Stage 1 of Fly Fishing

2009-11-03T15:09:00.001-07:00

Bwahaahaahahhaaha!

2009-10-05T18:25:00.001-06:00

Im going to be doing some reading tonight!

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Fly Fishing in Wyoming

2009-09-18T10:10:00.001-06:00

A great time!

Jazz and Fly Fishing

2009-07-31T16:00:00.005-06:00

Looks like a great show. Great fishing scenes.

Jazz & Fly Fishing TEASER from Jazz and Fly Fishing on Vimeo.

Not my type of music for fly fishing to. This is a little more my style:
Five Pound Bass

A Fifty Cent Lighter and a Whiskey Buzz

2009-07-30T15:54:00.001-06:00

I Made A Mess Of This Town by Scott Miller & The Commonwealth
Download now or listen on posterous

jadxrp31bv.mp3 (3216 KB)

I've been listening to a couple of music blogs lately one of which is A Fifty Cent Lighter and a Whiskey Buzz. Great Americana and folk music is posted on it. I've been listening to Scott Miller and the Commonwealth's "I Made a Mess of this Town.

Image by nffcnnr via Flickr

Posted via email from Matt's Music Posterous

A little discretion, please.

2009-07-23T15:31:00.006-06:00

Image by karlo via Flickr

Have you ever read a fly fishing magazine article or seen a fly fishing show where they go someplace special? Usually in those episodes, if the area isn't well known or can't handle the pressure of scads of fisherman showing up, they don't name it or tell you how to get to those places. And for good reason, the world simply doesn't need to know and shouldn't know where they are at. The death knell for a body of water can be heard when those places are named. Not necessarily because the fishery is adversely impacted (though it can be), but because tons of people show up and "ruin" the specialness of the place.

I recently read an article by a local fishing personality, Chad LaChance. The article appeared in both the local paper and online at a popular fishing website. He also filmed an episode of his TV show there. Chad divulged one of my favorite places to fish. It's my favorite because (1) not a lot of people fish there (although it is fairly popular hiking destination), and (2) because the fishing is good. You don't often get to fish for larger greenback cutthroat trout. I know it's a public place and I don't own it and can't stop people from going there (however, there are several large man eating bears, water moccasins, and a homicidal mad man resembling Ted Kaczynski, so travel there at your own risk).

My beef is this: Did he really need to name the place? I mean you can write an article, blog, and film a TV show without naming the lake and it wouldn't hurt the intent of the article. The place named was a high mountain lake. High mountain lakes are pretty delicate. The fish there have a very short growing and spawning season, since the lake is ice free for about 3 months of the year. The lake is fairly easy to get to (assuming you can walk at altitude without dying) and the accessible land around it is small. A large number of people constantly going there will make an impact. One only needs to go to the neighborhood lake, pond, or stream to see what a large number of people will do to an area.

Chad's article is a good article for this time of year, reminding fishermen that there are some beautiful places to go in the high country. But, please don't name them. Maybe the article won't foster any damage to this lake. But, my point is that people who write about fishing (myself included) have a responsibility to judge the impact of their material.

A Little Dillon Lake Fishing

2009-07-15T16:17:00.000-06:00

Preferred Reading!

2009-07-13T16:55:00.001-06:00

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Tell me WHY?

2009-05-04T15:45:00.000-06:00

GT TACTICS : This is Fly Daily

Interesting blog post from TIF. I like their magazine...I really do, but this post is strange. Did this guy really believe he needed a 10# for small stream trout?

Also, what's with the buff phenomenon in fly fishing?

Buffalicious!

I can see using one for flats fishing and other shallow salt water water stuff, but c'mon....for Wyoming? Luckily he was by Jackson, where weird stuff is normal. Further South and someone would be trying to find out if the buff was bullet proof. And WHY are they always pulled up over the nose and mouth? Are you a fly fishing gangbanger?

