When Granny and I made our move to Wisconsin official, it was amazing how many local fly fishers reached out and welcomed us. We got advice on places to fish, some folks offered to take us fishing, and Stu Neville, owner of the Hayward Fly Fishing Company, Stu offered to promote my art, sell my … Read more
Its hot here in northern Wisconsin. I’m mean like really hot. Temps have been in the mid to high 80°s since I got home from Arkansas Monday. While Granny and I wanted to take out our new Striker raft and float a river on today’s summer solstice, a full “longest day of the year” roasting … Read more
It was a busy Saturday on the famous White River of Arkansas. You couldn’t ask for a more beautiful day. The cold river flowing from below the Bull Shoals Dam created a thin layer of fog. The temperature began comfortably cool. As you would expect, everyone from anglers to sightseers to kayakers wanted their piece … Read more
As you may know, I’ve had the good fortune of fishing on the USA Masters Fly Fishing Team. Last year, Bret Bishop, Pete Erickson, Loren Williams, Mike Sexton and I took home the Gold Medals in Italy. None of this could have happened without our generous friend and sponsor, Jerry Arnold. Jerry has been covering … Read more
Granny and I broke out our new Outcast Striker Raft again today for an early morning float. We left last night and did our shuttle leaving Granny’s car at the boat ramp. We took my car and the raft to the boat launch and slept in the Exploder. We woke up at 5 AM and … Read more
Dreadful weather moved in last night. I could feel the temperature drop while sleeping in my van. Then the drizzle started followed by gale wind. By the time college pals Howie, Mike, Mark and I were ready to head for Lake Superior for our second day we got word there was a small craft warning … Read more
I’m lucky I’m still friends with many of my college buddies. We all met in 1983 studying in Wisconsin at Northland College and managed to stay in touch all these years. About eight of us are like brothers. Today Howie, Mike Neuman and Mark Reiser met up for the first time in a while and … Read more
If you aren’t yet familiar with Science on the Fly let me help. Science on the Fly is an organization founded by the Woodwell Climate Research center and Fishpond. They seek to further our understandings of changing watersheds around the world through long term, world-class river science. They strive for cold water, clean rivers, healthy … Read more
One of the luckiest things during our big move across country from Idaho to Wisconsin was that I was unable to sell our drift boat before leaving. This led to a dreaded drive across country with the ancient baby-blue Slide Rite on an old rusty and cracked trailer behind a 1991 stick shift Exploder. But … Read more
When you get home from an incredible trip like I had last week to land of the coaster brook trout, there’s a ton of work to be done from unpacking and re-sorting gear to editing photos and writing stories and blogs. But my phone rang last night and buddy Bob Butler said we needed to … Read more
This trip to Bowman Island Lodge in Ontario flew by like all great trips do. Despite the fact we fished an extra evening upon arrival, followed by four twelve hour days, it went fast. As you would expect, Joe Wolthuis, Jerry Darkes and the entire group for that matter, fished as hard as humanly possible … Read more
It’s a known fact that when the east wind blows, fishing slows. This is especially true on the Ontario side of Lake Superior where I’m spending a few days fly fishing for coaster brook trout and lake trout from Bowman Island Lodge. The east wind started yesterday around 5 PM and it continued most of … Read more