Solid Hookups

Does anyone...

2012-02-13T00:16:00.002-05:00

...have the phone number for coastal cutthroat trout? I can't seem to find them around their usual haunts.

The last 30 days of fishing in Maine

2012-02-06T18:08:00.001-05:00

Mr Wilkie put me on my first pike

I learned to fish for beaver

I fished many rods and multiple flies to no avail

I drove 5.5 hours to fish the Canadian border in -15 degree weather to catch small , freshly stocked salmon

I found a scrap of cloth with chinese characters on it and tied it to my coat, hoping for asian luck...none arrived

Steaming breakfast sandwiches were consumed

Sooner Or Later It Had To Happen

2012-02-01T20:31:00.005-05:00

The winter of 2012 might go down as one of the warmest on record, making for ridiculous ice conditions and small amounts of available space on safe ice in the last few weeks. Week 1 found us with the majority of Great Pond boasting open water. It was the first time in my life that I've witnessed such a massive part of the lake unfrozen on the opener and I personally observed several flocks of ducks pass over my traps. Jasper joined me and my old man the first couple of weekends, successfully landing the first Pike of his life.

As the ice slowly covered the lake, we inched our way into position. Unfortunately, the first week or two of the season is always the best, and by the time we were into prime territory, we had missed the virgin weeks of the season. Alas, after moderate action on fish up to 13.5 lbs and several moves with the shack, I had yet to grease any legit beasts in 2012.

Today, on a mixed precipitation day off from work, that all changed.....

23.5lbs & 43" Long

stud

2012-01-31T23:22:00.002-05:00

this is a large steelhead:

i tailed it and took pictures of it. that's about it.

Little Something to Wet the Whistle

2012-01-30T20:27:00.005-05:00

So, I came across this about 5 minutes ago - thought I'd give it a re-post. Just a cool looking video about two dudes fly fishing in Sweden. They've got a few more on their site. Check the video out:

Trout is all from Rolf Nylinder on Vimeo.

And there's more here. Check 'em out, really cool

KOOZIES

2012-01-25T12:25:00.001-05:00

Whether you're out on the ice, finishing a long day on the river, or just doing some tailgating, these collapsable koozies are the perfect accompaniment for an ice cold brew. Rep the Solid Hookups at your next outing with your very own camouflage koozie. Pick some up under the Goods section.

Nymphin' Aint Easy

2012-01-23T07:51:00.004-05:00

Especially when the temperature upon arrival at the river is a robust 0 degrees...

You'd have to be a fool not to eat this .....

2012-01-20T16:34:00.001-05:00

The egg sucking , double cone head, stone fly.... I'm hoping to catch the hatch tomorrow morning

Weather for Steele

2012-01-16T11:18:00.003-05:00

rain.
snow.
hail.
sun.
if you were a steelhead, you weren't happy in any of them.

My Dawgs

2012-01-13T15:13:00.004-05:00

You know when you're at work on Monday and the weekend seems so far away? Fishing is a month away it seems. It's so far away that you can't even see the light at the end of the tunnel. I never check reports or water flows on Monday. Why bother?

Come Wednesday though, the makings of a plan seem to be in motion. There is hallway chatter. Someone talked to a guide. Water's on its way down. The tying room gets some life. Boxes replenished.

By Thursday afternoon, the plans are made.

And then it's Friday and soon, we'll all be there.

It's a little different deal than the steelhead runs back home though. Two to four phone calls a night for the four days prior and then just a few texts on the day of. Meet one guy here, another there and another there. Drive as fast as you can, even though it doesn't matter when you get there. You'll still be sleep deprived but awake as ever come morning.

The people make the trips as much as the spots or the fishing does. Fishing all over the place is great and there are good fishing dudes everywhere, but there's something to be said about taking the same trips with the same dudes. Sometimes you just miss your dawgs.

Happy Friday fellas.

First Cast

2012-01-12T23:13:00.002-05:00

2012 Fly Fishing Film Tour

2012-01-06T12:14:00.003-05:00

Fly Fishing Film Tour 2012 | thef3t.com from The Fly Fishing Film Tour on Vimeo.

LINK

Poss-BFCa Locations:

Jan-28 / CO Denver
Feb-3 / OR Portland
Feb-4 / ME Fryeburg
Feb-6 / WA Seattle
Feb-22 / ID Boise
Feb-25 / UT Salt Lake City
Feb-25 / MA Taunton
Feb-29 / WA Gig Harbor
Feb-29 / CO Fort Collins
Mar-1 / CO Fort Collins
Mar-2 / ME Brunswick
Mar-3 / ME Brunswick
Mar-4 / MA Haverhill
Apr-12 / TX Austin
Apr-13 / VT Middlebury
Apr-19 / UT Park City
Apr-20 / ID Idaho Falls

The Day After Christmas

2011-12-26T20:56:00.009-05:00

Twas the day after Christmas in Arlington Mass,
OO Steele snoozed, hoping alarm sounds would pass.
But old Dr. Steelegood beckoned "Come hither!
We need to get rolling, we'll be late to the river!"
The fly rods were stowed in the Audi with care,
An hour of driving and our boys would be there.
A quick call to Blades to confirm his drive time
They stopped by the river, the flow looking prime.
Perched on the bridge and looking stright down
A sight to behold, trout all around!
Big ones and little ones, fish left and right.
But with water so clear, the fish wouldn't bite.
On cadis, on pupae, on hares ear with bead,
On zug bug, on black midge, they must have to feed!
Steelegood struck first, a nice healthy 'bow.
On a tiny red midge, from pool deep and slow.
Next would be Blades, this fish was a tank!
A 22 inch landlock he brought to the bank!
Not to bested, OO stared at the run.
On the day after Christmas, it was his turn for fun.
Decisions decisions, he gazed at his box.
An olive wooly bugger, his favorite for 'locks.
He gazed at the run and what did appear,
But a leviathan salmon the size of a deer!
The cast was just perfect, the drift looking great.
And bless Old St. Nick, the big salmon ate!
The battle was fierce, as tough as they get
But OO countered and put that beast in the net!
We stared at the fish, speechless with shock
A true Christmas miracle, 26 inch Landlock!
More fish were landed, but none quite so great
The anglers now weary, the hour grew late.
They ascended the bank in the now waning light
"Merry Chirstmas to all, and to all a hot bite!"

Merry Christmas boys

2011-12-25T06:56:00.000-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nE1ENhPLWLQ

Shhhh Santa Steele

Anyone tying lately?

2011-12-22T01:26:00.002-05:00

the tying room has really come into its own over here.
this weekend we'll see if anything wants to eat anything in there.

Steele Memories: Episode 1

2011-12-21T18:43:00.002-05:00

Steele of Many Colors

2011-12-20T08:58:00.004-05:00

Albanian Steele and I headed West one week ago. We were hot on the trail of a report from Dr. Steelegood and the newly initiated steele counterparts; Blades of Steele and Bails of Steele. Along with such reports come dreams of multiple steele days, even days in the double digits of steele. However, keeping the fickleness of the river at the forefront of your minds is essential to maintaining your sanity on the river. We've all seen it, the water boiling with fish, teeming with chrome and dirty chrome one day, then silent, dead silent, as if the river were raped of every living creature over night. Fortunately, this was not to be our fate.

In two and a half short days on the river, we went 18 for 86 and left happy men.

Florida Flats

2011-12-19T16:43:00.001-05:00

Great to see all the new posts and fish porn, glad to see that everyone is well.

I just returned home from 4 days in Florida, my wife says we went to visit her parents, my plan was to fish.

I have never hired and fished with a guide before but it was time for some local smarts. I am building a small flats boat this winter and was excited to get out on one and take some measurements.

So I called Capt. Les Hill and from our phone conversations he sounded like a man in his 50's, he has fished the are around Boca Grande for 25 years. He was happy when I told him I knew how to cast. That was about all I got out of him. My mother in law had found his name in a local tackle shop.... posted on the wall.... on a flyer....with pre cut phone number tabs. I was feeling lucky this time so I sent him my money.

So ...

Get on a plane

Then drive through the FL swamp

I was told to meet Capt Hill at so and so marina, this was the first thing I saw when I stepped out of the car... a crushed Budweiser pounder.... today was going to be a good day.

17.5 ' Carbon / Kevlar.... sweet mama

Motoring out to Boca Pass, an internation Tarpon Tournement is held here every year, no tarpon were spotted on this trip but stories of 180 pound fish in this same boat got me thinking.

Capt Hill turns to me and says, "What do you want to catch today Jason ?"

"Well, some trout, red fish and snook would be great"

"Ok, ( he stops the boat ) poles once and tells me to cast "

Second cast of the morning lands this sea trout, three more followed all fell to a brown and white clouser.
I was inpressed that Capt Hill picked, what appeared to be, a random spot in the bay to cast to, but happy to feel the tug. The day continued on like this, "cast here".... boom...redfish.

I had never caught any of these salt water beauties, but redfish were a treat. They don't fight really, they just pull.... like an old diesel Dodge truck, I picture them with their bull heads and dark tail spots drag racing on the sea floor, like teenagers in their father's farm trucks. They just sort of tuck their heads and pull in one direction or the other. I was a fan of redfish.

This is a gag grouper, this one went 18".... another perfect example of the Capt. saying "cast here" to a spot of water that looked like everyother spot in the horizon.

I caught a blowfish as well, everyone loves the brown Clouser

Another sea trout

Straight torque

That snook went 25" and was the most fun of the trip. Fought like a salmon and spooled me on an 8 wt.

Bob Clouser knows his shit. We changed flies once from brown and white to grey and white.

( I have not idea why this is now centered)

I had a great day on the water and certainly see the bonus to fishing with someone who knows the waters.

As we are loading the boat on to his trailer , I thank Capt. Hill, tip him and thank him again.

He hands me a some reading material about Jesus. He tells me that he was saved when he was 12.

