Tailwater Tribe

To say this summer didn't go as planned would be an understatement.  Reflecting back to the spring I had visions of guide school on the Bighorn in my sights.  My buddy Randy Berndt from Wisconsin, a classmate from Montana State University and I were supposed to attend a well-known guide school on the Big Horn River.  To make a long story short; Randy got to go, and I didn't.  For me, life got in the way.  I am in the midst of yet another job change, a great opportunity that doesn't come around very often.  This threw my summer into a loop as it was a late development and by the time I got my ducks in a row, I ran out of time.  This forced me to live my life vicariously through Randy.  I kept up with his exploits through his blog "On The Fly" and it sounds as if he had a demanding, yet unforgettable experience.  Depending on my new schedule on my job, maybe next summer will be my time.  So for now, I will practice my nail knots, improve...

After mysteriously losing my old Kodak waterproof video camera, a loyal friend that had accompanied me from Key West to Idaho, I started looking around for a replacement.  I settled on the GoPro Hero2.  This is one serious bulletproof, shockproof, and waterproof camera, built like a tank and attachable to anything that moves including my kayak, my head (via headstrap), or the optional chest strap.  I took the new toy out yesterday wade fishing in the gulf and shot some practice footage using the chest strap.  I didn't catch any fish but I think I like the results.  Can't wait to try her out for real!

  As noted in one of my original posts, I am a HUGE Widespread Panic fan.  Although I've never seen them in concert (they're on my list) I do have every studio album they have recorded to date on my iPod.  I recently went browsing at Peaches Record Store in New Orleans and found a Panic CD I didn't have.  "Ain't Life Grand" was recorded and released by the little ol' band from Athens, GA in 1994.  Of course, I had the title cut, "Ain't Life Grand" on another WP album entitled "Choice Cuts." "Ain't Life Grand" is a Panic staple, but another song on the CD drew my attention, partially due to its title: "Fishwater."  This is a kick-ass song with a great bassline and New Orleans roots as well; even more appropo as I bought the CD in New Orleans.  On my Tailwater Tribe adventures, long roadtrips that involve many hours of travel, I now have enough Widespread Panic on my iPod to spend days on the ...

 Unloading the gear at the Town and Country (Nice Yeti!!!) The elusive sulfur hatch on the White and North Fork Rivers turned out to be just that...elusive.  I left the beautiful Mississippi Gulf Coast with visions of PMDs spinning in my head.  After ten hours I finally arrived in Mountain Home, AR, a place I hadn't been to in quite a while due to the inconsistent generation at Bull Shoals and Norfork Dams.  I unloaded the gear and checked into the Town and Country Inn, a fine establishment and a true hardcore fly-fisherman's hole in the wall.  A few hours earlier, I had stopped off in Marion, AR for gas and beer and was anxious to see how cold my beverages were in my new Yeti cooler, a father's day gift from my lovely wife, Laurie!  She couldn't make the trip but was living vicariously through me.  Not only did the Yeti do well in 90+ degrees during the trip, but still had ice in it eight days later.  Kudos to @Yeticoolers!  New Patagon...

Well, caddis season has come and gone (for the most part) in my home waters of Arkansas and alas, I missed it.  I had great intentions of getting some water time on the White and Little Red Rivers during spring break, but the Corps (full generation), or the weather, was not on my side.  I had a wonderful trip to the Spring River in Mammoth Spring and hung out with the bouncer at his riverside pad, got in a lot of fishing and caught a few fish.  Even saw a few mayflies and caddis there, but damn it, I missed the caddis!  I am forever the optimist and always see the glass as half full.  I am hopeful that I will run into these illusive moths somewhere this summer, perhaps the Firehole...but in the meantime, I will move on with my thoughts and my life, to the next available hatch, the sulphurs... Sulphur mayflies are yellowish-green with rusty brown bodies and are known as PMDs out west.  If I'm lucky and the planets align, and I'm at the right place at t...

When I look at similar and more popular fishing-oriented blogs than mine, many of which I am an avid fan, I notice one thing...shameless self-promotion.  I have never been a fan of this practice and this is probably why I am not a best-selling author or world-renowned fly-fishing guru.  But here I am, taking the advice of my wife, Laurie, who suggested that I promote my latest novel, "Hot Aces" on Tailwater Tribe.  I realize this out of character for my blog.  On the rare occasions that I update it, the main topic is fly fishing, travel, Montana, Arkansas, trout and any other topic solely devoted to my passion of the pursuit of game fish on the long rod.  But this time, I digress.  Hot Aces is my second novel.  The first, "The Brown Stilt House," was published a decade ago and after so many years without a new product, many thought that my writing ambition, skills, or lack of, had dried up on the vine.  I'm here to say this is not ...

I got an E-mail from my friend Randy Berndt in Wisconsin to tell me of his weather woes; 6-8" of snow predicted.  As of this time last year Randy had landed over 70 trout in the Driftless Region.  His count in 2011--1 fish.  I feel sorry for Randy in his deep freeze but thought I'd spread a little sunshine his way.  Yesterday, with temps in the mid 70's, I donned the waders to fish my anticipatory spring break caddis hatch on the Little Red River in Arkansas.  Today (Tuesday, April 19) with temps expected and exceeding 85 degrees, I pulled into the Cow Shoals parking lot, slipped on the wading sandals and shorts and practically jogged down to the river.  Hard to believe the freedom that wet-wading provides without the cumbersome boots and waders... The caddis hatch is on the wane, but I have managed to catch a few rising fish with an X-caddis and an Elk hair variant.  I dropped a #16 Red Ass soft hackle below it and got most of my fish on the Red...