Friday, October 26, 2012

SF Upper

I had to give the South Fork upper stretch one more go before the weather turns over in Swan Valley for awhile.  I planned to fish with my buddy Owen Jones and while making some breakfast, Scott Smith buzzes in trying to fish with us too.  It worked out perfectly and being that we now had a full boat crew, we made tracks toward Palisades dam.





The weather was great in the morning with the sun just starting to peek through and the temperature approaching upper 40's.  Streamer fishing was productive early with buggers and hairy, leechy looking flies and 
the Baetis hatch in the afternoon also produced some nice fish.  



I haven't had a chance to fish with my boy, Owen much this summer, so it was gonna be a good day anyway just fishing with friends; little did I know ol OJ was planning on freakin 'em all the way to the boat ramp.  Juice box got this bruiser Cutty in a riffle on an olive streamer and it turned out to be one of the bigger Cutthroat he's ever caught!  Congrats Owen on your hoss, nice work! 


OJ, freakin' em.


Also, Juice deserves accolades for maintaining composure with a big fish, even with two guides with cameras yelling at him the whole time...

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Fishing Alcova




Recently headed down to Alcova to camp and fish with my friends Neil and his Dad, Greg, and Bill Durdel.  Fishing was decent the first day, but with gusts up to 45mph, we couldn't help but take a step back and just throw in the towel in the afternoon; which really only meant we hung out, shot guns and sipped bourbon....into the night.








The next day's forecast looked much more promising and the fishing turned out to be great as well.  Cloudy morning, low breeze and hungry fish made for a great day and although we never landed the boss we were looking for, we crushed it.  Streamer fishing was absurd.









Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Snowy Snake


Just enlarge this.

Called up my buddy Dave Smith the other morning to try and fit in an afternoon of fishing below Jackson Lake Dam.  Fishing was not quite as good as last time but it was still a great afternoon and with the Snake leveled off at something like 200 CFS out of the dam, the river is stable and totally set at winter flows.  Streamers are still great but the big fish weren't quite as aggressive this time.


Speaking of winter.....it snowed, and snowed, and snowed, while we did our own bike shuttle.



















Speaking of dinner......

Monday, October 22, 2012

Henry's Fork Trip

A few weeks ago I took an epic Henry's Fork trip with some good buddies and one very special friend visiting, Evan Schwanfelder.  Schwanny's a pal I used to work with in the fly shop and has since moved back to the NE where he is largely considered one of the greatest fisherman/singer-songwriter/pimp to ever be in the game.

This freaking monster ate a hairy, olive bugger in the canyon.
I had parlayed a SF canyon trip (video on that coming later...) on Friday into an all weekend Henry's bash with some of my old fly shop friends including Jeff Currier, Granny, Josh Gallivan, Neil Chamberlain, Kyle Somers and, of course, Schwanny.  After having an absolutely killer day on the South Fork with big Pat Harrington and Dave Smith, I parted ways and headed up to Last Chance to meet up with my boys.  The beer flowed, well, like wine and we partied all night at the Trout Hunter until they gave us the boot.

Party at the Trout Hunter
We fished the Ranch section all the following day after an amazing Trout Hunter breakfast.  The fishing on the Ranch is always a challenge and this day was no different, but for a situation I rarely find my self in...too many insects.  The Baetis at one point were so thick I couldn't find my fly or even detect a strike to save my life.  It was incredible.  Such a dense hatch and so many fish rising was really a sight to see.  We all eventually caught some nice fish and returned to the Trout Hunter for round two that evening.

The next morning Neil and I parted ways from the group and headed south to float the lower Henry's for a couple of days.  Sunday on the lower was some of the best streamer fishing I've ever had.  Neil blasted the Sirius radio and we caught up on all of our NFL games whilst we laid waste to burly browns and enjoyed cigars on stream.  It was a great day.
Neil's really colorful brown.
After much debate and confusion, we finally found a bar (the only bar) in Ashton and sat down to watch the Sunday night game.  If you ever find yourself in Ashton, ID and are thirsty, Ott's Place is it, literally.  We met some great people that night and I will definitely be back for a re-visit.

Another nice brown on the Henry's.

The next day proved to be another great one; nice fish and plenty of strikes in the afternoon after a fairly slow morning so I couldn't complain.  We fished hard and caught some bruisers until the sun was nearing the horizon and then finally headed back home.

This was an awesome trip with some great friends and yet again reinstates my passion for fall fishing, not even just because the fishing is so on, but because it's great to fish with a group that is all out of work, enjoying the offseason, with a hankering to cut loose and get out on the river.




America.

I'm always amazed by the vastness of this part of the world and love the country and the people that make it their home.

More to come soon!






Monday, October 15, 2012

New Tetons on the Fly Edit

The new edit is done.  After two great days fishing in August with Bruce and Bruce Jr. I've finally it all put together.  I had a great time fishing with you both and I hope you enjoy!  See you soon!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J13JoiRQ8lM&feature=plcp





(Make sure to view in HD)

Stay posted for more videos to come.

Peace.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Fall Fishing the Snake



This Fall's fishing so far has simply been amazing.  Everywhere I go, leaves are changing, brown trout are plentiful, and the autumn sun hangs low and provides a spectacular backdrop to this, my absolute favorite season of the year.



Recently on a groggy morning after a late-late Brew-pub Oktoberfest, I got a call from my guide buddy Dave Smith to hit up the Snake River dam for an afternoon float.  Without hesitation I got my gear together, rubbed the hangover out of my eyes, and met dave after remembering where the hell I had left my car and wallet.....

The fishing was great.  Browns were hot and jumped. A lot.  That was all that mattered.




Dave ended up hooking a nice lake trout and I couldn't help but notice that the ol' boy was the perfect size for filleting.  Took that mac home and made some awesome fish tacos that night.  




Great day.


I just returned from an epic South Fork and Henrys Fork camping trip so stay posted for that in the future!

Monday, October 1, 2012

Fall is here

Its been awhile since my last post due to September being just slammed and fishing staying spectacular here, in Jackson.  The days seem to fly by at the beginning of fall here and being on the river everyday with great people makes them go even faster. 


Lewis with a nice cutty.  Good work this One Fly, man!!
The Jackson Hole One Fly Tournament was a huge success and ran on September 8-9.  Given Only one fly per day, teams compete over the weekend to catch big trout on the Snake and South Fork with the guide serving dual purpose as judge.  Congrats to one of my great clients, Lewis Lee for winning 3rd place individual angler high score!!!  
As always, the One Fly was fun and intense and I can't wait for next years!

Post One Fly is always incredibly busy here and this year was no different.  September is usually simply fantastic fishing due to the flows maintaing around 2200 CFS, the cooler mornings and different weather patterns of fall, and the shots at big fish.  If you can set the hook on a weary, subtle cutthroat trout strike this time of year, you're typically going to be rewarded with a nice, fat, fall cutty.  

I've had some really great days this summer/early fall on the river with clients and friends alike and to be perfectly honest, although I love my own, personal autumn fishing, I always get a little bummed as it all winds down.  With a couple guide days left and a few more possible trips, the season isn't quite over yet and there are plenty of great days left to be had.


The view of the Tetons in the fall can't be beat 


Flows at this point have dropped to about 300CFS at the dam and the river is now low and set for winter.  Fishing is still great, although sometimes a little slow, and the fall weather is stunning.  Please call or email if you have any questions or would like to book a trip.

Here are some pictures from the fishing as of late.












Stay posted for some client videos as well as a new Seasons edit coming out soon!!





peace.