West Bound and Down

I had to get out of town. Don't get me wrong, WNY has been good to me. I enjoy the time I have spent out here. That being said, you don't live out west for a decade and not gain an affinity for the trout, the scenery and the friends. So I decided to hop on a plane and get out of Nickel City for a spell. 

My favorite place on Earth. Some rivers simply burn a spot your soul that you can't help but to be love. This place literally hurts to think about, as it's not a place I can simply drive over to anymore. While the distance has became a reality, I know it will always be there for me.

Some things in life are more important than any explanation you can explain to people that don't do what we do. I got back to my office after this trip and my boss asked me how my trip was... I just said, "Good"... and left it at that...

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Get Your Fair Share

Photo By: Matthew Bruen - http://theslipperytrout.blogspot.com

Hey NY'ers... you have to fight for the right..... to party. Read below and follow the link below to voice your opinion on the upcoming Delaware River Water Release Plan. 

We're asking that you support the attached sign-on letter concerning our recommendations on a new Delaware River water-release plan that will go into effect on June 1, 2013.

HERE'S HOW TO SIGN ON: Please reply to this email with your organization's name, your title, and your name and we'll add you to the letter.

We invite everyone to sign: businesses, organizations, individuals.

We call our recommendations Fair Share 2013. We've attached the simple, one-page document. It has four modest but vitally important recommendations:

A formalized public comment period before any changes are made. This brings transparency to the process.

A one-year term for any change to the current flow program. We are concerned that the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) will lock into a long-term release plan (up to five years) regardless of changing circumstances, for example, the availability of additional water from Croton. We believe a short-term plan makes more sense, as explained in Fair Share 2013 (attached).

Any new flow protocols should include a provision to cushion the impact of sudden reduced flows ("directed releases") from reservoirs, which can have a jarring impact on the river ecosystem. All releases should be ramped both up and down gradually.

A formalized provision to alleviate thermal stress on the river ecosystem during hot summer months. Our scientific research partner, Dr. Peter Kolesar, has devised a simple solution to a longstanding problem, as detailed in Fair Share 2013.

As you'll see, the sign-on letter already has the support of a number of important groups, and we expect many more to join us. As you all know, coalition-building is key to gaining a voice with government agencies. The more support we have for this letter, the better the chance that our positions will be paid heed.

This is an urgent request to you. We will present our letter and list of signatories at a DRBC committee meeting on March 7 in Trenton, N.J. We will be giving testimony at that meeting, and the impact of broader support will serve as a megaphone for our voice. 

Thanks so much. Please let us know if you have questions or if we can provide further information. Note that if you'd like to send your own note in support of all our requests, we could send you a template letter. A list of DRBC committee contacts is attached.

HERE'S HOW TO SIGN ON: Please reply to this email with your organization's name, your title, and your name and we'll add you to the letter.

Delaware Watershed Conservation Coalition

DWCC Sign On Letter 

Fair Share 2013 

RFAC Contacts 

To actually do this you will need to go to this link and follow from there. Thank You!

www.fudr.org/blog/2013/03/01/fair-share-2013-we-need-your-support/

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I'll Always Be A Mountain Hippie at Heart...

I have loved these last 8 years living in Colorado, but I have received a job opportunity and it is going to relocate me to Western New York. I will still be able to get out to Colorado pretty regularly, but this new adventure should lead to some great new fishing as well. It will be great to dust off my spey rods, tie more intruders and finally have good smallmouth fishing again. 

I'll miss my CO peeps and we will still get to fish throughout the year, it will just involve a plane now. So stay tuned for some interesting new topics on the Sip.

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Get Out and VOTE!!!

 

Howdy folks. I ran across this article on ranking the Presidents on their environmental records, and thought I would share it with you. Voting is very personal and I hope you all dive deep into your decision and exercise your right to vote. We have a lot of people out fighting for our country in order to protect this day for us. So take advantage of it and get out and vote.

One of the main things I base my vote on is a President's environmental record. Another fly fishing related topic that is important to me is what the candidates plan on doing with public land. Do they want to mine it? Drill it? Privatize it? None of those work for me and it is important for me to vote for the candidate that I believe will best protect these resources for us.

I hope you all think about what is important in your life and what you feel is important to protect. Then go out and excercise your right to vote. After all, if you don't, then don't bitch about what the government does with your resources.

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Missed Opportunities

These are some of the shots of the trip I had planned on going on for 10 months only to have my life-blood ripped from me by the corporate vampires in the final moments. 

I weep now... deep in Ohio...

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Making Lemonade

So this past week has been brutal... ok, it wasn't that bad, but it started brutal. I spent the week prior at a lakeside cottage to celebrate my wife's 30th birthday. It was most excellent... until I lost my wallet doing a cannonball off of the pontoon boat.

