Madison River 2003 – Ennis, Montana

The Madison River – Ennis, Montana
The first of many annual fly fishing trips. A buddy recommended we go to Montana to fly fish. When younger, he used to fish the Madison at Valley Garden and Varney Bridge with his father and grandpa. The rest of us thought that sounded great….so, it began.

We rented a 34′ motor home for the four of us.
There were a lot of lessons to be learned….like, how to empty the waste water. How to park just right along the river so that the wind rips the awning off. How to bottom out a motor home. How to camp in the local drift boat drop in site…not recommended.

We made it a golf and fishing trip.
Day 1: Drive, camp in the Walmart parking lot in Spokane
Day 2: Drive, play a round of golf at Old Works. Finish drive to Ennis, MT.
Day 3: Woke up and realized we had camped in the boat launch/drop in near Varney Bridge. A few unhappy locals were eyeballing us. We fished up and down all day…we caught quite a few Brown trout and some whiteys. Wind was fierce….while we all eagerly hunted fish, we forgot to wind in the awning….oops, it got ripped right off the house. Thank god we bought the insurance. We taped it up and rolled on.
Day 4: Moved the house to Valley Garden. Seemed safer than getting shot at by the angry boaters and guides.
Day 5-6. Fished, fished, fished. more fish. We caught a lot of Rainbow, Brown, and a few Whitefish. whitefish a re less plentiful down near Valley Garden. One of the crew had a date with Bullwinlke….yep, got chased out of a channel by a full blown bull moose. He was pissed. Great fun.
Day 7: Head to Coeur d’Alene …nothing good ever happens here. But, it always is a out of control good time with many stories to not tell. You had to be there.
Day 8: Home, way too soon.