Well it all started with a group trip on the Eagle River Saturday Afternoon. Things went good, people were happy and we caught fish. Jason and I left the shop and headed out to meet the girls at Arrowhead for some drinks and music. Well we missed the music but not the drinks. Lately our drink of choice has been Pacifico with a floater of Bacardi Limon as a floater in the neck of the bottle. We’ll we figured out last night that 6 of those might be a bit excessive. For more info on the history of the sugary substance check it out. HERE

Amos harassing the local bear after 4 of the drink of choice.

Number six at Main Street. No Pacifico there so we had to improvise

Today we nursed our swollen heads and hit up the Route 6 Cafe for some morning flavor. The sun heated things up to around 50-55 degrees and put us right back in the saddle chillin on the deck. We were all a bit off schedule from the time change so we eased into the day with……well more of the drink of choice.

Kayce giving praise to the fire ball in the sky

Jason getting sexually harassed

Amos getting vicious with a few grey hounds.

We had planned on fishing but time got in the way. Jason and I decided to break out the 8 weight and the spey rod for some back yard casting. Here I am stringing one up. After docking the Black Pearl.

Jason throwing the big gun and trying not to whip the neighbor who was looking at us with 3 eyes while starting his grill. Overall a killer weekend. Probably indulged a bit too much but what the hell.

A three day controlled flood will take place below Glen Canyon Dam in hopes to restore some of the eco sysytem. LINK

I checked out the New Movie Semi Pro last night and had some good laughs. Here is the trailer check it out.

“Hey man you want to float today?” The weather was forecasted to be snowy so I hesitated in my respons. “Why not.” As I was riding through the canyon I saw nothing but blue in the heavens and cursed the weather man I as dug on some Allman Brothers on the winding highway. The section that we were floating is a short 5 mile float that is a bit boney with the current water level but Zimm has been “jonsing ” to give it a go. We eddied out about .10 of a mile from the put and started putting the nymphs to ‘em. First fish was a giant rainbow that looked like a steelhead. I set the hook and watched it come to the surfacelike a log the whites of its mouth shaking madly. Boom, a long distance release. “Zimm did you see the size of that thing? it was giant?” “I can’t land ‘em for ya Joey.” zimm responded with a little jab at yours truly. We staying in that hole for over and hour and each fish was bigger than the next……never did get that first one again.

First one in the Boat

Had to chase this one.

We caught a few Browns Too……Still Sunny

The sun was shining and the fish were hammering Zimm’s Black Flat Diamond Flash Shuck Midge. Ocasionally they would hit the “whitey killer” aka the Prince Formerly. As we floated towards Glenwood some ugly weather was moving in and we feared that the good fishing woud come to a hault.

Sha Sha Sha Shuck Midge

Still Sunny…..

What a difference an hour makes. So we thought that the fishing was over. The front moved in and the temp dropped an easy 10 degrees. It was very uncomforatble and we still had some miles to cover. We pulled over and had a few bites and Zimm hopped up front and put me on the sticks. I had no problem with this, I was cold and needed some movement to get the blood going. This didn’t last long, Zimm hooked a rock fish that broke him off and he stuck me back up front. Dammmmmmn. At the next pool I was glad to be casting. Fish were rising all over the bank, big fish. They would come up slowly and sip midges on and below the surface.

Our fingers were sticks of ice so instead of doing the noble thing and putting on dries, we took all the weight off our nymph rig and fished it just below the surface. It worked.


We continued throught the snow fishing to risers until the take out. I couldn’t feel my feet when I jumped out of the boat but I was still all smiles. Zimm and I were due for a good day, our last couple outings were slow at best.

It felt good to be out of the snowy beast and into the warm truck.

For you steelhead junkies if you haven’t seen this be prepared to have a bit of envy. Spotting steel from the high banks and stalking them so you can have one shot. There was a previous post about these guys that I submitted a month or so ago check it for some more info about their trip.