Inspiration

When I first started my blog a few years ago, I chose the "blogger" format because I thought it would be an easy way to get a website up and running for myself. Even though I still use it as my "website", it really has turned into a photographic and written journal of my experiences and interests over the past few years. Looking back over many of my posts, I am able to relive and enjoy many of the experiences I've had with fly-fishing. Keeping the journal has reignited my interest in writing, and also helped me structure my thoughts and ideas in more creative ways. It has also helped inspire me in ways. I received an email recently from a woman named Melanie Bowen. She came across my blog and commented to me that she not only enjoyed the content, but could see how I was using it to catalog desires, wishes and goals, as well as maybe inspire others through my fishing reports, stories and photographs. I had never really thought about it like that before. Melanie has recently been invited to contribute to the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance Blog. She reminded me that getting things down on paper can be a way to better your own health and healing, especially in times of illness or treatment. Since I'm convinced that fly-fishing is a great way to maintain and heal the heart, soul and body, I've attached a "guest post" here from Melanie that she wrote about this subject. Check out The Mesothelioma Blog to learn more! Thank you for this Melanie! Here's a couple of my favorite pictures (that I have posted here before). Liz McCabe, 100 years old, and Mikey Shore, 8 years old, both catching fish on dry flies from the front of my boat. Very inspirational!

For many people, writing is a task that they do not think much about. It is something that they do to communicate with others, to remind themselves of things, and to make sure that their thoughts are organized. So many people do not realize that writing could be an extremely powerful tool for them, that it can help them figure out what they want to do and how they can do it! If you have never considered what writing can do for you, now is the time to start, especially for those with any medical diagnosis--from mesothelioma to multiple sclerosis,one can be thrown into a tailspin. When dealing with illness, diagnosis and prognosis, it is easy to feel lost. You may be suddenly concerned that you don’t know what to do with yourself, or simply at sea in the wide range of information that you are suddenly flooded with. This is where producing some information of your own can make all the difference. When you write and journal, you are creating structure and order from nothing at all. You are putting your thoughts on the page and making them a reality. You’ll find that writing down your feelings and your dreams gives them solidity and a reality that they did not have before, and at the end of the day, you’ll be able to look them over and see them for what they are. Your words are the first step that you can take towards making your dreams a reality. Use writing to organize your thoughts. If you need to use lists and tools at first, go right ahead. As an example, make a list of five things that you love, five things that you want out of your life, and five things that you want to do in the next three days or this season. This helps you stay on track and if you write without stopping, you can also move forward and learn more about what your brain is telling you what you need and want. Writing takes time, and though you might feel hurried and rushed, remember that this is something that may only take a few minutes from your day. Grab five minutes right before you go to bed or just as you wake up; think about how little it takes to write a sentence about what is going on around you, or an observation that you made during the course of the day. Put your journal online on a blog for everyone to see (to motivate others), or keep it private from the rest of the world on paper. Your journal is your tool, and it should serve and inspire you. Use it to help you focus your thoughts, to focus your dreams and to learn more about yourself and what you want to do.

Gettin' Brighter

Recent moisture laden snowfalls around Western Wyoming have helped build up the snowpack a bit more over the past couple of weeks. The valley and surrounding mountains have picked up over 5 feet of snow in recent weeks, with much of it containing over 10% water content. This is good news for anglers. Such a dry start to the winter was making many wonder if we were in for a drought winter. As of today, Teton, Sublette, Fremont and Lincoln counties all have at least a 76 per cent of average snow-water equivalency. Much of Yellowstone National Park is closer to the 90% figure, which is good news also. Needless to say, drought winters can be devastating on fisheries, while the "feast" winters like last year, produce flooding and shortened fishing seasons. It feels like we are on track for a more "normal" year. Not much else to report from this end. The days are slowly but surely starting to get longer, and the mind is starting to drift towards fishing again. It's a great time of year to tie flies, plan fishing trips and comb the internet looking for good fish porn :) I came across this photo on Facebook of an absolutely gorgeous Brown Trout. Don't have a name of the angler or a location, but I'm guessing South America. I also found a nice photo of the Wyoming Wind Sock we use at the fly shop before we head out each day. Remember to practice your double-haul before we hit the water next summer, could be windy! Let's go Giants!

