Fall River Proposal Fall River has held a special place in my...

Fall River Proposal

Fall River has held a special place in my heart since the first time I fished it, 12 years ago. Its dead calm evenings, enormous sky, magical evening glow, and Mayflies big enough to take your lunch money make it truly a one of a kind place.

It seemed fitting to invite Rebecca, from Twin Bridges Montana, out to Fall River for our first date. We have been back for the hex hatch every year since (this was a our 3rd trip.)

Just before the first hex popped, during that awkward part of the night when your not sure if they are going to pop or not, I asked Rebecca if she’d marry me. Much to my surprise she said “yes.” We were rewarded with the good fortune of  catching a few nice fish during the hatch.

I discovered that there are two ways to make a guide cry. Loose a huge fish or propose in front of them.

Our Story

Rebecca and I met in college through facebook. I sent her a message, as she was the only other person at University of San Francisco that had fly fishing as an Interest. We made plans to go to the casting ponds. On our way to the ponds we picked up a 6 pack and casted for an hour or two. Come to find out Rebecca’s father had owned a fly shop outside of Hamilton Montana and she was not interested in learning anything from a California kid. We didn’t see each other again until she walked into Leland Fly Fishing Outfitters with her dad to pick out a fly rod for graduation. She recognized me in one of the videos and said to Keith Westra “Hey! I went to school with that guy"  Keith replied that I was upstairs. She stopped by my office to say hello.

A few years later, Rebecca was pulled over by a cop. She sneakily took a picture of the cop and posted it on facebook with a caption like "F my morning” That same morning I got pulled over by that very cop and talked my way out of the ticket by showing him his picture on facebook. I sent her a message telling her what happened and we caught up for a few. Like so many times before I dind’t see or hear from her for a few more months.

it wasn’t until she called looking for a restaurant recommendation for one of her “Montana Mafia” dinners. She invited tech people in SF to dinner occasionally where the would tell stories of their mother land. As polite as she is, she knew she couldn’t ask me for a recommendation and not invite me. So she did and luckily for me they had outdoor seating which allowed me to bring my secret weapon, 4 month old Diesel.

From then on we spoke everyday, and I invited her on a trip up to Fall River she agreed to go. We packed up and headed north. On our way up an Range Rover pulling a trailer rolled just in front of us. I quickly pulled over and helped the people out of their vehicle while Rebecca called the police. We seemed to make a pretty good team and I can’t say it didn’t help my image.

We had an incredible time with Val fishing the hex hatch, hanging with our dogs, exploring old barns, and looking for Native American trails and camps.

We haven’t stopped fishing, laughing, traveling, partying, exploring and camping since then. We are very blessed.