Indian Summer

Another spectacular day in terms of weather. Fishing was good today too, nymphing rubberlegs and lightning bugs. An amazing Pseudo hatch which brought oodles of dinks up to the surface most of the day. Lost a few pretty good fish, got a bunch of 10-14 inchers and landed one a little over 18". Th water is low and clear, so smaller tippet seemed to make a little difference but who knows for sure, the fish were eating is the bottom line. We've been having some really pretty sunrises and sunsets the last few days, I should take a picture of one of them sometime.

The Certainties of Life

Spent the day at home working on my taxes. It's really not as complicated as I make it out to be, I'm just a bit organizationally challenged in a few areas of my life. So bank statements, thank God for that check scanning the banks do...hell I might as well not even order duplicate checks now that I know about that! Credit card statements are always a fun way to stroll down memory lane...I forgot about the $700 of $1.99 Itunes purchases I made last year...getting my money's worth out of that one! ...she asked me why...so i went on and told her - RL Burnside has made me a better person. Anyway, got the brunt of it done and I'm looking forward to parting with some of the hard earned money I made this summer.

There is a sign up next to some barn in between Roundup and Billings that says something like "Pay Taxes on Election Day." I wonder what the political landscape would look like if we did have elections on tax day. I bet it is hardly coincidental that elections are usually in Nov and taxes are due in April.  I maybe getting a little too neurotic as I don't think many politicians have the foresight for that kind of planning. Who knows? They have everyone convinced that we went to the moon and that the world is round (everyone knows it just keeps getting flatter). Oh and I digress.

Beautiful weather is the forecast for the near future and I'm looking forward to getting on the water tomorrow. It's been 4 days off now and I feel like a new guide. That should last until about 8:15 tomorrow morning! I guess I could be filing legal briefs tomorrow though, so I'll stick to the oars.

911S...okay maybe its a Boxer S For Sale

As the end of another season winds it way around, I've decided that it's time to get rid of my raft as I haven't used it much the last couple of years. I got it 4 or 5 years ago as we headed into another low water year and the Upper Madison was fishing very well back then too, but too low for hard boats. I'd like to hang onto it, but the reality is that it just takes up space in my driveway in the summertime and storage shed in the winter. Here's a link to the listing on Craigslist .

It's ideal for 1 angler, a rower, and a bunch of gear or pack of dogs in the back. Quick and nimble like a 911s with the room of a Boxer. This bad boy is priced to move at the" right price at the right place, right now"...to borrow a line from Bozeman Ford that must now what they're doing or they wouldn't waste tons of moeny on catchy catch phrases and poorly lit tv commercials.

Order Time

This weather is crazy nice, but glad to be in the shop for a few days. It's hard to believe but it's already time to place my orders for next year. We've been taking inventory and looking at new products, trying to "crack the retail" code once again. Ten years in biz now, hard to believe that what started out as a dream with my ex-wife has become kind of a fulfillment of everything I ever wanted professionally minus my ex-wife. My ex-wife is actually alright, but we get along a lot better now that she's my ex!

We've got some pretty cool things in the works for next year and I'm just trying to get the right product mix in the shop. More flies, more gadgets, more fly boxes, more low-mid range rods, more fly tying. It seems like we do really well being a fly shop, so I'm thinking that we should just continue to emphasize and grow that aspect of our business. We sell some rods, reels, waders, and boots, but Benjamin comes to us more often through a wire worm than a new fly line. I'm a fan of Mr. Franklin!

ta da

What a great way to end the big push this year. Beautiful weather and fish eating hoppers on the Yellowstone. The river was pretty busy today, guess everyone is trying to get their last one in for the year. The temps were up in the mid-80's and the wind wasn't too bad down where we ended up, but I was still surprised at all the traffic. I ended up pushing through the first couple of miles just to get ahead and out of everyones way. Nymphing in the am was good, only a few whities and the hopper fishing was pretty good all afternoon.

Anyway, weather looks good for the next week anyway and I'm looking forward to doing some shop time and getting caught up. What did I learn today? Trout like rubberlegs, lightning bugs, and Morish Hoppers.

Woohoo

One more day to go, heading down low on the Yellowstone for some possible October hoppah fishin. Had a great day today over by the Jefferson which was nice as things have been a little disappointing the last week. Rubberlegs, worms, and lightning bugs. Lots of fish, a few good ones too. The browns were pretty dark so I assume some of them are getting ready to do there thing.

