Wyoming 2014 Day Two

 

On morning of the second day Greg and I were both wide awake and geared up to hit the road before our alarms went off. It was early but we were already as jittery as a couple kids that just left an all you can eat sugar buffet. Today we were headed out to some water that we had known about for a couple years but had just not found the opportunity to fish yet. I like to think that I am in decent shape but you can’t prep for altitude and it had my head spinning on day one. As we would be back at altitude and be hiking farther today I was hoping that my body had adjusted a bit overnight. I will deal with near migraine level headaches if needed to fish these waters but prefer it be pain free if possible!

 

For anyone, and especially a Midwestern flatlander, a drive through the Wyoming foothills and then up in to the mountains is simply breathtaking. This drive was certainly no slouch and spectacular as expected. The anticipation rises around each blind corner as the views seemingly get better and better. Taking an hour to go a couple miles is way better when creeping along a mountain two track than when stuck on a city outer belt. With the windows down we crept along in silence soaking in the sounds and smells of the canyon. We careful picked our way around sharp rocks and deadfalls, until we rounded the last bend and parked to gear up. From here we walk. Up.

 

After getting through a gate and scrambling over a fence ladder we walked…and walked…up..always up. After about 45 minutes on the trail had finally made it as far as we were going to this time and the view was surreal.

 

In the dry mountain air you can see seemingly forever, or at least until a mountain gets in the way. From the high point of the trail we slowly and carefully picked our way down towards the water to start the fishing at a promising looking pool. As we stood on an outcropping above to look down in to the waters we could see plenty of fish sliding around in the depths of the crystal blue water, including one that had us shaking a bit before we even strung up.

 

The water was classic mountain freestone…fast and clear. It was pocket water heaven. Even the smallest pocket was enough current break in this brutal water for trout to take refuge. Long drifts were possible (with diligent mending) in the slow pools but the majority of the fishing was done with quick and short drifts to backpack sized targets. Lots of roll casting, being sure to cover all water before moving, was the name of the game as they could be anywhere and spooking one at your feet would temporarily shut down the fishing for as far as that fish would run…luckily not usually more than to the next micro pocket though! 

 

Getting a good drift was tricky due to the speed of the water quickly taking any extra line so high sticking and body positioning were at a premium. We generally stayed on the same side of the river for safety sake but did move in the water between spots. Crossing in many areas would have been treacherous due to flow and slick rounded rocks on the river bottom, and we did not want to get stuck on the side without the trail out! The water was gin clear and ice cold…almost literally. Let’s just say it was *ahem* paralyzingly uncomfortable if the water hit a certain level.

 

Much of the day was spent fishing Chubbies or something similarly bouyant to stretch a possible drift just a little longer.  Surprisingly a good portion of the fish did not come on the first cast in to a spot but required multiple drifts through before they would come out for a look.  Many times we were screaming in our heads for the fish to take before the fly was sucked out of the strike window...sometimes that worked and other times the fly went shooting downstream and the fish sank back to it's hidey hole. 

 

The lack of fish pictures today was not from a lack of fish being caught, in fact I landed browns, rainbows, cuttbows, and a brookie!  Frankly though I was in total awe of the surroundings.  More than once I caught myself staring off in a daze, while other times I just did not feel it was a good idea to pull the camera out of the protective SmithFly Roll Top to risk a shot.  Sometimes though the scenery alone was worth the risk. 

 

Something's got to be in there...right....?

 

Greg and I fish very well together.  Rather than split up we always stick together to share the laughs provided by the fish or the constant jawing.  Since that is how we normally fish these canyon situations are perfect for us as really only one person can fish forward at a time or you spook out the pools.  As the day progressed we fished our way back towards the car so that we kept getting closer rather than forcing a longer walk out as we were on a bit of a timetable.  It was not the normal upstream approach but the water was moving fast enough that the broken surface hid our movements from the fish.  With the rest of the weeks clients coming in that night we had to make sure to be on the road to meet them for dinner.

