Please Wait.......

Good morning Jackson Hole, I arrived on the last flight last night just before 10pm-and missed seeing the sight of all sights, the Grand Tetons, as they were shrouded in clouds and darkness -- arriving much later than expected due to two delays, one in Greensboro, and another in Atlanta. There were bad thunderstorms all about. I had to switch some flights around and finally got a flight to Jackson at 640pm Atlanta time.....so much for casting a fly yesterday. Waited in the baggage claim for an hour and no bags.....turned out they went to Denver and never got switched over the plane I was on. Oh well, I hope they get my clothes, stuff, and most importantly rods! Did meet a great guy from Jacksonville, FL on the plane, we talked flyfishing and a whole lot of stuff the entire time and I think I might have gotten a future trip. Also was very intrigued by the # of soldiers, there were several large groups of them en route to Afghanistan. As I saw them I thought of how they are the real heroes today and how the media will never portray them that way......I thanked one of them it was neat to see his reaction. I was thinking of how here they are headed to be in harm's way and I am headed to Wyoming....made me feel silly complaining about all the above. Looking forward to a great day today, mostly tracking my bags down- I had planned several things but they will have to wait until I make sure my bags are going to get here. Will meet the guys one by one as they arrive here with everyone being here and on the ground by tomorrow at noon- - - then the adventure begins!

I guess though through probably 40 fly throughs in Jackson Hole only one issue with luggage is a pretty good thing.....in all those trips this is the only luggage issue I have had. That's pretty good given how many changes are taking place in a short period of time. But it still makes for some fidgeting waiting on the stuff to arrive so I can get on with the trip.

Photography..........A Bonus to Fishing

I must say that as much as I love fishing and guiding others I also have a deep affinity for photography. I take tons of photos. And the great thing is that many of the places I go regularly are so strikingly beautiful in some way that taking a good picture.....well...you could say.....anyone could do it. I mean lets face it, a place like the Grand Tetons is pretty amazing even if you take a bad picture of it. I am not sure you could take a bad one of that place.

Photography for me is such a bonus to being outdoors, enough so that I like it enough to do it alone even if I am not fishing or the fishing is slow. I am not alone in that sentiment. Well known fly anglers and authors Lefty Kreh and Bob Clouser, the latter whom I know personally, both love to take pictures. So much so that if the fishing is off or slow, then so be it......its off for a photo shoot. Its that good.

So take a camera and add to your experience...........and I promise it won't keep you from catching a large fish-----just like taking a landing net won't do that either.........I promise

Its that Time again......

One of my favorite things is catching fish on top...nothing beats a moment when any fish, and especially a large fish decides to eat on top. I don't know if its the surprise factor of the unexpected strike, the commotion and noise that breaks an often early morning, late evening, or moonlight silence....or seeing a large fish come to the top with the express purpose of annihilating your fly. Personally, all of the details matter not, I'll take a surface take over them all.....whether the fish is large or small. Large though is what I prefer....how about you?

We are entering one of my favorite times, I know , you've heard me say it before about 'favorite times'- - -they are all my favorite times. My favorite time is whenever I can go. But there's something about topwater, whether largemouth bass smashing a bug from beneath a layer of green muck and salad the way they do at our pond here - - - and let me tell you get a bass of 2-3 lbs or more and it will scare the daylights out of you and cause you to mess up your britches-- - - a panfish softly kissing a popper or black ant, or a tiger with fins- - - a smallmouth- - that breaks the early morning foggy silence with a surface shattering strike so swift, precise, and quick that you never even saw the fish- - - at all. I love them. Actually I love them all

An Unbelievably Large Rising Brown

This one is not around here but some fish like this exist here, most notably the South Fork of the Holston in TN. Its not uncommon to see fish like this, over 20 inches, rising to a heavy hatch. We caught one such fish last year, way over 20 inches, on a size 16 dry fly, 7x tippet; it was caught and landed on the South Holston by Lynn Roloff during the legendary sulphur hatch. She did a masterful job of landing the fish.

Down and Across Presentations

We do a good many trips on the tailwater rivers of East Tennessee, most notably the South Holston and Watauga Rivers, and frequently encounter situations where downstream presentations are required. The South Holston is this way. The down and across presentation using a parachute reach cast and with the fly landing slightly to the near side of the rise/fish is hard to beat. I find that whether I am fishing or guiding someone it is the deadliest presentation you can make on a larger, streamwise, mature fish that is rising. The reason is the cast produces plenty of slack which makes for a long drag free drift and it shows the fish fly first instead of tippet, leader, and line. Here Robert Ruzicka scores on a downstream presentation, as he did about 80 -90 times in two days of guide trips with me on TN's South Holston- - - -which could be called the 'Henry's Fork of the East'.

Wow Thats a Big Bug.......

These guys come off every year on streams that have them, it is the e.guttulata mayfly, better known as the "Green Drake", and because of its immense size relative to other flies we see it is a real meal for large trout. This particular bug was filmed on an Ashe County stream on May 27,2009 and what is funny is to see smaller fish try to take one down with two or three attempts. For a native trout this is a nice meal, the equivalent of a nice New York Strip for us. This mayfly is a burrower type, that is they are found in streams that have some mud banks or at least some bottom mud/sediments- - - and that is where they are found. The nymph is best imitated by a large Gold Ribbed Hares Ear or a Tan/Gold wooly bugger with the tail trimmed short. They can be from size 8 to 12 but this guy was a size 10. Only a few streams in our area have these flies, and where there's a fishable hatch of them its a known thing.

In our area several Ashe County streams have them, the Davidson River has them, and one of the best hatches occurs on Beaverdam Creek in Shady Valley, TN. In most places the hatch occurs between one week before Memorial Day to Memorial Day to one week after Memorial Day, or over about a two week period is when they can occur. The hatch is short lived. The spinners, a large whitish size 10 fly you'll see at dusk, is normally referred to as a 'coffin fly', and looks like a small piece of chalk hovering in the air. They are huge as well, and as you might have guessed, fish love to eat them. This is one mayfly you can hear fly by as well as see it fly by. For more information on Green Drakes visit Jason Neuswanger's excellent site here http://www.troutnut.com/specimen/771 .

Fishing an Idaho Early Spring Skwala Hatch

This one is unreal. I remember years ago seeing heads poke out of the water like this eating flies, it was on the Picabo /Nature Conservancy section of world famous Silver Creek, the "graduate school of trout water" that lies about one hour south of Ketchum, Idaho. A past trip with friends Daryl Knight and Brad Frazier was an amazing trip in terms of seeing huge fish and some incredible dry fly fishing. Enjoy!