Chi Wulff

The “Epic” Day

by Jake on May 16, 2012

As Shane and I were driving back from a failed evening of carp fishing earlier this week, we decided that this year we wanted to have an epic day on the water. And I mean one of those days that lives in legend forever, the kind that we will still be talking about decades down the road.

This, of course, brought a round of laughter, as we have never had a really “good” day on the water. Sure, we always have a great time and enjoy fishing with each other. But it seems that when we do catch fish, its always one or the other of us. We never both have that elusive “great day”.

So this got us thinking. What would constitute a really legendary day of fishing? Think about it for a minute. Our ideal fishing day would go something like this:

The morning would dawn clear and calm. The drive out to the river would go smoothly, having filled the car up with gas that someone else payed for. We’d rig our rods as the suns rays first touched the water. Morning mayflies would be as thick as a Biblical plague and the trout would be greedily gobbling them up.

Not just any trout, but big trout. Nothing under 16 inches all day long. Every trout caught that day would be on a dry fly.

As the day wore on toward lunch, the mayflies would die down enough to justify taking a break. Lunch would be a bankside feast of fresh, thick sandwiches and cold beer. Ice cold beer, Salmonfly Honey Rye. After eating, a short nap in the shade would be in order.

The afternoon would be perfect. 75 degrees and just enough breeze to keep you cool but not enough to really ruffle the water. Upon waking, the air would be thick with a mix of caddis, stoneflies, hoppers, and a myriad mix of tasty goodies. The next few hours would be fish after fish after fish, picking and choosing the biggest ones from pods of feeding fish. Every cast would be accurate and every drift would be perfect and of course no fish would refuse a proffered fly.

As the light fades, we would walk back to the car, trying to count how many fish we had caught that day. We would lose track around 100. As we round the last bend of the river, we would see a broken down bus parked beside the car. It would be full of beautiful girls. (Shane said Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders, but seriously, let’s keep it in the realm of possibility)

That would be an epic day.

That’s not too much to hope for, right?

(photo by Shane Rickert)

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Time Lapse of the Week: Yosemite HD

by Mark on May 16, 2012

in Inquiring Minds Want to Know

Yep, couldn’t resist another great time lapse from the West.

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Carpin’ About Carpin’

by Jake on May 15, 2012

in Brownline

Carp.

To many the word brings to mind the very lowest order of trash fish. The kind of creature that lives in the nastiest, smelliest, sickest places in the water world. But to some, the word conjures up one of the most challenging and hard fighting freshwater fish anywhere.

Although I have long held the opinion that carp are a worthy adversary, I had never actually specifically targeted them. Until last night.

Due to runoff and the need for something different, Shane and I headed out to Three Forks to a couple ponds – ditches would be more accurate – that he knew to contain the golden ghost.

Now I can understand why they are called freshwater bonefish. Damn, those things are spooky. We saw a couple in the shallows, rooting around like redfish in the coastal estuaries. I wouldn’t have been surprised at all the see a tail pop up out of the water now and then.

The two shots we got at fish were rejected. This might be the most frustrating fishing I’ve encountered outside of Davis Pond The highlight of the night was spooking a large one out of some deeper water and seeing a slab of color about the same dimensions as my leg.. No, wait, I take that back. The highlight of the night was saying the hell with this and going to get ice cream.

When the fish aren’t biting, you gotta do what you gotta do.

All I can say is this isn’t over. More to come.

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Tie One On: HCFT’s ‘The Mop’

by Mark on May 15, 2012

in Flies

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At the Top of Our Unsung Heroes List: Montana’s Public Land / Water Access Association

by Mark on May 14, 2012

in Access

Several friends of Chi Wulff have graciously reminded us of late that there is a group of genuine ‘unsung heroes’ working for fair access to public waters (and land) in Montana – the Public Land/Water Access Association.

These days it seems there aren’t a lot of true heroes left, at least not in real life (a nod to those of you who argue that the superhero team portrayed in the Avengers represent reality).

Those who chase fish under the bright Big Sky of Montana have learned to appreciate Montana’s Stream Access Law (seemingly the standard to which shrinking access opportunities are enviously compared). Challenges to these regulations have been kicked around in the past decade via some very public and a few not so public contests, some of which we’ve talked about on this blog.

We’d argue that the PLWA team continues to do a hero’s work, almost always quietly behind the scenes, often tedious, head-in-the-law-books legal work.

They’ve been around for a while (from their very own History page)-

Prior to the early 80′s the land under the streams was considered by many to belong to the landowners, and was fished only with their allowance or indifference. Back in those days fishing on some of Montana’s rivers and streams could be a dangerous or unpleasant experience.

Back then, landowners were just starting to understand the recreational value of property bordering blue ribbon trout streams, especially if there was any chance that the public could be excluded. A few took measures to the extreme to keep anglers out.