(What kind of trouble can I 12 year old be in I think )

At this point I apologize for my language, I may have let out a "sweet christ" when that snook spooled me.

He understands but would like me to read this.

So tonight, I sit and reflect... enjoy one of the NEW Budweiser 8oz and tip my can to Captain Les Hill

and the Solidhookups gang.

Live Life

Flies for Steele

2011-12-19T11:32:00.003-05:00

Here's a great post of dozens of good steelhead flies on The Caddis Fly, an Oregon blog. It has the recipe, an instructional video and a photo of the final fly. Sweet.

Back in the Park

2011-12-18T12:49:00.007-05:00

Making the drive to Yellowstone is always worth it. Trip #2 of the season brought 7 beauties to net (6 in Todd's, 1 in mine). Quite a flip-flop from the 7-0 schooling I gave Luke a couple weeks prior. The high point of this place is always the hard fighting, mind-blowingly colorful browns in the 18 to 23" and sometimes bigger range, but this trip we had an added bonus. Half an inch of snow had fallen 2 nights before and there wasn't a single human footprint on the trail. This allowed us to clearly make out tracks from squirrel, rabbit, raccoon, coyote, wolf, deer, elk, moose, and bear (wolverine and fox were suspected as well) along the 15 or so miles hiked that day. Not a single one of these animals was actually seen.

2011-12-17T14:40:00.003-05:00

encounters, cont'd

2011-12-16T00:29:00.009-05:00

A call at the office on Wednesday morning would have me conducting some product R&D on the peninsula on Thursday. This was good news. After last weekend's outing, I had been thinking about steelhead all week but knew I wouldn't get a chance to get back to the peninsula until Christmas weekend. So after work we rolled north and west, checked into the Dew Drop Inn for all of seven hours and were on the river twelve hours after we left Bainbridge.
Our plan was to indicator fish from the boat in between swinging water, and then break out the two handers when we got to those stretches. We ended up swinging flies through only one piece of water, but it happened to be the exact same piece of water that my man Paul stuck his great fish last weekend and James and I both had our very brief encounters with steele.

It's funny (or is it?) how confidence comes into play when you're on the water. I approached this piece of water with confidence: I knew it would hold fish, I had a good idea of the cast I'd need to make and I was optimistic that a fish there would chase a swung fly. With that in mind, I stepped into the top of the run with the same 6116 switch rod I cast last weekend.

It seemed to be too perfect of a scenario, and yet it happened. Half way through the run, my mind thinking about who knows what, my swing true and tight came the pull I was looking for. Immediately the fish blew up the water and was off to the races. And then it was in the net. My first Pacific steelhead. On a swung fly. A wild fish. In camo waders. I think I'm spoiled.
After that fish, I went 2 for 2 from the boat indicator fishing, my coworker went 4 for 6 from the boat and after lunch the guide fished for ten minutes with his centerpin rig and went 1 for 1. I guess that method works.

We gave the hatchery brats the rock shampoo, so steelhead's on the menu tomorrow!
There's steele in those waters!

more metal encounters

2011-12-13T11:35:00.022-05:00

I took a trip up to the SR with Alex and Bailey over the weekend. The flow was up the prior weekend and the bite had been good so our expectations were high as we waited for our selected steelheading dates. Unfortunately, the flow dropped out on us big time right before the weekend, going from 1500 to 500 in a 2 day period. This had me a little alarmed and I warned the guys not to expect too much in the way of action given the signficant flow change right before our trip.

This would be the second SR mission for Alex and Bailey. They joined Clark and me for the last day of our 6-Day Steele Marathon in November and after getting into some fish promptly caught Steele fever. They returned home from the SR, made the investment in their own fly gear, and scheduled another trip west. I was hoping that they would get to break in their new set ups, and in fact they would have that opportunity. Alex and Bailey are both excellent fisherman and I have had the pleasure of tuna fishing with them on several occassions. In addition to being great on the angle, these guys are stellar chefs who arrived at Mahoney's with a full grill. Delmonico Steaks after a day a steeling anyone? Uh, hell yes!

Day 1 brought a flow of 500 and an epic blizzard. Tough conditions to fish in. We went to a spot in the lower fly that I thought might fish well at the 500 cfs flow. We got lucky and it didn't take long before the rods started bending, and so long as the snow was flying the bite didn't stop. All small eggs, fished along the bottom or drifted under indicators. It didn't seem to matter color or method, the fishing was on fire. It was white out conditions, and it was insane!

Sometimes you get lucky and you just have one of those days that when you look back at it, you can hardly believe what went down. That was Saturday. By the end of the day, somewhere around 35 fish had been landed between the three of us, with north of 80 hooked. We were doubled up 5 times leading to my first ever double steele net job. Alex and Bailey had me running around with the net all day. As Robbins put it, the fishing was "fucked", and we were loving it.

Day 2 had us fishing 335 cfs and under sunny skies and the fishing wasn't anything like the day before. There was an early morning bite and then it slowed down to a slow pick. I focused on fishing the fast pocket water above the run and was rewarded with a few fish while Alex and Bailey stuck to the same run and pounded out several more. Total for Sunday wasn't all that bad, with 9 landed and maybe 25 hooked, but it felt like a crawl compared to Sat.

OO Steele and Albanian Steele drive west tonight. May they crush steele with impunity.

-Doctor Steelegood

Encounters of the Metal Kind

2011-12-11T22:58:00.007-05:00

there's steele in those waters...
my man Paul went 1 for 3 this weekend and stuck this gorgeous, fresh wild buck.
James and I had a single encounter of the metal kind. but, come to find out there's also bull trout in those waters!

also agreeable to a swung fly.

hear hear for winter!

Hats for Fishing

2011-11-30T22:22:00.003-05:00

Over the years I've acquired a number of good hats to fish in and they've followed me around. Below are a few of my favorites. I encourage others to add a pic and a description of your favorite fishing hat to this post!

Name: Bates Fly Fishing hat
Acquired: senior year at Bates from bookstore
Notes: while not official BFC apparel, this hat has been a great friend
Notable trips: worn during my New Zealand trip, 2010 road trip with Boone and pretty much every trip in between. love this one.
Name: Patagonia fleece ear-flap-thing hat
Acquired: at Patagucci outlet in Freeport during college
Notable trips: first trip to Salmon River, NY where first ever steelhead was landed. first trip to XXXXXXXX pond in the Allagash, landing stud brookie
Name: The Fish Hawk hat
Acquired: at The Fish Hawk fly shop in Atlanta, GA
Notable trips: worn on 2010 road trip with Boone from Georgia to Maine and also 2011 road trip from Maine to Colorado with Lucas. lots of fish
You can find some more of my fishing hats here.

shhh...steele...

2011-11-19T21:26:00.010-05:00

In the beginning, I had a vision of choreographing a steeleheading video of all steeleding videos. Keith and I were headed to the SR in upstate NY for 6 days. It was not going to be a question of if we would catch fish, it would be how many and how big. But in the end, we all know that those previous two points are not measures of victory/success or any type of indication of manhood. It is simply about being on the river, again, in the pursuit of steele. That being said, catching big fish and having numerous hookup days is pretty sweet. None can argue that. Over the 6 days we would be joined by other steeleheaders in passing, most only staying for a couple days. There were 6 of them who visited in such fashion. We averaged 4 guys a day on the river and managed approximately 130 hookups and 27 fish over 6 days of steele, a trip that certainly took its toll on those cursed to live out the full duration. In the end, I was left longing for nothing but sleep and alcholess beverages and, oh yeah, a pile of pictures. Enjoy.

Fresh coho (above)

I have a problem with smelt....

2011-11-18T16:19:00.001-05:00

Osmerus mordax

Smelt

It has been said that smelt ( seasonally ) make up a majority of salmon ( LL) and trout's diet, suplimented by insects of course.

I have heard conversations, between those who tie flies, that can be heated, about what angle the wing posts should be at for certain dry flys. People will argue till they are blue in the face regarding how closely you match your design to natures.

But, we use shit for smelt patterns.

Smelt .

Joe's Smelt.

Smelt .

A Wulf variation :

I am on a quest for a better smelt pattern. I have a week before a big Maine style fishing trip with some of Team Maine, we will be feeding fish who should take a smelt pattern.

I will keep you posted.

2011-11-17T12:03:00.001-05:00

For anyone in Boston tonight -- there is a pretty nice event from Bates at the Lennox...
CEO's of Wellington, Lee Munder and Harvey Building Products are all speaking on leadership.

Sign up here if interested

Yakima Wildlife

2011-11-14T00:49:00.009-05:00

saw a bunch of wildlife on the Yakima today.
bald eagle:
herd o' elk:
blacktail:
dead fish:
living fish:

the pond

2011-11-12T17:58:00.010-05:00

when i began my relocation to Bainbridge Island, a co-worker put me in touch with a couple who had a room for rent in the basement of their home. it was furnished, cheap, and available immediately, meaning it was perfect for a broke and homeless fishing guide who was about to re-enter the real world. in one of my last email correspondences with the landlord before arriving, she mentioned that there was a pond on the property that she thought had some trout in it too. i was intrigued by this statement but questioned the validity of it. i arrived, moved in and found the pond.
shortly thereafter, i found its inhabitants.
the pond is maybe half an acre in size. according to the landlords, the pond has never been stocked, which would mean the cutthroat living in it now came are of a coastal variety, becoming landlocked some time ago. very cool. there are even rumors of salmon reaching the pond on spawning runs of the past.

i've got to know a handful of waters pretty well by visiting them often and i'll add this one to the list. it's a pleasure to get to know a water, and this pond is no exception. on windy days, the leaves and duck weed flow across the pond and back, opening and closing areas to cast to. sometimes on windless days, rise rings dimple the pond all day long.
the fish aren't the most sophisticated i have dealt with. to use a phrase of Keith's, the fish are very agreeable to most fly presentations. any small mayfly will work. hoppers will rise fish, but the fish have a hard time getting their jaws around bigger bugs. small streamers work well also.

picky eaters or not, they are very beautiful.
when i first arrived i was fishing with my 490. it obviously over-gunned the fish, but it was fun to launch 70 foot casts across the pond to risers. at some point it occurred to me to size down my stick. i was able to find a perfect tool at work, and i've had it on loan for a while now.
what fun. a fiesty, 11" native coastal cutthroat will put a good bend in a double-aught!

from my seat at my computing/tying/dining table, i have a perfect view of the pond. ducks frequent the pond, as does a heron. last week while James and i sat outside on my patio eating breakfast sandwiches, a blacktail stag walked out of the woods, down to the pond for a look, then continued on his way.
when the rises become too frequent to ignore or when i just feel like fishing, i grab the double-aught from its perch and in 50 steps or less, i'm there. i'm lucky to have the pond there. hopefully i'll get lucky again someday.

