Wyoming 2013 - Day Two

Day two of the trip saw us up and on the road early as we were headed to fish some water that I had not yet seen, but was told was spectacular. The closer we got it became apparent that I had not been oversold...the views on the way in were stunning!

After winding our way back in to the foothills for some time we came around one final turn and the valley floor spread out before us revealing a thin ribbon of water splitting it down the middle.  One amazing thing about this valley was that the river had eroded right down an ancient fault line where two disctinct rock types had long ago collided.  The resulting split left pale white rock for one canyon wall and brilliant red rock on the opposing wall...something I had previously only read about in Geology classes.

We geared up riverside and started our walk in to see a man about some troutskis.

Once we had wandered upstream a bit we made our way under a copse of trees and popped out right next to a perfect trout lie.  There was a gently sweeping bend in the river where the riffle ran down in to a plunge deep plunge pool at the base of a massive slab of rock, with a gentle back eddy, before falling off down in to the next pool. 

Greg was up first again and I could not take my eyes off of the water as this was one of those spots that, deep down in your gut, you just KNOW will give up fish.  Greg's first drift unbelievably made it through the pool unmolested.  His second cast, however, was a foot farther and the water absolutely exploded as the biggest fish we would see the whole trip came out of the depths and demolished his fly.  There was some extra line on the water so Greg set hard and the hook hit paydirt.  This was a big and now very pisssed off fish that had the 5WT Radian bent right through the cork...until it didn't.  After a few seconds of savage fighting the rod went slack...it had straightened out the hook and left us with our jaws in our laps.  While it was not the desired outcome it was one hell of a way to start off the day! 

We were playing baseball so Greg sat to re-tie while both Clark and myself landed a couple smaller fish in quick succession getting us back to Greg's turn.  He made a few casts high up in to the back eddy on the far bank and, after throwing a heavy slack loop to stall the fly for a second, hooked up and landed this very solid brown.  On the board with a nice fish we moved on upstream and worked each inch of water to be sure we did not pass by the hiding spot of one of the finned ninjas...

As we made our way slowly along I found that my eyes were looking up as often as in to the water.  The cliffs were a site to see and we had swallows and magpies working the water and keeping us company.

Each time we thought that there had to be a featureless stretch coming we would come upon another pool, cutbank, depression, or boulder...it was a seemingly endless supply of habitat and every rock covered with insect life.  Every spot that looked like it should hold fish seemed to do exactly that; if we did not hook one then we saw one slash or spook.

Our guide this day was the owner of the outfitter and good friend Clark.  We made sure he got in on the baseball rotation and it was a pleasure to watch him work the water.  Clark picked apart every seam...

...and was rewarded with some very nice fish!

As I was cleaning up the pictures from day two for this post it struck me that, though we caught more fish than we could count, we had not taken all that many pictures of fish but rather were more taken with the scenery.

We caught mostly browns and rainbows on the day, but there were a few cuttbows around as well. 

On the way in for the morning fishing we passed by a sweeping bend and, rather than walk the inside edge, crossed above the bend and walked well up the slope to have a good view down in to the water.  This particular spot had a cold spring that flowed forming a slender peninsula, and dumped in to the main stream in a small back eddy.  From our high vantage point we spotted what looked like a female rainbow that was every bit of 20+", and stuck around for a few minutes to watch her.  She was sliding around nymphing and lazily rising to take the occasional bug off the surface.  We mentally marked the spot for when we were headed back through.

After lunch we fished for a bit before getting downstream of that spot and Clark suggested that he and I cross well downstream of it and get slowly back up to our high vantage point to see if she was still there...and she was.  We talked abot it and figured Clark would stay in place to spot, while I slowly made my way down to the peninsula to try and get a shot at this fish.

I made it down the slope and out onto the peninsula without stepping in the spring as I didn't want to stir it up and give her warning that I was on my way.  I slowly crept forward as far as I dared and then got down on my hands and knees to get a few feet closer.

Clark and I had talked and decided that a beetle would be the fly to try so once I was in position I started peeling off line and picturing the 35 foot cast from my knees in to the dinner plate sized eddy right at the tip of the grass peninsula.  Just as I was about to cast Clark yelled down that it was moving on caddis so I backed off, clipped the beetle, and secured a sz14 elk hair caddis. 

