2008 Frenzy Recap

This years Frenzy was like no other...or wait maybe it was? How would I know this was only my second year particapating as a true F'er. Before I get into any details I need to give a quick background of what the Frenzy really is and how it came to past. The Frenzy was started 7 years ago as a few choice fisherman decided they needed to leave life, marriage, kids, and work and enter into the unknown world of a fish bum for a 5 day adventure that would change their life. Since the first Frenzy had such a deep effect on these men they decided to make the last week in May an annual occurance. This year the Frenzy started well before its offical date (June 12-16th) with the advent of trash talking emails and bragging rights posts to the Frenzy blog. The anticapation was thick and I don't think anyone really got anything done at work in the week leading up to the Frenzy. The 2008 Frenzy began as little groups started merging together and migrating to a little town up north we like to call Rexburg. Dave Hancey, Brent (Hoss), and myseft road together in Dave nascar truck. After what seemed like a short drive, we arrived to Chubbs private lake to be greeted by a 20 minute down pour of rain. That didn't stop Hoss though. He got out and was ready to hit the lake as Dave and I hung out in the dry truck. There must have been some karma in Hoss's actions, because right off the bat he saddled up a hog Bow and was the first on the board. We were greeted by Gene and Hoss jumped on with him. So the match was on! Dave and Travis vs Hoss and Gene. It was fun everytime someone would hook up with a Bow that boat would would let out a confident yeeehaaaa!!! We all caught tons of bass and each of us hooked up with a big bow that satified our hunger for large trout. But like most hungry boys we needed some Craigos, "all you can eat pizza" to fullfil that craving. So we meet up with the rest of the F'ers for the official Frenzy 2008 kick off dinner. (Travis and Dave received a penalty for getting salads) After rolling out of Craigo's we hit up the local Wal-Mart of Rexburg called ???. To get zingers, energy drinks, and I guess a little bit of normal food and more zingers of course. On this Frenzy we were going to live in style. Hoss got us all top of the line frenzy appearel (Hats and Shirts) to match are top of the line f'ing attitudes. The next stop was Chubb's Island Park cabin where we got unpacked, set up the XBox, hungout and waited for Dave and Hoss. (They stopped and fished Henry's Fork for a chance at some caddis) That night Hoss, Dave and I tied flies as the rest of the crew Chubbs, Gene, Jake and Yetter played some serious boxing. Jake, must have been tired, because he moved just as much as the player he controled.

The next morning we woke up before I shut my eyes completely to go to sleep, at least it felt like it. We had one thing in mind and that was the world famous Madison River below Hegben Lake. We raced as fast as we could to get there. At least that's what Dave was thinking when he passed Chubbs and the crew going 130 MPH. The river was a little high as expected, but the water was crystal clear and perfect for some early moring nymphing. We each found our battle grounds on the river and right off the bat started hooking up with fiesty Rainbows, Whities and an occasional Brown. My favorite spot on this trip was the back point of the island. There was a nice run and a big deep eddy right below. I spent as well as the rest of the crew alot of time there catching fish after fish on San Juans, zebra midges, copper johns and ap emergers. On the other hand Hoss and Dave crossed the river (Crazy!!!) and found their own little unfished honey hole where hoss caught 5 fish in a row on a green caddis. As we all started getting hungry we made our way to West Yellowstone, stopping to throw a couple casts in Hegben and then off to the Beartooth for some tasty BBQ and cheese fries to die for. With some advice from Bud Lily's Fly Shop we decided to hit the Box Canyon for the chance to hit the coveted Samonfly hatch. Just like last year, by the end of the float we were mad, confidence shattered, 100 flies short and ready to write off this section of the Henry's. Hoss even got a "Thumbs Up" from a guide when he asked him how the fishing was. That made Hoss's day. I'm just glad they were far enough away that Hoss couldn't swim over there to beat him up and eat him for dinner. Since our confidence was gone, we (Hoss and I, Dave was too tired) decided to stop by the Buffalo River to get some of it back. It was just what we needed little Brookies and Bows on dry flies. After a handful of those and a taste of the beautiful scenery. We were ready to return back to the Cabin for some hamburgers, hot dogs and of course some Zingers and a Monster. Since we hadn't had enough fishing for one day. Dave (Who wanted to go) , Hoss and I stopped by the Henrys Lake Outlet to check it out. No fish, but we limited out on a stunning Island Park sunset.