Green With Envy

For those readers not already aware of the "Million Pipeline" project on the table in Wyoming, I'd like to get you up to speed. I've been reading about this for quite some time, and just came across a video that I had not seen before (see below). A developer in Colorado is proposing a plan to pipe billions of gallons of water from the Flaming Gorge Reservoir in Wyoming and Utah (on the Green River), all the way to the front range of Colorado. They would be calling for over 80 billion gallons of water a year to travel over 550 miles to the Colorado front-range metropolis. With a surge in population in this area over the past 20 years, there is simply not enough water to go around. Every drop of the Colorado River is already being used. What is so troubling for me is the fact that there is way too much water being used already to grow lawns and manicure golf courses in this area. The potential impacts of a project of this magnitude are certainly numerous. The environmental impacts on the lake itself, as well as on the world-class fishery below the dam on the Green River, could be monumental. Lower water levels, both on the lake and on the river will likely cause water temperature shifts which would adversely affect insect and fish life. Minimum water flows out of the dam may no longer be met. Along with this, the livelihoods of farmers, as well as outfitters, guides and lodge owners could be devastated. Make sure to check out this video as well as this link to Fly Fisherman to learn more! Also, check out Our Damn Water as well, to get involved! The photo above of Stan Czarniak putting me on the goods shows just how special this area of the Green River is.

Green with Envy from Trout Unlimited on Vimeo.

They're calling for over 5 feet of snow over the next 5 days here in the Tetons...great news for skiers and anglers. Hopefully Colorado is getting some water too :)

Happy New Year!

Happy 2012 to all of my readers out there! The weather in Jackson has been a far cry from what many were highly anticipating to this point in the winter. After the 700" of snow that fell during last winters "La Nina" pattern, many around here were planning on a much stronger start to this years snowpack, given that we are also in a La Nina pattern for this winter. Although we have received ample snow to get people out skiing, the weather has been unseasonably warm and dry. The snow-water equivalency data is showing anywhere from 60% to 80% of normal in our river drainages right now. It's obviously still very early in the winter to make any predictions, but I would venture to say that we will likely see less snowfall this year than we saw in 2011. Since the last two spring seasons produced record breaking snow and rain, I'd probably hold off booking any fishing trips on the Snake River for this June just yet. Time will tell!

I've posted a few more pictures from from the November New Zealand odyssey. After cutting our teeth around Christchurch and Murchison from the car, Scott and I hit the "rough track"...this is Kiwi for backpacking long and hard to remote areas. We targeted a number of different rivers in remote backcountry areas, carrying backpacks and also staying in huts. If you are short on time and long on money, hiring helicopters can certainly get you to many of these areas. Scott and I opted to haul all of our backpacking gear from the states and make an adventure out of it. There were areas with great trails and easy hiking, as well as spots where we did some serious bushwhacking and crawling over exposed "slips", or spots where earthquakes had caused landslides. New Zealand has a very extensive and well established hut system which makes longer stays much more enjoyable too.

Merry Christmas!

After a few days of splendid fishing in the Canterbury Region, Scott and I headed North and West to the town of Murchison. We got a tip on a great motor camp to pitch our tent for a few days. New Zealand is a very "road trip" friendly country. Virtually every town has at least one "motor camp"...a place where you can pitch a tent or rent a small cabin, do laundry, cook dinner and even check email.

