Dry Flies, Rivers, Trout & Tarpon.: MO Changes

As I leave the MO this morning, it's with a bit of a lump. The proposed changes to the Wolf Creek Bridge access area and campsites are going to become a reality. Wednesday, the fire pits and a couple of signs were removed, and FWP personnel told me camping was free. On many of my fishing trips, its the places that I return to that keep me coming back. Hell, a guy can catch a trout anywhere. But this little place, though not particularly scenic and certainly not off the beaten path, has so many vivid memories over the decades. Spot number one, which I get more often than not, has a perfect view of the river, the hatches, how many fish are rising, and the sky cover for the foreseeable future.

Seeing this place conjures up swarms of caddis over the bushes on summer evenings. When you open the truck door, its full of 'em. Same with the trailer. Tricos covering the truck and trailer at dawn. Days hunkered inside waiting out a storm. Quick runs to Wolf Creek for ice and ice cream. Summer wind storms trying to blow anything outside away. Walking the boat from the campsite to the river right below the bridge to embark on another float to California Island, Lone Tree, or Craig. That place were you walk under the bridge and look upriver at all the heads coming up to eat caddis and PMD's in July and August. I've met some great people here. It's been a rendezvous spot with "Gunner" Dorian for around 30 years. I've enjoyed walking down the boat ramp at dusk and casting caddis to the numerous big fish feeding in the slow water just out from the ramp.

OK, its not going anywhere, but the campsites will change, and there will only be three instead of seven. (Good luck getting one in the summer). It just won't have the same feel, probably not even close. There's camping in Craig, with no internet/phone, and never an empty spot. Stickney has a few, but who want's to be there? And there's still the little shady spot 6 miles up Prickly Pear for the hot summer days. But, there's no place like home, in number one, riverside, at Wolf Creek Br. It will be no more.

Soon, pavement will cover the place, and it will be more like a developed campground instead of seven little posts with picnic tables that don't match up to the site numbers. We never did figure out which side of the posts sites 2-7 really sat on. I did, they were on the left of the posts, but the picnic tables didn't match! The mystery will die, unsolved. "Pave paradise, put up a parking lot." They did it on the Fork at the Log Jam some 20 years ago, and its better for it now. Changing this one just doesn't feel good. With a bit of sadness, I pull away. Will probably be back in a couple three weeks. Hopefully it hasn't started yet.