We’ve just popped our head back into the cyberworld after being off line since about 8 pm on Saturday night, right in the middle of dinner in fact.

That’s when our hosting service fired an email stating that our server load over the past several days had crept into red-line territory and yesterday finally crossed the threshold that forced an automatic lockout for a period of time.

For several weeks Jake and I’ve been chatting about the fact that a hosting service upgrade was going to be pushed upon us here before long; it appears the time is probably here.

We’ve done some of the routine urgent stuff – trimmed some database fat, optimized the database, upgraded a caching routine – and have at least passed muster to get back up and running for a trial over the next few days.

We have some great stuff coming up when we resume scheduled programming over the next few hours, including an interview with the Headhunters gang in Craig, some positive stuff to say about urban fly fishing for Texas native bass (even more astoundingly from Jake), more on the Madison River recreational plan and so on and so forth.

We’re working to hold future outages to a minimum. Appreciate your patience.

Tags: Chi Wulff

Ok, we’ll readily admit we’ve been living under a rock for the past year or so as far as some aspects of social media go.

True, we’ve been feeling a bit sorry for ourselves being out of pocket and all, and my (Mark) meniscal tear and tibial fracture this summer, besides being a literally pain in the knee and figuratively in the ass, curtailed fishing options dramatically.

Life’s looking a bit better these days; despite it being mid-winter we’re all planning various returns to mountain country, with Jake in line to escape back home before any of the rest of us.

That said, as we’ve crawled out from under our rock we’ve been having fun being a bit more social on Twitter and Facebook.

We’ve overhauled our Chi Wulff twitter page and are slowly getting back in the groove there; we’ll be posting some version of our twitter feed in the sidebar once we figure out a format we can live with.

For our Friday Feast and Thirsty Thursday fans we also launched a Chi Wulff’s Friday Feast twitter feed and will be ramping up our discussion there over the next few weeks. Turns out a hell of a lot of fly fishers love good food and tasty adult beverages and would like to chat a bit more about those things than we’ve been doing in the blog. Look for the Friday Feast twitter feed in the sidebar as well.

Jake’s been in charge of cranking up our FB page again and we’ll be more active there as we’ve had a hell of a lot of fun interacting a bit more with fishers and friends around the country and the world.

We’re even tossing around the idea of a big riverside party sometime this summer – who knows, it could happen.

Tags: Chi Wulff

We have a couple of small projects for a fishy graphic artist / designer and are having a harder time that we thought we might digging up some one who has time and the inclination to take on the little stuff.

None of us progressed much further than the 8-pack crayon stage.

Anybody know someone who might fit the bill?

Tags: Chi Wulff

Jake and a Genuine "Less Than 16 Inch" Montana Trout

So there are no trout bigger than 16 inches in Montana, at least according to one sport attempting to impersonate a fly fisher I ran into a few days ago.

I won’t bore you with all of the conversation; though it is worth noting this encounter has made the top three on my all time strangest interactions in a fly shop list.

Mid last week I popped into a regional fly shop to renew my Texas license; my old one expired and a close call over the holidays convinced me that I needed a renewal even though we’ll be back home before the end of May.

So I walked up to the counter where Shop Guy (SG) was chatting with Sport; Shop Guy looked like any middle-aged fly shop guy. Sport was resplendent in his ‘55 year-0ld trying to look 25’ tennis gear and was clearly annoyed that a customer had arrived to interrupt his chat.

The conversation ran something more or less along these lines just after I handed Shop Guy my expired fishing license and Montana driver’s license….

Me: Hey, just need to renew my fishing license for a few months.

Shop Guy: Well hi de ho, Bozeman, Montana. A real by God Montana fly fisherman, eh?

Me: Well….yea.

Sport: Shit, Montana (dripping with contempt or sarcasm, I wasn’t quite sure). Hell, I fished all over Montana and there isn’t a fish in that whole damn state over 16 inches. I can catch bigger fish in an afternoon on the Guad (reference to Guadalupe river) than in a whole f**kin’ week in Montana.

Me: (Quizzical look with Spock-like eyebrow raise; no response.)

Shop Guy: Laugh.