With the new fly on I waited until the fish was pointed the right direction and fired in a cast that was about a foot left and short of the current seam, so between the grass and lack of current the fly stalled out inches from shore.  Clark yelled down that the fish saw it, was on it, moved in tto take a look and then sank back down not happy with what it saw.  I waited until the fish slid out in to the current seam before popping the fly back to me and regrouping for another shot. 

Since we know the fish saw and rejected the last fly I clipped it and went smaller...down to a sz18 X2 Caddis. I again waited until the fish presented an opportunity to cast without spooking it and this cast was again on the mark.  The fly landed just outside of my view so it was squarely in the eddy and visible to the fish.  Clark again excitedly called out the play by play as the fish again investigated and again rejected the fly.

We then decided that perhaps it had not been taking caddis but rather small beetles so I got set up with a little foam bug.  Just before casting though Clark called down that she was now actively nymphing...this fish was being a real bastard.  I cut off the beetle and decided to drop a sz18 bead headed caddis off a larger caddis.  With the rig ready I waited for the fish to give me a casting window and as she drifted just under the current seam I made my cast.  The cast rolled out perfectly and a little tuck at the end dropped the nymph and indi-caddis right at the top of the back eddy.  I slowly took up slack as the fly inched back towards me and Clark confirmed the fish was interested...then swimming towards it...then I struck hard as he yelled down that she took it right as the last inch of line I could see told me the same thing.  One strip set and I felt some serious weight on the line for an instant before the water exploded towards me and the fish came out to eye level, nearly beaching herself on the grass, before sliding back down in to the water.  My heart was pumping so hard that it took me a second to realize that no amount of slack I was frantically trying to regain would bring me back tight as the small barbless hook came loose during the tarpon like explosion and head shake.     fuck...

This brief look of disappointment and disbelief quickly turned to smiles and laughter.  I did not get to hold her in my hand but we had fooled that smart old trout.  Not one that I will soon forget!

Recap...hands and knees, five flies, three casts, thirty minutes, fooled fish, unforgettable LDR.  Pure awesomeness!

Shortly after that we were joking around and calling out spots that would likely yield fish.  Greg was on the stick and Clark stayed high on the outside bluff to get a few shots for us.  We saw some noce depth change so Greg made a long cast in.

A few drifts through and it seemed that perhaps there was not the fish that we expected in that slot, but then almost as an afterthought a fish lazily rose and sucked down his hopper so gently that we nearly missed it.  Game on.

The fish put up a good fight but Greg ws able to bring him over and gently slide him in to the outstretched net.

The fish played nice in the water but was a bit camera shy...

Oh well...on to the next awesome looking spot!  While we were very comfortable with 5X in most places, these jams were a good test of our knots and fighting capabilities.  When the fish came out and hammered on our flies here we had little time to try and turn them otherwise they would beeline back to the safety of the gnarly wood piles and surely break us off.

The fishing in this spot had been phenomenal for us all day.  This beautiful brown was representative of the average fish for us on the day, being in the 14-15" range, and we had those shots at the bigger fish that will continue to haunt me for some time.

One parting glance back as we were walking our way back out.  this is a spot that I will get back to for sure.

Dinner on day two the last few years has found us heading out to the ranch for a great meal, and then hanging around the ranch bar for a few beverages and some stories.

After a few beers and a glass of wine with dinner I was feeling pretty good.  I headed over to the car to swap out the camera lens for a few shots and as I stood there I was hearing a weird whistling sound.  It was almost as if Tinkerbell was flying about...but I hadn't had that much to drink so what was going on?  I peered around the door and down at the slope in front of the car and was shocked to see there were a few feeders with three different species of hummingbird zipping around all over the place!

As I gathered myself I was able to spot the three varieties there; green with red throated Broad Tails, brown with bright scarlet throated Rufous, and the mini-sized Calliope.  It was really amazing to see that there were about three dozen birds whipping about and visibly draining the feeders!  I grabbed the camera and stood there shooting birds for twenty minutes or so before heading back in.

