Blacksmith Salmon Flies

I got up early this morning to enjoy a brisk trip on the river. I parked in a campground just past Left Hand Fork at about 6:15am. After flipping a rock near shore it was obvious the salmon flies were moving toward shore. One single rock had 25+ monster nymphs under it! I started fishing a Rowley Stone... I lost it along with a rainbow warrior my first cast. I decided to fish a rubber leg stone that I tied with pickle chenille and another r. warrior. On my next cast after the dreaded re-rig, I spotted a brownie lie tight to the bank below me. I tried to get a good drift straight below me, but my cast train wrecked and everything piled up about 5ft short of my target. The line straightened, however, and the nymph's rubber legs came alive as the fish swam 2+feet upstream to grab it. It was a sweet take. The action was hot on the rubber leg with an occasional heavy white fish on the bead. After about 10 baby brownies, a baby bow, and a few nice white fish, I spotted a little brownie across the stream, hugging the bank. I made a check cast to test distance then shot the pickle into the small window in front of the fish. The nymph slapped hard and I was surprised it didn't spook Mr. Spotty. He assumed the opposite and aggressively attacked! He put up a good fight for a Blacksmith baby of a brown. To make an already long story short, I had a great time catching my fill. The sight fishing was an added bonus as well..... The smile is wide. Yes Joe........the poo stick actually catches fish.

Back in my groove.....

So life has been a little crazy the past few months. Time seems like a distant dream. In my spare minutes here and there, I find myself web surfing and reading articles , trying to absorb as much relevant info as possible for the upcoming year. I must say, I have read a lot and I feel like my knowledge continues growing exponentially as far as destinations, techniques, and BIG fish are concerned. I've met and talked to a ton of sweet peeps whose mountain of knowledge continues to impress me. This year, I hope to put some of that info to good use. Typically at the beginning of each year, I make these silly goals pertaining to flies, fish and destinations. Last year I accomplished most of my goals and a couple that I hadn't planned on tackling. First and foremost,...... I caught some DANG nice fish on a MOUSE!!!!.....To me this truly was "the year of the mouse" and one of my greatest fly fishing highlights of all time.....The crazy thing is, as I run the past year through my head, many other fantastic trips jump out at me. I figure I would throw out some other crazy goals for 2010 as the semester comes to a close and I feel I will be able to finally wet a line...

(Disclaimer: I know it's April and the year began more than three months ago, but for those who really fish, you know the "real" fishing year begins when Scofield begins to thaw and the river.......begins to flow....)

1) Tiger Musky AND N. Pike on the fly. (Newton and private pike pond)
2) Fish a streamer A LOT! (SculpinZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ BABY!)
3) The Green River (Can you believe I've never fished it?!!! I can't!)
4) Steelhead in Idaho (This would have been done this weekend if it weren't for a test...ARRG!)
5) Chinook in the summer (I love Idaho... Did I mention I love it?)
6) 24 inch brownie ("Alright I didn't mean it but...Yes I did, I said it!"
7) Enjoy watching my Daughter reel in innumerable fish on the fly (Gunner, you'll soon be old enough buddy)
8) I almost forgot, an 8lb largemouth is also on the agenda :) (Oh yeah baby, I made battle with her last year and she conquered.... She's mine!)
9) Brownie on a mouse (Go ahead and check 22in Cuttie off the mouse list.... I'm still smilin)
10) Remain sane as I try to juggle life, school, work, an obsession, and most importantly, my FANTASTICLY SUPERB family.

Ps.... I recently accepted a job at Rainy's Flies taking care of business as their "in house" sales rep for Alaska, Canada, BC, and some eastern states around Virginia..... I'm still learning the ropes, but talk about an atmosphere! I get paid to talk to guys about flies and fishing! WHAT? Good times.........

Winter in Idaho and Montana.......

So I figure that I would write a little about whats been going on the last little while. I haven't been fishing hardly at all due to the FREEZING weather around here. Last weekend however that all changed as we packed up and headed to Idaho and Montana for a little winter fishing. Rich and I fished just below the dam on South Fork for a few hours on Friday morning. It was somewhere in the ballpark of 20 below zero but we still managed to pick off some nice fish. Rich battled with a 21+ inch cuttie but lost it due to the lack of a net. (Joe get on it) I landed a monster brownie and many 16-18in cutties and bows. We then headed to Henries Lake to stay in the cabin. Snowmobiles were on the agenda and we had a good time. He headed up to Montana on Saturday morning to fish the Madison and as soon as Rich found the bows we slayed em consistently for an hour or two before we had to head out. We had a bunch of doubles and of course, Rich lost the big one......thanks Rich for a good time.


Remember..............snow and lethargic trout are only temporary......

Egg MANIA: Lower Fish Creek

Joe and I hit Lower Fish Creek (Saturday Oct. 10th, Low 30's in Morning, High 50's in the afternoon) for one last fly fall HOORAH. The flows were lower than optimum, but reasonable. The browns were spawning and there were redds everywhere! The fish were aggressive and eating eggs like mad. We caught some really nice browns and bows. The fall leaves and spawner colors were AMAZING! Thanks Joe....

Another sweet flick.......

Mice.........

Logan River revisited

I went up on the Logan this week with my brother-in-law Jesse. We fished somewhere above the third dam.......???I think?(I'm still getting this place figured out.) Anyways, we fished a couple hours with hopper/droppers and I tried a new fly...... Turks Tarantula. It did awesome! I missed MANY and somehow managed to grab a few cutties and browns off the top. It was a fun day and it ended with a great big splash. Literally.... a double slip, fall, wet, cell phones, full waders..............you get the picture. Good times. Thanks Jesse.