One Fish, Two fish...50 white fish

Idaho’s South Fork of the Snake River in is one of the more beautiful drifts that I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing and who doesn’t love catching 14” – 20” cutts, bows, and cutt-bows on a dry fly? But after three days of watching our friend Buck catch whitefish after whitefish on nymphs out of the back of the boat, it was time to switch up.

Ryan and I re-rigged with golden stone point flies, black midge droppers and thinga-ma-bobs at about an 8 foot depth. Todd pulled the boat over in a quiet back channel and proceeded to cannonball into the river. Emerging from the water with renewed energy, he spent the next several hours on the oars and net. It turned into an epic day as we announced “pig on!”, “double!”, “triple!”, and the like (we could have toned it down a notch for the guides with paying customers but we were having one of those days!).

Now, I’m not going to pretend that it is remotely exciting to take a fly out of their mouths, but whitefish fight like rainbows and they will hone your skills with respect to hook-setting…and after all, they are a river dwelling fish. The South Fork advertises 4000 fish per mile and our lab results after one week on the river would suggest that 2500 of them are white fish…but seriously, what a fantastic river and yet another unbelievable time spent with friends!

An aside - Some say drift boats are made for three (one oarsman and two fisherman), but I say there are very few absolutes in this world. We often fish two at the bow and one aft. It gets cozy in the leg-locks and patience is a must but I wouldn’t trade it.

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100 Fish Day - Really?

“All things are possible with God” - Mark 10:27…except the 100 fish day. But seriously, if you have legitimately counted 100 fish caught with your fly rod, brought to hand or netted, and released in one day - that’s quite an accomplishment and you should be arrested for fishing in the hatchery! I’m not talking about losing count at 60, including fish that were almost landed, or the use of night crawlers from a red Folgers can. I mean the real deal.

Anyone that is passionate about fly-fishing likes to share stories and listen to others. However, when someone pontificates that they caught 100 fish in one day on their fly rod, it’s usually a conversation killer for the listener not unlike telling Michael Johnson that you ran a 9.5 second 100 meter dash in high school. Unless you were strapped to a rocket, or experienced a miracle of biblical proportions, it probably didn’t happen (or at least not in the mind of your audience). My suggestion in telling the 100 fish story is that unless it really happened and you don’t have to break one of the Commandments telling the story, pick another number to go with….say…60?

As fisherman, we have all had days when conditions are perfect and you can’t keep them off your line. These days are burned into our memories and it’s one of the reasons we hit the river again and again – our passion is fueled by these unforgettable interfaces with nature. Personally, I am fulfilled just being out there ready for something unpredictable to happen – it never fails. The attached picture was one of those days. On this trip with the wives to Steamboat, we caught over 80 fish between four of us one morning, all in the 16" - 23" size range. While driving back to the condo - we were all high fiving and asking the same question, “What just happened?”

My goal as a fisherman is to catch one fish every day that I am blessed to be fishing no matter what the conditions – it sometimes fails. In all honesty, I’m open to the possibility of the 100 fish day but don't pee on my leg and tell me that it’s raining.

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The Mile's the Mile

It’s on fire one minute, and can drive a grown man to his knees weeping like a small child the next. The Miracle Mile stretch of the North Platte River, located in central Wyoming, is one of the most challenging and rewarding stretches of river in the West - on many levels. When fishing the Mile expect the unexpected on a scale from life-threatening to incredible.

On the life threatening end of the scale, there are signs to warn that water flows may change rapidly and unexpectedly - they mean it. I have friends that have bounced down the rapids thanking God for their wading belt and others that almost spent the night on one of the islands because the water level had risen to an impassible level during their afternoon fish. All things considered, The Mile is arguably one of the most dangerous wading rivers in world.

Eight years ago following an extended campfire, my die-hard fishing buddies and I went to sleep at 1 am in t-shirts bragging about how we could see every star in the sky. That night’s sleep was cut short 3-1/2 hours later as our tent collapsed under the weight of the snow. One day and three $120 tickets for ignoring a road closure later, we made it home safe and sound.

As for the incredible, my friend Todd and I hit the Mile on February 25th of this year for a quick fix and came away after five hours feeling like we had just won the lottery. We landed fourteen footballs between us, four of which were over twenty inches including three browns landed by Todd and my 25” rainbow featured in the attached photo.

There is a lot of speculation and theories on why the Miracle Mile is the way it is. You can study fishing reports, water flows, extended forecasts, hatch charts, and pray for success but the bottom line is that the Mile’s the Mile.

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Fishing Buddies

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven; a time to be born..." - Ecclesiates 3:1-8. Solomon wrote these words (not the Byrd's believe it or not) when he discovered that "everything is meaningless" apart from understanding that life is a "gift from the hand of God".

God's richest of life blessings: family, friends, fly-fishing, hunting, career and...well - Is there anything else? All of these things add up to one earthly struggle - life balance. As it turns out, life balance is neither a marathon nor a race, but a dynamic life-long journey. I've personally enjoyed successes and failures in this arena and can testify that marriage, children, and a fulfilling career do not equal a death sentence to all that is fun and masculine. In fact, quite the opposite.

If you have ever fished a river for a half-hour or less with your two-year old strapped to your back, had your wife out fish you on the Green River, or had your deer hunting trip turn into a bug and rock hunting trip with your little ones; you may have witnessed first hand that life is in fact a "gift from the hand of God". I suspect that as we find lasting contentment in a few, outweighing the temporary disappointment of others, we may have found life balance.

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