Daydreams about Ice Things

It happens every year. Usually about this time. Sometimes sooner. I see posts from friends about days spent on ice-covered lakes or read about ice fishing events, and my mind strays north. Way north. One minute I'm focused on a task at my computer, working from my home in Georgia. Then my mind strays to a small nameless lake in Northern Minnesota, a reservoir in the Black Hills or the edge of Presque Isle Bay in Pennsylvania, where I'm on bundled in winter gear, kneeling on ice, holding a tiny rod and starting intently at a my graph.

Soon I snap out of it and get back to whatever I had been doing, but it doesn't take much to send me back to wherever I just was or to jump to somewhere else. Sometimes I can look at a few of a buddy's posts or visit Jeff Sundin's fishing reports to do a bit of vicarious fishing and get it out of my system. At least that's what I tell myself. It probably actually makes things worse.

It really hit me this week when I realized the St. Paul Ice Fishing and Winter Sport Show is this weekend (starts tomorrow afternoon). It's a giant show that sort of kicks off the season (although folks way to the north and at high elevations in the West have been ice fishing for a couple of weeks now) and is show I've always wanted to attend. I'm hopeful that some year it will be a good fit for me.

The ice dreaming has been worse for the past couple of years because I haven't done any of the real stuff. I made a few multi-day trips north per winter for several years to fish, take photos and gather story material, but ice fishing hasn't fit with work needs for the past couple of winters. I've mostly gone south instead of north to fish during the winter, which most folks would say is the sensible thing to do anyway.

I enjoy ice fishing way to much for a guy who lives in Georgia. I even bought an auger, ice scoop and sled a couple of years ago, and I already had the clothes, rods, electronics and lure. So I could drive north and be self sufficient if need be. For the moment, I guess I'll just keep dreaming and hopefully will find good reason pack up the ice stuff and head toward ice country some time this winter!

A Few of my Favorite Things

Since my return from the Rebel Trout Trek, quite a few people have asked about my favorite stop we made. So far, I haven't been able to answer that, or even narrow it that much, and I'm not sure if I ever will. Several stops, though, offered a favorite "something," so I thought I might highlight some of those. This might turn out to be Part 1 of a blog. I'm not sure yet!

Favorite Wildlife Sighting

Despite Asher and I having seen bison, antelope, elk and much more, including a few bears, my favorite wildlife we spotted was the group of the 10 bighorn ewes that were right across Rapid Creek from us in the Black Hills. They ignored us completely while we fished, and it was indescribably cool watching how they walked and bounded along the edge of the cliff.


Favorite Forest

Similarly, we roamed through a lot of very pretty woods on our trip. Still, no other forest struck me in quite the same way as the old-growth forest that bounded the North Fork Skomoshish River in Olympic National Forest. Enormous trees and boulders, most of which were blanketed by moss, and a forest floor covered with ferns and woodland wildflowers, created a fairytale-like display of colors, designs and textures.







Favorite Mountains
One thing that surprised me on the trip was how much the mountains varied in character from one
location to another, including some areas that weren't that far from each other. The specific group of mountains that struck me the most was the aptly named Snowy Range, which is located just west of Laramie, Wyoming. The Forest Service campground we stayed at is open from "snow to snow," the campground hosts told me, and on average that means Aug. 1 through Labor Day! The entire recreation area is higher than 10,000 feet, with the highest peaks a few thousand feet higher, and it's dotted with high-country lakes. We passed within touching range of a couple of big patches of snow as we hiked to a few of the lakes to fish.

Favorite Fish

This one is really a tie because Asher caught two piggish rainbows on back to back presentations at Dry Run Creek, and while we think the first was a tiny bit bigger than the second, I can't say that I enjoyed seeing him catch one more than another. Either would have been the largest fish of any kind that Asher had ever caught, and both provided a mighty nice launch for the whole trip. I also had a favorite fish of my own, and if you followed the trip you probably could guess which one it was. I think I'll save that, though. I'm thinking of more favorite things from the trip, even as I write, so there needs to be at least a Part II.

Rebel Trout Trek Update

For starters, I should remind all that the BEST place to follow the Rebel Trout Trek is at rebellures.com. I'm filing a blog post there every evening that tells what I believe to have been the day's main story line. I'll do my best to share posts here, and I've put some photos on facebook and Instagram. However, between driving and fishing, we've been going dark to dark, and the Rebel posts and pictures get first priority at night. I have had more I have wanted to share, so maybe I'll slip in some backtrack posts at some point!

