Lateral Line Media

Doing A Little Pond Fishin’

joey — Sun, 06 May 2012 15:40:39 +0000

It was 11:30 pm when the e-brake on the Versa Rental Car was pulled in the middle of a field in Basalt, CO. I was sitting in the middle of the backseat and thought for sure that the car was going to flip over, or Rohan was going to spill his Senor Frogs sized cocktail all over the vehicle. Neither happened and we all rolled out of the clown car into the chilly night. RA quickly got the luncher prepared about 30 yards from the car and lit the first mortar. It went soaring up into the night sky and blew into a few different colors with a bang. We all raised our drinks and hollered like it was the first firework we ever saw. Next Trevor, one of the two Canucks that were visiting from the north, lit another with the same result. Last but not least was Rohan, who was given a hall pass from his wife for the night. RA and Ro Ro were fumbling around with the lighter and launcher for about five minutes. The Canucks and I were shooting the breeze next to the Versa when we saw them both start running. RA took a route up near some trees and started shouting ” RUN…RUN.. RUN” I though he was messing with us then it happened. The rocket launched. But instead of going up it came horizontal across the field towards the Versa. Rohan was running back towards the car when the rocket caught up with him and exploded on his ass. All we heard was ” Ahh the thing hit me in the ass.” Everyone was fine but the laughter that came after could have been damaging to the stomach. I am laughing now as I type. It was like a slow motion cartoon scene. The light from the firework lit up Rohan just in time for all of us to see him jump when it hit him in the rear. We all piled back into the clown car and headed back up the dirt road to the Ranch where Trevor tried to put a steel bowl in the microwave. Thats a different story.

Pre Firework Brook Trout

Looked Like A Pike When It Waked On The Streamer - Not A Pike

Released

Eagle River Rainbow Trout: Boom

joey — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 21:36:04 +0000

We have been on the river a ton this spring, mostly guiding people who are sick of skiing in mud and grass. I can’t blame them. It is unfortunate that it has been such a shitty snow pack year. We are going to be suffering come August. A common phrase around the valley has been ” we are fuc*ed” but there is really nothing we can do except hope for moisture. Regardless the fishing has been unreal. We have been able to catch them all three ways, bobbers, dries and streamers, but the bobber fishing has trumped the others. The rainbows are getting ready to do there thing and those assholes who are fishing the i-70 hole should stay off the redds and leave the fish alone. I floated by a guy last week and yelled at him twice only to get a blank stare. MORON. The hot flies have been pats rubber leg, barrs bwo emerger, ju ju baetis, rs2, and other tiny black midges. The bead has also been catching a few but it has been hit or miss on that guy. Most of the fish on streamers are Brown Trout in the 14-16 inch range. We did turn a big guy in little gore canyon the other day but he wouldn’t commit. Hot streamers have been olive and black sculpzilla and the teQueely. Run a tandem rig and move it through the fast pocket water. Nothing lie being on the bow of a boat and watching fish flash at your bugs moving thru the water. Below are a few shots of some rainbows we caught on dries last week. If you are fortunate enough to find a pod of them a small adams trailed by roys special emerger is tough to beat. If you are in the area and want to get on the Eagle before runoff look me up. It is a great time to be on it.

Bobber Bow

Fins

Ready For Release

Rattle Snake Ranch Rainbow

Keeping It Fresh: Boring # 2

joey — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 14:11:20 +0000

Been guiding a lot and the fishing has been off the chain, as some might say. I have some pictures of fish that I will not post here only because the pictures are mostly of the Dudes hands. I try to coach these never evers on holding a trout but it never sinks in. Thats another post all together. In fact Bobber has a good write up on it. HERE
So instead of going on about fishing, today I am doing a little product review for a pull over that I have had on since Christmas. I am talking about the Better Sweater 1/4 zip from Patagooch. Shit is tight, as some would say. I am a pretty lazy when it comes to the fashion world. In fact I wear the same jeans for at least a week or better, why?because thats when they are comfortable. And, it is usually a a tee shirt and this pull over to compliment my jeans. My wife got me this shirt as a present for X-mas and I have it on now as I type. I also bought one in Green….ooooh
Benefits-
Warm, Easy to pull on, No Buttons, It says Patagonia on it so everyone thinks your really cool, true fit, not bulky.

