It’s been a whirlwind since last cast late Wednesday night. After the long but impressive day of fishing, old pal Scott Sanchez picked me up in Jackson Hole early Thursday morning and we made the 90-minute drive to Pinedale, Wyoming on the south edge of the Wind River Mountain Range. Sanchez is also helping with this huge event, Fishing for the Fight, for sick kids and families in need of medical help.
I’ll sum this short. Thursday afternoon I scouted the upper New Fork River beat that I guided the last two days with contestants of this great fundraising tournament. Friday I fished two guys from the team, Double Haul. They were competitive and managed to land 28 fish, however most were less than 16”. Then today, a half day, I guided two very chill folks that had a slow day yesterday and were more than out of winning contention. The fish were beat up from yesterday and we only managed to land four, but Bill and Charlie were delightful. Bill is new to fly fishing and I enjoyed improving his cast and teaching him about reading water.
All three nights after fishing during the dinners and cocktail hours I doodled with my Sharpies on a Yeti Cooler. The textured surface of the Yeti is a challenge to work with and its overall size as well, kill off a few of my colorful markers. But in the end, we had a very nice brown trout chasing a Sanchez Double Bunny.
The Yeti cooler was only one of many amazing donations. Each and every one was sold by live auction. The Yeti went for $3,300. That’s less than in 2021 but still significant. It seemed like we had far more items this time and that probably has something to do with it. I don’t know for sure how much money was raised but it was well over 250K. Not bad from a small Wyoming town.
As usual, all this action is exhausting but I’m not gonna let it slow me down. Its now midnight and time for bed. Tomorrow is a normal fishing day with friends before I fly back home on Monday.
Well done Jeff! Always cool art on anything and a great cause.