Archive for September, 2011
2011 Dove Opener
Sep 15th
With 100′s of doves working our freshly cut wheat field it was hard not to grin as I scouted for the mornings hunt. My buddy Brian and I met up at 6 am and got to the field in complete darkness. Just as shooting hours begun, which was still pretty dark, we started hearing the zipping wings of Morning Doves wizzing over our heads. It was fast action from the first minute of the hunt until we limited out. The first couple (10+) shots were a little rusty as we could barly see the fast birds, before they were right in front of us. But as the morning broke and the sun warmed the day, so did our shooting (at least for Brian, I pretty much always suck) Brian sharting making shots that I wouldn’t of even dreamed of taking. The only problem we had, was that most the morning was spent trying to find the birds we shot, instead of shooting the birds that were flying over our heads. I guess it was a pretty good problem to have. It was a great way to start off the 2011 bird hunts and an even better way to spend a morning with Brian, laughing and smiling about the birds we shot and the 100′s that we missed.
First Time, Not the Last
Sep 14th
Rudy is a die hard snowboarder and mt biker living in Park City, UT. With all this outdoor experience, it surprised me when he said he has never had the opportunity to try fly fishing, so we set it up for Friday on the MP. The water was still a little high and cold, but the fish we there and they have to eat in not so prime conditions. So we rigged up and with a short Fly Fishing and Casting lesson we were wet wading to a promising run. With in his first 20 casts Rudy was hooked up, but the acorbatic brown leaped out of the water an threw the hook. Now with the the feel of a hook up Rudy was pumped and ready. Within minutes I looked over and saw him doubled over and in a fight with a nice MP brown. This the fish hunkered down running up and down the run giving Rudy a taste of a true fly rod fight. But after a couple minutes the big fish got the best of us and shook the little hook loose. After the hole settled down we tried another promising area. Rudy once again showed that he was a quick learner and caught and landed his first fish on a fly rod. It was great to see the excitement on his face as he released the little brown. The rest of the morning we caught a couple more fish, but the bugs weren’t giving us any help and the fish were just a little lazy. But the day was a huge success as Rudy got to experience another outdoor activity and is now planning on buying a rod and reel and going after those fish that got away.
On the way home I stopped by a favorite hole on the LP. It was void of fishermen (which is rare) but full of emerger (pmd, caddis) eating fish. After a couple hrs of fishing I had landed 10+ fish and the smallest being a bow around 17 inches and the largest was a toad brown that had to be over 23 or more??? It was a great day and nice way to top of a little bit slower than normal morning.
Fat Albert and Da Fairbanks
Sep 11th
Like most fly fishing trips this one was way over due. I met Dr. Jon Fairbanks a couple yrs ago through the Fly Fishing Frenzy site and since then we have been talking about hitting the water together, but never could make it work. Fast forward a couple years and a job change later, now I work with Dr. Jon Fairbanks. SO we had to make it happen. Date set, Fairbanks crew in order and next thing we knew, it was 4:30 am and we were on our way to the Green River. The hot sunny weather was perfect for a day of throwing terristrials, so the plan was an AB float letting our bugs pass by as many fish as possible. Our day started way before we stung up our flies. As brothers the 3 Fairbanks (Mark, Erik and Jon) starting talking trash, setting up beats and everything else competive brothers do. So when we left the first hole and Mark had landed 5 fish and Erik 0, you can pretty much figure out the feeling on the boat. That was short lived as the Green and its fish were nice to us, giving our boat consistant eats (mostly on fat alberts) almost the entire day and letting Erik redeem himself by landing the big fish of the trip. Our trip was exactly what most expect when floating the Green. (but rarely get) Lots of fish and great scencery, but this trip was so much more than that. It is an experience that will now be ingrained into all that had the chance to share it. The feelings and memories willl be in our souls forever. The fishing is what brought us together, but it takes second place to the friendship, laughter, smiles, and feeling of complete fulfillment. Thanks for the experience Fairbanks Brothers.
Since a 20 mile float wasn’t enough fishing, we decided to hit an evening Caddis hatch, that turned into a rodent hatch. Skittering mice with a full moon was fast and intense as large fish exploded the moon lite water. Next time we’ll use 10# tippet right Jon? By 3am Sunday, I was finally in bed after being on this 23 1/2 hour adventure. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