Sport: Here’s another thing….wild trout can’t grow bigger than 16 inches. It’s too damn cold for them in the winter up there and they can’t get big just eatin’ bugs. I fished all over f’n Montana and never saw a fish bigger than 16 inches. For fish to get bigger they gotta be fed like the fish we put in the Guad.

Me: So where’d you fish up there? And what time of year was it?

Sport: I’ve fished all over that f’n state. Went to all the big name rivers and all we caught was bait fish size trout, maybe one up to 15 inches. (Cue long pause with Sport apparently reaching to activate brain cells that weren’t used to being called to action this early in the day.

…I fished the big name rivers – the ‘Missoura’, the Madison, the ‘Big ‘Ole’ river which wasn’t that big and a creek they called the Beaverhead. And I went at the best of the year – the second or third week of August.

Me: Was it hot? Windy? Maybe a little smokey?

Sport: Shit, by Texas standards it wasn’t that hot, but it was windy as hell on the ‘Missoura’ and there were fires burning and now that I think about it, it was smokey. It sucked. And that weak Montana beer really sucked.

Me: Damn, hate to tell you, but that’s probably one of the worst windows in the season to be fishing up there….and the weak beer, I think you’ve got us confused with Utah.

Shop Guy: Hey, are you one of those Chi Wulff guys?

Sport: What?…You’re one of those f’n Chi Wulff guys who called us whores down here? (Sport now assumed a battle stance and issued as steely-eyed a glare as a pasty white guy in a tennis outfit could muster).

Me: Why yes, I am one of those f’n Chi Wulff guys. And I didn’t called you whores, I was simply paraphrasing Ted Williams and I sorta inferred it.

Sport: You son of a bitch…..

Me: (Lifting license materials off the counter and beginning to back away) You boys have a great day. And next time you’re headed up to Montana, fire me an email and we’ll show you a fish bigger than 16 inches.

Shop Guy: Beat it, I’m not selling you a license today.

Sport: F**k you punk (spoken bravely as I walked out the door and an interesting descriptor as I’m 6’2” and a big guy…).

Amazingly Jake had a very similar conversation with a fly fisher he christened Dr. Dumbass in San Antonio some months back – though Dr. Dumbass suggested that the maximum trout size possible in Montana’s waters was 18 inches.

To be fair, we have met some nifty, talented and gifted fly fishers from Texas, though we hear iterations of how much better it is to fish for stocked hatchery trout on the local waterways than for wild fish on freestone rivers just about every single day. ‘Sport’ sure makes KD look right about his fantasy fly fishing angle from a few weeks ago.

That said, makes you feel sorry for the poor bastard guiding ‘Sport’ on his next outing. Buy your favorite outfitter and guide a beer next time you have a chance; odds are they’ve had more than one ‘Sport’ in their boat or shop this past season and have damn well earned it.

Tags: Inquiring Minds Want to Know

For most of us here on Chi Wulff, fly fishing makes the world go round.

For me, photography makes the world go round.

There’s a natural connection here.

Fly fishing multimedia has long been enjoyed by anglers the world across. It is gaining popularity amongst non-anglers as well… who doesn’t dream of a quiet moment on a scenic Western river?

The fly fishing world is fortunate to have an impressive talent pool of photographers and videographers. While it is still a close knit cadre, the level of skills that fly fishing photographers possess never ceases to inspire me.

To that end I’ll be interviewing fly fishing and outdoor media professionals for a series of posts here on Chi Wulff that we’ll make part of the People of Fly Fishing series.

The fly fishing media world boasts a diverse group of guys… we’ll explore their media history and what makes them see the world the way they do. Because, in the end, media is all about creativity and seeing the world from a different angle.

Tags: People of Fly Fishing

I happened upon this pod of brown trout in the kitchen the other day.  Holding in a lie below the cheese grater they seemed to be content to rest, with only the occasional lazy rise at passing food upon the counter.

Somewhat unfortunately, these trout were one by one picked off by a larger and more cunning predator.

