When in Yellowstone..

Headed to Yellowstone country in the near future, find your way to Big Sky Anglers

It all started with the legend Bud Lilly and the Trout Shop starting in 1950, transitioning in 2016 when local outfitters Joe Moore (Big Sky Anglers),  Justin Spence (West Yellowstone Fly Shop) and Jonathan Heames (Jonathan Heams Fly Fishing) took their 55 years of Yellowstone experience, purchased Bud Lilly's Trout Shop and formed the dream team and shop at Big Sky Anglers

There are choices upon choices when headed into the park and the surrounding waters, and it really pays to have boots on the ground intel that can make the difference between a lackluster trip and success

The amenities of this shop are next level.

Need a guided trip...boom, done.  There are 10 lifetimes of water to fish within the scope of Big Sky Anglers guiding and their guides can take you to the best of the best.  Names of rivers and lakes that live in dreams, and they'll take you there

The usual and hard to find fly tying items, taken care of.

Local patterns tied by local experts, yep.

An active blog with reams of timely knowledge dropped on the regular.  You bet.

Years and years of experience with hosted travel and other destinations across the globe, especially in Patagonia and Chile....totally

On, and on and on...

Look, it you need anything when in the Yellowstone region, this is your shop.

Couple of other key items to keep in mind

Follow BSA on Instagram , throw them a like on FB and sign up for their newsletter.  This will be the quickest way to get plugged in to their steady stream of updated content and information that the shop is known for.

I cant wait to get out there this year, and you can bet I'll be spending my time and money with Big Sky Anglers.  See you there.

Historical Documents...

A window to the outdoor world in 1964 and 1965.  Yard sale gold, ready to come to my home after sitting untouched in an old tackle box for decades.

From the era of the Lyndon B. Johnson administration.  The time of Vietnam.

54 years ago.

Combination hunting and fishing licenses were $8.  Your deer tag was $2, Elk $7.50, and in case you were wondering you could pick up a beaver tag for just one American dollar.

The real find, the untouched 1964 steelhead "punch" card.  I remember my father always calling them a punch card but I personally had never seen one.  Catch a fish and punch the dot and take your fish home. 

On the back of the card...

"Your game department plants more than 2 million downstream migrant steelhead each year.  The information received from your punch card is vital in determining the success of these plants.  You will help your steelhead program by turning in your punch card"

Hilarious.   There are almost 2 million plants in the Columbia system alone now...

The window is an amazing look back.   May we learn from our history.

The Bundyville Podcast...

Whoa...

I'm just up for air after taking in the whole 7 part podcast series "Bundyville" from award winning journalist Lean Sottile, Long Reads and Oregon Public Broadcasting

It's a full detail on the Bundy family saga and their attack on public lands in the west.  It's a beautiful example of in depth reporting that finds the nuances and clashes that go back a hundred years or more that boiled up and created what we saw in 2014 at the Bundy Ranch and eventually Malheur National Wildlife Refuge

If you're a public lands advocate, I hightly suggest spending some time and listening to this series.  Get to know the players saga.  See how the federal land transfer advocates are cozying up to this crazy family. Make your own conclusions on how this rogue family is trying to create their own set of rules and inciting violence all while giving the middle finger to public land owners in this country.

It's worth your time.

Click HERE to start your journey down this rabbit hole.  Enjoy.

From The Simple Files...

Thread, wire, bead, Hungarian Partridge

5 minutes of wrap time

Deadly effective.

A Special Dog...

Sure, you've a few labs in drift boats before.  They always give me a smile

 But how many of them are 100% blind and fully capable of having a hell of a time on river.

Pate is my buddy Zack's best friend and at 10 years old,  he wasnt given a good shake when it comes to eyes.  One eye is completely gone post surgery, and the other is just a fixture.

It doesnt matter.  Sure he bumps into a tree or two, maybe racks his shoulder on a boat seat here and there.

All he cares about....

is that he gets his licks when a fish is at hand.

Back On The Traditionals...

Out with the gigantic and in with the teeny tiny traditionals.  One of the wonders of steelhead is the variance of what they will grab.   They'll eat full dress Atlantic Salmon flies, and then stoop to eat a pink worm.  You never know, do you?

Feather alchemy.

More examples of feathers and frills HERE.