Are Y'all as Excited as I am, E-16ers?!?

Get a load of our side panel updated flow report, all, as we now take the final laps around the track until Extravaganza 2016 is upon us--in a word, where we are flow-wise this year at this point in time is "perfect"!! Specifically, two of our annually targeted rivers, the Bitterroot River and the Clark Fork of the Columbia River, already have shaped up nicely and should/will be in pristine conditions come a week from this Saturday (egad!!)) when the Wonderful Ones arrive on the scene, and, our third river (which, due to its riparian bareness and susceptibility to turbidity in its runoff) The Big ("A River Runs Through It") Blackfoot River should be in fine shape, thank you very much, come June 12th, our first day of E-16 fishing.

This pre-Extravaganza period of time is always an interesting one for me, as I wrap up my open business files and get ready for the 1,236.5 mile (but, hey, who is counting?!?) drive from the Bay Area to Rock Creek starting early this Saturday morning. It is a time of reflection for me and, simply stated, I cannot remember a year when I have been as stoked and excited about an Extravaganza as I am for E-16!! Part of my excitement is just my own giddiness about being able to enjoy Montana for the entire month of June, and the balance, this year, is attributed to the make-up of each of our three groups and the wonderful place setting that Mother Nature has laid out for this year's event. No high water to deal with; no bussing over the Continental Divide to fish the Missouri River (as we have had to do three of the prior thirteen years), no last minute flurry of Extravaganza goods and supplies being delivered (they are already all there, gang!); no last minute changes in our schedule--what a blessing on all fronts.

And, yes, the very best part (and the main reason why year after year I dedicate as much time and resources as I do for every Extravaganza) is having the opportunity to welcome each of you into my Montana lifestyle and to show, particularly you rookies out there, the unconditional beauty and bounty that Montana has to offer each of us. As you seasoned and wily veterans know (as in Group One's John "SOS" Reimann and Brian "Moraine" Shepard, each of whom returns for his 11th [count 'em] time) Montana is one of God's great gifts to this world and I am forever at a loss for words each time I drop into this ever-so-special special place, whether by air or by car driving up the spine of the Continental Divide as I leave Idaho and reach the Montana state line at mile 1,000 into my annual trek--She put aside something truly special for us all to enjoy and I can't wait to greet you to enjoy it all with me...what true fun this will be!!

So pack those bags you Ones, Twos and Threes, for, as we enter the month of June tomorrow, you are all within shouting distance of your now very imminent arrival(s) whereupon we are gonna rock 'n' roll like we never have before...bring it on gang!!!

Best to all in sight of the nearness of it all,

Rock Creek Ron
----<'///:><

Happy Memorial Day Weekend, All!!

WOW, are things getting close for E-16, gang; I know that to be the case when (a) June pops up on my calendar and (b) there is just one week left before I do my annual 20 hour drive to Montana with our mascot, Ma’am Der Black Lab, and, indeed, that is now the case!

You Ones should be in full packing mode as, now just two weeks from tomorrow you will be boarding your flights to Extravaganzaland. And things are shaping up just nicely on all fronts: more typical, coolish and rainy May weather has returned to Montana, preserving the remaining snow pack in the mountains (now about 50% of 20 year norms, but well within the amount we need to have a successful fishing venture!) and the rivers are beginning to clean up from the runoff push, with the Bitterroot now fully fishable, the Clark Fork of the Columbia right on its heels and the Big (“A River Runs Through It”) Blackfoot the traditional last to clean up, though during my daughter’s graduation party at our Blackfoot house a week ago there were already float boats on the yet-murky river landing fish right behind the house!

The Memorial Day weekend is always a special one to me, as it is a wonderful time to sit down and reflect on all the goodness and greatness that we are blessed with. A true and proper celebration of all of that is each year’s Extravaganza which, not coincidentally, btw, comes right after this special weekend, reminding us on multiple fronts that, but for others, we would not have before us the bounty we are privileged to enjoy.

With that as a backdrop, I wish you each a wonderful weekend and look forward to having each of you on my Montana doorstep in the not too distant future!!

Best to all on the eve of it all,

Rock Creek Ron
---<’///:><

FW: Notes from E-16 Headquarters

Ahhh, what a nice note from Group Three rookie Dirk "MARE" Rosen:

Ahhh, Ron my friend, you are a natural poet, and your feet are like Longfellows……

Dirk

PS. in a few years will you call us all Extravageezers?

Notes from E-16 Headquarters

Greetings, fellow Extravaganzers, on the morning of my last May morning here in Montana—never in my life have I ever been in a place where time passes by ever so quickly!! My arrival here ten days ago seems like it was just yesterday and, poof, here I am packing my carry-on bag to return to the Bay Area for an equally brief ten day stint before your E-16 mascot, Ma’am Der Black Lab, and I return here via ca to do the very last preparations for your then very imminent arrival(s).

