The Accidental Angler: Speed Dating vs Courtship
By Hayden Mellsop / November 9, 2017
There is a stretch of the Madison River in Montana below the town of Ennis that is only open to...
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Struggle and Survival on the Big Hole
By Hayden Mellsop / November 3, 2017
Even from a distance of one hundred and fifty yards, it was evident the bird was large. Off on a...
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The Rainbow, the Grasshopper and the Moose
By Hayden Mellsop / January 25, 2015
Brian scratched his chin. “Well, we’ve got a couple of options. We could go down river, float below town. There’s...
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What Happened to Summer?
By Hayden Mellsop / August 5, 2014
It comes as a shock to realize that in a few short weeks, the mountainsides will be speckled with orange...
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Back in the High Life, Again
By Hayden Mellsop / May 20, 2014
A Day In The Life Of A Fishing Guide, Act 1, Scene 327: *Angler stands at river's edge, excitedly hops...
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April Fools
By Hayden Mellsop / April 3, 2014
Clouds, sullen and grey, draped the mountains, and a cold wind blew upstream, carrying with it a few flakes of...
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March is for Midges
By Hayden Mellsop / March 17, 2014
The plan had been to find a deep, slow stretch of water to try out a new strike indicator system...
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That Floating Feeling
By Hayden Mellsop / March 7, 2014
The urge could be ignored no longer. The lengthening days, the return of bird song, the first of the year's...
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The Magic of the Black Canyon
By Hayden Mellsop / January 14, 2014
It had been a couple of years since I'd last been down the Black Canyon. I don't care which time...
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Once Upon a Time on the Mohaka….
By Hayden Mellsop / January 14, 2014
I've been thinking some about mortality lately, in part due to venturing into my fifties. In vehicular terms, you've just...
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Heraclitus Floats the Upper Colorado
By Hayden Mellsop / September 25, 2013
No man, proclaimed Heraclitus twenty five centuries ago, ever steps into the same river twice. He was, of course, referring...
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Desperately Searching Stoneflies
By Hayden Mellsop / June 17, 2013
They have sex appeal, as much as any ungainly, prehistoric looking creature with four wings, six legs and long, probing...
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High and Dry on the Arkansas
By Hayden Mellsop / June 11, 2013
Its all relative, so while 750 cfs might not sound much like high water to those who know the river,...
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You Take What the River Gives You
By Hayden Mellsop / April 15, 2013
“Are you sure you don’t want to put the boat in the garage overnight? It feels like rain, maybe snow.”...
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A Great Day to Be a Cowboy, Too….
By Hayden Mellsop / September 3, 2012
“It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.” Thus observed Ed Hillary, and so too did I repeat to...
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