Winter 1978 TROUT magazine

[John Rhoades]

In 1971, a couple years after I had graduated from college and I was just starting in my career, I purchased a large cherry slant top desk that I used to tie flies at and store much of my fly tying materials. The desk has a glass enclosed bookcase on the top where I kept my books related to fly fishing and tying, and the bottom has 4 large drawers, 3 of which I filled with fur, feathers and other fly tying items.

When the slant top is opened and I put my tying vice, tools and hooks on it (which was sometimes for months at a time) I could not get into the top drawer, so I used that drawer over the years to keep a few old magazines and other item that I collected and wanted to save. As a result, I only occasionally opened that top desk drawer.

A couple days ago, however, I decided to remove my fly tying materials off the desk top since I had been doing quite a bit of fly tying for the past year, and I cleaned the entire desk, something that was sorely needed.

When I finished cleaning and closing the the slant top, I was finally able to open that top drawer. When I looked inside, I was surprised to find a copy of the 1978 Winter issue of Trout Unlimited’s Trout magazine. This issue was entirely devoted to Montana. I had made my first extended trip to Montana in the summer 1977, and I fell in love with everything about the state including its trout fishing. After reading that issue of Trout magazine back then I apparently put it in my top desk drawer and promptly forgot about it. Now, 40 years later, I found and re-read it.

For those of us who love Montana and it’s trout fishing, this magazine is a gem. There were featured articles in it written by Charles Brooks, mostly about the Madison River, and by George Grant about the Big Hole. There is an article titled “The Last Big River” written by James Posewitz on the Yellowstone River, and comments labeled “what the guides say”, including comments by Dan Bailey, Pat Barnes, Bob Jacklin, Bud Lilly and others.

What REALLY caught my attention though was a featured article in this magazine titled “What Future for Montana Spring Creeks”. The article’s author was described as being 34 years old, and having received his fishing education on Michigan’s Au Sable, he now applies much of that knowledge working at Dan Bailey’s Fly Shop in Livingston, and fishing Montana’s blue ribbon waters. It says he was a Trout Unlimited member since the mid-60’s, Vice-Chairman of the Michigan Council, and heads up TU’s “Save the Yellowstone Fund”.

I’m not going to tell you any more about the author or what that article entailed. I believe it would be best to hear it directly from its author, whom we all know. I’d also love to hear his perspective on Montana and it’s waters today compared to 40 years ago when this magazine was issued.

What do you say, Neil?


John Rhoades