55 on the fly

My buddy Jim and I were lucky enough to take these two deer on a very snowy afternoon hunt in Western New York..... That's me with my doe and Jim with his 4 pointer. Some fine eating for sure. One friend commented that we looked like a couple of hunters out of an old 1958 LL Bean Catalog..... and I think that's about as fine a compliment as you receive... Yeah, were a bit "old school"... Oh and here's some of that fine eating ...  Venison tenderloins and eggs for a hunters breakfast, a tradition with us....  We are very thankful for all we have: God, Family, Friends and everything "Good" in our lives! Happy Thanksgiving!

Hi folks, happy to report taking this fine old hen turkey this week in Cherry Creek, NY... I called her in with a group of 12 other hens and Jenny's..... I used my own Custom built DKW Cherry Trumpet Call to bring her to the gun. Lots of; good eating, call making and fly tying material for the future...

Here's my bow drill kit and some practice, willow spindle and hearth board.

Something different today I have had this on my bucket list for a while..... I made friction fire today for the very first time! Yeah baby.... decided to give it a go yesterday. I used pear wood and was unsuccessful. I could get smoke but did not get a good burning coal.  Today, I tried basswood. I made a new spindle and hearth board and went to work. My goal was to just get a burning and sustainable coal. Here she is my first coal.... using the bow drill. Tools used.... for a second and then third coal..... on this one I had a tinder bundle waiting and ... Yes sir, blew it to flame.... It was so cool to accomplish this goal.

I had just a couple of hours to fish this morning so I choose a section of the Yellowstone River close to Gardiner.  I was able to catch this Rainbow right-off-the-bat and then the wind came up big time. Gusting up river with a fury..... Casting was tough but getting a good drag free drift was even tougher.... I fished for an hour without a look from another fish and packed it in... Well hey, at least I did't get skunked... Caught and released....

     We set out for an afternoon drive down through Lamar Valley to Barronette Peak to look for mountain goats.  Using the binoculars and spotting scope we were able to find and watch five goats.  There were two adults and three kids - a nice family.  It was amazing to see how high they were and the ease with which they moved around on the side of a stoney mountain.  We sadly did not get any photos since they would have been tiny white dots in the frame.      As we came back through Lamar Valley we spotted a bald eagle.  Michelle went out for a closer look and was treated to a graceful fly over after leaving it's perch. A huge bison on our way to Lamar Valley. Just over the mountains from Lamar Valley is the Buffalo fire. The flames were often visible and frequently shot up into the sky.  Smoke soon filled the Lamar Valley casting an eerie feel. The view from our campsite is a bit smokey due to an...

Today I went on a float trip down the Yellowstone River with my guiding buddies. Both off these guys are guides for Parks Fly Shop as was I when I was guiding. In fact, Wilson took my place when I stopped guiding. So, it was fun to all fish together; talk, relax, laugh and even catch a few. And thats just what we did...... talked.... relaxed.... laughed and we all caught a few trout and lots of White fish. I regret not taking more photos but, we were too busy having fun... These guys are the best! My good friends Wilson and Ben. Wilson with a little Cutthroat. Myself and Wilson.... taking a break....beautiful country and a beautiful day.

Things were looking up today. I took lots of fish. Most of them on the Korn's Split-tail yellow and orange hopper. It's so nice to see them come up from the bottom and just hammer that hopper. I was lucky enough to catch at least one of everything today completing the "Yellowstone Slam" of; Cutthroat, Cutt-bow, Rainbow, Brown Trout and White Fish. Brown trout Rainbow Trout another Rainbow one of many Browns brought to hand today.... on the fly.... Yeah he's a good one... And then this female Brown took me back down river a ways. She got out in the fast water and really put up a nice fight before I could finally land her...

Chasing the browns.... My friend and fellow past fly shop guide Jordan is visiting Gardiner for just a few days. With today being his last day we got out early so that Jordan could catch his plane in Bozeman at 2pm. We were able to catch a bunch of browns all in the 12-16 inch range and Jordan caught a nice 15 inch rainbow as a bonus. Jordan lives in Edinburg, Va. just a few miles from our oldest son's house.... I'm hoping we can fish together again sometime this fall back East in the Shenandoah River Valley. My first fish of the day. Jordan and a nice Brown trout. All-n-all a great morning on the river...

Michelle and I hit the trail for a hike today. Of course I can't go anywhere near water without one of my fly rods in tow. So, we started at the Lava Creek trail head near Undine Falls in YNP and our goal was to hike down to the confluence of Lava Creek and the Gardner River. Undine Upper Falls Mammoth Hot Springs from a-far... Getting closer to Mammoth Hot Springs. Along the way Michelle found a rock... Our lunch spot next to Lava Creek, just above the confluence with the Gardner River... Well I had to try a cast or two...  Yep, little Rainbow trout, just as I had remembered when I fished this creek in 2009... Cute little buggers aren't they, I caught several as we moved up river from place-to-place... then BAM, my Adams fly got hammered, notice the bend in my 4wt. fly rod! ...and caught a very big Brown trout for these waters, yeah baby... The hike back to the truck was all up hill, but hey we had the wind at our backs, not...

Lately we have had good luck fishing early in the morning trying to beat the heat. It's been in the 90's here lately and these Browns will turn off as the day heats up.... So, here we are getting after them at sunrise until about 10:00 this morning.... Ben had to work at 8, so I had to continue without him... Hey, someone had to do it! After a hard morning of fishing it was off to the Two-Bit for a breakfast burrito, so good... First fish of the day and I'm barely awake.... I only got one cup of coffee this morning, can you tell? Ben's a master fisherman and a great friend ... see him below in action. A good heavy Brown trout of 19 inches.... with Ben off to work it was more of the same with many nice browns of 15-17 inches brought to hand. Last fish of the morning..... another beauty.