Today was actually a really great day all around. Great clients and beautiful weather all day. We heard elk bugling just above us this morning and I just had that feeling that I really do still like my job. It's pretty special to be able to be outside, floating down some of the most storied rivers in the world, helping people feel good about life and the world around.

That said, I'm still glad that I only have one more day to go. I have a few trips in October, but the big push is pretty much over . Truthfully, I'd probably do it everyday if I could.

Sadie and the Madison

I've been on the LM the last 2 days and have found it to be a little disappointing both times. Water is good, bugs are good, hardly anyone else out, just not a great bite...but good enough. I don't know what else to say about it...it was predictably not as good as it should have been.

Fished with a colleague of my wife's yesterday and we had a great time in cool and cloudy conditions. Perfect BWO day but only Pseudos.  Other than some cold weather and lots of laughs, nothing too remarkable.

Today, on the other hand had it's moments. My clients are a father and son, good fishermen and great guys. We're floating along, catching some fish here and there, life is good.

We stopped to fish a bucket, caught a couple lost a couple, life is good. I told them to hang on and we'll just go on  down to the next bucket, oh wait, that will suck as there's a wolf swimming through the next hole. Ok, it wasn't a wolf but it made everyone look. There was a dog swimming through the bucket and nobody was around. I decided to just keep going instead, only the dog kept following us, swimming down the river. This went on for over a mile. Time for lunch. The dog is just hanging out, I give it some jerky and figure what the hell, must be lost. No phone or service, no one around. Dog climbed in my boat and sat next to me all day. I had my clients send a text to the number on the collar and they met us at high bank. Just bizarre, but a good boat dog for the day.

Fall is Here

Just a few more days of guiding through this week, then some shop time accented with a few October guide trips...hopefully that is.
October fishing is usually pretty good so long as the weather is reasonable. I like mid 40's to mid 50's and overcast conditions in the fall, no wind is preferable as well. BWO hatches midday, usually some streamer fishing is mixed in along with some nymphing...could be very good. The time of year to start thinking about the upper Madison and Falls of years past. Hauser should be fishing good. Sounds like the Madison in the YNP is already super busy
I spent most of the day trying to get some things sorted in the shop and starting to look ahead to the orders I need to place for next year already. In between things, we usually BS about the funny things that happened this year in the shop and on the river.
The guys in the shop get boatloads of dumb questions everyday that aren't really even fishing related. Things like people trying to sell TV's out of their truck, where can they camp in Jackson, WY., do we have fish food, it's always amazing to me how people decide to stop at a fly shop for directions to the Medical Dope Shop or Saddle Place in 4-corners, people will stop to see if they can use the phone, they wonder if we know the old dutch dairy farmer that their father worked for in 1956. I guess the term Touron came to someone years ago after some serious deliberations as it just seems to fit some people so very well.
We always get a lot of silly questions about fishing too, but those seem to belong in a fly shop. I'm working on some top 10 lists for the season, just have to figure out how to phrase them in a PC way...which I'm not so good at. But they're coming to me slowly.
Fishing somewhere tomorrow, kind of hoping for some calm conditions on the Yellowstone as I think I've pretty well thumped every bucket on the LM over the last week.

Today I made 3% less

Lower Madison today, they were eating crayfish better today. Mostly fished the size 10 with a Rainbow Warrior all day and found some fish pretty much all day. Nothing very big, but enough good fish to keep it interesting. I could go on and on, but it's pretty much the same as it has been for awhile. Can't wait until all the weeds are gone.

Did see a guide working without his Madison tags. Young kid driving a Tundra with a black and blue Clacka. Had his guide sticker on but no Madison tags. So that was kind of interesting I guess. No FWP people either. My guess was that he forgot to put them on rather than was being all sneaky. I t sucks that I can refer to another guide as a young kid. Wish I was a young kid.

I decided to start Gaffney, he got 1 point. The guys I benched, Floyd, picked up 15 and Royal got 13. I still won, but don't feel too smart about it.

Going fishing tomorrow, don't work again until Thursday and then I have a few days in October but the end is in sight. Taxes.