After reports of harassment of anglers on the Deerborn and Smith rivers filtered back to Butte in the late 1970s, some folks got together and started talking about what could be done. Tom Bugni and Jerry Manley stepped forward to start a fledging organization called the Montana Coalition for Stream Access . . . and the fight was on.

In 1977, the coalition filed its first lawsuit against Michael Curran, a landowner on the Deerborn River. Curran controlled some six or seven miles of lands bordering the Deerborn River and claimed title to its bands and streambed.

Later some outfitters and fishermen requested that the Stream Access Coalition take on another lawsuit against a Beaverhead River landowner just downstream from Clark Canyon Reservoir. Since the issue was the same, these were the cases that ran through the courts. Fishermen from all over the area raised money to pursue this case all the way to the Montana Supreme Court.

In 1984 the court ruled in a six-to-one decision that “The public has the right to use Montana’s river and streams that are capable of recreation use, up to the high water mark.” The next year with input from some of the present members of PLAAI, the legislature passed the landmark stream access law. The law, passed by the Montana Legislature in 1985, allows recreation access between the ordinary high water mark of rivers and streams. It states “that the public, without regard of the ownership of the land underlying the waters, may use rivers and streams for recreational use up to the ordinary high water mark.”

And…

This work by two of our present members, and the work of the members involved in the Stream Access Litigation has had tremendous impact for our recreationists citizens. Can you imagine what Montana would be like if the property owners owned the stream bottom? In some states, you can’t set your anchor in a stream or river if the landowner owes the bank. We owe a great deal of debt to a handful of truly dedicated citizens who fought a lonely battle and won. These same people are still involved in Public Lands/Water Access Assoc., Inc.

We are blessed with the most liberal access for our streams and land then any state in the union. We will warn you, if you take this for granted, you might be sorely disappointed. There are changes in land ownership which is resulting illegal closures of road and access to our water. PLAAI had been the bulwark against this activity and will continue the battle to the limit of our resources.

Team Chi Wulff salutes the hard working men and women of he PLWA and suggests you take a spin around their website and sending ‘a Jackson’ their way – a simple donation of 20 bucks helps forward their mission and and ongoing work, which is well updated on their website here, and will keep you in the loop via their excellent newsletter sent to members.

Speaking of their newsletter, the current version (Winter) posted here has a nice update on the Seyler Lane issue.

We’re a bit behind on our interview work (with several nice ones in the hopper) and have emailed the PLWA gang for an interview to hopefully be done in the next few weeks.

To the team working at PLWA – a hearty thanks from Team Chi Wulff. Much appreciated.

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Headhunter’s Sara Rocking a Diablo on the Missouri

by Mark on May 14, 2012

in Boats

Kayaks are looking better and better all the time. These are a far cry from the early Wilderness system boats we owned on the Texas coast back in the late 90’s.

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Quote of the Day: A Brown in the Hand…..

by Mark on May 12, 2012

in Quote of the Day

A brown in the hand is worth two in the water.

A fly in the hand beats work any day.

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Chi Wulff’s Friday Feast 11 May: Hellfire Ribeyes

by Mark on May 11, 2012

in Friday Feast

Back in the day She Who Must Be Obeyed and I spent a bit of time in Billings. We had two children under two and I was asked to participate in a fraud scheme that could have earned me 10-20 in federal prison (had I chosen to participate).

Save for the proximity of the under-appreciated northeast corner of Yellowstone and the Bighorn, we consider those days to have been a tad stressful.

One thing we both remember fondly was a blackened prime rib that one of our favorite eateries downtown served. It was incredibly well spiced, tender grass-fed Montana beef.

Blackening a true prime rib is an ambitious project for home, though we’ve had tasty success with blackened ribeyes.

Commercially prepared blackening spices tend to taste a bit stale and are most often too tame; you’ll want to make your own. This particular blackening spice recipe has a subtle but noticeable southwestern twist with the use of chipotle powder in lieu of the traditional cayenne. It’s damned good and works for all manner of seafood and even chicken as well.

The spices shine on nice thick ribeye though, and they’re done best on the grill given the fumes produced if you’re doing this correctly – a very hot skillet – (though you can manage inside with the vent fan humming).

This will in fact probably serve as our Mother’s day meal for the weekend as spring (if not early summer) has finally arrived in our neck of the woods.

6 12-ounce ribeye steaks, better if bone-in, nice and thick (1 to 1.5 inches)

Blackening Spices
1 cup paprika
1 tsp. granulated garlic
1 tsp. chipotle powder
1 tsp. fennel seeds
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. white pepper
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 and 1/2 tsp. salt

Spice it up. Round up the blackening spice ingredients and combine well in a small bowel. (Keep tightly covered in a cool, dark cabinet or pantry corner.)

Dredge it. Dredge the steaks in the blackening spices so they’re well coated; gently shake off any excess. Let sit at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes.

