My 2 Year Old Son’s First Day Fishing
As I watched his determined face, and his eyes fixated on the bobber as he tried to pick out the subtle signs of a bite, that’s all it took to make me the proudest Dad on the planet. If a stranger would have walked upon us, they wouldn’t have guessed it was this little boys first time fishing. He looked right at home with that Zebco fishing rod in his hands, like he’d already fished with a dozen times. As soon as he saw a bare hook, he was quick to tell Daddy re-bait the hook, and surprisingly, it took only a few minutes for him to learn that fishing was all about focus, patience, and most of all, fun. Those colorful 3-6″ bream were the coolest things my son had ever laid his hands on, and his tiny arms made them feel like giants on the end of his line.
Read More »Playground Earth Part 2: Flow
THE SECOND EPISODE OF THE BF GOODRICH SAGA PLAYGROUND EARTH IS LIVE ON THE WEB.
This episode titled “Flow” features our friend Chris Gragtmans as well as Todd Wells and Galen Volckhausen. These guys are Über-Badass kayak devils and in this film they run some amazing waterfalls in Hood River Oregon. Chris is a soft spoken, funny and generally positive dude, but when he plunges off and 80 foot waterfall in his kayak, he’s all business. This footage must be seen to be believed.
Kent and I make an appearance at the end, including a preview of our fly fishing adventure on the Owyhee river. Our part of the relay is up next and should be out in a couple of weeks. We are excited, and a little nervous. Stay tuned for updates and in the meantime enjoy the “Flow”
Read More »Big Trouble in Little Mountain
“I KNOW WHAT YOU’RE THINKING,” STEVE TELLS ME. “I CAME ALL THE WAY TO WYOMING FOR THIS?”
I look down from the deep head cut at the trickle of water below. It’s, maybe, eighteen inches wide and no more than six deep. The red earth stream bed is pounded flat by the desert sun and the flow is about what a bath tub faucet would produce. A good skipping stone would pass for structure. I can’t imagine how it could hold a trout. Steve is right.
“Give it a chance,” he tells me. His eyes sparkle and an eager smile spreads across his face. “At some point today, this little stream is going to surprise you.”
Red creek is one of a handful of tiny streams that drain Wyoming’s Little Mountain district. The area is better known by sportsmen for its remarkable elk hunting than its fishing. You don’t have to spend very long there to see why a Little Mountain elk tag is one of the most coveted in the west. We see several large bachelor groups on the drive in. They are poised, heads held high and moving light on their hooves, the sun on their velvet racks etching bright gold lines against the morning sky. There are mule deer, eagle, antelope and nesting hawks. The landscape is idyllic, vast, striking and uninhabited. Endless red hills covered with sage brush are slashed by lush green valleys dotted with wild flowers. It’s an oasis for the eyes in a state that can be rough as a cob.
Little Mountain is due east from the famous Flaming Gorge of the Green River. Anglers come from around the globe to float the Green below Flaming Gorge reservoir. The tail water is well known to hold huge trout, as does the reservoir. Rainbow, brown and cutthroat trout as well as carp and the invasive burbot. Lake trout, brook and tiger trout, kokanee salmon, small mouth bass, large mouth bass, catfish and white fish all inhabit the 3,789,000 acre-feet of Flaming Gorge Reservoir. It’s a manmade cacophony of nonnative species, never imagined in nature. Few of the anglers who fish it know that only a few miles east, the beautiful and fragile native Colorado River Cutthroat (CRC) is making its last stand.
Red Creek is known to hold one of the few genetically pure CRC populations in Wyoming. Years ago game and fish officials stocked most streams in the west with cutthroat trout. Their good intentions lead to disastrous results. The practice would go on for decades before scientists began to identify the myriad of sub-species that make up the cutthroat family. By the time this complicated diversity was understood, hybridization had muddled the genetics of cutthroat in most watersheds.
The CRC population in Red Creek was saved by an unlikely intervention. An improperly installed
Read More »Sunday’s Classic / DIY Bug Sampling Net for 2 Bucks
Man, I love my $2 paint strainer from Home Depot.
I’m a big believer in aquatic bug sampling on the water. It has saved the day for me guiding numerous times. Eighteen years ago, Angling Designs won a tackle dealer show award for its “Quick Seine Net”, specifically designed for instant bug sampling on the water. It’s an ingenious product, but I can’t use it because it won’t fit over my big guide net. Searching for a fix, I found myself standing in the paint section at Home Depot staring at a 5-gallon paint strainer thinking, hmmm “this should work and it’s only 2 bucks”. I’ve carried this inexpensive piece of gear on the water with me ever since, and I love it.
Saturday Shoutout / Mr. Brownliner & Swinging for Trout – MidCurrent
This week’s Saturday Shoutout we showcase Lee Terkel’s blog, Adventures in Brown Lining and a great fly fishing techniques article from John Likakis on MidCurrent about swinging flies for trout. The carp piece got me giddy about making a trip for carp on my home waters and Likakis’s swinging article taught me some tricks I need to use in my own fishing. Check them out and may all of you have a grand weekend. Thanks for tuning into Gink & Gasoline.
