Planning the first trip of the season!

A few days after Groundhog Day, we got something like 19" of snow here in the Panhandle. I'd been glued to the tube the week prior waiting on Punxsutawney Phil to give me his permission to go fishing early this season. Sure enough, all signs led to an early spring. No shadow = Fish On! But then it dumped all that snow a few days later, and froze us all like that fox they found frozen alive in Norway. Freakin' Groundhog Day...  : (   Love the movie, hate the unpredictable varmint.

Anyways, now it's time. Spring has sprung like Sir Mix-a-Lot. The daffodils are popping their yellow faces up everywhere, the pear trees are bursting back to life at the park where Wes and I play catch, and I am now planning the first fishing trip of the season. Nothing major, just a familiar place I can land a few fish and knock the rust off the cast. I'm thinking Rio Hondo, the Red, the Cimarron, or something similar and close by. Any suggestion, New Mexico?

Meanwhile, I'm training for a 5k at the moment. The Color Run visits Amarillo in June and I've slowly gained some extra pounds these past few years from not being able to run due to some foot issues. So, I'm trying to cut weight at the moment, which sucks, but it's got to happen. Ever seen a walrus backpacking out of a canyon? Me neither.

By the way, Williams and I have two books coming out any day now. "49 Trout Streams of Southern Colorado" with UNMPress is already available on Kindle and other ebook formats, and will be in stores soon. Please shoot me a line if you'd like a signed copy when I get that first box in the mail. I'd be happy to mail a copy to anyone, anywhere, anytime!

And "An Introduction to Fly Fishing for Trout" will be out very soon too guys, hopefully by mid-April.  Stonefly Press is burning the midnight oil getting that one ready for print. I'm so excited I could just poop! The book looks great and with Stonefly's experience we really expect to see it sell well, even overseas. Once it's out, I'll definitely post it's release here.

If anyone has any reports on the three streams mentioned earlier, call me. I dont' want to waste time! It's gonna be a quick trip and every second will count. As for now, it's St. Patty's Day. Bout to sip on some 12-year Glenlivet and hopefully find some live music to enjoy. Let's just hope it doesn't snow!

Write a Book, Lazy Ass!

I'd be willing to bet a fistful of Franklins that most people out there, at one time or another, have thought to themselves "I'd like to write a book someday."  I know the feeling better than anyone. Been saying it myself my entire life. Strange thing is... I'm still saying it.

Why strange? Because I've actually written a few. It's just that they aren't exactly the type of books that get a guy laid or win any prestigious awards. Don't get me wrong. They're killer books. I'm happy to be published. Fly fishing books are an intriguing sector of publishing and I'm happy to do more if the pay and perks are there.

However, what I really want to write is a fiction book that makes people think, feel, change. I want to write a novel that isn't simply read over a weekend, but compared to other pieces of amazing literature over a lifetime. You too, huh? Yeah, I thought so.

161.

Let's face it. For whatever reason, not many of us ever get around to writing that book, do we? Why do you think that is? I've thought about this a lot. Let's pontificate upon the obstacles to writing a book for a moment. These are just coming to me right off the cuff.

1. NO TOPIC (What most people claim they really want to write is a book about their life -- a memoir. Honestly people? Most of our lives are some really boring shit we think is unique and special. With 6,973,738,433 people living on Earth as of 2011 (Source: World Bank), how can   that many of us have the audacity to think our lives are so interesting that we can justify writing a book about it? FACT: It isn't. It seems unique to you because you're in the middle of it, so it may appear to you that it could be interesting to others. But really it's just the spinning out of days of egocentric monotony.

Unless you've truly done something, or been something, or been through something and come out on the other side and overcome some hella-wicked obstacle(s),  i.e. Jennifer Lauck, Rosa Parks, Aron Ralston, Abraham Lincoln, please spare us and have a real effin TOPIC. Plus, it's sorta self-serving to write an autobiography, don't you think? It's sorta all about...YOU.

Let's move on.