Boom

The last post about apparel I had also bought new sneakers. Well since Thanksgiving those puppies have started to get a little funk to them and I am now back in the market for some classics. i think I am going to shoot for the Diadora B Elite 2 classics. Although not easy to come by I think I might be able to find a pair on the internet machine. What chu think?

B Elite Bad Ace Mutha

I am off to the mighty Colorado to throw bobbers and rubber legs. Got one dude in the boat today I hope he can chuck it. But I am going to bet my tip that he is going to be a rook. Over an out.

Echo Fly Rod Review

joey — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:10:32 +0000

I have seen those stickers around a bunch over the past few years–the one pictured below. I always mistaked it for some hippie widespread panic sticker of some dude in a hula hoop. But, upon closer examination I realized it was not. Anyway I had a chance to throw one of these rods a month ago up on the OP. I have never been a rod snob but I know when I have a decent stick in my hand. Brazda had a bunch of demo rods from Echo and gave me a switch rod to throw for a day. It was the Echo 3 11/8 switch and once I got a couple casts under the belt I could really chuck the thing. It loaded nicely and wasn’t super flimsy like other switch rods I have worked with. It was also a fairly light rod and didn’t wear out my chubby arms. Overall I was pleased with my first Echo Fly Rod experience and have been considering putting a couple in my boat. Any Recommendations on lighter Echo Rods? I am thinking about picking up a 5 or 6 wt. I would also like to have your feedback as well if you are currently casting Echo Rods.

Not to be confused with this

Baby Mac In The House: Bags Under The Eyes

joey — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 16:08:04 +0000

You know the kind of sleep the night before you have to catch a plane? Thats the kind of sleep you get when you have a baby. Never quite reach REM and just when you start to feel your eyes go dark you hear the chirp. Thats how its been in the Macomber household for the last couple weeks. Amos and I welcomed our new baby boy into the world on March 13th (lucky). His name is Joseph E Macomber the IV and we are calling him Maco (mako) for short. I am not gonna lie I was totally freaked out about having a little guy prior to his arrival. But, to all you soon to be fathers out there it is an amazing experience. The sleeping program I don’t think anyone gets used to so you just have to muscle thru it. Here is the newest addition to our fam… Baby Mac

Baby Mac Thinking About...

Baby Mac Out To Dinner

Roaring Fork Spring Fishing: Vail Hospital Update

joey — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 21:23:50 +0000

Well I am sitting here on my couch/bed in Vail Hospital as I update the ol’ blog. My wife is relaxed on her bed chatting it up with the nurse. The 39 weeks have certainly flown by and soon, sometime in the next few hours, we will welcome our little boy into the world. Pretty exciting. But, until then here is an updated fishing report on the Roaring Fork.

Amos & I Prior To The Hatch

The Fork is about and hour from my house. Not a bad run either all interstate and as long as there is not a rock slide in the canyon it is smooth sailing. Last Friday it was a balmy 50 degrees down valley so I grabbed the banker and magnum and headed to the Fork. With the blue bus in tow we got to the Carbondale boat ramp around 10:30 and had the old girl in the river by 11. It felt good to be back on the oars crab stroking our way down river. Brinkiman pegged one about 1/2 mile from the ramp. A Rainbow trout with a jaw that looked like mike tyson punched it. Weird.. That fella ate a golden stone probably a # 16. We tried to get a pic of him but magnum couldn’t figure out how to work that camera machine. Soon after landing old crooked jaw magnum was on the board. He was consistent on stripping streamers and it paid off. He rocked a nice brown right after the banker farmed one in a $$ run. We bounced down to another good nymph hole and I positioned Brinkman in a good casting position while magnum tied on some dries. Bobber down!!! Brinkman came tight and did battle with a nice Bow.