The White Salmon River Condit Dam Is Breached

2011-11-04T17:43:00.001-04:00

Explosive Breach of Condit Dam from Andy Maser on Vimeo.

Last Taste of Summer

2011-11-02T16:32:00.004-04:00

I threw together the last summer video footage I had from a canyon trip to Oceanographer. The video is a little jumpy, but the F-ing SONG... I love it. Can't get that shit outta my head! Thanks to Tyler for getting me on the J Boog...

Goodbye summer. Hello long cold winter of frozen guides and being outfished by girls and one armed men....

Birthday Steele

2011-11-01T17:30:00.001-04:00

I went fishing this weekend with some solid dudes.It was my 30th birthday and I could not have found a better bunch to spend it with.

A quick drive to Western NY to meet up.

Step 1 : Drive South West

Step 2 : Prepare Mustaches

Step 3 : Arrive at river... take the Trail of Tears... Hook Up

Step 4 : Attempt to wrangle said fish

Step 5 : Smile

There was some friendly competition between Team Mass and Team Maine.
Team Mass won by a solid margin and I tip my hat to them.
I am missing the group photo and hope someone could add it to this post.

(Shhh ....steele)

DEBATE: The River Why

2011-10-26T23:36:00.006-04:00

In a couple weeks, The River Why will be released on DVD. Below I present several pieces of information and open up the topic to debate: to watch or not to watch the movie.

Here you can read a press release from the producer on the release of the film, with some notes on the background of the making of the movie.

Here you can read a review of the movie from Tom Bie, editorr of The Drake.

Here is an old post from Moldy Chum about this topic. The link to David James Duncan's statement on the movie is broken, but there are some interesting comments. I read Duncan's statement on the topic when that post was made and he essentially asked his readers/fans not to watch the movie. His vision was to move the setting of the movie to Idaho in an effort to raise awareness on salmon and Snake River dams.

Here is an interview with Duncan in which he discusses the movie briefly at the end of the interview. Says he: "If I make a River Why movie, Patrick Markey (who produced “A River Runs Through It”) and Matt Salinger (a film and play producer in New York) would produce. I’d transfer it to Idaho so the LSR dams and endangered salmon would figure in. Sherman Alexie would co-write, with carte blanche to create hilarious Nez Perce characters, as only he can do. I had this ball rolling, 'til the current film was shot. If the current film bombs we may reconvene and do it right."

Here is the film's official website.

And here is the trailer:

From the trailer alone I see one main issue, among others:
-Both Gus and Eddy clearly don't know how to fish.

Other items to be considered:
-A River Runs Through It was made into a very good movie.
-"The Eddy character cannot be personified, she exists better in the dreams of everyone who reads the book." - CPSC

Can a movie truly spoil a book that's sacred to you?

Adirondacks

2011-10-25T16:57:00.011-04:00

My old man, brother, and I have been going up to the Adirondacks of New York since we were youngsters. It is where I first picked up a fly rod. My father joined an old fishing and hunting club up there when I was sprouting my first man hair, and we have been doing trips together at least once a year ever since. I even convinced my now wife to get married up at the club last year. A magical place indeed. Unfortunately, with his recent retirement and 2 new grand kids my pops decided it was about time to give up the ol' membership. So the three boys headed up for one last horrah.

This place is pretty old school, including no motorized boats. There is a very large lake near the cabin we stay in that has a good lake trout population. We knew they would be staging and in close enough for us to get after them with sinking lines and some home grown streamers. We were met head on with high winds and rain the first day. Against my father's advice, my brother and I decided to try to battle the whitecaps and head out in the row boat. A 100 yards out and sideways now, my arm is about to come off and I am grunting like Jenna. Near my end, I turn with the wind and end up crashing into someone's boathoase dock--luckily no one's home. We leave the boat and call the old man who greets us with a good 'told ya so.'

After an afternoon of day drinking, the winds die down and my brother and I return to our abandoned boat. We rip some streamers for a couple hours and manage to pull in 2 descent lakers by the days end.

The killa. Proud of this one.

Lakers.

The second day we headed out to a pond in the middle of absolutely nowhere, again fighting rain the whole way. A an absolutely beautiful place though that hardly gets touched and produces good numbers of brookies.

We had to row across one lake to get to the trail to then hike into our fishing lake. Leaving the boat, heading out on the trail.

I was able to get my old man into some fish which was pretty cool to be a part of (he's still pretty novice after all these years). Ended up landing a dozen or so between the three of us. My father dreams about eating trout out in the wild, so we kept a couple tasty critters for lunch.

Awesome weekend. Place will be missed.

Shangri-La

2011-10-22T15:52:00.006-04:00

In my own personal utopia, there are Browns, big Browns. Not just a few but tons, and you can sight fish for them all damn day and they all fight like maniacs and their colors are crazy and there aren't any crowds and the scenery is beautiful......and there'd be a perfect pointbreak thats always double overhead. Late October out here comes real close.

The Steelhead Ranch

2011-10-20T09:49:00.008-04:00

As a gift to my lady friend for her birthday, I scheduled a west coast trip. Nathalia is more or less a city girl and being originally from Colombia she hasn't had a whole lot of time to travel around the US since coming to the states for college. The Pacific Northwest sounded like an ideal destination, given quality of the cities of Seattle and Portland, the scenic splendor of the surrounding wilderness, and of course that fact that my two good friends and solidhookups brethren Jesse and Neil reside in the greater Seattle area. Tickets were booked and itinerary developed. We would fly into Seattle and make a scenic drive down to Portland. After getting our fill of that city, we would return to Seattle and spend a couple nights touring the town with Neil followed by a trip out to Bainbridge Island to visit Mr. Robbins.

In reviewing the various tourist attractions of the great Portland area, it occurred to me that we could probably get away with spending only a single night in Oregon, which left me with a couple of different options, head back to Seattle early, or perhaps take a little tour of Eastern Washington. I wondered if I could potentially sneak out onto the water. After all, the Pacific Northwest is the steelhead capital of the world. It would be absolutely wrong of me to blow this opportunity at wild, river bred steelhead in the location that made them famous. I discussed this plan with Jesse and he asked a few friends at Sage and finally we arrived at booking a guide through The Evening Hatch fishing outfitters (www.theeveninghatch.com). The owner and head guide Jack had a solid reputation for running a first class operation and putting clients on fish. He owns and operates a lodge called "The Steelhead Ranch" on the Klickitat River which is a tributary to the mighty Columbia River. Now I had one last hurtle left to circumnavigate: convince Nathalia that a day spent on the river was a vacation day well spent.

Nathalia was not much of a fisherman. She had fished with me on the boat twice. The first trip was a relatively low key excursion where we pounded fluke for an hour off Martha's Vineyard. The second trip I got adventurous and tried to go south of the Vineyard in 3-5s, she got sick and we went back to the dock. I figured I would sell this trip as a scenic boat ride down the river. It would be beautiful scenery and well worth the experience. Fortunately, Nathalia was on board with little to no arm twisting and we were booked at The Steelhead Ranch shortly thereafter.

We arrived at the ranch in the evening to find most of the clients and guides still out fishing. A second party arrived shortly thereafter and it was clear that these gentlemen had been hitting the sauce hard on the way down from Seattle. We enjoyed some fishing related conversations with our new friends between their frequent trips out to the truck to hit the weed pipe and before long the guides and days' clients returned. Reports were not stellar, only one out of several driftboats had stung any fish. While disappointed I had to remind myself that we were fishing for wild, natural born steelies and that these fish were few and far between. One couldn't expect the level of action heavily stocked great lakes tributaries provide. After dinner and several beers we retired for the evening. Jack told us that our guide the next day would be Kevin. According to Jack, Kevin was the "silent type, but a damn good guide, the best I have." Works for me I thought.

Morning came quickly and we were up early still being aclimated east coast time. Ranch hand Jacob had already prepared breakfast omelets and coffee, which is a pretty damn nice way to start the morning compared to my usual breakfast when steelheading of half a begal in route to Fat Nancy's. Following breakfast, we suited up our borrowed waders, met Kevin, and hopped in his truck. He was the silent type. As we drove down the dirt road the paralleled the river I elected to break the ice with a little conversation.

"So Jack tells us you're the best guide he's got."

Kevin looked over at me with confused eyes. "He said that?"

"That's what he told us..."

"Well he really shouldn't have said that," Kevin relied. "Not really professional." A long pause.... "But yeah I am his best guide. I'm actually probably the best steelhead guide in the state."

Well then. Glad we established that. Unsure what to say to that kind of statement I just nodded my head in agreement. Kevin certainly looked the part. He had a golf ball sized wad of Copenhagen in his mouth and was spitting onto the floor of his truck. No spitter needed. He looked legit. Maybe he was the best steelhead guide in the state...

Kevin had a plan. He told me the river had been really slow, but he was hitting fish in one specific spot. We would launch well up river and spend the first hour shooting straight down to try to get ahead of any other boats. We would focus our attention on the specific stretch of water that had held fish. That was Kevin's plan. We're we good with that he asked? Damn straight we were good with that. When the best steelheader in Washington State has a plan you don't deviate, you just go with it.

