Things may be changing...

Temp: 49 degrees
Wind: tolerable
Water: 39 degrees
Weather: partly sunny

We floated 3 to B today, the weekend rental boats were out in force. We hit a few spots, and floated ahead of them. We parked at pipeline and sat and napped a little on the bank for several hours waiting and hoping to see heads rise for all the midges that were blanketing the surface.

Nothing ever materialized, but it was nice to hang out, drink beer and snooze in the sun. We decided to move on around 4pm to see find a good a place to nymph. We hit two or three places, then settled in not to far up river from Craig Matthews place (of Oakley). We hit the jackpot, and it was a lot of fun. I landed one nicely colored brown, and 7 nice rainbows, I had about a dozen more takes as well. The ticket seemed to be #18 orange Ray Charles. The Bob's were doing just as well, and we were all having a great time. We called it quits at about 8pm as it was getting to dark and we had a mile and a half to go before the landing.

I do want to take a second and raise my glass to my buddy Barber John, who is pulling through his operation and to say that on most the fish we landed tonight, we shouted out our favorite Quote of Barber John which is "Make 'em pay!" And we did. :) We miss you John!

Also, to my wife, cell phone service still sucks out here, but that is supposed to change later this summer, so that's good news for when I retire out here in August. :)

The Front came through

Temp: 43 degrees
Water: 39 degrees
Weather: overcast with light winds
Flow: 3,500 cfs

The damn was opened up a little further again and we are up to 3,500 cfs. Which I think between the flows being adjusted every couple of days and the changing weather is causing our catching to be a little more challenging then years past. The front came through last night. We woke to an inch of snow with light flurries most of the morning. We had numerous cups of coffee, and headed up the Bighorn fly shop for fly tying materials.

We tied the secret flies of the we were short on over the next several hours, and then hit the river around 3pm. Reports around camp were that their was some dry fly action on river, so we armed ourselves accordingly. There were significant numbers BWO's and midge clusters , but our trout were obviously keyed in on something else as we fought hard to get their attention with very little reward. Bob F. was the only one to connect and land a brown.

Tonight, Thor is making supper with Sharon as the assistant as she is supplying desert. She did caution that it would not be near as good as the cereal bars Jenny had sent with us out here, which was a much bigger hit then I thought it would be.

Time to go warm up the toes and nose.

P.S.
I just received an email from my buddy Steve that after years he got his first turkey with a bow. 18 yd shot. Head on in full strut. Weighed in at 17lbs. It was a bearded hen! CONGRATS STEVE!

A cold ride from 3 mile to B

Temp: 45 degrees
Water temp: 41 degrees
Wind: 15-25 mph
Wind chill: damn cold

We ran 3 to B today and started about 10:30am. We caught some browns today and it was a nice relief to know that we still knew what we were doing. The clouds and wind and temperature drop all moved in with a front that hit us around 2pm. We fished till around 3:30pm and decided to row straight though to the end as the front was coming in so fast you could watch the mountains disappear into the clouds and snow or rain coming down on them. We exited at 6pm and headed back to camp with the heater on high.

Sharon was quick to make all of us with hot buttered rum. And it was eagerly excepted by all. I had some significant shivering going on by then and wasted no time changing clothes and taking in my first encounter of hot buttered rum...I could do those again.

Now we are munching on crackers and chatting. Tonight we the gang has made reservations at the restaurant connected to the Bighorn Fly fishing shop at 9pm. The menu will be salmon and lots of smiles. Oh, and I forgot to mention that Anderson made us all laugh so hard that Jim actually had to leave the room twice to spit out his drink we were all laughing so hard.

Reports have come in that Bozeman has been hit hard and fast with snow, and that it will hit us tonight and tomorrow. So a day of tying flies and hanging out may be the itinerary for tomorrow for most of us. Rod will be taking off early in the morning for Minnesota. So trout camp will be less one more. I am excited though as Rod has opened an invitation to me to come up and visit him later on this year.