The Banker Scores At The MTV Hole

The next cast boom.. bobber down and Brinkman started to catch fire. Magnum was finished tying up his rig as we landed another fine Roaring Fork Rainbow Trout. We started to make way again then the Banker struck again.. A sweet whitey. Boo- yah. We now were on a mission to get the banker the roaring fork slam… RT. BT, Whitey & Gold Belly Sucker.

Magnum- All Business

We slid down into a slow run and saw some risers Magnum quickly started tossing at them but they had no interest. He shouted out ” if you row your ass off I will change bugs” that got a chuckle from the banker and I. But, i did as he requested and rowed my ass off to an eddy up stream. Not too much anchor room on the fork, lots of private water the second home owners like to post. So we sat there and I told Brinkman that we would get a chance to watch magnum farm one on a dry. Sure enough we slid into position and magnum farmed one. It was a great shout out. We held there for a few more minutes but those pesky trouts wouldn’t take. Magnum took over on the oars after his poor display with the Dry fly… ha ha Just kidding magnum you are a effin rock star. I was in the back of the bus missing & losing trouts like a texan when the banker struck again. Big Bow on a tiny midge put the banker to the test but damn if he didn’t bring it in like an old pro.

Bobber Down

Banker Rocking The Rainbows

Blue Bus & Mount Sopris - Magnum Mobile Upload Image

After lunch fishing slowed down a touch but we were on a time restraint so we didn’t hit it too hard. Magnum heated up at the end of the day nailing a few shay dogs and some brown trout. The banker finished weak, I think after he lost his magic set up all confidence let the building. We made it back to the boat ramp before 4 and had the banker home before 5:30 and kept his old lady from yelling at him. The hot flies of the day were: Golden Stones, Micro Mays, Girdle Bugs, Red Midges & Purple Midges. The video below shows bobber tying some deadly purple midges.

Hoodie Sale: Sasquatch

joey — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 15:21:09 +0000

Hey There followers I am over run with Sasquatch hoodies and need to make room for the new baby boy on the way… possibly any day. So I have discounted the price of the sweat shirts to make some room. Visit the schwag shop and pick up one for the mud season. You may or may not have caught this on previous posts but a percentage of this years hoodie sales will go to the Wild Steelhead Coalition to help protect wild steel. Thank you for your support.

Eagle River Colorado: Red House Hole

joey — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 16:14:28 +0000

After losing a fish in the red house hole Brinkman and I walked up the steep bank to 2 sheriff cruisers who were putting the silver bracelets on a young mexican man. The thought of this guy breaking loose and taking us hostage ran thru my mind as we walked by and stared with interest and when we got back to the truck I added this to the conversation. ” two innocent fly fishermen were gunned down as desperate criminal tries to escape.” Brinkman looked at me and said “that was why I was walking on the other side of you”….. typical banker.

Mess With Me... I Take Your House

The red house hole is usually pretty money, it has a nice shallow riffle that those pesky trouts like when the water is a bit warmer and a long deep tail out where they can hide from predators like the dude we saw in silver steel. But, what I think might be happening here is that the occupants of the red house are turning the the pesky trouts into freezer burnt dinner. Or magnum and Atreyu were in there prior to our arrival and the pesky trouts all had sore lips. Either way this cause us to head down river.

After a vicious knee slide down a snow covered ice bank we landing in the river. There was a nice Rainbow sitting in the shallows sunning itself and I watched while Brinkman tried to find it with his Banker Eyes. No Luck there, but while I was re-tying Brinkman laced into one.

BOOM

Child Abuse

It was just a little guy but it was nice to see the bobber go down — yes we were fishing with bobbers. Please don’t hate. i went back to re-tying my bugs and the Banker struck again. Now, Birinkman is brand new to the sport of fly fishing and is getting quite good at it but like all of us when trying something new we need some coaching. I don’t know if I am the right person for this job but I do my best. So there the banker was hooked up and I could tell that this fish was a bit beefier than the previous pesky trout so I started yelling directions and grabbed the net. But, like an old pro Brinkman brought the fish over to the net and BOOM he was on the board (again). He was stoaked it was a healthy Eagle River Rainbow Trout and the biggest he has landed to date.

