February 2011
It's February, Its cold as hell, and I needed a taste of some warm weather and an activity that didn't involve skis or standing in a slushy river. So my wife, Sarah, and I headed south to Texas for some much needed family time and a good old fashioned quail hunt. I grew up in Michigan where my dad taught me to hunt for grouse and wood cock in woods so thick that if you did jump a bird you may never see it. But if you did get a glimpse of the fleeing critter, you had better get some lead in...
Nothing warms the soul, when it's -21 below zero with the windchill, like some cool moving pictures of people catching fish set to some face melting rock n roll soundtracks. This saturday Feb. 26th at the Emerson Cultural Center the film tour hits Bozeman. This show is always a great time and has been selling out all over the country so let's represent our fly fishing mecca and see how many trout bums we can pack in there.
Before the show swing by the shop for some pre-...
Had a walk wade trip out on the Gallatin today with clients Neil and Maddox, guided by Robert Stewart. Maddox just turned seven years old and on his first time ever fly fishing hooked up a number of times and landed a few nice trout and whitefish on a fly rod! Nothing better than seeing an early addiction to fly fishing develop in a young mind. Sounds like they found some good spots out of the wind and fish hungry for prince nymphs and copper johns and ended up having...
Dang man! Before yesterday it had been about three months since I had a fly rod in my hand. Not only that but I think this is the first time that I haven't fished every month of the yeat since I started fly fishing and I was starting to feel like crap about it. So yesterday, shop rat and self proclaimed trout bum, Jason Denny, decided it was time I got off my duff and went to the lower Madison for a few hours. Other than the cold the conditions were as good as it gets. Sunny, no...
Just heard that one of the area's fly fishing legends, Sylvester Nemes, has gone on to the great spring creek in the sky. "Soft hackle Syl" was a wonderful character as well as an accomplished fly tyer especially well known for his soft hackle flies and the art of the swing. I feel lucky to have had the oppurtunity to get to know him from chatting in the fly shop about fishing and fly tying. He left behind many of his experiences in his collection of novels which I...
When the temperature drops down to any degree below zero it's like nature is giving you a hall pass on the day and saying "hey you just take it easy and tie some flies indoors today." This morning the thermometer was holding at a refreshing -23 so I'll just relax and tie some midges. Looking forward to this week's fly tying demo on Saturday 12-3pm with Andrew Puls from Livingston. Drew has been getting noticed by fly tying magazines for his exciting and innovative approach...