#Infernoflies Round 2

With Eastern Washington crushing Jacksonville St 35-24 in last weekend's FCS playoff, that gives us two things

1.  Another killer home game this Saturday versus Towson at Roos Field in Cheney

and....

2.  Round of Inferno Flies.

Last week's winner comes from Laura Jenkins, who snapped this shot of boyfriend Eric Speer's recent catch, which so happened to have an all red #infernofly in it's grill.  We're suckers for great fish pictures, and having the fly in the mouth of our favorite fish pushed this entry over the top to win. Flies are in the mail Eric and Laura

Onward to this week's competition....

It runs the same as last week.  Hit the vice and create your own #infernoflies or do what week one winners did and find a shot of the red bug in action.

Make sure to either share the pic with Evolution Anglers or the Millsfly FB pages, or on either instagram or twitter use the hashtag #infernoflies and tag both @evoanglers and @millsfly33 in the post

Joe and I will be posting our week's prize fly up shortly this week and after this weekend's game, we'll pic the winner and award the bugs.

Good luck and GO EAGS!

Strong Work--The Big Hole Watershed Committee

I have two distinct memories of the Big Hole.

First was of our first major Montana Fly Fishing trip in 2004.  We rented a cabin, trucked across three states, tried our hands at rowing a hard boat down the river in August (terrible idea btw, especially as rookies on the sticks) for 3 days and literally got our asses handed to us.

Sure a few fish were caught, but clearly we had some learning to do.  In any case, I knew I couldn't wait to get back

For the second memory, fast forward a few years and my good buddy the Vanilla Gorilla was kind enough to invite us to his wedding on the banks of that glorious river.   After a few days of kicking around Twin Bridges fishing the holy waters that collide there, we joined the wedding party in setting up for the wedding on a private ranch with a mile's worth of Big Hole access.

Those 4 hours before the wedding were pure magic.  The Big Hole showed me a glimpse of what a world class trout river is all about

Rainbows and browns crushed the phat bugs we chucked and just before the wedding began, a special surprise and the representation of what the Big Hole Watershed Committee is working for....

The Big Hole Watershed Committee is the leader in watershed restoration in the Big Hole Valley. 

Water is gold in SW Montana, and there are many that put in claims on the water.  Ranchers, Farmers, Fishermen and Women, Homeowners, and the list goes on.

In 1988, the Big Hole ran dry for 35 days and caused fish stocks to suffer dearly, including the famous yet small population of Grayling.  Water rights conflict and drought brought the river system to it's collective knees.

For the river system to remain viable for decades to come, it all comes down to adequate flows and a good management plan.  That's where the BHWC comes in, and if you're searching for a place for where your money can do some actual kick ass boots on the ground work, here it is.

If you've ever dropped a line into the water, or hope to someday in the future and want to know it's protected, donate to the BHWC.

Learn more as they're in a fundraising push and need everyone's help.

Visit the BHWC web site and donate NOW.

The fish, the ranchers, the fisherman and the entire Big Hole Valley will thank you.

Tuesday Truths....Six Degrees of Chewbacca

The truth of the day....

Fly fishing is a very small community.  

Get to know a few of the people around the fly fishing community and you end up playing the six degrees of separation....but usually it doesnt last that long before you find mutual friends.

The Vanilla Gorilla from Evolution Anglers is a good buddy of mine who guides out of the Stonefly Inn in Twin Bridges, Montana

On the other hand, I have a great client who lives in Seattle and is an ardent fly fisherman.  Eric's one of the guys in the advertising industry that I have tried to model myself after.   He's a hell of a dood.

I get a call from Eric a couple days ago, and the message was something like this

"Hey headed to Montana to fish with a big group of buddies in our annual fishing tournament"

Damn, sounds like a good time

Yesterday, the Vanilla Gorilla calls to tell me he's fishing in some tournament around Missoula as a break from his normal guide schedule.

Well I be damned....the same tournament.

The fly fishing community is small, but I like it that way.

Running the GoPro Like a Boss--Evolution Anglers

Shorts, Wet Wading, Browns, yuuuuuuup......summers coming

Check out this sweet video from The Vanilla Guerilla, not a bad way to waste a few minutes

Dont Fish Behind Vaccum Cleaners...

Cause....they scoop up all the fish.

Joe Willauer of Evolution Anglers with some coastal bling in the swang.....

That's definenty a boo yah moment.  And if you know Joe, you'd know why!

Getting it Done in SW Montana...

2011 Best of the Blue Skiff from Evolution Anglers on Vimeo.


So you need another reason to visit SW Montana, well.....I suggest you contact the Vanilla Guerilla.

