Background: Yellowstone cutthroat are in serious decline in Yellowstone Lake largely thanks to predation from an exploding population of invasive, non-native lake trout. Numbers of cutthroat in the Yellowstone Lake ecosystem have dropped to less than five percent of the historic population. 25 years ago, spawning returns in the Clear Creek tributary were 50,000 fish per…
Has this whole thing become just a little overly serious? It’s hard to imagine, but I continue seeing far too many anglers on the river who can barely be distracted to acknowledge a fellow angler, focused on the serious task at hand, or treating others like competition. Those who give the look of suspicion, as…
The Dood comes into the shop asking if we “have any emerging ant patterns.” When the attempt is to made to explain why such a thing doesn’t exist, he swears up and down that he was just fishing on a lake and watching ants “emerge” out of the water. The Dood asks if we’ll give…
For those sad souls who can’t get the angling monkey off their backs and have chosen to live well above the seasonal freezing line, winter can easily slide into a cornucopia spilling over with bountiful excuses. Much like the traveling charlatan preacher for whom the mind is willing but the flesh is weak – we…
Confessing a love for chasing chum salmon is kind of like of admitting I used to be an altar boy – something I generally only reveal to close friends.
Painful reality sets in – I don’t have a single salmonfly pattern in my box, and suddenly my meager caddis feels like trying to pawn off a puny cocktail weiner at an all-you-can-eat bratwurst fest…
Bacchus, the Roman god of feasting and excess, would be proud – the orgy is in full swing and the sheer visual gluttony of the event makes focusing on the details of trying to get everything right even harder. Separating the continuous splashy grabs of over-eager young‘uns from the confident, rolling takes of the big…
Runoff. Somehow the word is far too mild, not gutteral enough, to express my loathing.Can we just agree to call it turd soup? The riparian version of a south of the border bout of Montezuma’s Revenge?
“Yeah, see this big hole? That’s in the timing belt cover. I wouldn’t drive very far until we can get your car back in to fix this.” He doesn’t need to tell me twice – it looks ugly. Make appointment for later in the week. The next morning, pack up the car and head to…