- Contact Doug or Carolyn at the Merc at (406) 825-6440
- rcmerc@blackfoot.net
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DOUG'S RANTS # 2 |
| This is going to
be more a request for information than a rant either for or against
something. The question is; Where are you people? I've noticed over
the last month that the number of people fishing Rock Creek is way
down from what it was in July and August of other non fire years.
There are a few people fishing and camping but nowhere near the
numbers that we see most years. I had occasion a couple of weeks ago
to drive down the creek from Phillipsburg to my house. There were
four campsites occupied counting both the Forest Service campgrounds
and the individual marked camp sites. I counted fewer than twenty
people fishing that day.
Wondering whether this was just a Rock Creek phenomenon, I started asking around. Most of the reports I got were of conditions the same as Rock Creek. Fewer people than other years. At the same time, the Montana Tourism folks are telling us that tourism is up, at least over last year. But, since last year was a bad fire year, that's not really much to brag about. Most of the people I talked to were in business. Like me, they make their living off people coming to Montana and spending money. All of them had their own measurement of how far their traffic was down and they all had their theories about why tourism is down. I heard about gas prices, the economy in general, bad fishing and hot weather and the threat of more fires. Some people even think that interest in fly fishing is down. But these opinions are not from the people who really know why there are less people here than usual. And I really want to know just what is happening. So I'm asking you, my customers and readers. Where are you and why aren't you here in Montana in general and Rock Creek in particular. It's important for me in making plans for next year and beyond to know what's happening and why it's happening. So email me your comments or, better yet, post your comments on our message board, There's a link to the board just below this and I'd really appreciate hearing from you. .
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