Blood Knot Magazine

The latest and greatest, Blood Knot Magazine, can be found here. You can find my latest article, The Professional Tablescaper, under Bitch Creek. Check it.

Fishy Gifts

It's that time of year to find something for your fishing friend who has everything! I'm cranking out tote bags and notecards for sale on Etsy. I have a few different totes listed and will get notecards up as soon as I can get some good photos of them.

You can check them out here.

Happy Holidays!

Christmas Tree!

Went out yesterday to procure the Christmas tree. It turns out it's insanely crooked, but it i snow lighted and decorated in preparation for the Christmas party tonight. You may notice the glacier glasses and ice ax--they were only for effect.

Lava Lake Lamb

Lava Lake Lamb, local meat source and a foundation that does great conservation work, has been nominated for a Youtopia Grant from Free Range Studios. You can click here to vote for them.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Fish and Beer

Local Silver Creek landowner, John French, has made it to Budweiser's Conservationist of the Year final selection. You can vote for him at www.budweiser.com. Enter your birthday, then click on Conservationist of the Year, and vote for John. John and Elaine French have done extensive restoration work on lower Silver Creek, my favorite place to fish Brown Drakes. If they win, they'll receive $50,000 for further restoration work. I guess if we drink more cheap beer, there will be more money for conservation projects!

Client Pics

Some clients of mine from September just sent some photos from out trip. It was a great day on the Lower Lost. It's nice to remember when it was warm!

M.I.A.

I've been catching unidentified saltwater fish in unidentified saltwater.

Even Martha Fly-fishes!

Even though she's in Montana.

From www.marthastewart.com

Changing Seasons

Summer's finally over.

We've had a fantastic September with unseasonably warm temperatures, and the fishing has been awesome, but things are changing soon. On Wednesday, we're expecting snow, a high of 39 and deep freezes. Hopefully the cold weather will push some steelhead upstream and get the tailwaters into shape.

Looking forward to it.

The photo is on the Lower Lost on the property that I really want. Those pesky student loans always get in the way!

Sun Valley Fishing Report: 9/18/09 - 9/24/09 with Morgan Buckert of Ketchum on the Fly - — Plum TV

Sun Valley Fishing Report: 9/18/09 - 9/24/09 with Morgan Buckert of Ketchum on the Fly - — Plum TV

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Rod no. 11

I just received all the pieces to my 11th rod--my first Spey rod! I always borrow someone else's, but since 30,000 steelhead made it over the Bonneville dam in one day, I figured I better get ready.

I went the economical route and ended up with a great outfit. I got an Echo 2 in a 13'6" 8/9--a rod I've fished with before. I got a Lamson Guru 4 and a Rio VersiTip in 650 grain to line it up. It should be a machine through the fall and winter!

The Lower Lost was windy today so I'm hoping the carp down in Hagermen are more responsive tomorrow!

Sun Valley Fishing Report: 9/11/09 - 9/17/09 with Carl Evenson of Sturtevants - — Plum TV

Sun Valley Fishing Report: 9/11/09 - 9/17/09 with Carl Evenson of Sturtevants - — Plum TV

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New Junkies

This past weekend, my college friend Daniel and his fiance Marissa came to Idaho from Eugene, Oregon. We didn't get to do a lot together, but we managed to fish on Sunday night. Daniel had never been fly-fishing before and Marissa had never been fishing before. We got into a ton of fish and we all had a blast. I think Marissa's ready to buy some gear, which is always a sign of me doing my job!

Sun Valley Fishing Report: 9/4/09 - 9/10/09 with John Huber of Ketchum on the Fly - — Plum TV

Sun Valley Fishing Report: 9/4/09 - 9/10/09 with John Huber of Ketchum on the Fly - — Plum TV

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Sun Valley Fishing Report: 8/28/09 - 9/3/09 with Paddy McIlvoy of Sturtevants Mountain Outfitters - — Plum TV

Sun Valley Fishing Report: 8/28/09 - 9/3/09 with Paddy McIlvoy of Sturtevants Mountain Outfitters - — Plum TV

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If someone's going to make you get married...

You should at least get to fish.

Photos are from The Female Angle.

Cruisin'

Paddy's sweet new cruiser, The Flying Sue, is the ultimate fishing rig. We've been cruising the streets of Hailey and I think we're ready for some fishing excursions. The best part about his bike (besides the naked lady) are the sweet valve stem covers--they're bullets.

My President Fly Fishes

During President Obama's western tour last week, he had a few hours to fly-fish with Dan Vermillion of Sweetwater in Livingston, MT. Here is an interview with Dan after the trip. I'm glad he made the time to get on the water and I hope Dan bent his ear about Northwestern dams and Bristol Bay and all of the other important waters we need to protect.

A New Peircing

Yesterday I had a great trip with two boys from LA on the Wood. We caught a ton of fish, including a large one named Morgan. The only fly I haven't debarbed ever found it's way into my ear. I left it in there until I went to Heather's to celebrate her 100-mile bike ride. After a few bottles of Proseco, Paddy went to work on the zebra midge and it was absolutely painless! He has some method of hook removal that uses tippet and it really works. Needless to say, I'm a little gun shy now.

