2015 was a busy and great year for us at Wolf Creek Angler with a lot of progress and a few growing pains but all in all a spectacular second season and a great spring-board for season number three.
www.wolfcreekangler.com
We started the year off with the excitement of the launch of our new website which received rave reviews all season long. The web site continues to grow and evolve and we anticipate some major changes in the seasons to come which will eventually allow you to shop WCA from the comfort of home through an on-line store. These things can be a fairly major undertaking so we may start small but expect to at least be able to shop WCA logo gear via the web site at some point this season.
Unseasonably warm temperatures started to prevail in late January and kick-started the 2015 season. We had plenty of guests all winter long from around the state taking advantage of a very mild winter and coming out to fish the Missouri. An abundance sunshine and blue skies and temps hovering in the 50’s for weeks at a time kept us busy in the shop and we even ended up opening additional lodging in March to accommodate the influx.
March 13th was a big day for Wolf Creek Angler as we were featured in The Drake Magazine Online “Fly Shop Friday” feature.
Later in March we announced our partnership with KAST Extreme Fishing Gear as we became the Exclusive Full Line Kast dealer on the Missouri River. It’s been a great partnership so far and we’ve enjoyed introducing folks to some awesome technical fishing gear. From the extremely popular Steelhead Gloves which put Kast on the map to summer guide wear to extreme outerwear, Kast is rapidly becoming an industry favorite and we are proud to offer these awesome products.
We received another honor in mid May when we were featured in the Helena Independent Record as well as The Billings Gazette and The Missoulian.
We hit a bump in the road on Labor Day Weekend when we were forced to cancel our Inaugural WCA Soiree due to spring downpours. We put a lot of work into getting the shop ready for this event which was to feature a barbecue and a band but alas Mother nature had different plans and you won’t ever hear us complaining about much-needed precipitation. Will there be another Soiree? Time will tell.
As the blur of the prime season commenced we enjoyed some great fishing all summer long while enjoying the company of our guests and continuing to work behind the scenes to improve the lodging experience and to make Wolf Creek Angler everything you expect your Missouri River fly shop to be and more. It was a tough summer for much of Montana with drought conditions and Hoot Owl Closures most everywhere but not on the MO.
Mid August brought the bears and the wild fires. The drought like conditions made for a poor Choke Cherry year which brought an abundance of black bears to Wolf Creek where the banks along Little Prickly Pear Creek offered some of the few concentrations of choke cherries to be found in the area. Dry conditions also brought wild fires, one of which struck very close to home near Holter Lake causing the evacuation of the campgrounds and the closure of Beartooth Road. We had a few days of sharing the river with the helicopters and planes scooping water to pour on the fires but a soaking rain helped get things under control and things soon returned to normal with access to The Bull Pasture restored.
The late August-early September ghost town was replaced by a very busy fall as traffic returned to the river in droves. Not coincidentally we welcomed Zach King to the WCA staff in mid-October just in time for the rush. We’re super-stoked to have Zach on board.
Wolf Creek Angler 2015 Guide Crew. Pictured Left to Right Brock Long, Matt Mortenson, Luke Koerten, Matt Hargrave, Jason Orzechowski, Russ Dobrzynski, Jim Murray, Darrel DeLeon, Eric Mondragon
We celebrated another great Wolf Creek Angler season at the end of October and spent the first half of November enjoying solitude and great fishing on the Missouri.
The last weeks of the year have been quiet as expected but looking back on the season as a whole we have definitely exceeded our expectations from a business standpoint with steady growth in lodging and retail and a huge uptick in guide trips, an area we were very focused on in 2015 and one which we will continue to grow.
We’re looking forward to an awesome 2016. We’ve had a great start with bookings and we’re excited about new products soon to arrive at WCA. We are so thankful to you, our customers for allowing us to realize this dream and we remain firmly committed to doing everything we can to earn your business and to become your Missouri River Fly Shop of choice.
We can’t wait to see you in 2016. Cheers!!
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