Boat launch went smoothly. We got Nathalia acclimated with standing in the water wearing waders. I had almost forgotten how wearing waders for the first time is kind of a cool experience. Just standing in a river and not getting wet. Shortly thereafter we fast on our way down current. In between wads of dip and strategic back paddles Kevin rigged up two rods. Seeing this, I told him that Nathalia and I had a plan too. I would hook a fish and then give her the rod to fight it to the boat. We really only need one rod I told him.

"Naw, we'll get her one of her own" he said. Kevin had a better plan.

After a few miles of river, Kevin slowed the boat and dropped anchor. "Keith, get out, walk 15 yards up river, and fish that run." Ok. I made my way up to a very fishy looking run with good current and depth. Kevin had rigged up a double rig with a large pats stonefly 18 inches above a bead. I nymphed the shit out of that run while Kevin showed the ropes of fly casting the Nathalia. A few things happened during the following 20 minutes; I landed a very impressive looking 9 inch rainbow and Nathalia learned how to fly fish. On the drift once more, Kevin had her casting like a champ. He would shout commands like "Cast left. Once more, little further. Good, now mend up river. Pull in two feet. Good line. Let it fish." These commands were followed shortly later by a loud "Set!". And soon thereafter the score was tied 1-1. Nathalia's native rainbow was a wild jumping fish that may have eclipsed the one foot mark... Good start.

This is how things proceeded for the next several hours and several more rainbows, steelhead smolts, and whitefish fell to our combined efforts. I continuously asked Kevin if we were at "the spot" to which he continually replied "not yet." We stopped for lunch, and then we kept fishing. The runs on the Klickitat were beautiful and I found it hard to believe that we weren't hitting fish, but then again, that's steelhead fishing.

Kevin asked for our setups to re-rig. Apparently we were nearing "the spot".

"What are you going with?" I asked.

"Red copper john."

"Really? A red copper john? Why?"

"Because that's all they'll eat."

Ok then. I wasn't sure if I should be skeptical or instead ask why we weren't fishing red copper johns all day if in fact that was all that they would eat. Instead I stayed silent. Our next drift took us through some very sexy looking steelhead water. Good current, moderate depth, rocks. It reminded me of the refrigerator hole on the SR. It wasn't long before Kevin yelled "set" again and Nathalia reared back on a big fish.

"That's a steelhead" Kevin said. "Remember what I told you to do. Let the line slide through your fingers and fish it from the reel." The fish bolted up current dumping quickly into the backing.
I can't really do justice to a steelhead fight by trying to describe it, but lets just say this steelhead did what steelhead do, and our guide operated that dirftboat like a champ. Before long steelhead number one was in the net, and this fish was no slouch. Every bit of ten pounds and colored up beautifully, this was a steel to remember.

"This is the spot." Kevin said after removing the red copper john from the fishes mouth and releasing him back into the current.

Well, now that we were in the spot and the steelies were hot for red copper john's it was time to get down to business. Kevin rowed back up current and set the anchor alongside the run. We made drifts along the same seem and it wasn't long before the next indicator dropped. And again, it wasn't my indicator!

This second fish was a beautifully colored up male that again fought with every bit of craziness that a wild steelhead could produce! Instead of running upstream, this fish shot down stream with Kevin rowing quickly in pursuit. At one point Nathalia asked me if I wanted to reel that one in. I told her there was no way in hell that was going to happen.
After release number 2, the good Dr. Steelegood finally did get on the board. My prize of the day was a spawned out female that fought like a wet towel. She did not even compare to Nathalia's two fish in either beauty or courage, but it did feel good to get my first wild steelhead. After my fish, we called it a day. 3 for 3 on klickitat steelhead, all at "the spot", all on red copper johns.

Back at the ranch, we exchanged stories with the other clients and told them about our successful day. I bragged a little bit about our boat's lead angler as we returned our waders and packed for the drive to Seattle. As for the other anglers we spoke to, no fish landed, by anyone, all day.

So in short, my novice girlfriend outfished the rest of the steelhead ranch. Not bad. And by the way, if you're looking to do a steelhead trip in Washington, talk to Kevin. I'm now pretty sure he's the best damn steelhead guide in the state...

Paging Dr. Steelegood...

2011-10-19T14:54:00.004-04:00

There's wild steele in those waters...

2011-10-19T09:51:00.004-04:00

more to follow....

The END of Salmon Season

2011-10-17T23:23:00.018-04:00

I made the journey out to the the Salmon River (Pulaski, NY) this weekend with my good friend Michael. There is something about salmon season...now I'm not arrogant enough to say that I can get one of those moldy beast to grab a fly. In fact, I know that they won't (despite the claims of many on the river). However the salmon season does serve one purpose- an opportunity at a 30lb+ fish on the fly. That, I find hard to turn down.

Kings.

Cohos.

Steele.

Lamprey.

It was a beautiful weekend on the Salmon. The foliage was amazing, the fishing was solid, and I can think of no better way to send off the salmon season than breaking my nine weight in half on 25lb+ king.

A tribute to salmon season- farewell. Bring on the steele.

-00Steele

The Spawn is On

2011-10-17T00:57:00.005-04:00

Coho all up in the Sol Duc:
Enlarge for full effect:

Cuttys enjoying the fruits of their labor:

2011-10-16T11:23:00.000-04:00

"You know when they have a fishing show on TV? They catch the fish and then let it go. They don't want to eat the fish, they just want to make it late for something" -Mitch Hedberg

Desperate Alewives

2011-10-10T19:25:00.006-04:00

Here's a video I came across today on the Bates website featuring Professors Lynne Lewis and Bev Johnson, advisors to several BFC Alumni, including myself. There's some very interesting stuff in the video as well as some stuff that's cause for alarm perhaps. Namely, guide John's recent trip report.

Watch the full episode. See more Sustainable Maine.

Interesting to see what Google Searches are bringing people to the Blog.

2011-10-10T12:39:00.000-04:00

Which of you perverts Googled "smallmouth bass vagina"?

Goodbye Elwha

2011-10-06T19:56:00.002-04:00

Removal of the largest dam to date began a few days ago. You can check in on progress here.

Brown trout don't want to be fed. Brown trout want to hunt.

2011-10-06T11:13:00.009-04:00

Yesterday was streamer chucking weather. 45 degrees and spitting rain. With cooler weather like this over the last few days, I thought it was just about time for the big nasties to start moving out of the lakes and into the rivers to spawn. The first fish on was this hefty boy just shy of 22". He was just starting to think about maybe making some sweet trout love when a large, slighlty smaller version of himself darted by, thoroughly pissing him off.

2011-10-03T13:31:00.002-04:00

A few fishbeast for the blog from a trip Critchlow and I did a few weeks ago. Had trouble getting this video up so lets see if it works!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9LA-UYQqTU

2011-10-02T14:57:00.001-04:00

We switched on the mobile option with blogger, so there is now a better format to check your fishing updates on the go...

2011-10-02T09:50:00.002-04:00

I was at this art festival in Kentucky yesterday. Amongst a bunch of artists was this dude in a booth who makes Gyotaku Fish Rubbings. Really nice guy and quite a fisherman. Basically when he catches a fish he paints one side of it and then rubs it on this handmade paper to create a print. There was some really cool stuff there if you want to check it out. He's got a website...

http://aquatic-impressions.com/about-the-artist

Its getting late in the season

2011-10-01T22:34:00.003-04:00

My boss' old friend and legendary guide Rusty Vorous on retiring from guiding: "you can only yell 'strike' so many times before you get a brain aneurysm". True that Rusty. True that.

http://midcurrent.com/books/castwork-rusty-vorous/

logos

2011-10-01T12:03:00.002-04:00

Trial run for a new banner and logo for solid hookups. Hopefully we will have a few more options and then maybe a final vote. Let me know what you think of this one. Also we are working on a new BFC logo...Will keep people posted on results.

Henry's Lake

2011-09-29T23:28:00.005-04:00

I am not sure if everyone is aware of this fantastic road trip game, so I will describe it for those who don't know. All you do is put the word "anal" before the ridiculous names that are usually written on RV's. I know it takes no skill, and it may not be that funny for most of the recreational vehicles that you encounter but every now and again you will come across a real winner. At Henry's lake Chris Morrell and myself came across such an RV.

We Also did some Fishing.

We did not catch any of the monsters that potentially can come out of the lake, but we caught some fish, caught up on old times, and I was able to see some new water. Thanks Chris for the Hospitality.

A classy, frameless, alternative....

2011-09-27T12:21:00.004-04:00

The other day I arrived home to find a package on my door step. Hmmm, I thought to myself, this is either the Moldcraft Senior Wide Range I ordered from Melton Tackle to replace the one that remains lodged in a pissed off blue marlin's bill or the sleave of tobacco-less Mint Leaf chew I've been using since I quit the real stuff on September 11th. Either way, I was excited to recieve this package.

What I found was that the package contained neither of the above two items. With a return address of Seattle Washington, I knew this package was from either the great S Neil Larsen or JACK Robbins of the Long Rod. Its contents were quite exhilarating. Mr. Robbins had acquired an image of the OI at work on the high seas from a blog post I made earlier this summer, and had a canvas print made of the image. The quality and detail were startling. I could see the daunting presence of Sawyer straddling the hull, his watchful gaze fixed on the spread, while the old man nurses a healthy and evident lip bulge. The stone cold First Mate's hollow eyes were clearly visible as he surveyed the damage a wahoo inflicted on a widerange moments before the shot was taken. To say that the canvas print was anything other than exceptionally detailed and crystal clear in appearance would be a falsehood.

Thank you Mr. Robbins and thank you Easy Canvas Prints (http://www.easycanvasprints.com/), for putting the "MAN" back into my mantle...

Man Seeking Woman Who Seeks Trout

2011-09-26T21:53:00.002-04:00

Fishing with Terry from Yakima

2011-09-25T23:03:00.017-04:00

As a follow up to Fishing with Bob from Texas, I present the next installment of "Fishing With": Today I went fishing with Terry from Yakima.

