Big Horn "Plan B" 2013

After the deception, lies, and fleecing of America by that little rodent who goes by the name of Punxsutawney Phil (I'll call him Punky for short).  It seems that Punky has finally unleashed Spring upon us after all his tom-foolery and media shenanigans.  That rodent really needs a new agent, anyways I am watching the feet of snow melt down to inches and walking around creeks of snow-melt in the street and driveway to get the mail while wondering if I should take my motorcycle out of storage this week.  Spring is here. 

 

I will not be joining my buddies this Spring for the annual Big Horn river midge trip due to conflicts with school.  However, that does not mean that the Big Horn river or the infamous Cottonwood Camp will elude me.  Nope, it just means that I jump on an alternative opportunity that should be just as fun and adventurous.

 

This year, over my summer break I'll be heading out on a trip with the guys from The Fly Angler to Montana to fish the Hopper Hatch (or whatever else the trout may be feasting on at the time).  Plans are loose at the moment, but that will remedy itself as we get closer to August.  So far, I know I am going, I have the vacation approved by the bosses, and I'll be floating with Peter and Doug.  Heck, that's a pretty good  "plan b" for me.  :) 

 

Now, where did I put my cigar lighters, wading boots, turkey calls, motorcycle helmets, homework notes, and........or maybe I'll jus take a quick nap.

 

Wishing you a genuinely Happy Easter weekend.

 

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Fly Fishing Expo 2013

As many of you know this weekend the Tom Helgeson's Great Waters Fly Fishing Expo is taking place.  And holding true to tradition, the past couple of days has been full of fly fishing vendors, presentations, reunions with old friends, and meeting potential new friends.  

This year a met a couple of budding fly tier's, I should say they are already great even if their feet don't quit make it the floor as they are tying in their chairs.  Also there are three representatives (one from Grand Marie, MN, one from Columbus, OH, an one from Colorado) here talking about the latest buzz in the industry, Tenkara fly fishing.  

I didn't see a casting pond this year, but there were two different areas where you could shake a stick to convince you to just buy it, or you can work on casting with the FFF peeps to get rid of some of those bad habits.

So far I scored on a cool rod rack, a funky fish art coffee mug, and a nice brown furnace dry fly cape.  I also donated a little bit to the Project Healing Waters supporting wounded veterans who fly fish and bought a raffle ticket from Twin Cities Trout Unlimited chapter for a bamboo rod made by the hands of the illustrious Dave Norling.

I'm finishing up breakfast right now and am on my over for the final day of fun and tying flies for people on Fly Tier's Row.  

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And the winner is...Me!

That's right, me. 

 

Two weeks ago I won a random drawing for pretty nice healthy cooking cookbook.  Hey that's cool right, I haven't won any thing in a while. 

 

Then two days later I logged in and found an email from the National Trout Center in Preston, MN informing me that I had won Grand Prize for the 2012 Raffle!  The Grand Prize being a Headwaters Bamboo Company fly rod.  Specifically, a Peerless Santiam 7'0" 5/6 wt, Medium action with two tips and a very nice rod sock and tube.  I confirmed that they address they had was correct and they said they would send it to me via UPS.  Great!  But, it showed up the day after inland trout season closed.  So I'll have to wait a bit before slaying some trout with my newly won prize, but I think it will be worth it. 

 

I did take a peek at the Headwaters website and it would appear that the value of the rod is the $800 range, not bad for spending much less than that on the raffle tickets, unless you count up (and let's not do that) all the raffle tickets over the years trying to win a bamboo rod made by Dave Norling at various Trout Unlimited Raffles.  The Headwaters rod felt very nice and has great looking real seat.  I'll have to take some pictures to post of it when I have some free time later on.

This coming weekend, I'll be fishing for Muskies on Saturday with a friend on our annual trip with Wendy from the Hayward Fly Fishing Company.  As for our 12th wedding anniversary on Sunday, Jen and I will be holding on to our tradition of the past several years, which is that we will be standing in cold water fishing for steelhead in the north woods of Wisconsin taking time to stop from our busy lives to enjoy mother nature, friends, hopefully a fish or two and life in general.

Fall is here...go hunt, go fish, go ride your motorcycle, just go out and enjoy it all whatever it is that gets you going!  Winter will be here before you know it.

 

Our group (Star Chapt 444) that went on the Lienie's fall motorcycle ride.

 

 

www.critters-corner.com

Reminders...

After spending several hours in the initial attempt to straighten out the Fly-tying/man-room last night, and waking up to fresh snow this morning I definitely have trout on my mind.  So I just thought I would send out a post with a couple of reminders.

