Al Kaplan thoroughly enjoying every minute of his time here in Wolf Creek.

Al Kaplan thoroughly enjoying every minute of his time here in Wolf Creek.

Getting frustrated with the fishing?

There are definitely worse things you could be doing than spending your summer vacation fishing the Missouri. Sure it can be tough out there but is it really that bad?

We’ve heard a fair amount about how tough it is out there over the past week and while we all hope for awesome fishing all of the time it simply doesn’t work that way. The flows are better than what we had expected earlier in the season, the water temps have been good, there are plenty of fish and plenty of opportunities available to those willing to work hard at it. From where we sit the glass is more than half full! It’s not all bad. Fishing can be tough but it’s day to day and it will always get better….eventually.

We’ve got an awesome guest staying with us named Al Kaplan. Al is a bus driver from New York and this is his third trip to Wolf Creek and  the Missouri. Al adds a few days to his trip each year, in fact he’s here for three weeks this time around.

Each afternoon when Al returns from his morning of fishing I ask him how his day was. His response is always the same. He responds that he had a great day. If you ask him whether he caught fish or not he will tell you but that answer never has any bearing on his daily response of having had  a great day. Sometimes he catches fish – sometimes he doesn’t. Catching fish is not what makes or breaks a day for Al Kaplan and we can all learn something from him.

It is not lost on us that people spend a bunch of money and time to come here and fish the Missouri and when the fishing is tough it can be frustrating but we ought not let ourselves get bogged down in that frustration.

Al gets it! He gets the big picture and he loves Montana and the Missouri and the entire experience regardless of how many fish he does or doesn’t catch, of how many caddis there are, of how windy it is, of how many people are on the river etc, etc, etc.

So while we appreciate and sympathize with the frustration that goes along with tough fishing we should all strive to take it in stride and appreciate the experience for all that it affords us. And who knows, tomorrow is another day and fishing might just be spectacular but whether it is or isn’t , a day spent under the Big Sky on the waters of the Mighty MO is a Great day in our opinion regardless of the fish counts.

Stay Strong!