3 to B Trial run

Water: 40F
Wind: less then yesterday
Temp: 80F

Still no dry fly action today, and the nymphing was exactly going either. Midges are starting to gain momentum, but some forgot to send the memo to the trout. It was a nice day for a float if nothing else. The afternoon we stopped at my favorite dry fly place on the river along with Jim and Sharon, and watched intently for something to unfold. Anderson and I had a cigar and we all had a beer as we watched Sharon take a couple of casts at a couple of finicky risers.

Nothing else too exciting happened today. Tomorrows weather forecast is predicting bad weather, hopefully that will be the ticket to get the fish active.

Another Windy day in paradise.

Temp: 82 F
Wind: 20-25 mph
Weather: Sunny


The Bob’s and I floated in the drift boat, with Rod in his kick boat from Afterbay to 3 mile today. Winds were strong and challenging today. No dry fly action to speak of, so we nymphed a couple open spots today. The first place we tried was uneventful, but the next spot fixed that. We got into a stretch of water that had a nice weed line and a couple of buckets. We all caught fish off of various midges, and landed mostly browns. I did have a couple of rainbows that I hooked and they took me for a ride and I was unsuccessful at landing them. They seemed to like the green weenie with a red midge dropper. We moved on and ended up at the Minnesota hole where we chatted with Brad who was hanging out with a fishing buddy (Dorothy). We headed back to camp for an afternoon break and a little lunch.


6:30pm:
The wind died off considerably and we jumped into our waders and bolted down to a spot near the cottonwood hole. And there we were…it was so awesome. The four of us, armed with our dry fly rods, standing in line about 50 yards in between each of us in a straight line, knee deep in the river, facing up-stream. The sun was setting, we were covered in midges, and we all just stood there…rods ready in one hand, our chosen fly in the other, waiting…watching the rings, analyzing what we were seeing, and then one by one, we selectively chose our targets and played our game.

And while I didn’t catch any fish, it was one of the best fish-less evenings I have had in years.

A Windy day in Paradise

After a semi early night last night, we woke to fresh coffee and crisp mountain air. This was going to be pretty good day.

Anderson, Rod and Henry floated Afterbay to 3-mile landing this morning and caught a few. This was Henry's last day out here before returning home in the afternoon. Feiker and I hiked over to the Minnesota hole to try our luck. We spent a three hours there and returned to the parking lot so that we could get a lift back to camp. I did manage to land three brown trout, two on the Green Weenie and one on a Brassie.

After hanging out at camp we ventured into man-town to pick up supplies at the grocery store and to check out the Bighorn Fly Shop. They of course had a couple of things I just had to have and I of course was happy to help support them. We headed back to camp and tied flies waiting waiting for the wind to die down, which it did...after the sun went down.

So we improvised and tied some flies, then Jim and Sharon came over with chairs and beverages in hand. Sharon also treated us to some awesome shrimp she had been marinating since yesterday! I did manage to get the recipe and will be trying it myself when I return home.

Feiker broke out some gifts for the the 2009 attendees, which were t-shirts, bottle openers to hang around our necks, and key chain bottle openers compliments of some SMIRNOFF vodka Reps!

Now it's time to settle in with some cocktails, continue sharing stories, and have a cigar. This is great.

My vacation is here!

Last night myself and Bob Feiker and Bob Anderson departed St.Paul, MN at 8pm and headed straight through to the Bighorn River, MT after having barbecued burgers compliments of Sandy. The weather held out and we avoided the predicted rain. However, there was a 40 mile stretch or so of thick fog that made things interesting.

We pulled into Hardin, MT around 9:30am for a hearty breakfast and break from the road. Afterwards we hit the grocery store for supplies and to pick up an assortment of locally made beer. We forged on and arrived at the Cottonwood Camp at 11:30am, unpacked and settled in with friends we expected to be here (Rod, Thor, and Henry O.) and also to our surprise we bumped in to some other friends we didn't expect to be here (Jim Schollmeyer and Sharon of www.myflies.com). Sharon made a killer nacho appetizer, and Feiker is currently grilling up some burgers. I'm looking forward to chilling out tonight and can't wait to start chasing rainbows tomorrow!

Yes! Three days, and I will be on the road heading out to the Big Horn River in Montana to chase healthy spunky rainbows with friends. I have been packed since last weekend with about half my stuff already in the back of the Tahoe. I am so ready to escape and take a break from my current 'issues' and go have some fun.

