Her fish my fingers!
Saturday, July 30, 2011
MY MOM RIPPING LIPS
Did an evening float the other day. Had my Mother in the front of the Clackacraft. Fished a grasshopper dry. She had several eats and this 20" cut-bow made it to the net.
Her fish my fingers!
Her fish my fingers!
Monday, July 25, 2011
Caelifera in the order Orthoptera...The Hoppers are coming!
The hoppers are two to three weeks away. The cool wet weather this spring and early summer has slowed their development. Around my house (half mile from the river) the hoppers are flying . Nearer the river most hoppers are still less than an inch in length. As the vegetation away from the river dries, they will move to the green vegetation on the river banks. And then the dinner bell will be ringing.
Last Thursday evening, Seth Kapust (lead guide at North Platte Lodge), my Dad (Michael), and I did a dry fly recon on the upper section of the Reef. We had ten takes, two get-aways and four fish to the net. My Dad got his nymph rod out and in 15 minutes he had 5 hookups with 3 fish to the net. Not bad for one arm. The fish are stacked on the banks right now. The rumor from the river keeper is they will drop the river to around 4800 cfs the first of August. That will be perfect as that should coincide with hoppers on the wing. This will be more fun than Harry Reid and Nancy Chemical Peel at a Snoop Dog concert!
Molly Update
Molly continues to make amazing progress. We are doing long (300 + yard) marked triple retrieves. She is learning hand signals now. I started her on hand signal backs last week. We trained last night at Pathfinder Ranch. I set up a 300 yard marked single retrieve with a 50 yard blind off the line of the marked. I sent Molly on the marked retrieve line. When she was 150 yards out, I hit her with the whistle. She stopped immediately and turned to face me. I gave her a left-over toward the blind. She took the cast perfectly and winded the blind. She delivered it to hand. I then sent her on the long mark. Proud Daddy. Still long way to go but she will definitely get some playing time in the upcoming season.
Last Thursday evening, Seth Kapust (lead guide at North Platte Lodge), my Dad (Michael), and I did a dry fly recon on the upper section of the Reef. We had ten takes, two get-aways and four fish to the net. My Dad got his nymph rod out and in 15 minutes he had 5 hookups with 3 fish to the net. Not bad for one arm. The fish are stacked on the banks right now. The rumor from the river keeper is they will drop the river to around 4800 cfs the first of August. That will be perfect as that should coincide with hoppers on the wing. This will be more fun than Harry Reid and Nancy Chemical Peel at a Snoop Dog concert!
Molly Update
Molly continues to make amazing progress. We are doing long (300 + yard) marked triple retrieves. She is learning hand signals now. I started her on hand signal backs last week. We trained last night at Pathfinder Ranch. I set up a 300 yard marked single retrieve with a 50 yard blind off the line of the marked. I sent Molly on the marked retrieve line. When she was 150 yards out, I hit her with the whistle. She stopped immediately and turned to face me. I gave her a left-over toward the blind. She took the cast perfectly and winded the blind. She delivered it to hand. I then sent her on the long mark. Proud Daddy. Still long way to go but she will definitely get some playing time in the upcoming season.
Molly airborne on a retrieve and first hopper rainbows of 2011!
Get 'er done!
Thursday, July 14, 2011
"And The Beat Goes On"
The fishing remains amazing. I know I have said this before but it demands repeating. The Grey Reef and Miracle Mile sections of the North Platte are the best trophy trout waters in the US. 20 inch rainbows are now routine. The North Platte Lodge has a 25" Club. We award anglers a hat recognizing their accomplishment. The Lodge has had to re-order hats already this year.
A friend of mine recently spent the day at the Mile. He had over 100 hookups and landed over 70 fish. He lost count of the fish over 20". He fished a Golden Stone dry with a dropper. The vast majority of takes were on the dry. He had 6 fish break him off! And he was wade fishing! That can't be done on any other river in the country that I know of.