As we walked into the office of the Murchison Kiwi Park, we were greeted by photos on the wall of our buddy Josh Graffam holding trophy Brown Trout, so we knew we were in the right place. In fact, the proprietors knew many of our friends from Wyoming that had been through there over the years. Lynn and Brent Winter took great care of us during our stay at the Kiwi Park, I would highly recommend it as your basecamp if you ever find yourself in Murchison. Murchison was like being in a place like Dillon, Montana. There was great water in every direction, and it would take an entire season to even scratch the surface on fishing in this region. With literally dozens of trophy trout streams dumping into the Buller River, we had plenty of options to hunt fish while there. Once again, we had great sight fishing to large fish, and found them on a variety of flies. Here's a few more photos to share from our journey.



I'd like to give a shout out to my friend Janice Steiner with this photo of an unbelievable yacht that we spotted while walking the Auckland harbor on our last day. Didn't know you sailed Janice? Janice works for the town of Jackson as our transit coordinator...she does a great job keeping all of our public transportation running very smoothly. Best wishes to all of my readers for a great holiday season and a Happy New Year! More soon!

Blown Away

As the temperature dives below zero again tonight (as it has every night for the past week), my mind drifts back to the South Island of New Zealand. Scott and I were simply blown away at just how unique the fishing was. After years of listening to buddies rave about New Zealand, and months planning this adventure, we just were not sure exactly what to expect. The quality of scenery, people and fishing all exceeded our expectations. After over 30 hours of traveling from Jackson, arriving in Christchurch to pick up our rental car (a very modest Nissan Wingroad wagon) was like getting a huge shot of adrenaline. We decided to hit the regional fish and game office first to secure our fishing licenses. It was here that we got our first tip from a guy working the office named Roger. Our plan was to head straight to Murchison, but like so many of the Kiwis that we met, Roger was delighted to chat and help us along our way to the best possible fishing. We took him up on his advice and headed a couple of hours out of Christchurch to a hidden pullout to camp for the night. The next day, we watched the sun rise along the banks of the River X. Low, clear flows greeted us, along with clear, calm skies. We slowly started walking upstream in search of gold. We went four or five holes without seeing anything, and were maybe wondering if there were any fish in this river at all. Did Roger send a couple of Yanks on a wild goose chase? Scott decided to pop a streamer into a likely looking deeper hole. Sure enough, a monster brown trout came out to swipe it, and then disappeared. That's all we needed to see...there were fish here. We then slowly crept up to the next hole, and sure enough, we spotted what would be a typical fish on this river...a 24" Brown Trout holding in very thin water. It was Scott's turn to cast, so he placed a nymph right down his lane, and bang, fish on. Some of the best fishing we had on the entire trip was on a river that was not initially on our radar. The first two days we spent on this river taught us much of what we needed to know for our trip. Walk slowly and don't overlook any of the water, no matter how shallow or slow. It was also here that we learned that you can catch huge fish blindly, ie, unsighted. (Contrary to what many buddies had told us before coming here). Certainly, when we had the chance to sight fish, we took it. But some of the biggest fish we saw came on blind casts with streamers. Our first two days of fishing and car camping well exceeded our expectations, and could now not wait to head on to Murchison to start checking off the rest of the list. Here's a few more photos I'd love to share. Healthy fish, gin clear waters, and stunning scenery.

Back Home

Scott Smith and I arrived home on Monday from our epic three week tour of New Zealand's South Island trout paradise. There are certainly many stories to tell, that I plan on sharing over the winter. In a nutshell, it was a fantastic trip. We picked up our rental car in Christchurch, loaded our tents, backpacks and rods, and hit it hard. We hit 12 rivers in 21 days on day trips and overnight backpacking adventures. It was some of the most rewarding, yet challenging fishing we had ever done. Most of the rivers hold very large Brown Trout that are in gin clear water and are extremely wary. Some of the fish were fairly easy to approach and hook, while others spooked before you could even get a cast down. We thoroughly enjoyed the Kiwi culture while moving around, and already cannot wait to get back some day. I'll be sharing more stories soon from our trip. For now, it's time to make the transition from Summer back to Winter. There's plenty of snow on the ground, and the air is cold here in Jackson. Enjoy a few photos. More stories and photos to come!

