Cheeks

Got out hunting noses recently and found a few willing participants.  Catching a bunch of nice fish and getting some good pictures makes for an outstanding day on the water. The theme withe good lighting was cheek plates of the browns we caught. 

 Spring creek like conditions

 Matt closing the deal

Tis the Season

It is upon us, the time of year that warms the heart of every dry fly fisherman.  Getting reacquainted with old haunts, holding lies, new water and familiar water.  Here are some pics of the season so far.  It been a season full of well earned fish.  Nothing has come easy, but it is still early season. 
 

 Bugs

 Changing flies

 
 

 Target spotted

 

 Yes!

 

Spey Nation getting it done

Bacon

 A dozen eggs, 2 pounds of bacon an 4 hungry anglers does a streamside brunch make.  Bacon cooked to perfection streamside, well my linguistic skills fail to adequately describe that. The fishing was tough but enough fish were had to make it a stellar day. 

The arsenal

 
 Oh yeah! Photo courtesy of Mike at the Rusty Spinner Blog.  Check out his excellent writing.

 

 Working the wood

 Found a brookie!

Just a little deep

 

Need more bacon

Camoflage

This past weekend I bit managed to get myself out of bed early.  Decked out in full camo I headed to a spot that I like to watch birds.  It was an interesting experience noticing how the different species of birds responded to me.  The song and small birds acting like I wasn't there.  The herons and ducks however were very wary of me, the effects of hunting no doubt.  I saw an impressive number of species including an eagle (on the way home), osprey, blue jays, robins, chickadees, nuthatches, juncos, downy and pileated woodpeckers, cardinals, phoebes, red winged blackbirds, boat tailed grackles, crows, red tailed hawk, great blue herons, Canadian geese, mllard and wood ducks, hooded mergansers, mourning doves, belted kingfisher, flicker, titmice, and rusty blackbirds.

 This guy perched within ten feet for a few minutes. 

 Rusty Blackbirds were out in force.

 Freaking out upon spotting me.

 Next to the road on the long way home.

Kestrel on the long way home.

Revisit

A coupe more pics from the weekend that I really like. 

Adam in the rain

Reel in the rain

Beginners Mind

This past weekend, the opportunity to fish some water that I am semi familiar with presented itself.  I arrived prepared for many options, my car contained 5 and 6 wt single handers plus a 3 wt switch, my usual approach on this water.  At the river bank, my switch got demoted and my 6 wt was rigged with a sink tip.  This was a golden opportunity to engage in some serious streamer fishing and I was all in.  Years ago, when I guided in Alaska, streamer fishing was a mainstay of my approaches.  Truth be told I loved chucking big meat to fish, but somehow it got placed in the dust bin in the lower 48, as I tend to chase noses with dries.  Once on the water, I slowly doffed my old habits and mindsets behind and just fished what was in front of me. The river was a blank slate, I followed those inner whispers, tying on the fly that spoke to me and swam that fly at just the right speed through each pool. This "old" approach opened a whole new way of looking at the river and its finned citizens.  The day proved to be a magical one; a great time sharing water with friends, holding and photoing a few gems plucked from the mysterious depths and a rekindling of my passion for chucking big flies. 

 Just as a wall of water descended upon us

 

 Matt's first fish on a dry for the season. 

 

 Working the run

Mike working it with a smile

 First move of the snap T

 A well earned reward

clean

 Adam doesn't mind a little rain.

 

The release