Pardon me while I wipe the crumbs from my beard…

Tags: Culture, Books, Art

Though she fully understands that it will bring forth a bellowing chorus of moans and groans, a certain feminine fisher we know still likes to say fly fishing is like a box of chocolates.

You never know what you’re gonna get each time out.

The same could be said about fflogging (blogging about fly fishing); you never know where the daily (more or less) fflog may lead.

When we brought Chi Wulff back from hibernation just over a year ago we weren’t sure where things might go.

To our genuine amazement, four days ago marked the end of our busiest month (highest traffic month ever) in Chi Wulff history. We’ve been nothing short of dumbfounded at the increasing stream of folks emailing, commenting or calling with ideas, suggestions, corrections, kudos and even the occasional threat (big gear manufacturer in the mountain West).

[Hell, we don’t mind the threats - it’s credible evidence that 1) somebody’s reading the blog out there, 2) we’ve poked the corporate fly fishing beast once again and 3) there must be a grain of truth in whatever we’ve poked ‘em about.]

For a host of reasons our format has changed quite a bit from the days when we were basically just reporting current conditions on neighborhood rivers; we’d guess our readership has changed a fair amount from those days as well.

To wit, the other day a friend likened Chi Wulff to an addled fly fisher with multiple personality disorder; he said we can’t seem to decide who or what we want to be on any given day.

We took that as a compliment of the highest order.

You have a lot of interests in today’s world. So do we.

Just like you we’re rabid about fly fishing (which may take any one of an infinite number of forms), fish and fisheries. We’re huge fans of good fly fishing photography and videography, rivers, riparian zones, tidal marshes and salt flats.

We enjoy fish porn as much as the next guy (maybe even more), though honestly we’d probably prefer to interview a notable fisher or photographer and get a deeper look into the why behind their approach to fish and fishing, stewardship and life in general.

We’re figuring out that part of being a fly fisher and lover of rivers these days means that you can’t just sit on your ass and expect that things will forever remain the same.

We’re passionate about access and think fantasy fly fishing sucks big time (starting a series on this one shortly).

Though our hearts and home base are located in the Greater Yellowstone area and Montana, we’ve come to understand there’s a lot of nifty water, fish and fishers all over the map out there. (And, as you know well, there are some asshats out there too. We’ll try and irritate one for you.)

Bottom line, we’re not sure what Chi Wulff wants to be when it grows up.

We genuinely appreciate your readership and hope that at some point we’ve brought a smile, pissed you off, motivated you to do something reasonably constructive or even inspired you to broaden your culinary horizons.

Thanks.

And we mean that.

Tags: Chi Wulff

The site’s been as (intermittently) slow as molasses in January over the past few days.

Our hosting service provider has been dealing with some massive DOS attacks of late (apparently originating in China); they insist they’ve just about gotten a handle on things and it appears to be better today.

We’re aware and working on it – we’ve been playing with a web server upgrade for a few months given a big upswing in traffic over the past eight months – guess it’s about time to get it done.

Tags: Chi Wulff

This past week found me in Dallas, training for a new job working in an outdoor retail store.  I am hesitant to name the store directly yet, but suffice it to say that they have a strong presence in the world of fly fishing.  Dallas is probably just about the last place in the world that I would want to visit, but such is life.

For a small town Montana country boy like me, Dallas seemed like an awfully big city.  The rush hour traffic, the crush of people everywhere and the tall buildings all combined to give me a constant sense of claustrophobia.  Seriously, how do people live in the big city?  More importantly, who would want to?

And yet, in the midst of all this civilization, something brought people of a common mind together: fly fishing.  Its great how people of all different walks of life can come together in pursuit of a common passion.  Thats one of the many things that makes fly fishing so special.

The week in Dallas was full of training, dealing with customers, and learning a new retail system.  Fun all around.  It did have two special highlights though.  One afternoon, Sean the fishing manager told me to grab as many rods as I wanted to cast off the wall.  After selecting a handful, we headed outside to cast at a local park.

Even in the middle of the city, indeed one of the priciest neighborhoods in the greater DFW area, casting a fly rod brings a great sense of peace.  Especially a very nice fly rod.  Way out of my price range… But thank God for employee discounts.

