A Day on the ‘root (QE1)

John Howard, Clark Taylor, Len Wright
John Howard, Clark Taylor, Len Wright

Well…day one is complete and while it wasn’t a total success it seemed to have worked pretty well by government standards. You are probably wondering who the hell these guys are, which is an astute observation as I have never before introduced these fine people. Pictured from left to right are…

1. John Howard: Ole’ Howie has two artifical knees, and according to his own testimony a titanium humerus. Yes, that is correct, a doctor rebuilt his biceps muscle to form around a titanium rod in his upper arm. John is older than Clint Eastwood and has played just about as many roles. He told me he was a rep for Cortland, the owner of an oil and gas company, an NFL offensive lineman, and currently an art dealer. I’m tempted to believe all of it.

2. That is my dad (fresh off of ACL surgery), his bio is here.

3. Len Wright: Texan, born and bred. Len however isn’t a total retard, he has been fly fishing in Montana for about fifteen years and frequently visits the ocean to work on his double haul. Len has one knee that is slated to get replaced sometime soon and a right shoulder that he has problems moving behind his head (or in his words: “posterior to the plane of my shoulder”). Len was an All-American nose tackle for Texas Tech but injured himself and was never able to pass NFL physicals.

Len Wright Fish
Len Wright

So, being the only person with 100% ligament and skeletal stability I threw the boats in the water and got these guys hung up on rocks catching fish.

The Bitterroot has had a short run so far this year with fishable conditions really in just the last couple of weeks. The river was gorgeous and the usual deadly snags and braids of the Bitterroot had disappeared with the water. We saw some bald eagles that were anxiously watching the fish we released, checking to see if they would be an easy lunch. We only floated about 7 miles but it took us the entire day to work through every pocket. PMD’s and a mid morning mayfly spinner fall kept us busy until the hot sun brought out the hoppers and beer. While the fishing wasn’t as good as I know it can be the weather and water could not have been better. QE2 is forthcoming tomorrow.

Bitterroot River
Bitterroot River

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