Smalley's adventures on the Bighorn River

As noted in this space last week, I recently attended the national convention of the Outdoor Writers of America Association in Billings.

It’s always fun to catch up with old friends, meet new ones, and, hopefully, learn to write gooder.

At the welcome dinner at ZooMontana, I met Mark Johnson, near the grizzly bear exhibit. He is communications director for the Tennessee Wildlife Federation,.

Conversation began with beautiful Montana stuff, evolved through fly fishing and eventually, not unnaturally, to bears.

Mark told me, on his only previous trip to Montana, he had read Jack Olsen’s Night of the Grizzlies while camping his first night in Glacier National Park.

“Probably not the best timing for reading that book,” he said.

I told Mark I actually knew some of the human characters in that book.

Later I introduced Mark to noted Bigfork writer/photographer, then seasonal ranger, Bert Gildart who shot one of the killer grizzlies near Trout Lake.

Prior to the conference, Mark had rented a vehicle and fished a lake in the Absarokee Mountains. He was enthralled with the scenery and caught Montana trout.

“I kinda wondered if I should’ve bought some bear spray.”

Not unnaturally, I’d packed my truck with complete fly fishing outfits for two people, including rods, reels, flies, boots, and even personal pontoon boats.

When I asked Mark if he wanted to fish the famed Afterbay section of the Bighorn River Sunday night, he was “All in!”

We walked downstream from the parking area along a trail, then bushwhacked a short way through some bushes to the shoreline.

Pods of trout were feeding in shallow water. Mark picked up fly casting quickly so as to not spook the feeding trout.

We’d fished about an hour when someone in a passing drift boat yelled, “A guy upstream says there’s a bear on the trail right behind you!”

Long silence. Then Mark asked, “What’re we gonna do?”

“Nothin’,” I answered. “Just keep fishin’. That bear sees a lot more people than people see that bear.”

“Black bear or grizzly?”

“Probably black. Or brown. Or blond.”

Despite our best efforts, the catching was slow until Mark switched back to a small bladed lure on his spinning rod.

Great memories! And we’ve had lots of fun with the photo.

Jerry Smalley is an outdoor columnist for the Hungry Horse News.