Read More »Echo Fly Rods 2014 – Shadow 2 & Fiberglass Series
I’m really excited to showcase the new Shadow 2 fly rod and the Echo fiberglass fly rod from Echo today. Louis and I interviewed Tim Rajeff and got the 4-1-1 on these two very cool rods. Tim worked with the highly decorated fly fisherman and guide Pete Erickson to design the super innovative Shadow 2 fly rod. They call it a hybrid design that bridges the gap between a nymphing rod and a traditional fly rod, and I have to say, I like what I see. I’ve found myself in situations many times where I needed a little more rod length to get that perfect drag free drift to a feeding trout.
Read More »Now is the Time To Plan for The G&G Andros South Bonefish Trip
Last year’s trip to South Andros was a blast! Good times, great fishing and new friends for all. We are already getting a lot of interest in this year’s trip so now is the time to make a plan.
We have not set a date yet for the trip. We have options from January to May and we are hoping to accommodate everyone who wants to join us. If you’re interested in the trip, please let us know what your calendar looks like. If there are weeks that definitely don’t work for you, (family vacations, weddings, anniversaries) send us an email at hookups@ginkandgasoline.com and let us know.
South Andros bonefishing is the trip of a lifetime. Let us show you our favorite place in the world to fish. Cost ranges from 3 night / 2 day trips for $1845 per person, to 7 night / 6 day trips for $4635 per person
HERE ARE A FEW OF THE REASONS YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS THIS TRIP!
• The World’s Best Bonefishing: South Andros is hands down my favorite place to fish. I have never had a bad day.
• Learn To Fish The Salt: There is no better place to learn the skills needed for successful saltwater fly fishing. If you’re new to the salt you can take advantage of the abundance of eager bonefish to dramatically shorten the learning curve for skills like strip setting, fish spotting, making successful presentations and quick casting.
Read More »Six Cutties in a Hot Tub
Are you fixing to head out west for an exciting trout fishing trip?
If yes, and you plan to do some wade fishing, pay close attention to water levels before you decide on where to start your days fishing. Recently, Louis and I visited the Grey’s River in Wyoming for the opportunity to enjoy catching beautiful Snake River cutthroats on dries. Water levels were very high on the Grey’s and the lower sections of the river were too high to wade safely or fish effectively. We found out very quickly if we were going to get into some good fishing we’d have to focus our efforts on the upper sections of the watershed. That meant targeting the water above most of the tributaries dumping into the Grey’s, and driving 25 miles further up the forest service access road.
Read More »Sunday Classic / Snow Day
Ice in my beard, fingers burning, I haven’t felt my feet for hours. I
know from experience that it will be sometime around midnight,
standing in my shower with the hot water running out, before I feel
them again. My fingers are killing me, so I tuck my rod under my arm
and work them into the fleece gator pulled up around my face. I’m a
firm believer in global warming, but it’s a hard sell today. I have
fished on some truly brutal days. Alaska in the fall, Maine at ice out
in the spring. I fished in Colorado one day when it was ten below and
I could watch the ice form around my boot freeze when I lifted it out of the
water, but this day on the Nantahala river in the mountains of North
Carolina may be the worst. You may scoff at this if you live
somewhere like Wyoming or Michigan but if you’ve been here and seen it
you know, when cold comes south, it comes holding a grudge. It’s about
fifteen degrees at the truck. It feels colder on the water. The wind
is howling and the snow has tapered off to flurries but what cuts right
through the seven or eight layers I’m wearing is the humidity. It’s so
humid that icicles form, right out of the air, on every surface that
doesn’t have a constant source of heat. They hang grimly off of rods,
and tree limbs, forceps and drying patches.
I like days like this. I know that sounds crazy but any of the guys I
fish with will tell you, the more miserable it is, the more I want to
get at it. One reason is nobody else wants too. On a day like today
you can have the most popular water to yourself. By being outside
when no sane person will go, you experience things that those warm
sane people don’t. Another reason is that I find these cold days of
slow fishing can be punctuated by big fish. It’s that idea that gets me out of
bed in the middle of the night to creep up snowy mountain roads to the
top of Standing Indian, the third highest mountain in North Carolina.
Today, I’ve talked my buddy Kent Klewein into coming along. Kent and
I share a lust for big fish. I know it’s supposed to be about the
experience and all, and some days it is, but not today. You have to
work for big fish. For big wild fish in small streams, you work hard.
All of the really big trout I’ve caught I’ve had to stalk. It may take
me a year to catch a specific fish, once I’ve found him. One twenty-
seven inch rainbow I landed in a stream twenty feet wide and overgrown
with mountain laurel took over a year. I hooked the big hen three
times in that year before I landed her. With a fish like that you have
to do everything right and still be lucky. That’s the mission Kent’s on
today. He’s been stalking a big male bow in this stretch
Saturday Shoutout / SCOF and Pulp Fly
TWO COOL, NEW BLIPS ON THE FLY FISHING HORIZON THIS WEEK.
Southern Culture on the Fly is back with their unique brand of wit and wisdom, cool art and anglers. The boys at SCOF never disappoint. Best of all, it’s still free!
SCOF SUMMER 2013
Pulp Fly is back with Pulp Fly Volume Two. Pulp fiction for the fly angler from the best creative minds in the business. All the fun the law allows for $6.95
PULP FLY VOLUME TWO
There’s your summer reading list. Grab a beer and get busy!
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