Flyfishing Montana's Big Hole River

Some great angler once wrote, "A day spent fishing does not count against the length of a man's life." Or maybe it was, "Each day spent fishing adds a day...?" At any rate, had another great morning (with that new rod--THANKS, DON!) on the Big Hole River, a half-hour south of Butte America:

The morning was cool with a few light showers, and big brown trout were hitting stonefly nymphs hard: a perfect morning for Charlie Brook's short-line, "high stick" method of nymphing. From mid-morning to noon, the dry fly fishing was red hot for smallish (12") rainbow trout & browns. Meanwhile, Molly The Dog was hard at work fighting a strange, twisted willow stump and working over a deer leg (somehow, she consistently manages to find one):

Luckily, she is not a deer chaser. Still these mule deer fawns thought "Yikes!" when they saw us:

Luckily, the mother deer was there to save them (note her longish white tail -- maybe a mulie/whitetail hybrid -- they're fairly common):

Alas, though the fishing was still great, I had to leave the river at noon and go to work. Oh, right, that's why they call it work.

On the short hike back up a steep bank to the truck, I saw a beetle and was reminded of the infamous words of evolutionary biologist J.S. Haldane when asked by a creationist, "What has the study of biology taught you about the Creator?" "I'm not sure," the good professor replied, "But he seems to be inordinately fond of beetles." Since he "created" so many species of them. Like this beauty:

Oh well, back to work. At least it's Brewpub Friday.