"W" doesn't mean Wyoming

I don't get it. I'm sure it's got something to do with sun protection, but it still looks wrong.

Once in a Blue Moon

2009-05-02T11:20:00.001-06:00

Fly Fishing - Once in a Blue Moon 60sec promo from On the Fly on Vimeo.

Fly fishing - Once in a Blue Moon production screener from On the Fly on Vimeo.

Two Things:

I want to go!
I wish I could cast like that!

Tying.

2009-04-21T20:23:00.001-06:00

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I NEED TO GO FISHING!!!!!

2009-04-21T14:54:00.001-06:00

NOW!!!!

New Guinness! 250th Anniversary

2009-04-16T16:08:00.000-06:00

April 24th......running to the store to pick up mine!!

Another Johnny Cash Playlist - Some New Stuff

2009-04-15T17:05:00.001-06:00

Don't Tread On Me - Tax Day

2009-04-15T11:36:00.001-06:00

Early Spring Fishing at Parvin Lake

2009-04-14T14:16:00.001-06:00

I was fortunate enough to get out for a couple of hours last week and get in some early spring fishing. Spring has to be one of the best times to get out fishing (the other best times would be any time you can get out fishing). I went to Parvin Lake, by Red Feather Lakes, CO. Parvin is a catch and release only lake. You are also restricted to flies and lures, no bait, and the only water craft allowed are belly boats. The reason for this is that Parvin is a State Research Facility. They have been studying a the Hofer strain of rainbow trout for whirling disease management.

From Parvin Lake

The ice was off about 20% of the lake. So there was limited area to fish. I didn't bother taking the float tube down either. Just wading. I was able to hook two nice rainbows one of about 16" and the other 12". The 16" fish had a tag.

From Desktop

I've never caught a tagged fish before. At first glance I thought that some flash from my fly had gotten stuck to it. But, it was tag stuck in close to the dorsal fin. Pretty cool.

From Parvin Lake

Technorati Tags: fly fishing, fishing, Colorado, Trout

My Next Fishing Truck

2009-04-09T11:32:00.001-06:00

I might remove the tassels though.
Via fishbeer

Technorati Tags: beer, truck

My Top 5 Johnny Cash Songs

2009-03-29T14:36:00.001-06:00

Top 5 Johnny Cash Song

In no particular order, because seriously who could really rank any of Johnny's music.

1. God's Gonna Cut You Down - Just an all over great song.

2. I Walk The Line - kind of personal statement about my love for my wife

3. Ring of Fire - the first song of Johnny's I loved. And really what listing of great Johnny Cash songs wouldn't include this one.

4. Hurt - another great song, even more so as he recorded this one just prior to June's death. She is even in the video with him.

5. Long Black Veil - a classic Cash song. Unlike this one, not many great songs are recorded anymore with a story to them.

6. Ring of Fire - Bonus for this one. This is the cover that introduced me to Johnny - Thanks Social D.

What are your favorites and why?

The 2009 Patagonia Fly Fishing Catalog

2009-03-27T15:29:00.002-06:00

Open publication - Free publishing - More waders

Mmmmmm.....stuff. I signed up for the hard copy catalog on line, but never received it. So this will have to do, although I can't add it to my toilet reading stack.

Congress Passes Landmark Wilderness Bill

2009-03-27T10:55:00.004-06:00

Image via Wikipedia

Fly Fishing, Fly Fishing Gear, Fly Fishing Trips, Fly Fishing Techniques and News - MidCurrent

While, I'm conservative in most of my political views, I am very much for environmental preservation. I'm especially for public access and conservation of wilderness areas. There is no other way that my self, my children, or their children will be able to enjoy many of God's natural wonders (Psalm 65:6).

So with the passage of the Wilderness bill, 2 million acres have been set aside for our enjoyment. A good portion will be adjacent to more than 1,000 miles of rivers!

In the wild.

2009-03-24T18:07:00.000-06:00

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Why we fly fish?

