E-16 April Foolin' Around!

Greetings all, as we slide out of the first quarter into the first days of April in this now-not-so-new year! 

Tempted though I am to write and tell you that, horrors of all horrors, the snowpack in Montana (as it actually did two out of the last five years, btw!) has simply vanished overnight, but to do so would put unnecessary worries and fears in your minds and hearts where, at least for the moment, no such fears exist. In fact, as of this moment the snow pack in both the Clark Fork and Bitterroot River Basins are tracking in the very high 90th percentiles and, get this, the year to date precipitation level in our E-16 targeted Blackfoot basin is exactly at 100% of twenty year averages.

Now, the advent of April marks a couple of important milestones in our collective lives: first, Group One arrives on the scene in just 70 days from today and, secondly, my avid fly fishing and now hunter daughter in just over one month now finishes her three year law curriculum at Missoula’s University of Montana and will become a UM graduate with her JD on May 21st—congrats, babe!!

So, let’s check the scorecard as we enter baseball season this weekend: (a) E-16 is all but full with just two open slots in Group Two (which will see a visit from the MT governor); (b) literally today I am taking delivery of one of the main E-16 gifts for each of you, reserving, as I do annually, the unfettered right to treat each of your extravagantly; (c) the snowpack and weather is riding perfectly for us; and (d) with but a mere 70 days separating today from Extravaganzaland, it is time to locate those rods and reels, dust off all of that fly fishing gear and clothing and begin putting your sights on attending our 14th foray into the wilds of western Montana Ritz-Carlton style!

Best to all this budding April day!!

RCR---<’///:><

Group Three Photo From Afar

Check out the above photo from Group Three sailor Scott "Not So Flash" Gordon (he's on the left holding his E-15 Filson bling bag) from Roadtown, Tortola on the British Virgin Islands…HI, Sailor!!

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

Good E-16 News This Good Friday!!

The E-16 precipitation and snow levels continue to be in the good news category this Good Friday, gang!! 

As you now wizened fisherfolk know, the snow pack that is currently contained in western Montana’s upper climes is the water flow that will greet us when we arrive to fish Extravaganza 2016, in just a bit more than one hundred days now.  As was explained in detail in the article that I attached to my last note to you, the US Department of Agriculture’s National Water and Climate Center for decades tracks, on literally a daily basis, both the year-to-date precipitation amounts as well as the equally important “snow water equivalent” (“SWE”) of each year’s snow pack accumulation throughout the western Rockies and the report this year continues to be an excellent one.

For our targeted river basis, the 52 mile long Bitterroot River that flows from the south right into downtown Missoula (where it merges with the Clark Fork of the Columbia River) current SNOTEL readings are, get this, as follows:  year to date precipitation is rocking in at 102% of twenty year averages and the SWE of this year’s snow pack is right at 97% of twenty year medians.

These are two of the most important variables that will factor into the water levels and water clarity for Extravaganza 2016.  Other factors are included in the weather pattern for the greater Missoula area between now and our June arrivals (i.e., last year we were tracking these same 90%+ averages BUT there was a huge heat wave during April of 2015 that melted half of the then snowpack, leaving us with low water come Group Three) and the ongoing precipitation levels during this El Nino year.  May and early June are traditionally the wettest times of the year in Montana and we need to watch out for excessive rainfall during tha period that will only drive up water levels and increase the turbidity in the rivers’ waters, thereby reducing visibility.

Each year we dance with Mother Nature and it is nice to see the samba that she is doing in coordinated fashion with this year’s Easter Bunny!

Best to all on the oh-so-cusp of it all,

Rock Creek Ron

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Extravaganza 2016 is Now 90 days to the Making!

Greetings all on the eve of my again going to Patagonia, Chile, to fish (again!) with the great Magic Waters guides!    

As we move the E-16 ball further down the court, I am pleased to report that Groups One and Three are now 100% subscribed and, with respect to the few openings yet left in Group Two, I had lunch yesterday with veteran Tattooer Joe “Compari” Ciatti and we have developed a fun game plan to run the tables and fill out the balance of the Extravaganza 2016 dance card.

As we do every year, we now begin to watch and monitor the snowpack in the upper climes of the western Montana mountains and the volume and the water density of that accumulation will directly impact our June fishing.  Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks prints an award-winning magazine, Montana Outdoors, that highlights it management of the flora and fauna of the great state of Montana—it is a bargain and, simply stated, something that you should consider subscribing to for $2.00/issue.  It contains a wide-range of articles, a copy of one from the latest issue is attached for your reading enjoyment. 

In addition to the well-written editorial piece my good friend FWP Executive Director Jeff Hagener (who has attend the last six + of our Extravaganzas),  I have attached an interesting article explaining just how the snow level and density data is accumulated and calculated.  My numbers that come to you are from the SNOTEL source described in this writing which, as of today, report that our E-16 targeted Bitterroot River Basin is tracking at 97% of the 20 year average to-date water precipitation and contains a water content equal to 91% of 20 year mean averages—which is absolutely fantastic for those of us (very) interested fisherfolk!

