It’s been a busy month, and nearly 3 weeks since my last outing on the river, so thankfully it was a good one. Spring runoff was in full swing, so I went looking for clear water above Nez Perce Creek on the West Fork of the Bitterroot. The tail water delivered, as I was greeted with clean, green tinted water and willing fish when I got there. I was able to catch some nice sized fish on dry flies for the better part of the afternoon, and didn’t run into another fisherman the entire day.

During the drive up, my mind had been preoccupied with some of the difficulties in my life, difficulties which seemed to be constantly looming on the horizon, just like the dark clouds that filled the sky that day. The weather looked to be gloomy, and I suppose the threat of heavy rain was the reason that very few people had ventured out this day. Around this time though, I noticed a ray of sunshine coming through the dark clouds in the distance. It was shining onto a small portion of a field, and directly in the sun-drenched spot was a young horse rolling around, seemingly having the time of its life enjoying the warmth of the sunshine. Even though dark clouds occupied every other inch of the sky, this little spot was warm and sunny. It occurred to me how easily we let ourselves get distracted by dark clouds on the horizon of our life, when there are rays of sunshine all around us, even in the gloomiest of weather. No matter how cloudy, we just need to find that one random ray of sunshine in the middle of the darkness and go there and enjoy it until the weather clears up I think.

The fishing was simple today. An Adams with a soft presentation seemed to do the trick all day. This 18” cut throat was the largest of the afternoon.