The Off Season

In Utah, there is no 'Off Season' or at least no closed season on trout fishing. Certain waters do get closed for parts of the year to protect spawning fish, but there's always somewhere to wet a line if you're feeling the itch and can withstand the cold. That's IF you can withstand the cold and a lot of people I know refuse to get out there and freeze. I can't really blame them, it's not much fun to bundle up so much it's hard to walk just to chase after a few fish that you'll most likely release anyway and come back with no feeling in your extremities. 

But there are some advantages to winter fishing. For one thing, there aren't as many people out on the water so you can go to the popular tailwaters without it feeling like combat fishing. The people who are out are just as crazy (or crazier) than you so they either won't bother you at all or you might actually be able to have a decent conversation with them. These aren't your tourist fisherpeople, these are the hardcore, committed, obsessed, crazies that can't help but fish every chance they get. In other words, these are your people and they probably won't take time away from freezing just to talk to you. 

Of course, it's easy to find reasons not to go fishing. Projects around the house need doing and if you get them done while it's cold out maybe you won't have to work on them when the weather is nice and the fishing will be better. Laying the flooring in my basement seems to be the project that never ends, but it will, and hopefully, before the temps regularly rise above freezing and the bugs (and fish) become more active. Of course, once the flooring is done there will be doors, trim and more painting to do. There is always something and it's easy to let it keep you home. 

So you don't let anything keep you home and get out there despite your internal dialog that says it's a waste of time. What you find is the weather isn't that bad through the middle of the day and it's nice to be outside again. Whether or not you find fish is a whole other issue, but it really is nice to be out there doing it instead of spending inordinate amounts of time tying flies and thinking about fishing. Sometimes it works out and you manage to catch some fish, sometimes even on dries. Just like that. Days that work out make you wonder why you haven't been getting out every chance you get. Then there are the days that you don't even see a fish and it seems to confirm that you haven't been wussing out, just biding your time until the weather and the fish are more hospitable so it's not a waste of your time, money, and effort. 

Working around the house watching birds and the mule deer that sometimes wander through the yard does wear thin though....maybe I'll go fishing tomorrow.

Hope you're as lucky,

Kidder

Don't Say It

January to June feels like it lasts forever, but this year it seems somehow longer. I've been getting out and doing some fishing but it hasn't been enough to recharge the batteries. Spring break has been a promising break on the horizon, and the feeling of, "If I can just make it until then" has been keeping me going. Weston seemed to be feeling about the same, and he even asked me to tie him some flies in preparation for the break. He even agreed to pay me for them! Of course, life has other plans and when Spring Break had finally arrived, there was an electrician and schedule to juggle. 

We figured out the schedule so that I could still get out and do something during the week. My Dad, Jeff, and Weston were pretty anxious to get some fishing in and we were hoping to do a trip together. I'm sure they were frustrated when they found out that they would have to wait an extra couple of days for me. Jeff took a quick trip with his kids to pass the time and one of them accidentally shut his fly rod in the truck door. It happens, but the timing wasn't ideal. He came up the night before we were supposed to leave to see if I could fix it, but the repair was going to take some time. I set him up with an old rod of mine and shared some of the flies that I had been tying. He gave me an awesome new net! 

An early morning drive to meet up with Weston and Dad and we were on our way. The plan was to fish all day, stay the night, and get a little more fishing in the next morning before heading home. As the sun came up we arrived at one of my favorite spots to fish. We started out tossing streamers and didn't find too much action, but the fish we did get to fall for our weighted Wooly Buggers were some great fish. The fish of the trip came to Weston on a white bugger.

Dad seems to get an idea in his head and just won't let it go, no matter how the fishing was going at our first spot he wasn't going to be happy until we went to his favorite spot. So even when I caught a really gnarly looking male, Dad was still going on about moving to his spot. 

Dad's spot doesn't have much variety to it. There are only a couple of places to cast from and it's still water, which means that if you fish under an indicator it's really boring. When the fishing is on (like it was for our last trip) it's great, but when it's a little slow it's like watching paint dry. He loves it though, so we had to go. Fishing was pretty slow, but we'd change flies/colors and hook into a couple quick and think things were going to turn around. But that would be it. No more fish, or strikes, or anything until we made the next change and it would happen again. Weston even brought out the spinning rod to see if that could change our luck but it was pretty much the same story with that. When everyone else was ready to call it and move somewhere else I put on a dry/dropper rig to throw a Purple Haze and a Zebra Midge at some risers. I caught two and had two more on before the wind kicked up to levels that made it hard to cast where the fish were. That was enough to get us to move on and try another spot. 