2009-03-23T20:51:00.001-06:00

San Antonio Express - Fly Fishing from Adam Richard Jones on Vimeo.

The water is much too cold for that here.

Whorvis?

2009-03-21T20:20:00.000-06:00

:End

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Bible Fishing Reference

2009-03-10T13:59:00.001-06:00

Matthew 13:47

I'm in mourning.....

2009-03-05T18:04:00.002-07:00

Big Red is gone. Well, not dead, but sold and no longer mine. I'll see you someday.

Ram Jam "Black Betty"

2009-03-04T15:50:00.001-07:00

Ram Jam "Black Betty"

Almost as good as Apache! At least "Black Betty" sounds better. Still visually stunning. I wish that skin tight tank tops for guys matched with a tie dyed scarves would come back....NOW, I demand it. Yech.

Another Ultra-Cool Panorama

2009-02-21T14:24:00.001-07:00

The Badlands of South Dakota. I found this one on Google Earth.

Mako Sica aka The Badlands in USA

Beeer good after skiing!

2009-02-20T15:47:00.001-07:00

Cool Website - Gigapan.org

2009-02-07T18:47:00.005-07:00

This is an awesome website. You can literally get lost on here for hours. It is hyperdetailed panoramas. The detail is incredible. On the link below, you can zoom in so close on the military band at Obama's inauguration that you can almost see the words on their sheet music.

gigapan: President Barack Obama's Inaugural Address by David Bergman

Google Fly Fishing Videos!!!

2009-02-01T15:16:00.005-07:00

New feature!!! I'm going to post the #1 search result for fly fishing on Google Videos on a regular basis. Here's today's! Enjoy roll casting from Dusty Wissmath.

ABA

2009-01-30T19:05:00.002-07:00

I do love me some ABA!

Poor Salmon Run this Year

2009-01-30T17:45:00.001-07:00

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-24T19:19:00.001-07:00

Jim Carey.....Husker Fan?

2008-12-13T13:01:00.001-07:00

How about just for the movie. Some of it was actually filmed in Memorial Stadium with a few thousand of the Sea of Red as extras.

Chromer Sport Fishing

2008-12-11T20:04:00.001-07:00

2008-12-07T07:29:00.001-07:00

eating at the chuckwagon in Meade.KS.

2008-11-24T15:39:00.001-07:00

From my brother and his wife. Yankees stuff must be cheap this year.

The new bench

2008-11-17T20:15:00.001-07:00

Works really nice! My brother built the nice tying station. Off to the left of the picture is my work station. It's going to be a busy winter. I've got a ton of patterns to tie and a couple of rods to work on. I'd like to try and build the twins each a 3# rod for their birthday in May. I also have to do some touch up on my 6# that I build. It should be a great space for doing that.

I should post some more pictures of the desk. It's a large corner desk that runs the length of the wall. My wife has room for her scrapbooking stuff. No more hearing about not spending time together while I tie flies. She can join me and work on her hobbies too.

There is a computer set up to the right of the tying desk. It's great for watching shows on Hulu. I've finished the first season of Burn Notice already while tying. I've started on My Own Worst Enemy. I've heard that it's being canceled. Hopefully they'll put the rest of the season on Hulu.

2008-11-14T11:03:00.000-07:00

The new fly tying bench.

Blindness.....

2008-07-20T16:09:00.000-06:00

Ella giving it shot.

2008-07-14T16:08:00.000-06:00

It's funny, but I cast better when I'm helping the twins cast.

Fly fishing with Sam

2008-07-14T16:07:00.000-06:00

Got to get a line wet on Saturday with the kids. The greenback trout is about 2' past the big rock on the left. We drifted just about everything past him and couldn't get a bite. He would chase it downstream a few feet giving it a hard look.

Thanks Dad!

2008-07-06T21:53:00.000-06:00

Thanks Dad for going fishing with me. I will always remember these times.
I love you.

