AZB

It was good to return to my home state of AZ for a few days this last week. At 4am T. Wheeler was in the driveway and we drove east to the White Mountains. There is a "dirty ditch" of a river that in the past I have considered something of a joke. Not that this trip completely changed my mind, but it did surprise me. Many of the nearby hatcheries brood stock are placed in this river, and once they've had enough time to forget what food pellets look like they can become quite difficult to catch. 6x, no indicator, and size 22 flies were the only way to get a grab, but the rewards were good. We did quite well and thankfully managed to avoid sprained ankles and the requirement of a long naps (ha). The day ended with an Arizona Burrito. I miss filibi's.

Local Fix

It was good to get out today, if only for a few hours. A friend and I headed east, where we were lucky to find a few Cutthroat willing to take a dry.

Still Waiting.

Eastern Rises | teaser from felt soul media on Vimeo.

Utah Water Guardians

Help support a cause and educate yourself on the potential problems facing Utah anglers here.

History -

A very well connected lobbyist (Hartley and Associates) will fight for the public’s right to Access and Use Utah’s State Waters, but lobbyists don’t come cheap.  His fee is $30,000.00 for this year’s legislative session.   Half of the fee has been raised already!   Times are tight for all of us folks,  but if you can spare ANY AMOUNT, please do.  Surely we can all skip a fast-food lunch or two and send in the savings. There are 400,000 fishermen in Utah, please pass this on to all you know.  Just a few bucks from some of us would get the job done, please step up and help out.

Please note, the landowners have hired their guns and will not underestimate the people this next go-around. The legislature is not going to be giving us neither another sympathy vote nor the bad process vote. We need professional talent(s) AND a heavy backed grassroots effort to accomplish this enormous task we are all faced with. The ball is now rolling, we need to preserve our rights and stand-up against those those are trying to take them away! We learned in the first round not one single person is going to do it for us… it’s up to ALL of us, as a unified voice, to stand together to keep free water free.

NYC

w

We made a quick trip to NYC this last weekend to visit some friends. Great time.

Adios.

The Release

The majority of the time that I am fishing is spent doing just that...fishing, and hopefully catching. In fact, there is such a rush catching the fish that I can't wait to see which fish will bite next. There have been a few times where I have netted a real beautiful fish, one worthy of further inspection, only to release it so fast to catch another. I am not advocating keeping fish out of the water, no. But I think after spending the time to catch a certain fish (ones you see rising, or that you sight fish to) I will, in the future, try to appreciate their beauty for a few seconds longer.

Local.

It takes a lot of dedication for a wife to get up early and head out in the 30 deg weather to fish with her husband. Mine is dedicated. We had a productive day on a local river, not as much streamer action as we'd have liked but good nonetheless.

Island Park

We are lucky enough to have friends with a beautiful cabin in Island Park. Da Wheelers flew up from AZ to join us for a relaxing weekend that included some time on some of the beautiful surrounding rivers. Thanks to the P-Family for the hospitality.

Privado

My good friend Kevin W. and I planned a trip out to a property in eastern UT. My interest piqued when Kevin told me that Adam Barker was joining us for the day. If you don't know about Adam you should check him out HERE. Mr. Barker is a professional photographer who is regularly published in various Skiing/Fly Fishing magazines. Additionally his landscape photos are incredible. We had a productive day fishing and I was thankful to Adam for graciously hearing out all my photographic inquiries. It was fitting that he brought in the fish of the day.

Stillwater

I took A up to fish some stillwater. Streamer fishing is all new to her so I was excited for her to get into a nice Cutt. A was throwing mouse patterns to no avail, but after switching to the previously mentioned Simi Seal leach she was netting the fish below. It has been fun getting her out this summer/fall and she is fishing like she's done it for years.

Simi Seal

I will be the first to admit that I suck at tying flies, however. Lately I have been putting a lot of these out. The Simi Seal material was invented by John Rohmer of AZ Fly Fishing . As far a leaches go, the Simi Seal Leach has been working wonders for me lately. Dead drifted or stripped it has been a killer pattern that I used to make fun of. It has made me a believer.

Road Trip....I guess.

On a recent outing that involved more driving and indecision than fishing, K.W and I stopped to watch some Kokanee Salmon in the spawn. It is an amazing process and one in which these fish lose their lives to fulfill.

Overnight

A and I decided to head south into some amazing scenery and the chance to catch a few browns. My younger sister was in town so we brought her along for the overnight camp out. Tinfoil dinners and a nice fire kept us company amongst tall pines and a sky full of stars. The next day the girls both got into some very nice fish. Well done ladies.

Back West

Being away from Utah the past few years has been tough fishing wise, but thats all in the past. It has been good to be back in SLC, even if most of the summer is gone. Early on, R.M and C.E flew up for some small stream action. Thanks to a burning RV at the top of Parleys Canyon our hopes for more time on the water were spoiled, but we still enjoyed great weather the following day.

WY

It is not often that my father and I find the time to fish together. I was fortunate enough to have a schedule that matched his, so we headed to WY. We had a great time and the fishing was phenomenal. Catching large rainbows all afternoon we were satisfied before the sun ever set. Above all it was great to get my Dad on the water. I know it was a much needed vacation from his busy schedule, and his big smile was contagious.

Coooold Colorado

For the last several years I have been fortunate enough to know T.W. (da wheeler....we married sisters), and he has invited me on an annual trip to Colorado. The fishing is great, and the company even better. This year I flew into Grand Junction to meet up with the rest of the group who had driven up from AZ. After listening to an amazing conversation from the Kayenta, AZ Sonic (as recorded on an iPhone) we were on our way. This year the snow was pretty much non-stop, and so were the whitefish. Still, several great trout were brought to net. Thanks again for letting me tag along.

Lees Ferry AZ

As an AZ native, I have to feel some sense of pride pulling up to Lees Ferry and the Colorado River. The fishing is not what it might have been when my grandfather fished "the ferry" on the regular in the 1980's, but the scenery more than makes up for any perceived lack of fish. I had a great time with R.M and C.E. casting amongst these high red walls. Thanks again to Clay and Ry for tuning up the "Lees Fairy"