The next spot started out with Weston catching a couple on the spinning rod with a bugger. I started getting some on a San Juan Worm and a Pink Scud, but the wind was too much and we decided to do a little exploring that didn't yield any results. So we ended up right back to where we started and it was just how we'd left it. Fishing was slow, but there were fish to be had if you were patient. Jeff caught his best fish of the trip and I even caught a bass before we decided to call it for the day. 

On the way home, we talked about how this could be the last time we go out there for a while and debated whether or not to stay to do a little more fishing the next morning. I think we all knew that we wouldn't be staying, but none of us wanted to be the one to say it. We just started driving home without saying that the trip was over. 

Hope you're as lucky,

Kidder

Fly Tying Video: The Red Renegade

 Here's a video of how I tie the ultra-versatile Red Renegade:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvD-IgY4om8

Not The Same

There's always the desire to re-create success. However, sometimes it's best to move on and find new successes because no matter how good the second time is it can't live up to your memories. But with the success of the last trip (read about that Here) I couldn't wait to get back to the stream where we had such fast action. So, I was on my way to Jeff's house in the early morning with thoughts of lots of trout to be caught and even some hopes for some larger fish. 

In preparation for the return trip, I made sure to replace some of the flies that we'd lost during the previous trip and a few extras so we had plenty. The Purple Frenchie that had been so productive was at the top of the list, but I also tied up a few other variations just in case purple wasn't the color of the day. 

Jeff was ready to roll when I arrived at his house, so we didn't waste any time to get to our first spot. This was a spot that we've heard holds some really nice fish at certain times of the year, so we wanted to be the first ones to hit it for the day. Once we were rigged up and started fishing a couple hundred sheep came up to get a drink. Luckily, they tend to stay out of the water so we weren't too worried about them spooking any fish. The complicated currents and deep water made getting a good drift difficult, but we were shocked when we had no strikes and saw no fish. With no signs of life, and having exhausted our fly choices, we decided to move to an area where we had lots of success the other day. It didn't take more than a few casts for Jeff to hook into fish and get the skunk off of the day. 

It certainly felt like the day was going to take off as Jeff hooked into another brown on the purple Frenchie and I was itching to get in on the action. We started working our way upstream to fish some of the bigger pools, but the fishing really seemed to slow down. We were still making contact, but not nearly as often as we had hoped. 

Something was definitely different so we turned over a few rocks and even pumped one fish's throat hoping to figure out what was going on to get our catch rate up. The fish were feeding on midge pupa that were very active, and plentiful. We changed up our flies to match the hatch and picked up a few more fish, but our catch rate didn't go up like we'd hoped. I'm not sure, but I think with so many flies available to the fish we only caught the ones that we happened to drift our tiny flies right to. With evening coming on Jeff caught one more fish in what seemed like would be our last hole of the day. 

We moved upstream to see what was around the bend and I saw something that I've been looking forward to since last fall, rising fish. These fish were spread out in shallow water sipping off the surface. I tied on some 6x tippet and connected it to a large Purple Haze to act as an indicator and tied an RS-2 emerger as a dropper. My leader was pushing 14 feet long with some fine tippet, so I was shocked when the first fish that I worked up to spooked. I didn't think that my set-up needed any adjustment, so I approached the next fish as stealthily as I could and made sure to not let my leader land where the fish was feeding. While he didn't spook, the fish also didn't buy what I was selling and before I could switch out my dropper all the fish in the pool stopped rising. 

Rather than re-rig and try to dredge up one more fish we decided to call it and make the walk back to the truck. The fishing was less than what we'd hoped for, but it was a good day on the water with good company and we even found a few willing fish. Who could ask for more? 

Hope you're as lucky,

Kidder

Fly Tying: Purple Frenchie

 Here's a video showing how I tie the Purple Frenchie that has been responsible for so many of my fish lately!

Winter

I recently quit my job as an adjunct professor at the local Community College. The feelings of guilt at abandoning my students were quickly replaced by feelings of relaxation and a realization that I've been ignoring parts of my life for too long. One of those things was practicing music for me. Another was tying flies and actually getting out to use them. My full-time job takes up enough time that I really don't have much to spare, but without my evenings being filled with lessons away from home I slowly began to find my way back to the vise. 

