Hatches

The fishing has been red hot around Western Wyoming and Eastern Idaho in the past few weeks, perfect timing for me to head back and jump on the oars. I'll be leaving Portland bright and early tomorrow, heading back to Jackson for a 6-week guiding stint. Don't be a stranger if you're in town. The South Fork has been fishing very well on big bugs, and the Green and Snake have also been very productive on dries. Area tributaries are also coming into prime shape, so grab your pack and take a hike to your favorite remote fishery. For those of you that have not seen or heard of this video and story behind it, click this link to SunValleyMag.com to hear about a truly amazing fishing story. Silver Creek Outfitters media specialist, Bryan Husky, was invited by legendary guide Pete Wood to spend an evening filming Dr. Robert Franklin (known to most as "Doc"), as he headhunted for fish eating through the prolific Brown Drake hatch. Click on this trailer, as well, to learn more about this story. There is nothing like the anticipation and addiction to specific insect hatches for fly fisherman. We sometimes make plans months in advance, and often drop everything to chase a hatch.

Proud Papa

Summer is heating up rapidly around Western Wyoming, and the fishing is getting just as hot. The Pinedale area rivers are in prime shape, with the South Fork and Snake turning on to Dry Flies as well. Large and small Stoneflies, as well as a buffet of Mayflies are working everywhere. My partner Scott Smith and I are well on our way with our new venture, and are setting up shop for this summer. We are now officially poised to take over Jack Dennis' Fishing Trips and their permits. We will be operating jointly this season during the transition at 225 West Broadway, in the Dave Hansen Whitewater Shop. Stop by to book a trip, grab some bugs, or to just chat. I'll be heading back in a couple of weeks for some guiding...dates are filling up quickly, so don't delay a booking! Now, on to the really important stuff...my 4 year old's first Trout!! I took Charlotte out a couple of weeks ago onto some Oregon water, and she landed this 14" beauty, all on her own. Definitely something a Dad will never forget. Do you think she's excited? I had a chance recently to reconnect with an old fishing client of mine, Larry Stephenson. Larry is an amazing artist, with a longtime passion for antique toys. His repertoire has expanded in recent years to include some amazing fly fishing art in watercolor. Check out Larry's website to see what he's been up to! To get right to the fly-fishing, click on "Prints", then drop down to "Fly Fishing". Here's a great shot of my One Fly Teammate Peter Chung, with a healthy Sublette County Rainbow, that Scott Smith put him onto last week. More soon!

Farewell To Liz

Liz McCabe, angler, photographer, publisher and friend passed away last week at the age of 101. Liz first came to Jackson Hole in the 1930's and became a fixture in the community, co-publishing our local newspaper, and immersing herself in fly-fishing, as well as conservation and the local 4-H club. As many of you know, I was introduced to her a number of years ago through Tom Montgomery (her guide for 25+ years), and began spending a few days a year with her on the river. On the river, she was a focused, accomplished angler who liked nothing more than landing a big Snake River Cutthroat on a dry fly. Off the river, she welcomed me and my family into her home and our friendship blossomed. Please check out this story from today's Jackson Hole News and Guide for a very nice review of Liz's life. Enjoy a few photos of me and Liz, as well as one with Tom (courtesy of Scott Smith).