 

As we got to the end of the day we found a spot that was begging to be hit.  There was a long stretch of bank to bank heavy flow through broken rocks  for 50 yards ending about ten yards behind Greg in this shot.  When I say ending there I mean it as that wood in the picture is hanging over a 20 foot waterfall!  On the far bank there was a car sized rock close to the bank that blocked the flow perfectly for a gentle bucket tight up to a rock ledge overhang.  It was one of those spots that there was no question held something.  It was a nasty presentation requiring a 45 foot roll cast with an aerial mend to pile in some slack.  Greg's first attempt was a bit short and fired out over the falls before he could collect his line.  The next few were right on target though; placed right at the top of the slick with nearly the entire leader piled allowing for maybe a 2-3 second drift before dragging out.  After a couple casts with six eye intently staring at the fly we were rewarded with the sight of a solid fish rising from the depths.  Time slowed down and I swear the fish was in quicksand as it rose and closed it's mouth...where the fly had been only moments before being dragged out.  Crap.  After some collective groans and a minute to rest it Greg fired in another home run shot.  Again the fish rose under the fly but this time inhaled it!  Greg set and then somehow turned it's head away from the falls to keep it up top and fought it over to our side of the river.  Awesome fish from an awesome spot.

 

We worked out way downstream and cherry picked a few more likely spots but were up against the clock by then.  As bad as we wanted to keep going we had to hit the road and be presentable for our clients that were in the air at that point.  After hitting one last spot just up from the car we piled in and hit the road.  Back in town we got checked in to the hotel then headed down to meet the guys for the traditional first night feast at the Winchester Steakhouse.  Everyone was all smiles to be there and excited despite being tired from the road.  Much entertainment came from one of the guys confusion about what oysters were ordered and ate...let's just say we had a ball of a time with that one the whole rest of the trip. 

 

As dinner was served the combination of food coma and travel weariness set in and the conversation slowed a bit.  We finished up and headed back to the hotel to try and get some sleep.  The morning would come quickly...

 

-mike schmidt

www.anglerschoiceflies.com

Wyoming 2014 Day One

The human mind is an amazing thing.  With it we have accomplished spectacular feats; extremely complex problem solving, pushed bodies to then past their perceived limits and time travel.  Yes…time travel.  With my mind I am able, albeit unwillingly, to turn the minutes leading to an anticipated trip into days and then once there seemingly turn days into minutes.
 

My most recent time travelling experience revolved around my yearly return to the Bighorn region of Wyoming.  As with previous years the lead up to the trip seemed to take forever but the day finally came and I still somehow found myself scrambling to get my gear together.  With the car packed I pointed the car north and headed towards Greg Senyo’s place to crash for a few hours before heading to the airport in the morning.  The first leg of the journey was uneventful as we breezed through security and got to our gate with an hour to spare.  The stay in Denver was not nearly so smooth.  I will not bore you with details except to say that a brief scheduled layover turned in to a walking tour of all three terminals followed by over seven hours at the ass end of A terminal waiting.  We were literally minutes from renting a car to drive the remaining six hours to Sheridan when we finally boarded the last leg of the flight.  Greg and I got in to Wyoming late enough that we decided to nix the planned afternoon fishing session in favor of relaxing and catching up with some guide buddies who were nice enough to let us couch crash the first few nights.  Over a few beers we caught up on stories missed over the year before the conversation turned serious; where should we fish in the morning?  It did not take long for us to settle on a spot and as we started to think about crashing a crazy storm rolled over the mountains and started hammering us with sideways rain and bone shaking thunder.  Not usually something I worry too much about but we were staying on the second floor of a log building…the second oldest building in the state…

 

Thankfully we survived the night and the morning came quickly.  We rolled downstairs to the shop/bar/gathering place and put down some breakfast sammies and got our gear together.  Greg and I had no plans except to fish to our fill and get back sometime that night.  The night before we had talked it over and settled on where we were heading as it was filthy with cutties and was a place neither had yet been.  The drive was spectacular in a way that only switchback roads can be.  It took us nearly an hour more to get there than it should have as we kept pulling off at each possible place to soak in the view. 

 

 

Eventually we got to elevation and saw the river, or rather the half mile wide valley filled with willows that had the river running through it…somewhere in there.  It is a public place so we expected to see people but were surprised to see there were multiple cars at every turn off on a Thursday morning!  We drove the whole length of the valley and then came back to the spot we decided was the most promising and got geared up.  Walking in to the river there was spooky in the same way that a unfamiliar forest at night or walking through six foot tiger grass at Katmai…not specifically dangerous but definitely a spot that the hairs on the back of my neck stood at attention.