EXCUSE # 2.  NO TIME (in a little whining-ass voice as though you lost your Rainbow Brite doll on the subway). Last I checked, all clocks have twelve numbers, 1 through 12. All clocks have two hands too, a minute and a second hand. If ever there was a true, level playing field created in nature, it is time. We are all blessed with the same amount of sunlight per day. So hear me clearly, TIME will bitch slap you one of these days if you don't get off your lazy ass and do something worth doing. Write a book worth writing. Better yet, write a book worth READING! Working hard for what you want is the only way. There is no other way. Write, or wither.

3. Hmmm, obstacle #3. What other excuses are there? No time, and not topic? That's pretty much it. If you have any sort of medium at all to write words upon, then it's pretty simple to see. If you want to be a writer, all you need are TWO THINGS -- TIME, and A TOPIC.


Based upon these two notions, seems the shelves at Barnes & Noble ought to be bursting with books written by prisoners, eh? All prisoners have is shit to say, and time to say it. But usually prisoners are in prison for a reason -- one of those reasons being they are not good at accomplishing good things, only good at accomplishing bad things. So, yeah, there are a few bad books out there written by prisoners. (And maybe a handful of good ones.) But really, no. All those books ought to be written by you, and me.

So, what's the deal? Why don't more people like you and me write books?

I have a theory. But first, let's hit on something quickly.

A list of things you DO NOT need to be a writer.

1. A DEGREE (You do not need to be formally educated to write a book, dumb ass. Plenty of kids write books, i.e. Mattie Stepanek. Homeless people write books, i.e. Harry Edmund Martinson. Housewives write books. (Hey numb nuts, I'm not talking about that type of housewife.  Apparently plenty of idiots and dummies write books also,  i.e. every "Idiot's Guide" and "____ for Dummies Guide" has to be written by someone.

2. AN AGENT (Skip all that agent nonsense and start punching the keys. Once you have your book done, and you've let a few people read it and drop and honest critique to it, and you still have a soul left, then maybe then you'll have a little juice left to go find an agent. Until you have a book, just write.)

3. Hmmmm. Excuse #3...  Can't think of any. Get off your keister and write.

So, pretty much that's my new mantra. "Get off your lazy ass write." You can quit making excuses and write your book. (This is not dogma. I'm trying to motivate myself here as well.) Chances are, it'll be better than what's on the bookshelves now anyways. My opinion is this. Since appox 2000 A.D., Hollywood and New York have been on sabbatical. A leave of absence if you will. Gotten sloppy. Been unimaginative. Playing it safe. In other words, pretty much sucked.


935!


New York: Are you kidding me with The Perks of Being a Wallflower? I learned absolutely nothing from reading that book except that I'm glad I don't teach little assholes anymore. And I can see how A Walk to Remember would interpret into a decent chick flick/screenplay/movie. But jeez it's a shitty read for an intelligent person. And Twilight -- the entire series is voted the worst books of the decade. (How does that happen?) Wicked (and every counterfeit book it spawned) just sucks. Get your own story already. And BTW, any book about zombies except for the very first one (not sure which one it is, but I am damn sure the author does) is literary junk. Everything else "zombie" is/was riding the coat tails of the first Zombie book. Zombies were dumb in the 80's, and still are dumb. (How can something dead be alive, duh?)  The Time Traveler's Wife. Wait a minute...a time-traveling gene? WTH? Just because the author doesn't understand what a gene is does not give her the literary liberty to invent a genetic disorder that causes involuntary time travel does it?  The Secret? Not a secret anymore that it's not a book and never was one,  but only a $20 hardbound transcript (complete with screenshots for every page) from the documentary film titled the same thing on the topic of unproven metaphysics. Don't buy the book when you can rent the verbatim documentary for 1/10th the price.

Anyway, on to Hollywood (which is also writer-driven, just not novelists).

Hollywood: There have been more abominable remakes/sequels of movies since around 9/11 than ever in the history of filmmaking, IMO.  Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights. Leprechaun: Back 2 Tha' Hood. The Fog. The Stepford Wives. Arthur. Around the World in 80 Days. The Omen. Dukes of Hazard? The A-Team. Hawaii 5-0. (Haven't seen Red Dawn yet but don't expect much....) On and on and on it goes... Where are the original screenplays/scripts/stories that made Hollywood what it is? Casablanca. China Town. Groundhog Day. Fargo. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Memento, The Godfather, Brokeback Mountain, Terms of Endearment, Being John Malkovich, Pulp Fiction, Dances with Wolves, Dead Poets Society, The Pianist, Rear Window, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Cool Hand Luke, Star Wars, E.T., Gosford Park, Crash, The Shawshank Redemption, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind...   ( s i g h )  I want those days back dammit. If you're going to make a re-make, ask America what it wants to see remade!