I proceeded to drive back to Colorado from Michigan without my wallet knowing that I would spend the next morning at the two worst places to go to in a hurry, the DMV and the Airport. See, I needed a license to get my rental car once I landed in Indianapolis for my business trip. So I proceeded to wake up the next morning and somehow manage to get a new license and still make a 10am flight out of DIA.

I originally planned on bringing my gear and fishing over the weekend, but alas... I didn't have time to check luggage. So I took my laptop and a carry on full of work clothes. I was degected to say the least. The week was quite an uneventful stay of meeting clients and spending my nights drinking whiskey/diets in my hotel room. But this is fall, and more importantly, the first week of college football!

So on Friday afternoon I white-knuckle drove up to South Bend, Indiana to watch a 9am kickoff of Notre Dame vs Navy in Dublin, Ireland with my brother and sisters. It was a great Saturday morning that started with coffee/bailey's and went well into the night until the campfire dimmed and my fingers hurt from playing tunes on my brother's daughter's guitar. I already felt like things were as good as could be after how the week started. To top it off, I found an old 4wt sitting at my mom's house in Niles, Michigan (about 15 minutes from South Bend) and went down the local fishing store to find some flies. The old dude working had no idea what I was talking about, but he was a swell fella and he offered me a cup of coffee. We talked briefly about local politics, the grape harvest and finally flies. He said that he had a small box of flies, but didn't know much about fly fishing. His store was focused more on the glitter-boat and bait dunker crowd. I took a look and you could tell that they were a ragged pile of poorly tied flies. I grabbed a few of the foam beetles and something that resembled a Royal Wulff and headed down to my hometown creek to salvage what I believed to be a "non-fishing weekend". The trout were willing and I caught a few small browns before heading back to Indy. I didn't have my camera, so I snapped the pick above before I left of the creek with my phone.

Overall, a great Notre Dame victory and a wonderful morning of browns sipping dries... I think I salvaged this one nicely...

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These Guys Don't Know When To Quit

So... between being great guides and saving Ospreys and shit.... the dudes at Trouthunter also know how to get their twang on. This is a party I wish I would have been at. 

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Be at The Cleanup... or Mad Dog Will Kill You...

The first year I did the South Platte River Cleanup we cleaned up an underpass that was covered in empty cat food cans (food for Mad Dog, I presume), empty cans of 4Loko, naughty magazines and human feces in it. It had a spray painted sign over the top of it that read "This is Mad Dog's House. Don't Touch Mad Dog's Stuff or Mad Dog Will Kill You!" Well, Mad Dog was probably not happy when he came home to find nothing left but his feces (every river cleanup person has their limits). The South Platte deserves better than to allow Mad Dog ruin it. So if you ever plan on carp fishing on the Platte, or just want to help our coldwater fisheries, then join us this Saturday for the cleanup. Here's the info:

Help Clean Up the South Platte River and Bike Paths April 21, 2012 at Union Avenue Put In.
This is an Earth Day event in conjunction with the Greenway Foundation where volunteers picked up trash along the South Platte River and Bike Paths. We usually have between 150 and 250 volunteer rafters, kayakers, cyclists and pedestrians. In past clean ups we successfully removed an average of 1.5 TONS of garbage from the river and bike path each year. The event garners local and regional media coverage on Fox News and 9 NewsTV channels, as well as appearing in the Denver Post newspaper. We start at the Union Ave Put In, raft, kayak, bike and walk 6 miles of the S. Platte River and Bike Path finishing at Habitat Park.

Please contact the event coordinator: John Kahn, Confluence Kayaks,jkahn@confluencekayaks.com, 303-433-3676 for information about sponsorship, contribution information and details on how to get involved.

2012 Event
When: 4/21/12
Registration starts at 9 am
Clean Up: 11 am - 3 pm
After Party: 3 pm - 5 pm
Where: We will be starting at the Union Ave Put In, rafting, kayaking, biking and walking 6 miles of the S. Platte River and Bike Path finishing at Habitat Park. Put-In/Start: Union Chutes, On W. Union Ave. just west of S. Sante Fe Dr.
Take-Out/Finish: Habitat Park, S. Jason St. & Exposition Ave, Denver, CO 

What: If you’ve got a raft, bring it we will find people to float with you, bikes and your own feet are other ways to be involved. Please see our personal gear checklist for suggestions on how to be prepared for a float trip in April. 

At this time we do not have a sponsor who is providing shuttle service, so please plan accordingly.

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Rocky Mountain High

Greenbacks are on the horizon!

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Fight The Power

If you are going to fish Bristol Bay this summer, do your part to make sure it isn't your last trip. Help save Bristol Bay by booking a trip where you know your dollars are going to make a difference. 

AlaskaFlyOut.com has teamed up with Trout Unlimited's Save Bristol Bay Campaign to help raise money to stop the proposed Pebble mine and protect Bristol Bay's epic fishing waters. You can help by booking a fishing trip before March 10th. 

