She's a Screamer

The Ebay listing went a little something like this....

"We know nothing about fishing, let alone fly fishing.  This reel was under some papers in a bin that we bid on at an estate sale auction.  Looks like it's never been used.  Hope someone can find some use and joy from it"

Ah hem...what?

So after some serious last second bidding and a week in between, she arrived at my house. The Hardy Sunbeam 8/9.   I don't think this reel has ever seen water.

Pull a little line of the reel and she screams the classic hardy click.  It sounds beautiful.  

I think I'll introduce her to a steelhead this weekend.

The Redington Trask Flannel

Flannels arent just for hipsters.  Oh no no...

Nor do fishing shirts have to be singular in color with no personality.   We all have a few of those, right?

Enter the Trask  Long Sleeve Flannel by Redington

Here are my top 5 reasons why I dig this shirt

1.  Wife Approved--Not a lot of what I sport on the river makes the grade on date night.  This one does.

2.  Vintage Look--And I dont even have to step foot into a vintage clothing store and deal with the people that work there.    Sorry Macklemore, but  6'8 dudes usually don't find clothing in stores with names like the Eclectic Rabbit.

See...cool buttons and everything

3.  The Collar --It stays put.  I've had this piece for 6 months and have washed it countless times.  Boom, the line in the collar is unwavering.  No ironing needed

4.  Double Bubba means Double Bubba--Long enough to the waist, long enough in the arms.  They tech speak term that Redington uses is CastCut, allowing for more freedom of movement.

5.  Long and short sleeve options.....because not all of us experience winter, or the converse of that.

The Redington Trask Flannel passes the Chucking Line and Chasing Tail test.   Anything that lasts 8 months in my closet in both a fishing and general living adaptation has me smiling...and this shirt does for me.

Good luck this fall, go out and get some.

River Beer....

Never kick a gift horse in the mouth.

Not all beverage containers you find on the river are drained of their contents.  On a hot day on a river, these little gems of sweet relief are to be taken as omens of good luck to come.

Whilst I despise....let me repeat DESPISE anything in an "Ice" variety, I wasn't about to let this karma nugget float on by.    My guess is this beer had been in the river a while and had begun its journey much farther upriver.  Notice the heavy scarring on the can.....more character if you ask me.

In this particular case, this beer was sweet reward for one of the most savage dryline grabs a steelhead has ever given to me.

Then, that Ice bullshit tasted pretty damn good.

New Issue of Swing the Fly

Nothing gets me more excited about steelhead and salmon fishing than this magazine does

Luckily, yours truly placed third in the cover shot photo contest.  I have no idea how it made the cut, considering the quality of photos in the contest but I will take it non the less

Great work and words from the likes of Joe Willauer, Mark Stangeland, and Marty and Mia Shepard to name a few, take a few minutes and dive in

Click HERE for your link

Happy swanging.

Take That Butterball...

We'll go ahead and eschew the farm raised bird for the wild stuff this upcoming thanksgiving.

Fall is the shit.  Really, is there any time better in the entire year?

Too Bad Buck...

An errant shot and a hell of a stink on the riverbank, this muley just couldn't escape his fate.  Too bad, considering how big he was even after the state of decomposition.

Either by bow or muzzloader, this buck was returning to the biomass.  Maybe even feeding some steelhead smolt along the way

I've Got Plans For Your Nov. 8th

Trailer: Waypoints from Confluence Films from The Fly Fishing Guide Directory on Vimeo.


We'll call this a bit of foreshadowing.....maybe what they call in the biz..."a teaser"

But here's the deal.  Let the Misses know that you and her have plans that night.

As for now, just remember I and the Wild Steelhead Coalition call dibs on November 8th in your calendar