Conditions were looking a bit bleak when I filled my Yeti with coffee at 5:15 this morning here at Darien Lodge in Colombia. It was drizzling and looking out to sea was nothing but flickering lightening. Fortunately it eased enough not to lose fishing time and we headed out promptly at 7 AM. … Read more
The food at Darien Lodge here in Colombia is sensational. Today began with a unique and delicious taste of poached eggs in local flavors with fresh fruit. By 7 AM we were headed for the boats. Today Jess jumped over with the Marrese boys and Scott Wessels, the owner of the famous Bears Den in … Read more
I’ve suspected that my left shoulder issues over the last two years have come from over 30 years of stripping flies violently to entice gangsters with fins. Today I’m certain. My torn rotator cuff that I’ve been able to limp along with thanks to physical therapy bands and light weight lifting for the last 18 … Read more
The 5:45 AM alarm didn’t sound soon enough. I was already up. We ate a quick breakfast at the Diez Hotel before Ben Furimsky, Jess McGlothlin, Scott Wessels and two newly arrived friends, a father son combo, Tony and Anthony Marrese headed for the Medellin local airport. There we boarded a flight to the Pacific … Read more
Since loading my blog on my flight from Minneapolis to Miami yesterday I managed to make it to Colombia. It was a tiring long day of travel from Hayward, Wisconsin. It was literally a 21 hours from my house to the Diez Hotel. I was so tired I didn’t wake up until 7:25 AM this … Read more
As much as I hate to leave home during the gorgeous month of May, I’m on my way to Colombia and I am stoked. To be more specific, I’m headed to Darien Lodge which is in the Darien Gap on the Pacific Ocean side of Colombia. The lodge is not far from the border of … Read more
There’s a lot of fishing to be had the next six months. Now in the tail end of spring here in Wisconsin many or our waters are open and the fish are about to turn on. The only season not open around Hayward yet is muskellunge. But that opens soon. Today I woke … Read more
When you launch your boat to kick off a new season it’s a treasured day. And especially killer when you get to do it with your lady. Granny and I got an early start on this crisp and foggy May morning on a near home Wisconsin waterway. This flowage has become a … Read more
We’d have to be out of our minds to trust the weather after the last two days. Mike Neuman, Matt “Howie” Norton and I have been saturated in rain, frozen by cold and had our brains blown out by the wind fishing Chequamegon Bay of Lake Superior here in Wisconsin. Today the forecast dangled a … Read more
Yesterday we fished in a deluge of rain and cold temps making for one of my coldest fishing days in recent memories. So when I climbed out of the back of my Exploder at 6 AM this morning and saw a nearly completely blue sky, I was feeling pretty happy. I wandered up to Howie’s … Read more
It’s certainly a dream to travel the world and fly fish, but I very much enjoy my wide open new world of fishing here in Wisconsin. Honestly, I’ve been chomping at the bit for spring to arrive here so I can get started. I learned a lot about my new waters last summer and expect … Read more
It was a rough trip home from Bhutan. Rugged. Remember my tooth and jaw were hurting upon arrival to Thimphu after our extra-long drive from the river? Well, pain woke me up around 3 AM the next morning. Something was going south. Knowing my predicament of 40 something hours of travel immediately ahead, I gritted … Read more