A Few More Favorite Things

Yesterday, I blogged about a few of my favorite things from the Rebel Trout Trek. Specifically, I shared my favorite wildlife sighting, forest, mountain range and fish from the trip. I'd like to jump in where I left off and continue with trip favorites for one more day.

Favorite Fish I Caught
Although my favorite fish of the trip were a couple of fat rainbows that Asher caught, I also had a clear favorite fish of my own. Oddly, I'm not positive what species it was. I initially dubbed the big trout I caught from one of the Delaney Butte Lakes as a rainbow, but from closer examination of the colors and looking at reference photos, I sort of think it was Snake River cutthroat. Whatever the species, it was a whopper that hammered a Rebel Wee-Craw, fought hard, and barely fit in the net.

Favorite Landscape

In terms of overall scenery in a single place, nowhere comes close to Yosemite Valley in my mind. From El Capitan (highest sheer cliff in the world) to Half Dome to all of the waterfalls, everything is just so grand. In truth, everything towers so far above the valley that it's hard to grasp how big any of it is. Our visit was too brief, and visiting such a popular national park during a weekend probably wasn't the best strategy. Nevertheless, seeing the valley again and fishing between the cliffs still ranked as one of my favorite overall trip experiences.

Favorite River
I should say "favorite rivers," I suppose, because this one remains a tie in my mind. I thoroughly enjoyed fishing the Madison River in Montana and the Provo River in Utah, and both left me longing to have more days to explore other river sections. Both produced really good action from quality trout and offered outstanding public access. Also, at both rivers, Asher and I were pretty much the only anglers who were not fly fishing, which to me spells opportunity for showing the trout something different.


Favorite Lure
Asher and I caught fish on a bunch of different Rebel Lures and at times stream size or conditions dictates using some specific lure. Rebel Tracdown Ghost Minnows were the top producers, though, and the lures we ended up using the most frequently. A Ghost Minnow's slender profile makes it look like an easy meal to most fish, and reeling steadily causes a tight wiggle that's fairly subtle. That said, the weighting of this bait helps it handle fairly strong currents nicely, and twitching the rod tip makes the action much more erratic and prompts reaction strikes.
 

Favorite Fishing Accessory
Asher and I were repeatedly impressed by the design of the Cabela's Burl-Handle Landing Net that we used throughout the trip. The handle itself is comfortable in hand and doesn't slip when it's wet. Plus, the netting is rubberized, which make it easier on fish, and makes the hooks less likely to get caught in the net. The best feature, though, is a stretchy lanyard with a magnetized break-away design. I could hang the net out of my way from a vest or pack loop, but it was still in easy reach, and if Asher needed it or I wanted to go beyond the stretch range to land a fish or hold it in the water for photos, we could simply separate the magnet from the metal.

Asher's Diligence

If you've been tracking the Rebel Trout Trek at all, I hope you've kept and eye on Asher's blog. He has posted photos and some kind of account every day since we left town one week ago, so that's a great place to learn where we've been and what we have seen.

I know all daddy crows think there little crows are the blackest, but I have to tell you that I've been hugely impressed by Asher's seriousness about his commitment to maintain his blog on this trip. He considers it his job, and works at in in the car and in the evening when we have access, and sticks with it till something is posted every night. He's likewise taken seriously his role in helping me get good photos every day we've been out and is joining in the task of finding and telling stories in every way he possibly can.

Though days are very long and we're having to spend less time in places than we like, Asher and I are having an extraordinary time working our way through the West. We've already caught a lot of fish and learned so much about ever changing landscapes as you cross the country. Friday, which we spent in Yellowstone National Park, was truly an amazing day with all the wildlife we saw between fishing stops. Asher had never seen a bison before we got to the park. Now he has seen hundreds. In the same day we also got looks at many elk, a mama black bear with two cubs, an antelope and a couple of mule deer bucks. Not to be forgotten we caught a bunch wild brook trout from a beautiful little creek. 

Today, we caught fat rainbow and brown trout from Montana's Madison River. Tomorrow we drive west again to Olympic National Park, where we'll spend three days exploring rainforests, tidal waters, mountain streams and even the Pacific Ocean. I'm reporting daily on rebellures.com and here as often as I can get in an update, but don't forget to check out Asher's posts!

Useful Daydreaming

The line between my work and play has long been more than a little fuzzy, but lately it would be tough to separate daydreaming and doing my job. A few days ago I mentioned the Rebel Trout Trek, which my 10-year-old son Asher and I will be taking together this summer. Because summer lodging fills up early in many of those cool Western mountain places that we'll be visiting, now is the time to make reservations. Because one stop leads to another, I sort of needed stops laid our fairly well in order to start reserving rooms. Therefore I've been doing a lot of gazing at Google maps and reading about places like the Madison River, California's Eastern Sierra and various little lakes in the Colorado Rockies. And being pretty bitten by the trout bug, I can't really read about places like that without finding myself doing more than a little daydreaming.

Although I've been planning this trip for a while, and the whole route has been of my own design (with valuable input from friends who have fished some of the same waters) I don't think it has quite sunk in how many "bucket list" places Asher and I are going to get to sample in a few weeks. The river names are legendary. Madison, Big Hole, North Platte, Deschutes, Sacramento, Owens, Provo... Just to name a few.

Of course, I don't expect my bucket list to get shorter. It'll actually get longer because of the regions we'll see only quick samples of and the waters we'll pass near enough to learn about but not have time to fish. That's not a complaint. In fact it's a good thing. Next time I'll know better what I want to see more of, and I'm guessing it will be a more targeted trip back to one or two of the areas Asher and I will visit this summer.

There I go again. I'm more than four months out from this summer's travel, and I'm already daydreaming about the next trip!

#RebelTroutTrek