The rivers around Jackson are getting much closer to prime time. Although the Buffalo Fork of the Snake is still high and off color, it looks like it has peaked. The Snake at Wilson bridge, although high (7,500 cfs), the color looks to be OK for some streamer action. The Green is still hanging around 1,500 cfs, and coming up again...shouldn't be long there for lower flows. If you've got access to a boat, the South Fork is probably the best option right now. Flows of 13,600 cfs near Irwin are great for Nymphing and throwing Streamers. Although the water is bigger down toward Lorenzo (6,200 cfs), I've gotten reports of Salmonflies starting to hatch down there, and a few fish up on top to grab them. At that water level, I'd be fishing two weighted rubber-leg stoneflies, looking for Bubba. More soon!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy belated Father's Day to all the dads out there! Hope you were able to get on the water last weekend. I headed east of Portland to one of Oregon's most talked about trout streams: the Deschutes River. As many of you may know, living on the West side of the Cascades (like here in Portland), means a much wetter, greener environment. We get a coastal weather pattern, where there is much more humidity and rainfall. Just east of here, beyond the flanks of Mt. Hood, the environment is much different. If someone had brought me blindfolded to the Deschutes, I would have thought that I had just landed somewhere in Montana or Wyoming. The river cuts through a rugged, dry landscape, with Osprey and Red-winged Blackbirds circling above Sagebrush hills. The Deschutes runs long, with miles of remote sections, as well as easily accessed areas for fly-anglers. Overnights are popular with drifters. The river dumps into the Columbia river above the town of Hood River. The lure of the Deschutes is the chance to catch it's resident, native Rainbow trout, that locals call the "Redside", for it's bright red markings. The Salmonfly hatch had just come through, and fortunately for me, they were still looking at the big bugs. My buddy Bill Farnum and I rode our mountain bikes from hole to hole, looking for feeders. It was a great day. My best fish was a 19" female, that fell for a Snake River Water Walker (a Wil Dornan special). It was nice to get a fish on a Wyoming fly! Bill was far upstream...no photo, sorry. I think next time, I'll bring the boat and try to cover more water. Probably the most interesting thing about the Deschutes is this: come late Summer and Fall, wild, native Steelhead start running up the river from the Columbia. An angler can spend the morning dry fly fishing for Redsides, and then swing Steelhead flies in the evening in search of a real big boy. The Northwest also has a good stock of Cutthroat Trout that fall for flies. I've not found any yet, but will keep you posted on what I come across. So, what's happening back in Wyoming? Sounds like warm, dry weather, with most of the areas runoff beyond the peak. The Green and South Fork of the Snake are already fishing nicely on Nymphs. Dries should be any day now. Look for the Drakes, Golden Stones and Sallies on the Green very soon. Same story on the South Fork, just a couple more weeks. Most of the state of Wyoming is experiencing a snowpack and snow-water equivalency that is well below of average...see the map above. This will certainly mean a quicker start to the fishing season, as well as a better likelihood of strong, early hatches. The big variable will be just how hot and dry the rest of the summer will be. I will be coming back to Jackson later in the summer for a brief guiding stint. I'm looking forward to keeping my oars in the water, so to speak. I would love to hear from some of you if you are interested in getting on the water with me. I will be around from very late July, until about mid-September. I still have dates open during this window, so don't be a stranger! Enjoy this photo of my buddy John Holland, with a Washington caught Cutthroat, from an unnamed river, as well as a scenic shot of the Deschutes River. More soon!

So What's New?

Summer seems to be starting very early all around the West. Unseasonably warm temperatures here in the Northwest, as well as all over Wyoming, Montana and Idaho have been rapidly depleting snowpack, and allowing many anglers to get out and enjoy early hatches. Reports from many Wyoming and Montana streams have been solid. With a lighter snowpack this season, many rivers have been clear enough to enjoy the blizzard Caddis hatches that come around each May. Just down the road here, on the Deschutes River, stoneflies are already on the move. It looks like we'll have a much better start to our fishing season in Wyoming than we've seen in a number of years. The Snake, Green and South Fork should all be in great shape by late June...maybe earlier. The Yellowstone opener in a couple of weeks should also be a good one this year. As some readers may already know, the Jack Dennis Guide Service, aka, Jack Dennis Fishing Trips, has been in a state of flux for a couple of seasons now. With a lot of hard work coming to a close, and a bit of luck, I should be able to report some exciting news soon, so keep posted here. I'll report more on this soon! For now, if you are interested in booking any fishing trips, or just want some info, give me a shout. It looks like I'll be heading back to Wyoming for some limited guiding this summer, which is great. This time of year, not only do I get many emails on fly-fishing information around Wyoming, but also inquires on camping. Whether you are car-camping or backpacking, the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem offers some of the best. Check out this link to see America's top ten campgrounds, and which one of my favorites made #7.