Things here at Headquarters are GREAT, great that is unless you are a computer or want to send pictures of all that is here to you. As has been the case year, after year, after year, no matter how much we prepare and anticipate computer-related glitches the unexpected seems to find me. Yesterday was the latest in the series of mishaps when I turned on my office computer (this is being typed from my back up to the back-up computer, btw!!) the blue screen asked if I wanted to download Windows 10. Being perfectly happy with what we had and a believer (firmly so) in the mantra if it is not broke don’t go a-fixin’ it, I declined the download whereupon the computer went 100% dark and hasn’t been usable since. Caveat Computer Users out there, and a damnable curse upon the Microsoft God that thought invading my private computer was its ethereal right!!

Computers notwithstanding, thanks to the full time effort of our new caretakers Peanut and Larry, the grounds here are in pristine, the inside of the houses has never looked so good, and all of our E-16 product is in, accounted for, bagged and awaiting your arrivals (in now less than three weeks you Wonderful Ones!!).

I just came in from my now daily walk up and down Rock Creek Road where a misty rain and dancing, cartoonesque clouds greeted me, reminding me as it does daily that these here parts are truly very, very special and I am honored to be able to share their beauty in both flora and fauna form during the weeks ahead. Rock Creek (our benchmark river) is yet flowing briskly and the runoff is doing its job in flushing out our rivers of its accumulated diterus and tuning up our fishing quay for the son-to-be sumptuous buglife-garnered feasts that will enhance our fishing fortunes.

In a phrase, gang, I simply could not be more delighted with the state of our E-16 affairs and am stoked that each of you will soon be here to see, smell and enjoy all that we have in store for your soon-to-be-realized Extravaganza 2016 adventures!!!

Bueno, bueno, bueno!!

Rock Creek Ron
---<’///:><

E-16 Headquarters is in fine shape!!

 

 

 

Updated Flow Report Directly From Headquarters

Here is your updated flow, gang, directly from E-16 Headquarters where things are tracking right about one month AHEAD of schedule. In fishing the Bitterroot on Monday (pics to follow), water levels are right where they normally are mid-June but water temperatures are tracking as normal, creating the appearance of a perfect Bitterroot day weather-wise and water level wise, but little to no bug activity inasmuch as their evolving life cycle is driven by water not ambient temperature.

My prediction for the balance of E-16's flow: look for the ongoing flow to be right above where we were last year (the yellow line) and right below where we were in 2012 (the blue line)... read: excellent fishing conditions for each of our three E-16 groups!!

RCR---<'///:><

It's Back: Der Log-O-Meter!!

Finally back on the soon-to-be-scene of it all, on Sunday I took the above picture of our traditional Log-O-Meter with the cross-logs created by the super-high, record setting water flow of 2011 which washed these trees downstream, setting the logs in place, with water flow at the time tracking at over 5,000 cubic feet per second (so high that it broke the water measuring device!). The water flow here is right at 1500 cfs; when the water level touched the bottom of the lowest log it is tracking at 2,000 cfs.

RCR

FW: E-16: May the BBQ Be With You!!

A fired up note from a fired up SoCal rookie, Dave "Fired Up" Rohrbacher:

NOW THAT'S WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT!!

E-16: May the BBQ Be With You!!

Check out these pics, all, of our brand new, extravagant Extravaganza BBQ in its mid-construction phases.  Our masterful landscaper, Eric Nystrom, is making this creation, using not only his ironwork talents but also his masonry skills.  A hole is yet to be cut into the slab into which a high-end, self- contained BBQ grill will be inserted to rest onto the already installed metal base/stand. 

Is this cool or what?!?

RCR---<'///:><

Holy Timeline, Batman!!

Hey, gang, check those calendars as exactly one month from today the Magnificent Ones will be on site for Opening Day of Extravaganza 2016, and THAT is something to BAM about!!  Get a-packin’ you Ones!!

And our flow continues to rock ‘n’ roll downhill at an accelerated pace, with the current snowpack in the Bitterroot Mountain Basin now tracking at just 53% of 20 year norms.  What that means, folks, is that the bug hatches are going to start happening earlier than normal (they are water temperature sensitive on the hatching cycles, not having readily available pda’s or calendars!) with our Double Up Outfitter John “The Great But Propaneless” [yes there is a story there, rookies!] Gould suggesting that he, our Montana Matters Troubadour Shane Clouse and I may well be fishing salmon flies (more on that to follow)—the first major bug hatch of the summer season—together when we fish together next Monday!!

As the flow pushes forward, unless we have a lot of precipitation in the next four weeks, that means fishing conditions for EACH of our three groups are going to be darn near perfect—the water flow will have abated by then, the clarity of the rivers’ waters will have returned, and there will be an abundance and vast array of emerging stoneflies and mayflies to serve those abundant trout who will, by then, be looking to the surface waters and our dry flies for their next meal(s).  Bueno, bueno, bueno!!!

Indeed, “Holy Timeline, Batman”!!!