Okay. Rant over.

Segue:

So, why write at all? Well, because you have to.

But I'll tell ya, getting a book published isn't easy. The easiest part about writing a book is writing the book. That's my quote. And if you ever read it anywhere else, please know that I invented it. Some other lazy ass writer stole it from here if you read it somewhere else. The hardest part about writing a book is all the other bullshit that goes along with writing a book:

• having a significant other who can allow you to be a writer
• writing an author bio that is simultaneously glowing, and God's honest truth
• creating a blog people follow
• keeping your bio/blog fresh 
• marketing yourself as a package deal (not just marketing a single work/book)
• writing taglines/footnotes/sources/index and all that shit
• making copies of everything
• taxes 
• converting photos/images to the proper file type RAW PNG TIFF JPG JFIF JPEG WTF
• making copies of everything
• taking good photos (for non-fiction)
• sourcing quotes properly
• sending files properly (ftp, email, snail mail a disc, snail mail a thumb drive, flux capacitor)
• meeting deadlines (you MUST meet them all)
• corresponding with editors, designers, publicists... 
• understanding your contract's fine print 
• finding an agent who reads fine print 
• getting the royalties you rightfully earned but assholes don't want to pay due to fine print BS
• making copies of everything 
• media spots (print responsibilities, radio shows, book signings, television...)
• other stuff most writers don't remember right now because they're on their 3rd scotch too

Anyways, writing the text of any book should be a cake walk. Set a writing goal, and that should be around 2000 words a day. Yeah, it seems a lot a first. But, 2000 words buzzing around in your head should haunt you. Thoughts should beg to be exorcised from your soul. Ideas should insist upon spilling out of your mind and onto the paper/screen. When a writer isn't typing/writing, they should either be plagued with guilt, or bursting with spunk to get thoughts down on something. It should bother a writer deeply when they aren't writing.

Writers should ponder when they pen a pithy line, "I wonder if someone else has ever thought/written that?" Happens to me all the time. (Sometimes I Google entire sentences just to see if it comes back used. When it doesn't, I feel comfortable knowing it's mine!

When a writer puts something down for the record, they should worry like Hell, "That better pan out to be true, or I ought not print that."

So, if the easiest part is writing the text, seriously, you want to know the hardest part about the easiest part is? The hardest part about the easiest part is keeping going once you've started. Once you begin, the whole ball of wax is in your head all at once and sparks catch fires and it's easy because ideas are like bees and you can't stop the buzz even if you wanted to.

But if you stop for just a few days, the buzz becomes only a dull hum. Don't write for a week and you forget tiny parts of the plot you were gonna add in the rising action. If you stop for two weeks you forget how you were going to transition chapter ten into chapter eleven and that was important. You lay off for a month and you forget your protagonist's name and what you were writing for in the first place and that's bad because your protagonists name was your Mom's. Keep the flow in your head at all times.

1969!!! (Hell Yeah!)

And one last thing. Don't feel you always must have a finishing point. Just keep your goal. Mine is 2000 words. I was keeping track this whole time. That's what the random numbers were all about. And now that I'm up to 2015 words, you can kiss my no good lazy ass  ___________. . .

San Pedro Parks Wilderness, NM

Wes and I just returned from San Pedro Parks Wilderness, northwest of the Valles Caldera near Los Alamos in my continued search for wild trout. SPPW is the one place in NM I've never visited to flyfish.  I figured, "Well hell, if Williams and I are gonna write an EAT SLEEP FISH book on NM, I better hike in there and see what's poppin'.

SPPW is not exactly mountainous, but rather it's an enormous area of many uplifted plateaus with cutthroat streams running off in every direction. It's waaaay back in there if you're coming from the east, as we did. This isn't the kind of water that runs next to highways with turnouts and rest areas. No no. This is backcountry wilderness. And well worth the effort.

