Happy Halloween

Both Jack o' Lanterns, both da scary...

Be safe out there, kiddos.

Release

Finning, gliding silently
Over pebbles, 'neath a tree
Seeking minnows, worms, insects
Holes where rocks the flow bisects

Brightly spotted sides of brown
The slightest sound will put him down
Lurking, hunting as he goes
Still he must beware his foes

The eagle, heron and the fox
Weasel, coon and man who stalks
About his world with hook and fur
Feathers, tinsel, line a blur

Man shoots the line and sees it rest
Above the square-tail in his nest
Among the currents, rocks and foam
Safe in his riparian home

Sees an insect, hunger sounds
Like a bell, upward he bounds
Grabs the insect from the flow
Closes maw and turns to go

Panic now besets the fish
Flee this place his fondest wish
Hindered by an unseen force
He turns and there beholds the source

Man has tricked him, he must run
Deeper, away from the sun
Under logs or behind rocks
Far from where the man now stalks
Muscles now begin to ache

He wishes to regain the lake
In deeper water he could hide
Rest himself, restore his pride

Now he's in man's mighty grip
The pain has left his lower lip
He scarcely can believe his fins
Man picked him out and then back in

He swims and ponders on this thing
Why man would cause the line to sing And wrest him from his river home
Just to leave the stream alone

Written By: Kenneth A Davy

D'ya Have A Good Sarsaparilla?

Photography By Randy Miller


Sioux City Sarsaparilla.
That's a good one.

Back In The Day...

I remember one time in high school, my buddy and I skipped school. We waited for the beer delivery guy to go into the grocery store and we each ganked a case of beer from his unlocked truck. We didn't have time to actually see what we were taking, so we ended up with some weird chocolate beer and a case of Natty Light. His dad drank Natty Light, so we continued to drink it throughout high school. So it wasn't until college until I realized that Natty Light wasn't a good beer. It was just a whole lot better than chocolate stouts.

True story....

Anatomy of A Sip

Photography By Jake Carey

Wyoming Winds

A couple pics snapped before the Wyoming winds completely hammered us. We had two foot tall whitecaps moving UPSTREAM! I never saw anything like it. This led to a complete breakout of rowing fundamentals by yours truly. Hence my buddy's solute to me, the wind and of course... my lack of rowing time. Good times. 

Sign It! Sign It Now!

 

Take a stand for the Colorado River

Healthy mountain rivers are cold and clear, teeming with native fish and the insects they eat. Unhealthy rivers are warm, shallow, stagnant and devoid of native fish that once thrived there. Please sign this online petition to defend the Upper Colorado and Fraser rivers.

If Front Range water providers remove even more water from the Upper Colorado and Fraser rivers, these steps must be taken to protect these rivers and the people and wildlife that depend on them:

1. Managing the water supply to ensure adequate flows with seasonal flushing to clear out sediment and keep the rivers cool, clear and healthy.
2. Funding to deepen river channels and add streamside plants for shade.
3. Intensive monitoring of the rivers’ health and a commitment to take necessary steps if there are signs of collapse.
4. Creating a bypass to reconnect the Colorado River around the Windy Gap dam, helping to restore the river’s natural flow.

Sign The Petition

Thanks, Peeps.

Lucky Bastage

Lucky Man from Richard Harrington on Vimeo.

My buddy Rick won this trip at Spey Nation to head up for a ridiculous trip up to Boundry Spey Steelhead & Salmon Lodge. Thanks for bringing us along ya lucky bastage. (Don't forget to turn off the playlist on the bottom right.)

It Will Be All Frozen Over Soon

It will all be frozen over soon. The crappie pond, that is. Soon the flat water littered with popping crappie will turn into a hard skating rink. The ice fisherman will be dragging their sleds filled with augers, buckets and minnows onto it's hard surface. It will be their time then, but now, right now it's my time. Fall is well set in and I don't hit the crappie pond as often as I did in July. So I will take advantage of my 1wt and spiders. I will take advantage of these beautiful speckled fish that fry up so delightfully. Right now... right now is my time. 

I Shave My Armpits To Make Me Fast When I Fight...

The Midnight Meat Train

I stayed up last night until midnight tying streamers up for this weekend. I tied up some Cat5's, Boogeymen and other randoms. None of them pictured here of course, but hopefully I will post them up in a big Wyoming trout's face on Monday. Just sayin'....

