headed to montana

[Ian johnson]

me, my dad, and hopefully my best friend will be heading up to Brent Rudoulf's this summer to learn how to build glass laminate bows, and because he lives just outside of yellowstone, we are going fly fishing too, never fly fished, so looking forward to that too, I am about to order a bow from Brent as well and have talked to him on the phone, one of the best guys you can deal with, thanks Brent, one more thing, I have a really good felling about that test I took today, if its a good grade, then I can get the bow!

[bowdude]

You will love Yellowstone.   Good luck with the fishing and stay away from the hot springs.  They sell a book there called " Death in Yellowstone"  Not for the weak of stomach.  A low number of documented cases of animal caused deaths.  The grizzly is the least of your worries surprise surprise.  The most dangerous?  Yourself!  People just don't seem to believe they can die in boiling water for some reason....

[Ian johnson]

that seems crazy that people would think that, we still have to work out exact dates on when we are going, how does the water stay hot in those springs?

[bowdude]

Watch the specials on TV about super volcanoes.  That's what Yellowstone is.  It is the center of I believe the largest known volcano.  The brains say it erupts about every 500,000 years.  The good part is thats a long time.  The bad part,...  It's due.  Have fun!

[alligatordond]

Ian,

I'm taking the family out there in July(then going by myself to hunt in Nov!!). Can't help you much on Yellowstone as we're doing the research now. But on the fly fishing, I suggest you start practicing now with your casting. Maybe a lesson or two from a casting instructor. Remember you throw the line vs the fly. And think of loading the rod like you load a bow so that you "shoot" the line. AND read some of Don Thomas' books on fly fishing. Of course don't neglect his bowhunting books.

Have fun

[Zog]

Fly fishing is GREAT and has most of the elements of trad archery - it's a skill with so much to learn, you never get great at it, you're always trying to improve, handcrafted gear with high tech materials or old fashioned ones, outdoors (of course) etc, etc.

The only problem with fly fishing is the hollywood influence.  Any rich Al Gore yuppie who thinks they're a cool outdoorsman tries to learn fly fishing lingo.  But that's not enough to keep me away.  Just steer clear of the temptation to over-gear with the showy expensive fashion statement stuff.  Some will have you believe you need all of it and you DON"T.

Thank God hollywood types don't like to kill red meat, or they might be all over trad archery making it trendy, too.

You will love fly fishing.  Oh, man.  First bite and you're a goner!

[Zog]

Yes, the water stays hot all year.  It is heated by the magma beneath it.  

Most of the accidents are simple carelessness - the springs look innocent.  Because some of them flow away from the heat and some mix with cooler stream water, obviously they have a wide range of temperatures.  You can jump right in to some of them, others are so obviously hot that you instinctively stay away.  The bad ones are the ones in between that don't steam very much and are nearby the "cooler" ones.  

Along comes another "won't happen to me" kinda person, sees people who jump in a cooler one, and dies in a hot one.  Or, they just go beyond the marked safe zones and fall in.

It's like a lot of things - people hear the warnings, then see just one person get away with violating the warning, then decide those warnings must be only for weak and stupid people.  Then they prove they're stupid.

[Ybuck]

WARNING: Picking up a fly-rod, and casting into a Montana river may result in a lifelong addiction.
Good luck, and have fun.

[Ian johnson]

Zog pm sent

[R.W.]

The Yellowstone area is the remains of a giant volcanic cauldera, left behind after an enormous eruption. The magma pool below the hot springs area heats the water, and when this water rises to the surface, you get hot springs, geysers, and hot mud pools, to name a few.
Volcanologists believe that if this magma reservoir was to erupt with the force of its last blast, most of the centre of the continent would be annihilated, and many more areas would be uninhabitable, due to the billions of tons of ash that would blanket areas where the jet stream would carry the ash.
Boiled fish, anyone?
Flyfishing is a blast, you will enjoy yourself.