Sun Valley Fishing Report: 8/14/09 - 8/20/09 with John Huber of Ketchum on the Fly - — Plum TV

Sun Valley Fishing Report: 8/14/09 - 8/20/09 with John Huber of Ketchum on the Fly - — Plum TV

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Cherries!

I've started harvesting a few things from the garden in between fishing. The cherries were especially pretty the other day.

Do Fish Respond to Texts?

On Monday I guided the most awesome 13 year-old girls from the East. I remember 13 being my most awful year, by far, but these girls have grabbed life by the horns. We fished the Wood, but mostly I learned the local gossip. With over 8,000 texts a month, you can only imagine the amount of info that's being shared and I know it all now.

The fishing wasn't that great, but it was definitely an awesome trip!

Where the Antelope Roam

Yesterday I finally made it up to Copper Basin to do some scouting. I am so happy to finally have a car that can get up there and yesterday's trip was well worth it. I mostly fished on Star Hope and it was amazing. All of the fish were Fine Spot Cutthroat and there were lots of them. I just threw a Purple Haze and a Lightning Bug and got the job done. And of course, the Frog Hair 5x was easy to pull right out of the bushes.

I had never driven the full Copper Basin loop so yesterday provided me with that opportunity. I got within 20 feet of three Pronghorn and started racing them. They beat me at 30 mph--as fast as I could go on the pot-holed road.

I drove back down the basin and went up Wild Horse Creek. I managed to scare off an 18" rainbow and didn't find much after that. I am so happy it's summer in Copper Basin--it's always a nice change from the Wood or Silver Creek. I'm looking forward to hitting the Lower Lost next!

Trico Midges

A certain person I used to guide with, now deemed my nemesis, once pronounced on the Big Wood, "The bugs you see flying around are trico midges." I'm not kidding.

Buddy and fellow guide Carl corrected her, but throughout the day she continued to identify the tricos as trico midges and showed in an entomology book she put together the trico midge page.

Long story, but tricos are not midges, and they are out on the creek. I fished last night and saw a few and saw my first clouds of the year this morning. The fish seemed more tuned into the PMDs, though, which was okay since the PMDs were 14s and the tricos were 20s.

The Wood is dropping and fishing quite well. It's just under 1000 cfs, but there are Green Drakes and the fish are eating them. I hope to go to Copper Basin tomorrow--it should be fishing too.

Thank god it's summer.

Ummm--maybe a little more masculine

I was reading the New York Times fashion articles today and they had a report about menswear from Milan--masculine!  I was looking through the slideshow and this was my favorite.  I think we're going to need something a little more masculine if we're hitting the river.  I can't imagine where they found the hippers and tackle box.  It's funny to think about some assistant hitting up the local gun store for the latest menswear accessories.

Photo from www.nytimes.com, incredibly ridiculous outfit from DSquared2

Making it Work

The Wood River Valley has had crazy rain for the last month. Of course, when business picked up, we had to guide in muddy flood water and take beginners on Silver Creek. The photo is of Sus, a TNC employee, on the Wood last week.


The rain has cleared up and the fishing has definitely improved. The Wood is rapidly dropping, and the bugs are going crazy on the creek. I'm looking forward to scouting in Copper Basin later this week and am getting ready for a busy July.

Frog Hair Surprises!

I was recently invited to join the Frog Hair Pro Staff and just thought I was getting a good deal, but was surprised twice this week. On Wednesday, I received business cards with my name on them--PRO STAFF--I am beyond excited for my first pro staff position. Check out the sweet deal below.



This afternoon, after a hard day of guiding, I came home to an awesome box full of all of the tippet and leaders I had ordered and some awesome swag. Hats, stickers, patches, and all kinds of fun stuff.


I'm really excited to be part of their team and I've used Frog Hair for years. There's nothing like fighting a fish on 8x and not worrying about breaking them off. You can check out their website to the right.

The Aftermath

Finally got around to downloading the brown drake pics. It was really disappointing this year, but we at least caught some fish.

Papa says...

Papa says we ain't got no more drakes. Bummer.

BBT!

I don't have my computer at work with me today to upload all of the big fish photos from last night's brown drakes, but I'll put up a pic of Brian Richter's big brown I had heard about and saw on Moldy Chum this morning.

Tight lines!

Enchanted Lake Lodge

Fellow guide Ryan Manning is living the dream in Alaksa this summer and has started a blog to share it all. Check it out here.

Will it ever end?

It has been raining for two whole weeks. Rain, sleet, hail, thunder and lightning, wind, snow, ominous clouds, power outages...the only thing we're missing is a tornado and a hurricane.

All the rain means no fishing.

The Wood is pumping well over 2000 cfs and the rain is pushing the bugs off of Silver Creek. It's normally wet this time of year, but this is insane. I've fished a few times, but it's just not exciting when the size 14 PMDs and Brown Drakes aren't making appearances.

