Midnight Booty Call

With the full moon we had this week and the lack of rivers available for fishing, we decided to mix things up and hit our favorite stillwater.... at midnight.  The moon did it's part, the caffeine did it's part, but as with most booty calls, the lake didn't put out as much as we would have liked.  Aaah, but we were fishing...at 2am.

Stillwaters? In July? Uncle....

This whole "river is blown out man, looks like chocolate milk" thing has gone on long enough.  There is only so much stillwater we can take, it's July 4th for heavens sake.  Even the pics look blah.  Another ho hum trip back to your ho hum lake for some more ho hum colorless fish.  Yes, we're not at work, but please take me to some local Bonneville water, moving water.  Maybe some Yellowstone cutt water? 

Gear Guide Wyatt with a new Eagle Claw rod....he gets more free stuff..... hey, is that a net?

Guess what flies we were using?

 

So Sweets hooks and lands a slab and this is the only pic I managed not to ruin with focus issues.  Sorry Sweets, it truly was a nice fish.

Friday Popcorn Reel

This video has been around for awhile, but I like to pick video's with stellar cinematography.  In fact, next week I'll be queuing up an insane snowboard/ski video.  Below is River of No Return by Todd Moen from Catch Magazine. Enjoy.

Chromers?

Ok, not really Chromers in the Steelhead sense of the word, but when you take hatchery raised Kamloops Rainbows and turn them loose in your favorite stillwater, they tend be shiny, like fresh from the ocean shiny.  When left in your local stillwater, they grow fat and fight hard enough to spin your toon around.  We didn't tie on green butt skunks and throw perfect D loops to these guys, but we still had fun.

This guy must have been whipped by the task master

Sweets going for a "spin"

These are called filler images.  You use these when the fishing wasn't as hot and heavy as the previous week.

Happy Flag Day everyone!!

Friday Popcorn Reel

Here's a couple of video clips to make your Friday at work go ever so....slower...

RA Beattie

Beattie Outdoor Productions Fly Fishing Demo Reel from RA Beattie on Vimeo.


This is not much of a fish video, but the videography is over the top.  Be sure to watch full screen.
From Felt Soul Media:


[81435] from felt soul media on Vimeo.

Put a Fork in Me

I watched the weather report all week.  40% chance of rain, then down to 30%, then back up to 60% the day before we left.  Yes, put a fork in me.  I'm done planning these trips where the hatch is missed or Mother Nature unloads on us.  But, to the Fork we went, Henry's Fork.  With everything in the area blown out with high water and mud, our little section below Ashton Dam grew quite the crowd.  Gear Guide Wyatt became Oar Boy for the first 3 miles.  Then promptly kicked our butts with fish.  While he was busy snagging fish, I was trying to steady the ship with rain stinging my face.  Sweets just smiled and cinched down her hood.... she never complains.  Salmon flies?  Leave when you read this, and you'll hit it just right.  With the rain, we didn't dare bring the camera out, so these will have to do....

Did I mention it snowed the night before.  Here's the trout mobile just before we left Driggs

Cast...

... catch a fish...

...it's not that hard...

The Trouts didn't get the Memo

The Green River is famous for 3 of it's hatches; winter midges, Blue Winged Olives, and Mormon Crickets (Cicada's have been nonexistent of late, so we won't go there).  BWO's show up as early as the beginning of April and stick around well into June.  The Evening Hatch usually pays the hatch a visit around the end of April when fish are feeding off the top, without a care in the world.  Last weekend was our vist... and surprise.  We arrived with 20mph winds blowing knots into every cast.  We figured it was going to be a day of nymphing and lots of weight in the now 4600 cfs water level.  We fished all day and noticed there was something missing, the fish never fed on top.  Chalk it up to the wind?  There were bugs all over the water.  Day two, no wind, snow, sunshine, snow, no fish on top, and still bugs all over the water.  We managed to pick up fish... nymphing.... again.  C'mon, this is April 30th, there were bugs all over, what was up with the fishes?  This was literally the craziest BWO hatch I've seen on the Green.  Gear Guide Wyatt was pimping some new Simms gear and the new Rio Gold line, and was high rod for the weekend.  Fun? Yes.  Fish? Yes.  Bewildered? Yes.  Going back? Yes...... maybe terrestrial patterns in late May....after a morning of streamers and midges...

 Any wonder why they call it the Green River?

 The Baetis were doing their thing, the fish were not

 The Tree Sparrows were about the only thing feeding on top.  With the wind, they could hover close to the surface and pluck the bugs as they surfaced

 Gear Guide Wyatt with a nice toothy Brown

 This Brown put his shoulder into Sweets' Sage.