A couple of days ago we got a pretty big storm in Bozeman. It dumped almost a foot of snow in places in town and iced up the roads pretty badly. Even getting back and forth from work was a challenge, especially with all the people who just moved to Bozeman and have never seen […]
Why I Fish
Every Fall in Mosquito Lagoon redfish begin their hunt for mullet, killifish and other small fry along shorelines throughout the estuary. They move with purpose, their intent singular, to eat. Sometimes its more rewarding to simply lay down your fly rod, show some restraint and watch them. – Larry Littrell, Salt Bum Contrary to what […]
Watch any skilled fisher working the crick, creek, river or flat, whether he be on foot, in the bow of the drifter or perched on the casting deck, and you’ll spy a symphony of motion geared to fling a lump of feather and fur effortlessly to a watery target the size of a sandwich. Far, […]
Growing up, I was not a morning person. In fact, it took me quite a long time to really appreciate mornings. Fishing trips were one of the things I would happily rise early for, and still do to this day. Work and other things, eh, maybe not so much. It’s in the foggy headed […]
You know you’re probably doing something right with your life when you wake up hours earlier on your days off than on work days. For many, weekends and days off mean sleeping in, laying around the house, watching a movie. But it seems like fishermen always see the world a little differently. Steve and I […]
Admittedly it does sound counterintuitive for a fly fisherman to proclaim a love for rowing. Without a doubt it’s nigh on impossible to beat the intimacy of wading a small stream (far Upper Gallatin, Firehole or even the Upper Gibbon, I’m thinking of you…) or a coastal tidal flat at sunrise with tails popping all […]
It seems like I write about going fishing because of women problems more than I should. (Here and here, for past reference). Today I seem to be singing the same song. There’s no major damage, but it’s still pretty damn frustrating. No one wants to hear that “there just isn’t a spark”. That has got […]
Those living in more Southern regions of the country (for that matter you could say those living nearer the Tropic of Cancer) simply cannot fathom the joy that long summer days bring to those of us anchored in the northern tier. After grinding through December days with less than eight hours of daylight in the […]
This morning a chiding email popped up from an unhappy family member (CS, non-fisher living a big hat, no cattle existence down south) asking why, among other failures, I continue to waste so much time fly fishing. I told him that (ironically) just yesterday I’d had an email exchange with a friend (Guide Jim to […]
It’s been a few months since I’ve been asked why I fish, specifically why I fly fish. In response to this most recent query, after thinking about it for a moment, I simply replied ‘fly fishing is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re gonna get’ on any given day. My droll […]
Fishermen have had a long history of story telling. It comes with the territory, and is an essential part of the game without which our sport wouldn’t be so deep and rich. The vast majority of fishing stories are complete and total bullshit, but they are still pretty fun to listen to. When I say […]
Over the past few weeks I’ve had the pleasure of doing a bit of traveling – some fishy, some fun, some not so fun. Last Thursday was the final leg of that sojourn, driving from Bozeman back out to near Olympia on the Sound. Leaving Montana is always melancholy inducing; a cup of strong locally-owned […]
Yesterday I saw my first blue wing olives of the year. There were only a couple of flies and the fish that were up ignored the tiny sailboats and kept eating midges. Still, there is something about that first mayfly that signals a change. I never really think too much about the changing seasons. At […]
Fly fishing, like much of life, is often made a great deal more user-friendly when you learn to read the signs. Obvious signs abound. Things like the time of day, cloudy or sunny, water flows, water clarity, today’s hatch de jour (or lack thereof), wind, one’s hydration / hangover status and whether or not there’s […]
Like many fishers I’ve been infected by a life-long fascination with water. Water that’s moving simply can’t be ignored. Moving water filled with the heady potential of fish to be fished over is a damned black hole. Fall in there my friend and you may never get out. What child (of any age) hasn’t walked […]