Minneapolis Great Waters Fly Expo

So last weekend was the Great Waters Fly Fishing Expo in Minneapolis. Other than myself being in out of sorts most of the weekend with so much on my mind as of late, the show was a fun one.


The club had great representation at the show. We had members volunteer their time in many areas. There were three banquet tables where people could come and sit down, and with hands on teaching, learn could learn to tie Woolly Buggers. This was the second year the club did this and it was a big success. A huge thanks goes out to those who took on the teacher role for that. We had a Membership table for those interested in learning more about the St. Paul Fly Tiers, and we were able to get our name out their to new people. We had a designated booth set up to allow selected members of the club to tie two at a time and demonstrated how to tie various flies; from trout flies to bass flies and things in between.


Then their was the Fly Tying Theater. This was a place for notable key fly tier's like Kevin Feenstra, Kelly Gallop, Denis Potter, and others to tie flies in front of a large audience, hooked up to a PA system and a video camera to show what they were doing on a big wide screen television. There were several sessions where all the seats were filled and had others standing to watch and learn.


Finally we generally kept tabs on Fly Tier's row where local tier's were able to set up a spot, tie flies, share their knowledge, talent, stories, and even a few laughs. I'd also like to give a quick shout out to my peeps of Laughing Trout!


I had a nice time talking to many familiar friends, and new ones. It was a more relaxed show, people held longer conversations then what I have had in the past, there was genuine interest rather than the quick hi-bye conversations, and the weather for the weekend was very "spring."


A couple of highlights were, 1) sharing drinks and cigars among old and new friends. I'd like to say thanks to the very friendly and funny TFO Representative (I think his name was John) who shared his Baccarat cigars (I kept the label as I really liked it) and smooth Kentucky Woodford Reserve bourbon. 2) The traditional Breakfast at the Hotel Sofitel where we spoil ourselves with things like eggs Benedict or crab cakes Benedict and as always, Ursula was there to add her unique flavor of friendly customer service as usual, and 3) I enjoyed a nice social dinner at Kincaid's in Edina. Any place that has that many choices in high end liqueur, mounted trophy Elk and Deer Racks with trophy fish, and Professional Wait Staff, is 5 stars in my book. Oh yea, the fantastic appetizer spread along with the Salmon entree was excellent as well. They were presented in a way that the Iron Chefs on the Food Network would have approved. I especially appreciated that my friend Peter was able to join us along with Bob White. Many stories were shared and laughs had.


I did tie some flies myself at the show. I decided to tie up some tube flies for some yet to be found hungry bass. I was asked by many what the the advantage of tube flies were. Well, I have found there to be three reasons, 1) you can use shorter shanked hooks to decrease the leverage a hooked fish would have in the fight, 2) the fly itself pops out of the way when a fish is hooked, thus allowing for less wear on the fly to lengthen it's usefulness, and 3) they have origins rooted back to the Scandinavian countries of my family heritage (kind of a connect to your roots thing for me). And there you have it...tube flies.

So now that the expo season has wrapped up, and the Sportsman's Warehouse tying event has been cancelled, it is time to shift to the preparation of fly fishing now that the Wisconsin catch & release season is underway.

Wishing Tight Lines to everyone in 2009!

Chill'n

Yesterday, Jen and I stopped by The Fly Angler to spend some dollars as part of personal economic stimulus package to pick up some tying stuff and check on the boys. Bryan was there and the store was busy, which made me happy. I gotta make sure that my fly shop survives these stormy economic times.

Later on in the evening, I started to do a little straighting out of the fly tying room around 9pm, and decided I was done around 2:30am or so. I guess I just got into a grove, but I got a lot of organizing and clean up done even though it doesn't look much different.

Today, I actually spent some time tying some midges. I had the iPod going, a nice cup of tea, and the company of the cat. I also assembled a couple dozen flies that I will deliver to Andy of the St. Paul Fly Tiers who is collecting flies from the club to be donated to the Hiawatha chapter of Trout Unlimited for part of their annual Conservation Banquet (to be held March 28th, 2009 at the Radisson Hotel in Rochester). I spent a majority of the day in the tying room and it was exactly what I needed. I may get some more tying done as we have a company holiday tomorrow for Presidents day, but I have a lot to do for work so I plan on doing that for awhile from home. Overall a nice weekend with the misses and I hanging around home made for a nice rested weekend.

