He reported paying nearly $36,000 to the Tailwater Lodge for a meeting in October, $40,000 on polling to a New York firm in August, over $67,000 to J.W.

Today, Red Creek is in the tailwater of Flaming Gorge Dam, and I can see the impacts of a highly regulated waterway: the non-native trout, the unnaturally clear water, because the dam stops sediment that would normally make the current milky and thick.

“It’s just a staggering amount of water,” said Joel Fry, a principal at Dallas-based private equity firm Tailwater Capital, which last year committed $80 million to water-handling firm Goodnight Midstream.

“It’s just a staggering amount of water,” said Joel Fry, a principal at Dallas-based private equity firm Tailwater Capital, which last year committed $80 million to water-handling firm Goodnight Midstream.

An afternoon spent on the Musselshell River — nearest crossroads: Checkerboard — and the hazy heat and chilly tailwater river lulls you into a timelessness in which all obligations, family and return tickets fade into oblivion.