Lastly, I'd like to report some sad news that hit the fly fishing industry this past week. Veteran Belize River Lodge guide Raul Navarette passed away on May 5th. I first met Raul back in 2001. He made his first trip to Wyoming to participate in the Jackson Hole One Fly, invited by his lodge co-worker Dirk Burgard. I drew Raul the first day of the event, and we had a blast. Although already a master saltwater caster and angler, it was Raul's first time fishing for Trout. I'll never forget it. By the end of the day, he had convinced me to come down to Belize to experience life on his flats in pursuit of Tarpon, Bonefish and Permit. I made a trip down the following Spring, and spent six days on the water with Raul. I'll never forget it; he introduced me to something that has grown into an addiction. Raul guided for over 20 years for the Belize River Lodge, was the only Belizean to be a certified FFF instructor and also the only Belizean known to have ever fished in the One Fly. He will be missed. Check out this link to learn more about Raul. Here's a shot of Raul with a hell of a Permit, as well as Jack Dennis Guide Dave Smith with a river-caught Mackinaw from a few days ago. More soon!

Spring Update

From talking to buddies and keeping updated online, it looks like Spring (and maybe early Summer?) has sprung around Western Wyoming. Even though I'm now in the Great Northwest, I'm able to live in Wyoming vicariously a little via phone calls, emails, and fishing blogs. It looks like lighter snowpack from this winter is receding quickly with warmer temperatures and rain. I've been getting reports of fantastic fishing on the Henry's Fork, Snake and South Fork. The warmer conditions have probably made it very ripe for warming water temperatures and great spring hatches. It's been a number of years since Jackson has seen such a warm start to Spring. This kind of trend would indicate that the early Summer may see some fantastic fishing. If the Snake clears early enough, anglers may have the chance to chase Stoneflies and Caddisflies through the Snake River Canyon. Things around Oregon and Washington have been fluctuating between very wet, and very warm and dry...just depends on the day. I've been putting in quite a bit of windshield time and wading time trying to figure out the elusive Steelhead. There's a delicate balancing act in play in order to have a good chance at a Wild Fish. Rainfall is good. Fresh water can bring in fresh fish from the salt. Too much rain, and the rivers swell and make it impossible. If you can get out on a day when the river is dropping and clearing, the fishing gets easier.

I've been out many days only to find a rising river. It's all about timing. Here's a few photos from some recent outings to the Trask River, the Clackamas River and the Sandy River. Check out this shot of Ken Anderson finishing his two-handed cast into some prime Steelhead water. I've hooked a couple fish and had a couple other "grabs", but none to the net yet. Fortunately, the Steelhead season is virtually year round, and I'll keep tryin'. I'm now starting to get a bit of an itch to chase some Trout, and it looks like Oregon has some options. I've got the McKenzie River on the radar right now and hope to get down there soon.

The Great Northwest

It's obviously been awhile since my last journal post, and I apologize for that. It's probably the longest gap I've had since I started this site a few years ago. I've got many changes to report, most notably the fact that I have left Jackson, and have relocated to the Pacific Northwest. With potential opportunities in Jackson as an owner/outfitter at a standstill, and a great opportunity for my wife in her field, we moved to Portland, Oregon earlier in the winter. I'm planning on returning to Wyoming this year for some limited guiding, so stay tuned for updates on that. Regardless, I would like to keep this blog going and hopefully expand the content. Just as strong as the pull is to live in a place like Jackson Hole, so is the urge to see what else is out there. Coming off of two extremely long and wet winters helped tip the scales to head to a more temperate climate (with year round fly-fishing!). So, after celebrating Christmas in Wyoming, we put the house up for rent, and headed out.