One important point of buiness on the night was for Greg to add a SAO sticker to the sticker fridge.  Again this year I did not have any ACF stickers with me, so I guess that I will have to go back...

Our visit to the ranch coinsided with an employee party on the riverside deck so it was a lively affair.  One of the guys, Hunter, had collected spring water from a local spring and grains from just over in to Montana to brew a fantstic beer for the night.  It was one of the most tasty home brews that I have ever had.  It was actually flat due to a mishap in the final stages of brewing so it was more like a cask beer...but delicious none the less.  I was perfectly happy to have mine and enjoy the taste without the bubbles rather than use the remedy of some of the newly-21 in attendance that carbonated theirs by pouring in some PBR.  I can only imagine how they felt the next morning.

We had a long day of spectacular fishing and followed it up with fantastic food, beer, and fish stories...pretty hard day to beat.  It would have been fun to hang out and relax at the ranch bar but there was one day of fishing left so we called the night relatively early, before it was technically the next day anyways, and headed back to get some sleep.  Morning would come quick and we needed rest as Greg and I were set to spend one of the most physically demanding day on the water I have experienced in a while.

Day three post to come in a few days...

-mike schmidt

www.anglerschoiceflies.com

Wyoming 2013 - Day One

Living here in Ohio I do not have mountains to greet me everywhere I look nor do I have what anyone would refer to as an abundance of wild trout out my back door...or any. About a week ago, after the long wait from last summer, the time had finally come to head back out west to Wyoming to chase around fish in one of the most amazing settings possible.  Needless to say, it is a trip that I look forward to all year. 

The days leading up to the trip seemed to draw out the closer it got but finally Thursday afternoon came and it was time to hit the road.  I lit up the first of many fine cigars on the trip as I headed north to meet up with Greg Senyo.  The plan was to crash out early at his house, to get ready for the long travel day, but instead we put down a fair number of Yuengs and tied flies for far too long.  Instead of getting a good nights rest we got more of a short nap in before heading to Detroit Metro and jumping on a plane headed west.

We made it in to Sheridan, via Denver, in good time and got right through to the car.  As it turns out they were unaware that to keep the sprinkler water outside of the vehicle would require the windows to be closed...so after closing said windows and drying off the front we hit the road and were in Buffalo in no time.  After dropping by the Sports Lure to load up on the local fly favorites we had a great dinner at the Winchester Steakhouse and then called it early since the morning would come soon.

Breakfast was knocked out early and then we met up with our outfitters and hit the road.  After about an hour and a half we made it to our river for day one, which was nestled way back in the canyons.  It was hard to contain our excitement as we geared up and started the walk in...this was my favorite river from last years trip so expectations were high.

I was fishing with Greg and for the first day our guide was our good friend Kelly.  As we got in to the first run to be fished I backed off to grab the camera and had Greg jump in first.  As much as I love this river I think he digs it even more and I was not about to take the first shot from him.  To start off he was so excited to be there that he seemed to shake visibly and the first few casts melted away any lingering stress.  It was great to be back.

Once Greg worked through the first run I jumped in to fish the tailout from the next pool and that run.   Just a few casts in and a bolt of lightning came flying out from a cut to demolish my elkhair and CDC caddis.  On the board!  Of course the picture had to be taken regardless of size...one does not want to risk upsetting the fish gods by not properly recording the first fish of any day!

This particular stretch of water varied from being able to touch grass on both sides with outstretched arms out to about 20 feet.   In the more narrow sections the scrub and willows, which grew right to the bank, were a welcome break from the wind but forced some precise casting.

Greg put up the first respectable fish of the trip with this gorgeous brown trout.  These things hit like a freight train and fight like crazy.

The water was gin clear and in the pools any misstep would send water waves out which would put the fish down.  they are wild fish and lightly pressured, but they were not stupid...they know how to survive.  Each spot that looks like it should hold a fish did, but to get in to the good ones required stealthy movement and well offered bugs.

If you could get a few good drifts through promising water though then the fish were out to eat! 

As we worked pool to pool together it was a blast to be able to sit back and watch how the others would aproach and work the water.  It was almost as much fun to watch the other guys perfect presentation fool the fish as it was to do so yourself...