Recently I had the honor of having dear friends Jack and Jan Massimino from Park City in my boat on the Reef. Jack and Jan are both excellent fly fishers. I don't want to denegrate any of my less accomplished guests, but it is a joy to fish with folks who can actually land the fly where they want to and know the nuances of mending. I had been seeing a few pods of rising fish over the past couple of days below Government Bridge. The Reef is having an epic Yellow Sallie hatch this year. Clouds of Sallies and PMD's fill the air. Today was one of those days. We put on the river at Lusby and the nymphing was on fire from the start. Several double hook ups and a few break-offs. About a half mile below the bridge I detected a pod of risers. They were in a quiet pool on the inside of a seam. The Massiminos grabbed their dry fly rods as I slid the boat downstream of the fish and sneaked up the bank on the unsuspecting rainbows. It appeared to be at least ten fish and judging by the size of the noses sticking out of the water they were all big. The boat now in position, Jack, of course, gave the first shot to Jan. She didn't waste the opportunity. She dropped the fly just in front of the last fish. It drifted into an open mouth. Fish on!
Ten was indeed the magic number. We hooked them all. We did not land them all. Not only are Reef fish strong they are evidently from the "Dorado" strain of rainbows. They spend as much time out of the water as they do in it. Jump after jump. Drag screaming run after run. Four of the six fish that came to the net were over 20". Jan's first fish was 23". The other four either broke us off or came un-bit during their "Wallendas" impersonation. Big strong fish and lots of them. Hopper time is going to be unbelievable.
We had a magical day on the Reef. Back at the lodge Jack commented "I may never fish the Green again!" Not the first person I have heard that from.
A quick update on puppy Molly. She continues to make amazing improvement. She is now doing triple marked retrieves with the dummy launcher. I have started her on hand signals. She is doing great on her overs. Will start her backs soon. Did several retrieves from the dummy launcher 200 yards into an alfalfa field the other day. She has to mark the dummy and then use her nose to find the dummy in the tall grass. She winded several from 10 to 20 yards away. Fun to watch her learn to use her nose. Looks like she may get to dress for the varsity squad this fall.
"The beat goes on
Drums keep pounding a rhythm to the brain"
Sonny and Cher
JJ
A friend of mine recently spent the day at the Mile. He had over 100 hookups and landed over 70 fish. He lost count of the fish over 20". He fished a Golden Stone dry with a dropper. The vast majority of takes were on the dry. He had 6 fish break him off! And he was wade fishing! That can't be done on any other river in the country that I know of.
Recently I had the honor of having dear friends Jack and Jan Massimino from Park City in my boat on the Reef. Jack and Jan are both excellent fly fishers. I don't want to denegrate any of my less accomplished guests, but it is a joy to fish with folks who can actually land the fly where they want to and know the nuances of mending. I had been seeing a few pods of rising fish over the past couple of days below Government Bridge. The Reef is having an epic Yellow Sallie hatch this year. Clouds of Sallies and PMD's fill the air. Today was one of those days. We put on the river at Lusby and the nymphing was on fire from the start. Several double hook ups and a few break-offs. About a half mile below the bridge I detected a pod of risers. They were in a quiet pool on the inside of a seam. The Massiminos grabbed their dry fly rods as I slid the boat downstream of the fish and sneaked up the bank on the unsuspecting rainbows. It appeared to be at least ten fish and judging by the size of the noses sticking out of the water they were all big. The boat now in position, Jack, of course, gave the first shot to Jan. She didn't waste the opportunity. She dropped the fly just in front of the last fish. It drifted into an open mouth. Fish on!
Ten was indeed the magic number. We hooked them all. We did not land them all. Not only are Reef fish strong they are evidently from the "Dorado" strain of rainbows. They spend as much time out of the water as they do in it. Jump after jump. Drag screaming run after run. Four of the six fish that came to the net were over 20". Jan's first fish was 23". The other four either broke us off or came un-bit during their "Wallendas" impersonation. Big strong fish and lots of them. Hopper time is going to be unbelievable.
We had a magical day on the Reef. Back at the lodge Jack commented "I may never fish the Green again!" Not the first person I have heard that from.
A quick update on puppy Molly. She continues to make amazing improvement. She is now doing triple marked retrieves with the dummy launcher. I have started her on hand signals. She is doing great on her overs. Will start her backs soon. Did several retrieves from the dummy launcher 200 yards into an alfalfa field the other day. She has to mark the dummy and then use her nose to find the dummy in the tall grass. She winded several from 10 to 20 yards away. Fun to watch her learn to use her nose. Looks like she may get to dress for the varsity squad this fall.
"The beat goes on
Drums keep pounding a rhythm to the brain"
Sonny and Cher
JJ
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