Nothing Spectacular

The lower again today. Water is clear and low and there are still plenty of weeds on the bottom of the river. I've found that nothing picks them up better than a Zonker and an AB splitshot. Good times. Very little love today on the standard fare of crawdads and little nymphs. Ended up switching to pinkies and tiny shiny flies and just concentrating on the buckets with a lot of weight. It worked out alright for us, lost some good fish landed a few ok fish and lots of dinks. The fish I pumped all just had black flies in them for whatever that's worth. I haven't quite figure that thing out. There were a few decent sized BWO's midday but not enough to get excited about.

Winter Already?

Woke up this morning with a skip in my step whistling show tunes in the shower. I had one angler today, she and her husband own Breckenridge Outfitters, and we were headed fro the lower, plus she had to be done around 4! Perfect day for a great Madison bite, overcast, cool, drizzle, clear water.

Today with Tracy Ma

I told my wife that I was jacked to watch some football tonight and that I was looking forward to only one more day of guiding until I have a few days off. Life is bliss. I go outside in my fishing shirt and flip flops and think maybe I need a light sweater, it will burn off anyway. Come back inside and my wife tells me that there won't be much football on tonight, it's Friday and NOT Sunday. And it went back to being like the start of every other day just like that!

Yesterday with Huggy Bear

We did end up on the lower, fishing was ok-good...fine would be another accurate adjective used to describe the bite. Or I could say it could have been better but it wasn't too terrible, pretty good at times not so good at others. Nada on the crawdaddy or lightning bug. I felt like Johnny Depp in that leaving las vegas movie for a spell once I realized they were't going to eat my standard fare. Ended up doing alright on zonkers and some ridiculous tiny BWO softhackle emerger. Going back tomorrow and the next day, then a paly date with some football in between I hope!

So I need some help on my fantasy football team if anyone out there is overly in tune with the situation. My WR are Colston, M Floyd, E Royal, C Chambers, and J Gaffney. I also have Reggie Bush. Plan is to start colston and bush but cant decide on #3 wr. I like floyd a lot but it still seems iffy, either Bronco dude may be better...thank God all I have to do tomorrow is row a boat and try to get some fish to eat some tiny fly being drug behind an aquatic carpet monkey with a hook in its back! Geeettt Em!

The Ditch's Bitches

Reports of an algae bloom started going on Clark Canyon a couple days ago had deterred me from trying it today as the Beav was supposedly a mess of white crap. I got the call from Tim Tollet of Frontier Anglers this morning that the river was in good shape once again so went back to plan A.

We didn't get over there until noon, probably shouldn't even have messed with the boat but we did anyway. Fished the pump hole for an hour or so hooked up a few times landed some dinks and one really nice 20-21" Bow. No picture of course. Floated the rest of the way throwing streamers which got some chases and tugs but only dinks to the boat. Great weather, good camaraderie, and my best fish of the year so far.

I would go back to the Beaverhead in the next few days, get there early and work the crap out of the water from the slick to the dam. The reason I would if I could is that the algae bloom has got the little green midges (no picture) going nuts and the fish that I pumped were full of them. I ended up fishing two of em and they were on them good. High probability of hooking a big fish on a little nymph over there right now and it ain't too busy at all. The fly I was using was just a green piece of flexi floss furled over on itself about a .25-.5 inches long tied on to a size 18 scud hook with a dubbed head.

Back at it the next 3 days, probably going on a lower madi bucket hunt fro 3 days...I hope anyway as it's been the best thing around and has been very good anyway.

Black Flies and the Lower

Just finished up with one of our regular groups that come to us through a fly shop in Ann Arbor, MI. a couple times a year. Colton Bay Outfitters is the name of the shop if you are ever in the area. The owner is a great guy and he always brings an eclectic group of mostly great folks just out to have a good time. As with just about any group, there is always  sour grape in the group. Fortunately this one was small enough so that the sour grape didn't ruin the bunch!

Fished the lower today and found it to be pretty consistent and good throughout the day. Flows are very low which makes it hard to get through some of the stuff and for slim pickens in some of the skinny stuff too. Fish are on crawdads and lightning bugs pretty good right now and the buckets have been getting thumped pretty well.

If you pump the fish, they have some black fly pupae in their stomachs. An interesting phenom. that I've seen guys confuse for black caddis on the Bighorn and I thought were Tricos for several years. Not that this is very important though as around here I've never really found a small black fly that gets them better than anything else does. However, I have had days on the Mo and the Horn when a black Zebra Midge or black Tailwater Tiny put the wood to 'em, so it's always worth a try. I think it probably goes back to the fact that Tailwaters have biomass of a limited number of invert species while freestones and quazi-freestones like the Madison have biomass in diversity of species. Or who knows, maybe the shiny silver lightning bug looks like one of these things as it emerges through the water column. All I know is that black flies on the lower madison means lightning bugs. The other thing that you will find in their stomachs and the weeds right now are tiny size 20 something caddis larvae. Didn't see them in the fish today but they were full of them a couple of days ago. These pics are of the black fly pupa and larvae (i believe).

