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.