Fire it up. Fire the grill (hot fire). When you’re ready to cook, preheat your biggest, well-seasoned cast iron over the fire until very hot; should take 10 minutes or so.

Blacken it. Place the steaks in the hot skillet and cook for 3 to 4 minutes per side (assuming you’re cooking a 1 to 1and 1/2 inch thick ribeye) until it’s perfect. Pull it a bit pinker than you’d like as these will keep cooking a bit due to the high heat in the pan.

Serve it up. Plate immediately and serve. We’ve served this with a ‘blackened’ (broiled) tomato – tomatillo salsa in the past that is amazing (email or comment if you’d like the recipe…).

Enjoy.

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Epic Days (Green River)

by Mark on May 11, 2012

in Fish Stories

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Going the Way of the Dinosaur: Fly Fishermen Undoubtedly Contribute to Global Warming

by Mark on May 10, 2012

in Culture, Books, Art

Though a plethora of news venues recently reported the findings of a John Moores University (Liverpool) study suggesting that dinosaurs’ flatulence and eructations (aka belches) were significant and measurable contributors to ancient global warming, I first ran across the story on the NY Daily News site.

From their article -

…A new study suggests that dinosaurs may have helped keep an already overheated world warmer with their flatulence and burps 200 million years ago.

The research published Monday in Current Biology suggests that large dinosaurs made a significant contribution to the greenhouse effect back then. Study author David Wilkinson of Liverpool John Moores University in England estimated that about 570 million tons of methane came from dinosaurs. That’s similar to total atmospheric levels of methane today produced by livestock, farming and industry. Cows alone now produce nearly 100 tons a year of methane.

The study looks at the biggest – and presumably gassiest – dinosaurs, called sauropods. These were the long-necked plant eaters that munched on the top of trees. They were large animals that had food fermenting in their guts for long periods of time because of their giant size, said University of Maryland paleontologist Thomas Holtz, who wasn’t part of the study.

Wilkinson said dinosaur gas was just one factor at a time when the world was quite tropical, about 18 degrees warmer than now. But he said some in the media and blogosphere have misinterpreted his study to say it was the main cause of ancient warming. Wilkinson said it was only of the causes, but dinosaur gas “is big enough to be a measurable effect,” he said in a phone interview…

Media pundits of all stripes have had a field day with the study and the implications therein, not the least of which is how in the hell did such a project garner funding to be ‘studied’?

That pondered, it was on my drive to Gig Harbor that I realized the study has profound implications for my fly fishing brethren (and sistren, though probably to a lesser degree).

Many, if not most, fishers with whom I’ve kept company over the years have emitted prodigious volumes of flatulence and motley fumes via eructations.

Much more so than ostensibly otherwise normal humans that I’ve observed over the years.

No doubt their diet of greasy-dive mega-belt-busting cheeseburgers, slim Jims, stale coffee and cheap (we’re thinking of you, PBR) and not-so-cheap beer contributes mightily to these phenomena.

On a positive note noxious fumes emitted by fly fishers may have actually decreased as the utilization of neoprene waders has plummeted over the past decade, though researchers have well documented the continued use of said neoprene by certain fishers (Singlebarbed for one).

For some the mere act of producing these eruptions has been honed with considerable practice and attention to detail not unlike that of a great musician (pitch, tone, volume, vibrato and so on and so forth).

We’ve volunteered to serve as team leaders in a field trial to assess fly fisher emissions over the next year; we feel highly compelled to further this brilliant branch of global warming research.

We’ll probably be awarded a ginormous grant to do so and will be able to retire early and conduct meaningful research for the next several decades. I’m envisioning a staff of comely assistants who can also row a drift boat or fishing raft rig, piles of beverages and food stocks for testing as well as a speaking tour conducted during the coldest Montana winter months to allow year round ~~fishing~~ testing and research.

Volunteers needed.

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Rush to the Driftless

by Mark on May 10, 2012

in Tenkara

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Dry Fly Redemption: Lower Madison Style

by Jake on May 9, 2012

in Fish Stories

Much has been written in the past about the allure of dry fly fishing. Deservedly so, too. To many people it is the highlight of the fly fishing experience, watching a fish rise from the depths to poke his nose out of his world and into ours and inhaling a hook with a bit of feathers and fur on it in the process.

Ah, dry fly season. When you shove the nymph boxes a little bit further down in the pack and try to reorganize your dry boxes. Ha, when I first pulled mine out this year they were a complete jumble. Caddis were hanging out with the mayflies, the terrestrials were everywhere and a large number of them were just loose in the box with little bits of leader hanging out of the eye.

In the heat of the moment on the water you don’t have time to be very organized when fish are rising all around you.

