Everything seemed right before I left Victor to meet my friend Tom Hansen for a day trip of fly fishing for mirror carp on Blackfoot Reservoir. The forecast had sunshine, light winds and temperatures in the 80°s, absolutely ideal carp conditions. When we arrived at around 9 AM to rig up the massive waterbody was … Read more
I needed a tranquil day on a river after my grueling twenty Cliff Fly Box art weekend. Was taking the girls on the Bryant River really the relaxing answer? Probably not exactly, but nonetheless, my annual ladies day on the river with Granny, Jessica Chitwood and Pam Parkins is always a blast. We got … Read more
Not sure why but when I have a massive assignment I can’t go a minute without thinking about it. It’s in my DNA. About a week ago I took on an unfathomable task of decorating twenty Cliff Bugger Beast Fly Boxes with my Sharpie art for the Sweetwater River Conservancy in Alcova, Wyoming. Not on … Read more
Plans to fish the Rizzo today with my FlyCastaway pals from South Africa cancelled. To make up for it arapaima king Tim Brune and I did a short day on the technical dry fly water of the Rizzo with another South African friend, Craig Richardson. Craig is a FlyCastaway guide and spends most of his … Read more
You should remember my South Africa blogs back in November. Granny and I had the time of our lives there visiting many friends and we tracked down a few fish along the way. The last segment of our trip we spent with FlyCastaway owners Tim Babich and Ryan Hammond. They took us to the famous … Read more
June 20, 2016 You probably gathered by now that I’m behind on the blog. There wasn’t time to write more than notes while in Ireland. Then when I got back to the USA it was action packed with the Henry’s Fork Marathon and a family visit. This photo is Granny watching some huge fish rise … Read more
It’s been a wonderful trip over here in Ireland competing in the World Masters Fly Fishing Championships. I can’t explain how exciting it’s been to return to world competition. It’s like I went back in time. Furthermore, it had been fifteen years since I’ve seen many of my European friends. We’ve had a blast together … Read more
5 AM arrived without the need of a wakeup call. I was ready. Scott was ready. We drank coffee and relaxed before a 6:30 breakfast then all of Team USA boarded buses for the last day and last two sessions of the World Masters Fly Fishing Championships. My first session (actually session 3 of … Read more
The one thing you get better at as you get older is putting the bad behind you and moving forward. Yesterday’s terrible afternoon session for Team USA had me down last night but today I woke up and started preparing for the last two sessions for tomorrow. I’m ready to go and have plans to … Read more
More than ten years ago I retired from world competitive fly fishing but this morning here I was – out of retirement competing in the World Masters Fly Fishing Championships on the lakes of Ireland as a member of Team USA. My heart pounded with excitement as if my last tournament was yesterday. The … Read more
The World Masters Fly Fishing Championships is a weeklong event. Yesterday was the opening ceremonies. Today is Official Practice. Tomorrow we compete. Thursday is an off day. Then Friday is our last day of competition and Saturday is the awards ceremony and party. In past competitions I usually took the Official Practice day to … Read more
Today was the first relaxation day since we arrived in Ireland for the World Masters Fly Fishing Championships. Team USA slept in after a late night catching up with old European friends. I didn’t move until around 8 AM. After breakfast I gave my tackle a once over to get ready for the tournament. The … Read more