Crusade Day 2: What is and what ought to be

Today we floated the Yaak River, a remarkably pristine drainage by modern standards. It was not a day about numbers(there was no shortage of fish) or size. It was wholly about coaxing native, wild rainbow trout tothe fly in water which they'd arrived in thousands of years ago by their own accord and by no hand of man. It was about seeing those fish strike a fly as if it were the first they'd ever seen and the last they might see. It was about pink cheeks and silver sides and slashy rises at sloppy casts. It was about two-weights bent to the cork by 9-inchers. It was... exactly what it should be.

 Of course, the most memorable trips always involve some hitches along the way. A powerful windstorm had rolled through the Yaak Valley just a couple of days prior to our arrival. In it's wake a left a number of 100 ft. + tall widow makers across the width of the river. Sean and I did a little road maintenance, then went back to handlin' bidniss...