It was a long bushwhack in that rewarded us instantly as a nice cuttie bolted from the first bank where we wet our boots.  Cutthroat have a reputation of being the dull edge of the knife but we found them to be relatively selective here.  That’s not to say that we didn’t catch them eventually on just about everything we tried, but small beetles and ants outfished everything else four or five to one.  This gorgeous little guy was the first fish of the trip.  Stalking up that first bank I switched off of the small foam hopper I came in with and switched over to a small caddis after watching some come off accompanied by splashy rises.  One close cast was all it took to seal the deal. 

 

This is the first fish of the trip on the Orvis Superfine fiberglass rod.  This 4wt stick was the perfect tool for the water we fished this trip!

 

I did start the day fishing my Carlin bamboo rod.  When the wind was down this was a fun rod to fish, and fighting a fish on a rod that bends all the way through the cork is always a blast.  This was the best fish on this rod for the trip and put it to the test.  I was able to turn him and get him upstream from his rootball home to start the fight and then enjoy the tug of war through a big hole.  The coloring on these cutts was awesome.

 

The previously mentioned bettle pattern that crushed it.  Greg was the one that cracked this code when he tied on this small sz16 Crow beetle.  I believe he hit six fish in the first eight casts out of a deep and shaded run.  It was filthy!

 

At about 7 or so the mosquitos woke up and made their presence known.  We decided that nine hours of stalking these gorgeous fish was enough for day one and headed back to the car.  Truth be told the jetlag caught up to me and I was ready a little earlier but the fishing was just too good to pass up.  Once we got back to the car there were a couple guys gearing up in the lot so we BS'd with them for a bit.  Greg showed his usual Midwestern hospitality and gave the guys a couple of the beetles that had worked so well for us before we pulled out and turned the car towards the couches.  I hope those guys had as great a time as we did.

 

Eventually we got back to the shop and kicked back for some people watching.  A few beers in a comfy chair just feet from a river is perhaps the best way to relax.  While we were there our good friend Cole came in and let us know that he had the next day off and was going to spend it chasing fish around with us.  After a short discussion we settled on another spot that neither Greg or I had been to. Honestly the 'conversation' was more of a single question. 

 

Greg:  "Hey man, how about RiverX tomorrow?"

Cole:  "Yeah, we can do that.".  (**editorial note: there ws a brief twinge in the corner of his eye as he wondered who got drunk and told us about it)

Greg and me at the same time:  "Sweet!"

 

After a full day on the river  I do not even remember hitting the pillow...I was out before impact.  Good thing to as we would need every bit of sleep for the hiking on Day Two...

 

One final piece of business to address here is river names, or rather the lack of them.  I will not be specifically naming any water that we fished over the course of the trip.  Some of the water we fished on the trip was private so knowing would do you no good and other places were public but not 'my spots' so not my place to pass them along even if I wanted to.  If you know the places from the pictures then you are a lucky person that knows the awe I had the whole time I was there. 

 

-mike schmidt

www.anglerschoiceflies.com

Chasing some of downstates finest

What a weekend.  This year has been jam packed at the vise to the exclusion of quite a few days on the water for me, so the last few days was a real treat.  About a week ago a good friend, Capt Brian Meszaros of Great Lake Flyfishing, had some cancellations pop up during prime time.  I took a quick look at my calendar and then pulled the trigger to book him up for Saturday.  Since I was already going to be up there I touched base with Mike Schultz over at Schultz Outfitters about getting out on Sunday.  Mike was going to be in the UP but said that James Hughes was available and a river ninja so I shot him a text message to confirm availability and then locked him up.  The weekend had serious potential...enough that I lost some sleep over it before heading up.

After work on Friday I headed north towards Detroit; destination Mom's place.  She is a block off of Lake St Clair so after having a delicious home cooked meal we decided to take a walk down towards the water.  As the sun started to go down I was looking up at the trees and watching a massive Hex cloud bounce lower and lower.  It was torture to see that and not be on a river.  By the time we were walking back down Lakeshore to her place it was dark and they were everywhere.  I grew up seeing this every summer but it seemed like so many more bugs were around than I have seen in a long time.  Every lightpole was covered and there were massive swarms of bugs...enough that the flapping of the wings all but drowned out the sound of passing cars.  The street was covered with hex and under the lights they were inches thick!  Generally it's a rainstorm that comes through and changes my plans, but a hatch like that is just as effective.  The smallies would certainly be gorging on hex and not so quick to follow a fly thrown in their direction in the morning.  Good thing the plan was to chase the musky that were gorging on the smallies that were gorging on the hex...got to love the food chain.  With my head thinking about trout eating hex and the excitement of the coming day on the lake sleep was hard to come by and daylight cam quick.