With the rust slowly coming off, thoughts of putting these flies to work began to take hold and a plan was formed. Unfortunately, at about 1 am on the day we were supposed to hit the water Jeff texted me that his daughter had been up all night throwing up. So much for plans. As a last effort to not have to fish alone I texted Lane and asked if he was interested. He said he was and we decided to check out a stream that neither of us had ever fished in the winter. 

If this was a normal snow-pack year I don't think we would've been able to access the water, as it was the snow was a little bit of a workout to get through. What we found when we did reach the stream was extremely clear water with little to no current. Not exactly the easiest type of water to fish. I started out with a large bead headed Prince Nymph, mostly for weight, and a Purple Frenchie but without any success. Lane hooked into the first fish of the day on a San Juan Worm and followed it up with a second pretty quickly.

I switched out my Prince Nymph for a San Juan Worm and trailed it with a Zebra Midge, but the fish still weren't interested in my offering. When we found a pool with several fish in it Lane let me have the first shot at them, but they still gave me the cold shoulder. I thought for sure that Lane would clean out the pool, but the fish weren't too willing for him either. The wind started really picking up, and it made it difficult to get a good cast or even a decent drift. Lane moved upstream in search of more willing fish but I stuck with the pool trying to figure it out. I'm not sure that I ever did, but I did manage to fool one fish into eating my San Juan Worm. 

A beautiful brown trout soon came to hand, my first trout of the year. Hopefully, this is the first of many. After finally getting the skunk off, I caught up to Lane to see if he had broken the code and gotten into any more fish. What he had found was shallow, weed-filled, fishless water. We worked our way back up to the road to avoid pushing our way back through too much snow and walked back to the truck. We made one more stop before calling it a day, but the only story there was more deep snow and falling temperatures. Some people would say that freezing temperatures, icy wind, and only a few fish doesn't make for a good day. To me, it seemed pretty much par for the course for winter fly fishing and it sure felt good to get out fishing again.

Hope you're as lucky,

Kidder

Back At It

While at a professional development conference for music teachers someone randomly said, "You sure fish a lot!" This wasn't someone that I knew all that well and the statement kinda surprised me. My response was, "It doesn't feel like it." or something to that effect which left me wondering what a "lot" was. 

 While at the conference I got to catch up a little with another guy that fishes a "lot" and some loose plans were made. I always enjoy fishing with Lane. He's a good fisherman and I always learn something from him. It's also interesting to watch someone who knows what they're doing and compare that to what I would do. It's also nice that he doesn't plan on coming home early, doesn't get pissy if the fish don't cooperate and doesn't steal flies from me. 

A couple of texts and the plans were finalized for the day after Valentines Day, and even though I went fishing with my Dad on Valentines I was really excited to hit another stream. I had lost almost all of my #18 Red Zebra Midges, so in the morning before heading out I made sure to tie a quick half dozen. I knew they might not work as well today, but if I didn't have them I'd regret it. After that it was out the door to meet Lane in an abandoned K-Mart parking lot. Not sketchy at all....

Not red, but you get the idea...

The drive was filled with talk about our jobs, places we have fished and some hunches that we're planning on checking out soon. We checked on a couple of different spots, but ended up at a spot that neither of us had fished in years. I decided to start with a fly that used to be a go-to for this stream, a gray scud. The first cast showed it was a good choice and several small fish came to hand at the first hole. Nothing huge, but a nice mix of brown and rainbow trout. 

Usually, there would be a pic of my hand holding a fish right here. Unfortunately, I've misplaced my waterproof camera and history has shown I can't be trusted to use my phone anywhere near water...

It took a minute, but Lane started finding some fish including a nice tiger trout that was a surprise. We didn't even know there were tigers in this stream. While Lane started pulling in fish one after another, I picked up a bunch of golf balls that littered the stream. I was a little surprised to find them, but I was even more surprised that no one else had picked them up. This is one of the most popular streams in the state and I know there are a lot of people who have stepped over all the trash. I know you might not be the problem, but you can be the solution. I'm going to put a bag in my vest and try to be better about picking up some trash each trip. Hopefully we can make a difference out there in the places we love.

We moved upstream, finding a few fish in each hole until we came up to a large run that looked awesome. Having not been here for so long, it was way different than before, but still great looking. Had trouble figuring out what the fish would take until I got a nice whitefish on a Frenchie. This was the first fish I've ever caught on this pattern, and one of the biggest whitefish I've caught on this stream. Too bad it was a fluke, no other fish fell for the Frenchie.