The other highlight of the trip was an absolutely kickass oyster po’ boy at this place called Flying Fish.  The walls are covered with fish mounts and pictures, and the food is great, cheap and fresh.  Also of note is the fact that you can hear both Russian and Spanish spoken in the same kitchen.  A strange combination to be sure, but whatever works.

Tags: Texas

It’s nice to have feet on the ground back home in Montana this evening.

Jake knocked on my door in Austin at about 130 am Saturday morning and we were on the road by 2 – arrived in Bozeman in time for breakfast today after a 3 hour stop for sleep near the Malad summit on I-15 in Idaho.

The roughly 28 hour drive straight through once again seems a blur, though it’s better than ever to be back in mountain country.

Grabbed stuff for a sandwich and headed back up 191 for a quick fish this afternoon on the Gallatin and then hit Sir Scott’s Oasis for what must be the finest prime rib on the planet.

We’ll be back in the posting groove tomorrow and are sorting out schedules for a little work and hopefully a lot of fishing over the next few days, though what appears to be a frickin’ medial meniscus tear (overly aggressive workout) in my right knee will likely put a crimp in some of my best laid plans.

We’ll be starting a new interview series with Tom Sadler tomorrow or Tuesday….should be great.

Tags: So What?

Chi Wulff in the early days.

We’d like to think we’ve been worthy some days of at least the 24 pack.

And dang it, the log cabin stack is much harder than it looks.

Chi Wulff after the upcoming addition of new team member Quinn G.

Formerly writing at In the Back Eddy, Quinn joins the team and post his first scribbles here this Friday. Ensconced in northern Idaho Quinn has access to miles and miles of nifty water including the Henry’s Fork and Yellowstone.

Quinn reports he colors with the best them, even outside of the lines now and then (a prerequisite in our book).

The neighborhood feels a little classier already.

More to come.

Crayola image credit: laffy4k via flickr

Tags: Chi Wulff

Via email this past weekend -

Cant you guys get it right? You used to post good shit about fishing in Yellowstone and southwest Montana, now your overrun with video and crap from all over the place. Who gives a f*** if you snagged a snake? I dont want to see stuff about raising money for bonefish and regulations in florida and god knows where elese. Bullshit on the old books you find and shilling youre trying to do for foundations and fishing crooks like the capitilist bastards they are. Idaho fishing around home beats the hell out of Montana anyways. Screw redfish, screw texas and screw your friggin blog.
-Rich K

Given the Idaho mention, my first thought was that maybe we’d pissed Smithhammer off, though he clearly punctuates better than evidenced in the email. Not wanting to miss a chance to interact with a fan, we thought we’d respond in the blog today.

Cant you guys get it right?

Probably not.

You used to post good shit about fishing in Yellowstone and southwest Montana, now your overrun with video and crap from all over the place.

Four points to note here:

1) Our bias and hearts are still in the greater Yellowstone country and southwest Montana, though we’re still stranded in Texas (three months out of four) setting up an office for a business we own. Being on the road has reminded us it’s a big world out there, with lots of interesting fly fishing and folks to enjoy. Fly fishing long ago ceased being just a blue line pursuit; in fact, it really never was.

2) We’re a blog run by a bunch of folks interested in fly fishing media and literature – that’s photography, videography and the written word in our world. The vids are nifty and from where we sit, the cadre of fly fishing film makers out there – mere mortals and the pros alike – are (for the most part) getting better and better. The video shorts are great escapist fare.

3) Way back in the day we did crank out fishing reports just about every day for rivers all over Montana and Yellowstone. Frankly, it was hard work and often a pain in the ass. We’ll leave that to the highly paid fly fishing professionals from now on.

4) Finally, though we still color the pictures, fly fishing has spawned an astoundingly rich body of literature and almost all of us are inveterate readers. You should try it sometime.

Who gives a f*** if you snagged a snake?

We haven’t the slightest idea.

I dont want to see stuff about raising money for bonefish and regulations in florida and god knows where elese.

So you’re not going to carpool with us to the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust symposium this year?

Bullshit on the old books you find and shilling youre trying to do for foundations and fishing crooks like the capitilist bastards they are.