Ended up getting cancelled for tomorrow so I'm going fishing with the good ol' Huggy Bear himself in search of some cutties. Cutthroats have always been pretty low on my list of desirable species as they don't get that big and fight with the intensity of a water balloon being dragged across a pool. Oh Boy. I don enjoy seeing them rise though.

Also, they have become the pet project for neo-conservationists in their quest to buck evolution. They are a beautiful fish to be sure and eat a dry fly as pretty as any trout anywhere, but they are also a species on their way out. Who's fault is it? Our for putting rainbows in the rivers, ours for catching the crap out of em in the 1800's, ours for degrading stream quality, ours for bringing them whirling disease and Lake Trout. So, either we back it up or they're gonna go away.

I could continue down this though line but I get pretty detached emotionally from these sorts of topics and may come across as cold. I like cutthroats, but our efforts to restore them to their native range will ultimatley result in a story similar to the Tigers of India.  SO, I'm gointg to go get

The End is Near

I have about 10 more days to go before the season winds down for me. Just in time to work on my 2009 taxes before the Oct 15 deadline. Pre-seasons will also be due about then. We're redoing our website this fall as well. And Christine heads to Antarctica for a month around mid-Nov. But you know what they say about looking back at yesterday and ahead to tomorrow don't you? Here's a gem for you all. "If you have one foot in yesterday and one foot in tomorrow...you're shitting and pissing all over today." Another Tobyism I picked up somewhere along the way. So...today.

Good day fishing down by that one rock on the other side of the hill. Fish were hungry and easy to find. Saw a few Golden stones flying around...guess they missed that June newseltter too. Lots of little bugs got lots of little fish and a few good ones too. More rain this evening will probably crap something up tomorrow...but hey...this is today and all is well. Yesterday was good too though.

Guess I probably shouldn't talk about tomorrow either.

We call him Huggy Bear

Not the Nail...maybe a little hammer

Fished a little closer to home today and we finally got some really nice weather. Wind free and blue skies. The river is still a little dirty thanks to the rain of the last week, but things were clearing throughout the day.  Nymphing close to the banks and finding some soft water and there were some hungry fish here and there.

The best part of the day was that it was with some great ladies that make my job a whole lot better than it probably should be. I've said it a lot this year and I'll say it again..THANK YOU to all of my clients for sticking with me over the years and letting me be a part of your fishing vacation.

Some Days

Very windy day on the Missouri. Got a few fish to go after a pink hopper going mach 3 but all in all...not the best day I've ever had on the Missouri...not the worst day either.

Friends of the Wind

Not sure where I learned that the wind is my friend, but I have decided to embrace it rather than shun it. The wind brings dust from China, smoke from BC, and rain from everywhere. Plus it really helps me work on toning up my mid-section. I love the wind.

The LM was still dirty today, not sure why but my guess is that it has something to do with Ennis Lake being drawn down, filled back up, or it is turning over, or someone is playing with a big backhoe up at Warm Springs. Vis was a little better today and the bite was much better than yesterday. We did not whack the snot out of them by any means, but still ended up being a respectable day, especially in and around the buckets. Dead drift cray, brown yuk bugs, and worms of course. Got a few on lightning bugs and small baetis crap too.

Also, I was reminded of why studded boats in hard boats isn't such a good idea but chili for lunch on a cooler day is a good idea.

Could use some stable weather for change. Going up to the MO for the day tomorrow to play with weeds and purple lightning bugs, maybe some black fly pupae too.

OMG

Crazy day today started off as innocent as any of them do. Great clients, good BWO weather, no wind. Get to the lower, put on, water is pea green...uh oh. Floated to Cherry Creek, didn't touch a fish, uh oh. Decide to go elsewhere and hitchhike from Cherry Creek, ended up walking to Canaday in waders instead. Decided to pick up hitchhikers more often. Drove around the valley, ended up over there and fished to that.  Was good given the weather of rain and wind.

Yellow drakes today, Mayofliesasae yellar to be exact.

