Wild Reverence Available On Demand

This film is amazing.

Shane Anderson from North Fork Studios has released his finalized edit of Wild Reverence and you can download it for the price of a couple of morning coffees.  Do it.

Wild Reverence is a labor of love for Shane, pouring his life and money into the project for the past two years.  There's so much education to be done on the state of steelhead and we all hope this film lights a fire amongst all stakeholders in the fight to restore the resource.

Also, stay tuned for a Keep the Wild Wild Tour this fall that will bring this film to cities across the west.

Stand Up Again For Wild Steelhead

Here's another opportunity to let your voice ring out in support of wild fish management and to make sure public officials know it's time to continue to reduce our dependence on the hatchery teet.


The Washington State Senate Natural Resources & Parks Committee will hold a hearing on July 29, 2014 at 10:00AM to discuss the recent Puget Sound steelhead hatchery litigation and settlement between the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and Wild Fish Conservancy (WFC).

The hearing was called by the committee chair, Senator Kirk Pearson (R – Monroe) and will include presentations from WDFW, WFC, Puget Sound Tribes, NOAA Fisheries, recreational fishers, and fishing businesses. Please take a moment to tell the Committee that you support rivers managed for wild fish, not hatchery fish, and the improved sport fishing opportunity.

If you live in the area and can attend, here's the info

When: Tuesday, July 29, 2014 at 10:00 am

Where: Senate Hearing Rm 1

J.A. Cherberg Building

304 15th Ave SW

Olympia, WA 98501

Cant attend, then send your feelings via email by clicking HERE

Wild steelhead advocates will be meeting up after the hearing at the Fish Tale Brew Pub in Olympia (515 Jefferson St. SE, Olympia, WA 98501) so come unwind with some food, drinks and like-minded people post-hearing.

The Wild Fish Conservancy office will be coordinating ride sharing, so if you need a ride or can provide space in your vehicle, please contact their office at 425-788-1167.

Also, get more information at The Wild Steelhead Coalition web site

This ongoing battle seems like it's going to heat up again.  Hopefully science based policy will continue to prevail.  

The last round of conflict in the hatchery vs wild groups, in this hacks opinion, got way way way too personal.  I think the middle ground is that we all want fishing opportunity.  We all want the ability to take our children out and have them experience what we love so much

But while we continue to argue,  the trend line continues to go lower.  Become an advocate for the sport and fish you love and get involved...someway, somehow.

The Hunting Flim Tour

Aside of fishing, hunting is in my blood.

Before steelhead, nothing made me more excited than dropping the tailgate of the truck to let a quivering bird dog out of her crate on the first day of pheasant season

Visions of 30 inch monster mulies chased me to bed as a young boy as my dad spun hunting stories of year's past

And with that, we'll be at this year's Hunting Film Tour when it makes it's stop in Spokane August 5th at the Bing Crosby Theater.  The same gents who bring the Fly Fishing Film Tour around the country are the same behind this show, and they always put on a great show when they show up.

The crisp mornings of fall aren't that far away, get ramped for this year's hunting season by attending a show when they hit your neighbor hood

Ma Lady's On The Sticks....

On our first date almost a decade ago, I asked the question

"So, do you like to fish?"

"Oh yeah, I used to fish all the time with my dad"

Check that off the list, this girls awesome

It's almost become a running joke in our near 8 year marriage, she's never gone on the river with me.   But really, who could blame her.  I live on the lunatic fringe of fly fishing, reveling in getting up at 4am to fish in cold water all day.

Non the less, I was determined.  Just get on the boat, and you'll have a great time.

Finally yesterday she hopped in the raft for our first rafting/fishing adventure

About a half mile into the raft she says...."I want to row"

Now to put it plainly, the Spokane River is not one to begin your rowing career.  But alas, there's no way to get experience than putting your hands on the oars and getting after it

It wasn't perfect, but she's a quick learner.  The art of reading a river's hydrology takes time to get a handle on but with good instruction from the river's new Riverkeeper, Jerry White....she's off and running in her river rowing career

I'm a happy man.    Here's to more great adventures with my lovely wife from here on out.

Now to get her to double haul.

Once, Twice, Three Times.....

The first rise was surprising.   There are trout in this run that give a skated dry fly a tussle that raise your heart rate but put no bend in the spey rod.

Still, you have to give every rise it's due and shuffle back up a few steps to re-offer.

The second rise displaced enough water to make me think.....maybe.

It's dramatically early in the calendar for steelhead on the rivers that aren't adjacent to the ocean.  You can sit and stare at dam counts and tell yourself that the 50-80 fish a day over Lower Granite, but the odds are not in the favor of catching

It's really hard to step back up and wait a minute or two before you offer again.  Standing in the river, all I wanted to do was cast but experience tells me .....settle the hell down, give it time

The first cast through the bucket and all doubt of what it was was quickly erased when the fish slashed and became connected to the bug.  Right away it was evident that this was going to be a hell of a show and 2 full jumps later, we settled right in and duked it out.  She added 2 more sky dotting jumps for good measure to let me know what was up.

Ole Murphy showed up and my reel's drag stopped functioning almost altogether, but with luck and help from the big man upstairs, the fish came to hand......

That time you spend with a wild fish is special.  You only have a few brief moments to examine the beauty, stamp it into your mind and let it go.  It's in that moment that the gong show of landing a big fish stops and you get lost in why you get up so early, stay so late and cast hundreds of times without any response.