After getting the family settled in and adjusting to our new surroundings, the first thing I did was order my first two-handed fly rod from Sage...a Z-Axis 7136-4. The Northwest has some fantastic trout fishing, but the main event is the Wild Chrome: Steelhead. Steelhead are one of the resident species found year round in Oregon and Washington waters. They are an anadromous fish, a Rainbow Trout that spawns in fresh water, and then spends much of its adult life in the ocean. Its when they return from the sea to their native water that anglers target them with flies. Steelheading is a difficult game, not unlike stalking a large Permit or sightfishing in New Zealand. It's a numbers game. They don't call Steelhead "the fish of a thousand casts" for nothing. When you do find one to eat, though, hold on...it's like hooking a freight train. Portland is surrounded by some very hallowed Steelhead water. Legendary river names like the Trask, Umpqua, Deschutes, Klickitat, and Wilson encompass the area. There are also countless other tributaries that I am desperately trying to learn about.

Although traditional singled-handed fly rods can work, two-handed rods (sometimes referred to as Spey rods), are much more efficient. They can cast greater distances and mend more line. Most importantly, there is no backcast to speak of. You can fire a long line while backed right up to a wooded bank. I've been spending much of my free time this winter on the Sandy and Clackamas Rivers practicing this unique cast. I've also got a handful of days under my belt on a few of the coastal rivers, including a long weekend spent on the Olympic Peninsula, in Washington. I met my good buddy John Holland up there a few weeks ago and spent some time with legendary guide J D Love. He put us on to some great fish on the famous Sol Duc River. Although I hooked two, I could not get either of them in. Damn rookies. Holland managed to land this 9 pounder...beautiful! I also got to explore the Hoh River in Oylmpic National Park, another Steelhead mainstay...absolutely gorgeous. Stay tuned for more reports and updates on what I've been up to.

Inspiration

When I first started my blog a few years ago, I chose the "blogger" format because I thought it would be an easy way to get a website up and running for myself. Even though I still use it as my "website", it really has turned into a photographic and written journal of my experiences and interests over the past few years. Looking back over many of my posts, I am able to relive and enjoy many of the experiences I've had with fly-fishing. Keeping the journal has reignited my interest in writing, and also helped me structure my thoughts and ideas in more creative ways. It has also helped inspire me in ways. I received an email recently from a woman named Melanie Bowen. She came across my blog and commented to me that she not only enjoyed the content, but could see how I was using it to catalog desires, wishes and goals, as well as maybe inspire others through my fishing reports, stories and photographs. I had never really thought about it like that before. Melanie has recently been invited to contribute to the Mesothelioma Cancer Alliance Blog. She reminded me that getting things down on paper can be a way to better your own health and healing, especially in times of illness or treatment. Since I'm convinced that fly-fishing is a great way to maintain and heal the heart, soul and body, I've attached a "guest post" here from Melanie that she wrote about this subject. Check out The Mesothelioma Blog to learn more! Thank you for this Melanie! Here's a couple of my favorite pictures (that I have posted here before). Liz McCabe, 100 years old, and Mikey Shore, 8 years old, both catching fish on dry flies from the front of my boat. Very inspirational!

