The Cast of Characters

Before we go any further with this Montana narrative, I think it’s important to introduce the main cast of the production. From left to right in the above shot, taken as we prepared to head our separate ways at the end of the TU/OBN adventure:

Travis “The Kid” DuBios – I call him “the kid” because he’s about the same age as my youngest step-son. But, despite those tender years, I have never met a more complete outdoorsman. He’s a hunting and fishing machine with enough backcountry experience to fill a lifetime - and he’s just getting started. Always smiling, ready to get on to the next adventure, infinitely prepared for whatever comes his way. I knew he was hard-core when after dinner our first night at the resort, well after dark, he grabbed a float tube and headed for the lake. He was simply a joy to have around.

Jeff “Owl” Jones – What can I say? Owl Jones. Nonstop blogging, mosquito hating, status quo challenging, cross country trekking, striver for domination of the fly fishing world, Owl Jones. I admit to being curious about Owl before meeting him and found him a charming, self-effacing gentleman, easy to share a week of fishing and shenanigans with. And he doesn’t snore as loudly as he claims. Besides, us southern boys needed to stick together.

Chris “Shin Deep” Hunt – Chris is as big as the Montana landscape that we visited - in both size and personality. As Trout Unlimited’s Communications Director for the Sportsmen's Conservation Project, he thought to use this weird new blogging medium as yet another way to get the TU message out and, with the help and partnership of the Outdoor Blogger Network, the trip was born. Chris was the life of the party, keeping us laughing deep into the nights, yet ready to hit the stream at the break of dawn. He’s obviously had lots of experience at both. And I have a new appreciation for his book’s title, Shin Deep. Shin deep on him is damn near waist deep on me.

Sean “Sanders” Anderson – My traveling buddy. If you have been keeping up, you know that Sean and I cast our lots with one another on this western journey, sight unseen, and we enjoyed the heck out of it and each other’s company. An enthusiastic fly fisherman, excellent driver, appreciator of the great outdoors, and doggie-daddy to two extremely spoiled bulldogs. What’s not to like? Thanks for a great adventure, my friend. I look forward to doing it again sometime.

Corey “Fish Slayer” Fisher – My only complaint about Corey is that he’s too damn nice. He quietly fished our socks off, made the ruddy details of camp life easy as pie, laughed heartily at all the jokes, and generally made the four days at Elk Lake a pleasure to attend. Add that he’s out front for Trout Unlimited in its dealings with the energy sector, a tremendous challenge in these days and times, and you have a gentleman and sportsman that you’d share a stream with in a Manhattan minute.

The guy on the far right is some old fart that wandered in - no one’s quite sure why. Hopefully he didn’t screw up the proceedings too badly. I do happen to know that he had one hell of a good time.

I think it's safe to say that everyone in the picture did.

Note: Special thanks to Chris for the picture. It may be my favorite image of the entire trip.