With grace the hen swam off and so deepened my love for everything steelhead...

Big Gulps, Welp....See You This Weekend

This weekend endeavors may or may not involve swimming protein sources and river thugs who love to eat them

Snarf goes the mouse.

Two Handers on the Klickitat August 9th

A re-post from the Dirty Water Blog on regarding the 2nd annual 2 Hander Day August 9th on the Klickitat------

This free gathering is for those who would like to learn not only how to cast the two hander better and further, but also how to fish it!

11AM - 12PM CHECK IN at Leidl Access on the Klickitat - Directions to Leidl - After crossing the bridge...Leidl campground is on both sides of the highway... Take a left to enter the west side campground and follow the sign down river...

Class topics to most likely include but not limited to...

-> Demystifying the variety of two hand lines
-> Beginner two hand casting
-> Intermediate/advanced two hand casting
-> Getting more distance
-> Fishing the fly, hooking and fighting fish
-> Single hand spey casting
-> Up against the trees
-> Combining casts to optimize efficiency
-> Long Belly Casting vs Underhand Casting
-> Overhead Casting with the Two Hander

Schedule of Events

-> 12-4:30 PM free classes and free riverside barbecue
-> 4:30 - 6:30 Open time
-> 6:30 - 8:30 Free Barbecue and Catch Mag viewing at The Steelhead Ranch
-> At Dark at The Steelhead Ranch - A Special Outside and Under the Stars Presentation of and by Catch Magazine.

Product lines represented by Echo, Redington, Sage, Rio, Airflo, Hardy/Greys, Vision and more to come.

Speakers; Brian Chou, Brian Styskal, Eric Neufeld, Ben Dow, Jack Mitchell, Steelie Mike, Trey Combs. Jeff Cottrell.

From Fluff To Fly...

Clearly, my mind is on steelhead.  Sitting down at the vice, I realized the almost comical transformation some flies have from their initial stages to the final one that hits the water and hunts for fish.

Stacking deer hair upon deer hair, along with some other items like rubber legs and in this case, mallard flank ends up looking like a fluff pile with a few accents of color.  Not very fishy right?

The real work comes in with the scissors and imagination.  This is my variation of Scott Howell's Ska-Opper and I am sure there's a more precise and correct way to tie it, but it's what my mind has come up with on the vice

Non the less, the fly works and as dam counts are beginning to pop on the Columbia, get on the vice and get ready because we're on the cusp of the best time of the fishing year

A Day With Sharp Cheddar On The Colorado...

God bless the smallness of our fishing world.

Through the social media channels that we all visit, it's brought our fly fishing community together into a tighter web.  Case in point, my recent float down the Colorado river with Joey Macomber of Lateral Line Media and The Colorado Fly Fishing Blog

I was in the midst of my best Clark W Grizzwold impersonation in Steamboat Springs for a family vacation, but arranged a float thanks to Joey's generosity.   He and I had worked on several conservation projects over the years but never had met in person to this day on the river,  but our world is so interconnected it was if we had been buddies for years.

Joey's creative anchor system caused the first laughs of the day...and by no means, the last.

Fishing was tough.  Really hot, really high sun and zero clouds tends to put the fish down from a dry fly perspective.  We did work and scratched a few out on nymphs and my fishing partner that day, John worked hard to get his first brown trout on the fly.

Here's a guy who took a day away from his work and family and jumped at the chance to run a few dudes down the river he's never met in person.  It speaks volumes to the quality of person that Joey is. He worked with John all day long at improving his casting, mending and overall fishing ability and finally it paid off on this beautiful brown.

The highlight of the day was a blasting canyon stretch throwing streamers tight to the bank.  It was a rocket ride through some serious rapids but the browns slashed at the moving meat numerous times including some really savage eats that I will see in my mind continually.  How some didn't hook up is beyond me

All in all it was a great day on the river and a big thanks to Sharp Cheddar for his river knowledge, rowing and hospitality.  I guarantee it wont be the last time we fish together.

Find Your Spirit Animal...

Walmart T-Shirts have unlimited river ju-ju.  Put the Gucci down and drop five bucks on some high quality threads.

The next time you're on a trip and you haven't aligned your moons and dreamcatchers, check out the collections of wolf, tiger, kitty, and teenage mutant ninja turtle shirts at your local supercenter.  It might bring you a few more fish to hand

Get The Cork Out of Your Mouth...A PSA

Check this out.  This is a fish, in a picture.....

This is a fly rod.  At least a part of it

Oooh ohh, check it out.  A fish and a fly rod in the same picture

Wait....what?  An angler, a fish annnnnnnnnnnnd a fly rod

Notice that theres NO pictures of a fish, an angler and his or her fly rod in his or her mouth.

Guys and gals, here's a quick public service announcement regarding fly rods and their role in and or around pictures

STOP PUTTING THE ROD IN YOUR MOUTH

At no time is that acceptable.  Looks awful.  As in dumb.  As in when in the hell did people think that's a good look.  As in, please for the love of gawd, stop.

There, I feel better now.  Rant over

Summer Swing The Fly is Live...

150 new pages of gloriously put together prose and pictures on the swung fly game is ready for your viewing.

Take a close look at the fly tying contest winners.  Wow, it's true art.

Click HERE to view the mag.  Enjoy.