Pickin’ your pocket
Pictured above, the wader pocket contents of one of our good friends and fellow guide, R. I see a Werther’s Original candy wrapper, some cigarette butts (errrm, smoking is bad for you, ok kids?), a chunk of mono and a miscellaneous fly. Hey, that’s my fly!
Right now, what’s in your wader pockets? After surfing through mine i came up with…Blistex, Excel cinnamon gum, 2 bearbanger pens (found one that someone dropped on the trail) and 3 cartridges, a lighter, trout forceps, a chunk of bright pink yarn, gink, 18 inches of 8.4 lb mono, and a small metal wedge.
I always believed that the state of your house and car can give a lot of insight into your character. But, what about your waders? Do they tell a story?
Not sure what is said about me, but i do have to go fix an axe later.
A.D. Maddox Collection
AD Maddox has traveled from her native Tennessee to the rivers of the world. Specifically, Wyoming has captured her heart and her artistic endeavors have flourished in the beautiful surrounds of Jackson Hole.
An avid fly fisherwoman and motorcycle enthusiast, she has translated her passion for beauty, nature and excitement into her art.
The AD Maddox collection features custom original art and giclee reproductions. Editions are limited and some originals are available.
does the exact pattern really matter?
My friend Mike W. ties some beautiful flies. Clearly, he follows a pattern. And sticks to it. Me, on the other hand, cannot seem to ever pull off a fly that is 100% true. I have great intentions, but I simply end up experimenting rather than following the rules.
In my experience, black and blue pretty much hits a home run on any west coast Steelhead. And, for trout, isn’t a Woolly Bugger the ticket?
Sizes aside (because I believe that matters), do we really need all of these patterns in our boxes? Are the fish REALLY that picky?
Do you follow patterns, or throw caution into the wind?
Shhh, don’t tell Simms & Sage
At the lodge, i am always moving gear around. Pack boots downriver, then back up. Move waders all around, make sure clients have demo rods and reels here, there and everywhere. Organize tips, lines and leaders, and make sure they are with the appropriate rods!
Now, how do we get them all there in style? In a wheelbarrow of course! Not near as exciting as you thought eh? 
In all seriousness, thanks very much to Simms & Sage for providing us with demo gear. Everything looks much better in their respective demo buildings - i promise!
What does your flybox look like?
Is this your flybox? Are you neat or messy with your flybox? Is this even messy? Or just normal?
I tend to be compulsively neat with mine, and once organized my trout box for 5 hours on the drive to Cali (don’t worry, i wasn’t driving). Honestly, both by color and size. Yes, too much time on my hands. 
So, tell me…is this a rats nest of a flybox? Or, am i just a neat freak?
Diane Miller Fine Art Photography
Diane is not solely a photographer…
“I love scratching on paper, delicately etched lines of pencil and ink, and the earthy smell of linseed oil and true turpentine, and sometimes I return to these wonderfully tactile media. But when I do I am satisfied more with the process than the results. I also love capturing photographic images, and I love the search for them. And in this case I am more pleased with the results.
My focus is the world of nature and the spiritual peace I find there. I am fortunate to live in the wine country north of San Francisco, where the beauty of nature is so abundant.”
Diane has been exhibiting since 1998. Her work has been extremely popular in galleries and shows, and has won many awards and had numerous publications. Many of her images are available for stock usage, represented by Monsoon Images, and Photolibrary.
The Message Should Be Clear - Hatchery Fish Hurt Wild Runs
Steelhead trout that are originally bred in hatcheries are so genetically impaired that, even if they survive and reproduce in the wild, their offspring will also be significantly less successful at reproducing, according to a new study published today by researchers from Oregon State University.
The poor reproductive fitness – the ability to survive and reproduce – of the wild-born offspring of hatchery fish means that adding hatchery fish to wild populations may ultimately be hurting efforts to sustain those wild runs, scientists said.
The study found that a fish born in the wild as the offspring of two hatchery-reared steelhead averaged only 37 percent the reproductive fitness of a fish with two wild parents, and 87 percent the fitness if one parent was wild and one was from a hatchery. Most importantly, these differences were still detectable after a full generation of natural selection in the wild… view full story
Pro pharma = anti-environment
Prescription drugs are now used in such large numbers that they have become an environmental hazard. When you take drugs, they aren’t simply “used up” by the body; they pass through and get funneled into water treatment systems. The bad news is that water treatment facilities don’t remove pharmaceuticals, so they get flushed downstream where they destroy aquatic ecosystems while contaminating the water supplies of farms and cities that happen to be downstream.
Drug companies try to pretend this problem doesn’t exist, and the mainstream media has largely ignored it, too. Meanwhile, fish are being born with double sets of reproductive organs, and fish infertility rates are skyrocketing. The humans who eat those fish are, likewise, expressing unprecedented rates of hormone-related health disorders such as breast cancer, prostate cancer, infertility and much more.
Those diseases, in turn, get treated with yet more prescription drugs! Then those drugs are urinated back into the groundwater supply where the density of synthetic chemicals continues to increase. Sound insane? It is…. view full story
Canada Enlarges Nahanni National Park Sixfold
Conservationists are celebrating the announcement today by Canadian Environment Minister Jim Prentice and DehCho First Nations Grand Chief Gerald Antoine of the final boundaries for the expanded Nahanni National Park Reserve in the Northwest Territories, an ecological treasure of global significance.
The massive expansion increases the size of the park reserve by over six times. The world famous park reserve is now nearly seven times the size of the original one established in 1972 and more than three times larger than Yellowstone National Park in the United States.
“The Nahanni is the jewel of Canada’s Boreal forest, and one of the world’s greatest wilderness treasures. Canada has shown true global leadership by protecting it,” said Eric Hebert-Daly, national executive director of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, CPAWS… view full story
National Fishing & Boating Week
June 6 – 14, 2009 - a national celebration of fishing and boating coordinated by RBFF. Coinciding with most states’ free fishing days, NFBW occurs the first full week of June.