I rolled east after work on Friday evening, across the Sound, through Seattle and onto I-90. My destination was a campground on Canyon Road, the road that winds its way along the Yakima River through the canyon stretch between the towns of Ellensburg and Yakima. After investigating several websites, I had a good idea where the campground was and what to expect as far as the fishing was. After three weeks of pounding beaches for sea run cuttys, I was jonesing for a trout river. So the Yakima it would be.

Half way through my drive it was dark. It's always exciting to wake up in a place you've never seen, especially when there's a trout stream there. The Yakima canyon is gorgeous. A high desert setting with a good looking, good sized river running right through the middle of it. Sometime in September each year, the "flip flop" occurs, as flows in the Yak drop from ~4000 to ~1000CFS and the river is suitable for wade fishing. I was told the river hasn't been stocked since the early '80s, which is pretty cool, but the drastic change in flows makes it tough for fish to get real big. Average fish were 8 - 12". What it is.

I got to the campground around 10 pm and was very surprised to see that most of the campsites were full, taken up by RVs and small tent communities. Most sites had fires roaring with anywhere from one to a dozen people around them. I set my tent up, strung the rods up and moseyed my way over to a fire nearby with a couple older guys sitting around. I heard some fishing phrases coming from their direction earlier, so I figured I'd at least get a recent river report.

At this fire I met Jim and Terry. They had known each other only a week or so, as they both had been on extended camping trips. The site was Terry's and he had four tents set up, a half dozen camp chairs around the fire, a slew of miscellaneous river rafts in various sizes stacked up, a trailer made from an old truck bed, a generator powering a light, stoves, pots, pans, tarps, coolers and other random "camp" articles. I introduced myself and asked how the fishing has been. Terry had a lengthy report.

Terry has floated the Yakima River "over five hundred times." He was born and raised in Yakima and has hunted and fished his whole life. He does not fly fish, but fishes the Yak with a roostertail spinner which he cuts off two of the treble hooks and pinches the barb on, because "that's legal." Two days ago he caught 25, two were 20"+. He was a talker, a Mahoney type character, and full of fishing information for anyone who will listen. These types of folks are interesting. It's pretty safe to say that everything that comes out of their mouths isn't true, but exactly which parts are false or how much the truth is stretched is tough to say. So I listened. I doubt he's floated that river five hundred times, but he's definitely spent some time on it. That night Terry told me the goal of fishing is to catch as many fish as possible. He talked some shit about fly fishing. Jim defended and looked to me for support but I stayed fairly quiet, avoiding argument. It was tough to say if Terry was drunk or stoned or both, but he was a local redneck so I tried to stay neutral on any disputes between the two, angling or otherwise.

I chatted with the two for a little while and then Terry offered to take me on a float the next day in his raft. This was an intriguing offer! A float down a new river with a veteran angler. I pondered thoughts of catching three fish to his one with flies, or worse - 25 to 0 with his roostertails. I declined on the offer, saying I wanted to wade the next day but maybe Sunday. I bid the men a goodnight and retired, planning to be on the water early.

I was standing knee deep in it at 6:45 the next morning. I fished the whole day, landing a dozen or fifteen and losing several others. Sizes ranged from 3 to 15", mostly on Pat's Rubberlegs stonefly, various small baetis nymphs and one on a SJW (just for you Keith). The river was big and it was sometimes a good fifteen minute walk between water I felt inclined to fish. Long, shallow, slick water separated riffles, structure and faster water and all the fish I caught were in pretty obvious places. It was a good day on the water, but I was curious if I could've caught more, what I should've been doing, etc.

I collected some wood for my own fire that evening and sat around it, sipping a cold Kokanee while my dinner cooked. Terry appeared, his own dinner in hand. He observed my stack of hand sawed firewood, campstove and remarked, "You're pretty self-sufficient, kid. Just like me." And over a few beers and an hour or so we conversed on fishing, life, women and the like. As I said, Terry's a character, but for every couple statements or opinions that would make me shake my head, he'd offer one that I respected. Terry was once regarded as a "top snagger" for salmon and steelhead. He told me a story about how once, from a bridge twenty feet above a river, he spotted a steelhead, snagged it, fought it to its death and then hoisted it up, hand over hand to his perch. He took out his spotlight and showed me a couple owls in a tree. I showed him some flies and he said, "I can tell you know how to fish, looking at your flies. I haven't tied any in a while..." When he told me about some sort of freshwater shrimp in a lake and fish hiding under weeds, I offered that the fish might have been feeding on scuds living in the weeds. He liked this thesis and decided I was "pretty damn smart." So over the evening's fire I agreed to float the next day with Terry in his "two man raft."

We combined supplies for a big breakfast the next morning and while we ate, he showed me some fishing pictures on his digital camera. It was then that I began to have second thoughts about the day's float. His "raft" looked something like this:
It was also at this time that I began to notice the quality of Terry's gear. All his tents had holes in them, two had doors with broken zippers. He then told me how he found all his gear in dumpsters. He was very pleased with these finds. I also realized that his stacks of floating noodles and other rafts had been found abandoned along the river or in dumpsters. I wasn't too hot on the idea of spending four to five hours in a small raft with this man at this point. I had a feeling at the least a decent story would come out of it, so long as I did myself. So after discussion, and some attempts to get out of the whole thing, I agreed to do a shorter float than planned, five miles, ending at our campsite. I'd get to look at some water anyway.

So we drove upstream, pumped up his raft and were off. Shortly into the trip, Terry spied a beer can on shore. He rowed hard to make it to the shore to investigate. I thought he might be collecting cans to return for supplementary income (Terry does not work due to recently dislocated shoulder), but Terry was more interested in the contents of this can. Specifically, whether or not there were any contents. This can was empty, but Terry assured me that rafters (the Yak is a popular spot for college kids and others to float and drink) loose full beers all the time. Five minutes later we were on shore again looking at the next beer can. Then we were on shore looking at a deflated raft lodged between two trees. Then we were looking at an empty Mountain Dew bottle. By the end of the float, Terry was 1 for 27 on beer cans and the one full one he did find he promptly drank.
Terry showed me his roostertail spinner. Three hooks, all barbed. I stayed quiet. Between investigations of beer cans 4 and 5 Terry lands the first fish of the day a 12" rainbow. 'Oh shit,' I thought to myself. But Terry wasn't about competition, he was about having a good time. Despite the high frequencies of swears coming out of his mouth, he was in great spirits the whole float. I reckon he talked pretty much nonstop for most of the trip, ten of his words to one of mine.

Terry also brought a bag of Tootsie Rolls on board for our trip. "I love these!" he said as he popped the first of fifty into his mouth and then I watched as the Tootsie Roll wrapper went straight into the river. I looked wide eyed at it, then at Terry, who was preparing for his next cast while chomping down on the roll. Fifty Tootsie Rolls consumed, fifty wrappers into the drink. I stayed quiet.

A while into the float, Terry had caught three and I got my first. He was ecstatic, asking what the fish ate, where it did, etc. He congratulated me on the fish. "I knew we'd both catch fish man!" When Terry had to take a leak he rowed us over to the bank. I stayed in the boat in an attempt of not increasing the length of time in the raft. As he stepped onto shore he remarked, "Dammit! I've got to take a shit now! You got any toilet paper?" I did not. I roll casted while Terry took care of his business. A few moments later I could see Terry through my peripheral vision and realized that he had not gone into the bushes like I expected. 'He can't be,' I thought to myself and then I took a quick glance. Terry was twenty feet upstream, a few feet from the river's edge, squatting, his pants around his ankles. I looked away and stayed quiet, hoping that the drift boat we had recently passed did not come around the bend. Back in the boat and floating again, he offered me a Tootsie Roll in his hand. I declined.
Terry's stance on rowing was fairly lackadaisical. We spun three-sixties countless times, drifted through the middle prime runs, cut off drift boats, floated three feet from banks and rock walls and zig-zagged our way downstream investigating beer cans and miscellaneous trash on the river's edges. At some point we approached some good looking water and we were a good distance for me to get a good drift through it. "Get ready, I always get one in there," Terry said. A few seconds later I was tight to my biggest fish of the weekend. Terry skillfully rowed us into slack water where I played the fish and landed a gorgeous 18" male rainbow. I obliged Terry's request for a picture on his camera. I smiled as the fish swam off and Terry hollered. I suggested Terry take up guiding.

When it dawned on me that I should probably take a picture of this human, Terry was agreeable and then I noticed his sunglasses. No doubt found in a trash can or in the river, they were ladies designer shades, probably bought at a gas station for ten dollars. He wore them well. We finished the day with ten fish - Terry 6, me 4 - one rescued raft and one frisbee.

I don't think I'd float in Terry's raft again but I might sit around a campfire with him if I ran into him. My guess is he'll be camped out in the same spot for a while longer.

Float tubin'

2011-09-22T16:17:00.016-04:00

After a few months at port, The HMS Fun Diaper set sail yesterday afternoon for sea trials in the Jackson area. Fishing big terrestrials with midge droppers in the shallows was the ticket. Halsch, if you can get your hands on a tube for next week, bring it!!!

Visualizing generic stream names

2011-09-21T12:50:00.003-04:00

I thought this gorgeous map of the variation of generic names of streams across the US was worth sharing. Original post by the map's creator is here.

Bates Event in Boston

2011-09-21T08:52:00.012-04:00

Hey not sure who is around (I am actually in Kentucky), but there is a Bates Event - usually a good turnout to reconnect with some Bates peeps - on Oct 6 in Boston. Also there are a couple of cool speakers in the Retail space (BJ's wholesale and Homegoods). In case anyone was interested. Info and link to RSVP are below.

