Stream Side Adventures

10/17/2024

You couldn’t see them in a picture I took but in the little brook where I grew up there were two brook trout hanging out at the end of the bridge pool. Biggest was about 7 inches and smaller one about 5 inches. These are wild stream born fish. Caught my first trout ever about 70 years ago from this spot!

09/09/2024

Putting gear together for a quick trip to Encampment Wyoming for a couple of days of pre-spawn fishing for some nice browns.
If half as good as July I’ll be happy

07/16/2024

Last night I was sitting around camp with some fellow fly fishers and they were bemoaning the quality of the fishing: The water was to low, the water was to high, the water was to warm, I should have gone into Tetons. NO, you should do your research!

I did mine and it has payed off. Now I understand that sometime when you can get out is driven by your work/family/social constraints. But even if you have to put in your “leave request” a couple of months in advance you can still make it for the most likely best time period.

I may have a bit of a competitive advantage. In a previous life, read as working years, I was an environmental scientist with advanced degrees in fisheries science and water resources engineering. But l just used information available to all of us.

Do you look at USGS stream flow monitoring sites? Not just for data for the last 7 days, which is the default, but graphs of the last several years. Do you know that at some sites not only is flow measured but temperature and/or precipitation is recorded? Or in states where irrigation is important a state agency likely monitors stream flow.

In the west snow pack is critical for predicting water supply information. Have you ever look at USDA SNOTEL snow pack data? It can be viewed at a basin wide level but also at a site specific level. The Upper North Platte Basin average might be only be 60 percent of long term average but the snow accumulation at the Mt Zerkel site, which is a measure of snow pack in the Encampment watershed might be significantly different from the basin wide average. If you compare the correlation between snow pack at Mt Zerkel and long term flow rates at the USGS gage on the upper Encampment you can predict the peak runoff and prime fishing levels with good accuracy.

What about WebCams? Most state departments of transportation have real-time WebCams. Find the ones near where you want to fish and use them as a surrogate of USDA SNOTEL sites.

The only excuse for not being on the stream under optimal conditions is your life schedule won’t let you!

10/21/2023

Hunting done. Now a day of fishing.
Snow in Big Horns!

08/19/2023

That is me

Over 60 years ago I caught my first trout - a brookie in New Hampshire. Trout and where they live has been one of the loves of my life.

02/02/2023

Hard day of fishing. Weather said light winds near airport. They lied. Fly placement right along the w**d beds and undercuts is critical. Accuracy in high wins with higher gusts is near impossible. On a lighter note, I would roll cast all the way to Argentina!
After 2 fish said "No Mas" and took some pictures.

12/22/2022

Happy holidays my friends

Over 60 years ago I caught my first trout - a brookie in New Hampshire. Trout and where they live has been one of the loves of my life.

01/06/2020

Leave tomorrow for 16th year of fishing in Chile. Had lunch with Ethan to go over logistics of his trip down. So much fun to reminisce about streams we have fished over the years, fish we have caught and the special place we are looking forward to go back to.

11/28/2018

Christmas is coming. Need gift suggestion? I have one for you.

Thirty years ago Norm took a trip to New Zealand; a trip that would change is life, a trip that unlocked his latent wanderlust. That first trip and his adventures with a witch, leads to a life of planning his next adventure and travels to see what is around the next bend in life’s road. Over the ....

11/27/2018

I'm getting excited about my 14 straight year going to Patagonia. A snowy day will do that. Rummaging through my videos brought up this one. 6 years ago in my young and foolish days.

Getting stopped trying to to the Upper Pico in Argentina

03/15/2018

Nice to be home after 10 weeks - 6 in Patagonia and 4 more making my way to Quito.
More than trout on the world.

02/12/2018

A few pictures from this year's trips. The past 11 years of guiding was one hell of a good run. I'll keep coming but just for me.