HOW IT WORKS

1. Go to our promo page: www.alaskaflyout.com/save-bristol-bay

2. Choose from one of our 25+ recommended lodges and adventures.

3. Fill out the booking inquiry form and submit. Please be sure to include the dates and duration of stay that you are interested in. 

4. The lodge or outfitter will contact you directly by phone or email as soon as possible to discuss availability, trip questions, and additional booking logistics.

Once you book your trip, sit back and relax. Dream about the fish you will catch, and feel good about helping to protect Bristol Bay's fish, wildlife and rivers. As a thank you, we'll send you an AK fishing gift before your trip.

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Fly Shop Friday

What better day to remind people of the great fly shops around the country than Friday? 

Baldwin Bait & Tackle (BBT) in Baldwin, MI is one of my personal favorites. They sit across from the Pere Marquette River, which is one of the most diverse fisheries in Michigan. It has it everything a fly fisherman could want in a trout stream. First of all, it gets a wild run of steelhead and salmon (both Coho and Chinook) that can be targeted easily with spey rods or nymphing alike. That of course is what is most popular with fisherman of the area, but myself, I go to the Pere Marquette for the trout. Whether it's stripping streamers from the log riddled banks or walking around in the dark throwing bushy hex and mouse patterns for massive browns that go "plomp!" in the night (seriously, their rises sound like bowling balls being thrown into the water), it's a river you soon will not forget. 

With hatches like this, no wonder the trout are massive.

BBT is THE shop for fishing the Pere Marquette. They have the flies, gear and knowledge to help you find fish regardless of what time of the year it is. So give Steve a call and let him know Hip To The Sip sent you. 

Photography By Steve Fraley 

Baldwin Bait and Tackle

9331 S. M-37

Baldwin, MI 49304 

Phone (Toll Free): 877-4-BALDWIN 

fishbaldwin.com

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My Mantra

At my age, there aren't too many life lessons that I got a handle on yet. There are a few things that I do know though. I know that nothing in life is easy. If you want a better life, you have participate in the process of getting it. If you want to fish the for something you haven't fished for before, you have to buy a plane ticket. If you want to become a better person, then you have to make a daily conscious effort to become a better man/woman. Write down the things you want to accomplish. Look at them every morning and make plans for your day that get you one step closer to that goal. 

Don't type them into a word document and save them in your documents folder. In fact, they should rename that folder. "Where Dreams Go To Die" is a more fitting title than anything you could possibly name it. There is a change that happens when you physically write something down with pen and paper. So write down your dreams. Look at them daily. Then plan your day as if your only goal is to get one step closer to each of those goals. 

If you want to live life to it's fullest... the first thing you have to do is live.

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So, you want to be an artist?

Then you should seriously consider visiting the Bristol Bay Lodge this summer for their second annual Artist-in-Residence program. This group is headlined by no other than Bob White, but I think many of you will find my good friend Scott Wells to be an exciting new addition as well. He will be the featured print maker at Bristol Bay Lodge’s second annual Artist-in-Residence program during the week of July 28 to August 4, 2012.  He specialized in Gyotaku style printing, and seats will sell out quickly.

Originally from San Diego, Scott Wells now calls Littleton, CO home. An extremely avid fly fisher since his teens, Scott, now 35, splits his fishing time between the clear mountain streams above the Front Range and the slightly more opaque waters of the Denver South Platte River. His ink press art is a reflection of his catches, with the latter locale (and the hungry carp within) weighing heavily in his method of creativity and fly fishing. When Scott is not enveloped in the catch, he spends time with his wife Janet and five year-old son Patrick, preferably on a family rafting trip. Scott is conveniently employed by Downriver Equipment.

If you would like to join Bob White or Scott Wells, contact the Original Jedi Master at bob@bobwhitestudio.com

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Surface Film

Hey Gang. If you live on the front range, dig fly fishing, dig free beer, dig live music, dig fishing photography and dig on helping Colorado coldwaters...  then I have just the event for you. I attended this event last year and came away thoroughly impressed. "Surface Film" is an event that is held by the Greenbacks of Colorado Trout Unlimited and proceeds of photography sales will go to help Colorado trout habitat.

 But the better question would be that if free beer, fly fishing and good tunage isn't your thing.... what in the hell are you doing reading my blog?

 Please join us on February 2nd, 2012 from 7pm to 11pm to enjoy the flyfishing industry's best photography, as well as live music and drinks.

The Greenbacks of Trout Unlimited are excited to announce the2nd annual Surface Film event showcasing top professional fly-fishing photography from across the country at the Anthology Fine Art gallery on Thursday February 2nd, 2012. Similar to last year’s event, framed prints will be available through a silent auction to benefit Trout Unlimited's work to conserve Colorado's coldwater fisheries and rivers. 

