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2006 Fly Fishing Newsletter

* Tis the season for sportsman shows with travels to distant places. Although the shows can be grueling both physically and mentally, we meet so many wonderful people in our travels this time of year it is well worth the effort. I pity you who have to stand on concrete all day, every day for any length of time. Give me good ole river rock, gravel, and sand and the deck of my drift boat, if you please, as it is certainly soothing to my feet and SOUL! It is good to go to your environment to understand why you (and we) enjoy ours so much.

Greetings to those we may have missed?

The Lemhi Room

* We are just wrapping up our spring steelhead season and true–to-form, Mother Nature dictates which days are best and how fickle she can be. When it was good it was great, and when slow, it was real slow. The days in between really made the season memorable with some very big fish caught. Congratulations to Mel, Dick, Pamela, Jason, Eric, Sarah, Richard M., Rich B., John, Steve, Aaron, Mark, Bill S., Bill A., Tori, Glen, and Blaine for joining the rank and file of the ‘40 inch plus CLUB’. Truly a fish of a lifetime; and one that we were fortunate to share with all of you.

·         Spring season brings on the early warm water species. We have a wonderful bass fishery, both largemouth and smallmouths which rise to a fly, or wait for our feathery bugs on our sink tips and depth charge lines to reach. It is world class fishing that YOU will truly enjoy. Give us a call. And if you want a challenge, cast a line to a carp up to 40 lbs. with a #14 or smaller fly and fluorocarbon leader. This fish will be as leader shy as anything you have fished for, trust me.

* Late May and early June will have us chasing Chinook Salmon. The last couple of years has make this a narrow window of opportunity because of high water conditions, but if you have some flexibility and can come on a moments notice, it can be and is fantastic. Give us a call for an update and your intentions. These fish are on steroids. Unbelievable!

* We are headed in April to the ORVIS GUIDE RENDEZVOUS at Cody, Wyoming. Always a great time slapping palms with other guides and sharing stories of the past year, and listening to probably a few tall tales as well. Ron Ellis, whom many of you know or have had the honor being on his guided adventures, will accompany me. Ron just informed me he has purchased a brand new HYDE drift boat set up the way he has always wanted it. We will take it to Cody with us and wet a line a little or a lot on the way over or on the way back if we get a chance.

Rest assured that we will get a chance! Really looking forward to partake in the ORVIS guide rendezvous as Tom Evenson, ORVIS Western ELOG Director puts on a great event, I have been told. Two days and nights filled with guiding, client, business and marketing seminars intertwined with casting demos and competitions, an award and appreciation banquet. Also very exciting is that we get to test the new ORVIS product line! We will let you know what is new and what is hot!

ORVIS truly values its endorsed Lodge, Outfitter, Guide (ELOG) Program and is the only one out there that partners with its ELOG members to make them the best they can be to serve you, the client/guest.

* Another summer adventure you will be interested in is with my friends, Diana and Barry Bryant at Wapiti Meadows Ranch. I helped guide some of their clients last summer when they needed help and I had a little time. These fine folks have an ORVIS endorsed Lodge on Johnson Creek near Yellow Pine, Idaho. They fish the streams and lakes around their ranch, have a private pond with a few ‘Walters’ in residence, and a fantastic fly in day and overnight trip into the Middle Fork of the Salmon River.

Diana’s cuisine is to die for and the lodge and setting is stupendous. A graduate of Northwestern University and former staff member for Sen. Everett Dirksen and political confidant in Washington D.C., she came out to Idaho in the early 80’s to do a whitewater raft trip and absolutely fell in love with the area. She told a Cascade realtor what she wanted in a backcountry ranch and ended up purchasing the property from the air in the middle of winter never having put foot on the ground! Her love of Idaho is still vibrant and contagious and coupled with her gourmet cuisine, makes this a 5 star experience one to remember.

The Lodge was built in 1926 for as one of Idaho’s first Dude and hunting ranches. It has been preserved in a mountain setting and presented by Diana in a décor and ambience that is the epitome of what a Lodge should be. Diana and Barry is a very gracious host and they do fly fishing ‘right’! . This is the trip to impress that special person or client and your craving for 5 star cuisines and phenomenal Blue Ribbon Westslope cutthroat fishing.

Barry does the flying as he is an incredible backcountry pilot as well as local historian. Barry spent his summers as a young lad on his grandmother’s ranch, The Bryant Ranch, which is a little down stream from Wapiti Meadows Ranch. He moved back there 25 plus years ago, and has guided hunters, fisherman, and established his backcountry air service called Thunder Mountain Air. A graduate of WSU, (I don’t hold that against him), his early days as a corporate accountant in the Boise area made him yearn for the backcountry where he spent his youth. His stories and historical knowledge needs to be in writing. Fortunately, he is more than willing to share them with you.

Remember, call early to reserve you dates for spring, summer, fall, or winter fly fishing adventures!