My alarm went off at 4:45a but it may as well not have as I was already up and searching for the 'BREW' button on the coffe maker.  After a quick breakfast I was headed to the ramp to meet up with Capt B and good friend Will Turek, from Midwest Spey, as he was available and excited to split the boat with me.  The boat was just being dropped as I pulled in so I grabbed my bag and jumped in so we could head out.  It was a gorgeous morning with the lake being glassy calm and the sun rising.

 

Capt B said the plan was to hit a close shoal on the way out to see how the hex hatch affected the appetites, so in a matter of minutes we had the rods out and were searching for fish.  It did not take long and I was on the board with a largemouth that promptly spit up a fistfull of hex as I went to remove the popper.

The plan had been to chase musky as the main course for the day and fill in with smallies but the weather had other ideas for us.  High sun and cloudless skies can be overcome and east wind can be overcome, but the combination of the two makes for a super tough bite.  We hit a few spots rigged up with Scott Musky Special fly rod that Brian worked with Scott to design and gave it a go.  That rod made throwing a 350gr sinking line with a 15 inch fly feel no worse than throwing my standard 6wt set up, it was amazing.  After putting in a few hours hitting super fishy spots without so much as a follow we decided to pull the plug on that game and change to smallies. 

 

Schoolies were around and we took it out on them.  It was pretty cool to drift up on a shoal and have them chasing down the fly in gin clear water...it was a very visual game.  There were more than a few times that I had multiple fish in the 4-5lb range follow a retrieve back but I just could not get them to commit with their bellies full of bugs.  We switched back and forth between Clousers and poppers depending on if we had surface boils or not and enjoyed our time on the water.

As you can see it was gorgeous out.  At one point we headed down river to check out a few spots and I snapped this shot looking through the Belle Isle bridge at downtown Detroit.  It was so clear that you can see the Ambassador Bridge in the background! Detroit doesn't look so bad from the water.

 

All in all I was disappointed that we could not get the musky game working but had a blast on the water blowing up smallies with Brian and Will.  Fishing those shoals and flats in clear water is quite an experience.  Retrieving your fly and watching a smallies come from 20 feet away in bathtub clear blue water is crazy fun!

 

After getting off the water my body was toast.  I got back to my Mom's place and sat down to watch the soccer game.  I was there in time to watch the last five minutes or so of the first half...then woke up in the 93rd minute, doh!  There is a new establishment at the south end of Grosse Pointe that just opened up last weekend so decided to go check it out.  Atwater Brew has been downtown for a while and looking to expand.  They bought an old church in GP, dumped a pile of cash in to renovating it, and reopened it as a traditional German Biergarten style brewery.  Inside the circle bar is set under a floor to ceiling stained glass window and there are four long bench style rows.  Outside there is also a small bar and another four long tables.  It is a unique experience in the area and they have some phenomenal beers both from the main downtown brewery as well as a few brewed right on site.

Day two on the water found me about 40 miles inland with James Hughes and the Schultz Outfitters crew.  Hughes is a young guy that has put some serious time in chasing fish and has his game dialed whether you are looking to chase carp or smallies.  Corey came over from the shop to car spot and help drop the boat in at a pretty gnarly looking 'ramp' then we headed off.

If you have never targetted carp then you don't know what you are missing.  They are an exceedingly intelligent and spooky fish that require every bit of the stealth and ability you would amploy against the most wary spring creek trout.  In the first hour I had shots at fish that spooked, fish that outright ignored a few different flies, and fish that would swim up to investigate and bump the fly with it's nose before turning away (sometimes multiple times).  Frustrating to be sure but so rad to watch them in such clear water.  Trying to fool these fish is one hell of a fun game. 

