I went to Southern California last week. San Diego to be
more specific. Jamie and I, determined to catch our favorite
band, Pearl Jam, flew down to escape the Jackson off season,
eat tacos, see friends and attend a 3.5 hours marathon of a
concert. While I can’t claim to completely understand what
goes on in California, I can appreciate the beautiful weather
and great vistas. I debated taking a fly rod (I hear there’s fish
to be caught in the surf) but thought it best to focus on other
things… Highlights of the trip included seeing some great
friends, a beach fire, the PJ show and a trip to some cliffs and
tide pools.

Hello friend. A barnicle that had hitched a ride on a big
piece of kelp. The ocean, with all it’s creatures can keep a man
busy for quite some time.

Caution: Mountain fishing guide loose on the boardwalk.
Shortly after this was taken, I got myself a shaved ice and
kicked back, taking in Pacific Beach.

Jamie and I enjoyed morning strolls on the beach

Celebrating my lady’s birthday with a bonfire on the
beach..

Like Norman in A River Runs Through It, I too am “haunted
by waters”. More specifically, waters with large Brown trout in
them. What can I say; it’s just that time of year. Most
Americans associate October with pumpkins, falling leaves,
ghouls and goblins and shortening days. Me and other fly
fisherman here in the Rockies think of orange and ochre
colored Brown Trout; angry fish with sex on their mind and a
predisposition to smack a streamer.

Lately I’ve been working some cold, trout-infested water
with streamers in hopes of hooking a true beast. It happened
to my friend Jeromie last week on his last cast of the day;
monster hammers streamer, fight ensues, fish pops off just
before being brought to hand, just after jumping out of the
water to show us how big it was. I had my chance too a few
days ago when a ravenous, kype-jawed brown smashed my
streamer within sight. This scared the bejesus out of me,
causing me to miss the hook-set (hey, when you haven’t
gotten so much as a bump in 2 hours of casting, it’s only
natural).

The following day I got more serious, taking two rods to
the water with me; one rigged with a streamer and one with a
floating line, double nymph rig. This determination paid off. I
landed two beautiful Rainbows and hooked a few nice browns.
Any other outing, this would be considered great. The problem
is that when you come face to face with Moby Dick, nothing but
the White Whale will do. And after enduring gale force winds
and the need to get back to the old dog, I surrendered,
admitting defeat for the day.

Now, each minute I spend off the water is another minute
obsessing about the fish that are on the fall migration. I tie
more streamers, adding more marabou, more rabbit, more
rubber legs and other materials that’ll add even more
movement to flashy patterns and (in my hopeful mind) entices
a shark attack. Time will tell and hopefully later this week I’ll
get to test my new creations, coming face to face with my
white whale.

Preparing for a cold day of October Brown trout
fishing….

When October arrives, with it comes the transition to
winter. Lately here in Jackson Hole, the weather has varied
considerably, with snow and fast-moving early season storms
making frequent appearances. Animals are doing their best to
put on the pounds for the upcoming winter. Trout do this too,
sipping Blue Winged Olives and the odd grasshopper that
stumbles into the cold current.

Jamie showing off one of the nice trout from the
weekend

We’ve been trying to make the most of things around here,
fishing as much as possible and tying any necessary flies that
aren’t already in the fly boxes. Jamie and I got out this past
weekend, spending one day scouting for fall-run brown trout
and another day on a beautiful Dubois trout river. We failed to
locate staging browns in the lake. The wind added considerable
challenges and it’s probably still a little early, but it never hurts
to check…. Nymphing proved successful on the moving water.
Jamie ended up landing several really nice cutthroat trout
during the hours we spent out. Besides the trout, we saw mule
deer, pronghorn, a fox and two Grizzly bears.

One of the two Grizzlies we saw on our drive home.
These guys walked right by our car

The Gov’t shutdown has affected things around here.
GTNP, Yellowstone and the National Elk Refuge are all closed
at the moment, denying access to the anglers and guides who
hoped to fish, not to mention all the folks who were planning
to enjoy the parks in arguably the best month of the year to
sightsee. I’m doubtful that things will reopen before the
season ends and we’ll probably have to wait until next year to
fish the miles of great water in our parks. In the meantime
there are still plenty of fishy waters to explore that remain
open and unaffected from the idiots in Washington. Tributaries
in the forest are still fishing well and bigger rivers the like
Snake are in their prime.

Lots of fishing’s been going on around here lately, hence
the lack of blog posts. Days have been long, starting early
with coffee and some quick flies being tied for the upcoming
day, continuing to time on the water with clients and finishing
with preparations being made for the next day. Rest will come
this winter. For now though, fishing is the top priority. The fly
fishing’s been good; most trout have been fooled with dry flies
or dry/dropper setups. Although most of my time has been
spent floating on the Snake River here in Jackson, I’ve also
had quite a few days guiding folks on Flat Creek and more
remote waters over around Dubois, WY. Below are a few
pictures from the past few weeks.

Kevin with a nice Snake River Cutthroat trout. He and his
son Kory spent a week with me fishing area waters; great folks
and a great fish!

Derek hooks up on the Wind River outside of Dubios, WY…

Area Brook trout are starting to display brillant colors in
preperation for the spawn. Here’s one taken on a backcountry
stream in the Shoshone National forest.