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Thanks for this glimpse of outfitters at their best. I'm going to take a wild guess that this trip was NOT comped in hopes that their operation would be praised in a magazine or blog, right? You were actually paying to be treated with this kind of contempt? I'm very sorry that so many of these guys appear to have entirely lost touch with the romance and bliss that a day on the water still holds for us civilians, but if they can't keep their own miserable, jaded attitudes from corrupting the experience their clients are paying big bucks for, maybe it's time they went back to driving a truck. Anyone for whom fishing has become primarily about money, anyone who can spend that much time in the environment you describe, wishing they were sitting on a barstool somewhere instead, has lost a very precious part of their soul, and I truly pity them. Seriously, guys, how about just getting a hazmat ticket and a CDL and leaving these rivers to those of us who are trying to enjoy them rather than treating them like workplaces? I think the fish could do with a little less pounding as well. There are several rivers here in Montana that I no longer fish (the Beaverhead, the Madison, the Bighorn, to name just a few) because they have been overrun by these misanthropes and their snooty clients (Don't even get me started on the clients.....). Sorry to hear that they are likewise so hard to avoid in Alaska. Excellent piece of writing, Greg. You've probably already guessed, from my own cheery, upbeat attitude, who I am. Hope we can fish the Big Hole sometime soon. Jim