Fly Tying related:

As winter sets in and we restock our fly boxes, keep in mind that the St. Paul Fly Tier's meet every week on Thursday nights at Schroeder's Bar & Grill in St. Paul.  It's great way to get out of the house, socialize, and keep you motivated in your fly tying.

The Fly Angler has a variety of Tying Classes you can sign up for during the winter months to develop those skills of yours.  They also have been hosting an "open tying" night once a month where you can bring your own vice and materials to tie whatever you want in the company of other like minded fisherman.  And if you forget something, they probably can sell ya whatcha need right there. 

Fishing related:

If you are getting twitchy, there's always a trip down to Iowa where the fishing season never closes.  Otherwise the MN Winter catch-and-release season opens to a select number of rivers on January 1st.

For the love of the trout:

I know the past couple of years have had a bumpy road financially for the nation, but don't take it out on the trout.  Personally, my donations this year have been significantly less then in years past however they have been more strategically picked.  So I limited myself to only three or four organizations/causes rather then a dozen that were a little lower on my social responsibility radar.   

1) December 8th, 2011 from 6-10pm is the Annual Holiday Dinner and Fund Raising Banquet for the Kiap-Tu-Wish chapter of Trout unlimited.  Buy tickets in advance and save a few dollars so that you can spend it on the silent auction!  This can be an excellent opportunity to pick up a Christmas gift for that special fly fisherman on your list.  Hope to see you there!

2) February 11th, 2012 is the Annual fund raising event for the Twin Cities chapter of Trout Unlimited.  This has been a a great "Date Night" in years past for my wife and I, loaded with tons of energy, excitement and friends while donating to a good organization.  And who knows, maybe you''ll find a unique Valentines gift for the loved one in your life.

Fall day on the Namekagon

Consider supporting a newer organization that has been in the works since this summer called the Namekagon River Partnership.  Their mission is to celebrate and conserve the cold water fishery of the upper Namekagon River.  This group is made up of citizens, business owners, and government conservation entities, and non-profit organizations.  I wrote a check out this morning to them in hopes it will help the Partnership pave their way in protecting this great Wisconsin resource.  If you've never fished it, you are missing out on one hell of a great north woods experience.

www.critters-corner.com

Last minute decision

Starting Tuesday, my wife and I had several indecisive conversations about what to do with our three day Memorial weekend. Tonight we decided that we would go to Troutfest in Avalanche, WI and hang out with some people we know, and some we don't. I have been to the that part of the Wisconsin only once before. It was a rainy but incredibly scenic weekend.

So naturally, we want to leave right after work tomorrow for the three and a half hour drive so that we have a little light to set up our tent by. So I decided to skip tonight's Fly Tier's meeting and we went straight to work by unloading spinning gear and tackle boxes that were still in the Tahoe from the previous crappie fishing trip at the parents.

Jen made her fabulous peanut butter cheerio bars and packed clothes. I rounded up the camping gear, fly fishing gear, cameras, and checked the cat food supply. Baily is so not impressed that this will be our second long weekend in a row with out her. She'll get over it, she is a cat, and that's why we got her instead of a dog.

We made a trip up to the grocery store so that we would have some camping appropriate meals like canned beans, veggies, hash, and sandwich makings. After that, we hit Barnes & Nobel quick where Jen picked up a few books for the weekend.

We have a short list of things that we need to do tomorrow, like buying ice, Wisconsin Fishing License, getting cash, and we are set to head to the campground. The forecast does say that there is possibly rain on Saturday and Monday, but I am gambling that it won't be bad enough to spoil the weekend.


Have a great weekend everybody and tight lines to all!

Kiap-TU-Wish meeting

So I was able to make it to the May meeting of Kiap-TU-Wish chapter of Trout Unlimited tonight to see a presentation on the State of the local trout waters. It has been a while since I've been down to the chapter meeting, but was warmly greeted by several friends and familiar faces. The meeting was held at it's usual place in downtown Hudson, WI at Bob Smith's Sports Club.

Before the presentation began, there were some quick updates as to the chapters budget, up coming stream work projects that will be taking place in the next few weeks through the summer, and a recap of the very successful 2009 river clean up that was coordinated by Sarah Sanford. There were a record number of volunteers that showed up with a steep decline in the amount of junk collected in prior years. I think that is nothing short of excellent news! Also, I was one of the winners of the door prizes they gave out for attending. I won 6 flies (Tellico Nymphs) tied by Perry Palin that were very nicely tied. Thanks to Kiap-TU-Wish and to Perry, I promise I will field test these flies soon, just to make sure they work.

The speaker for this special event was Marty Engel (WI DNR Fisheries Biologist) who put on a wonderful slide show, full of stats, historical references, and a little fish porn. I am glad I was able to attend. The next monthly meeting will be later in the fall, till then I will have to try to make one of the volunteer work days to help out.