 

This micro was my first successful fish of the day and I have no idea how the fish did not come unbuttoned.  I made the cast and got the fish to eat but it then promptly headed straight at me far enough to give itself some slack to turn hard and take me in to an old submerged rootball.  Hughes jumped in and headed over to the wood where, for a good five minutes, he was trying to get the fish to come out.  The whole time I kept pressure on and occasionally felt a head shake or burst of energy, but kept it from getting any deeper.  Afer about five minutes it swam back out and nearly lasso'd Hughes legs as it U-turned back in to the wood then a minute later I got it out and he got the net on it.  I have no idea how the line did not get wrapped up and break under that gnarled rootball or how the hook did not pull from the pressure...but I am glad it didn't as I got on the board.

We ended up getting four fish landed, three from the boat and one sniped while stalking on foot.  There were a handful of break offs as a hooked fish went bananas and ran like a freight train to some wood, and I lost count before lunch of the number of carp that we fished to and watched them investigate and refuse offerings.  It was unreal.

I had the camera along with a few lenses so we took our time with landed fish and got a few shots throughout the day.

It's hard to believe that a freight train of a fish like this can be so easy to spot sometimes, but then completely ghost away while you are looking right at them.  Their camo is very impressive and can have you tearing your hair out at times.

Released to see another fisherman...and likely be even a little harder to catch next time.  I can not wait to get back out on the water with Hughes, so much so that we already talked about getting some dates set up for next year to chase carp and smallies in the spring and summer.

The weekend on the water was an awesome distraction from the day job and the tying. Going to be spending the next eight days knocking out a few remaining orders and packing as the annual Wyoming trip is coming fast.

-mike schmidt
www.anglerschoiceflies.com

Demo Days weekend

Just got back from Demo Days weekend at Schultz Outfitters and all I can say is wow.  The whole SO crew put in a ton of effort leading up to this weekend and once again pulled off an excellent event.  Mike and Allison had the exhibitors and presenters out to their beautiful home for a barbeque and Eirik Vitso was able to herd us all together and get this great shot.

Saturday was the day of the event that I had a presentation so I got there early in the morning to see things get set up and to hang out with a very fishy group of people.  In case you have not been there yet, Schultz Outfitters is located on the banks of the Huron River in Ypsilanti Michigan and there is a park conveniently located on the other side of a foot bridge on the side of the shot.  The reps and vendors started showing up at about 8 and got the tents set up for the day.

Orvis super rep Doug Bear had all the newest Orvis goodies along for the trip and enticed people to check them out by throwing out the vibe.

Midmorning I took an opportunity to get out and chase a few fish around with good friend Pat Turberville.  It was very sunny and a pleasure to be out on the water for a bit.

Just a few casts in my rod doubled over with what I thought was a hefty smallmouth.  Just a few seconds in to the fight though I could tell it had to be something else as it was just bulldogging deep.  After a bit I got it up close and saw that it was a surprise walleye!  This time of year they have generally come and gone already, but this healthy fish was very well fed and super clean.

Matt Phillip and Scott Hullinger, from Fly2Frame, were set up on the side of the building.  Part way through the day they could no longer stand the blank wall and got down with some urban beautification.  The result was a rad mural of a smallie chasing a Swinging D.

Chris Willen was one guy that I was hoping to be able to catch a little more of as he ties some sick bug fish bugs.  His tying presentation was right before mine so I got there a little early and watched him knock out a Double Nickel.

Another very popular draw was to have April Vokey there doing a few womens and casting workshops as well as an on stream demo.  It was good to be able to catch up with her as once her existing scheduled workshops are done she is out of the game for a bit to concentrate on achieving her casting masters certification.  I was only able to catch part of her demo after my presentation but in just a short time I was able to learn quite a bit.  Her fiancé was along on this trip so we got to hang out a little bit...he is, as expected, one very cool guy. 

Mike was only able to make it out of the shop for a few short stretches during the day.  He'd make the quick walk over the bridge and around the park, then would head back as it was pretty busy.

The other half of the Schultz Dynamic Duo, Allison, came through sporting the new look for the season.  Nothing says comfort like wet wading in boots and jean shorts! 

Sunday I did not have any presentations so I made the call to take off and head further north for a night.  On the way across 72 I made the obligatory stop off at Gates to pick up a few things, and then continued on to the meet up with my brother on the South Branch of the AuSable.

New on the right, mine in the middle and John's on the left.  Based on this shot I think it is safe to say that John has spent more time on the water than me lately.  Something that needs to be rectified.

