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---<’///:><