I met Dorothy on the morning of my second day on the Bighorn River this year. Dorothy hails from northern California and has been fishing for a long time and plans on continuing for a long time to come. She loves the Bighorn so much that she bought a mobile home to live in 5 – 6 months out of the year so she could explore and fish and hunt for asparagus and berries. Although her husband has visited a few times, he prefers to remain near the city.
Dorothy and I shared a cup of tea in the morning and talked as if we were childhood friends. While I was there a friendly neighbor stopped by with some home-baked crumb cake and the phone rang several times. This woman is well-loved and an active community participant.
She is also an expert fly-tyer oftentimes displaying her talents at fly-tying events in the western states. She had her tying station all set up and worked regularly on flies she was able to use on her fishing exploits on the Bighorn.
I couldn’t get enough of Dorothy and thus suggested we have dinner together that night, which we did. When I arrived, I met two other Bighorn lovers including Jim Schollmeyer, author of many books and Bob Lay, a Helena resident.
Coincidently, Bob ended up driving back to Helena at the same time I was driving there to fish the Missouri River. Although he left an hour later than I did, he tracked me down on the road and signaled me over to the side of the road so he could take me out for lunch.
Now, tell me. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of this amazing culture???
