The FayClave Returns...

Has it really been five years?  This weekend commences the 5th annual Fay Clave in, this time in honor of OMR's 75th birthday.

Again we'll be on the lower Clearwater in hopes of meeting a few fish, and celebrating a guy who keeps on trucking, paying no attention to creaky bones and hearing loss.

What excites me the most is the quick and deep progression into steelhead rabbit hole we have all fallen.  We picked up the spey rods 6 years ago with nary a clue.  Now look at us and we're full on steelhead dirtbags.

So if you're on the river this weekend, come share a story and a beer.  We'll be happy to have you.

Fighting Goliath...

Fighting Goliath from Idaho Rivers United on Vimeo.


A repost from the Chum, here's a project I believe in, and so should you if you believe in wild places and wild rivers.

Dropping Hammers with the Method...

Time for another test drive, and this time the Sage Method 12'6 8wt

Before we dive into anything,

The elephant in the room....

A year after the "One", what's Sage doing releasing another $1,000 rod?

It's my belief you cant stay stale in anything.  Sit on the same lineup forever and you're going to get passed and surpassed.   In any business you can go from industry leader to also ran in a second.    Our little fly fishing community tends to get stuck in a baseball like position where we have a terrible time letting go of established dogma and accepting new items.  I myself love vintage reels, but on the same hand wouldnt know what to do if I had to nail knot everything.

For that, I have no problem with Sage pushing for a little bit more, another edge, another innovation.

For that, the Sage Method is the shit.

My test drive for the Method was primarily in the part of my steelhead season that focuses on Clearwater River in Idaho.   The set up was made complete with the new Evoke series reel and the Rio Short Head Spey

The Clearwater is big, in both runs and the size of the steelhead that return.  It's one of those rivers that begs for the long dryline and that's why this set up excited as we focused on the Clearwater August through the beginning of October

Here are my top 5 reasons why I dug this set up.

1.  Extra Crispy--The Method is all types of fast action.  If you like a progressive flex, this isnt your stick.  I tend to cast better with a faster action spey rod

2.  It's Purdy-- Finally a fly rod that's not muted grey/black/blue/green.  The wife has shoes, I have fly rods.

3.  Beautiful Cork--I used it for a solid 7 days on the river and it continued to feel like I just unpacked it for the first time

4.  The Line Combo-- Having only cast shorter Scandi and Skagit style heads, the transition to the 10ft longer Short Head Spey by Rio was made a lot easier by this rod.  It was forgiving and powerful enough to get it going.  Once I got the anchor placement down, it all came together nicely

5.  Lightness--ALthough it's really powerful....after a day of spey casting you'll love the lightness of the stick

Yes, it's a lot of money.  If it's part of your budget, have at it with out any reservations because if you like spey rods for the same reasons I like them, you're going to love the Sage Method Series

Fly fishing will always hold onto traditions and traditional gear.  Every now and then, it's ok to check out what's on the forefront of development of our sport

Getting Bent On Your Birthday....

For the 4th year in a row, OMR got bent for his birthday at the Fay Clave

Perfect Water.  Dryline.  Blown up.

No more than 2 casts before the hook up, I say to my buddy Ryan..."damn, I hope he gets his fish and keeps his birthday streak alive"

And it happened.

We all should be so lucky.

OMR Rings The Bell...

OMR kicks off his 2013 steelhead season with this little guy.  No matter the size, it's always a spectacular feeling to get on the board and get the monkey off your back.

Dryline season is awesome.

Oh Crap, I Caught One...

Maybe it would have been better to not catch one so darn early this year.  Setting the expectation of catching a white unicorn from here on out is going to be rough.

The Clearwater has done this to me before.  I went 5 days between action the last time I caught a fish so early.

Bye bye trout gear, see you in the spring.  I've had a great time with the tiny bugs but it's time to dive into that time of year.   Dryline time on the big river is as special as it gets.

While not the biggest steelhead ever, she was as perfect of a wild specimen as I've seen and gave a pretty nice battle for a fish it's size.

As she swam away, the guys I was fishing with looked at me and in unison, asked how that felt?

"Awesome"

It's the best way to describe the first steelhead of the 2013 season

Photo credit to the guy who puts out this awesome online mag for swanging flies.

Skywriting...

Dotting the sky with the loop.

From a few years back on the Clearwater, this is that little reminder that Steelhead season is but a few short weeks away.  Dam counts are on the rise, but it remains to be seen if this run's early component was late, or just isn't coming.

The GRAPH that measures this year's return has it between the 10 year average and last year's return.  Last year wasnt the greatest, but results dont happen unless you have a fly in the water.

Keep your fingers crossed.  The Chinook runs were late this year, so hopefully the same story for Steelhead.

On the good news front, the wild component to this run is over 50% so far.

All in all, I'll still be swinging a fly this fall and winter.

Redington Sonic Pro's--A Ladies Perspective

Today we have a guest post from my buddy Loran Kerrigan from Peak7 Adventures, regarding her experiences with the Redington Sonic Pro Waders, made specifically for women. 

Loran and her husband Ryan run Peak7, a fantastic organization that give disadvantaged youth a chance to experience the great outdoors through rafting, camping, climbing and more.  Hopefully in the future we can get them to expand their offerings to fly fishing!
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You could say I come from a fishing family. 

Being from Cincinnati, OH my dad grew us up going to the Boundary Water Wilderness Canoe Area
(BWWCA) in Minnesota and Canada. I learned what portage was and how to fish and camp up there.

My brother who is ten years older spent his college summers and furthermore into graduate school as a professional fly fishing guide on the Flathead River through Spotted Bear Ranch. 

I would visit him several times and he taught me how to fly fish. Of course, at first he took us to the holes where trout would jump at anything, so I was hooked on the fly from then on. We'd stalk fish from boulders above and land them. It was awesome. 

There was only and has only been one problem, my gear!  I have always borrowed my brother's and dad's gear, which is never cut right for women and generally makes a long day on the water much longer.

The fishing world has taken notice to what ladies need as I now have my own pair of female specific waders, the Redington Women Sonic Pros

They are so cute, with double zippers and the teal Redington logo on the front pocket.  Despite the cute and creative girlie accents, the waders are very comfortable and technical. The hip belt is easy to maneuver, although.  I wish you could pull the slack tight against the belt without having a slack loop, but I just tucked the strap into the belt loop, so it was smooth, without a big webbing loop when tightened. 

The neoprene feet socks may not feel form fitting, but when you put your boots on,they fit perfectly inside the boot and are very comfortable. I have worn my waders now in the Spokane, Provo and Clearwater and love the waders so much. 

But, I think after getting suited up and getting in the car at Clearwater, I realized that I should probably have the size M/L, which means medium/long. I don't have as much flex in the knee
and leg area to bend down. They're fine, but when I get my next pair, I'll get the M/L, as I am 5'9

The fabric of the wader is not Gore-Tex, but one that is very similar and just as good. I have been wading to a deep as the bottom of my breast pockets and evenhad my phone in the pocket for pictures and they're completely dry and safe. The straps and suspenders detach along with a front zipper, making accessibility and adjusting super easy and comfortable.  

Needless to say, I really do love my Sonic Pro Women's Waders! I'll never ever go back to borrowing men's waders, it's not worth it now that I know the feeling of being comfy and cute on the water!