The Banker Scores

A quick pic and this pesky trout was conked and thrown on the bank for a freezer burnt dinner. Just kidding we watched it swim back into the shadows of the run. Obviously Magnum and Atreyu hadn’t caught that one yet.

Eagle River Rainbow Trout - Released

We left shortly after this fish was landed, it is good to see Brinkman getting the fly fishing bug. We have warm weather in the forecast so hopefully we can get out there again and take advantage of the good fishing happening right now. Spring is my favorite time to get out, soon the blue bus will be floating the Eagle River on streamer patrol but until then we will probably be staring at bobbers. Over & Out.

Washington Steelhead Trip: 2012 Success

joey — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 21:15:26 +0000

Last week was our third annual hosted trip to the Olympic Peninsula. Once again with the professional staff at Brazdas Fly Fishing all anglers successfully landed a wild steelhead….. or 4 or 5…. a day. Compared to previous years this trip was somewhat mild, although the tequila did get outta hand on a couple nights. We did loose a day to a mild blow out but it was nice to be able to take a day off and recharge the batteries. By the following morning we were back on the river hooking steelhead. All of the fish were super fresh and in most cases unnecessarily rough, I watched a fish do a back flip into a log jam and burry itself underneath the logs, saw a fish break a scott fly rod & also ran helplessly 250 yards down river chasing a big buck only to loose him after a 20 minute battle. Although not all battles were won we still managed to park a couple in the net. This is my favorite trip of the year. I always look forward to getting to the coast. A lot of anglers love doing the salt water trips and I can’t blame them, beach, sun and sand versus rain, clouds and cold. But, there is something about the lush green forests, green/blue rivers and silver steelhead that trump the beach for this cat. As I get a bit older and my blood begins to thin I am sure things will change, but until then I will try my hardest to get to the coast each spring. Here are a few shots from the trip, I am sure more will trickle in but for now here is a peak.

Mossy Tree On The Bogachiel River

Rain Drops On The Moss Outside Of The Bogy House

Waves Crash The Rocks In La Push

Triton God Of The Sea aka Santa

This was Santa Paul’s third trip with us out to the Olympic Peninsula. I am quite sure that it is the only time during the year that he fly fishes and his skills have grown head and shoulders since his first trip. He also looks like santa which is awesome. I was able to fish with paul for 2 days this year and between him and Joe Willaure there are times when I am laughing more than fishing. My favorite this year went as follows:
Joe- “get it on the reel get it on the reel”
Paul- ” I got him on the reel”
Joe- ” Let him run paul let him run”
Paul- ” I am letting him run the drag is not working” SNAP ” I had him on the reel the drag wasn’t working..”
Joe- ” well you gotta let go of the reel handle for the drag to work.”
Laughter erupted for a solid 5 minutes and we teased paul all day about it.

Bogachiel River Steelhead

Joe Willaure releases a wild steelhead back into the Bogachiel River.

Dropping A Snap T At The Highway Hole

The highlight of my trip came one morning on the Upper Bogachiel River. Joe and I were standing in the heavy rain swinging the tail end of a run. We were not going to spend much time there since we got a call from the Braz telling us to get outta there and come over to the Sol Duc. Wilocerous (joe) and I were shooting the shit when my loop came tight and the reel started singing a big fish came to the surface and slapped its tail. I hollered with joy and I heard santa yell “that is awesome.” The fish decided to leave the pool and run down stream through a rock garden and series of rapids. I really didn’t have a choice so I started chasing after it. I worked it at a low angle over to an eddy where I got the best look I would get. It was a big steelhead we estimated it at around 20lbs, there was no chance that we could land it there and after looking at the beast eye to eye it quick made a heavy run back into the current. Joe and I ran through some treacherous water down to the next slow pool. We held our ground and then the line went slack. It was a bummer but the adrenaline rush was well worth. It will be a moment forever etched in my memory.

