It was barely 8 o'clock as I hurried down the road toward Joe's cabin. Mother thought I should wait until later, but I was too excited to wait. Now I just hoped that Joe wasn't still in bed and maybe it was too early. All my apprehension vanished as I approached Joe's cabin and saw him sitting on the porch drinking a cup of coffee. Hunter saw me instantly and came bounding off the porch to greet me. Over the coming weeks this would become a regular ritual.

Hi Cary,

Hey buddy, just wanted to drop you a quick line to let you know that we pulled it off again! The 2011 Central Washington Fish In is in the books. Our ninth year of hosting this gathering and it keeps on bringing together friends old and new.

I cannot remember where I came across this nymph pattern, I remember using this pattern at the 1999 FAOL Black Hills Fish-In, when fishing Ditch Creek at some Rainbow Trout that were stocked up like cord wood in front of a tree that had fallen into the creek and diverted the water around the downed tree. 

There's nothing like walking in the door of the gym and staring into the face of a live Swainson's hawk to get ones attention. On the stage behind the hawk were three large pet carriers which had their doors 'blacked' out with tape. The gal giving the program later explained the birds were calmer in the dark so they made a habit of traveling with them that way.

As I write this it is past the middle of June and the snow pack in the mountains of western Montana is just beginning to show signs of melting. We continue to have cool weather with significant rain which is adding to the flooding. Checking the snow pack and water equivalency levels on the Internet will reveal significant amounts of snow and water still waiting to runoff and most of the waterways in Montana and the surrounding states are already at or near flood stage

It should have been so simple; the trout were holding in holes along the river, how hard could it be? Well, I found out that weekend.

My daughter's birth was approaching, just a few months away. I knew I MIGHT be somewhat busy from about a month before her due date until she is about 27. I was going to be very tired every time I had to wake up in the middle of the night and tell my wife, "Hey, wake up, she's crying again," and then promptly fall back to sleep. Yep, plum exhausting.

It was early Sunday afternoon, and when I turned on the Weather Channel I discovered that there was a 100% chance of storms on Tuesday. My better half suggested that I go out now instead of being out in the rain. Who am I to argue?

All winter long most of us were waiting for the coming of the summer season. As we sat tying flies while the snow piled up outside we were dreaming about summer time when the living would be easy. We could hardly wait to shed our winter coat for a short sleeved shirt and replace that snow shovel with a fly rod. However, summertime is not all tea and crumpets, there's stuff out there that can hurt you.

It's not a good spring for stream fishing in this neck of the woods.  Like a lot of other places around the country, precipitation has been much heavier than normal this winter, and all the streams are blown out. Warnings have been sent through media outlets that the streams are dangerous, and on some, you're on your own if you get on them. There will be no one to affect a rescue if you get into trouble. 

A few weeks ago I went with a good friend and 2 new acquaintances on a planned trip to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia on my first trip with an outfitter. After nearly 48 years, I had never used an outfitter or guide for anything, short of a charter boat captain. This fact had me slightly nervous to-say-the-least both because I really had no idea what to expect, nor was I certain I would enjoy the experience. But there I was heading down I-81 through Pennsylvania running head-on into a world of uncertainty.