BIGHORN RIVER 2008

BIGHORN RIVER 2008 Trip Report
April 6-10 2008
Kingfisher Lodge, Ft. Smith, Montana
15 hrs CE
Soft Tissue Surgery
Dr. Steve Birchard

IAFFV was founded on the premise that meetings of small groups of people with like interests will produce highly effective continuing educational experiences. Veterinarians are a diverse group of people. The occupational opportunities vary widely within the veterinary medical profession even within groups such as small animal practitioners. The common denominator of fly fishing opens avenues of communication and interaction that does not often occur when groups of veterinarians gather for continuing education. A remote site for a meeting helps as well, by reducing everyday distractions and putting all attendees on an equal footing.

GUESS WHAT?! IT WORKS!! The Bighorn meeting produced just such outstanding group chemistry. When you have experienced this happening it is a beautiful thing indeed. Steve Birchard, our speaker, was excellent by facilitating the discussions of soft tissue surgery and bringing out participation from each member of the group. Surgery is a professional endeavor that most veterinarians relish and enjoy, so there was great enthusiasm for this topic. There was a great range in experience within the group. These experiences were freely shared between group members. I estimated that among the 14 present there is 470 years of veterinary professional experience. Even the lone equine practitioner had experiences to share. The attendees were, Doug Andrews of Portland, Maine; Brad Baker of Oshawa, Ontario, Canada; Tony Evangelista of Concord, Ohio; Mike Lemelin of Fair Haven, Massachusetts; Paul Major of Ste-Marthe, Quebec, Canada; Michael Mulvany of Del Mar, California; Larry Mitchell of Indianapolis, Indiana; Don Sawyer, of Okemos, Michigan; Joe Seng of Huntley, Illinois; Stuart Sherburne of Winterport, Maine; Les Martin of Winnemucca, Nevada; Bob Schleiffarth of Niles, Michigan; Walt Weirich of Tucson, Arizona; and our speaker Steve Birchard of Columbus, Ohio.

Our days started at 6:30 AM with 1 hour of CE before and after breakfast and then to the river by 9:30. We were off the river and back to the lodge by 5:00 with a 3rd hour of CE and dinner at 7:30. Five or six in our group caught fish over 24 inches (Mike, Brad, Larry, Stu, Bob and I think Joe). This river has some really big fish and most everyone had at least one when they caught more than 20 fish 14 inches or better. Two caught carp over 10 pounds. An interesting observation was that the fish 18 to 20 inches put up a better fight than the fish in the 24 inch class. We spent out time either fishing from the boats or wading in the shallows. It was rarely necessary to make a cast longer than 20 feet. Nymphing was the fishing technique that was used most, but dry flies worked if we had some mid-day sun. The water temperature remained at about 39 degrees so no buggers or streamers. A big dry fly with a trailing nymph size 18 - 22 caught lots of fish. The dry flies that worked when the fish were rising were blue winged olives; no midges because of the delayed spring. The weather was a bit chilly at times, but most were prepared for it. You would think that a guy from Portland, Maine would have the least problem with cold feet---but it didn't work out that way. If you have ever fished for steelhead you will know what I am talking about. The wind was bad for only short periods, for which we were all very grateful. Matt and Kari McMeans of Kingfisher Lodge provided gourmet meals and took care of us in outstanding fashion.

I think everyone had a great experience. The discussions that occurred separate from the formal presentations centered on the attributes of fine scotch and sour mash whiskey, the relative merits of a spey rod, outstanding fish photos and management of IAFFV. All slots are filled for the April 10 15, 2010 but I can put you on the waiting list.

Dr. Walt Weirich
Organizer
6/1/08