This will be an exclusive preview event, and the gallery will be open to the public February 3rd through the month of February. 

New this year, the show attendees will vote for ‘best-in-show’ honors. The winning photographer will receive the National Trout Unlimited Professional Photo of the Year, a cash prize, and will be prominently featured in a future issue of Trout Magazine. In addition, a second place finisher will also receive a cash prize.

This is a free event. All ages are welcome to attend.

For more info, visit: SurfaceFilm2.com
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Don't Act Like You Have Better Things To Do

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

Trust me on this. If you go to one fly fishing event this year, go to the Fly Fishing Film Tour. It previews the best fly fishing films of the year and beats the hell out of walking around a fly fishing show or going to some lame TU dinner. 

FLY FISHING INDUSTRY’S LARGEST EVENT EMBARKS ON CONTINENT-WIDE HD TOUR

Adventure film tour showcases global locales while supporting local businesses and filmmakers

(Boulder, CO) –Fly fishing’s most celebrated annual event, the Fly Fishing Film Tour (F3T), the original and largest event of its kind begins its continent-wide trek January 26th. The traveling spectacle serves as a stage for the best filmmakers in the industry, an avenue for supporting critical conservation groups, an expo for local outfitters, and one heck of a party for growing outdoor enthusiasts and avid anglers alike.

With never-seen footage from across the globe, a party atmosphere, audience giveaways and valuable coupons, the annual high-energy spectacle is the sport’s most anticipated live-event. This year’s tour will make stops in over 125 cities across the U.S. and Canada. Along the way local businesses, conservation groups, filmmakers and fans all stand to benefit from each screening.

This year’s spectacle includes a more diverse set of content than any prior year or any other tour. “We have something for everyone”, says F3T Filmmaker and Road Manager Thad Robison. “From scrappy Steelhead in Kodiak, AK to 100-pound jumping Tarpon in the Florida keys, from places you may have been to destinations we probably couldn’t find on a map if we tried.” Other featured destinations (and fish) include the Bahamas (Bonefish), the Northwest Territories (Grayling and Arctic Char), the jungles of Belize, Scotland, Montana, British Columbia, Wisconsin, Silver Creek, Idaho and more.

With nearly 75% of the shows selling out in advance, the F3T is the fastest growing event of its kind. 

For a tour schedule, film trailers, tickets, photos, info on hosting your own show and much more visit www.theF3T.com. Filmmakers and fisherman are available for interviews upon request and in many cases they serve as emcees and hosts at shows.

Mar-4 / MA  Haverhill

Mar-7 / MI  Midland

Mar-9 / MN  Minneapolis

Mar-10 / PA  Media

Mar-10 / WV  Triadelphia

Mar-11 / WV  Triadelphia

Mar-12 / WI  De Pere

Mar-15 / MI  Ann Arbor

Mar-15 / MT  Livingston

Mar-16 / UT  Ogden

Mar-16 / MI  Grand Rapids

Mar-17 / NY  Lake Placid

Mar-18 / PA  Oakmont

Mar-20 / CA  Larkspur

Mar-20 / OH  Cleveland Heights

Mar-22 / MO  St Louis

Mar-22 / FL  West Palm Beach

Mar-22 / TN  Knoxville

Mar-22 / AK  Anchorage

Mar-22 / CA  Modesto

Mar-27 / TN  Nashville

Mar-28 / CO  Vail/Edwards

Mar-29 / GA  Atlanta

Mar-30 / MT  Great Falls

Mar-30 / CO  Grand Junction

Mar-31 / SC  Charleston - 5:00 PM

Mar-31 / SC  Charleston - 8:00 PM

Apr-3 / FL  Jacksonville

Apr-5 / FL  Tampa

Apr-6 / NC  Asheville

Apr-7 / WV  S. Charleston

Apr-10 / AR  Fayetteville

Apr-12 / CO  Boulder

Apr-12 / TX  Austin

Apr-13 / VT  Middlebury

Apr-18 / CO  Breckenridge

Apr-18 / WI  Milwaukee

Apr-19 / UT  Park City

Apr-20 / ID  Idaho Falls

Apr-20 / ID  Sandpoint

Apr-24 / UT  Logan

Apr-27 / MT  Whitefish

Apr-27 / WY  Laramie

May-2 / IL  Wilmette

May-4 / WA  Ellensburg

May-13 / TX  Forth Worth

May-17 / FL  Orlando

May-19 / WI  Coon Valley

Jun-3 / MI  Boyne Fall

Happy New Year's!

Happy New Year's y'all. I hope that you all have a prosperous and healthy year. Be safe tomorrow, because as my Grandfather used to say, "New Year's Eve is when the amateurs come out to play".
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Be There Or Be Square

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