Rebel Trout Trek Prep

I've made passing mention of summer western travel plans -- plans for a trip dubbed as the Rebel Trout Trek. For now, whenever my 10-year-old son Asher and I fish together in a stream, sit to gather fishing gear, do photo work or travel any distance in the car, I consider it part of our preparation.

The Rebel Trout Trek, which will begin July 20, will put Asher and I on the road for three and a half weeks, during which time we'll log more than 8,000 miles and see a seriously big slice of the United States. Preparation is ongoing.

We'll initially drive to Arkansas, where Asher will get to follow his brother's footsteps and fish the trout-filled special regs waters Dry Run Creek. We'll also visit Rebel Lures in Fort Smith while we're in Arkansas, and we'll check out the original Cabela's in Sidney, Nebraska on our way west. Excepting Dry Run, our fishing will take place in the American West, and we'll hit as many of the region's classic trout fishing destinations as we reasonably can in that amount of time. Best I can tell, as of right now, Asher and I will fish together in eight different states.

The starting point for the western fishing will be Deadwood and the Black Hills of South Dakota. Farthest from home will be Olympic National Park, just outside of Seattle. We don't plan to fish with guides or take drift boats or anything like that. Instead, we'll focus on waters where we can just wade in, walk the bank or slip float tubes into the water and start fishing.

I'll be blogging the journey for Rebel Lures, so you'll be able to track our trek though blog posts (mine and Asher's), photos and video clips. I don't know yet exactly what will be posted where, but there will be multiple ways to follow the trip, and I'll definitely keep everyone up-to-date as that gets better defined. I'll also share more about some of the destinations we intend to visit as I work through the planning. I have the entire trek roughed out and know basically where we plan to be each day. However, there's much to fill in related to where we'll stay and which actual waters we'll fish. Of course, I know that no matter how much I try to plan, a fair amount will have to remain flexible because of the unknowns of weather, access that is not what I'd imagined, can't-miss spots I won't discover in my planning and other variables.

I'm pretty sure neither of us can comprehend just how many hours we'll spend sitting in a car or just how weary we'll get at times. And I prefer to not think about practical stuff like laundry and vehicle service needs partway through such a journey. At the same time, I know cannot begin to comprehend the grandness of the scenery, the uniqueness of the places, the quality of the fishing, or the value of experiencing it all together. For now, we can only anticipate, and I hope that in some way, you'll share in our anticipation.

#RebelTroutTrek