Big Delaney Rainbow

2008-07-06T21:47:00.000-06:00

The fishing was slow, but the fish were big! Thanks Dad for going!!! I had a blast! You can't beat catching a big fish on a rod you built with flies you tied.

Fishing Trip Pictures

2008-07-03T21:32:00.001-06:00

Sorry I don't have pics of the big ones. I'll have to wait for my dad's pictures for those.

Cigar!!!

2008-07-02T19:08:00.000-06:00

Stage 1........

2008-06-18T18:04:00.001-06:00

is going for an extended fly fishing trip.

Pics and report when I get back.

All he wants to do is fish!

Happy Father's Day!

2008-06-15T14:27:00.001-06:00

Happy Father's Day to all of the dads and most of all to my dad. The man who taught me about fishing, hunting, and camping. I owe a lot of what I am to my dad. My integrity and work ethic were definitely instilled in me by my dad's example. Thanks DAD!!

Also, Happy Father's Day to my Heavenly Father. Thank you God for the example of how to be the perfect father.

Just to make you all jealous, here's what my beautiful wife and kids got me for Father's Day!

First off STEAK. Jen made me this awesome steak dinner!! All the fixin's were there too, corn on the cob, salad, and three cheese garlic scalloped potatoes!

Everything goes great with some New Belgium Trippel

I also got the Trout Bum Diaries Volume 1 DVD!!

Now the kids will get sick of me watching my movie and know what it feels like when they watch their movies over and over and over.

How Texans View the US - A Post for Gavin

2008-06-13T14:13:00.001-06:00

more graph humor and song chart memes

The views expressed by the map above do not reflect the views, opinons, or anything else of this blog.

Stuff I Need - Cigar Caddy

2008-06-08T14:09:00.000-06:00

The CIGAR CADDY.

Yes, yes, and heck yes. For the ultimate in fly fishing and cigar smoking pleasure. There is nothing worse than getting on the water and finding your cigars crushed or wet. We will have the cigar caddy to thank for never having that happen again, unless of course you drop your cigar when that 30" trout starts burning your drag.

From the cigar caddy website for the 5 stick:

The Cigar Humidor 5-Stick
Waterproof, crushproof, cigar travel case that can float.
Keep Cigars moist and fresh for weeks with our travel humidor.
Store up to 5 Churchill cigars in our 3400 Cigar Cases.
Fits perfectly into a golf bag, briefcase, glove compartment, or tackle box.
All Cigar cases are guaranteed to protect cigars to water depths of 100 feet.

At 8"x5" the 5 stick might be a bit big stick in the vest by the smaller 2 stick will fit nicely at 8"x3". The other sizes are the 10 and 15 stick. Which means my dad can fit about 330 of his White Owls in to the 15 stick!

Powered by ScribeFire.

Emergency Preparedness

2008-06-06T16:54:00.001-06:00

Two weeks ago the town we live in was hit by a tornado. The estimates were from an EF3 to an EF4. See the video of it here. I lived in Nebraska for a large portion of my life and tornadoes were something we lived with every summer. I've never been this close before. The tornado literally was two blocks from our house. We were very fortunate to only get hail. That is video I took from our house. Anyway, I've always thought about those poor people, I hope they're ok, and glad that isn't us, when disasters strike on a large scale elsewhere. And, I've thought too that I should probably get something together so we're ready in case of..... Well I've never gotten around to it.

Right after the tornado we were out of power, no phone, no tv, no radio. The only way we knew we were out of harm's way was via cell phone and that was sporadic due to either outages or congestion. I was kicking my self over and over for the things we needed but didn't have. Mainly an emergency radio and an operational flashlight. We ended up using a car radio for our information (turn the car on auxiliary, roll the windows down and turn the radio up). We had to search for stuff, not good when time matters. My near term goal (next two weeks) is to get basic preparedness stuff together. Ends up we were without power for 5 days. Fortunately we have family close by to stay with, but owning a generator was looking pretty good. I ended up purchasing an emergency radio from Amazon.