For many people, writing is a task that they do not think much about. It is something that they do to communicate with others, to remind themselves of things, and to make sure that their thoughts are organized. So many people do not realize that writing could be an extremely powerful tool for them, that it can help them figure out what they want to do and how they can do it! If you have never considered what writing can do for you, now is the time to start, especially for those with any medical diagnosis--from mesothelioma to multiple sclerosis,one can be thrown into a tailspin. When dealing with illness, diagnosis and prognosis, it is easy to feel lost. You may be suddenly concerned that you don’t know what to do with yourself, or simply at sea in the wide range of information that you are suddenly flooded with. This is where producing some information of your own can make all the difference. When you write and journal, you are creating structure and order from nothing at all. You are putting your thoughts on the page and making them a reality. You’ll find that writing down your feelings and your dreams gives them solidity and a reality that they did not have before, and at the end of the day, you’ll be able to look them over and see them for what they are. Your words are the first step that you can take towards making your dreams a reality. Use writing to organize your thoughts. If you need to use lists and tools at first, go right ahead. As an example, make a list of five things that you love, five things that you want out of your life, and five things that you want to do in the next three days or this season. This helps you stay on track and if you write without stopping, you can also move forward and learn more about what your brain is telling you what you need and want. Writing takes time, and though you might feel hurried and rushed, remember that this is something that may only take a few minutes from your day. Grab five minutes right before you go to bed or just as you wake up; think about how little it takes to write a sentence about what is going on around you, or an observation that you made during the course of the day. Put your journal online on a blog for everyone to see (to motivate others), or keep it private from the rest of the world on paper. Your journal is your tool, and it should serve and inspire you. Use it to help you focus your thoughts, to focus your dreams and to learn more about yourself and what you want to do.

Gettin' Brighter

Recent moisture laden snowfalls around Western Wyoming have helped build up the snowpack a bit more over the past couple of weeks. The valley and surrounding mountains have picked up over 5 feet of snow in recent weeks, with much of it containing over 10% water content. This is good news for anglers. Such a dry start to the winter was making many wonder if we were in for a drought winter. As of today, Teton, Sublette, Fremont and Lincoln counties all have at least a 76 per cent of average snow-water equivalency. Much of Yellowstone National Park is closer to the 90% figure, which is good news also. Needless to say, drought winters can be devastating on fisheries, while the "feast" winters like last year, produce flooding and shortened fishing seasons. It feels like we are on track for a more "normal" year. Not much else to report from this end. The days are slowly but surely starting to get longer, and the mind is starting to drift towards fishing again. It's a great time of year to tie flies, plan fishing trips and comb the internet looking for good fish porn :) I came across this photo on Facebook of an absolutely gorgeous Brown Trout. Don't have a name of the angler or a location, but I'm guessing South America. I also found a nice photo of the Wyoming Wind Sock we use at the fly shop before we head out each day. Remember to practice your double-haul before we hit the water next summer, could be windy! Let's go Giants!

Green With Envy

For those readers not already aware of the "Million Pipeline" project on the table in Wyoming, I'd like to get you up to speed. I've been reading about this for quite some time, and just came across a video that I had not seen before (see below). A developer in Colorado is proposing a plan to pipe billions of gallons of water from the Flaming Gorge Reservoir in Wyoming and Utah (on the Green River), all the way to the front range of Colorado. They would be calling for over 80 billion gallons of water a year to travel over 550 miles to the Colorado front-range metropolis. With a surge in population in this area over the past 20 years, there is simply not enough water to go around. Every drop of the Colorado River is already being used. What is so troubling for me is the fact that there is way too much water being used already to grow lawns and manicure golf courses in this area. The potential impacts of a project of this magnitude are certainly numerous. The environmental impacts on the lake itself, as well as on the world-class fishery below the dam on the Green River, could be monumental. Lower water levels, both on the lake and on the river will likely cause water temperature shifts which would adversely affect insect and fish life. Minimum water flows out of the dam may no longer be met. Along with this, the livelihoods of farmers, as well as outfitters, guides and lodge owners could be devastated. Make sure to check out this video as well as this link to Fly Fisherman to learn more! Also, check out Our Damn Water as well, to get involved! The photo above of Stan Czarniak putting me on the goods shows just how special this area of the Green River is.

Green with Envy from Trout Unlimited on Vimeo.

They're calling for over 5 feet of snow over the next 5 days here in the Tetons...great news for skiers and anglers. Hopefully Colorado is getting some water too :)

Happy New Year!