GDMFERS

Should have been a great day today on the Yellowstone. Good conditions all day for hatches, so the fish should have been chowing some dries and pounding nymphs. I guess it all worked out in the end, ended up with quite a few dinks and a pile of big whitefish. There were BWO's around all day and enough Red Quills in the afternoon to constitute a hatch. Cloudy conditions made for tougher hopper fishing but had a few try that too. Overall, I would say it was ok but should have been very good. We found a few pods of rising fish, they were just all small fish, maybe saw a few decent fish working on top.

Lunch came around and I realized that my propane bottle was empty. Luckily I was with a hearty South African so we built a fire a grilled some Brats over an open fire and sang Koombaya (no idea how that's spelled but you know the song).  Calling for more of the same weather the next couple of days so it seems like fall is here to stay for ahwile.

Fishin Today

Have had a few days off now, back at it tomorrow on up through the end of the month. Good to get caught up in the shop for once this year and even better to get out and fish today. Shop stuff is going very well this summer from the biz side of things with very little involvement from me...which tells me that I should fish more and worry less. We're almost back in stock with everything we need to get through the rest of the season and if Idylwilde shows up for us...we'll have enough silver lightning bugs to get through 2 more weeks.

I have a lot on my mind right now, mostly bs like taxes, preseason orders, son's soccer schedule, guides, employees, website, etc. I think it's called owning my own business.

Fished the lower today and it was ok to good. Steven lost a pig, we hooked a bunch of dinks and a few ok fish too, missed a lot as well. The flows have been stable over there for several days, there are still oodles of pseudos hatching mid-day, fish still eat crayfish, sculpins, lightning bugs, and worms. They also still look at hoppers and eat them with too much subtlety which causes me to lose all interest after 3 minutes.

Was thinking about this whole fishing thing yesterday and how I have always wanted to fish.  I grew up BASS fishin' in Texas on Cedar Creek Lake in east Texas. It's kind of all I wanted to do until I found a girl dumb enough to go to homecoming with me in high school. I don't know if it was time with my dad, the way I focus so much on it that I don't think about anything else, maybe it's just that underlying feeling that God is going to reveal himself to me if I just stick with it long enough, maybe it's the way my heart stops when I feel something tugging on my line, maybe it has become a legitimate way out of the real world for me? Whatever it is, it's been with me since I was 5 or 6 when two friends and I sat on a bank clipping sunfish  fins so that we'd know if we caught the same fish over and over (I don't remember if we did). One thing is for sure, I know that I am fortunate to do what I've always wanted to do and still can't believe how much I enjoy it.

A day in the life...

"Hey dude...what do you think they're eating on the Gally today?" "Hey man, I need to get like a lightning bug, I go to MSU...I get my discount right?" "I'm here to buy a fishing license, now where are the trout biting?" And you thought working in a fly shop was all about the glory of secret patterns, hot spots, and the inside skinny of where all the hot girls fish! The phrase I have come to embrace is that it is what it is.

After the several hours of shop life came to an end for me today, I went and took some pics. Nothing came out amazingly well, but I tried anyway. Paul suffered in the rain and 35 degrees and me yelling at him while he stood in the middle of the river to not move your head, but make a cast...and don't slip. We had some fun and got to enjoy a little time on a part of the river that we don't get on too often.

It is cold here today, snow in the mountains and one helluva an electric storm last night. Good new is that it's probably cold enough to keep the rivers clean with the moisture. I think hopper fishing is gonna slow down a bit.

Fishing is Gud

On the front side of another weather system, chance of snow tomorrow and supposed high around 60. Lots of smaller fish today on the Yellowstone, very little hopper love. Midnight stones and lightning bugs. Pumped a fish and it was eating caddis larvae and pupae. Played with bugs a bit, but the standards worked best. Otter Creek was very dirty and really made the north side of the river pretty chunky for a few miles downstream. Saw some fish eating Tricos throughout the morning as well.

Great people for the day, had lots of laughs, plenty of trout, plenty of whitefish, and pretty low pressure. Crazy weather on it's way. Will be in shop the next couple of days, trying to get out on Tuesday for a day of fishing and photography.

Squirmy Wormies?

One more Ambien Induced thought this evening.

I take Ambien at night to help me sleep like a dead guy...otherwise I'm up al night and worthless the next day. During this time, I have posted a few things here and there, maybe sent an e-mail or two...anyway I may have posted some nonsensical stuff at times. It's beause I should be in bed instead of here!