Things are really heating up here at E-16 Command Center as we begin dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s for this year’s event.  If you have not done so already, NOW is the time to procure your flight reservations to/fro MSO, and NOW is the time to begin dreaming at night of all of the wonderful visages and smells that E-16 will soon bring your way!

Best to all mid-preparation of it all,

Rock Creek Ron

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E-16: Senators, Governors and Wiremen To Call!!

Greetings fellow E-16ers!

March is now upon us and we rapidly now approach ninety days until the Marvelous Ones break the ice and arrive on the scene to open Extravaganza 2016, our fourteenth foray into the wilds of Western Montana Ritz Carlton style. 

And what a year it is shaping up to be, as snow pack levels continue to be in the 90^th percentiles of twenty year averages, with the Bitterroot Basin, as of this morning, posting a 98% year-to-date precipitation average, with, most important, snow water equivalents at 94% of 20 year medians and with the same averages boasting from the Clark Fork River Basin…bueno, bueno, bueno!!

With the promise of a “kinder and gentler” schedule for Extravaganza 2016, that doesn’t mean that we are ever going to compromise quality for reduced volume.  Get this:  my great friend and NWF regional director Tom France is now running for the MT state senate for the Missoula area and will be gracing the Ones to speak to them after your first day of fishing on the trials and tribulations of being a candidate for state office; as previously announced, our MT governor is going to pay the Tattoos an evening visit on Monday, June 20^th, as he ramps up his re-election campaign, to be serenaded by Montana Matters Troubadour Shane Clouse; and the one and only Bob Wire is going to return for a repeat private concert for Dem Threes on the last evening of Extravaganza 2016.  There will be more to follow as we fill in the evening fare for this year’s event, with our targeted charity this year again being the Montana Natural History Center as we gear up to fill the bus we bought for them in E-15 with a naturalist to tend to the grammar school kids to be taken out into nature with our bountiful bus (that will be on display the last night of each group).

And the bling this year, oh the bling that I have in store for you!  Each year, as we complete an Extravaganza, I  literally ask myself, “Now, what in the world am I going to do for next year’s event that we haven’t done in the prior now-multiple years?”  Well, as has been done year after year, even you crusty veterans out there are going to take a step back and say “whoa!” to the goodies that I have in store for you this year—many being custom-made, one of a kind items…yep, year after year I reserve the right to treat y’all extravagantly and E=16 will be no exception!

If you haven’t done so already, NOW is the time to book your air flights to/fro MSO.  The number of seats on each flight is fixed and, as more and more of you book your flights, the number of seats on those flights gets fewer and fewer, driving upwards the price for the same experience.  So, “book ‘em Danno” and, when you have done so, forward your reservations to our E=16 Coordinator Extraordinaire Stephanie James at sjames@clausenlawgroup.com so we can get you signed into our master travel bible.

I am getting as excited as I hope each of you are about Extravaganza 2016—Mother Nature has set a great table for us so far; all of our product is on order and being delivered on a weekly basis now; our groups are all but full (Group One is fully subscribed and there is but two open slots in each of Group Two and Group Three!), and life is shaping up wonderfully for your soon-to-occur arrival(s) in Extravaganzaland.

Keep your eyes peeled for a higher volume of E-16 emails once I return from (again) fishing in Patagonia, Chile on March 19^th—gotta meet that business plan to fish 30 days this year, ya know!—and reach out to me if you have any questions or candidates to fill the few remaining E-16 slots…in fourteen years, we have yet to have an open bed!!

Best to all in the preparation stages of it all,

Rock Creek Ron

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E-16 Mini Update

Fellow Extravaganzers:

Here’s your weekly update on the comings and goins’ of E-16:

All is ahead full to begin our mid-winter preparations for Extravaganza 2016. As part of every Extravaganza, I reserve the right to treat each of you extravagantly and E-16 will be no exception. E-16 swag is now showing up on a regular basis and, as with every prior year, even you wily veterans out there are going to be in for some surprises—and just when you thought that after thirteen (count ‘em!) prior years I couldn’t come up with anything new with our Circle C logo on it!!

There are just a handful of openings in each of our groups with a multitude of folks eyeing those opportunities.  Rather than wait, I would prefer filling all groups now, so if you Ones or Twos know of two worthy additions to each of your group let me know; and if you Threes know of four folks that would like to join your merry band, likewise let me know. Sweet Sixteen is the magic number for each of our groups this year, so look for a kinder, gentler, less hectic experience as we begin to gear up for (y)our June arrivals.