Cold Weather

The temperatures around Jackson the past few days have been very crisp. With lows in the 20's (and tonight's forecast calling for a low of 14 degrees), it sure feels like winter is coming fast. Skies have been bright and sunny, but just cold. Most of the golden Aspen and Cottonwood foliage has now fallen to the ground and winter feels like it is now just around the corner. The fishing around here has been stellar. Both the South Fork and Snake (as well as some of the unnamed Fall favorites in Yellowstone), have been fishing great. This is by far my favorite time of year around here to be on the water. Water levels are low, there are few anglers around and fish are eager to feed and put on their "winter wool". Most of my information on local stream conditions this fall have been coming secondhand. With a 22 day excursion to New Zealand about to commence, I've been busy around the house with my "honey-do" list...very little time to fish. This will be the first October in more than ten years that I have not been in Montana chasing the streamer and Baetis bite. It sounds like the Missouri has been on fire...no surprises there! The trip to New Zealand has been in the works for a couple of years; Scott Smith and I each celebrated a landmark birthday this past summer, and needed an excuse to head there. With plane tickets in hand since last January, we've been slowly planning and researching our destination which we now will be able to scratch off our bucket list. (Urban dictionary definition: A list of things to do before you die. Comes from the term "kicked the bucket"). I've been fortunate enough to be able to live in such a great area and work on my bucket list for some time here. I've been working on this list for some time now chasing trout all over the West, as well as the elusive "Palometa" on the Caribbean flats. Checking off New Zealand will be a long-awaited dream. Planning this adventure (as always), has been an incredible amount of fun. Reading books, studying maps and organizing the gear has been mouth-watering. The real excitement has been talking to our buddies that have been there; listening to the stories and advice from people like Tom Montgomery, Jack Dennis, Josh Graffam, Jeff Currier, Josh Gallivan, John Gendall, John Holland, Brian Hodges and Peter Chung has been a blast. Thanks for the help guys! Enjoy this great photo that angler Dan Beistel just passed along to me. A 20" Snake River Cutty from earlier in the season. Boots Allen snapped this shot just after I netted the fish for Dan. I'll never forget that fish Dan!

Road Trip

Rachael and I left town early Friday morning with the girls bound for Chico Hot Springs, in South Central Montana. For those of you that have not heard of Chico, it's a gem located in the Paradise Valley, near the banks of the Yellowstone River. Natural hot springs pools with therapeutic temperatures as high as 103 degrees are surrounded by the historic lodge and saloon. Established in 1900, the resort is a great getaway for anyone looking for relaxation, therapy, good food and a great saloon. Check out Chico online to learn more about this resort. We spent Friday night at the historic main lodge at Chico, and then headed for Old Faithful, in Yellowstone National Park, for Saturday night's stay. This is one of our favorite times of year to be in Yellowstone. We did a great day hike near Old Faithful, and spent a few hours fishing both the Firehole and Yellowstone Rivers.

The Firehole in particular is fishing very well right now. Fish were eagerly taking Caddisflies on top, and small Buggers down deep. Get up there soon...it's only open for a few more weeks, and there is no one around right now.
Here's a few shots from the weekend, including one of my daughter Hannah practicing her cast, and Charlotte checking out my loop...more soon!

