Notes from Base Bozeman

There are many reasons we love fly fishing. The beautiful places it takes us — fresh or salt. The adrenaline rush of a large brown sipping that foamy you’ve been plying the bank with. The way your heart stops as you watch a tarpon turn to follow your fly. The gear. The marketing. We talk […]

If you missed it yesterday, read the first installment of my Cuba story here. After a late night / early morning transfer to Havana we then moved onto Cayo Largo, riding a Mi-8 helicopter to the island, the familiar thump-thump of the helo reminding me of days spent working in Russia several years ago. An […]

Sometimes shoots don’t go quite as planned. Weather is bad. Gear breaks. Water clarity is poor. And sleep is minimal (no, that’s pretty normal for shoots actually). But as Theodore Roosevelt once said, “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” Figuring who to make it work — and learning along the […]

I’m staring at three duffels lining the wall in my room, joined by a pack of Pelican cases and various smaller packs. One duffel for each trip, assorted gear going different directions. It’s fun, and there’s always an anticipation before a trip that’s unexpectedly addictive. Getting ready to head to the Denver Fly Fishing Show […]

There’s a power to places we often forget about until we break out of our normal routine. We get dulled into the home – work – grocery store – home – work routine and don’t stop to really think about the place we’re spending our days. Often it takes travel to break that routine. Flying […]

Snow has come full force into Bozeman, and suddenly town is white again. The skiers are thrilled, the children are building snowmen, and it’s looking a bit like Christmas. It’s nice to appreciate the seasons; to use winter to catch up work and prepare for trips to come. But sometimes a tropic flat sneaks into […]

As kids, my brother and I had a shared fascination with rivers, and I have plenty memories of sliding around on bank ice in the wintertime, wondering what fish were underneath. Rivers were home, winter was an adventure, and ice? Ice was fun. Today, though, was the first time I’ve had wind push me down […]

It’s been a seasonably cold week here on Bozeman… saw temps as low as -10F and locals have pulled out the duct-taped Patagonia down jackets and lined Carhartts. It’s that time of year. Between AFFTA, Yellow Dog, and a growing freelance business, things have been rather hectic and it was a pleasant surprise to get […]

It’s been one of those weeks. Been fighting off a flu, which means all my writing has been done through a haze and I’m proofreading like mad in the hope it all at least makes a bit of sense. I spent nearly an hour today struggling through a paragraph for an upcoming article before just […]

One thing I’m appreciating, being back in home country, is the fact that out here we learn by doing. Want to learn to process an antelope? I took that “class” a few weeks ago… dealing with the weekend’s harvest on Jake’s countertop. Want to learn to row a boat? Buy a patient, boat-owning friend a […]

The down jacket is on a hook by the door, it’s now getting dark around 5PM, and I’m wearing wool socks instead of flip-flops. November, it would seem, has arrived. Bozeman is due it’s first real taste of snow this coming week; the skiers are eagerly prepping their gear, and the anglers are stocking up […]

Good things happen on the water. It’s hard to be bogged down by the weight of everyday life when the sun is peeking through October fog; when the air is crisp and golden and the river is trickling at our feet. Sure, all the worry and want of daily life doesn’t go away; but maybe […]

There’s a sore lack of fishing this week. Hence the lack of fresh fishing images for this post. Fixing to remedy that in the coming days, but logging 75+ hours between the AFFTA board meeting and the Dealer Summit didn’t leave a lot of time for anything else save a few harried midnight writing sessions […]

The first post of a new series. I feel like I should say something epic; wax poetic about the fly fishing industry and the odd places it takes us, but I feel like maybe in writing this post, I’m talking with a group of friends who already understand the strange ways of fly fishing. So, […]