Getting Back Into The Swing of Things

Yesterday sucked... I started having pains in my chest and stomach, which led to a late night ER visit. Final prognosis was Gastritis, which beats the hell out of a heart attack or ulcers. Either way, I have an upcoming trip to the gastrologist to look forward to. They also told me that I have to stay away from spicy foods, beer, caffeine for two weeks.... I swear, I thought they were about to tell me that I couldn't fly fish either to complete the worst emasculation of my life. That being said, I have two steelhead trips upcoming that shine hope into my dark present. 

Michigan

Ok, I don't want to get into the west coast vs great lakes debate with anyone, so lets just say that I will be swinging flies at anadromous fish. I grew up here and know the waters well. Michigan has had a redonkeylous fall so far and steelhead seem to be trickling in already. By the time this trip comes, I will be back on the bad food and booze train, so things will shape up nicely. I will have turkey, gravy, deviled eggs, steelhead, mashed taters, green bean casserole, lake run browns, Notre Dame football and beer.... It will be glorious...

Portland

Shortly after I get back from Michigan, I will head to the opposite coast. My better half is going to PDX to visit their zoo and benchmark their Zoo Lights event. She is in charge of the same event at the Denver Zoo, so this is an actual job requirement. Not a bad gig (Go to Denver Zoo lights, btw). I will only have a couple days to get out onto some water and have a couple buds that are going to show me around. I have fished for steelhead in CA, ID and all over the Midwest but never in Oregon. So I am in a school girl trance right now, dreaming about fishing the Deschutes and Sandy. I am not sure what river(s) I will fish, but wherever I end up, I will be grinning ear-to-ear. Until that day comes, I will continue not drinking beer or eating spicy food. 

Let me tell you something: you're suspect. Yeah you. I don't know what your reputation is, in this town, but after the shit you tried to pull today, you can bet I'll be lookin' into you. Now, the business we have here to fore, you can speak with my aforementioned attorney. Good day gentlemen, and until that day comes, keep your ear to the grindstone.

Beer

Breakfast of Champions

Be There Or Be Square

Seattle RSVP
San Fran RSVP
Portland RSVP
Sante Fe RSVP
Corvallis RSVP
Denver, CO

Let's Not Freek Out...

It was brought to my attention that the comments section was limited to only those who have gmail/blogger accounts. I fixed the problem and you can now comment as whatever you want. Let me know if any other issues pop up. (PS - Turn off the playlist on the bottom right of the page, and listen to the brief public service announcement below.)

NSFW

Ode To The Bug

The Mayfly

By Douglas Florian

A mayfly flies

In May or June.

Its life is over

Far too soon.

A day or two

To dance,

To fly—

Hello

Hello

Good-bye

Good-bye.



Saturdays Are For Football... and Smallmouth.... and bacon...



On this fine autumn day, I am sitting on my couch waiting for the Notre Dame game to start. It's raining/snowing outside and I wish that I could run out for some quick bass pond action. Unfortunetely, I went out last night and drank entirely too much while watching my St Louis Cardinals put down the Phillies and punch their card for the NLCS. Today I feel somewhere between death and doom.

Thinking about the fall weather, Notre Dame and Bass got me thinking about Saturdays back when I was younger. I grew up in southwest Michigan and less than 10 minutes from South Bend, Indiana. I never really dug the whole moldy king salmon fishing, nor the people who participated in it. So early fall meant three things:

1) Notre Dame Football

2) Smallmouth Bass

3) Maple Bacon Wrapped Pork Chops

This time of year was always filled with hope. It was just before the camo-clad rednecks would leave the salmon rivers for their tree stands, and also before Notre Dame had a chance to lose too many games. So I would be filled with hope of future steelhead and Notre Dame Football glory. In the meantime, I would focus my time on the stretch of the St Joseph River that runs through downtown South Bend.

Even though access and fishing was good, we would usually not see another person. So we would pack up the boat with with a cooler full of beer, a little grill and a radio to listen to the game. The river, despite flowing through downtown, was always beautiful in it's fall colors and interesting architecture surrounding it. We would listen to the game and catch smallmouth. The river flows right pass the stadium, so we could hear the crowd erupt as we listened to the play on the radio. At halftime, we would fill the air with the smell of maple-bacon wrapped pork chops and put a CCR tape into the boombox. The sound of the Notre Dame band roaring back to life less than a mile away, would signal that it's time to turn off "Lookin' Out My Back Door" and get back to the smallmouth and Irish football.

It Really Tied The Room Together, Dude

I kicked around the idea of making some glamorous first post... but I like just jumping into these type of things. My hopes are that you dig this site and I will try to update it as much as possible. Anywho, It's Fall, peeps. You all know what that means, snow in the mountains and cinnamon crab-apple jelly on the front range, both equally delicious.