A few rising fish tempted Lane into switching flies to a dry, and he caught one bow on a Griffith's Gnat. Slow fishing that normally would've sent us upstream pretty quickly kept us there with the occasional rising fish, or a decent brown/whitefish on a nymph, but never the same fly twice...

Deciding to try a different spot, we headed for the truck. Lane stopped to fish a likely looking spot and managed to hook one more small bow on the dry fly even though he didn't see the take - he just heard a splash and set! I figured we were done at this point, but Lane said he knew of a spot nearby to try. Always up for one more cast we drove to a spot that Lane's Uncle had shown him, but it was a spot that he hadn't fished in about 15 years. During the walk in, Lane described the way it used to be. A smooth pool where a few spooky fish might be, but even if they were it would be a short game. What we found was a pool with a good run and some complicated currents.

It took a minute to figure out what they wanted, but once I tried on a #18 Red Zebra Midge and fished the middle of the water column it all came together. Several fish came to hand, including some nice browns. At one point it was obvious that they liked what I was serving better than Lane's flies so I lent him my rod and he quickly missed a few takes and landed a good fish. 

We finally called it a day when the sun starting going down and our hands started going numb. A great day on the water with great company. 

Hope you're as lucky,

Kidder

Video: Tying the Chubby Ant

This is how to tie one of my favorite flies to use in a hopper dropper rig. The Chubby Ant is a quick tie that fish seem to love around here, hopefully it works well for you.

Turkey Time

When we built our house the water didn't get hooked up until pretty late in the game, which meant that we couldn't get the plumbing fully checked. When we were finally able to turn on the water it sounded like we had a leak on the yard hydrant. Not an issue to work on in November or December so we let it go until Spring. To our plumber's credit, they got ahold of us letting us know that they'd be in the area and would like to stop by and fix it. Good guys. I had to leave work a little early to meet them and turn on the water to the hydrant. As they dug down to the leak (through all of our numerous rocks) I sat inside and tried to get some work done but the idea of chasing turkeys was ruining my motivation. The short rain hit pause on the hydrant repair, but it wasn't long before they had it all fixed and ready to roll.

When I went out to talk to them before they left they told me there was a turkey gobbling out behind our house. The conversation ended when he sounded off again. I grabbed my stuff and headed out the back door, in such a hurry that I forgot to put a belt on my hunting pants. Tried to find a spot where I could see and made some calls. Got some gobbles back, but it seemed like they wouldn't come any closer. So I texted my neighbor for permission to hunt on his property and they got back to me quick saying it's fine. So I backed out, walked around and set up in the shade of some scrub oak. Texted the wife, checked facebook, clucked, texted my brother, checked instagram, heard a gobble, called, almost fell asleep, called, gobble, called, gobble, there's a Jake, end of hunt. Just like that I had some meat for a couple of meals and a lot of feathers to play with at the vise. This may have to become a tradition.

Hope you're as lucky,

Kidder

Day Dream

Fly tying - One of the few few activities that makes it permissible to spend hours hours alone day dreaming. You can argue it if you like, but if it really was only about filling a need in your box you wouldn't be tying hoppers in January. No, you tie hoppers in January to recall the warm afternoons of August when you we wade the stream to make the heat more bearable. The grass of the fields has turned to yellow and brown hinting at the fall to come, while the grass on the banks stays green. This brings all the bugs of the land perilously close to where the fish, an odd combo of browns and cutts, wait with their attention turned toward the surface. Ho they see it from under the cut bank is more than a mystery, but you don't spend too much time contemplating the properties of light refraction. Instead, you rinse the sunscreen off your hands before picking out a hopper to attach to your leader. Longer and lighter than you'd like, the leader is just heavy enough to turn over the tan and black Hopper Juan that hasn't been pulled from the box since you placed it there back in January when you anticipated this moment, despite the snow gently piling up outside. 

If there had been more snow, the water would be moving a little quicker and you might've gotten away with a shorter, stouter leader. As it is, you'll be banking on the fish waiting for a hopper to fall into the river with a splash, just like your fake one does when you cast it about a foot away from the bank that has held so many fish in the past. You let it dead drift back towards you, saving the twitches you'll add for later if the dead drift proves ineffective. You see her turn and follow the imitation down stream towards you and though it feels like half an hour passes, she quickly takes down your fly with a determined gulp. You wait for her head to turn back upstream before you set the hook and feel her weight. 