Curb Your Enthusiasm: How Retailers Brace for a Bad Economy

Bates get together and panel discussion with leaders in the retail industry:

Panelists:

Frank Forward '76, Former EVP/CFO, BJ's Wholesale

David Kaplan '85 VP/General Merchandising Manager, HomeGoods, A Division of TJX

Thursday, Oct. 6th, 2011

The College Club of Boston

44 Comm Ave

Reception at 6 Presentation at 7

RSVP Here

Anglers!

2011-09-19T23:31:00.003-04:00

Anglers! Look at your guides on their days off, unguidedly catching fish after fish! Look at your legs, your arms, your rod! Feel the heft and synaptic whir of your big cerebrum! You've got everything they've got! What the hell have you been thinking? GO FISHING YOURSELF! We are a nation plagued with self-annointed experts, pundits, middle-persons. Away with them! Dare to be the bumbling hero of your very own fish story! Chop your psyche in half, make a guru/disciple relationship out of it, seat your humble self at the feet of your sagacious self. Read like a fiend; practice like a fool; find the best possible river on the best possible map; read about it; explore it; stick your body in it; cast into it. If you fall in, get out. If you hook yourself, unhook yourself. Make mistakes! It doesn't matter! Make a half-drowned, half-thrashed rat of yourself. Forgive yourself. Regroup. Do it all over again. And at the end of your day, pay yourself. Charge an arm and a leg. Leave yourself huge tips. Remarkably painless, isn't it?

-From David James Duncan's In Praise of No Guide.

Second dates are never the same

2011-09-18T10:24:00.000-04:00

Last year was my frist date fishing the northwoods. I took my time and romanced her and was rewarded accordingly, lots of fat fall fish and cool weather. I would say I got to third base in 2010, deep third base.

This years rendezvous was different. High water and more fishing pressure greated us as we paddled in.
I was in a party of four and at one point during the week I counted 20 fishermen on this "wild" body of water. There was lots of open talk about a favorite pond of Robbins and Wilkie that is in this area, everyone seemed to know about it's treasures.

I fished in three days of cold rain and eventually the fish came in and hit. None of them wanted my big conehead streamers, but traditional fall patterns were effective. The puppet master provided, as did Wilkies big black dick, leaches and early morning green drake patterens were also key.

That is a togue... bad photo I know

Lots of dudes in the northwoods.... I think the word is out...

But I made a new fishing friend.... I will take this guy out in the drift boat....

Salmon Blow

2011-09-14T09:26:00.005-04:00

They dont eat. They don't even lend themselves readily to the snag. They decay while you catch em. Oh and they taste spongy. They sperm on you while you try to hold them up for a picture. So why do I go up and try to catch one every year? I'm really not sure. You'd think after the first Pulaski Salmon season debacle I would have learned my lesson. But no, I keep going back and taking it on the chin. Salmon season sucks. Give me a f-ing steelie.

For two days straight, Redman and I flogged the waters of the Salmon River incessantly. Our luck was non-existant. I dropped my cell phone in the water. Mark hit a deer on the way up. It was doomed from the start. I wish i could say something profound about it, like how striking out makes you a better fisherman in the long run, but i can't. I mean the freaking fish don't eat so there aren't a whole lot of lessons you can learn to make you a better fisherman. How are you supposed to figure out how to catch a salmon when they aren't physically capable of eating anything and don't want to do anything other than motor up river and get it on? By the time they enter the river, the cohos and kings have gone through significant physical changes that prevent them from being able to eat anything, so fly selection and presentation go out the window.

Salmon fishing is like hunting. Find fish and then line the hell out of them.

I hate salmon.

Fortunately there is a solution to Salmon River weekend from hell. Go catch some delicious bluewater fish that actually enjoy eating things and don't require advanced snagging techniques. I called Jeff around Springfield MA in route back to Boston from Pulaski. We made a plan to fish with Jon the next morning for tuna out on the edge. Up at 230AM and on the water by 3 headed south. The bite wasn't epic, but at least it was a bite! We ended the day with a dozen or so mahis and 8 nice albacore. They were all hard fighting and delicious.

Give me the chicken of the sea. I'll pass on the salmon.

I'll F*** With That!

2011-09-11T13:03:00.017-04:00

I have been fishing the beaches a fair amount since moving to Bainbridge Island exactly two weeks ago. While I have had minimal success to date, I understand that part of the nature of this beach fishing game is just finding the fish. My collection of fishing spots is small, but growing, and I'm trying to learn which spots fish well at different tides, different times of day, etc. I've caught a handfull of cutthroat and silver salmon in the 4 - 6" class, which was fun the first two, maybe three times.

A day or two after I arrived on the Island, I received a message from an old friend from my hometown, Silas. He would be in Seattle for a conference and was staying through the weekend to fish and wondered if I would like to join him. Yes, I would, I told him and the plans were made. We rendez-vous-ed at perhaps the most unlikely place for two anglers to meet, a mall, and caught up while we made our way to one spot I know of that I had caught some small fish at before. No fish were caught that evening, but we knew we had an early morning outgoing tide waiting for us the next day.
We reached the beach the next morning before sunrise and made our way to a spot I found where a lagoon drains on the outgoing and a good flow of water passes by a little spit. I had caught a few nicer fish here earlier in the week but hadn't quite hit the tide right. This morning we timed it perfectly and we also had a huge tide that would drain most of the lagoon, giving us a solid two and a half hours of outgoing current.
With any foreign water or species, there are many questions and doubts that cross an angler's mind, especially when not catching fish. In this case, I was fairly confident that we were in a decent spot and that if the fish were around, they'd eat our flies - clousers in some combination of white, chartreuse, pink, olive and green. That said, I hadn't really gotten into them yet, so any theory I had to that point could be thrown out the window. We could philosophize about it all day, but in the end, fish certainly won't eat flies that aren't in the water so we started fishing.

Fifteen minutes or so into it, a strike.

The fish were there and they would eat our flies.

Between the two of us we landed a dozen or so before 9:00. It was the best luck I'd had since I arrived on the Island.

These coastal cutthroat are an awesome fish! Consider: a 14" coastal cutthroat will absolutely hammer a size 1 clouser minnow and fight hard enough to put a solid bend in an 8 weight, jump and spit your fly, take line off the reel and speed away when released! As Boone would say, I'll fuck with that! Finally getting into these fish let me get to know them a lot better and I'm thoroughly impressed.

When the tide finally slowed and the bite turned off, Silas and I began the walk back toward the car and breakfast. Walking and talking about the morning's great fishing we were suddenly stopped in our tracks by a huge splash and then a large cutthroat leaping two feet completely out of the air, directly in front of us, 60 feet away. Silas might have uttered "Dude...", but we looked at each other and in an instant ran into the water stripping line off our reels and false casting like madmen. I got one cast out pretty quick and the fly landed in the still-disappearing rings from the fish's splash. Nothing. I made another cast and started stripping when a yell from Silas came. I looked over and Silas was tight. His two casts were 10 or so feet to the left of the fish's jump and the fish had headed that way. It was quite a scene as we both couldn't contain ourselves and he battled the fish. It turned out to be the nicest fish we'd land that day.

From what I'm told, these fish push 18" and a 20" fish is a monster. So this healthy 16" fish was solid and put up a good fight.
The rest of the day was spent in search of new waters. Private Property and No Trespassing signs frustrated us as we made our way around the Sound. We found a few more places to fish and got into a few more fish, but nothing quite as productive as the morning. At any rate, I'm in. I've been used to frequent fishing for a while now so I think this will fit right in.
The day was also a great reunion with an old friend. Exploring new waters and new territory can be frustrating business sometimes and it definitely helps to have a positive face in the passenger seat and next to you on the water. Sometimes all you need is for someone else to tell you to take a right or a left. There are so many roads...
I've also heard there are salmon around.

Recent Fishing

2011-09-11T10:40:00.004-04:00

Did a little night fishing
And caught my first kokanee

Kokanee eh!

2011-09-10T14:32:00.004-04:00

When these fish are on the move, its truly a beautiful sight. Browns won't be far behind.

Connect

2011-09-07T20:11:00.004-04:00

there's a good trailer for a new film called Connect at the Confluence Films website. it has a feature on flat fishing for stripers in Casco Bay as well.

I have a date in T8 R 14 ........

2011-09-06T18:26:00.002-04:00

I have been prepping some dinner for a few brook trout
And I will happily feed it to them

Big, colorful conehead streamers are on the menu and I hope they are hungry
Off to the northland for 9 days... tight lines boys

Direct line to Jesse Lance Robbins

2011-09-04T09:08:00.000-04:00

This is what I just found in the building directory at my new place in Boston. I'd like to think it gives me a direct line to Jesse, either that or I have just discovered that he has pulled a very elaborate prank and moved into my building instead of Seattle.

The Spring Creek Saga Continues

2011-09-03T19:33:00.008-04:00

Lightning strike mission to Silver Creek, ID a couple days ago. Fishing was really slow but we still managed to break off a pair of the biggest browns I've ever seen eat a dry fly. Fishing on top is only 6 and 7x tippets at times, needless to say, this water is TOUGH. When its on though, there is no cooler place on earth. I say this openly because it would be almost impossible for this place to have more crowds than it already does. This Silver Creek squirt did not eat a dry fly
If you're driving East from Silver, don't forget to stop in Arco, Butte County, ID for a burger, shake, and to pick up a 2011-2012 Butte Pirate schedule. I've been told their wrestling team is strong this year.

Fishing is About to Hit the Fan

2011-09-03T09:55:00.007-04:00

Been rocking a new schedule for the last month or so which has been killing me for four days but opening up a three day weekend. This agrees with my need to get on the water. Had high hopes for a wildman Allagash day trip but was unable to harvest a partner in crime so I made my way to the Rangeley area.

Stung a fish here on my first and third casts on the Puppetmaster that I posted pictures of a couple weeks ago.

Worked streamers and nymphs but the nymphing game was not producing. Bugged out of position A after two brookies and a midsized Salmon. The mile hike out was uphill and a bit of a ballbuster in full fishing garb. No matter, foot on the gas I headed to position B.