Blast Of Winter

A serious weather change last week brought significant snow to Western Wyoming, all the way down to the valley floor. The mountains picked up as much as a foot of snow in some areas, with a couple of inches sticking around Jackson and the river bottom for Thursday and Friday. I had a trip booked for this past Thursday with some folks visiting from Northern California. I talked them into going thinking that the weather would not be all that bad. It ended up being one of the wildest days of guiding I have ever had. We decided to fish Astoria to West Table in the Snake River Canyon. As we launched the boat, heavy rain turned to heavy, blinding snow with serious winds ripping up river. With a full thermos, Coleman space heater and down jackets on, we surged forward. It was likely the coldest day I have ever had clients out on the water. Despite the rugged conditions, we were able to periodically sight fish to risers feeding on a light hatch of Mahoganies and Baetis. I would love to share some photos from the day, but I just could not deal with the camera in those conditions. I guided a last minute trip yesterday over on the South Fork, floating from Conant to Byington. The Canyon flows are now below 6,000 cfs, making for quite a long float. Fishing was fantastic. Although we did not see a fish over 16", the sheer amount of fish we found feeding on the thick mayfly hatch was unbelievable. A soup of Baetis and Mahoganies covered the entire river for most of the day. Definitely one of those days I would have preferred to have the rod in my hand and not the oars! The Snake River is now finally stabilized at 602 cfs below Jackson Lake Dam...perfect winter flows. Get out there soon, it should be red hot right now!
Not much else to report here. Time to start the serious gear organization for our November 5th departure to New Zealand. My good buddy Scott Smith and I will be spending 22 days on the South Island in search of Brown Gold. We've never been before and are ready for some adventure. We've had this trip on the books since last January, and now are in the final planning stages. I got an email a few nights ago from my buddy John Holland. He came across this picture from the Henry's Fork a few years ago that he just found. It was a day we spent fishing together below the Warm River in early May. It's a shot of the thickest Caddisfly hatch that I have ever witnessed. We were in complete awe...I've never seen anything like it since. Make sure to click on the photo to enlarge it and really appreciate the amount of bugs.

Slowing Down

October has arrived and the volume of guiding clientele has reduced dramatically. Even though the fishing is still great (and about to get better), the demand for fishing guides typically drops around the first of October. I just guided the last 6 out of 7 days, but the next week will be much slower. Fish on the Snake are still taking large and small dry flies. Chernobyl Ants with Mahogany droppers are about the best rig going right now. If you really want to test your eyes against the glare, you can also drop a size 16 flying ant...they've been working well also. The Bureau of Reclamation will begin dropping the Snake River flows from below Jackson Lake Dam tonight. The releases have been holding steady for over two months at around 2,800 cfs. Over the next five days, the flows will be cut in 500 cfs increments to a final flow of about 600 cfs. Once these "winter flows" are achieved, fish will begin to stack up in the remaining holding water. I think we are about to see some of the best fishing of the season over the next few weeks, as these flows are stabilized, and some cooler, wetter weather brings on the Hecubas, Drakes and Mahoganies. I'll be on the water at least two days this week, so stay tuned for a report. It's now time to start the serious planning for my southern hemisphere odyssey...more on that soon! Here's Fred Thranhardt with a typical Wind River Rainbow, landed on a dry fly. Also, enjoy this serene photo of Fall on the Snake, and the incredibly beautiful Wind River near Crowheart, Wyoming.

Another Great Week

This past week on the Snake river was fantastic. I saw some of the best fishing of the year so far on our river. Much larger fish were showing up in main river riffles and just about every other spot that they should be holding in. Small parachute attractors in the mornings and large ants in the afternoons have been moving nice fish. Area tributaries are also on fire, with lower river levels concentrating more fish. I have not heard yet what the Bureau of Reclamation's schedule will be on lowering the flows out of Jackson Lake Dam. With fishing so good right now, I can't wait to see what it will fish like with flows lowered in half. Liz McCabe and I popped into a sidechannel on Monday and had the chance to get very close to this Bald Eagle...a great sight! Back at it again tomorrow...heading over to Dubois to guide a trip on the Wind River. The hopper fishing over there is still holding on. I'll hopefully have a good report on the next post. If you have not been fishing much this season, now is the time to get out there and experience catching a native Snake River Cutty like this one.