Here's some links to good info:

Emergency Kits
Emergency Lifehacks:Plan Ahead
US Army Survival Manual FM 21-76
Equipped to Survive

And here's a slide show of the tornado damage in our town. We took these pictures as we, with our Church, were helping to clean up the more devastated neighborhoods.

Merle's Fly Rod is Finished!!

2008-05-31T17:27:00.001-06:00

Here's the pictures of the finished product

I'm building a 9' 6# for myself next. It's a Diamondback with a fast action. The blank is black and so will be all of the components and thread. It should look great!

Moab

2008-04-28T18:49:00.000-06:00

In between jobs, I took my son, Sam camping in Moab. We went with my buddy Kris and his son, Will. We had a blast!

2008-04-26T16:12:00.001-06:00

Canyon fishing last summer. Doug and Gavin, I can't wait to go again!

Been a While

2008-04-26T15:53:00.000-06:00

I'm trying to get somewhat regular at posting again. I really kind of enjoy blogging, especially about fishing! It's spring time now here in the Rockies and I've got spring fever!!! Bad. I'm going to post some video and pictures of some places I've fished recently. I'll try some new things here and probably start posting non-fly fishing related subjects as well. I've been on a trip to Moab with my son, so a slide show of that will be posted too.

I want to go fishing sooooo bad right now. With young kids it's pretty hard to get out and fish seriously. I work from home now, so maybe it will be easier to get out some. I now work M-F and feel pretty guilty about leaving my wife with the kids on the weekends. She's been dealing with them all week and needs a break too. We've traded days before....you get the kids today and I get to do whatever I want, and then tomorrow I get them and you go do whatever. Anyway I want out on the water!!!

----------------
Now playing: Fly Fish Radio - Episode 40: Mongolia Taimen with AEG Media
via FoxyTunes

FFFP of the Day

2007-02-26T15:36:00.000-07:00

We're kind of on a Montana theme here lately so here's another great one

Flickr Title: Fly Fishing, Lake Nelson, Bitterroot Mountains, Montana
Flickr Caption: Tim Wild fly-fishing at Lake Nelson, Motanana. The dogs (Lady Nelson and Brutus Thill) watched on. This photo was taken by me using the
Widelux Panorama Camera.
Flickr User: The Strand
Credit: Todd Strand

Home Dehydrating Food

2007-02-26T14:09:00.001-07:00

From Simon's Blog comes a great post on dehydrating food. As Stage 1 is on a never ceasing quest to go lighter, farther, and cheaper, dehydration has always been a fascination. Dehydrating will not only allow you to go cheaper and lighter, but it will allow you to get out there faster. Having several day's worth of meal dehydrated and labeled will allow you to toss the amount you need in to your pack and go. No hitting the store, no searching for recipes and ingredients. It's right there and ready to go! I've been trying to find links and better information on the net, but haven't found much. Let us know what you have!

Simon's Blog: Home dehydrating food

Flyfishmagazine: Do you need an "Mancation?"

2007-02-26T13:14:00.000-07:00

Via the Fly Fish Magazine Blog: MANCATION!!! I'm sure my wife will go for this! Yeah right!

Flyfishmagazine: Do you need an "Mancation?"

Video of Me Catching a Nice Cutthroat

2007-02-24T15:12:00.000-07:00

Taken last summer at a beautiful alpine lake in Colorado.

Trout Recipe of the Week - Trout Almondine

2007-02-24T14:09:00.001-07:00

Ok, ok, I know it's not "popular" to keep fish anymore, but there is a time and a place to do it. Just like other wild game, responsible harvesting is good for a populations of trout. As you probably know there are places where it's encouraged. The obvious ones are stocked waters where the state puts fish in specifically for harvesting. Others such as Rocky Mountain National Park where they were trying to clear out one species so a native species could be reintroduced without as much competition. So, without further ado: Trout Almondine.