Wes had never backpacked before. First time. That's not to say that he and I have never hiked plenty of wilderness trails to slay some wildies.  Believe it -- (La Jara, Latir, the Red) -- Wes can lay down some tracks. And when cutties are out there somewhere in front of him, he'll do whatever to hook some. He's a chip off the ol' block.

We got lucky and crossed paths with two dudes who had a Toto-lookin' scruff dog, and a Spud Mackinzie look-alike sporting a saddle pack. They told us the Rio de las Vacas was where we should fish. So we listened to them. More on that in a moment... but first... a little bit of info about the maps of the area.

3 miles in, and being the mapsmith that I have become in the footsteps of Williams, I took notice of this non-comital sorta blue, dashed, river-wannabe, kinda line (that intermittent trickling stream sorta-looking shit you see on all your maps all the time but really there ain't no water there whenever you seem to show up) heading north to south on my $17 map I'd just bought at REI -- the one I ordered online never showed in the mail. It seemed intriguing. I knew we'd cross it going to the Vacas. So I could't wait. But then I noticed something strange. My NEW Forest Service map and the maps I'd printed online (the one below) were different!

I'd like to mention that the map you see above from this guy's blog is different than other maps, and possibly incorrect enough to get you into trouble out there. Don't trust the above map as far as trail names it uses. At least one trail is clearly mislabeled. The mapmakers printed plain as day "Clear Creek Trail" on the dotted trail just to the left of the word "Sante Fe." That is NOT Clear Creek Trail, but rather the "Las Vacas Trail".  Also, there is a trail leaving the Vallecito Damian not even shown on this map. 

My NEW map labels the Las Vacas Trail starting at the parking area on FR 70 and continuing past the "Y" you see in red (see the pic of Wes resting under the sign at the "Y" below). Clear Creek Trail actually begins there at the "Y" and continues to the left and is actually named "Upper Clear Creek Trail." Now that I am home and looking at all of this on multiple maps, it makes perfect sense now why so many hikers seemed lost, disoriented, and confused on that trail. If you go, I highly recommend purchasing the Forest Service map of the area. San Pedro Parks Wilderness Map. 

Now, on with the fishing!!

We began our trek on the Las Vacas Trail (or what they should have called Clear Creek Trail since it parallels Clear Creek. It may be called Clear Creek Trail at the parking area, but the Forest Service Map calls it Las Vacas... you'll figure it out) heading north out of the parking area on FR 70, skirting the tiny fishless Clear Creek much of the way. Disappointed about not seeing a single fish the entire length of it, I knew there were other (better) streams, and we'd find them soon enough.

Wes hiked so hard with a rather heavy pack! I'm very proud of him! LOOK AT WHAT ALL HE CARRIED!

About a mile and a quarter in, we arrived at San Gregorio Reservoir. Pretty awesome sight~

We passed on fishing the lake because we were excited to pitch camp in Vallecito Damian... a beautiful wide open "park" that we'd read was a sweet place to camp and chill. About that detail, this guy's blog was right on. Vallecito Damian is definitely a cool place. Dead center in the middle of the "park" is a huge, exposed flint quarry where looking at all the rocks was a nice quiet way for us to spend the evenings. We didn't take any, for you archeologists out there who might be wondering. 

Vallecito Damian in the early morning light... Look closely and you'll see my green tent under a three just left of center. Wes was still crashed out asleep, and I was looking for arrowheads in the exposed flint at my feet. 

But our goal was to find more wild Rio Grande cutties like this one Wes caught on a different trip! 

This fish got Wes addicted to wild trout.

I'd studied the maps and decided to head over to the upper Rio de las Vacas. Hiking there, we'd TRY to fish Clear Creek, but too much debris, thousands of downed trees, and not a single sighting of a trout the entire way up had us somewhat deflated. But that's when we ran into the two dudes with two dogs bearing good news about the "Vacas."  

Clear Creek trickling by the trail... a damn shame a stream this pristine is dead. 

Does anyone know why? It used to be a helluva cuttie stream. 

Wes hiked like a champ, despite boot issues.

