Spring has long been a season of dread for Montanans. A season of change. The skiers and snowboarders grasp at every last flake of snow before the runs dry up. The snowmobilers begin to grease the tracks and put the covers over the sleds for another season. And the ice fishers put the augers away and ice tents folded for a long spell in the closet until next winter. But the kayakers and fly fisherman rejoice. With the snowmelt comes the movement of both water and fish. And with the coinciding of the ski storage, the fly rod sits patiently next to them in the closet, wagging their tales for the chance of finally getting cast on the waters recently skied weeks prior.

Though summer may take the cake for prime fly fishing with dry fly action, warm days, and sunburned infused smiles, Spring has days of both cold and overcast for the swung streamers as well as the 70 degree sunny days for the blue-winged olives and early caddis.

Now the first day of Spring is March 19, and with anyone who has lived in Montana long enough knows the age-old saying of, “There are two seasons in Montana, winter, and July.” So with this ethos, snow will continue to fall well into April, and the muddied waters of runoff don’t typically show their chocolaty milk face until late April. But that being said, there is a solid month of low and clear conditions on your local watering hole with eager trout just as excited as you are that the days are slowly beginning to change.

With the slow trickle of runoff beginning, worm patterns, larvae, and the typical winter fly patterns will hold firm for most of early Spring. The rainbows begin to spawn, and the egg patterns also become apparent in April. With this, however, please be sure to watch for the spawning Redds as the last thing an angler needs to do is step where trout are breeding.

Come late April when the rivers do blow out, don’t think the fishing has stopped. Add a slightly longer leader and a bit of weight and get those flies down faster as the water is deeper. Be safe as the waters can rise rapidly and without warning, depending on where you are fishing. Waterdata.usgs.gov has most stream flows throughout the state. So be advised before you wade your favorite stream and be knowledgeable about air temperatures and potential runoff heights. Fish will hold close to the banks and are still eating throughout the runoff until summer.

The lakes will begin to break their ice coverage if they haven’t already, and trout will start to look up to the first of the flying insects as well as the pre-emerged. They have been locked under the ice for the last couple of months and will be eager to check out what is going on near the surface. Check out your local fly shop to see which patterns to use for your nearby lake or pond.

Spring, to me, is an exciting time as you can still combine your favorite winter activities while getting a taste of your summer ones. Yes, the lifts in Montana are closed, so what better time to hit the river than now?  The solitude of the water bouncing down the boulders and peace of nature during this hectic time is a remedy of therapy irreplaceable to any prescription from a shrink. Get away from the media and get away from everyone in the depths of Montana’s wilderness and enjoy the change of the season with fly rod in hand!

Readers Are Leaders: Montana Authors Join Together To Celebrate National Reading Month

March is National Reading Month, a time to motivate families and people of all ages to read every day. At Distinctly Montana Magazine, we like to celebrate reading all year-round by bringing you thought-provoking, fun and interesting stories and articles so you can learn more about what makes Montana unique.

Designated as a time to celebrate reading, three local authors joined together to kick-off National Reading Month and shared their stories on Montana’s popular 100.7 XL Country radio station.

Local authors include recently voted 2020 Bozeman’s Choice, ‘Favorite Local Author’, Dave Wooten for his book, ‘Crazy Horse: Where My Dead Lie Buried’, Kyle Steiner, award-winning author for his children’s book series including, ‘Patched’, ‘The Legend of the Squiger’, and ‘Snow Ghost’, and Joe Flynn, author of, ‘The Miracle of Bubba’, a heart-warming story about his beloved Black Lab, Bubba that has been quickly grabbing hearts nationwide.

The three authors discussed the positive benefits of reading regularly and their individual paths of becoming authors. All agreed that reading regularly was the key to becoming writers and authors. Each with a unique background, Dave Wooten’s passion is for history, Kyle is writing creative children’s books and Joe’s love of dogs and the outdoors led him write Bubba’s story. All three wrote their books in Montana.

‘The path for authors is so unique. I’d encourage anyone who loves to read and has an interest in becoming an author to start writing. Just start’, says Joe Flynn.

The benefits of reading include expanded vocabulary, stronger analytical skills, memory improvement and stress reduction, even from as little as 15 minutes of reading a day.

‘There’s so much access to content now days,’ says Dave Wooten, ‘You can digest stories books in audio version, from your kindle, magazine, or my favorite, an old-fashioned book’.

For young children and students, reading is critical for comprehension, education and entertaining. There are even apps available for kids to track their reading, test their comprehension of the book they read and set goals!

Among parents of children 6-17, almost three-quarters (71%) agree, “I wish my children would do more things that did not involve screen time.” The child who is a ‘frequent reader’ reads an average of 44 books per year versus a child who is considered an ‘infrequent reader’ who reads an average of 22 books per year (source: Forbes).

Adults average less than five (5) books per year. Yikes! A great way to get your kids reading is to model the behavior! Make reading enjoyable and find a genre you like or a specific author or series. Many movies also start as books and it’s always fun to compare the book version to the movie version.

To encourage reading and learn more about these Montana authors, Dave Wooten and Joe Flynn will be sharing their stories at the Belgrade Library on Tuesday, 3/31 from 4 p.m. – 6 p.m.

For ideas on how you can celebrate reading or if you need tips on how start good reading habits, here are a few easy and fun ways to keep reading fun:

Use a Reading App: Listed as one of the ‘Top 23 Life-Changing Apps’, Bookling is a mobile app which helps you keep track of your reading habits and motivates you to read more.

‘If you’re dedicated to print books, Bookling is a fun way to see your progress overtime and keep a personal log of the books you’ve read. It’s like a personal Goodreads for introverts! You can set alarms to remind you to read several times a week or daily, which is a fantastic feature for people who claim they’re “too busy” to read. I love the bright, animated interface and that it keeps me accountable to crack open a book instead of opening Facebook.’ BuzzFeed staff member (source: https://misterbumbles.com/bookling).
 

Choose a theme: Whether you enjoy history, animals, biographies on interesting people, fairytales, outer space, or sci-fi, pick up a book on a theme and enjoy reading!

Read for 15 minutes a day: Set a little time aside, it doesn’t have to be a lot, and read for 15 minutes a day to start a habit. Before you know it, you’ll be finishing that new book!

Visit the library: Libraries are a beautiful place for the community to gather with a wide selection of books and resources. It’s a fun place to spend time with family or hide away and read a good book. Library visits are on the rise and also give you that sense that you're contributing to your civic duty within the community. Enjoy the incredible resources our city has to offer, get a library card and check out some books for the family!

Enjoy an audiobook: Audiobooks are another creative way to get into reading, especially if you’re in the car a lot (spring break road trips, etc.). Introduce your kids to the joy of audiobooks or radio theatre.

Montana is full of independent bookstores and resources, making it enjoyable to dive into a new genre or topic, read an autobiography or go back in time with a historical novel. Get the whole family reading together. Share with us your favorite book or author in our Facebook group.