RCR---<’///:><

FW: E-16 Fishing Compilation

A nice note from Group One returning Fall Flinger Craig “El Senor Feo” [so named by me while we were fishing in Chile last February!] Benjamin—you most likely will not be seeing Trina, pal, as she has her Montana bar exam in late July and every moment of the time between her May 21 graduation and then is properly pre-spoken for!

Hey Ron,

Congratulations to you and your beautiful daughter on her graduation from Law School.  I know in my brief meetings with her, that she will blaze a trail that you both will be very proud of.  Please send her my regards.

I hope to see her during my first Extravaganza… perhaps she can give my some insight, so that I am  not served my meal inside the crust of yesterday’s uneaten pie crust.

All the Best to you and yours,

Craig

Craig Benjamin, CFP
Marquis Financial

E-16 Fishing Compilation

Okay, okay, fellow Extravaganzers, it is just every so often that I receive a fishing snippet that I think is worthy of your viewing.  If you are having a rough day or, for you rookies out there, if you are still wondering what your (ad)venture with us might just entail, click onto the YouTube link below so thoughtfully provided to us by long-time/in-the-tooth Extravaganza veteran Fred “Guitar” Johnson (who is again recovering from surgery and unable to join in this year’s fun) and enjoy a pre-Extravaganza chuckle with me…as in,”this could happen to you”!!

RCR---<’///:><

http://1funny.com/funny-fishing-compilation/

E-16: Up, Up, Up Goes Da Flow, Flo!!

Well, gang, here we are just a tad more than a month before the Wonderful Ones show up on the E-16 scene and up, up, up goes the flow, reflective of the recent increase in Missoula ambient temperatures. Yes, we are getting THAT close, all, for it is this upcoming Saturday that I (finally!!) get to return, after too long of an absence, to the home where my soul lives to not only attend my beautiful daughter's law school graduation but also the do the final preparation work for your imminent travels to western Montana. And check out that increasing flow, attached, that, today, up to 2,000 cfs...yep, things are getting really close and really real, as all of the local rivers that we will fish are now fully "blown out" with high water and sediment that will clear the way for our June fishing fortunes!!

In advance of your arrivals, kudos and ultimate thanks go to our new best Extravaganza friends Peanut and hubby Larry who, since last September, have been my resident caretakers for both my Rock Creek and Blackfoot River properties. Daily contact with them has assured that, even with my overly long and extended absence, the properties are both fully tuned up and ready for your arrivals. They have become family members to me and absolute godsends; and, come Extravaganzatime, Peanut is going to take over the kitchen responsibilities for each of our groups' repasts and Larry is going to be manning (along with his brother who is flying into town from Las Vegas to join in the fun/fray) the nightly christening of my brand new backyard built-in bbq that is in its final construction phases...bueno, bueno, bueno and extravagant thanks, both!!

So, break out that Camp List all (especially you Ones) and start locating all that you are going to bring with you to this, our fourteenth, gala fishing event, and begin checking This-Der Blog for all that you need to know about this year's event.

Best to all in the ascending (descending?!?) reality of it all,

Rock Creek Ron
---<'///:><

FW: E-16 Flow Update

Thank YOU, veteran Threer Jim Becker!!

Hi Ron,

Congratulations on Trina's graduation from Law School. What a great accomplishment!!. Leah and I look forward to seeing you both in Montana soon.

James Becker
President and CEO
Richmond Community Foundation

E-16 Flow Update

It has been in the 70's in Missoula all of this week, gang--great weather and also the catalyst for accelerating this year's runoff, as shown in the attached flow chart where Rock Creek is currently discharging at 1,710 cubic feet per second. Things are getting very, very real, as I leave for Montana a week from tomorrow to witness and celebrate my beautiful daughter's graduation from the University of Montana Law School (Yay, Trina "Boots" Clausen!!), whereafter I return for 10 days in the Bay Area office and then, come June 2nd, do my annual pre-Extravaganza drive to Rock Creek with (y)our E-16 mascot, Ma'am Da Black Lab!!

A great forthcoming weekend to all!!

RCR---<'///:>,

FW: As the E-16 Flow Goes...

...attached is your Monday flow report (to be followed later in the week by a Friday report) showing the progress of the 2016 runoff as measured by our home Rock Creek flowage. It will be interesting to see how things progress this year. As the weather warms, the runoff flow will increase; as it cools off (as you can see since last Friday's report of 1240 cubic feet per second) the flow will drop as it has this morning down to 1,080 cubic feet per second.

The Bitterroot River Basin mountains are currently tracking at 69% of twenty year snow water content, still boding well for excellent E-16 fishing conditions.

Stay tuned, gang.....

RCR---<'///:><

FW: Your E-16 Flow Reports Begin!

A nice note from long time/long in the tooth Group One veteran Eddie "Two License" Downer:

Ron, just returned from Japan and look forward to seeing you next week, Looks like we'll have yet another wonderful time in Montana!!! I can hardly wait!!!
Warm regards, Eddie

RCR---<'///:><