I could see on my good map that we'd pass a couple of no-named springs/creeks on our way to the Vacas. My philosophy where maps are concerned is this... when maps are created, it's a snapshot in time. Just because it's a dotted blue line on a map made in 1998 doesn't mean it isn't flowing well and holding fish today. The converse is true as well. Solid blue lines on a map signifies constant flowing water, but I've hiked into some, and when I got there, nary a drop is found.  

Changing weather patterns effect stream flow, and ultimately fish habitat. Honestly, you never know what you're gonna find. But when you do your research, and you arrive at a stream you've spied on a map, even if it IS tiny, don't give up on it until you scout it out. This diligence frequently seems to pay off big for us. We've discovered several of our favorite waters this way. And yes, the fish you saw Wes holding a minute ago was found this way. And how we caught all but ONE fish of the weekend. 

The picture above is of this no-named stream where we found tons of wild cutts. And oddly, every angler we saw stepped across this stream, passing it over and continued walking to the Vacas. Even when they saw Wes and I slaying trout, they wanted no part of it! Go figure. They passed over great trout lies to fish mediocre water.

NOT WES AND I!

First Rio Grande Cutthroat of the day! Sorry it's blurry... I was excited!

Wes prepares to cast a dry into a tiny cut in the earth where a 12" cutthroat is sitting!

My next one -- small but wild and gorgeous.

Yup! This is all it takes to hold wild trout! WE FISHED HOLES LIKE THIS ALL  DAY AND SCORED! Not spooky fish at all. They'd practically stare you down like Clint Eastwood, waiting for your fly.

My map showed the Las Vacas Trail crossing this tiny "stream." (We nicknamed it Twisted Ankle Creek because Wes turn his ankle pretty badly here at the end of the day. He never even told me until I noticed him limping on the way back to camp. A true Mac!) The map also showed this stream forming a small pond about halfway between the Las Vacas trail and where it meets the Rio de las Vacas (and I told Wes while we were hiking to it, it should be full of cutts if it truly exists). But it didn't exist. We looked for it, but all we found was a sloppy marsh where a smallish pond might be in early April, but not late-May.

Hiking to the pond, the stream slides down a small rocky canyon where, still, trout are holding sometimes shoulder to shoulder. This is where one of the coolest things happened. I cast to two trout sitting next to each other, literally side by side. The water was so shallow it looked as though the trout were simply hovering over the streambottom. My fly hit one on the back and it didn't even move. Then I cast further up. the fish actually moved out of the fly's way, then seemed to recognize it was food, looping around this miniature pool like a shark only to nail my fly about 18" farther downstream! Amazing instincts.

Another cool event I witnessed... these fish were so eager to eat, I watched one rise to take my fly... he spat it out and looked at it underwater for a minute... then launched at it again and took it down, which is when I set the hook and brought him to hand. The water was so still in these pools you could almost see their thought process in action.

WATCH THESE VIDS...

Finally we decided to head to fish the Vacas, as well as Rito Anastacio. Not gonna lie to you... the upper Rio de las Vacas is breathtakingly beautiful water! However, it seems to me that it's been overfished. Even though the shortest path to the upper Vacas is no less than a 4-mile hike in on the Palomas Trail from FR 70, there were no less than 20 people on the 1.5 mile stretch of water we fished. I was actually shocked we weren't alone.

Wes caught one palm-sized cutt on the upper Vacas. I caught ZERO. I saw fish, but they were very skittish and puny. We didn't see any fish larger than 6", where, strangely, the small water we'd fished earlier in the day possessed far less spooky cutts, in far greater numbers, and twice to 3x the size. Perhaps if we had more time we could have moved further upstream and done better on the Vacas. But we'd already hiked 18 miles in two days and it was getting late in the day..

