And up until we were about to part ways, neither of us knew of our connection, at least until A.J. Michnevich mentioned something about his father moving West from New Jersey in the early ’70s.
After bouncing around the West looking for the right spot to resettle, the elder Michnevich bought some acreage fronting Rock Creek.
A.J. had read a story of mine some time back where I mentioned that I’d sworn off Rock Creek. Didn’t care for group therapy, I believe I said.
A.J. and I bumped into each other shortly after that story appeared and he approached me, said he had a place up Rock Creek and would call me sometime to arrange a float.
It was nice meeting an appreciative reader, but I thought I’d heard the last from him. Offers like that are often extended, but rarely realized.
I love it when I’m wrong like that. A.J. called one day last week and the next day myself, A.J. and his banana-eating dog Baxter were breezing down Rock Creek, me in the money seat, pounding the banks with salmonflies.
At least that was my intention, but I often left the fly short, which can make all the difference.
“From a boat, the secret is getting close to the bank,’’ said Doug Persico of Rock Creek Mercantile. “That’s the biggest secret. If you’re a foot from the bank, that’s too far out. Eight inches is OK.”
Of course, the window for fishing from a boat on Rock Creek closed on July 1, but it’s unlikely the fish will stop gulping salmonflies anytime soon.
“In a normal year, they generally first come out in the third to fourth week in May,” Persico said. “This year they were very late; we didn’t get any until the second week in June. They move upstream a couple miles a day. Once they get up beyond Harry’s Flat, you will get secondary hatches. You can have bugs out on the upper end for probably three weeks.”
As of last week, Rock Creek wasn’t what I would describe as wadable, but it’s been dropping fast since then. Persico said waders should still be very careful in the high water.
“Find a spot where you can cast with the willows hanging over the bank and cast under the willows,” he recommended.
After a little bit of a slow start, I began to get my fly where it needed to be and the fish were very agreeable. But for every fish I landed, I missed probably four more.
“That’s par for the course,” Persico said, which was exactly what I wanted to hear.
The way I figured it, there were two factors at play. One, the water was moving so quickly that it was easy for the fish to miss the fly (rather than me missing the fish). Two, because of the swift-moving water, it didn’t take long before the fly started to drag, and a dragging salmonfly will get the attention of fish, but it’s tougher for them to snare.
“If you’re going to be really successful, you have to get drag-free floats,” Persico said. “If you’re fishing from a boat, you have to be a good mender.”
I had a good man on the oars. A.J. kept us out of the snags and invariably on the correct bank.
And now I see what all the fuss is about. The river’s beauty is undeniable. Growing up on the East Coast, this is what I pictured when I thought of a mountain stream.
There’s no denying that it’s a popular river as well, although fishing it from a boat gave a much greater sense of roominess.
Rock Creek will be back in my rotation. Thanks again, A.J.
Sports editor Bob Meseroll can be reached at 523-5265 or at sportsdesk@missoulian.com for invitations to float any river. His fishing column appears on Thursdays in the Outdoors section.
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