The next morning started out alot like the former except we sleep in an hour longer. Which was needed. We hit the Madison again and this time we knew what to expect. Everyone caught plenty of fish and just as always. The Madison didn't disapoint one bit. It was fun to hook up with Yetter, Gene and Jake as we all fished the Island and all caught and released some nice Bows and whities as the rest of the crew that crossed the river were getting into their own fish. On the way out of the canyon we stopped at Randy Harrops shop and got to talk to him and get some of his wise advice. He told us about Cliff Lake and how it was fishing well, so we had to try it out. As we pulled up to the lake we were stunned at its raditant ocean blue water and green pine tree back drop. About 30 seconds after Yetters first cast he hooked into a nice bow and then another. Then Gene landed three in a row. It was looking like it was going to be a fast action day, but the bite slowed down after that for our boat. Hoss won big fish honors with his 22 inch bow and the other boats caught fish too. The highlight of Cliff Lake wasn't the fishing, but the huge rope swing that caught our attention. We were bugging a couple girls about going off, when they dared us to go off. We said ok and next thing we knew we were half stripped down( well some of us, Chubbs?) flying through the air and into the icy high mtn lake. It was a blast and a much needed break. To top of the experience we gave the two Montana girls a ride back to their camp on the drift boat, while finding out that they had just recently done Acid and while in the boat smoking up a bowl of Pot with Yetters help.(one heck of a wind stop yetter) Pretty dang amazing who you will find in Montana! After fishing and breaking my fly rod, we packed up the Island Park cabin and headed to the Victor manison. Pretty nice place for a bunch of dirty, stinky fishermen. When we arrived at the house it was pretty late, but we still had enough energy to try the pond that was in the backyard. After fishing mice and streamers with no love we decided there were no fish in the pond and went to bed.

As I woke up the next morning I was determined to catch a fish out of Chubb's pond, but just like the night before no bites and not even the sign of a fish. That was just fine cause we had the South Fork on our list today. The water had dopped from 18,000 cfs to around 13000 cfs, but compared to the Madison it was raging and a little off colored. We had three different boats on the water. Travis's, Slice of Lime, Dave's Aluminun Dory and Yetter's White Water Machine. I fished with Hoss and Dave on this float (Dam to Conant) and just like the master fly fishermen they have become we started catching fish on big streamers right off the bat. Later in the day we switched to a deep nymphing rig to get our flies down to where the fish were hanging out. The flies of choice were large rubberlegs, yellow sallies nymphs, san jauns and glow bugs. The highlight of this float was the adventure down one of the small side streams. We almost died trying to stop, then out of no where Chubb's hooks up with a monster Cutt-Bow that takes him and Gene down the river to try and land the monster trout. The real fun came when Hoss spotted a large redd with actively spawning Cutts. These were big mature colorful fish that had one thing in mind, getting it on! Over the next hour Hoss, Dave and I caught and released a haft dozen of these magificent creatures. It was amazing to watch the fish swim into position to intercept the glowbug and then fight like mad. The rest of the float everyone caught and released plenty of fish, but the surprise of the trip was when Hoss hooked up with a 10# Sucker that we invisioned being a trophy Brown. It gave him an awesome fight and was still a trophy of a fish, even though no one will say it is. To help out with Fish and Game we decided that we were going to keep all Rainbow trout we caught, so with 5 Bows in the cooler we were set to have a fish fry that night. Which I hope was good because I cooked them and no one threw up or got sick. Later that night as the rest of the crew was playing boxing and watching some crazy show. Dave and I snuck out to the upper pond that we knew had fish in it. (we saw one at least jump) This was by far my favorite part of the 08 Frenzy, because it was scary, wild and proof that putting in the time sometimes pays off. So we got to the big pond as it was dark 10 pm. I put on a PMX after about ten casts, I saw a big splash where my fly was and I had a big fish on for about 3 seconds. I thought, ok now we know there are fish in here, now I have to find out what they are eating. After one other bite on the dry. I had a hunch to try a black bugger that I really like. It was the ticket! On my second cast I hooked into a fat 17-19 inch Cutt-Bow that fought hard. After that it was all over I caught and missed several Cutts in that same age class for the next two hours. Dave was getting mad at me cause his luck wasn't going so good, but on the last bend it all changed as he landed a nice Cutt to top off the night.

The last day of the Frenzy was a bitter sweet day. On the positive side we were going to fish the South Fork again from Byington to Lorenzo, but on the negative side it was going to be over before we knew it. On this float I fished with Gene and Jake who were great company and who sure could catch some fish. In fact everyone caught lots of fish this float it was just one of those days when the Cutts, Browns and Bows were feeding the whole day. We estimated that between the three boats over 100 fish were landed in the short 5 hours that we fished. I will never forget pulling up to the endless supply of log jammed runs that were perfect for catching big browns. Which we did on 8 accounts in the same spot or Gene trying to fight a big fish as we went down the bridge rapids. Too bad we didn't have enough time to fish the last 5 miles of river. This was a great float and a picture perfect ending to such a remarkable trip that symbolizes friendships, appreciation of nature and all her beauty and a feeling of freedom from such a heckic world. So after all this when people ask me how the Frenzy was, I answer back with a smile and a "thumbs up", because they would never really understand how great it really was.