Nobody on the river the entire time I was there. Despite the off color water the fishing was fantastic. Olive nymphs were the ticket; Fergusson Trout Bug, Olive Hare's Ears, and Caddis all produced. This spot looks so insignificant with limited drifts available in water over 2 ft. deep but the fish were stacked up.

Fishing alone at both of these places got me crazy jacked about fall fishing; I was in the zone, the fish were cooperating, the sun was out and the temps were low....good times

If you ain't bleedin' you ain't leadin'

2011-09-01T16:48:00.004-04:00

I would like to try "noodling" someday. Check out this photo essay of a nooddling contest in Oklahoma in the NY Times. Looks like fun...

Caption Contest/Blooper Reel/Just Look At This Picture!

2011-08-30T14:04:00.002-04:00

comments, of any kind, accepted below. enjoy

Road Trip, Take Two

2011-08-29T02:29:00.009-04:00

Left Colorado a week ago. Arrived on Bainbridge Island this evening. Did a little fishing along the way.

Flat Creek, Jackson Hole:
This cutthroat was my long awaited redemption from this time.
Henry's Fork, Island Park:
The fish here were picky. We elected to seduce a select few on size 10 foam hoppers.
Rogue River, Southern Oregon:
Steelhead were steelhead and we didn't catch any.

Slab

2011-08-28T10:28:00.000-04:00

It looks like your buddy Boone Walker is up for the Moldy Chum Slab of the month......

http://www.moldychum.com/home-old/tag/slab-of-the-month

Well done sir

Tick Tock

2011-08-28T10:18:00.002-04:00

Kings are arriving in the SR and a report from the staircase tells of Steele being landed......blood pressure rising

Flat Creek 8/22

2011-08-25T18:25:00.018-04:00

Robbins stopped by to fish Flat Creek on Monday. Not much going on for feeding activity but he still got a nice one to net while I blew my first opportunity by swatting a cloud of mosquitos at the exact instant a good fish ate. Unfortunately, the road warrior had miles to put behind him so the trip was short and beers will have to wait till next time. Half an hour after he left, I got my second opportunity of the night. A memorable one indeed...

Henry's Fork report???

2011 Five Minutes of Fly Fishing Movies

2011-08-25T10:35:00.002-04:00

Hey y'all, here's a link to The Drake's 2011 movie finalists. Some good'uns in there. Enjoy

Sam the FISH

2011-08-24T00:53:00.001-04:00

Into the Allagash: May 2011

2011-08-22T19:16:00.004-04:00

I would like to dedicate this video to Wilkie and thank him for being patient, as the release of this video is long overdue. Enjoy!

Goose Creek

2011-08-22T10:39:00.005-04:00

Jesse was kind enough to have me down at the goose creek on his last weekend down there. Camping, fishing, all around good times.
I think a caption contest is in order for this one. They both made those faces independently by the way.

SolidHookups.com

2011-08-21T21:31:00.000-04:00

With a little help from Norm Larsen we now have both the BFC web addresses pointing directly to the Solid Hookups blog. That means that www.solidhookups.com is now the official web address of the blog, so you don't need the .blogspot.com anymore (but that will still work if anyone has it bookmarked or linked).

We are having some technical difficulties with comments, but we're working on it.

And we've made $4.15 from GoogleAds already, so we can buy a BFC Bass Boat in no time.

Fishing with Bob from Texas

2011-08-19T17:17:00.004-04:00

A collection of quotes and antics from this week's fishing with Bob from Texas:

Jesse: "Nice cast Bob, let this one drift."
His flies drift through a nice hole, no strke.
Bob: "Wow that was a nice drift! Nice drift Bob!"

B: "Landed two, lost two! That's about average."

J: "OK Bob, cast along that bank there."
B: "Really?"
J: "...Yea."
Three casts later Bob hooks a fish.

We've just finished a morning of fishing and are about to head back to the truck when I spot a fish.
J: "Hey Bob, I see a fish there, you wanna try a couple more casts?"
B: "Yea sure!"
J: "OK, this fish is..."
Bob walks past me by six feet spooking the fish.
J: "...OK, cast on the left side of that main flow, right in the seam.
Bob makes three casts.
J: "Oh, woops, the fish just spooked, oh well."
B: "Oh yea I saw him take off there!"

J: "Bob, do you do any hunting?"
B: "Well I was in Alaska once. There's a Blue Bear there, it's the rarest bear in the world. I shot one."
J: "...Cool."

Bob snaps a fish off by not letting the fish run.
B: "What happened?"
J: "Um, well, sometimes the line gets stressed after you've hooked a bunch of fish."
B: "Yea! I like that! I fought so many fish that I wore the line out!"

J: "Let's put another piece of split shot on here..."
B: "Grand idea!"

B: "Nice casts Bob..."

Bob breaks another fish off.
B: "Well Jesse, put another twist in your knot next time!"

At the end of this morning's trip, my last trip of the summer and perhaps the last official guide trip for a long while, Bob lands a nice brownie on a since 24 pheasant tail. We shook hands and exchanged smiles as Bob reeled in.
J: "Well Bob, that's another great day of fishing!"
B: "Well Jesse, only people with bad attitudes have bad days fishing."

True that, Bob. Nice fishin' with ya.

Found some BFC shirts while moving

2011-08-19T16:34:00.003-04:00

Hey guys,

As some of you know I moved to Louisville, KY. During that move I found 7 large BFC shirts that I would like to get rid of if anyone wants them. I figure if I can get 8 bucks a shirt that would be great. Also, stay tuned because we should have some new apparel coming soon. You can buy them by going to the goods page right on this blog.

Recent Updates to Solid Hookups

2011-08-19T15:42:00.000-04:00

Gentlemen,

Some exciting updates to the blog today, and some more to come. Here is what we are working on:

+ The connection with Twitter is now improved, so posts and comments are automatically posted to the @solidhookups twitter account. If you use twitter and want to follow, then go to www.twitter.com/solidhookups to follow the blog.

+ The old Facebook Group has been saved and moved to the "New Group" setting, or whatever bullshit hoop Facebook made me dance through today. Basically, we saved the old pictures and now the group is active again. Hopefully this will be a good way to stay in touch with BFC alums since we're almost all on Facebook. If you aren't a member of the group, go here: http://www.facebook.com/groups/2384584424

+ New posts on the blog should automatically publish to the Facebook group, but we'll have to see if that works (this post will be the test).

+ Nissen is working to set up a new commenting system that will retain all of the old comments, but allow for super-simple commenting in the future. I think people will be able to comment using their Facebook accounts, too, if they want to.

+ We have activated Google AdSense, which puts some simple ads on the SolidHookups site. Hopefully these aren't too goddamn annoying, but we can turn them off if they are. Most importantly, hopefully they will start to slowly generate a little bit of money for the club that we can use for future trips, gear, etc.

+ I deleted that swimming fish thing because it was annoying me. I'm not sure what asshole installed it (I did) years ago, but it is gone now.

+ We are working to make www.solidhookups.com the official web address of the blog. Not the biggest deal, but it'll look cooler to drop the .blogspot.com part of the address. It shouldn't affect any existing links or whatnot.

+ Soon we will send out a little Q&A survey to folks to get feedback on the site, and what we want to see on it in the future. And some ideas for new gear, etc.

I hope everyone is well. I am as of today living in the greater Boston area hell yes), so I hope to see more of you soon.

Chet

Sometimes two hands are better than one

2011-08-17T17:56:00.001-04:00

It is true two hands are often better ......

Example one :

Example Two :

Example Three :

I just had a friend build me a two hander for this year's crop of steele

I soon hope to put it to good use...

Fly Inventions

2011-08-16T19:51:00.007-04:00

Presenting a homespun fly I have dubbed "The Puppetmaster". Tied on a 1/0 Tiemco Atlantic Salmon hook in black. Fish this for brookies in Maine you say?!? Fish this for meat eating salmonids anywhere in the states?!? "It's too long Wilkie, its just too big"....what are you some f-ing ex of mine from college???? Fish for fish that eat smaller versions of themselves and stop f-ing doubting me. Much Love

The Eastern Canyons

2011-08-15T16:21:00.007-04:00

Oceanographer Canyon. 103 Nautical Miles from nearest land (118 statute miles). The OI went there, and the OI slayed. Thanks to Tyler and Andrew for joining in the slayage. Big Yellowfin steaks on the grill tonight!

First Canyons Excursion

2011-08-12T22:40:00.000-04:00

Since Captain Lane started venturing offshore to the canyons, I have been envious of those fortunate enough to join him. Living on the west coast for the past few years has prevented me from getting in on the action, which, as evidenced by the content on this blog, has been quite solid.

A few weeks ago, a family wedding just north of Boston got me out east for the first time since 2009. My girlfriend Tina and I decided to made a week out of it giving us time to visit Boston as well as the Cape. Midweek, Poseidon provided a glorious weather window for a run down south. Keith made the call - it was finally time to see for myself whether the canyons lived up to the hype.

As the video below shows, the trip was a rousing success. The bite was comparatively slow, but the weather was perfect. Tina caught her first fish ever, a 60 lb white marlin during the afternoon troll.

On the night drift, Keith hooked up on something very large one one of the chunk lines, but within minutes the fish had managed to wrap all 5 lines, creating a massive tangle that nearly spelled disaster for the trip. After the fish snapped off (we were unable to hand line it in), Keith assessed the damage. He was able to salvage all but one of the rods by jury-rigging new top-shots. By morning we were back on the troll. We snagged 5 yellowfin about mid morning, but nothing else. Even some mahi that we spotted loitering by lobster pots were unwilling to bite, so we wound up are lines and headed back to shore.

We ended our trip with an Ahi sushi and poke feast at Jgromma's pad in Cotuit, followed by the usual antics one would expect with such a crowd.

Thanks again Captain, you gave us an experience we won't soon forget!