...almost.  Of course it was still great to tag in and get your shot at the next holding water!

This was the kind of wood filled chute that held enough fish for us to rotate through and each get in to some before moving on.  One other thing that is a blast about playing baseball on the river is that push to get the better cast in to the more difficult spot with others watching.  Sure we hung up plenty and the other would jump in to finish it out, but when you made that perfect cast in to that impossible spot with an audience and made the heckling turn to ooohhs and ahhhs....priceless!

There was sexy water everywhere we looked...it was tough to concentrate on one spot when the next spot looked just as good.  I hooked what was likely the biggest fish of the day in the slackwater off the edge of the log in the lower right.  It hammered the first cast in with a violent explosion of water but after a short run around a rock edge and the log the hook lost hold...doh...

Kelly was spot on as always.  It is great to be able to spend the day on the water with a good friend like him that just happens to also be a first rate guide. 

Even with the fishing as amazing as it was the scenery made it tough to concentrate at times. 

Tight casting and deep undercuts were the name of the game.  Slowly moving in to a good position and then working the pool throughouly without moving produced some great fish.  Many times the best drift would pull the fly back under the cut bank for a few seconds before emerging farther downstream.  What was really cool was when that happened and then you set based on the sound of the trout sucking down the bug while totally out of site and then trying to get them out before they wrapped you around a bunch of crap.  It was awesome!

One thing that becomes quickly apparent is that the browns are all colored spectacularly here.  They all take on the richest electric butter yellow coloring I have seen anywhere.

I fished the Orvis Helios2 rod on this trip and it was the perfect stick for me.  It had enough ass to make the wind a non factor and roll casting a snap, but the sensitivity and feel to protect the tippet and keep things fun. 

After a full day on the water we made the long walk back across the meadows to the car.  We got in to browns, rainbows, and cuttbows...as well as some brownbows and cuttbrowns on the foam orgymidges.

On the drive back we stopped at the saddle to take a few shots out over the valley floor, and frankly the pictures do not do it justice.  There is just no way to convey the unbelievable scale of what you can see from that vantage point.

Just one day on Wyoming trout water and all the stress had melted away.  The ride back was a mix of excited stories about fish landed and missed, along with long periods of silence as I was the only one awake and driving the car.  Once back we had a quick dinner and then I grabbed a sixer of Fat Tire (can't not have some while I am there) and we geared up in the room for day two.  As we drifted off we all joked that there was no way it could get any better, but I was smiling an chuckling knowing that was not the case as the next day would also be amazing.

The shots from day two should be cleaned up in the next few days and posted.  It was a new stretch of water for me that I was told was spectacular, and they were not wrong.

-mike schmidt

www.anglerschoiceflies.com

Desk time and trip dreaming

Lately it has been a lot of time at the desk knocking out orders and day dreaming.  The orders are getting done but it is hard to keep the mind from wandering as the now annual pilgrammage out to Wyoming is just over a week out!  Here are a few shots of my favorite tank brown that came out and sharked a big hopper pattern mid-day last year.  Just nine days until I am packed and back on the road, but in the meantime I will be working the vise until it is hot...

-mike schmidt
www.anglerschoiceflies.com

On the Bay with Kestner

A few weeks ago I got a call from an old friend that he had a cancellation during prime time and wondered if I could make it up to northern Michigan to hit some water with him....I of course jumped on it and made plans for a suicide run this weekend.

I have known Jon Kestner since he was at the Troutsman in Traverse City but had not been able to hang out with him since he was one of the guides in Alaska when I was there a couple summers back.  Jon has been on the fishing scene and a guide in northern Michigan for three decades, so when I got the call I was all about getting up there to chase some fish around and lerna few things.  After getting off work on Friday I hit the road and arrived at Jon's house south of the bay under a super moon.  We hung out and had a couple beers before turning in for the night.  We were not too worried about getting an early start since the forecast looked like there would be some gnarly storms coming early and then a window late morning through the afternoon.  I did my best to sleep knowing it would be a long day on the bay chasing smallies.