Happy 2012 to all of my readers out there! The weather in Jackson has been a far cry from what many were highly anticipating to this point in the winter. After the 700" of snow that fell during last winters "La Nina" pattern, many around here were planning on a much stronger start to this years snowpack, given that we are also in a La Nina pattern for this winter. Although we have received ample snow to get people out skiing, the weather has been unseasonably warm and dry. The snow-water equivalency data is showing anywhere from 60% to 80% of normal in our river drainages right now. It's obviously still very early in the winter to make any predictions, but I would venture to say that we will likely see less snowfall this year than we saw in 2011. Since the last two spring seasons produced record breaking snow and rain, I'd probably hold off booking any fishing trips on the Snake River for this June just yet. Time will tell!

I've posted a few more pictures from from the November New Zealand odyssey. After cutting our teeth around Christchurch and Murchison from the car, Scott and I hit the "rough track"...this is Kiwi for backpacking long and hard to remote areas. We targeted a number of different rivers in remote backcountry areas, carrying backpacks and also staying in huts. If you are short on time and long on money, hiring helicopters can certainly get you to many of these areas. Scott and I opted to haul all of our backpacking gear from the states and make an adventure out of it. There were areas with great trails and easy hiking, as well as spots where we did some serious bushwhacking and crawling over exposed "slips", or spots where earthquakes had caused landslides. New Zealand has a very extensive and well established hut system which makes longer stays much more enjoyable too.

Merry Christmas!

After a few days of splendid fishing in the Canterbury Region, Scott and I headed North and West to the town of Murchison. We got a tip on a great motor camp to pitch our tent for a few days. New Zealand is a very "road trip" friendly country. Virtually every town has at least one "motor camp"...a place where you can pitch a tent or rent a small cabin, do laundry, cook dinner and even check email.

As we walked into the office of the Murchison Kiwi Park, we were greeted by photos on the wall of our buddy Josh Graffam holding trophy Brown Trout, so we knew we were in the right place. In fact, the proprietors knew many of our friends from Wyoming that had been through there over the years. Lynn and Brent Winter took great care of us during our stay at the Kiwi Park, I would highly recommend it as your basecamp if you ever find yourself in Murchison. Murchison was like being in a place like Dillon, Montana. There was great water in every direction, and it would take an entire season to even scratch the surface on fishing in this region. With literally dozens of trophy trout streams dumping into the Buller River, we had plenty of options to hunt fish while there. Once again, we had great sight fishing to large fish, and found them on a variety of flies. Here's a few more photos to share from our journey.



I'd like to give a shout out to my friend Janice Steiner with this photo of an unbelievable yacht that we spotted while walking the Auckland harbor on our last day. Didn't know you sailed Janice? Janice works for the town of Jackson as our transit coordinator...she does a great job keeping all of our public transportation running very smoothly. Best wishes to all of my readers for a great holiday season and a Happy New Year! More soon!

Blown Away

As the temperature dives below zero again tonight (as it has every night for the past week), my mind drifts back to the South Island of New Zealand. Scott and I were simply blown away at just how unique the fishing was. After years of listening to buddies rave about New Zealand, and months planning this adventure, we just were not sure exactly what to expect. The quality of scenery, people and fishing all exceeded our expectations. After over 30 hours of traveling from Jackson, arriving in Christchurch to pick up our rental car (a very modest Nissan Wingroad wagon) was like getting a huge shot of adrenaline. We decided to hit the regional fish and game office first to secure our fishing licenses. It was here that we got our first tip from a guy working the office named Roger. Our plan was to head straight to Murchison, but like so many of the Kiwis that we met, Roger was delighted to chat and help us along our way to the best possible fishing. We took him up on his advice and headed a couple of hours out of Christchurch to a hidden pullout to camp for the night. The next day, we watched the sun rise along the banks of the River X. Low, clear flows greeted us, along with clear, calm skies. We slowly started walking upstream in search of gold. We went four or five holes without seeing anything, and were maybe wondering if there were any fish in this river at all. Did Roger send a couple of Yanks on a wild goose chase? Scott decided to pop a streamer into a likely looking deeper hole. Sure enough, a monster brown trout came out to swipe it, and then disappeared. That's all we needed to see...there were fish here. We then slowly crept up to the next hole, and sure enough, we spotted what would be a typical fish on this river...a 24" Brown Trout holding in very thin water. It was Scott's turn to cast, so he placed a nymph right down his lane, and bang, fish on. Some of the best fishing we had on the entire trip was on a river that was not initially on our radar. The first two days we spent on this river taught us much of what we needed to know for our trip. Walk slowly and don't overlook any of the water, no matter how shallow or slow. It was also here that we learned that you can catch huge fish blindly, ie, unsighted. (Contrary to what many buddies had told us before coming here). Certainly, when we had the chance to sight fish, we took it. But some of the biggest fish we saw came on blind casts with streamers. Our first two days of fishing and car camping well exceeded our expectations, and could now not wait to head on to Murchison to start checking off the rest of the list. Here's a few more photos I'd love to share. Healthy fish, gin clear waters, and stunning scenery.