We headed to the river and jumped in just to stretch the legs for a bit before heading off to stake out and wait for the Drakes.

We patiently waited and watched.  There were a few different mayfly species and caddis flitting about, and then at 8:45 the drakes started coming down out of the trees in swarms. 

This pretty brookie was my first fish on a dry this season...and it felt oh so good.  I went on to land another dozen over the next hour ranging from six inches to about double that without moving more than ten feet.  I was hoping to get in to a nice brown but couldn't bring myself to leave rising fish and try another.  By about 10 the show was pretty much over for us so we headed back to the camp and got the bonfire going.  Great way to spend a night...and a weekend.

 

-mike schmidt

www.anglerschoiceflies.com

Regal stress testing

If you love what you do then you will never work a day in your life.  Good thing I love tying flies because I have been 'not working' a whole lot this year!  The support ACF has received this year has been amazing and continues to grow.  This year I have put more hooks through the vise to date than any other year...kind of feels like I am stree testing the Regal Revolution at times.  It has been awesome to see the flies finding fish mouths all over our country and others as well.

The writing was on the wall for me that this last weekend was going to be spent at the desk, so I took a few hours after work on Friday to sneak away to the a local fishery and mentally reset.  I was going to meet a friend and fish a stretch that I have not fished since winter, but a last minute issue came up for him so I was on my own.  After a short deliberation I decided to hit the stretch anyway though that would now mean a bit of a hike.  I headed off up the road for a few miles before cutting across a fallow field where it pinches down to it's shortest distance  from the water.  Up and over the berm I went and then once in the water I kept heading upstream another 500 yards or so in some pleasantly cold thigh deep spring water to get to the place I wanted to start.  I quickly brought a few in hand, that were hardly bigger than the fly that I was using, before getting to a long and relatively featureless stretch.  This particular stretch only has a handful of depressions with cover big enough to hold fish over a few hundred yards of water, so you can really sneak up on the spots to target them...but you better have your casting game.  Success here requires you to be able to lay down a long and accurate cast above the target that have little splash down.  I have met a few good fish before that call the stretch home and this time one of them was interested in my offering.  As I retrieved I could see a two foot dark shadow following behind...the kind of follow that you know will come all the way back to you and spook if you let it, so I changed up the retrieve and it slowly slinked back to cover.   I changed up the fly color a little and after a few minutes put the fly back in there with the same result but a little more aggressive of a follow.   Playing the game I again changed flies, this time to something a little more weighted to give me more of a vertical jig than the side slide.  I let a minute pass and put that fly right in the bread basket.  I saw a flash behind it as the fish turned to follow.  Strip-strip-pause...strip-pause...strip-strip-pause...striiiippppp-paaauuuuussseeee...strip-strip... 

That crafty fish followed and charged to within inches of the fly, gills flairing and pec fins quivering, repeatedly and for nearly the entire thirty feet back to me before seeing me hunched over like a heron and bolting off.  I knew what that meant but put a few more casts out anyways to confirm it was gone. Touche you old bastard. You win this time, but I know your address.

The weekend was consumed with tying starting the minute I got off the water Friday.  I took breaks for food of course and each day for half marathon training, which is made more challenging when it is in the upper 80s, but most of the time was at the desk.  The flies just kept rolling off the vise and I almost finished up the whole order, leaving only a couple dozen to finish up tonight before boxing them up.  Keep an eye out for the picture later on this evening.

The next month things will continue to be busy, both with flies as well as some travel and water time.  Next weekend is the blowout extravaganza at Schultz Outfitters, in Ypsilanti Michigan, called Demo Days.  It is a two day celebration of fly fishing at the shop and the park across the street, that happens to have the Huron River flowing right through it.  Mike has a very talented group of people coming in for the weekend to give seminars, both on river and off river, as well as industry reps with the latest and greatest gear.  Afterwards I am going to head north and chasse some trout with my brother for a day, and then maybe smallies and carp the next day.   Just a month out now is the yearly trip out to Wyoming and I'd be lying if I said that trip hasn't been dominating my daydreaming for some time now already.  This year Greg and I are heading out a few days early to hit some new and remote waters before meeting our clients for three days of hopper goodness.  It's going to be awesome.

-mike schmidt
www.anglerschoiceflies.com