The morning of June 25th, 2011 dawned clear and at 7:30 A.M. the air temperature was a balmy 45 degrees, those cool temperature ensured that there was no early morning surface action. The Yellowstone River was holding steady and had not overrun the spring creeks, today we would once again be fishing the fabled waters of Armstrong's Spring Creek. The anglers I was fishing had started their trip on the 18th of June and they had put in long hours and had decided that today was going to be conduct in a more leisurely manner.

The bump on my fin normally would have meant nothing at all, except for the fact that I was in a pond and was not kicking at the moment. Whatever it was had hit me pretty hard, and my mind was calculating quickly just how big of a snapping turtle it may have been? That's when it exploded!  The water that is, and directly behind me! Had I not been strapped into my float tube by my bungee corded apron, I may have launched myself completely out of the thing, and onto the nearby shore.

It was a day off. The ice is not on the ponds so it was time to go out. The temperature was about 40 degrees, but the wind was blowing about 30miles per hour. Not the best of times to go, but the opportunity was there. I choose a pond where I knew there are some trees that will block the wind. I can't cast over about 35 feet, but not being blown away will help. No canoe on this trip as it was just too windy to try that.

I have been fishing one of the most heavily fished still waters on the eastern side of Washington State, and I have tied several scud patterns. Each of them has a spot in my still water box but I came up with a simple and most effective pattern ever.

What I learned about scuds is that they develop an "orange-hot-spot" caused by internal parasites. Some might refer as "pregnant spot" but the fact is "dying spot" that makes any still water trout gorge on dying scuds.

Dear angling friend:

It's been a long time since I composed a newsletter and I do apologize for the lapse but I had to complete a revision of the Rocky Mountain Berry Book.

Let me cover the history aspects first. In 2011 we saw astounding snow pack levels, torrential rains, and mind-boggling floods. Ft. Smith was cut off from the outside world for a couple of days due to the flooding of Rotten Grass Creek and Lodge Grass Creek and the Little Big Horn. The flows in the Bighorn River reached 15,500 cfs during July.

I can't speak for everybody, or maybe even anybody but myself, when I answer that question. I can tell you why I do it, and that is about all. I wish there was one good, cookie cutter answer to this question. Most of my co-workers don't fish much, if at all, and I often have difficulty enjoying their company because of their obvious character flaws. They sometimes ask me why I am so passionate about fishing; actually they say something closer to, "Shut up about the damn fish already, we get it, you like to fish!" or something along those lines.

The Telling of Waters is the second book on the author Ralph E. Long and his adventures with a fly rod. This time he begins each story with a detailed pencil sketch of the subject of the story, which is a very nice touch. These are stories of trout, pan fish, steelhead and catfish all captured on Ralph's flies.

My first experience on a real spring creek occurred in September of 1971 when three guys from Michigan made a trip to Idaho, Montana and Wyoming for the exclusive purpose of fly fishing for trout. Prior to this trip all of my fly fishing had been confined to the streams of Michigan and New York. While Michigan's Au Sable has many spring creek like characteristics it lacks many of the characteristics that define a true spring creek. However, I owe my subsequent successes on spring creek waters to the lessons I learned while fishing on the Au Sable River.