That said, I did want to share a few things. Most significantly, with 2,000 miles logged, I finally got to go fishing today. Actually Asher and I fished most of the day, hitting three different areas (and catching fish from all three), and the brown trout were quite cooperative, despite high flows. The water was too push for the Crickhopper bite that I'd hoped to enjoy, but I still expect to find that on down the road.

The only diversion we took from fishing today was at mid-day, when we had lunch at the No. 10 Saloon in Historic Deadwood and watched Wild Bill Hickok get shot. The hardest thing for Asher and me so far has been wishing we had more time to do everything. I'm a big fan of Deadwood and fishing in the Black Hills, but tomorrow, we'll it'll already be time to leave the Black Hills behind and continuing along our loop.

Anticipating Deadwood Return

Most fishing stops along the Rebel Trout Trek, which begins in four and a half weeks, will be new destinations to Asher and me. Actually, all will be new to Asher. I've watched Asher's older brother Nathaniel fish Dry Run Creek in Arkansas several times. I've also visited Yellowstone and Yosemite national parks and California's Eastern Sierra region, but have not fished in of those places. Most destinations on our fishing loop will be places where I've never traveled at all.

Deadwood, SD, where  we'll begin our western fishing, is the exception. I've actually visited Deadwood and fished Black Hills waters twice previously, once through the ice during mid-winter and again last summer. Both have been among my favorite fishing trips, so I couldn't resist including a Deadwoood stop when I was planning the trip. The Black Hills are ruggedly beautiful, and I've only found excellent fishing in my admittedly limited exposure.

Even though I've fished out of Deadwood twice, most of the actual waters we'll fish will be new to me. Plan is to begin with Whitewood Creek (pictured above), where I fished on last year's visit, as soon as we get to town. However, the next day we'll plan to explore the tailwater of Lake Pactola, a special-regulations area that has intrigued me since I first leaned about it but that I have not fished, and do some other "discovery" together. The next day, before we continue west toward Yellowstone, we'll explore the dramatic landscapes of Spearfish Canyon and the creek that tumbles though it. That was actually supposed to be part of last year's plan, but with so much good stuff to see, we ran out of time.

I'm extra intrigued by the canyon portion of Whitewood Creek because apparently it can produces a good 'hopper bite for brown trout through mid-summer. One of the patterns I'm most excited about for the whole trip is fishing Rebel Bighoppers, Crickhoppers and Micro Crickhoppers in some of the waters where Western flyfishermen do best with 'hopper flies.

Fishing aside, I'm simply looking forward to returning to Deadwood and introducing Asher to the Wild West. If I think the town of Deadwood is cool and fun, which I do, I'm pretty confident a 10-year-old boy will too!

Remember, I'll be blogging daily and sharing photos and videos on Rebellures.com and the Rebel Lures Facebook page throughout our trip, which begins July 21. #RebelTroutTrek

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

Fish Stories

"writes fish stories"

That's my unofficial job description, and while I don't suppose it's quite complete it's a decent summary of how I get to earn my living. I'm thinking about that on this Thanksgiving because I'm immensely thankful that God allows me to use something that I enjoy so much to put food on my family's dinner table.

The big picture probably isn't quite what many folks paint it when they see my basement full of gear or track the places I get to travel and folks I get to fish with. I don't just get paid to go fishing. That said, I do get spend a fair amount of my work time playing with friends in wonderful places. As importantly, beyond my obvious fondness for fishing, I really enjoy the writing and photography parts of my job.

I'm also very thankful that my work allows me to be self-employed, meaning I can work from home, picks the trips that suit my business and my family and control my own schedule, as long as the work gets done. Although I do travel quite a bit, I believe working from home, with my wife also at home and our children home-schooled, allows me more time with my children than many dads get to enjoy.

Of course I'm thankful for the cool places I get to visit as I gather photos and story material. This year's trips have taken me from New York's Niagara River to South Dakota's Black Hills to Mexico's El Salto.

I don't know what next year (or next week) will bring, but for now I'm happy to be writing fish stories and thankful for each opportunity.

The 'Eyes Have It

When we arrived at Orman Reservoir, it was almost hard to believe we'd traveled less than an hour from Deadwood, which sits deep in the Black Hills. Orman is flat, nearly pancake flat, with very few trees along the shore (although you do see the mountains in the distance if you look to the southwest). What seemingly doesn't change no matter which direction you travel from Deadwood is that the fishing is outstanding.

