Orvis Disappointment

I don't even know if anyone still reads this blog, it has been dormant for some time. But I had to vent this.

A while back on this very blog I wrote of the failure of a pair of Orvis waders HERE and then again HERE. Well since I tried to patch them and it didn't work, I decided to send them back to Orvis. I was excited when I got them back because they had patched like a dozen pinholes I didn't see when I tried the whole flashlight-in-a-dark-room trick.

So when we headed up to New York again for a special trip in pursuit of large brown trout, it was November, not January. I left the neoprenes at home and decided to give these Orvis waders one more chance. Temps in the upper thirties is still not warm, so you can imagine how I felt our first day of fishing when as soon as my boots hit the river, I knew my waders were filling up with water. But I had to fish in them, so my feet froze as I fumed.

That night the local fly shop sold me a pair of very nice, comfortable Redington waders. They are extremely comfortable and, lo and behold, actually WATERPROOF! I love these waders. And as an added bonus, I now have a convenient box I can use to send the Orvis waders back. But not to repair, I'm done with that and with them. I just want them to know that those waders have ruined a day of fishing for me for the last time, and maybe they'll notice the box they arrive in. Brand loyalty for fly fishermen is a long term prospect, and I have wanted to like Orvis. But these waders pissed me off for the last time.

Trout Prints Available

I just completed a limited edition of 22 linocut prints depicting a brown trout from the Rose River. These hand-pulled prints are available, signed and numbered, from my web site!

Chesapeake Striper

My friend Douglas is having fun fly fishing for Stripers on the bay this week. Looks like the weather's good and the fishing's better! Nice fish, Douglas!

Thanks AHPS and NOAA!

I'm kind of confused about the relationship between agencies, but the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Weather Service and the Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service maintains this amazing web site where you can get real-time water conditions anywhere in the country. I have been using it locally because I wade fish, but I'm finding myself even more interested recently because I started kayaking last year.

So I kept trying to find a way to display my nearby river gauge info on this blog, kind of like the weather widgets you see on sites all the time, displaying the weather at a vacation destination or golf course or something. Thanks to blogspot's ease of use I came close, but the RSS feed from the NOAA site was only displaying the location of the gauge, not the river level itself. So I felt like the RSS feed was the key, but couldn't figure it out until the webmaster of that site responded to my email with the suggestion to try another service to create the RSS feed widget.

The result is the widget you see at the top right of this page. Hardly worth a post explaining the process, I suppose, as the information is more for me than anyone else. But I wanted to acknowledge that a big organization like NOAA took the time to answer my question and help me work through it so I could get this little bit of code to work on my blog. Pretty cool.

First Backyard Fish!

The wading was awkward through deep, soft mud. But I finally managed to get down to the river and throw a fly line in. Once I found a spot that didn't make me feel like I was standing in quicksand, it didn't take long for this smallmouth to take the fly and make a little history for me: The first fish caught from our very own back yard. While not a large fish by any measure, it was big to me.

I think I'll let things continue to dry out a little before I wade again, perhaps the kayak is the best tool for fishing this particular stretch of bank. In any event, it feels good to be fishing again.

Back Yard Fishin'!

The river was too high, the water too cold, it was too early in the morning and the season and we had a full day of moving and unpacking ahead of us. But I couldn't resist the chance to walk down to the Potomac River at our new house, and fish under the shadow of our own back yard. Not a nibble to be had, but I couldn't care less. One of my favorite outings to date.

Fish Pledge Challenge for Project Healing Waters!

Project Healing Waters will be holding its 3rd Annual 2-Fly Tournament on May 3rd at Rose River Farm in Syria, Virginia.

There are ten Pro/Vet teams participating (as well as 20 other two-man teams). The Pro/Vet teams pair a wounded warrior with a renowned fly fishing professional. In an effort to raise money for this great cause, I am pledging one dollar for every fish caught by those ten Pro/Vet teams at this year's 2-Fly.

I would also like to invite anyone who reads this blog and, like me, wonders sometimes how to show support for the brave men and women who fight so hard and sacrifice so much for our country, to join me in this pledge.

Last year's winning team caught close to 50 trout. I would assume the average will be a considerably lower number. But in case things go gangbusters, anyone joining me in this can put a cap on their pledge of whatever they want - $250 perhaps. But as long as those vets are catching fish, my pledge stands no matter how many are caught that day!

So please consider joining in by posting a comment right here and pledging to commit to a dollar - or even fifty cents or a quarter - for every fish caught by a pro/vet team on May 3rd!

I know times are tough right now, but if you can't help out monetarily, please consider linking to this post on your blogs or web sites. It doesn't take much to get the word out into the blogosphere, but I need the help of everyone reading this!

Snow on the Rose River

A few nights of VERY cold temps had my friends Kevin, Bill and I a little concerned about ice on our schedule trip to Rose River Farm. But it was only down around zero for a couple nights, and the day before we went, it was back up around freezing. There was some ice around the edges, but the flow was very good and the fish were - as they always are - present.

It was pretty cold early on, but thankfully there was no wind. I've fished at the Farm enough to know where large populations of fish live, and it was funny how we would look off the bank into a hole and see maybe one or two fish. Maybe spook one and not see it till it moved. Then the sun would come out for a few minutes and the bottom of the river would be covered with fish we couldn't see a moment ago. It's neat to see so many nice sized trout in one place, but it is kind of depressing to realize you've been drifting a fly over a pod of about forty trout for a half hour without so much as a nibble.


