hook of the day was Penny's work snaring guide Dave. Had to use tweezers to get that one out!

Hooked!

Hey Grady, we said kiss them, don't inhale them!

A fine one:

Experienced fisherfolk Ladd and Kristine Bedford had the high fish count on the day, getting 40 fish into the boat. Kristine had a 19 1/2" Cutbow, a 18" brown, plus a rainbow and that certain Fourth Fish for the Grand Slam! Or at least it was reported as such, may have to get a judges ruling on whether a cutbow qualifies or you need a cutthroat, hmm!


The bad news for these two was that in a 5 minute stretch, they had 3 fish on the line that were all 20+", but all three got away, with two breaking the leader and another shaking the hook! Kristine reports the highlight of the day was the grilled pork tenderloin lunch. Yum!


Brian and Josef Shepard did some different kind of fishing, guide Drew rowed them off the Blackfoot into some sloughs where they were targeting spots. After a few adjustments, the casting started flowing and they got the hang of it. The guys saw lots of big pike in there, and Josef at one point had a trout on his line, and a pike was going after the trout! But the highlight had to be the 19 3/4" trout Josef landed, earning him the day's yellow hat. Congratulations Josef!


Brothers Nicholas and Josef Shepard, 2006 and 2007 Yellow Hat winners:

...and rolling into Rock Creek at 9pm were the Kingslands! All four enjoyed success on the river, with Kelly bringing in 20 fish total! Glad you guys had fun out there!

The errant Kingslands, last sighted at 8am, Grizzly Hackle fly shop:

Now it's time to bring on the 4th of July bash! Here Here!

The 4th is also the time for that certain World Famous Rock Creek Casting Contest, where one angler can ascend from the world of men and acheive the status of Fishing Legend. Vicki Thorpe displays the trophy, which will be accompanied by a fine prize, a high end fishing rod and reel for the winner!
Now it's time to get ready for the 4th!

Dave