The sun came out, and you could feel the warmth radiate through you. There was no need for puffy jackets or beanie hats or gloves. A baetis hatch lit up the afternoon and the rainbows ate voraciously.
Read moreRisk vs. Reward
I've gotten a little bit of slack from friends recently about how little I've been fishing this season. That perhaps I'm just being a wuss about the cold. That could legitimately be a part of it, but here's the bigger issue: selfishness.
Read moreOur Year - 2017
From tiny brook trout in the Blue Ridge to giant lake trout to more cutthroat than we could stand; adventures around the corner to road trips across the country; the ability to create custom rods and a whole rod bag business.
Read moreHow Much is Too Much?
If you're a fly fisherman, you love to share! We pull out our phones to show off our latest brown trout or the permit we managed to catch on a recent trip; we bring out rods we've put together or fly patterns we've just discovered. The closer you are to your fellow angler, the more information you'll divulge, fly tying nights at breweries also seem to get the information flowing. We follow a similar pattern with social media, sharing photos of our daily fishy lives; but when is it too much? What is an appropriate amount of information about your fishing trip?
We live in a world where fly fishing is becoming more and more accessible to people, you run into more people on the water than you used to, and at times you can see how that budding population has taken its toll. So, where is the line between sharing what you love and exploitation for "likes?"
Read moreOdd Ways
On Thanksgiving morning Jacob got a phone call from a fellow rod builder, just to say "hi," happy thanksgiving, and to see if he'd gotten some supplies that were recently dropped in the mail. The conversation turned, inevitably, to what our dinner plans were for the day.
"We're gonna go fishing."
"That's kind of an odd way to spend the day..."
That comment stuck with me all day. Mostly because I wondered if our "odd" ways were possibly a bit too odd.
We spent the entire day, knee deep in cold water, throwing wet flies and catching an array of football shaped brookies and rainbows. We were basically the only two on the water, and it was pretty great. We finished up the day eating frozen pizza, Jacob heading downstairs to plane out a rod and I found my way to the sewing room to pop out some "hurry up" orders.
It wasn't what you'd call a conventional Thanksgiving. We didn't have any turkey or watch any football. We didn't pull dressy clothes out of the back corner of the closet. We didn't spend the day with relatives we rarely talk to out of obligation. Instead, we spent the day doing what we're most thankful for with the one we're most thankful for.
I'd say that's a pretty good day.
They Like to Fish {Tiny Trout Tuesday}
It was a Sunday afternoon at Animas River Brewing. The Broncos were on the TV and it was packed. People were covering every corner of the place, from out on the patio to huddled around the bar, just finished with their morning bike ride, trail run, or just families getting out of the house for the game. Jacob and I spotted our fellow anglers and squished in beside them. Pale ales and IPA's started flowing and so did the fishing stories. We heard about a recent trip to Honduras and the sound your reel makes when you hook into a permit. Plans were laid out for an upcoming trip to Belize this winter and how someone could make their way there through various channels from other parts of South America. Guiding, clients, and debates on float boats soon followed. Eventually, a few beers in, we broke out the map and began narrowing down just where in Durango Jacob and I needed to fish.
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