Yesterday was the first real dry fly day I’ve had this year. My buddy Tre has been going through a rough patch, so after helping him move some furniture in the morning we decided to hit the Lower Madison. There is nothing like a day of fishing to get your mind off your troubles.

The day started off kind of slow. There weren’t too many bugs on the water, and we had to resort to nymphs. But the day wore on and we moved upstream. We both managed to pick up a few fish once we switched to dries.

But then it was like a someone flicked a switch.

Suddenly caddis were everywhere. Thousands upon untold thousands of caddis. Filling the air, flying into my mouth, crawling all over my arms, and covering my waders. If you’re as ticklish as I am, caddis crawling on you can prove to be a bit of a distraction. Both of us also saw a couple of salmonflies and golden stones in the mix as well.

As many bugs as there were, the fish just weren’t looking up. I managed to hook two monsters that were hanging right by the bank though. Each one of them took the fly, shook their massive heads, ran to deep water and just sat there. Didn’t fight, just sat. At that point I knew they were big fish. After five minutes of just standing there with a bent rod and no action on the other end I figured it might have gotten snagged up or something. So, like an idiot, I walked over, the fish didn’t move, and I grabbed the leader. A slab of a fish rolled underneath me, bumped my leg, shook the fly and was gone.

This happened twice, just like that. Happening once, that’s understandable. Twice in the span of ten minutes? Pretty damn stupid. Oops. Judging from the glance I got at both fish, they were easily pushing 20 inches. Easily.

So we moved up river, laughing and carrying on and having a grand old time. And then another switch got flicked. There was a rise. And another. And another. And another. Suddenly the entire river was covered with rising fish. So many that it’s hard to choose which one to cast to.

We started catching fish hand over fist. Almost every cast, if you were accurate enough. Since there were so many bugs on the water, you had to put the fly right into their feeding lane or they wouldn’t take it. Most of them were feisty 10-14 inch fish, with a couple bigger ones.

Tre caught the fish of the night when he noticed a nose peeking up now and then near the bank and landed this monster. After landing it, looking at it and releasing it, he looked at me and said something to the effect of “you know someone is looking out for you when your life can be completely shitty and you can still catch a fish like that on a dry fly”.

It reached a point where we caught enough fish to tie on oddball flies, just to see if they worked. I put on a Royal Wulff, and he tried a bright yellow Elk Hair Caddis. Both of them were unlike anything on the water, and both of them worked. Much to the consternation of the guy across the river, I might add. We were spotting risers, calling them out, casting to them and catching them one after another, and he couldn’t catch anything. Guess it’s not all about looking professional, is it dude?

Finally the day darkened, and the fish slowed down. That was the most epic day I’ve ever had on that river. It probably makes my top ten dry fly days of all time too. There is just something about the rise that breathes new life into a fisherman.

Like the song said in the video Mark put up a couple days ago, Dry or Die.

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Tie One On: Cranefly Larvae

by Mark on May 9, 2012

in Flies

Another nice tie from Tightline.

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A Little Fiberglass Love

by Jake on May 8, 2012

in Gear

In the past year, my quiver of rods has grown quite a bit. Thank God for deep discounts working in retail. But one rod really stands out.

It’s not anything fancy, far from it. And you might think that the notable rods would be hundreds and hundreds of dollars. Not always so. This one cost a whopping $12.

I’m talking about my Eagle Claw fiberglass rod. In bright yellow, of course.

Photo by Shane Rickert

I bought it more as a joke than anything else. We had a couple at work and for the price I figured what the hell. So it sat in a corner of my closet for weeks. Then on a slow day at work I happened to cast one.

Wow.

Maybe it’s just the fiberglass, maybe it’s just something different, but that rod feels incredible. I had never spent much time with fiberglass rods, always trying to stay on the techie curve, following the new technologies and materials with eager anticipation. Taking a step backwards as it were never occurred to me. I’m glad it did.

The first time I went fishing with it, it took me about 15 minutes to adjust my cast to something that flexes soooo slowly. Make your backcast… and wait … and wait … and wait … and finally it loads up. If you put your index finger right above the cork you can feel the rod flex all the way down to there. Pretty awesome.

Photo by Shane Rickert

It casts surprisingly well. Sure, it has issues with longer distances and wind, but as a small creek dry fly rod (East Gallatin, anyone?) I predict it will be unparalleled. I’ve only had one fish on the rod, a large-ish rainbow at Davis Pond, which of course got off. But that rod bent double, line was peeling out; it felt like I had a new state record on. That’s where this rod is going to get really fun.

Too often as fly fishermen we get sucked into the realm of “stuff”. We’ve always got to have the newest, brightest, and best stuff. And a lot of times we determine just how good it is by how high the price tag is. This Eagle Claw rod proves this is not always the case. This summer I’m going to try to find and point out some other awesome deals.

If you can find one of these rods, buy it. It’s worth it if just for shits and giggles.

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