Category Archives: Absinthe Lounge
Willie’s Handcrafted Montana Moonshine
Just as I was leaving Ennis, Montana, after seven years, my neighbors sank their teeth into a big-time project—to finance and build a craft distillery in little old Ennis, right next to the banks of the Madison River. They got … Continue reading
Classic Beer Commercial: Pabst
What can I say. It’s Friday, time to have some fun. I’ll be downtown tonight at the First Friday walk in Missoula. I’ll be looking for an ice-cold Pabst, but I won’t be looking for the rest of it. Hope … Continue reading
Memories from Haida Gwaii
Thought I’d throw a little Monday morning photographic love your way and share some images from paradise. See, it’s February now, and in the Pacific Northwest that means the best steelhead of the year are about to arrive—native winter slabs … Continue reading
Bigfoot Alert, Missouri River, Montana
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 … Continue reading
Reasons to Fish This Winter. Because…
So, maybe you need a little incentive to get on the water this winter. You may have some snow on the ground, or it may be raining, but that’s no excuse not to be on the water. The fish are … Continue reading
Brian O’Keefe: Free Lunch Grizzly Bar
Slinging on the Madison in the 1970s. By Brian O’Keefe I think it was ‘round 1978, I was doing a solo trip to Montana after guiding steelhead on the North Umpqua River in Oregon. Thousands of casts and a handful … Continue reading
Trout Saturation, Wyoming’s Wind River Range
Too much trout and a poached Baby Ruth lead to a Mexi-shack miracle. The last time I tried to survive on trout for a week, a major summer storm blew into the mountains and temperatures dropped below freezing. A three-season … Continue reading
Vincent van Gogh
van Gogh—the master and the madman Two of my favorite things are absinthe and Vincent van Goh, so it was nice to find them both in one place, in a video by Kris Kluthe that depicts van Goh’s brilliance and … Continue reading
Hand Drawn Maps
Or how we got lost on the way to Davis Lake. I’ve seen them inked on the backs of envelopes, scribbled on bar napkins, fashioned on the flip side of matchbooks, and even translated to the palms of hands. No … Continue reading
Guys Without Dolls
Guys Without Dolls by Troy Letherman Apparently I’ve got a great ass. Even in waders. I know this because Chugach has made at least seventeen increasingly lurid comments to that effect over the past four days. Discomfort is settling in, … Continue reading