Here are a few facts, if you go:

1. ALL the waters in the area are either milky, or stained brown and resemble ice tea. Don't know why.
2. It may be called a "wilderness" but there are a shit ton of people in there. Don't know how.
3. Fishing the San Gregorio Reservoir with flies is a proposition typically only at dawn and dusk.
4. Cuba Ditch looks like a manmade canal cutting through the area. No fish. Weird.
5. There is plenty of wondrous scenery for those other than anglers. But with all the downed trees in certain areas, it sometimes can appear to be a depressing place.
6. The trails can get muddy in places but there is no need to wear waders or even wading boots.
7. Elk are everywhere~ keep an eye out for shed antlers. We found one!
8. Vallecito Damian is a cool place to camp. No camping near the lake.
9. No signs of bears, despite rumors.
10. A Recurve bow with a 45 lb. draw can shoot an arrow 723 feet! We took mine and it was a blast to shoot at the campsite. Vallecito Damian is so expansive, we thought it would be fun to see how far I could shoot an arrow. 2.5 football fields!


All in all Wes' first full-on backpack trip was killer! We hiked a total of 27 miles in 2.5 days according to my iPod Nike workout pedometer. We were/are exhausted. I'm so proud of Wes. And I'm glad we got in there and fished the San Pedro. It's an amazing area. Can't wait to return... 

A Backpacking Flyfisher's Checklist

• back pack (You don't need pack by The North Face. You need the lightest pack you can find for the money.) 
• hydration pack (CamelBak or similar)
• sleeping pad (we recommend the Big Agnes)
• sleeping bag (lighter weight in spring/summer, heavyweight in fall/winter)
• camp pillow (Eureka makes a great one.)
• hiking poles or staff (Mountainsmith for $13 ea. is all you need)
• tent or bivvy sack (love my Mountainsmith 1-man Altura) 
• camp stove (JetBoil type) to boil water
• stove fuel 
• 1 liter or 1-gallon clear empty vessel with lid for storing purified water
• compact lantern/headlamp/flashlight (Cyclops is my fav)
• extra batteries
• hatchet (Gerber... nuff said)
• camp shovel
• WetFire tinder (stuff is amazing and burns even when wet)
• flame source (lighter, waterproof matches, magnesium striker like what Bear Grylls uses)
• toothbrush and paste (Like what Barely Grylls (me) uses)
• biodegradable soap (Camp Suds)
• knife 
• spork or other eating utensils
• mess kit
• brightly-colored bandana (more uses than you could imagine)
• fly rod setup (rod, reel, line)
• flyboxes (lightweight foam boxes by Orvis or Morrell for backpacking are perfection)
• vest, chest pack, whatever you use (I used the San Juan pack by Fishpond)
• extra leader
• tippet 
• floatant
• nippers
• Thingamabobber
• water purification method you prefer (I use tablets)
• first aid kit
• signal mirror
• emergency pancho
• emergency blanket
• pain reliever, anti-inflamatory, fever reducer, allergy med, eye drops... 
• TP and antibiotic wipes (unscented)
• extra rope, lashing, paracord, straps, hooks, clips, etc
• night glow sticks
• bear bag 
• extra Smartwool socks
• under armour type thermals
• wet shoes or wading boots 
• neoprene socks
• dry shoes or boots to hike in
• zip lock bags to keep stuff dry
• campfire pants
• campfire hoodie or top 
• fishing wading shorts/convertible pants
• fly fishing shirt (color appropriate please)
• rain jacket (We use cheap packable Anoraks by Gap Kids and Old Navy)
• warm fleece or zip jacket (Kuhl makes amazing fleece)
• trash bag for packing out 
• bug repellent (Bullfrog )
• SPF 35+ (unscented) 
• polarized shades 
• hat with a brim (my A-Mac trucker cap is all I need)
• maps of the area (laminate them if possible for durability and waterproofing)
• gps navigation if possible
• compass
• book you're reading at the time, survival handbook (I like taking my mini Tao Teh Ching)
• plastic thermal coffee cup with lid (I clip mine to the outside of my pack)
• coffee singles (Starbuck's Via's work great and quicker than anything else I've found)
• hot chocolate/cocoa packs
• camp food (cous cous, Idahoan mashed potato packs, backpacker ready-made meals, dry soup mixes, fresh pack tuna, oatmeal packets, nuts, energy bars, trail mix tortillas, dried pastas, seasonings for cooking fish over fire, crackers, beef jerky, Wylers bullion cubes, Snapdragon Pan-Asian Cuisine makes soups ready to go and come with a handy plastic bowl and lid. I tear off the label and throw it all in the bowl and it packs great)
• hand sanitizer (unscented)
• hand lotion (unscented)
• needle and thread for repairing torn shirts, tent, or for giving your clumsy bud stitches
• digital camera 

This is by no means a complete backpacking list, or fly fishing list. There is no such thing. You might like to take a hook sharpener, but I never use one. You might like waders... I hate them. Or you might be going in the dead of winter and you don't need a hat with a brim but you better take a parka and wool gloves and HeatPaks. Or, you might be a female and need a few products not mentioned on this list-- and I suggest you take some no matter if it's that time of the month or not. 

