Trout Source

Golf Is For Sissies (Au Sable, MI)
I heard later that some places just north of us (Frederic, Gaylord) had blizzard like conditions with real snow falling.  In fact, George Mertz, Headwaters TU board member, sent a picture of snow on the ground on a golf course and said "I guess golf season is over."  Well, yeah, golf.  But there are tons of fishing opportunities left, and some of the very best streamer fishing of the year is yet in front of us.  With the afternoon olives rolling nicely in their normal areas (upper Holy Waters, South Branch, and North Branch), and rain in the forecast (maybe some real rain on Saturday), we're licking our chops.

“Dying To Fish” (White, AR)
Pinkerton said he and other anglers were feeling pent-up following weeks of heavy generation and no fishing prior to the nearly fatal outing.  “Sure enough, on Oct. 25, the water was down to wading levels early in the morning. S o I quickly joined the crowd which was extensive, and waded across the river to find some solitude,” Pinkerton said. “Suddenly an acquaintance alerted me to rising water, so we promptly started back across, which I had done numerable times when generation had started.  “That day was totally different. The surge of water was so swift and strong I couldn’t keep my footing,” Pinkerton said.  “I was swept downstream, became unconscious and was saved by a fisherman from Oklahoma on the other side,” Pinkerton said. He was hospitalized briefly following the incident.

26-Hour Fishathon (Alaska)

A friend and I once spent a summer in the small town of Cooper Landing on Alaska's Kenai Peninsula. Our purpose for being there, was to fish, and fish we did. Summertime in the Land of the Midnight Sun, lends itself to a lot of fishing opportunities, because; as the title suggests, you never really experience darkness during the course of a normal day. While this anomaly could be viewed as a boon for those who really love the outdoors, it can also lead to some negative consequences for those with an unbridled enthusiasm to fly-fish, in that you could literally-- fish yourself to death. On one particular day during one of the salmon runs, we both went on a "fishing binge" that started on the Kenai River then on to Russian, Kasilof, Ninilchick, Anchor, and might have even included Quartz Creek. At some point towards the end this "fishathon", my friend found me lying on the cobbled banks of the Kasilof, exhausted, finally trying to take a little streamside nap, and using a rather large rock as a pillow. It was at that precise time that he asked me, if I realized that we had been fishing for the past 26 hours; and honestly, I hadn't really bothered to notice.  (Read more…)

The gods do not deduct from man's allotted span the hours spent in fishing.  ~Babylonian Proverb

Nearly Drowning Fisherman Ignored – By Other Fishermen (Feather, CA)
..he watched as the two tried to wade across a stretch of the river where the water is chest-deep, to reach a rock ledge midstream that's just under the surface. The ledge is a good fishing spot, he said.  He said part way across, one of them lost his footing and the current caught them, sweeping them downstream.  They attempted to fight the current but kept bobbing under and coming up.  Ultimately, one of them didn't come up.  …He said he then jumped in and pulled the man to the surface and helped get him into the boat.  The man who'd been under the water was transferred in serious condition to Oroville Medical Center.   Alexander was ecstatic to learn the man wasn't dead at the scene. "I thought he was done," he said. "I was bummed all day." He called the paper to complain about the callousness of some of the anglers at the scene, a couple of whom he thought had a good chance to save the pair in distress, but just kept casting.  "It was sickening," he said.

Graveyard Report (San Juan, NM)
…someone once said: "there aren't any fish rising in the graveyard", thus my advice is to get out, if you can.

Leper Colony? (San Juan, NM)


Stylin’ (Deschutes, OR)

Zenith (Penns, PA)
massive BWO & Brown Caddis hatches on the lower creek. Also October Caddis are starting to hatch on the lower creek. It won’t get any better than this weekend. Olives love cold wet days to hatch.

”Best In A Decade” (Bighorn, MT)
Flows remain at 1750cfs. Fishing is spectacular right now! It could hardly get any easier or be more exciting. Hatches remain consistent and prolific. Yesterday the Tan Caddis and Trico Hatches were probably the best we have seen in a decade. Spinner falls until 2PM and then caddis after that!!!!

“All Hell Broke Loose” (Bighorn, MT)
The dry fly fishing was simply awesome yesterday.  The cold weather has made the bugs explode even more.  Before we even got in the boat we took advantage of numerous fish sucking down trico duns right below the boat ramp.  The tricos fished well until around 10am.  By late morning all hell broke loose and the pseudo emergence poured off in droves.  The first hour of the emergence was the easiest to fish, before the surface of the water became blanketed with bugs.  It didn’t help that by early afternoon the black caddis hatch got really strong and added to the bug soup.  There were plenty of fish up to put your flies over, throughout the entire river.

Pod Casting (Missouri, MT)
Trout within a pod become extremely competitive for the drifting fare, eating flies every single second for minutes on end.  Do you realize the amount of food that is cruising by to get this kind of response?  Sometimes, one must make ten or fifteen perfect drifts in order to hook a fish.  While other times, one can make five cast and hook three fish.  Timing is everything, as is a little luck.  Making that first drift count is always helpful too……

Fall Colors (Au Sable, MI)
Fall Colors mean something different to everyone.  For me, it's brook trout...


The leaves have peaked and the wind has since swept a fair percentage from the trees. 

Beacon (Montana)