I spent a fun day at Orman with walleye pro Jim Sherman, with Lee Harstad, executive director of the Deadwood Chamber of Commerce, joining us for the afternoon. We spent most of the day casting jigs to weedy bars and caught big numbers of walleyes and smallmouths. We began the day fishing minnow-tipped curly-tailed grubs, but ended up catching most of our fish on hair jigs. My jigs of choice, of course, were Ugly Bugs. Specifically, I did best with brown and orange marabou jigs, each with a pair of brown rooster feathers flared out to suggest crawfish claws.

The walleye was a new species for my 2014 fish species list. Both walleyes and smallmouths were different from any of the nine species I'd caught the day before with Tyler French on Lake Pactola. Yet another reason why Deadwood has become one of my absolute favorite fishing destinations!

Major Pactola Slam

Tyler French had told me on the drive to Lake Pactola that we could do a lot of different things, and I'd say he backed that on the water. By day's end we'd landed nine different kind of fish, including everything from lake trout to bluegills. We also caught fish a host of ways, vertical jigging for the lakers (and one brown), casting ultralights and fly gear for panfish in the backs of cover and working banks with bigger casting gear for northern pike.

The rainbow pictured above was actually our toughest customer. Rainbows abound in Pactola and are normally a sure thing if you have any interest in catching them. Some sort of tiny bugs were hatching yesterday, though, and the 'bows were locked onto them. We spent an hour after lunch casting everything in our boxes in a cove by the dam where rainbows were rising all around us before I finally managed to catch one. We had just enough follows to keep us after them, but they were very difficult.

Pactola, which is a beautiful lake in the Black Hills, just south of Deadwood, is great for the multi-species approach because it holds such a variety and it is small enough that you can easily hop from one spot to another to catch different fish.

Of the portion I landed, one species, a northern pike, was new to my 2014 list.

The actual list form yesterday, in rough order of when we got them, was: lake trout, brown trout, bluegill, crappie, northern pike, rock bass, yellow perch, rainbow trout, largemouth bass. As for the total number of fish caught, I have no idea. The 'gills, rock bass and crappie were pretty stupidly easy in a few places so they would have kicked the count mighty high.

I'm glad I got to spend the day in Tyler's boat. Big, big fun.

No Georgia on my Species List

Saturday's catch on the Nantahala River included a couple of brook trout -- my first brookie of this year.

When I added brook trout to the written list that I keep I couldn't help but notice that I've added fish from five different states, but not my home state of Georgia. Don't get me wrong. I've caught fish in Georgia this year. As recently as Friday, in fact. I only record the first fish of any give species, and none of the first fish have come from Georgia waters.

The brook trout, which came from North Carolina, was species 15. I've also caught "first fish" from Pennsylvania, Minnesota and New York. I also noticed that so far I've added at least one new fish each month of the year. Given fishing travel plans to South Dakota, Wisconsin and Mexico in June, it seems likely that streak will continue.

The Black Hills region, where I'm headed next, offers a big variety of species, so I won't try to guess what kind of fish I'll get to add next. Of course, I might end up slipping out and fishing somewhere close to home between now and next Monday, when I fly to South Dakota. So maybe Georgia will be next!

Fishy Days Ahead

Eli Moscul hoists a beautiful Niagara River brown trout caught
with Capt. Frank Campbell a couple of days ago. Photo courtesy
of Niagara Region Charter Service.

 

I caught myself daydreaming about fishy days ahead, so I figured I might as well blog about upcoming fishing travel and make the daydreaming at least sort of productive.

Capt. Frank Campbell is largely to blame for my straying thoughts. He sent a note about an upcoming trip to the Niagara River and included the photo at the top of this page. One of his clients caught that brown trout only a couple of days ago. I'll be up there in early May, fishing Lake Erie out of Buffalo for giant smallmouth bass and the Lower Niagara River for brown trout, steelhead, lake trout and whatever else wants to bite. It is one of my absolute favorite places to visit.

I'd better not get too far ahead of myself with a New York state of mind, though, because before I get to the Niagara, I'll be fishing on Norfork Lake in Arkansas for stripers, largemouths, crappie and whatever else wants to bite, floating Arkansas' Spring River for smallmouths, rainbows, browns, rock bass and more and then flying to Green Bay to fish the legendary waters of Door County (Sturgeon Bay area) for jumbo smallmouth bass, jumbo smallmouth bass and jumbo smallmouth bass.

As if that weren't enough to distract me sufficiently, spring and early summer travels will also take me to Deadwood, South Dakota to fish Black Hills rivers and lakes, mostly for trout; back to Green Bay for a big-water mix of smallmouths, walleyes and salmon; and finally South of the Border to Anglers Inn on Lake El Salto, where I hope to lock horns with some seriously big largemouths.