INGREDIENTS

2 whole (10 ounce) trout, pan-dressed
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup blanched slivered almonds
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
8 slices lemon, for garnish

DIRECTIONS

Rinse and pat dry trout. Season inside and out with salt and pepper to
taste. Dredge in flour.
Heat 2 tablespoons butter in large skillet over high heat until melted.
Add trout and brown both sides. Lower heat to medium and cook for about
5 minutes on each side or until cooked through. Remove trout to a
serving plate and keep warm.
Wipe out pan and add 2 tablespoons butter. Cook butter over medium heat
until it just begins to brown. Add the almonds and brown.
Pour sauce and almonds over fish and sprinkle with lemon juice and
parsley. Garnish with fresh lemon slices.

Enjoy!

When the ice comes off of the stocker ponds around here, I'll put some pictures with these when I try the recipes.

Great List of Fly Fishing Links

2007-02-22T20:37:00.001-07:00

Here's a GREAT list of links from Dave over at Fishing Tips 101

Bass and Fly Fishing Links (Fishing Tips 101)

He also appears to have a very nice site Glacier to Yellowstone, and another interesting blog that I haven't had the chance to peruse yet.

Some excellent bass fly fishing info too, for those of you close to warmwater fisheries.

FFFP of the Day

2007-02-22T05:58:00.000-07:00

Spring Creek

Flickr Title: October 2004 1st Pics with D70 072
Flickr Member: Madison 76

FFFP of the Day

2007-02-21T05:36:00.000-07:00

Grayling

Flickr Title: Montana Fly Fishing
Flickr Member: Uncle Bob's Outdoors
Flickr User's website: Uncle Bob's Outdoors

The Speed Clinch

2007-02-20T17:14:00.001-07:00

Nice little video of a worth while tip from Dan at The Tattered Fly.

Fly Fishing is Sort of Like Playing Hockey

2007-02-20T12:29:00.001-07:00

From the Albert Lea Tribune in the Southern Minnesota and Northern Iowa area comes the article Fly Fishing is Sort of Like Playing Hockey.

Huh??

Author Dick Herfindahl (can't get much more Minnesota than that name, unless it was Ole or Otto) writes of fly fishing:

It is definitely a different type of fishing and one that requires a
little more skill than just putting a worm on a hook and throwing it
out. It is kind of like playing hockey — you can’t just wake up one
morning and be good — it takes plenty of practice.

While yes, it does require a little more skill than worming a hook, it isn't that difficult. I think it's impressions like these that scare people away from fly fishing (among other things, ie Orvis ads). Fly fishing isn't and doesn't have to be difficult. If you can throw a ball you can cast a fly rod. It does take practice and a little more than tossing a bobber, but not much to get you going in the right direction. Especially if you have a fly shop close by you can get up and going quickly. A couple of the fly shops here in Northern Colorado offer FREE casting instruction and beginner classes. Great for even the seasoned fly fisher.

As far as the hockey analogy...I've never played hockey (watched a few games), but I'm sure Dick is right when he says "you can’t just wake up one morning and be good". But I'm sure that getting a puck past Patrick Roy is plenty harder than catching brookies after ice out.

Dick brings up another misconception about fly fishing:

As a youngster I always thought of fly fishermen as masters of the sport or “true fishermen” that I held in awe.

Fly fishers are neither masters of the sport (just watch me catch bushes on every third backcast...hmmm maybe I am proving his first point true?) or "true fisherman". We are no different than the bass fisherman in Texas with his trusty Ugly stick tossing plastics in to weed beds and sunken timber. A lot of us like to think we are the "true fisherman" of the sport, with our brand coordinated waders, vest, and hat, looking down our noses at the guy floating his spinner through our favorite hole. Understand this: WE'RE NO DIFFERENT!!! We just come at the same goals, catching fish, enjoying the outdoors, and the company family and friends, with different tools. No better, no worse, Ahhh the utopia of equality!