But it warmed up a bit and the fish started biting. Then around mid-day we got a really cool little snow shower! I very much wanted to catch a fish in the snow, but it didn't last long and it seemed to shut the fish down for a bit. Maybe a barometric pressure thing, I'm not sure.

In the end, we caught plenty of fish and in many different ways. I caught fish on nymphs, san juan worms and wooly buggers sub surface, but also with a small caddis and a griffith's gnat on the surface. Kevin had a lot of success with the gnats.

Winter fishing at Rose River Farm is a lot of fun, I never used to consider the possibility of dry fly fishing in January, but I caught at least as many off the top as sub-surface. Another winter fishing note: I overdressed for the weather with a nice pair of neoprene waders and was toasty warm all day. The kind with the boots built in are WAY warmer than the stocking foot kind. You sacrifice some mobility, but if you want to be warm all day standing in near freezing water, it's worth it!

Fishing at Rose River Farm

I finally got a fly rod back in my hands after basically taking the entire spring and summer off. My friend Douglas invited me down to Rose River Farm to knock some of the rust off and try to catch a few trout. It rained all day, temps in the mid 40s and dropping, but thanks to some decent gear it was comfortable enough to fish for several hours.

There were times when the rain let up, and in those windows of opportunity the trout were feeding off the surface. But due to the weather conditions, my vision and my knot tying abilities, by the time I switched to dry flies the rain would pick up again.

Regardless, we had a great day on the water and caught some very nice fish. It's always a treat to get to fish at Rose River Farm.

Montana Trout

My friend Ed was doing some hunting and fishing out west recently, I wanted to share some photos here. For some reason I don't think these two photos were taken on the same day.

Georgia Redfish

Okay it wasn't caught on a fly rod. It wasn't even caught by me! But since I don't have any fish stories I'm living vicariously through my friend Matt, who is home for a break from his job in Iraq and, from the looks of it, making good use of his time.

I really want to catch a redfish. Matt said they fight like mad!

I am actually going trout fishing next week, so hopefully I will have a photo of an actual fish that I caught by then!

Tiger Trout

Before my friend John Bass sent me these photos of a Tiger Trout - a hybrid of brown and brook trout - I had never seen or heard of one. But they sure are beautiful! If I ever go fishing again I want one of these. These photos were taken in Pennsylvania, thanks John!

One long, drawn-out week to go!

Five days till I meet Winnie for the first time. I think we're set at home - crate, toys, food, toys, Redskins headlines to spread out on the floor by the door, toys...

Note to self: Go fishing in Alaska

My friend Curtis of Fly Rod Chronicles gets to travel to some beautiful places to film his show. But I'm most envious about his recent trip to Alaska. The perfect Alaska fishing trip is not for the faint of heart, however. "We floated for 9 days...first 3 days we hiked and carried rafts before we strung a rod," Curtis told me. But his efforts paid off, as the fishing beyond that three day trek on southwest Alaska's Cash River was spectacular. Pictured here is the biggest rainbow I've ever seen, a stunning sockeye salmon and a beautiful grayling.

Don't go back without me, Curtis!

Meet Winnie!!

Still two weeks before I meet my Wirehaired Vizsla in person, but the puppies were selected by their new owners yesterday, and I ended up with the one I wanted all along! Pretty good fortune considering I was third in line for a female. This is her, and her name is Winnie. (Unless the 800 mile trip home with her reveals a more appropriate name like Vomitty or Pukey or something.)

All the puppies look great and I would have been happy with any of the females. But this one with the yellow ribbon is the first one I started to notice early on. And I tried not to let myself wish it because I didn't want to be disappointed if someone else selected her before me. But I'm really, really happy!!

The Lore of the Bird Dog

Much like fly fishing, hunting upland birds with a dog has the kind of appeal that has made it the subject of authors, artists and poets for hundreds of years. The dogs who do this work -- magnificent in function, beautiful in form -- take that work very seriously. Here are a few of these noble dogs...

Buddy (Thanks Jerry)

Gent (Thanks Matt)

Pete (Thanks Don)

Squirt (Thanks Don)

Uh, Puppy To Be Named Later. Well, evidently they aren't BORN with all that grace and style, I guess they get it later on. I'll keep you posted!

Hang on, Buddy!!

We'll be there in four more weeks!!

Let the Games Begin!

No, silly, I'm not talking about the Olympics. It's Football Season! This is a shot from our new season ticket location! The Redskins beat the Bills in this preseason game, 17-14.

Offshore Fun!

My wife, as is our family tradition, got the biggest fish of the household when we had the opportunity to go offshore fishing recently. We're having fresh Mahi Mahi on the grill tonight!

My next dog was born today!

I was third in line for a female out of this litter of Wirehaired Vizslas. An early ultrasound of the mother indicated probably at least six dogs, but those are inaccurate at best. So I had my fingers crossed when the breeder called me this evening. Three boys and SIX girls!!

So middle of September we'll take a road trip up to Illinois and pick up my fishin' buddy/huntin' dog/couch potato/car ridin' pal/troublemaker/Best Friend!!