When I came back from Andros Island the river in front of the house was completely froze over. Since then it has been fairly warm and the ice broke up and we are fishing again. I talked to a couple people who were fishing up near Dewey where it never freezes over and they were doing quite well on pheasant tails, san juans and egg patterns.
Aside from the fishing the recreational activities in the Big Hole Valley now are endless. There is skiing at Lost Trail or Maverick Mountain, cross country skiing on groomed trails at Mount Hagen and Elk Horn and unlimited non-groomed trails just about any where you want to go. There are also about 200 miles of groomed snowmobile trails and endless miles of back country areas you can explore. A great ride is from Wise River over the top to the Grasshopper Valley which is about 40 miles. The scenery is fantastic and their are numerous trails leading off either side to the East and West Pioneer Mountains. When dropping off into the Grasshopper Valley you have to make a pit stop at the Grasshopper Inn. This is a bar, restuarant and lodge which is owned by a friend of mine. Tucker used to own a ranch near Divide and sold it as he said ranching was getting to be too much work. He then bought the Grasshopper Inn and thought this would be much easier than ranching—-was he in for a surprise. However he is having a lot of fun there and it’s a great place to go. You can visit his site at Grasshopperinn.com.