RV’ing On The Fly

Just finished these three Bird’s Eye Maple Fly Boxes. All proceeds from the sale of these are being donated to the WestHills Village Woodshop Fund. Price is $90 each for local pickup.

Recently finished a batch of newly designed Wooden Fly Boxes. I am stoked on the finish on this locally sourced beautiful Bird’s Eye Maple. I also upgraded the inserts to Richard Wheatley Silicone. Each box will hold 188 flies. Our woodworking shop recently added a CNC and this allows me to design and cut the blanks with improved precision and consistency. I just wanted to share.

Landed in Fernie, BC Canada this afternoon, got set up in this scenic campground (Fernie RV Resort, open year round 😲). Daughter, son-in-law, and the two grandkids arrive tomorrow in their camper. Fly Fishing trip on the agenda and then on to Lake Louise, Banff, and Jasper before returning to the US.
Happy Independence Day Everyone!

Every year I make my pilgrimage to the Colorado Rockies for a few days of fly fishing with my friend Richie. Well, this was the week this year. Richie picked me up at the Denver airport and we then drove up to Basalt. I had reserved rooms for us at a new hotel in Basalt, The Hoffman (a Hilton property). I highly recommend this hotel if you find yourself near Aspen. Additionally, I reached out to a local guide that I have known for the last 15 years, Woody Kiehl. This man loves fly fishing and is a great assistance.
On Tuesday Woody piloted us down The Roaring Fork River. We did not see another boat or wade fisherman the whole 14 miles. While we didn’t set any new records, the fishing was fair with 16-20 trout to the net. Then on Wednesday we waded the Frying Pan River. This is a Gold Medal River as per Colorado Parks & Wildlife and heavily fished. We found a nice set of pools that held a lot of trout and no other anglers. At our lunch break, Richie reported he had caught only one Brown and the rest were Rainbow Trout. Ironically, my experience was exactly the opposite results. Attached are a few pictures of one of the Browns that I caught. I kept seeing him rise and take Midges off of the top water. While he wasn’t large, I kept noticing his bright coloring, so I hunted him until I got him to the net. Woody was immediately taken by his markings, specifically his bright orange dotted Adipose Fin. So he documented it with these photos.

We picked up our new motor coach this past Monday at Transwest, just North of Denver. After a couple days there we drove it to Santa Fe, NM on its maiden voyage. The pic shows our rig, “The Grey Ghost,” in our site at Santa Fe Skies RV Park. Quite eclectic, as there is yard art sculptures at nearly every site and all along the hiking trail that circles the RV Park. Today we drove North of Santa Fe to the Nambé Falls located in the Nambé Pueblo Community. We hiked up to the overlook and enjoyed the view. Tomorrow, more exploration.

We just made a change in our Rolling Fish Camp. This our new
‘24 Newmar Dutch Star 4325, “The Grey Ghost.” If you see us at an RV Park on your travels, stop on by and share your Fly Fishing Stories.
See you down the road!

To my friends,
Attached is a link to an article that appeared in today’s TROUT Weekly from TU. This article, written by William Grover, expounds on the life of recently departed President Jimmy Carter. Regardless of which side of the political table you sit at, most of us regard Jimmy Carter’s post presidency as one of the world’s greatest humanitarians. I hope that you enjoy this exceptional piece of literature.

Jimmy Carter: A Remembrance - Trout Unlimited "Suddenly, there was an explosive rise not ten feet away, and an eight-inch trout came up out of the water to take one of the airborne mayflies. In all my

And just like that, our Montana Fly Fishing Adventure is coming to an end. Today, we drove an hour and a half to meet our guide (same guide, Nick, from Tuesday) at a boat launch for a day’s float on the Madison River. The morning session was a new education on how to catch real quick striking trout. The Madison is a very wide yet shallow river. Yes, there were a few deep runs and scattered boulders that offered some front soft pockets and glassy water behind them. This fishery contained Native White Fish, Rainbows, and Brownies. In order to focus on Trout and trying to avoid the White Fish, we fished only with Dry Flies since White Fish primarily feed on the bottom. Hoppers were on the menu along the Nocturnal Stone Flies and Caddis. I can tell you they were eating all of the above and once I acclimated to their quickness it was “Game On!” By the lunch break we had caught a fair number of Bows and Brownies. The afternoon session was even more fun as the trout got bigger. I had two Rainbows and a Brown as quick as it took me to type this synopsis and all three pushed 20 inches. Great fights and all were taken by identifying and hitting technical spots. What fun!
I am glad to have gotten to fish this river and even more excited that I will be back on the Madison in a little over two weeks, even if it will be for only one day.

Day Two, Montana Fly Fishing Trip

Today we float fished the Yellowstone River using Cody McCready from Dan Bailey’s Fly Shop in Livingston, Mt. We drove up river into the Yankee Jim Canyon and floated a 10 mile stretch of the river as it flowed out of Yellowstone National Park Park. The Yellowstone River is a beautiful wide and winding river. It is the longest free-stone flowing river in the lower 48 states at 692 miles long before feeding into the Missouri River. It was a gorgeous day and we were surrounded by beautiful scenery however, I was a bit disappointed in the fishing. Yes I caught my share of Trout (Rainbows, Cutthroat, CutBows, and Whitefish) but they were all smaller than I had anticipated for such a large river. Our guide says that they tend to be large further East of Livingston. I guess that I may have to come back another day in the future and try a different stretch of the river.
Tomorrow we drive a bit further west and are floating the Maidison River. Stay tuned for that report.