With that I will have to string up the old spinning rod with some eggs or worms and take the kids to the stocked ponds when ice comes off, just remember what it was like.

Spreading the Z-List

2007-02-20T11:38:00.000-07:00

Being a new blogger, I thought I'd give this a shot:
Via Confessions of aFreeware Junkie.

I was checking my Tehnorati links, and I noticed that all of the sudden I had a few more links back to my blog than I expected! It was because of this post from Bhuvana Sundaramoorthy. This is kind of like a chain letter of sorts, but it is actually useful (If you think chain letters are useful, then you can have mine - I'm still waiting to be hit by a flying goat 3 days after I didn't forward that last one)!
From Bhuvana's post:
"It started with Mack Collier of The Viral Garden,
who came up with the idea of giving a links boost to us smaller bloggers, the ‘Z
List’."
Create a new post on your blog.
Copy and Paste the entire list of blog links below
Add any blogs that you want to include near the top of the list. (Optional)
Include the blog where you first got the list from, on the list in your post.
Do not include your own blog links on the list in your post.
Make sure that all links are copied intact (use the source, Luke).
Publish the Post.

confessions of a freeware junkie...: Spreading the Z-list blogs: Helping out the smaller bloggers!

Bhuvana Sundaramoorthy's Blog
eJabs
DragonLady’s World
Rob’s Blog
Another Opinion Among Many
CAUTION: girl underway
Webgrrrl
Dr. Mercola
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Successful Online Money Making
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Million Dollar Experiment heads Down Under
Quest to make money on the internet
Kumiko’s
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Shotgun Marketing Blog
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Customers Rock!
Being Peter Kim
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Billions With Zero Knowledge
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Buzzoodle
NewsPaperGrl
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Popcorn n Roses
On Influence & Automation
Bullshitobserver
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converstations
eSoup
Presentation Zen
Dmitry Linkov
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Fly Fishing Flickr Pic (FFFP) of the Day

2007-02-19T19:28:00.000-07:00

To go a long with the previous post Winter Fly Fishing

Flickr Title: Extreme Fly Fishing
Flickr Member: Chaddycakes
Flickr Caption: Me trying to fly fish in a snow storm.
Flickr User's website: Chad Saunders

Winter Fly Fishing

2007-02-19T15:55:00.000-07:00

The REPUBLICAN & Herald - Winter trout trip whets appetite

Have to love it, if you can do it. I do it more or less to remind my self of why I don't do it more. I was able to make it to the Big Thompson River in Estes Park last Monday. It's probably the only open water in 150 miles. Caught one rainbow in 4 hours of fishing. Nice day too.

Fatpacking

2007-02-19T14:39:00.001-07:00

Fatpacking: Weight Loss Backpacking Adventure Vacations and Hiking Trips

I wonder if they do fishing trips?
Then I could get rid of this:

Hammocks -

2007-02-19T14:03:00.000-07:00

In the never ending quest to cut some weight on backpacking trips (in order to carry waders and boots without killing my flabby self), I tried out a hammock. A Hennessey Hammock to be exact. In stead of packing in my 2 man tent, I went for the ultralight backpacker a-sym . It weighs in at a paltry 1lb 15oz. I'm not sure what my el-cheapo 2-man tent weighs, but it's got to be creeping up on 6lbs.

I hiked in to the Encampment River Wilderness (Wyoming), to fish what else, but the Encampment River. The trip was in June 2006. So the weather was comfortable and didn't really test the hammock out for it's weather resistance. I've heard/read a lot about how hammocks get cold, especially on the bottom side. Apparently this is due to insulation compression. While the temps dropped in to the 40's I never had a problem with getting cold and slept comfortably.