I know it will get better. Someday... Someday...

Trout totes for sale!

I finally finished my first round of trout totes! They are listed at The Brown Drake's Etsy store...the link is to the right. Below is a close up of my favorite one.



It's been raining quite a bit, which is why I've finished my first order of bags. Between showers, there have been some PMDs and Baetis. Hopefully the fishing will pick up soon, but with the Wood running at 2100 cfs, it looks like Silver Creek will be the option for a long time.

Lovin' Loving Creek

Hit up the creek last night and it was awesome. Hooked a fish on a Stalcup Pupa on my first cast. Hooked some more fish, but I didn't land any. It was ok because it was another beautiful summer evening on Silver Creek.

And the question you all have...NO...there were not Brown Drakes.

The Drilling Fields

Paddy and I made it down to the City of Rocks for two days last week. I started by leading the first pitch of Little Time (5.6) and we had a small epic on Cruel Shoes 5.7). Paddy finished up by leading a 10c and 10a. The photo above is Paddy by a waterfall in The Drilling Fields at the City.

Fishing season started yesterday and I was rained out on Silver Creek. I'll try again tonight.

I'm putting together an Etsy store where you can purchase trout notecards, trout totes, and other awesome stuff we make. I'll post when it's ready.

How am I so busy being unemployed?!

Trout Friendly Vegetables

The veggies are planted, the garden is dug, and now it's time to wait.

For fishing. And planting.

Opening day is May 23, but the last frost isn't until June 6. I'm dying to get on with the fishing and the gardening, but it's time to head back down to the city of Rocks for some more climbing!

Leading

Paddy and I went down to the City of Rocks Monday trough Friday for some early season (waiting for fishing) climbing. I lead Small Fry (5.6) on Monday afternoon--my first lead in several years. The climbing was great and the place was empty, but the weather didn't really cooperate.

We hope to make it back for a few days next week if we can get our gear in order for opening day on next Saturday.

About two weeks ago, Paddy and I canoed Loving Creek to count redds and were amazed by the size 14 PMDs...can't wait.

Carp; the other, other white meat

Rain, rain, rain.

Paddy and I went to the Snake in the rain on Sunday--we were tired of being inside. It paid off, in between the lightning, I caught this nice fish. We hooked a few more, but the fishing was hard because the water was muddy. Better than being inside, though.

Sweet, Sweet Cruiser Action

I saved money from Christmas and my birthday to order an Electra Gypsy, a cruiser I've been dying to have for years. I finally got it yesterday after some problems and have already put on quite a few miles. It's like, "Oh, I haven't seen the news paper today, better go get one," "Oh, I should probably go to the bank," etc., etc.

Now I just have to figure out how to make a rod holder--the river's only 8 blocks away!

End of Another Season

Steelhead season is now over on the Salmon. Now our fish can finish their migration and get their business done. That means it's time for the C and C, not as in the Music Factory, but the Climb and Carp.

A few photos from a couple of days ago:

Shooting S@#$

Another day unemployed, another day doing dumb stuff. Heather went on her inaugural shooting expedition and did awesome--she was also very good. Nothing's more fun than blowing stuff up, except for getting ticks in the desert.

Trout, Carp, Steelhead, oh my!

Back from Texas and hitting the water hard.

Tuesday: Little Wood; didn't see any trout, caught some dace on a dry fly (I guess it's one more species I've now caught), beautiful spring weather

Wednesday: Snake; Carp-a-palooza, below is a double hook-up with Paddy and Carl, 82 degrees (sweat, sweat)



Thursday: Salmon; river at 2350 cfs because of 82 degree weather, below are some insane rapids



Friday: Salmon; river down a little; spey pools are white water but went after it anyways

Saturday: Ketchum on the Fly; work :(

Getting Crafty

Back from the warm weather and getting crafty. What's cooler than a trout tote--a trout tote that looks like a whitefish.

Back to Stanley for some more steelies.

Steelhead Mafia!

God, finally!

It was about time for the Steelhead Mafia to descend upon the Salmon River. Ten fish in two hours-not too shabby. Mine were wild bucks, Paddy had wild and hatchery bucks.

It's hard being a trout, no, steelhead bum.

Last Day of the Season

Yesterday was the last day of trout season. I cried a little, but only because the fishing was so good. There were midges hatching like tricos--it was absolutely amazing watching so many fish rise for such little bugs. I caught some nice fish and this one wasn't the largest, but the prettiest. Not a great self phtographer.

This afternoon I made myself the ultimate steelheading hat. I like to wear a cap under my stocking cap and like to keep my ears covered. This hat is huge to go over my cap and has long tags to cover my ears and tie under my chin. I based it on a basic Patagonia hat that I lost and added from there. I look totally dumb in it, as Paddy confirmed, but I'll be a little happier on the river. I also added the awesome tribal-like salmon.



The Steelhead Mafia's heading to Stanley manana.