Shane Clouse has just confirmed that he will again be fishing with me during Group Two and, rather than serenading us après fishing on Sunday, will be joining the MT governor to perform for us all on Monday, June 20^th. I have an invitation out to the inimitable Bob Wire to perform for either the Ones our Threes and am waiting to hear back for him and, yes, folks are lining up on all fronts to be dinner guests and presenters…the word is definitely out, gang, that the Extravaganza is an event not to miss, even for the MT locals!

As we did last year, this year we are going to focus our E-16 charitable efforts towards our now wonderfully close friends at the Montana Natural History Center. Last year we provided funding to purchase a school bus for their getting kids out into nature programs and, in meeting with them in Missoula over the (appropriate) Christmas holidays, this year our efforts will go to providing funds for a naturalist to travel in the bus that we helped purchase last year—what fun!!

Look in your email boxes early next week for our suggested 2016 Extravaganza travel itineraries. As most of you know, since we meet and greet you at the airport, with Headquarters 45 minutes driving time from the airport, it is imperative that you arrive and depart as close to noon on each of your incoming and outgoing days. Also, each of our groups will be resultantly occupying a goodly percentage of those flights and those who book their flights earlier will get better pricing and resultantly pay less for the same experience. As you will again see, based on reliability and number of available flights, the recommended itinerary will be to fly from the Bay Area on Delta Air Lines into Missoula (MSO) through Salt Lake City (SLC)—over the past years each of the other carriers connecting through different cities has provided us with near missed fishing opportunities and the chance for you to unnecessarily rent cars to drive to Headquarters. If you are coming from the East Coast, as many of you are, look to taking Delta from Minneapolis directly into MSO.  All:  Leave the flying to Delta, and the driving to us!!

That’s about it for the moment; let’s get these last few slots filled and begin our planning process in earnest…oh, and Montana snowpack and water equivalency is still stroking along in the 90 percent of 20 year average range, with a lot more of El Nino ahead to add to the mix!

Best to all in the early stages of it all,

Rock Creek Ron

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Greetings Fellow 2016 Extravaganzers:

For those of you wily veterans out there, I know that you know that E-16 is getting a later-than-usual start on my constant stream of emails to you, but, fear not, that respite has come to a screeching halt as we now begin in earnest to gear up for Extravaganza 2014—our fourteenth excursion into the wilds and wonders of western Montana!  Get a hold of this, gang:

1.      Steve Bullock, the governor of Montana, paid me a visit last week and, having heard about our past extravagant outings, is going to attend Extravaganza 2016 in person, and will be present for and present to Group Two on Monday, June 20^th—an Extravaganza first!!

2.      Double Up Outfitters and the Rock Creek Mercantile are robustly continuing in their main roles for our Extravaganzas and will treat us in the wonderful style to which we have so well become accustomed.

3.      Our 2016 blogsite is up and running, so mark www.montanaextravaganza2016.blogspot.com as one of your favorites; it will feature a link to our 2008 Extravaganza movie, provide links to our Outfitter and the Merc as well as a weather link so, as we get closer to your arrival(s), you can track just what is going on in our Montana climes where, get this, right now snow water equivalent and precipitation are running right at 95% of twenty year averages—a great pre-report card on our fishing conditions to come.

4.       Just like our Montana precipitation, we are right at 90% full for E-16, so if you know of one or two wonderful folks that would like to join you and your group, just let me know!

As I mentioned to many of you in person and via email in my earlier E-16 notes, running an Extravaganza solo at the fever-pitched rate that we did last year is not for either the sound of mind or meek of heart.  Accordingly, to preserve my sanity and to make a better experience for all involved, I am intentionally cutting back the size and complexity of E-16 so that it is a better overall experience for us all. 

Specifically, this year we will not be renting the bunk house just up the road from Headquarters, but, rather, housing everyone in my two homes, one on the Blackfoot River and Headquarters on Rock Creek.  In those houses we can comfortably accommodate 16 fisherfolk and, resultantly, the size of each group will total 16 Extravaganzers, rather than the 24+ of last year.  The intended result is a kinder, gentler, less intense experience for all concerned and, to that end, I will also be cutting back the number of evening presentations that we have had in prior years to ease up a bit more fire pit time, horseshoe pitting and (horrors!) hours for actually sleeping. 

Also, with my caretakers’ home on Rock Creek now completed and occupied, caretakers Larry and Peanut have gladly volunteered to take a more active role in E-16, such that Peanut will be quarterbacking the kitchen fare and Larry will oversee breaking in the brand new, permanent mega-bbq that is currently under construction in the back yard.  It is quite a set up and Larry has convinced me that he and his brother will put on a show the likes of which you have seldom seen.

So, there you have it, gang; things are in full swing for a(nother) bang up Extravaganza where the swag orders have already been placed and the end product of this year’s event will stand up tall to each of its thirteen predecessors!!

Best to all in the early stages of it all,

Rock Creek Ron