All in all it was pretty good. I did miss the room a tent provides (no sitting up and playing cards with your fishing buddy in a hammock). I purchased mine through REI for about $200.

Here's some good hammock links:
SGT Rock's Hiking HQ : great info, reviews, and tips. Stop here First
Clark Jungle Hammock : another camping hammock, compare to the Hennessey
Speer Hammocks : another camping hammock, compare to the others, the guy that makes these literally wrote the book on hammock camping
Risk's Ultralight Hiking Page : great info and tips, extensive references on other ultralight tips

I will post more on hiking lighter and trimming down or replacements for heavier equipment. My backpacking is all about getting to better fishing and fewer people.

Colorado Opportunities for Trophy Trout- Part 1 - A Fly Shop Clinic Report

2007-02-17T15:11:00.001-07:00

First off let me tell you I'm no trophy hunter.....a long ways from it. I like to fish where the people aren't. Usually that means tiny streams and alpine lakes. A big fish for me is 10-12 inches. In fact one of my favorite experiences is when I caught a 6" cutt from a stream that you could literally put one foot on each bank and not end up in the hospital with groin pull. It took me over 30 minutes to catch that fish from a 5' pool. He would spook every time I raised the rod up to present the fly....and I was laying on my gut behind a rock to cast. I'll post more about that trip later.

Colorado Opportunities for Trophy Trout was a clinic hosted by The Great Western Fly Fishing Company of Loveland Colorado on February 10th. It was put on by Colorado fishing guide Landon Mayer. A little about Landon from his website:

Landon Mayer is a native of Colorado who finds his passion in the sport of fly fishing through fun, teaching, learning, and sharing his knowledge with others. He has spent the past nine years guiding on his home waters of the South Platte River, as well as abroad.

I didn't go to this clinic to find out where the big boys are, but to pick up tips on how to fly fish more effectively. To my surprise this was, in fact, a good portion of the clinic. Landon presented the clinic in an organized format, starting with four main Colorado rivers (South Platte, Taylor, Yampa, and Frying Pan) for finding trophies, how to fish them, and techniques. I'm going to cover the water briefly and go over the techniques a little more in depth. This will be a multi-part post.

Next: Colorado Opportunities-Part 2-The South Platte River

Welcome to Stage 1 of Fly Fishing

2007-02-17T13:08:00.001-07:00

Welcome to my new fly fishing, backpacking, and personal finance blog.

Huh!?!? What kind of combination is that! The first two fit, but personal finance?

Let me explain. First about me, this will help to set the stage for the reason for this blog. I have been married for six years to my beautiful wife. We have twin 3 year olds. We both work. I work 4 ten hour shifts and have an extra day off. My wife takes care of the kids during the day and then goes off to work when I get home, not to return until about 9PM that night. Which brings me to this blog. I have precious little time to fish, let alone blog about having little time to fish, when I could be doing something fishing related.

Now how personal finance fits in to this. In order to maximize time available to fish, as well as the spousal units willingness to let me fish, I need to manage my money and time accordingly. We live on an average income, sub 6 figures. So to not work more (thus eating up fishing time) and to not feel guilty about having a time consuming hobby, efficient management of our assets is key. We just recently got out of debt (except for the mortgage). No credit cards, no car loans, no personal loans, NOTHING!

This blog is about getting the most out of fishing time, fly fishing where the crowds aren't (back country fly fishing), and getting in more fly fishing. The meaning of Stage 1 of Fly Fishing embraces this philosophy.

Here's what Stage 1 of Fly Fishing means:

Stage One, John says, is when you fish from dawn till dusk without a break, get quickly drunk on something cheap, spend the night wrapped in a wet blanket, eat cold beans from the can and don't even notice, let alone care. At the end of a Stage One trip, you'll drive all night and show up to work without sleep and half and hour late. You won't care about that, either, although your boss might. But if he fires you, it only means you have more time to fish.

John Gierach: Standing in a River Waving a Stick