Why not end what has been an extraordinary year with a bang.  The Drake Magazine chose a pretty cool picture for their Fall Season cover shot.  Though the pike is by far the star here, its cool simply to be on any magazine cover.  The shot was taken by Austin Trayser when I was being filmed by Beattie Productions for the movie, “Turning Points North” which was featured in the 2016 F3T Fly Fishing Film Tour.

It has indeed been a heck of a year.  Hands down, number one is the fact that Granny and I are comfortably moved in to our Hayward, Wisconsin home.  What seemed like a pipedream from our Victor, Idaho living room five years ago has come to fruition.  We are extremely happy and best of all, we are all caught up on the crucial house repairs which will give us plenty more time to prowl our new waters next season.  And look at the neighbors over to help us shovel.  We love this place!

It certainly wasn’t like I didn’t get to fish.  I fished exactly 135 days.  65 of these were for warmwater species ranging from eight different states (WI, MI, TX, LA, AZ, OR, WA and NH).  During these days I managed 18 species, three of which were new for my list.  The new ones included the Sonora sucker, desert sucker and the white sturgeon.  I should note I also bested my walleye on the fly with a tank from the Colombia River in WA and twice surpassed the biggest smallie of my life.  My monster was a tad under 21” but had a girth beyond belief!

I fished the salt 28 days – not bad for a guy living in a van half the year and then Wisconsin.  While each saltwater trip (TX, Mexico and Seychelles) was stellar, pulling off the Providence Atoll of the Seychelles trip – the one postponed in December of 2019 because we were trapped in a cyclone after getting all the way there, was the highlight.  I had mostly the same folks and man did the fish gods reward us for our three years of patience waiting for the do over.  If you did not follow these blogs, get comfortable and start here.  Honestly, and I’ve seen a lot, this was perhaps the greatest saltwater fly fishing trip of all time!

On that amazing Providence trip, I added four new species including my adversary milkfish that you see above.  Between Providence and Mexico, I caught 31 species of fish.  The one new one for the list from Mexico was yet another nemesis fish for me, the striped marlin.

It needs to be mentioned that Granny also knocked off one of her nemesis fish while in Mexico.  Roosterfish have tortured her!  In fact, her previous Baja rooster trip was when she fell off a fence and broke up her shoulder which led to nearly a year of no fishing due to major surgery.  Though the ones she caught were small, they are still beautiful and an accomplishment off the beach no matter how you slice it!

Last but not least I got 40 days of trout fishing.  USA trouty locations included the new home waters in Wisconsin and fishing the Jackson Hole One Fly in WY and ID for Team Yellow Dog.  We took home 2^nd Place.  But without question, the most memorable trout caught came during the World Masters Fly Fishing Championships in the Brenta Dolomites of Italy.  Hopefully you were able to follow these blogs because in the end, Team USA took home the first ever Gold Medals for the USA adult team.  We are the Champions!

I believe that in the beginning of this blog I labeled this an “extraordinary year”.  Another way of putting it would be EPIC!  And I hope to do 2023 in similar fashion.  But before the heaps of fishing begins, its show time.  Have a look at my travel and show schedule and try to meet up with me along the way!

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing