Spring On The Big Hole

I had a great call the other day with my Grand Teton Fly Fishing partner Scott Smith. He and Bruce James have set up our retail fly shop on Broadway, and have officially kicked off the 2014 season! With record snowpack sitting up in the high country, anglers and guides alike are all wondering when rivers like the Snake and Green will ultimately be ready to fish this summer. By looking at the USGS graphs (which I have in my link list to the right), recent warm weather has kicked off some runoff on the Snake...very good news! For those that know me well, this is one of my favorite times of year to get some early season fishing in on the Big Hole River, in Southwestern Montana. I've spent many April days over the years in my boat between Divide and Glen, searching for fish up on Skwalas, and underneath on big buggers. I'd like to share a photo I just received from my buddy Ryan Barba. He owns the Sunrise Fly Shop, on the banks of the Big Hole River, in Melrose, Montana. If you haven't been there, you better get up there to meet him. He runs a fine fly shop and guide service that can show you some of the prettiest country in all of Montana. The reports from the river lately are excellent...big fish are waking up to eat! I also wanted to mention that Grand Teton Fly Fishing is proud to be participating in a growing event over in Victor, Idaho this year. Casting 4 A Cure will be in Victor in late August for a two day fundraising event to help raise money to find a cure for Rett's Syndrome. Please visit the link to learn more about this disease and what you can do! We will have some of our guides on the water during the event, alongside Worldcast Anglers, in order to raise money and awareness. Can't wait! The weather in the Pacific Northwest has been looking up...still trying to get over to the Deschutes River, look for a report soon!

I'm Still Here...

Long time, no speak! I'm embarrassed to say just how long it's been since my last blog post (so I won't...you can see for yourself:)). Life in Portland has been good, but hectic. Fly-fishing has been off the radar since a handful of Steelhead trips last Fall. The winter was filled with skiing alongside my wife and two daughters. Time to start thinking about fishing! Back in Wyoming, the Absaroka, Teton and Wind River Mountain ranges were blessed with record-breaking snows this year. Snowpack levels in these areas are ranging from 140%-160% of normal...incredible! As always, great news for our fisheries...tough news for anglers trying to plan around a potential record-breaking runoff. Trout fishing around Oregon has been kicking into gear over the past month...specifically March Browns on the Deschutes River. I've received solid reports of Snake River Cutthroat coming to the net frequently on the Snake River. (March/April can be two great sleeper months on the Snake). I'm considering coming back for a guiding stint later in 2014...we'll see. Although my recent involvement in Grand Teton Fly Fishing has been limited , I'm still very passionate about our story and success!

My main inspiration for sitting down to the computer tonight comes from my good friend Ryan Griffin and his recent trip to the Palometa Club. Ryan caught a good case of "Permit-itis" on a recent trip to Honduras. He landed his first and only Permit there, and became ruined for life. He just returned from an epic trip to one of my favorite places...The Palometa Club...located on the edge of Ascension Bay, in Punta Allen, Mexico. It's widely considered the best place in the world to fly fish for these elusive creatures. I had the fortune of going there in April of 2007, early on in the lodges' history. Since then, it's developed into a premier, but laid back spot to hunt for Mr. Palometa. The lodge just reached a milestone this past week...Permit #1000 was landed (and released) by one of their clients. Check out this video to learn more...