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25 Aug 05
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The 2005 Yellowstone Gang Adventure
to the Headwaters & Tailwaters of the Kootenai River
Other trip names suggested:
· Kootenai System; Libby to Elkford Part I
· The Kootenai River – An untapped resource
· Kootenai Watershed – Mining for big trout
· Dy-no-mite Fishing
· Let it Hunt, Let it Hunt, Strike!, Strike!
· The NW Montana & Canadian Adventure
· Where Lewis & Clark DIDN’T go! Or “What Lewis & Clark Missed”
Our Linehan Outfitters Guides;
· Sean McAfee
· Johnny
· Travis Lee
· Steve Shaw
· Tim Linehan
2005 adventurers: Al Miller (AM), Andy Batcho (AB), John Richardson (JR), Mike
Shaunessy (MS), Greg Koenig (GK).
The members of the YG have a long history with
Trout Unlimited (TU), with AM being the Des Moines, Wa. Chapter President, JR
the Wa. State TU Membership VP, GK a longtime member, MS President of the Des
Moines & Spokane Chapters of TU and AB President of the Des Moines Chapter,
chapter stream restoration director and Western Wa. State VP of TU.
Streams fished:
· Kootenai River
· Yaak River
· East Fork Yaak
· Big Creek
· Lake Creek
· Lower Elk River
· Upper Elk River
· Stream X
The members of the Yellowstone Gang (YG) spend a fair amount of time researching
potential areas for future trips using the internet, reading books, attending
sports shows, communicating via email with subject-matter-experts & talking to
other anglers. Last year AM, JR, MS & AB discovered Tim
Linehan, host of Trout Unlimited Television (TUTV) & his lovely wife Joanne at a
Bellevue Washington Fly Fishing Show where we had a great conversation about
fishing the Kootenai River area of NW Montana. In addition, AB
attending a presentation by Tim at the Bellevue-Issaquah Chapter of TU, where he
saw a great slide presentation about the beauty & fishing opportunities in the
Libby, Montana area. Tim’s “Linehan Outfitting Co.”, \\ (www.fishmontana.com)
(472 Upper Ford Rd., Troy, MT, 59935, 1-800-596-0034) is a first-class and
professional fly fishing & hunting operation with a huge dose of hospitality
tossed in by Tim & Joanne. You won’t find nicer people in this business!
Since the YG had not been to the NW corner of Montana before and the fact that
we’d found a great guide in the area, that we all wanted to fish with, we
decided to make the 2005 trip to the greater Libby area. Further research
(G2) revealed the Fernie, British Columbia area. A beautiful place in the
Canadian Rockies near the Continental Divide and it’s Elk & Wigwam Rivers….rumor
had it they had BIG & “not too smart” Cutthroat, right up the YG’s alley……so we
added the Fernie area to the trip agenda.
Email discussions amongst the YG, lead by our transportation director, JR,
determined that we would take AM’s Chrysler van & JR’s Jeep Cherokee on this
trip. AB sent out his YG adventures all-inclusive trip checklist to all, we
stocked up with water, Gatorade, ice & snacks and were ready to hit the road.
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