George F. Grant (born 18 September 1906)^[1] was an angler, author and conservationist from Butte, Montana. He was active for many years on the Big Hole River. September 18 is the 261st day of the year (262nd in leap years). ... 1906 (MCMVI) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... The Angler (Lophius piscatorius) The angler, also sometimes called fishing-frog, frog-fish, or sea-devil (Lophius piscatorius), is a fish well known off the coasts of Great Britain and much of Europe. ... Uptown Butte 1942 view of the city Butte is a city in Silver Bow County, Montana and is the county seat. ... Montana rivers with the Big Hole in the southwest Brad Platt of Anderson and Platt Fly Fishing on the Big Hole River Fall of 2006, Photograph by Corey Kruitbosch The Big Hole River is a tributary of the Jefferson River, approximately long, in southwestern Montana in the United States. ...

Patent

George F. Grant began an innovative style of fly tying in the early 1930s, and patented a unique method in 1939 (U.S. Patent No. 2,178.031). Grant's method for weaving hackles is similar to but distinct from that of Francis Potts. Grant was one of the first anglers to realize that large trout fed primarily beneath the surface on nymphs, and that one needed to imitate and learn to fish this insect-stage if one wanted to consistently catch large trout. Grant's nymphs imitated primarily large stoneflies such as the giant salmonfly (Pteronarcys californicus), which grows up to two inches in length. In recognition for this work he received the Fly Fishing Federation's coveted ([2]) Buszek Award in 1973. Fly Tying is the art of creating an artificial lure, usually made of thread, fur, and/or feathers, for use in fly fishing (See fly lure). ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ...

In 1967 Grant retired, lived summers on the Big Hole River, fished nearly every day, and began writing. Grant also edited the newsletter River Rat for Montana Trout Unlimited, writing many of the articles himself. He also wrote many essays published in local newspapers.

In addition to Grant's conservation work on the Big Hole, he campaigned in the mid-1970s for the clean up of the Clark Fork River which was heavily polluted by the Anaconda Copper Mining Corporation's mining and smelting activities in the Butte-Anaconda region. The Clark Fork River is a river in the U.S. states of Montana and Idaho, approximately 360 mi (579 km) long. ...

This was long before the creation of Superfund Law and during a time when the Clark Fork River was largely devoid of aquatic life for 120 miles from its headwaters near Butte to itsw confluence with the Blackfoot River, near Missoula. Checking the status of a cleanup site Superfund is the common name for the United States environmental law that is officially known as the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 9601 to 9675, which was enacted by the United States Congress on December 11... The Blackfoot River is formed by the joining of Slug and Lanes creeks, in the Caribou-Targhee National Forest in Caribou County near Soda Springs, Idaho. ... Missoula, Montana viewed from the top of Mount Sentinel in 1999. ...

Grant fished primarily the Big Hole River of southwest Montana, near his hometown of Butte. His dedication to this river led him to become an active conservationist. Grant led an effort to defeat the Bureau of Reclamation's proposed "Reichle Dam" from 1965 to 1967. Grant's leadership involved the national organization Trout Unlimited in its first major conservation battle. Today, the 150-mile long Big Hole River is one of America's last free-flowing rivers. Montana rivers with the Big Hole in the southwest Brad Platt of Anderson and Platt Fly Fishing on the Big Hole River Fall of 2006, Photograph by Corey Kruitbosch The Big Hole River is a tributary of the Jefferson River, approximately long, in southwestern Montana in the United States. ... Montana rivers with the Big Hole in the southwest Brad Platt of Anderson and Platt Fly Fishing on the Big Hole River Fall of 2006, Photograph by Corey Kruitbosch The Big Hole River is a tributary of the Jefferson River, approximately long, in southwestern Montana in the United States. ...

River Rat Chapter of Trout Unlimited (1972)

Grant established the River Rat Chapter of Trout Unlimited in 1972. His political leadership through this group and Montana Trout Unlimited led to passage of the Montana Streambed Protection Act in 1975. Grant also helped promote early efforts to insure anglers public access to streams and rivers, which in 1985 culminated in Montana's Stream Access Law. This local ([3]) Montana Trout Unlimited group is now called the George Grant Chapter.

In the late 1980s Grant established the Big Hole River Foundation to focus conservation efforts on the river he had saved through his earlier conservation activities. Grant funded the organization's start up through the sale of his split cane (aka bamboo) rod collection, his angling book collection, and through donations solicited from a nationwide cohort of supporters.

Grant's contributions were recognized in a public television film documentary made by the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks titled Three Men, Three Rivers in 1988. This video is a source for instructors in the Boy Scouts of America ([4]) Fly Fishing Merit Badge. Public broadcasting (also known as public service broadcasting or PSB) is the dominant form of broadcasting around the world, where radio, television, and potentially other electronic media outlets receive funding from the public. ... For the Boy Scouting program within the BSA, see Boy Scouting (Boy Scouts of America). ...

Writings

Grant authored two books:

• Master Fly Weaver(1971); special edition reprinted in 1981.
• Montana Trout Flies(1972); special edition reprinted in 1981.

Later, a collection of Grant's newspaper essays was published as Grant's Riffle (1997).

Links/References

• Pat Munday, George Grant and the Conservation of the Big Hole River Watershed
• [5] Montana The Magazine of Western History (Summer 2002; pp. 20-37).
• Scott Sanchez, Living a legacy of conservation and hair-hackle flies([6])
• Lefty's World ([7])
• Bill Rooney review of Three Men, Three Rivers in American Forests (September/October 1994).
• George F. Grant, An Old Angler Talks About The Clark Fork in Tracy Stone-Manning and Emily Miller (eds.), ([8]) The River We Carry With Us (Livingston, Montana: Clark City Press, 2002).
• George F. Grant, ed., The Upper Clark Fork River, a special edition of the River Rat (July/August 1976).

1. ^ Free Flows, Big Hole River Foundation, Fall 2006 [1] re 100th birthday