The Colors of Autumn

Montana has beautiful colors of fall, even though red is very rare.  This is one very pretty example of red.

And beautiful examples of golds.

Some beautiful rainbow colors.....





And the browns are spectacular as well.

Idaho Sweet Corn

Growing up in Iowa, we always knew we had the best sweet corn in the nation.  (I bet there are several other states that proclaim this feat.)  But, I will admit, the people from Idaho know how to grow corn also.

Our neighbor brought over some of this beautiful corn after a trip through Idaho.  He said he just saw a farmer with a pickup truck selling corn along side the road.  Actually, that is the best place to buy corn.

It was beautiful and tasted outstanding!!  It reminded us of our dear friends from Germany.  In the late 70's we were living in lower Michigan and were quite active in a Sister City program with a town from northern Germany.  We hosted a couple and corn on the cob was on the menu. 

At first, they were quite shocked.  To much of Europe, sweet corn was not something to eat as it had never been available to them.  Only pigs ate corn in their part of the world.  Well, after that first slathering of butter, and watching us carefully as to how to eat this vegetable, they changed their minds.  When we met up with Dieter and Heidemarie in Germany this past May, the sweet corn was the first thing they wanted to talk about.  It seems some people are starting to grow it themselves, so it is becoming more available in Europe.

Corn also reminds me of when The Trout and I were living in Germany in 1968-69.  Our landlords were an elderly brother and sister.  They invited us down one evening to enjoy their television and they had a special treat to serve us.  It seems they had just become familiar with popcorn.  To our surprise, they served it in a bowl, with a spoon, and covered with cherry juice.  We did not say anything about melted butter or salt, just ate their style of popcorn and actually enjoyed it.

If sweet corn is still available in your area, enjoy it.  I am looking forward to this winter as sweet corn is available from the farmer's markets all the time in Florida.

Big River, Big Trout on small flies!!

Schnitzel did a lovely job describing our date on the Big Hole River.  I'll try to elaborate a bit on where I fish, how and for what.  Good neighbor Louie, our 88 year old fly fishing expert, showed me a few spots he liked.  This spot is the middle hole of 3 starting with the Grayling Hole.  Grayling were once very plentiful in this country but were pretty well fished out by the early 1900's except for Alaska.  Montana is trying to reintroduce this species in some rivers and they have taken on pretty well in the Big Hole.

This is a pretty nice Grayling although I did not get the miniature dorsal fin that sets these fish apart.  They are pretty easy to catch and taste pretty good with a hint of thyme when we kept some in Alaska.  Its all "catch and release" in the lower 48.

What's happening these days to get the fish feeding is the "TRICO"  hatch.  The tiny "duns" like the bottom fly (a size 22!) hatch mid-morning and then the next day, they cluster together in clouds of 1000's to mate, fall to the water as "spinners" to lay their eggs and die to provide plenty of feed for the slurping trout and whitefish.  I don't have to go that small to imitate the natural as an "Adams" or a "Purple Haze" in a size 18 does the trick with a good drag free cast in front of the gulpers.  I have never seen a purpled bodied mayfly but somehow it works just fine on this river!!

This is a dandy 18" fat rainbow that took my offering.  It ran around like crazy for 5 minutes before I landed it.  Somehow the other rainbows seem to know when one of their mates have been caught as they stop feeding for sometime.  Maddening!!  They should know I release all of these beauties to fight again!!

This is a very nice 14" Brook trout that are in the river in good numbers as well.  They are very colorful this time of year.  This fish is really a Char as witnessed by the white tipped fins.

All in all, one does not catch big numbers of trout in an outing on the Big Hole.  But with careful presentation, a few of these dandies can be caught to make a good outing in a very beautiful spot in Montana.