After a few cups of coffee to wipe out the cobwebs we checked the weather and found that the forecast had not changed...storms on the way.  We quickly got the boat in on East Grand Traverse Bay and took a short run to our first flat.  We knew that the front was coming and figured worst case scenario we were close and could make the run back in short order if it really got hairy.   Somehow the wind shifted a few times and the bad storms split around us so we just got some serious fog for the first few hours of the day.

The fog made the site fishing tough going, but Jon had us in fish.  The man was a wizard and had half a dozen fish in the boat before my eyes adjusted to be able to see the areas he was telling me to target and got in to a fish myself.  I was relearning to see all over again as if it was my first time on a salt flat...it was amazing how well everything blends together!  This chunky four pounder about what I could expect all day along with shots at bigger fish. 

Here is another fish that Jon brought in that was about in the same range.  The day before John had a client out and landed many over five pounds including one that boga'd over seven! 

I was in streamer heaven.  Based on water depth I was switching back and forth between sinking and floating lines, as well as weighted or unweighted flies, to dial in the presentation.  Early on the visibility was bad so we went with very light colored flies so that we could track them in the water.  Some of the time the take was viscious and unmistakeable, but others it was so light that it was nearly undetectable and only the light fly disappearing in the darkness was that clue that there was a fish on and it was time to set the hook.

About the time that we settled in close to shore to grill up lunch the cloud cover mostly burned off and it really turned in to a beautiful day.  We had an expertly grilled lunch of chicken, broccoli, nd garlic bread before geting back after it.

With the sun out we could really targe fish much better and found some really agressive fish to play with.  This particular fish chased my streamer without committing half a dozen times before Jon mixed it up and threw in a permit crab he had tied up that just happened to look like a crayfish.  The fish could not resist that snack and pummeled it.

That was a mistake on the fishes part as Jon drove the business end home.  After a quick few shots back in he went.  We spent the day cruising East Bay and getting in to fish, it was awesome.  We did not get in to any of the monster smallies that were around but did see a few that made my heart flutter as they edged away from us just out of casting range.  There is a reason that Kevin VanDam named this one of the top ten smallie fisheries in the country...it was awesome.

Tough to beat a sunny day on the water in northern Michigan!  If it has been like this all day instead of just a few hours in the afternoon I can only imagine what we could have done.  As it was we fished nearly blind much of the day and still landed a few dozen fish around the four pound mark along with some smaller guys that beat them to the food.  If you are looking to get out on the water in Northern Michigan then Jon is a great way to go.  Check out his services at the 'Jon's Guide Service' website or shoot him an email at kestnerflyishing.com to book it up.  Smallies, trout, salmon, steelhead...you can't go wrong!

-mike schmidt
www.anglerschoiceflies.com

Serious optics upgrade at ACF

For a long time now I have been shooting all of my shots with point and shoot cameras; first a Sony Cybershot and then a Canon G10. The G10 has ben a phenomenal camera and a reliable tool for shooting at the house and on the water, especially when paired up with the scuba case.  While they did the trick adequately there were always shots I just could not get so I have been dreaming of the day I could upgrade to a full DSLR, and that day has come.  I had been keeping my eye out for a good deal on the Canon 7D as it is a great camera and finally found a kit including the body, a 28-135mm lens, and a 70-300mm lens.  They are kit lenses but for the time being will be great as I get back in to the game and regain my camera savvy that I had accrued leading up to my BFA from Dayton.   I also sprung for a serious top end L glass lens, the f2.8 IS 100mm, and it is bad ass!  As I play with the lens and get more comfortable I will be posting more shots and plan on some pretty cool ones to come this summer.

The other benefit of the Canon 7D body is that it shoots video in full HD, so the option to produce more video step by steps is now on the table.  I plan to put a few up here and there as well as put together a collection of them on DVD at some point, perhaps by this winter.  With that being the case I will need to know what people really want to see so if you have a pattern you think is a must reply to this post and let me know.  If I choose your fly for the first video then I will tie a few of it up as I am getting ready to shoot the video and send them off to you. What could be easier!?!?

Here are a few shots I took with the 100mm the last few days:

I hope to hear from some of you with your fly suggestion for coming video step bystep!