This is simply a guide to get you started... 95% there. And it's your personal quest to get your pack down to a bearable load -- say under 50lbs if possible. 65lbs maximum. I've gotten mine down to about 45lbs when headed out for 3 days 3 nights. 

In the beginning, you'll want to take way too much food. Take enough to live, and catch something with your rod if you're about to starve! And ladies, you'll want to take way too many clothes. I wear the same shorts all weekend. Why?  1.) Because I can.  2.) Out there I'm sleeping alone and I can smell however I please.  3.) Clothes take up space and I like taking luxuries like a good bottle of scotch rather than a pair of perfectly clean shorts for each day. 

Make sure you have the stuff YOU need. Go through your head and pretend you're about to string up the flyrod and fish a stream... Do you have everything? You're about to start a fire... Do you have everything? You gotta go #2... Do you have everything? You're about to cook a meal... Do you have everything? You're about to EAT a meal... Do you have everything? You're about to go to sleep... Do you have everything? 

Remember, bears sense of smell is amazing, and they love scented items like perfume, soaps, and anything that smells sweet or fruity. Bears have been known to tear into a tent just to dig out a single scented diaper. They can smell candy a mile away. They can smell you. Be smart. Pack unscented stuff.

More later!

 

AFG January Newsletter

Fly-ku: The Art of Haiku on the Art of Fly Fishing

From the confines of the strictest of Japanese disciplines,

Men wielding the pen, as it were, as a weapon of defense—

One wrong move, and perfection of life destroyed.

The first two lines, contrast, divergence. A duet of duality.

With a final phrase that magically coheres,

Almost impossibly bleeding the couplet 

into watercolor lovers…an inspirational liquifaxion of differing ideas.

  

So, too, is the art of fly fishing…

Also, true, a creation of perfection and order,

The most sublime of creatures, in the simplest of elements;

A brief evanescence of Man amidst the endless descent of water.

Both arts dependent upon the tautest of lines,

A most delicate approach, unreserved control,

And the freest sense of imagination to hear those ever-so-subtle utterances of Nature.

But since art is rarely satisfied,

Since bliss so distant, and originality aloof,

The artistic union of the two seemed inevitable, natural.

With bamboo and silk, with ink and paper, with mastery and craft, and time and patience,

Just as poets weaved their thoughts, inscribing their parchment,

Just as anglers enter the river, ensnaring their game,

These, as well, shall coexist in the ethereality of the artful mind.

Together, here, yes. One after another,

But intended to exist in isolation, to stand alone,

Demanding, of their own respect, their oneness, their singularity,

As do the majestic trout in the pools of our dreams.

Take these eternal marriages of art, quick breaths of creation,

And caress them in their dreamy states, but do not allow one to influence the other,

As gravity influences the water, this, my friends, may destroy their identities.

Sparkling ribbons flow.

Below, the speckled rainbow—

each in the other.

   

Stones wait in silence

while fish and insects rush past,

upstream, and then down.

   

   

The fly gently drifts.

From below, the fish rises.

Splash! The two vanish.

   

The sun rises high.

The prone river roars below.

I bathe in them both.

   

The boughs of the pines

sway to and fro in the breeze

like crafted bamboo.

   

Erosion’s dull tool...

Trout spring forth from the green deep—

Life’s endless cycle.

   

Water rushes past

as my line slowly unfurls

in its perfect loop.

Wandering about

like a child lost in a crowd—

this river is home.

   

Much like the bee’s flight,

water’s winding path does not

seem deliberate.

    

   

Fighting the current,

the fish never seem to rest.

I fight fish to rest.

   

Braided waterways

separate these fallen stones—

…each cleanse the other.