The point of this is that I have been honored to have so many friends online that I have connected with over the years. So, if you see some crazy crap one night and gone in the morning...that was an Ambien transaction!

It's amazing to me how many people follow my rants and observations on a dialy basis! Thanks for your support and I'll try to keep it up throughout the year. Please feel free to leave comments as well. I would like to be able to use this forum as a place for discussions on recent fishing, conservation efforts, and things related to the world of Fins & Feathers. SO don't feel like your comments will go unnoticed if you leave any.

One other bit of business is a link that everyone can use to see what's been happening on our guided fly fishing trips around the region this summer. Just follow the http://gallery.me.com/tobyswank and browse through the various folders to see a nice range of fish and folks from this year.

Shop Day

Had a busy day in the shop today getting caught up with things and helping folks out. Must be the holiday weekend because were slammed just about all day long, which is a good thing. Always amazing to me how many people fish the Gallatin between 4-corners and Big Sky (I've probably fished it 8 times since 1997 and that was guiding in the last 10 years). The rest of the guys in the shop all fish it quite a bit and it sounds like it has been pretty solid this summer.

The Ennis Dam situation has supposedly improved a bit and the flows are back down to around 1500 cfs. The flushing of the past week should help improve the weed situation for the rest of the year and should not have been substantial enough to have any longterm harm to the fish population. Had a good talk with Mike Vaughn of Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks, our regional fish biologist, and he seems to have a good handle on the situation. In fact, he seemed to have a good idea about a lot of things concerning the Madison and Gallatin. Forgot to ask him about the fish poisoning up Cherry Creek though.

Spent the afternoon with the Orvis sales rep looking at stuff for 2011 and going over the spring preseason programs. They have 2 new line of rods coming out: one is a redesign of the Superfine series with updated graphite and unsanded blanks ($475) the other is replacing the TLS series and is a substantial upgrade in performance and aetshetics in the $350-$375 range. The other major thing is that they are changing the Battenkill Large Arbor and Mid Arbor, so the old ones are being discontinued. The new reels have improved drags, are lighter weight, and have more "fly-fishing" styled handles. Other than that, they have redesigned their entire line of "Safe Passage" packs and luggage which all looked pretty good and well thought out. All in all, in a crap economy, not a bad mix of new products and gear for 2010. The Access rod is pretty sweet for the money and that ain't no BS. It will be nice to get a 3 wt and an 8 wt, rods that I don't use very often, that rock but don't cost as much as my primary rods.

Other than all that, there is some other industry buzz around as two of the main reps in the region have decided to merge their businesses. The annual dealer show is in Denver next weekend. I guess Cloudveil is getting or has gotten out of the wading and fishing biz too. A whole lot of volatility for uncertain times across the industry. I have to admit that I'm glad to be doing business with Orvis and all the other mfr's I do business with. Sometimes some of the reps think they are a little more important than they really are...but so what...I guess we all think that about ourselves here and there.

Other big news this week is that my FF Football league had the draft, I picked up Chris Johnson with the first pick and then it goes down from there. Football season is the best season...next to hopper season.

Hoppers

Finally saw some sunshine and good conditions after a week of crap conditions. The Yellowstone was still a little green, but nothing to worry about. In fact it might have helped things out as the whitey bite was not so on today. It looks like a bunch of the grass is getting serious about dying off. Should be in great shape from streamer fishing in the near future. Today was nymphing in the morning with a good hopper bite in the afternoon.

I have some days off the river for the next 4-5 days which I'm looking forward to. Lots to catch up on in the shop and hopefully a day or two of fishing in there as well. Life is good.

Hammering 'em on Hoppers

This has become the blurb of the week. Unsettled weather, cool temps, and hopper fishing at it's best. Come on man, that's a bunch of crap...the best hooper fishing is always late July and early August, this year it has been more good than bad all season.

Fished the forbidden zone today of no tell 'em creek over by that mountain with them trees growing on it. A little off color, but cleared throughout the day. The bite was good in that we fought the wind, ended up with short leaders and simple flies which all worked just well enough to bring in a couple of good fish and plenty of small to mid-sizers.

Fun day on the water though, despite the wind. We had lots of BS flying around, some good laughter, and even spent half of the day with one of the howlies trying to play like a Ultra Man with his Tenkara rod. Nice rod...shit reel.