Back Home

Scott Smith and I arrived home on Monday from our epic three week tour of New Zealand's South Island trout paradise. There are certainly many stories to tell, that I plan on sharing over the winter. In a nutshell, it was a fantastic trip. We picked up our rental car in Christchurch, loaded our tents, backpacks and rods, and hit it hard. We hit 12 rivers in 21 days on day trips and overnight backpacking adventures. It was some of the most rewarding, yet challenging fishing we had ever done. Most of the rivers hold very large Brown Trout that are in gin clear water and are extremely wary. Some of the fish were fairly easy to approach and hook, while others spooked before you could even get a cast down. We thoroughly enjoyed the Kiwi culture while moving around, and already cannot wait to get back some day. I'll be sharing more stories soon from our trip. For now, it's time to make the transition from Summer back to Winter. There's plenty of snow on the ground, and the air is cold here in Jackson. Enjoy a few photos. More stories and photos to come!

Cold Weather

The temperatures around Jackson the past few days have been very crisp. With lows in the 20's (and tonight's forecast calling for a low of 14 degrees), it sure feels like winter is coming fast. Skies have been bright and sunny, but just cold. Most of the golden Aspen and Cottonwood foliage has now fallen to the ground and winter feels like it is now just around the corner. The fishing around here has been stellar. Both the South Fork and Snake (as well as some of the unnamed Fall favorites in Yellowstone), have been fishing great. This is by far my favorite time of year around here to be on the water. Water levels are low, there are few anglers around and fish are eager to feed and put on their "winter wool". Most of my information on local stream conditions this fall have been coming secondhand. With a 22 day excursion to New Zealand about to commence, I've been busy around the house with my "honey-do" list...very little time to fish. This will be the first October in more than ten years that I have not been in Montana chasing the streamer and Baetis bite. It sounds like the Missouri has been on fire...no surprises there! The trip to New Zealand has been in the works for a couple of years; Scott Smith and I each celebrated a landmark birthday this past summer, and needed an excuse to head there. With plane tickets in hand since last January, we've been slowly planning and researching our destination which we now will be able to scratch off our bucket list. (Urban dictionary definition: A list of things to do before you die. Comes from the term "kicked the bucket"). I've been fortunate enough to be able to live in such a great area and work on my bucket list for some time here. I've been working on this list for some time now chasing trout all over the West, as well as the elusive "Palometa" on the Caribbean flats. Checking off New Zealand will be a long-awaited dream. Planning this adventure (as always), has been an incredible amount of fun. Reading books, studying maps and organizing the gear has been mouth-watering. The real excitement has been talking to our buddies that have been there; listening to the stories and advice from people like Tom Montgomery, Jack Dennis, Josh Graffam, Jeff Currier, Josh Gallivan, John Gendall, John Holland, Brian Hodges and Peter Chung has been a blast. Thanks for the help guys! Enjoy this great photo that angler Dan Beistel just passed along to me. A 20" Snake River Cutty from earlier in the season. Boots Allen snapped this shot just after I netted the fish for Dan. I'll never forget that fish Dan!