   

Bugs swim through the air

as trout fly up from beneath…

and so goes the Dance.

  

Swarming above and

below, the water betwixt foes

cannot possess them.

   

Pockets behind stones

hold trout tightly, though their grasps

are far too subtle.

   

   

When the sun and the

trees and all in the river

fade, I too shall wane.

  

Mathew Arnold wrote,

“Nature, let me learn from thee.”

And thus, I found me.

   

The pines and I stand

as sentinels over the

prone kings below us.

   

Rocks divert the stream—

the steam arranges the stones…

Which one persuades which?

   

The trout’s world and mine

are separated by the

thinnest of unions.

Winter Truchas

I want to fish in the snow. When grey blankets of clouds stratify over the mountains and white, powdery flakes begin angling across the horizon and sticking to the long, leafless branches and piling up on the shoulders of my jacket, I feel the same yearning to hunt for trout as I do in late-summer. I may need a little more scotch in January than I do in July, but I can buy more scotch. 

It intrigues me to think that no matter the weather above the river, the weather within remains relatively constant year-round. Insect life revolves around the four seasons, water levels and clarity varies as well, but the temperature itself, the aquatic atmosphere, the relentless flow just doesn't change much from season to season. And so many newbies often ask me, "Can you fish for trout in the winter?" Which I usually answer with something like, "Trout don't care about snow -- they can't make snowmen."

However, snow fishing may require a subtle paradigm shift before it becomes enjoyable, as I've found it. One must dress adequately enough to remain alive, though comfortable enough as not to mimic a grilled sausage about to burst. Footing and safety become paramount. As if it's not dangerous enough already treading upon wet, moss-laden stones, adding the element of ice or snow intensifies the treachery. And removing ice from the line and guides every few casts eventually thins even the most patient angler. And then there's the flies.

You think threading tippet through a #22 midge hookeye is tough under normal circumstances? Try it when your digits are popsicles, with gloves on, when your breath is fogging up your lenses, warm snot is glistening in your mustache, and the stream is so clear you can see your next 22' rainbow hovering in a four foot deep pool just waiting on you to finish your knot. Keeping your cool (bad expression) will help your success rate.

Finding places to fish in winter can be tricky as well. We tend to stick to our favorite spring-fed streams or tailraces. In northern New Mexico, that would be the Red River below the hatchery, the Rio Grande, Rio Pueblo de Taos, Costilla, Chama, Cimarron, and a handful of others. In southern Colorado, we might fish the Animas, or a number of Conejos streams, lower La Jara, San Juan (upper and tailwater), Taylor, South Fork of the South Platte, South Platte, SpinneyMile, Arkansas, and a slough of others. But I'm not gonna tell you the others because I don't want you to go there without me.

The key in wintertime will be fly selection, and fly size. Tiny Midges, Mayflies and a variety of worms make up the majority of what you'll be imitating. I still resort to a common dry-dropper rig -- a Stimulator trailed by a #18-20 red Copper John seems to work in many spring-fed winter streams. I know a trout ain't takin' that Stimmy in winter, but it works well as an indicator. Otherwise I use a Thingamabobber and a number of weighted nymphs like beadhead Hare's Ears or Pheasant Tails.

Microscopic Midges and mysis shrimp are essential flies on many tailwaters. When shrimp inhabit the reservoir above, that's just about all a trout will take below. Know your water, your bugs, and experiment a lot.

If I want to go dry fly only, I stick to smaller Parachute Adams or similar natural-looking bugs that a trout might have fed on a month or two before rather than attractors or terrestrials.  Presentation is often less important in winter -- fish, although more sluggish due to less direct sunlight, trout are feeding more frequently since their meals (insects) are so much smaller. Frequent, repetitive casts into dark pools and deep runs is how I typically score big in the cold. And scoring in the cold kicks ass.      

Don't put your gear away just because it's getting frigid. Trout still feed. And the liquor store still sells scotch. You just have to find out where, and get a buddy to go with you (to the liquor store first, and then to the stream). I couldn't think of anything more dangerous than fishing in winter, alone.

Good luck. And whatever it is that you're in search of... here's to that!        <," ))))) >< ~~~~~~