31 Species in 2015

I may be getting ahead of myself. After all, nearly two weeks remain in 2015, and who knows what kind of fishing I might end up doing. I don't really think I'll likely tally any new species in that time, though, and if I were to, I could always post an update, so here we go:

As of now, my 2015 species list is at 31. That's my largest tally in the few years I've been keeping a list, and a pretty fair number, I think, considering that I didn't do any coastal fishing this year. Next year's fishing plans look like they'll include a decent amount of saltwater, so the list could be longer and look a lot different.

The way I keep my list, which has no purpose beyond my own journaling, is to record the first fish of any given kind I catch in a year and list the species, water body, state and month.

The top contributing state this year was a tie between my home state of Georgia and neighboring Alabama, with six listings apiece. A dozen states accounted produced at least one.

Top month, quite easily, was January, with nine. That doesn't mean I catch the most fish during January. It gets first crack, though, so it easily grabs the first pond bluegill and bass and stuff like that. Plus, I did an Arkansas trout trip and a Pennsylvania ice trip in January this year, and both offered completely different species. Nine months yielded at least one listing (all except March, August and December).

The most geographically distant species this year was a whitefish, which came from a little stream in Olympic National Park in Washington. Closest to home were bluegill and largemouth bass, which came from the same pond, which is about 4 miles form my house.

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 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