I finished the Texas Water Safari on Tuesday July 13th. By the following Sunday, hands still swollen, I scooped up Little Chick and made a beeline for Montana and the Missouri River. Football players win the Super Bowl and head to Disneyland…I head to the Mo.

Don’t get me wrong, after months of training and enduring the race itself, the San Marcos and Guadalupe rivers have an indelible place on my heart. As do other trout streams such as the Big Hole, the Beaverhead and the Blackfoot. But there is no getting around one plain and simple fact: The Missouri River is my home water.

I don’t know why. I didn’t set out to make it happen that way. I live in a state several states away. I know dozens upon dozens of people who fish the river infinitely better than I do. Many other streams and tides have captured my heart, but when it comes to fishing, the Missouri is my soul.

Curious, no? Is it the people I have come to know through the years? Is it the style of fishing? The fish I’ve caught? Memories with family and friends?

It begs the question: What defines ‘home waters’?

I will have to answer my own question with some pictures from this past July:

And here’s a little music to enjoy while you ponder this question, “What is your home water?”

Of course I also really love the Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty version of this tune but had to go with John Denver since we are, after all, talking about trout stream and the Rockies.

Okay, that’s not true, Project Playlist didn’t have the Loretta & Conway version. But this one is pretty good. It captures the mood. Because I can tell you it felt damn good to be back on the Missouri again this summer.

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