Before I turn this post into a trippy, winding conversation about music, let me give you the latest update on the book. The publisher has posted an excerpt on his website so click here if you’d like to read Chapter Two. As exciting as it is to see my words posted on his website, I can’t imagine how much fun it is going to be to have the actual book in hand! October. We are still tracking for an October release.

And now, about the music…

A few weeks ago after a day of fishing on the Big Hole with the Professor, Little Chick and my parents, we enjoyed a fantastic meal at the Old Hotel in Twin Bridges. Somehow (and by somehow I mean after lots of wine) we came up with the hilarious idea of turning my soon-to-be-published book into a musical theater production, PADDLEFISH THE MUSICAL.

I can’t share all the bizarre song ideas and choreography that we brainstormed…because I don’t remember them. But trust me, it was riotous. You see, I know my musicals. When I was a kiddo, my mother used to take me down to the Dallas County Fairgrounds or where ever that is where they host the Texas State Fair and the Cotton Bowl. Well, they would also show Broadway musicals year round. So I am well-prepped for a Broadway sing-off anywhere, anytime. Bring it. Sound of Music, Oklahoma, The King and I, My Fair Lady, Cats, Evita.

Oh, give me a balcony and I can rock ‘Don’t Cry for Me Argentina’.

While an off off off Broadway musical production of PADDLEFISH is likely not in the cards, nor in my publishing agreement, music was a very big part of the whole race experience, from training to the finish line. For example…

Don’t forget that yall helped create a killer and comprehensive playlist of river songs to keep me inspired in the months leading up to the race.

And of course there were the songs I listened to at the gym on the rowing machine on my playlist ‘Row Against the Machine’. Favorites to fake row to include: Errtime, Jive Talkin’, Mo Money Mo Problems, Nasty Girl, Workin’ Day and Night, and lots lots more.

Plus there were the tunes Banning and I sang to pass the time during training runs in the canoe, especially the bay training. Mostly good Willie Nelson and many rounds of Janis Joplin’s ‘Me and Bobby McGee’.

Finally, Phil and I came up with our own set of songs to sing during the actual race. The only musical genre that we both knew (and could remember the lyrics to in our sleep-deprived state) seemed to be Soft Rock from the 70s. We rocked a lot of Firefall, Eagles, Don McLean and Jimmy Buffet. The main songs we sang over and over and over were: ‘You Are The Woman’, ‘Take It Easy’, and ‘American Pie’. Oh, and a rendition of Jimmy Buffet’s ‘Why Don’t We Get Drunk and Screw’…but we changed the lyrics to sing about Team Paddlefish and the race.

And because you probably aren’t spinning these tunes on your ipod today, I have taken the liberty of pulling them together in a little playlist for you. I dare you not to enjoy this nostalgic musical jaunt back to the 70s…

[if you are reading this post via email, you may need to click through to my site to view/listen to the playlist. cheers.]

Until next time…

I am not over the rainbows.

Still love ‘em. Caught this on the Missouri on this evening’s caddis hatch.

We have been back in Montana for about one week and while we have been on the water a bit, mostly we have been enjoying family, laughing a ton and eating extremely well.

In terms of the fishing, highlights include: floating the Missouri with my new niece (the Professor’s niece) who tricked a few fish into eating on top including two takes on a fly we were told would absolutely not work. Next was floating the Big Hole with the Professor, Little Chick and my parents. Highlight was how hard Little Chick fished and the big rainbow that came unbuttoned on her. Yesterday we all had a blast on the Madison where we caught a record number of trout in the 6-10 inch range.

Where to start with the food? One day we ventured to Augusta to look at the art at Latigo and Lace. We left with many goodies, including a 1950s vintage leather western jacket and some cowboy boots Miss Kitty wore in Gunsmoke. We celebrated our shopping across the street at the Buckhorn Bar with copious amounts of fried food including jalapeno cheese tater tots, mozarella sticka and cheesy curly fries.

That night we feasted at home with family on delicious ribeyes grilled to perfection by my brother-in-law Randy. My mother cooked the rest including off-the-chart mixed berry cobbler, topped with homemade whipped cream that niece Margaret made with nephew Jack’s careful consultation.

Sadly the next evening wasn’t nearly as delightful. My mother, Little Chick and I dined at Izaaks in Craig which is under new management. I had heard negative reports and wow, they were right. Across the board the service was so atrocious and it was such a negative experience we are struggling to ever go back. To be fair, the manager was very apologetic and my mom’s pasta was delish. But they have some work to do there.

We turned things around the next night in Sheridan with the Professor on the grill. Incredible pork tenderloin, grilled vegetables, roasted potatoes, topped off with key lime pie. All made for great leftovers on the river the next day…

Then we had a splendid family dinner the next night at the Old Hotel in Twin Bridges!! Calamari, rabbit cacciatore, scallops, steaks, risotto. It was fantastic and we loved our server Rachel, who by the way had just eloped with her new husband after they had only spent three days together. Romantic!

And of course, after fishing the Madison yesterday, we couldn’t pass through Ennis without stopping in at our favorite: Banditos. Great to see our friend Scott and take my parents for their first time. After we all shared the Queso Fundido appetizer of cheese, potato, peppers and chorizo, I had the crab enchiladas. They were so good last night that I might just have the leftovers for breakfast.

Today we are switching gears. Less food, more fishing. After many chores we will head back over to the Missouri later today. While my pounds are on the rise, the Mo has finally dropped and is holding steady round 10k. No time to worry about the bathroom scales, our minds are on fish scales. Stay tuned for the report…

(One more update from the past week. We finalized the PADDLEFISH manuscript and sent it to the designer. We are in a new phase! The book is in layout, they are working on a map and cover design, we are trying to pick the interior photo shots. Progress!!)