Creek Fishing

2011-08-12T21:56:00.003-04:00

Went up to a creek I like to fish outside of crested butte, and low and behold I caught some fish. The creek doesn't get much more than 15-20 feet wide but there are great pockets and riffles and the fish are where they should be. Before heading out I sat down at the vice and tied up a couple of ant patterns, thirty minutes later I was into some fish. I had only caught brookies out of this creek on past excursions but this time I caught a brown, rainbow, and a whole slew of brook trout (wondering if there are cutthroat in there too).

Fun with big flies

2011-08-12T17:49:00.007-04:00

20.5" Flat Creek Cutty. This pig drifted out from its undercut to inhale a big ol' Chernobyl Ant. 15 minutes from Jackson

Google "bank robber fly" (size 4) and you might imagine the look on our faces when this fish ate.

I seeeeeee you

Shhhh

2011-08-10T14:14:00.002-04:00

I received a text message from Whisky Steele yesterday afternoon with a familiar message that prompted me, when preparing for the guide's evening fishing outing on the Rio Grande, to grab my two-hander that hasn't seen much use for a while.

And whatd'ya know, I stuck my first fish on the rod!

Oh the gallant Fishers life

2011-08-09T09:16:00.002-04:00

Oh the gallant Fishers life,
It is the best of any
'Tis full of pleasure, void of strife,
And 'tis belov'd of many:
Other joyes
are but toyes,
only this
lawful is,
for our skill
breeds no kill,
but content and pleasure.

In a morning up we rise,
Ere Aurora's peeping,
Drink a cup to wash our ees,
Leave the sluggard sleeping:
Then we go
to and fro,
with our knacks
at our backs,
to such streams
as the Thames,
if we have the leasure.

When we pleas to walk abroad
For our recreation,
In the fields is our abode,
Full of delectation.
Where in a brook
with a book,
or a Lake,
fish we take;
there we sit,
for a bit,
till we fish intangle.

-Izaak Walton, born on this day in 1593

Men At Work

2011-08-03T17:20:00.002-04:00

Sawyer, Clark, Wilkie and Keith on the troll... This was minutes after Sawyer boated a 65 pound wahoo...

When it rains, it pours PART II

2011-08-03T10:13:00.003-04:00

the rains returned and this time for real. the creek jumped up 22 CFS to 50 this morning and she's off color like a good little creek should be after a rain. thick clouds through the valley should stick around all day. got a trip on station 4, one that Caleb can attest has at least one pig in it. got me a good guy to fish with and his three sons - ages 12, 12 and 11. here we go. report to follow.

UPDATE: the worm bite was on today, all day. boys, young and old, as well as wives who had never touched fly rods caught fish on pink and red ones. pictures taken, clients happy, guide tipped. to the bar.

Black and Whites

2011-08-02T08:09:00.001-04:00

The Androscoggin River is a big tank of chubs
Photos by Nate True

My friend Ducky had never seen a drift boat....

He fished some... and ripped Mavricks....

I caught chubs..... and had a Mavrick as well

Chub at 12 0 ' Clock

Caption Contest: Fists Addition

2011-07-31T22:41:00.000-04:00

add yers in the comments!

His New Business Venture

2011-07-28T20:57:00.002-04:00

The Storming of Goose Creek

2011-07-28T13:05:00.017-04:00

On July 20^th I received a call on my cell phone. It was Keith.

“Ah, the Captain,” I thought. “Can’t chat now but I’ll catch up with the good man soon.” I silenced the phone. Shortly, a ding let me know a voicemail awaited.

Moments later an email came across the dash: CALL ME.

“Shit,” I thought. “Hope everything’s alright.”

The Captain picked up on the first ring and skipped pleasantries. “What are you doing this weekend?”

I don’t remember what I said exactly, but it was something along the lines of, “Oh I dunno, this, that, acting like a flea-dicked loser.”

“You’re coming to Colorado with me.”

“What?”

“I’m flying in Friday night and we’re going to Jesse’s ranch. And we’re going to fucking hammer trout all weekend.”

Again, not sure what I said, but it was something like, “I dunno, Keith. My menstrual cycles have been pretty irregular recently. And I think Ellie and I have plans this weekend.”

“What would Paul Ambrose do, Caleb? Would he say no to the St George’s Valley?”

Ouch. Went there, huh. “Let me call you back.”

“Make it happen.”

Click.

I called Ellie, my girlfriend.

“So, I just talked to Keith and he’s trying to organize a fishing tip in Colorado. But I know that we’ve got—”

“Are you serious? GO.”

“Well we’ve got—”

“What is wrong with you? GO.”

“Yeah.”

Twenty-four hours later Critchlow gave the thumbs up as the third man. Forty-eight hours later I was looking at the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. Fifty-five hours, three burritos, a case of Bud Light, a weird gas station near South Park and a couple bags of jerky later, at 2 AM, three groggy heroes arrived at the 4UR Ranch, near Creede Colorado.

Jesse stumbled out of the bunkhouse to greet us, sporting that vague grin of man sifting his way through a night of drinking and sleep deprivation. Immediate whisky shots were in order. Then a short discussion of our fishing strategy the next morning. Then we watched a DVD of Lee Wulff hammering giant tuna. Then we all passed out.

The next morning could only be described as a mountain morning: cool enough to need a jacket, bright enough to need shades, and crisp enough that you knew you were about to have an awesome fucking day. We waded out of the bunkhouse, geared up and headed for Goose Creek.

In short: as projected, we hammered fish. The flows were low, 28 CFS, and the fish had mostly all moved to the deeper plunge pools, some in back eddies. While trout were had on dry flies, they seemed keyed mostly on emergent caddis and BWO’s. Browns were almost exclusively in the 10-14 inch range, whereas the rainbows usually ran in the 14-18 inch class—many of them stockers, but some beautiful wild ones mixed in, for sure.

I’ll let the video take it from here.

Throughout the day, whenever we met a ranch hand, another guide or just a friendly face, everyone told us about a legendary funk band that was playing in Creede that night. The only problem was that they had a coke problem and had been methodically banned from most establishments in Colorado. Only now, two years after their banning in Creede, were they allowed to play again. So of course, after a long day of fishing, we were ready to get our party on and some crazy-insane funk band seemed like the right antidote. After a massive pizza dinner, 6 pitchers of Bud Light and me dominating Crichlow at Big Buck Hunter, we arrived at Tommyknockers, the venue for said funk band with coke problem.

No one was setting up instruments, the overhead music was soft and country, and people were milling aimlessly around the bar.

“Those motherfuckers didn’t show,” Ray, a bald-headed, fully-bearded local guide and friend of Jesse’s, barked at us from across the bar.

This became a time for action. Our heroic fishing day would not end with some lame dawdling around a bar in Creede, Colorado. Jesse’s friend, Carter, took the reigns, procured his iPod and proceeded to assemble a heroic playlist that found Captain Lane shaking his money maker furiously to Dancing in the Dark a mere twenty minutes later.

Beers, whisky shots and general merriment was had—funk band or no funk band with a coke problem.

The next day, despite our impressive showing on Goose Creek the day before, the newly-arrived 4UR Ranch’s guests apparently had priority on the water. Not sure why we didn’t, considering we were staying there for free. So Keith, Critchlow and I, through the fog of hangover, departed for Clear Creek.

Our rented F150 came in handy, finally. The road to Clear Creek was certainly on the distant end of the spectrum of what can still be considered a road, and not a mountain biking trail. The Captain navigated us safely and we soon found ourselves casting on the cool and shaded waters. By any standards, Clear Creek was excellent fishing. The problem was that we’d hammered so many hawgs the day before, we were a bit jaded. Still, over a few hours, we each took a handful of browns and rainbows, in the 10-14 inch class, then called it a day.

Before we could head back to Denver, one last fishing conquest had to be made: fishing stockers in the pond back at the ranch. By the time we returned later that afternoon, Jesse had finished with his clients and now could take us to Walton Pond. Heavy and ugly streamers were thrown and over the course of a short hour, we managed to boat five rainbows, all about 18 inches.

From there, and after good man-hugs with Jesse, it was time to head back to reality—only five short days since The Captain had called me.

Weather

2011-07-27T22:15:00.006-04:00

afternoon and/or evening thunderstorms have been the norm on the ranch over the past couple weeks. we're still waiting for the big dump, but the quick change in air temp, cloud cover and general varying conditions provides some interesting fishing opportunities after work.

tonight's approaching weather struck me as one that would provide an evening bite on the big river, the Rio Grande. threatening thunder and sporadic lightning bolts sent me back and forth from the car to the river for a while but once the storm cooled down the fishing heated up.

rain upstream had cause the Rio to rise and color up today so i threw some big meat below and indicator and the rainbows and browns were accepting of the offering.

here here for the summer!

Green Drakes in Town

2011-07-26T20:21:00.003-04:00

Today i fished a brand new stretch of water, and it is about a half mile from my door. Kinda sad that it took me this long to fish this water. There is about a mile and a half of public water and most of the year it is way to low to fish, but with our big run-off this year it is at perfect levels and the fishing was great. Green Drakes were popping off everywhere and there were some fish rising. So I rigged up and started my venture into the new waters. I hooked into a few smaller fish in the 6-10 inch range, and was pretty happy because I didn't know what to really expect in this water. Then I lost a fish that felt pretty big and got pretty excited. On the next bend there was a big slick slow water section and I just casted close to the far bank and what ended up eating my fly was a big, wild 18.5 inch brown. It ripped across the current and fought hard and I ended up bringing it to net with a mix of surprise that this big fish was in this little stream and just pure happiness. As I walked back to my house from the stream I knew I would be back there soon, I wonder if there are even bigger trout in there?

4 photos that represent fly fishing in Maine in the last 10 days

2011-07-25T19:12:00.001-04:00

High heat.... low water

The boat that waits for Wilkie et all ......

My drakes are brown... and ugly

High heat ... low water = small fish
Live Life