-mike schmidt
www.anglerschoiceflies.com

Southern Swing Recap

Finally was dragged back kicking and screaming from an awesome couple weeks down south in Florida.  It took a few days to decompress from decompressing…now comes digging out of the pile of work that built up while I was gone.   It was a few weeks spent hanging out, first with the wife and then the second week with friends, and with no agenda or schedule.  I posted a few shots on other spots during the stay but figure a brief recap is in order here as I get back in the swing.

After driving through the night to get to New Smyrna Beach, the wife and I pulled in to town and spent the first day down there getting any small errands done, relaxing, and letting people know we made it.  The next morning we were up bright and early and off to meet up with Tim Baker from East Coast Paddle to pick up the custom boards that we had ordered.  I wanted mine for playing in flatwater and fishing while the wife wanted hers for yoga, so we ordered up the stable flatwater boards from ECP to accommodate those target uses.  The wait was well worth it as the boards came out amazing.   Mine specifically is the ’Slab’ model which comes in at 11’x35”x4.75” and was ordered up in custom wood airbrushing and black pads.  With 16 leash cups I have plenty of tie downs to go on any expedition I would ever care to take…or just use the ones for the cooler and day-tripping.

 I did get out with my good friend Mike Mann to chase fish around twice while I was down there.  The first day I had more shots than most trips I have taken but was met with the typically snooty attitude of Mosquito Lagoon fish.  After I got the morning jitters out by landing the fly on a few backs I settled in and made solid shots but they would simply swim away as if they had not a care in the world and ignored us.  Bottom of the ninth I switched up and did get a nice fish to hand. 

Long and lean with lots of spots..13 or 14 spots actually!

The second day out with Mike the pickings were slim and we have a nice bed of fluffy white clouds to put some gnarly glare on the water as an extra challenge.  No tails up so most fish were practically at the rod tip before we spotted them and going was tough.  As we worked our way in to one large basin we started to hear some heavy thunder coming from off in the distance…well south towards Titusville but close enough to keep an eye on.  As the front came in the tails went up and we had a few shots at doubles that either line spooked or felt the boat, then we saw the mother-load…a double with a half dozen fish 20’ past them.  We worked our way in to position and I could feel myself tightening up as the storm was to the point that I knew this was it before leaving the water early for the day.  As it turns out the double was actually two fish with tails up and another between us so my cast was a bit close for that fish and it swam off and put the other two down.  Not happy about that but it was not the end of the world since the other pod of half a dozen good tails was still happily working the bottom.  With the last put down fresh in my head I was a little shy about the casting so I started well out from the group and worked each cast closer in to avoid another unseen blowout.  On the seventh or eighth presentation I gave the fly a little hop twitch and watched the tails get excited, then after a second twitch one moved through the group and I came tight.  Then all hell broke loose as the fish took off and in a matter of seconds had taken all the fly line and 150 yards or so of backing.  After a good fight that thick fish was in hand with a Borski cornered in it's mouth, and boga’d just over the 8lb mark.  

A few pictures later it went back in the water and the celebratory beers came out.  I am not a Corona guy, but that beer tasted phenomenal!  With a few high fives as the beers went down we continued to scan for tails but the storm was on us and wrapping around the west side as well so it was time to head back early.If you are looking to get out on Mosquito Lagoon I cannot recommen Mike Mann's Fat Fish Guide Service highly enough...give him a call and book it up at 386.295.5991. 

Not one to stay out all day in the sun I retreated to Peanuts each afternoon adn got in a little Buzztime quiz game.  Some local wins, national rankings, and a perfect game were had.  Love to learn a bit while having some tasty brew!

We were worried that nobody had seen our Gopher Tortoises since some construction took out an area that they used to feed in next to the condos, but the day before we left one of the little guys made an appearance so they must still be around!

Paddleboard yoga was fun for the group as well.  Some had been out on them before but for some this was the first time on a paddleboard but they still threw down on some poses…my contribution was taking pictures.

Back to reality now though and working through orders that had been on hold.  Also hope to take advantage of the warm water fishing that has been on fire here in Ohio while I was gone.  Going to be in town now for the next few months so there should be more regular updates around here again...and hopefully some good local fish shots along with the flies!

-mike schmidt

www.anglerschoiceflies.com