That's why you tie hoppers in January.

Kidder

Barbless

I've been tying a lot of flies lately. It's a good way to have some quiet time and think through things when I can't be on the water. I also listen to the Orvis Podcast with Tom Rosenbauer  while tying, it's a really good way to learn a bunch about fly fishing and I highly recommend it. One thing that really got me re-thinking the way I do things was Tom really pushing barbless hooks. I've smashed the barb down from time to time, but I've never been too concerned with it. Which is surprising considering how many times I've hooked myself! I'm sure it won't make up for all my iniquities, but I've made a resolution to smash the barb on all my flies for the next little while to see if my catch rates go down. 

 The past few tying sessions have been dedicated to filling my nymph box. With our house on the market (we've already had one offer!) I'm not sure if there will be much time to tie in the coming months. Which means I'm going to need lots of Hare's Ears, Prince Nymphs, and Pheasant tails in all the variations I like to fish. 

When I was told about a last minute showing of the house for Saturday afternoon I took it as a sign to stop tying and go check on one of the local streams. Upon arrival I spotted a couple of fish rising inconsistently. There were quite a few midges around, but with the infrequent rises I figured it had to be the few Blue Winged Olives that the fish were after. It was at this point I realized that my dry box hadn't made the drive with me! I made due with an Orange Asher I happened to have in my drying patch, and while it wasn't what they really wanted I managed to start the day off with a fish caught on a dry fly. 

Unfortunately, not many fish were willing to eat a fly they didn't really want. So as I made my way to the next hole I switched out the Asher for a Tri-Colored Nymph under an indicator and picked up a few small browns right away. 

Working my way upstream there were more fish to be had with the nymph rig, but whenever I spotted a rising fish I switched back to the Asher to give it a shot. I managed one more on a dry, but most fish came on the Tri-Colored. The best fish, the prettiest fish, and the last fish of the day came just before dark and was my only Cutthroat of the day. I'm so glad there are Cutts in this stream! They are always a treat to catch and break up the usual browns. The Utah Division of Natural Resources should be commended for their efforts to restore these native fish back where they belong.

I did lose a few fish, but no more than usual and not one that I could honestly say was a result of my smashed barb. Maybe this won't be so bad...

Hope you're as lucky,

Kidder

Bead Head Hare's Ear

Baby Damsel

Tri-Colored Nymph

Video: Tri--Colored Nymph

Looking Back & Planning Ahead

We're hoping for lots of changes in the upcoming year. Right now we're prepping our house to put it on the market, I just got braces (in an attempt to save my saxophone playing), I just accepted the position of Jazz VP in our state's Music Educator's Association, and we're looking at potential places to buy or build a new home. Whenever life's on the brink of new adventures it seems like a good time to look back. Luckily, google put together a slideshow of the past year that helps with that.

Even with all the changes that could be happening, I'm tying flies and looking forward to getting some fishing in. 

Crazy time in the Kidder household, but we feel like great things are in store. Hope you're as lucky,

- Kidder

* This is Post #200!!! Maybe we should do a giveaway or something*

Good to the Last Fish

I like ice fishing alright, but for the past few years I've tried to end the year with a fly fishing trip. I'm no purist, ask anyone, but I do enjoy fishing with a fly rod more than any other method I've tried. There's just something about the casting, flies, fly tying, and, of course, the fish. Speaking of tying flies, I received a new fly box for Christmas that made it very clear that I've been slacking on my tying. 

I like to use these as a dropper off the back of my streamer

With some new flies in the box (still not full...) the plans were laid for a cast and blast trip with my brothers. After my drive up to the big city and a short night on the couch we set out on the long drive to where we hoped to find some big, willing trout. What we found was deep snow cutting off our access and ice helping to limit our options. Wes and I threw streamers while Jeff had more success fishing nymphs under an indicator.

Jeff playing a bow to the net

Wes with a nice tiger

With fishing not being quite what we'd hoped for we headed to our next destination for the blast portion of the trip. There were a few jack rabbits taken, but the highlight was when Jeff put the hurt on a coyote. I've never even shot at one of these dogs but Jeff has shot quite a few of them and is really into the predator hunting. I guess we all have our thing...

