Fall Begins

According to my calendar, Sunday marked the autumnal equinox. Here in southwest Montana, it feels like fall. There is frost on the pumpkin, and snow in the short-term forecast.

In a lonesome place somewhere between a waning Harvest Moon lingering to the west, and a brilliant sunrise to the east, I found myself knee deep in a Montana trout stream on this first day of fall. It was a spectacular day. The first snow of the year capped the high peaks, sandhill cranes flocked in the fields, and bull elk bugled in the distant timber. In the midst of it all, my friends and I experienced classic fall fishing for beautiful brown trout.

Here's to hoping that it will be the first of many such days over the coming months.

First fish on my new Hardy setup. Solid! Photo by Ben Pierce.

 This big fella clobbered a streamer swung beneath a grassy cut bank.

Christine with the one that didn't get away.