Loop

Chrome Bright Steelhead

That right there is a Steelhead and they don’t get much brighter than that. The super cool dude holding it is Jeffery Bright (pork-chop) from Carbondale Colorado. Jeff was a first timer on the trip and hopefully he’ll be back again. I am sure this fish will keep him thinking about it for sure. The celebratory beer of choice for Pork-chop was an ice cold PBR. Yeah Buddy. – Jeff Brazda Photo

Hoh River Steelhead

Matthew Burkett gives us the look away hooded pose with a Hoh River beauty. The inside of that net is 37 inches and I am sure that fish filled it. Matthew owns and operates The Fly Fisher Group in Denver Colorado. When he is not hammering steelhead he is putting people on some amazing trout water in Colorado. Be sure and check it out.
Jeff Brazda Photo

Foggy Lens Hoh River Steelhead - Jeff Brazda Photo

Last but not least is my ugly mug with a very fresh Hoh River Steelhead. I got yelled at by the Braz when he was trying to net it. ” Your not putting the fooking wood to it dude.” Thanks to everyone for making it out this year. It was a blast and I am already looking forward to next year. Jeff, Aaron, Tyler, Joe and Annie thanks for putting up with us again. Cheers

Eagle River Fly Fishing: Colorado Chile Hatch

joey — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 05:52:34 +0000

Hit the water with bobber this afternoon. After a being socked in with odd cloudy windy snowy weather for the past four or five days it was good to see the fire ball in the sky. It was beginning to feel like I lived back in Maine.
Side note – Did you know that 10 percent of new englanders get seasonal depression…. FACT

Anyway we thought about trespassing on some ritzy water in town but thought it was a better move to head down valley in search of warmer weather. Driving down HWY 6 we passed the authentic mexican food shack and my stomach rumbled, I was starving. But, having had a bout with some kind of intestinal disagreement about 30 minutes prior I kept my mouth shut. Instead I reached for a 7.5 oz pepsi in the cooler. I heard/saw somewhere that this helps with a stomach ache. FACT – (you be the judge)

The wind was howling it didn’t feel like 39 but thats what the mercury said in the truck. Bullshit, it felt more like 19. I was the first up to bat. I got a tip from magnum the night before that he and atreyu were having luck on big golden stones. I thought that he was lying to me and as I write I still think he may have been. But, since they have been on the water 4 days a week I trusted his call in tied on a giant articulated life like golden stone I bought for .30 cents. Friggin thing was heavy too, my flabby arms could barely roll cast the bastard. Bob was on the bank freezing waiting his turn and on my 61st drift I had a bobber down, yeah I was fishing a bobber please don’t hate. I set the hook and that spongey feeling was there followed by a head shake. I chanted hoping that my 30 cent fly did the trick. Bob hollered did he eat the stone. “yep” i yelled not knowing “nope he ate the tiny thing.” We netted the fish, a nice brown maybe 17 and 5/8 long and released it. Definitely a 6 lb fish by someone standards, I wont name names.

Bob worked his way down stream and saw a suspended fish about a rod length out. My clumsy ass stumbled down the river and spooked the fish further out. “Sorry bob” I mumbled as I perched up on a rock. Out in the middle of the run I could see the fish flash, it was a big fish probably 8 lbs by someone’s standards and as we watched the pink bobber roll past a submerged rock it did the dance. Strebber pinned the fish and we watched it flash and roll. Naturally I started yelling “Don’t horse ‘em” and got into netting position. I scooped up the beautiful Rainbow and gave bob the knuckles. We snapped a few pics, hell it’s not everyday that you see a 10lb fish on the Eagle.

Eagle River Rainbow - Not 10lbs

Eagle River Rainbow Trout - Maybe 6lbs

Eagle River Rainbow Trout - Maybe 17 inches

At this point my stomach had eaten my esophagus and it was time to feed the fat kid so we trudged back to the truck and drove back to a little slice of Authentic Mexican goodness. Some may think that 2 beef burritos shouldn’t be the first thing in your stomach after a battle with Montezuma’s revenge, but then again some may say that fish was 10 lbs.

Boo- yah

I am headed to the coast in a few days, I might have one more post in me before I leave. Until then keep it sleezy and as always thanks for reading.