Had I known this, I never would have been so eager to hit that right-at-dark summer caddis hatch that is so famous and productive on Montana’s Missouri River. Fact is, I wonder if it’s even safe to roam the streets of Craig and neighboring towns at night. I mean, this sighting occurred in 1977, but we don’t know how long bigfoot lives. Maybe it was a juvenile trying his luck at the outskirts of town, lonely, keeping an eye out for the barmaids and waitresses wandering out of Izaak’s. Desperation possibly. How many Sasquatch are out there? If this was a male you couldn’t blame him for slinking around. And think about this dude 35 years later. Wandering through the trees alone probably gets old, like trying to get a decent date in Browning. Better to snag a mate and steal away to a cave in the Little Belts, right? Hey, I don’t even know if I’m a believer, but if you visit Craig or even the outskirts of Helena to slam down on those rainbows and browns, you better have a strong headlamp, a good time in the 100-yard dash, and a tight fitting chastity belt. Just saying.
Got a Squatch story to share with Tonic? Send us a note and we’ll put them up, give some Redington and Sage gear away for the best one. Here’s the Missouri River report from the Bigfoot Field Research Station:
YEAR: 1977
SEASON: Summer
MONTH: August
STATE: Montana
COUNTY: Lewis and Clark County
LOCATION DETAILS: along the eastern shore of the Missouri River about 3/4 mile below Hauser Dam, northeast of Helena
NEAREST TOWN: Helena/Craig
OBSERVED: I had hiked downstream on the Missouri River from Hauser Dam for an evening of flyfishing for rainbow trout. This was during August, 1977. As usual, I kept fishing until well after dark. About 11:00 p.m., there was no moonlight and it was so dark I could only see a few feet in front of me. I had a large flashlight/lamp with me which I laid on a large boulder with my flybox. Just below the boulder, I placed some rocks in a circle near the river’s edge to put my trout so they would keep fresh.
I was fishing about 20 yards upstream of the boulder that held my lamp when I suddenly realized that I had lost my fly. I proceeded back towards the boulder to put on another fly. As I approached the boulder I could see some kind of movement but it was too dark to make out what it was. When I reached the boulder, I switched on my lamp with the beam pointing above the boulder towards some brush up the steep embankment. I was startled to hear a crackling sound and see movement from the brush.
I pointed the beam directly at the movement only 10 feet from me and got a full view of a hairy Read More at The Bigfoot Field Research Station website.