Just found (5 bucks in a junk store) a first edition of AE Hotchner’s Papa Hemingway; you’ll enjoy the review (my wife grabbed it first and won’t let me read it ‘till she’s done).

We’ll keep shilling for the folks raising money to protect fish and fisheries, and haven’t the slightest clue who the capitalist bastards are that you’re referring to. There are plenty of ‘em out there to choose from, and, as much as it frightens me to say so, we have to agree with you that a lot of ‘em should be taken out behind the woodshed and beaten.

Idaho fishing around home beats the hell out of Montana anyways.

Ok, so stay in Idaho. Please. We beg you. (No offense meant to our friends in Idaho; we’d guess that you just might hear banjo music playing if Rich is fishing nearby. Heads up out there.)

Screw redfish, screw texas and screw your friggin blog.

Don’t mess with anybody’s redfish. Do with Texas what you will. And thanks for helping make May our busiest traffic and page view month ever here on Chi Wulff.

We’ll be around.

Tags: Inquiring Minds Want to Know

Our buddy Ben from Up’North Maine Fly Castings is having an other great contest.  This time, photography is the key.  Submit a photo (fly fishing themed of course) and you could win some kick ass gear.

The contest will run from March 1 to April 1, and entries are limited to one per person, so make it count!  Some of the prizes include: a trout nymph assortment from Roughfisher, an LLBean Streamlight spey rod, and 10% off any saltwater trip from Life on the Fly.  Get more info here.

I know I’ll be getting a picture in soon.

Tags: Events

Sometimes you never know what kind of people you can meet.  The other night at the fly shop, I was bored out of my mind.  Staring at the tv, mindlessly watching some cheesy instructional video, the minutes crawled by.

The sound of a vest being zipped up caught my attention.  Someone was actually shopping.  What a shock.  I got to talking with this guy and his wife and it turns out they had an amazing story.

He was a mechanic in the air force for almost 30 years.  She was a nurse for about the same amount of time.  One day, they looked at each other and said the hell with it.  Life is short they agreed, so they sold their house, put their scant possessions in storage and bought a 1974 Airstream trailer.  Their goal?  Restore the trailer and see America.

From their home in Northern California they traveled to Shreveport, LA to visit a daughter, then down to San Antonio to visit some old friends.  Already several months into their journey, when asked how long they planned to be on the road, he shrugged and said “A year. Maybe more.”

Their route from here takes them to Big Bend, then to Santa Fe, across Arizona, up California, wanders through Oregon and Washington before coming to a stop in the Yellowstone area.  At least, that is as far out as they had planned.  I don’t imagine they will stop their trip there once they arrive.  He was just getting into fly fishing after hearing friends talk about it, and planned to fish heavily along the entire route.

What made these two so interesting was their philosophy.  They talked about how the “American Dream” was a sham.  The big house, the new car every few years, the fancy clothes, the “things” that we accumulate, are worthless in the end.  Much better to experience than to hoard.

It was pretty obvious that he didn’t know too much about fly fishing, but I feel certain he will pick it up pretty quickly.  Many of us have always dreamed of doing something like these two.  Just leaving it all behind, packing up a camper and hitting the road.  On a trip like that, with proper timing, you could fish steelhead on the coast, salmonflies in the early summer, streamers for the big browns in the fall, and end up swinging soft hackles in the Firehole.

That is my kind of American Dream.

Tags: The Pedestrian Life

It has been an eventful weekend. Three highly unlikely things took place.

First, San Antonio had its first snow since 1985. My God, you would think the world ended, the way people reacted. It was a good day to sit out on the balcony with a cup of coffee and watch the idiots sliding down the road. This Montanan had the last laugh that day.

Second, my phone died. After surviving countless fishing trips, hunting excursions, and other outdoor endeavors it finally gave up the ghost. It had been dropped in the holy waters of the great rivers, taken many pictures of the high country, big fish and good times with good friends. Man down.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, I had a date with a beautiful woman.  Then I saw her again the next night.  Hot damn.

Hell might actually have frozen after all.

This is going to be a good week.

Tags: Chi Wulff