Jeff with his 'yote

It was a long couple of days, with a horrible night spent in the truck included, but a great way to round out the year. It was a good year with lots of new adventures and time well spent with family and friends. 2016 promises to be even better with Atley getting to deer and elk hunt for the first time and the possibility of more camping and fishing trips. Hope you can get out, be safe, and enjoy nature.

- Kidder

When I got home my boy Caden drew me my last fish of the year. 

Bitten

Back in February, I was longingly thinking about June and all the after work short trips that I'd be taking. Not to mention the backpacking, camping, boating, etc, etc.... In an attempt to realize those torturous late winter dreams I headed out after work one day last week with my buddy Ross to try a small stream I know of that holds some nicer fish. 

Once we arrived it was obvious that fishing was going to be tough with low water, a bright sun and some spooky fish. So, we fished in turns with the other guy acting as a spotter. I don't know about you, but I really like fishing this way. We soon found some fish that were willing to play and Ross was into a good rainbow on his egg pattern. 

A nice, darkly colored, rainbow

I backed up and climbed down to help him out with his fish and spotted a fish working in the riffle just behind us. So I slung my streamer over and worked it back and forth in the current which brought on a vicious hit (for such little guy) from another 'bow. 

Love seeing a fish slam a streamer

Fishing really slowed down from there as the mosquitoes began to really become a nuisance, but we trudged on hoping that the two pools up ahead would yield some nicer fish. There were definitely fish around as we approached, but they were hard to get at without making 'em wise to our presence. Not to mention that we were casting, swatting mosquitoes, changing hands, swatting mosquitoes, setting on a take - too late, and swatting at mosquitoes.

Suckers

In the next hole we spotted a couple of fish holding just outside of an undercut bank and I decided to try my hand at some underwater photography. The first two attempts yielded very cloudy pictures in which you could barely discern a fish, but the third shot was by far the most successful. 

Not quite Fish Eye Guy Photography, but not bad for a hack like me!

Ended out the day with a final 'bow hitting my streamer below a fairly impressive little waterfall. I shot a quick pic, released the fish, and we hurried back to the car - swatting mosquitoes the whole way. All in all a good little trip, and a reminder to bring some bug spray next time! Hope you can get out, be safe, and enjoy nature.

- Kidder

This streamer is getting close to earning itself a name....any suggestions?

Right Foot

Yesterday, after finishing up a week that seemed to last for at least twice as long as it should have, I snuck away for a little fishing. I didn't have long, so I just hit a local creek that hasn't been very kind to me lately. Trying out a new version of the Parachute Zebra was at the top of the list for the day, trying to decide if the extra effort of adding a peacock herl thorax was worth it. 

#22 are a little bit of a pain

Made the short drive from work to the stream and walked down to one of my favorite holes. Intent on the work at hand I started out with a parachute zebra but had no takers. BTW they do seem to float better with a little peacock in the mix, hopefully this doesn't change the way the fish feel about them. I switched it out for a Chernobyl Ant with a Bead-Head Pheasant Tail dropper and managed to miss a few fish before starting to make my way back up to the car. A likely looking riffle produced the only fish of the day.

Small, but I was happy to see him

A rising fish in the slick above the road distracted me enough to keep me from jumping in my car and heading home right then. Switched back over to the Parachute Zebra and managed to miss him three times before putting him down indefinitely (or at least till I was back to the car and gone). Today might bring better results, but it sure felt good to start May off on the right foot. Hope you can get out, be safe, and enjoy nature.

- Kidder

Stir Crazy

Around here the weather is right in that transitional phase where it will snow one day and be over 60 degrees the next, which doesn't usually equate to good fishing. Between that, and some family duties that were scheduled, it didn't look like I was likely to get out. No big deal, I'll just spend some time at the vice (since I'm still waiting on some parts for the rod building project). 

These are typically used for trolling behind a dodger, or pop-gear, but I think they might work as a small pike fly...

Fun stuff

By Sunday afternoon I was feeling the walls close in around me and knew that I had to get out. Atley and I took a short ride to check on some water that I'm hoping to hit soon, and a small stream that should provide a nice quick-trip getaway during the summer.

I like the different shades of blue

On this angle the water looks way more green, unbelievably low though.

Couple of Canadians

This is about a 15 minute drive away from my house.

All we found was mud and some geese, but it still felt good. Hope you can get out, be safe, and enjoy nature.

- Kidder

The muddy water doesn't look so bad in B&W