Minnesota Morning

Warm Green Tea and -21 degrees outside again this morning....brrr.

Sunday

Christopher is patiently waiting for soft water and trout...

Quote

I didn't want you to think that I forgot about posting. I have been working a lot, and have done nothing fishing related since the banquet. So, in the mail I received a newsletter from the MN Zen Meditation Center and they had a quote at the top of it that I found interesting and will share with you here.

"The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish.
When the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten.

The purpose of a rabbit snare is to catch rabbits.
When the rabbits are caught, the snare is forgotten.

The purpose of words is to convey ideas.
When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten.

Where can I find the man who has forgotten words?
He is the one I would like to talk to."

-Chuang-Tsu

The Lessard Outdoor Heritage Council

A couple of weeks ago in the December 5th weekly eddition of the Outdoor News, there was a decent article introducing the backgrounds of the council members for The Lessard Outdoor Heritage Council and what they believed was thier primary objectives as things started up for them. Here is a link to monitor the recently passed sales-tax for Minnesota's natural resources as a result of our Noevember 2008 elections.

http://www.lohc.state.mn.us/

Kiap-TU-Wish Banquet night

With the plan in place, Jen and I left work a little early so that we could get over to the 3M Tartan Park for the fundraising festivities put on by the Kiap-TU-Wish Trout Unlimited chapter. We stopped in for a beverage at a local tavern as we arrived at Lake Elmo a little early to 'chill out' since we beat the rush hour traffic. I was a little worked up in the car ride about some crap going on at work.

We had a nice time, saw a few people we knew, bid on a few items in the silent auction, indulged in some of the products of the event mixologist. The folks at the 3M facility presented a fabulous dinner and desert. Several Awards were presented to some of the chapter members for all the work they did and their successes they contributed to on the chapters behalf. Awards presented were the Silver Trout Award, a couple of Lifetime Achievement awards, and the first ever Golden Net Award. All were awarded to very deserving people. This chapter knows how to get work done when it comes to environmental restoration! It makes me proud of how much can get done with grass roots organizations who can partner local businesses, government officials, land owners, volunteers, and 'the right people' not loose site of their original mission.



The presenter of the evening was a former Architect that found a new path in life. He talked about his past two seasons as an Alaskan Guide that operates out of Helicopter fly fishing camp. Lots of photos of fish porn, landscapes, icebergs, and lots of bears. Very interesting fellow that I could listen to for hours.


The night was wrapped up with final bids on items, and drawings for various bucket items. I lost the bid for a neat book by Gary LaFontaine that had a lot of fly patterns and Jenny lost out on the one of a kind hand-made .999 silver leaf necklace that Sarah made. This is becoming a trend as we have pretty much lost out on anything that Sarah has made by one bid over the past several couple of years. It's kinda funny, but I am gonna have to wage war on the next item she puts up for bid for charity, I swear!


I was the highest bidder for a nice Orvis Fly box from Fitgers in Duluth, MN that had "60 Pretty Good Flies" tied by Perry Palin. Very trout tasty looking flies, I can't wait to try some of them. I also won a second silent on a different fly box that was made of wood and laser inscribed with the Umpqua Feather Merchants logo. Inside it contained 24 flies hand-tied by Bob Mayrand. Also a nice selection that I will be trying out. And yes, I also won one of the raffle items I bought tickets for. It is a 1st edition book printed in 1939, with the receipt of purchase from London. The book itself published in Soho Square, London and the title is Nymph Fishing for Chalk Stream Trout which was donated by Al Farmes. Thanks guys, for everyone for your donations to the auction, I will greatly enjoy your contributions. This has put me in the Holiday mood and I feel good that the dollars we spent tonight are going for a GOOD cause AND being leveraged by GOOD people.


Now...to start saving for the Twin Cites Trout Unlimited Banquet. :)