What all that tells me -- beyond the notion that I should enjoy some wonderful days fishing over the next few months -- is that I'd better quit daydreaming and get back to the business of writing fish stories so I'm ahead of the game when I point the truck toward Arkansas next week!

New Year Fishes

It's horribly cliche' to use my blog to look back and/or to peek ahead on Dec. 31, but I'm going to do it anyway. I find it fun to think a little about the cool places I've gotten to explore and about where I might get to venture next.

Best I can figure from a quick sweep of the map, I got to fish about 14 states, plus one foreign country last year. South end of the spectrum easily was Costa Rica. Northern end was a close call between Devils Lake North Dakota and a couple of trips in Northern Minnesota. If the the species list I kept is complete, I caught 30 different species of fish.

My children often ask my favorite part of a movie, meal or family outing, so I've been trying to pick out a favorite fishing trip or day from last year. I don't think I can do it, though. I sure enjoyed discovering the Black Hills for the first time and pulling a host of fish species through the ice on rugged and beautiful mountain lakes, but how do I compare that with exploring the spectacular Vermilion River by canoe with Billy Rosner and catching big, mean smallmouth bass on topwater lures? And then there were the monkeys and toucans in Costa Rica, the day of pounding big bream and bass catching with Nathaniel on Jimmy Houston's lake, days of doubling and tripling on redfish in South Louisiana and then feasting on Cajun cooking...

Looking ahead, the planned trip I'm most looking forward to at this moment is to Gaston's Resort on the White River in Arkansas. It's an annual writers' gathering that Nathaniel and I  have participated in a few times but have had to miss for the past couple of years. Great fishing and food, time with friends and the destinations itself all combine to make it a great trip. Of course, I'm also really looking for a multi-species trip to Pennsylvania's Pymatuning Lake for many of the same reasons.

But then again, when I look at some of last year's favorite trips, I didn't know most would even happen a year ago. I really don't know what states I'll be fishing in, who I'll be with, what species I'll be targeting or what types of techniques I'll be using in the year ahead. That's a big part of the fun, though. I enjoy fishing for bluegills one trip and for something big from the ocean the next trip, and I love the variety of landscapes, cultures and fishing techniques I get to discover and people I get to meet in different places.

Black Hills Ice Fishing Wonderland

Having returned from South Dakota's Black Hills yesterday, I'm only now beginning to digest the vastness and rugged beauty of the region and the tremendous ice fishing opportunity found in the lakes that are scattered through the region. We fished five different lakes in three days and only scratched the surface. Each was unique in its appearance, character and species mix. All were beautiful, and all yielded fish.

Fishing with Tyler and Alex of Dakota Dream Outdoors, I caught seven different kinds of fish. The big laker that bit on the first morning ramains my favorite catch, but the brilliantly colored cutbow that came from a tiny little forest service lake on our final day of fishing stands as a close second.

Day 3's fishing plan also put us close to Mount Rushmore, so I got the opportunity to visit this treasured national landmark and see it with my own eyes. How they carved such detail out of granite in such large scale and so high on the mountain 70 years ago is beyond my comprehension. We fished three small mountain lakes that day, and the drives from lake to lake were almost as fun as the fishing itself.

We spotted wild turkeys, mule deer, whitetails and coyotes along the way. Other big game species that make heavy use of the same mountains include pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep, mountain goats and mountain lions. Virtually every gas station, motel lobby or eating place in the area has mounts ranging from bison to pronghorns on the walls, and the bighorn crossing signs stretch almost into the town limits of Hill City.

Of course, staying in Historic Deadwood only added to the Wild West feel of the trip. Walking snow-covered streets with steep mountain rising on both sides, I really felt like a gun-slinging cowboy could come riding up on his horse at any time!

Destination Deadwood

The snowy slopes of the Black Hills form the backdrop to the Wild West town of Deadwood, the base camp for my next ice-fishing adventure. From Deadwood, we'll wind up into the mountains, where ice-covered high country lakes hold bounties of brook trout, lake trout, splake, pike and more.

I've never caught brook trout through the ice, and I've never even seen a splake, so I suppose I'm probably the most excited about the fishing itself. However, I'm also really forward to visiting the American frontier in Historic Deadwood, the entire town of which is a Registered National Historic Landmark, and to exploring the Black Hills.

Warm clothes and ice gear are packed and ready. Black Hills trout, here I come.