We were in Montana for 2.5 weeks ready-to-wear the trout out, but record snowpack and high water were the big  statewide trend, limiting our runway to play. But with a little creative ingenuity we found fishable trout streams and uncovered some gems. The big buzz? Brown trout are all the rage this season.

and…..

The adrenalin rush of big browns eating big bugs was the only panancea that could ease the pain of the walking (nay fishing) wounded. The Professor has a vicious case of tendonitis in his elbow while I have lower back pain again. His hurts while playing fish, mine hurts pulling up the anchor. After catching this monster brown, and jumping out of the boat to land it downstream, the Professor announced, “I can’t fish anymore.”

To which I rubbed my back and replied, “Perfect, I can’t row.”

It was all worth it as we hobbled up the boat ramp at day’s end…

Fork in the road–as in Henry’s Fork. With Montana rivers flooding their banks the Professor and I chose to venture down to the Henry’s Fork in Idaho for three or four days. Grey drakes and caddis were abundant but we really struck gold with the golden stones. Our power float the last day was epic.

The Professor and I enjoyed a spectacular day spring creek fishing with friends Tammy & Eric in the Ruby Valley. Yall have heard me talk about Eric, he and Ryan own Sunrise Flyshop. When I have a computer and more time remind me to post pictures of the homemade “pate” that Eric concocted that tickled me to no end and was really quite delicious.

But back to fishing. Glorious weather. Spring creeks offering safe harbour from the choas of high rivers. PMD hatch. Everyone else was making it happen with dries but I was sticking with my little black woolybugger. Big chase and huge eat from this chunkalicious rainbow…

I spent a very mellow, very enjoyable day at McCoy Spring Creeks with friend Steve Bielenberg and filmmaker Travis Lowe who is making a documentary about Montana spring creeks. I caught a handful of nice rainbows on caddis dries and a pmd emerger — the perfect way to kickoff summer ’11 in MT.

‘Paddlefish’ Book update: I have been hard at work and the manuscript is now officially with the editor. Progress! Still hope to have it in your hands this October. In the meantime, will keep you posted on fishing misadventures and the VERY high water out here in MT.

Thank heavens for spring creeks—they always seem to deliver a consistent performance.

Okay, friends. My life has been moving faster than the Missouri River which is currently raging below Holter Dam, expected to reach 10,000 cfs today. Fingers crossed, the precarious balance of temperature and precipitation will yield a productive Montana fishing trip for us later this month. But we are fully prepared for a massive spur-of-the-moment run-off at any time. Stay tuned.

Since I haven’t had time to fish lately, I thought I would share a few bullet points about what’s been keeping me so frazzled:

I finally submitted the complete manuscript of ‘PADDLEFISH’ one day ahead of my deadline. Of course it was an extended deadline but we won’t focus on that. Somewhere, as we speak, Tosh Brown is sequestered in a bunker slashing my text with a red pen. Progress is happening. We are still marching toward an Oct release.

I have a true confession. Despite bad news that the new feather extension hair trend is eating up fly tying materials and causing prices to skyrocket for tiers, I crossed over the dark side and allowed Little Chick to get her own feather extensions. (Here she is on the right with her new fashion statement.) Fearful her grandfather would cut them out in the middle of the night while she slept to use for flies, she promised to share them when they fall out next month (just in time for peak MT trout fishing) so we can use them to tie up some buzzballs.

Last week I gave presentations to an Austin fishing/hunting club called Woods and Water as well as the San Gabriel Fly Fishing Club in Georgetown. Big thanks to both groups for such great fun! I love getting out and speaking to people. Am waiting for my publicist to schedule my national tour. (Am also waiting for an out-of-work publicist to take me on pro bono.) In the meantime I think it’s time well spent searching eBay for a used RV that I can wrap with the PADDLEFISH book cover and the FFC logo.

I was in Nashville this weekend for a combo wedding and Mothers Day celebration. Among the whirlwind schedule I found a minute to visit my friends at Flysouth, one of my favorite flyshops. They have a shiny brand new store in a new location that is swanky. The first flyshop I’ve been to with a private theater with red velvet cinema seats. Gotta love a flyshop with a makeout room.

After Flysouth we met family friend singer-songwriter Marshall Chapman for burgers at Rotiers. Fun fun lunch. Marshall has performed with the likes of Willie Nelson, Jimmy Buffet, John Prine, and other greats. Not to mention she is a badass in her own right. In addition to a multi-decade music career that includes performing in a TN women’s prison on Halloween, she has written an off-Broadway play and published two books. She offered me some poignant advice and timely support in my own book publishing journey.

Austin friends please help me welcome Marshall Chapman to Austin in a few weeks! She will be at Book People for a book signing on Fri 5/20 and then performing at Cactus Cafe Sat 5/21. I will remind yall later, but go ahead and put it on your calendar for now.

The Bass2Billfish producers posted a two-minute video clip from my bass fishing episode. If you missed the full show on Versus and want to mainline the crux of the episode (ie, the big bass), take a look at this.

The chaos continues. Tomorrow I am headed to Waco for the day to shoot a brief video for Mutual of Omaha’s online campaign about life’s AHA Moments. So excited they asked me to participate!

The rest of the month is filled with editing, travel, editing, end-of-school celebrations, editing…and…a quick five day primer trip to Montana. Fingers crossed on those flows.

Cheers for now.