The Fall Hatch

With the flip of a switch this week, we've gone from Summer to early Fall around here. Temperatures have cooled and the foliage is really taking off in Teton Park. Cottonwoods, Aspens and river bottom Willows are all starting to turn gold. The thick clouds and rain that we saw on Friday brought the first decent Fall hatch on the Snake; Mahoganies and Drakes began pouring off in the afternoon, and there were eager Cutthroat up all over the place taking advantage. My clients decided to stick it out and brave the weather, and it really paid off. If you are out there in these conditions in the next few weeks, just make sure to park on a riffle and look for these Mayflies. The Snake is still running a steady 4,330 cfs at Moose, which is still significantly higher than normal for this time of year. Whenever the powers-that-be decide to lower our river below Jackson Lake Dam, I think we are going to see some ridiculous fishing. I would imagine that we will still see these flows for at least two more weeks. As soon as I hear something, I will let you know. I had a great day on the river from Moose to Wilson on Wednesday with Jackson Hole legend Liz McCabe. This was the first day this season that I had Liz in my boat, and she did great. She fished a Parachute Hare's Ear for almost eight hours, and kicked butt! Not bad for someone who turned 100 years old last February. Nice fish Liz! Fishing with someone that has as much zeal for life and fly fishing as Liz does is just incredible.

7th Place

The 26th annual Jackson Hole One Fly took place this past weekend, and I was fortunate to be able to participate in it as an angler on the Summit Capital team. I joined Peter Chung, John Holland and Jon Wylie in this charity event supporting local stream improvement projects and conservation. We had a great weekend and placed 7th overall, out of 40 teams. I fished one day on the Snake from West Table to Sheep Gulch (the whitewater section), and fished a streamer. It's a fast, fun section to fish, especially with a wet fly. I rarely get to fish this section, since I row a low-profile skiff...a high-sided dory or raft is needed to safely float this piece of water. I was able to bring 200 points to the table. My day on the South Fork Canyon was the real highlight. On the oars was veteran South Fork Outfitters guide Sue Talbot; she helped me to a 518 point day! A large, brown Chernobyl Ant did just the trick. The fishing was good, I had the right fly, and most importantly, a great guide. Thanks again Sue!! Although Westbank Anglers guide John "Kiwi" Gendall won the overall top guide award for the weekend, Jack Dennis guide and friend Ed Dutilly guided the best score on Sunday on the Snake. He crushed it from Moose to Wilson, guiding his anglers to numerous fish between 18" and 21". Nice work Ed!! Not much else to report. I was back at it on the Snake today, and fishing was good. Despite the angling pressure this weekend, there were still plenty of fish around ready to eat. Today's photos: Angler Ted Thranhardt with a beautiful 20" Brown Trout that fell for a large dry fly. (Any guesses where we were fishing??). Gearing up at the South Fork lodge during the One Fly; Sue Talbot keeping us right where we needed to be. More soon...

One Fly Week

We are now one week away from the 2011 Jackson Hole One Fly. Forty teams of four will compete on the Snake and South Fork Rivers with their "One Fly" against Cutthroat, Rainbow and Brown Trout. Starting over 25 years ago with just a couple of teams, it has grown into the major fundraising event in this region to help support fisheries projects and protect wild trout. (Check out their mission statement below) I've guided in ten of these events over the years and have had the chance to fish in it once. I am lucky enough again this year to be able to put down the oars and grab the rod with my buddies Peter Chung, John Holland and Jon Wylie in the hopes of improving our 9th place finish from two years ago. Wish us luck!

Although still running high, the Snake continues to fish well. Fish are eating a variety of attractors in sidechannels and in the main river. We have also just had our first few mornings of very cold temperatures. Fall is in the air, and I've even found a few fish looking for some of our local fall Mayfly patterns. Although I've seen none hatch yet, Drakes and Hecubas are already raising a few nice fish...they are on the hunt for them. Make sure to get out of the boat and check the soft water.
The South Fork finally has some fish looking up in riffles and on the banks. Try PMD adults and emergers, as well as Mahoganies. Good luck to all of the guides and anglers this weekend in the One Fly! Still not sure what fly I'll be fishing...I'll let you know. Here's a shot of the first 20" Cutthroat that I have seen on the Snake this summer, landed by angler Dan Beistel. This beauty fell for a large Chernobyl Ant in a main river riffle. Nice fish Dan! Also, a cow and calf Moose crossing the river just below Moose, Wyoming.