Looking Ahead

So of course, I owe you guys a typical new year post. I don't (or I try not to) do the 'resolution' thing.  For me, its too confining, too all-or-nothing...which makes it somewhat counterproductive, as the whole point is to better yourself.  When you set a resolution, it's usually either too harsh (tomorrow, I'm done smoking!) or too soft (over the next year I'm going to try to cut back slightly on junk food).  In the first situation, the moment you break it, you're done.  And in the second, it's so lax that there's really no self-betterment. No, for my new year, I just try to set a few well-defined goals that will require effort to accomplish, yet are realistically within my reach. For this year, I have five goals for myself as far as my recreational activities go: For...

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International Fly Tying Symposium 2011

This year, just like in 2010, I attended the International Fly Tying Symposium in Somerset, NJ in mid-November.  This trip meant a little more to me than the trip last year because I had planned on going since mid-summer, but then I lost my job in September, and I really couldn't justify the expenses of a hotel room, food, and gas at a time where I really had to stretch my limited funds to make ends meet. Then, at the very end of October, just a few weeks before the show, I got a new job. As it turned out, I got my first paycheck from my new job they day before the Symposium.  I could justify the expense again, and it seems like a...

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My Fall (Part 2)

Aside from my now job, there were a few other really notable positives in the fall, the most relevant one to my readers is that I caught my largest trout to this point. I didn't have a tape at the time, but comparing it to the rod beside it, I estimate it to be a 22-24" tiger trout.  This is my third tiger, and it was an intense fight on my 4wt! As usual, I took a break from the small streams and wild brookies when they decided it was time to spawn... As I said, I made it to Erie to do some steelhead fishing... And for the first time in my life, I went duck hunting.  A friend of mine invited me to do a few days of hunting...

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It's Been One Heck of a Fall

Hello again to all of my readers. No, I'm not gone for good, but I had a lot of changes in my life over the past few months, and while I wasn't busy the entire time, usually when I had the time to post, I just wasn't inspired to do so.  While I'm not exactly inspired now, I wanted to pop in to let everyone know what's up.  My readers have been great ever since I got Dharma of the Drift started, so I wanted to let you know where I've been as well as where I intend to be in the future, with regard to the blog here. When I last posted, it was early September.  summer fishing was winding to a close and my thoughts were rapidly turning north with thoughts of Lake Erie steelhead.  Then the unexpected happened, and I lost my job. In retrospect, getting laid off hit me much...

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Introducing: Iso Hatch Exposures

No big, meaty blog post today, just a question and an announcement for my readers. First the question: About a year ago, I wrote the five part Erie steelhead guide that has become, easily, the most viewed, linked to, talked about, and shared pages that I've ever produced.  It's clear that this is something that people really enjoyed, whether you (the readers) were the novice steelheaders that the articles were aimed toward, experienced steelhead anglers that were nonetheless interested, or even folks with no interest or inclination to go steelhead fishing that simply wanted to see what it was all about. This year, I got started in my steelhead season preparation a bit later, having a trip to upstate New York to prepare for (and go on, naturally) at the...

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A Good Day

I had a good day on the water.  Seems like the first in a long, long time. Granted, I haven't been making it easy on myself, using most of my fishing time to scout streams that may or may not hold wild trout, and once I find them, finding access, parking, and a lack of "No Trespassing" signs.  It's a thankless endavour, but finding just one or two streams on your own in a season is extremely rewarding.  This year, so far, I've found one, which I wrote about in a previous entry, but since then, I've encountered nothing but dried up streambeds, slow streams of water over 3 feet of mud, frogwater that conatined nothing but 2" bluegill, sewage drainage, and my personal favorite, the cruel tease of a beautiful little mountain stream, chock full of crawfish and huge cased caddis...but...

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Fly Shop Ethics (or When Is It Okay To Not Support Your Local Fly Shop)

Hi everyone. It's been a while since I've made regular posts, but that's to be expected of any self-respecting fisherman in the warm months.  As the kids head back to their desks, and mother nature starts to think better of broiling us alive, though, I should be back here more often, taking up your free time with more nonsense. On that note, I'd like to pose a bit of a moral dilemma to my readers.  It's not the typical 'Should I continue to buy at my FLFS (friendly local fly shop) when I can get it cheaper online?' dilemma...but in fact, maybe the opposite... You see, I'm blessed with no fewer than five fly shops within a reasonable drive.  One is an 'Orvis approved corner' consisting of bits of dead animal seemingly added as an afterthought in a store clearly wanting to...

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Summer Rainbows

Last Saturday, I managed to free up an entire afternoon for some trout scouting.  I keep a Google map of locations for fishing as a sort of 'To Do" list, with little markers in green identifying places that have been good fishing spots in the past.  Yellow markers indicate places that I've heard about or had recommended to me, or simply found on the map and thought that it might hold wild trout.  These markers are usually accompanied by short notes such as, 'Look for parking and access.' or , 'Low water mid-summer, check back in spring and fall.' Usually, I don't have the luxury of time to plan out a scouting trip to check out...

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Personal Best Wild Trout

Short post today, but it's one I'm proud of.  I got out to chase wild trout over the weekend, and decided to revisit a small but nice stream I hadn't fished since the pre-runoff conditions.  I really like the lower sections of this stream because it has all the challenging characteristics of a typical small stream, with one major difference: as it enters the lower section, the stream widens and passes through some mature forest, meaning there's plenty of room for casting.  This is a luxury that a small stream fisherman doesn't often enjoy. Still, that isn't to say that the stream is easy, by any means.  A good one to take...

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Want Wild Trout, Will Travel

As promised, here's some photos from recent outings with my buddy Sam, in search of wild trout.  While some like to add narrative, often, I find that the photos speak for themselves.  So without further ado, here are the goods: In this hole, Sam found a stocked brown that had wandered up from the creek that this blue line emptied into.  We were there primarily for wild trout, but who could resist the opportunity to take a larger fish on a light line?  Sam managed to turn the fish, but never did bring him to hand.  There's always next time, I suppose. This is what we were after...check out that yellow spot at...

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