My boys make me laugh

I might be bias but this is about as good as it gets. The end is the best part.

Study Break

I'm already sick of school, day-dreaming about something more rewarding

Football Bows and Boulder Brookies

I took the opportunity to make one last trip before school started. It was kind of spur of the moment so I had to go solo. I started heading east and decided to stop at a small stream I've driven by for years but never fished. It's near a tourist trap and most likely full of planted nasties so I always wrote it off as a waste of time. But I decided if anything the fish would be spooky and the challenge would make things interesting. The first fifteen minutes went by without even seeing a fish and then I hooked into a football bow with a zeal for aerobatics. It had a full set of fins and covered in vivid colors. Soon after I hooked into many more great looking fish with a few mangled planters mixed in. I had a hard time pulling myself away from this little gem, but I had a mission...Big Boulder Brookies! On the way there, I stopped at a road-side BBQ to grab a brisket sandwich. They were out of everything but full racks of ribs...normally $22 I got one for $13!

I made the trip to Pillsbury Pond earlier this summer and hooked into some pretty nice fish. I arrived at the trail-head around 5:30pm with no other car in site. It started to lightly rain as I began to hike. My legs burned as my mind raced at the possibility of having this lake to myself. I decided to pack in my float-tube in hopes of having more room to cast. This lake has steep banks with trees right to the edge, giving little area to cast. Light rain turned into a downpour as I arrived at my destination. I hurried to rig up and got into position. Right as I was making my first few casts of the evening a flash of lightning directly followed by crashing thunder shook me to the core. Isn't there some rule about counting the time between lightning and thunder? It's called the 30/30 rule...Well I followed the rule of 10, if I could count to ten between thunder crashes I was good to go. I was lucky in both no becoming a crispy critter, catching a few nice fish, and having the lake completely to myself.

I hiked out in pitch darkness excited to return in the morning. I had hotdogs and cream corn for dinner and went to bed. 5am came early and I got up and going for another day of fishing. The weather had cleared and I knew I would first on the water. I didn't fair as well as the day prior but I was able to pick up a few more respectable fish and a BUF Brookie from the depths of hell. My only regret was mistakenly tying some semi-seal leeches on light wire hooks as I lost a fish comparable to one of my largest last trip to a snapped hook. Oh...and I'm going to invest in some 2x.

I made some rib-meat sandwiches for lunch and headed home.

On the way back I hit another flash flood through Red Canyon. There were about 25 cars at a stand-still. I bypassed the rubber-necking tourists and drove on through until I reached what was stopping traffic. A mudslide had washed over the road and no one dared drive over it. Once the first one made it over without incident, I hopped back in the car and made my getaway. I had to stop later for a photo-op. What was a dry wash the day before was a ragging torrent of angry mud.

Dedicated to the memory of POS 1997. We had a good run but we all have our time.

Fishy Fun From Last-week

Willow Creek with the Family

I'm sorry to my viewers that dislike how this has become a family blog as much as a fishing blog. But what can I say, I'm a lucky man to have a family involved in my passion. It's how I find balance right now.

We hit Willow Creek Mountain last week and had a great family camping trip. Thanks to the camp trailer we were able to have another successful trip with two small children. We had luck on our side as we drove down a dirt road that got rougher and rougher with no way to turn around with our camp trailer behind us. Luckily we came upon a nice little meadow with a little stream running through it. We caught fish only feet from our campsite and put memories in the bank to draw on later.

Willow Creek was a little high but still rewarded us for our efforts.

I just returned from a 2-day trip. I didn't fish anywhere new but each place has haunted me in the past. I fell great about my success at each spot including catching the largest Brookie of my life. The second largest is documented as like most fish stories go, the biggest flipped out of my net before I could get a good picture (I have a picture of it in my net but it really doesn't do it justice so I will leave it out). I'm not really impressed with my camera-work but I was very impressed with this trip. But I won't bore you with many details...

Drove through just after a flash flood washed out part of the hillside into the road, I should have stopped to show the carnage in the wash. It was a raging chocolate milkshake.

We've gone to Little Res. every spring since Connor was first born. This time Connor hooked and landed his first fish on the fly! It was not much smaller then my first fish on the fly some 17 years ago. Connor's first fish was on a #18 zebra midge, mine on a #16 flash-back PT. I was 13 and Connor is 3. Both remarkable achievements and the first of many throughout our lifetimes.

Palomino Pleasures

Kyle and I finally got out for some long overdue fishing. Rumor had it a local stillwater was starting to pop so we decided to investigate. When we arrived things looked good, but after ham and eggs gave us a report that fishing was slow, our hopes were a little dashed. We made our way over to the spillway and started our day. My 1st cast came up empty, but 2nd, 3rd, & 4th all rewarded me with fish. This is the second time to fish this lake and the first to catch fish. There are some beautiful Cutts in this lake

Kyle was a little slow on the stick but hooked into a nice albinoish trout he adamantly classified as Palomino. We caught well over a dozen fish in only a few hours. It seems that Kyle and I have been cursed every fishing trip together; until now we never seemed to catch fish on trips together...nice to break the curse.

Leeches were the meal of the day. I tied up a few blood leeches with a red craft bead the night before and was happy I did.

Cold, Windy, Skunky Weekend

My day started at 3:45am Friday morning. I got up and went to my 2nd to last nursing clinical this semester and decided to go fishing after I was done at 5pm. I drove back home, loaded up and pulled out of Cedar with the tent trailer in tow. I arrived at my destination just before midnight and furiously looked for a place to set up camp. I was hoping to find a spot close to the lake in hopes of taking breaks during the next day to warm up. The temperature read 14* F, snow was flying and there was a strong wind making it feel much colder. After nearly getting buried to my axles in snow I found a small pull-out along the side of the road. By the time I got set up, I was completely worn-out. I slept well that night thinking of what was to come in the morning.

I checked out the lake the night before and found 50 yards of open water around the North end of the lake. I started where the main creek runs into the lake. I was happy I purchased a step-ladder to stand on as the water was cold and the extra altitude gave me a good perspective of what was going on. I hooked one fish at this location but it unbuttoned before I landed it. I moved around the rest of the lake with no other luck. At the last place I stopped I spotted two huge fish cruise right in front of me as I flogged water. Not sure if they were Lake-trout but they were well over 30". What was to be a full weekend I cut short and went home with my head held low. I still have a lot to learn when it comes to stillwater. The cold, windy weather didn't add any luck, but hopefully gave me good juju to draw on later this season.

Sucker bait-fish

Tried my hand at some bait-fish patterns to imitate suckers. I'm planning to get away this weekend and hopefully hook my first Mac on the fly. I used MFC "Widow's Web" and "FishIze" on a 1/0 saltwater hook. Wish me luck...

We've Got a Winner!

I was lucky enough to catch the drawing over at Hopper Juan's site and win! Looking forward to my prize of free goodies.

Chocolate Milk in Snake Canyon

Made a quick trip back to Snake Canyon to camp with the family. The conditions weren't as good as last time, but we still caught a fish. Connor did a great job reeling it in and then switching off to net it. Caleb was zen master in the toddler pack as I waded through the river with him on my back. Katy's new waders and boots fit well and made her an official fly-fishing chick. Only complant was I lost my new MFC mitten scissor-clamps.