Enjoy the music (Local Natives, they rule) and the fish (they also rule)

The 38 Foot Tall Fly Fisherman

What you say?  This is no camera trickeration.  The guy in the front of the picture is 6'2, so my math has the Vanilla Guerrilla at about 38 feet tall. 

Damn guy is a stealthy Steelhead fisherman too, even if he can cast clear across the Snake River.

3 Shot Series From Evolution Anglers

3 beautiful shots from Rick Dog at Evolution Anglers.  Great work bud!

A little PR for the Silver Bow

And lastly, the money shot. 

A Little Taste of The Stonefly....

A little taste of what I was a part of last weekend in Twin Bridges, Montana. 

What a place

When The Bobber Goes Down....

according to Joe from Evolution Anglers, 

STRIKE LIKE COBRA!

Spending 2 days in Twin Bridges with Joe and the rest of the crew at the Stonefly Inn got me really tuned up in reading the action of a strike indicator (aka starring at a bobber)   This phrase is another one the hillarious one liners that Joe brings to the table as your progress through the day on the water.  Some I can say here, other's you're just going to have to hear for yourself.

We both believe there are a lot of times when a fish picks up your bug, spits it out and you never knew it happened.   Becoming one with your indicator, in a zen sense can make all the difference.  

So back to the main point of this post.  When in doubt, STRIKE LIKE COBRA when your bobber jukes, jumps or plain goes under and swims away.   Set the hook and see what happens.

Because sometimes, there's a fish attached.

If you're thinking of going out to Montana this summer, you'd be crazy to not fish with the crew from the Stonefly.    Utterly crazy.

The high water of early spring and summer is going to make July, August and September just pain nuts.   Give them a call, you wont regret it.

Go Get Yourself Some Tail...

Ahh huh....

The time is absolutely right.  You might want to call Brazda and Chewbacca to see if they have time left.

Chasing the OP Dream

Battling high flows, muddy waters and finicky steelhead....it seems like it the deck is stacked against you.  



But the moral of the story is.....Go fishing.   Good shit happens.

Texts You Dont Want Receive While Sitting in Cubicle-land

It's Monday, 9am and I am knee deep in getting the work week rolling.

Emails are being shot out, faxes are coming in.  New shit is coming to light and my desk rumbles with the report of a text received. 

Its my buddy Joe, AKA, Chewbacca, AKA Toby Keith of the OP, AKA Mr Evolution Anglers. 

"(Angler Name Omitted) just released some lower Hoh chrome at (specific run name omitted) "

And so begins a series of texts that I'd rather not get again.  Never.  Ever. 

Then this comes in

"Hooked 3 so far"

Oh really,  thanks for the update and my tie becomes a little more tight. 

And then the clincher.  If this was mortal combat, this would be the kill shot and the game would proclaim "flawless victory"

"Just swung the best steelhead of my life"

Oh really, great.  Good for you.  Thanks for ruining my day

3 weeks to go till our sojourn to the Holy Land of Steelhead and Team Jacob.   Mid March can't come fast enough.

Still considering coming out to the OP, I highly, highly suggest you book a trip with Joe from Evolution Anglers.  Joe and the Brazda Crew work hard, fish hard and plain do it right.   They might or might not have a couple of select openings before the season is done.  If I were you, I'd jump on it brosef.  

You wont regret it

I fully anticipate 3 weeks of texts to continue to come until I am sitting in Joe's boat. 

FCB.

July and August, White Unicorns and Weddings

July

The annual trip to the Smallmouth Who Eat Mice River was a smashing success.   Now its dry fly action that I really get excited about.  They eat like they've never seen food before

On a whim, we decided to "take a look" at the Clearwater and hope against hope that the far leading edge of the summer run Steelhead were in town.

You see, white unicorns DO exist.

Do yourself a favor and skip fishing for Steelhead over here in July.  Because if you do and you luck into a fish like this silver rocket, it makes you forget all else.  Wait till September or something sensible.

Yeah right.  Wish I could say I followed that advice but as you can see, the pictures from July are done because no other Steelhead were caught and that's all I went for.


August

I put the two hander away for a bit for a trip to Montana's holy land of Twin Bridges.  Good buddy and fishing guide Joe of Evolution Anglers was getting married and of course, there were some fish to be caught.

A beautiful day in the valley floating with Liz and Kevin  followed by a beautiful day on the Big Hole at Joe and Ke'lah's wedding.  We might or might not have fished the morning of their wedding.....just maybe

Also, I caught another white unicorn.

Tune in tomorrow for The Fay Clave of September an October's guns of fall