Final Update
It is hard to believe that I am sitting in a comfy leather chair in the Jackson Library writing my final trip update of the summer. It feels like yesterday that I was in North Carolina gearing up for the first trip of the summer. With all of the excitement that was the last few days of the Yellowstone Expedition it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that my summer flew by. After exiting the...
Final Colorado Adventure Update
Making some burn piles to help protect RMNP." /> On Monday we worked with Rocky Mountain National Park on our service project for the trip. We teamed up with the park’s fire crew to construct fire piles for the morning. Fire piles are essentially large piles of tightly stacked wood made of slash, or dead trees that were cut down. The piles are then burned during the winter and rid the area of...
Final Backcountry of the Summer
Greetings from a laundry mat in Driggs Idaho. This morning we hiked out of the backcountry for the final time. We are sad that our trip is coming to an end, but excited for all the excitement the final few days will bring. Ready to enter one of the most remote corners of Yellowstone National Park." /> One of dozens of fat rainbows we pulled out of the confluence pool." /> Despite a severe lack of...
Rocky Mountain update
For the last 4 days we have been exploring the rarely visited remote northwest corner of Rocky Mountain National Park. Tucked in between the Mummy Range and the Never Summer range, this part of the park sees almost no visitors, which makes it perfect for viewing wildlife and especially good for fly fishing. We arrived in this pristine part of the park on Wednesday and quickly set about fishing...
Yellowstone Expedition Update
Hello from Mammoth Hot Springs After spending three days together in the front country we are all now getting ready to pack up and head into our final backcountry site, the Bechler River. It will be hard for this group to leave Mammoth though. Where the Boiling River (aptly named for its near boiling hot water) meets the cold Gardner River is a perfect place to soak after a long day of fishing." /...
Yellowstone Slough Creek Update
Greetings from Gardiner MT. Our final Yellowstone Expedition of the summer is off to a great start. After arriving in Jackson, WY we set out for Yellowstone to prepare for our Slough Creek backcountry and front country days in the Lamar Valley. After one night on the Madison River we headed into the Lamar where we split our group into two small groups of 5 students. Each group spent two nights in...
West elk update pine creek
There are many reasons why this past backcountry is usually one of my favorites every summer. And this year proved to be no different. We started this trip into the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness Sunday morning with the stated goal of netting 1000 trout as a group. That equaled out to everyone on the trip catching roughly 72 fish each. More on that later. Our first day was roughly a 6.5 mile hike...
West Elk Expedition
Despite not being in the backcountry, the last few days have been action packed. After getting out of the canyon, getting cleaned up, and moving to a new site near Gunnison and Crested Butte, we were ready for the comforts of the front country. The day after hiking out, we were back at it doing service with the Gunnison chapter of Trout Unlimited. We spent the morning planting willow bushes and...
Yellowstone Expedition Update
Where has all the time gone? Our group has just exited the backcountry for the last time after a great trip on Bechler River. Only a float fishing trip on the South Fork of the Snake River, a service project with the Bridger Teton National Forest, a whitewater rafting trip, and a banquet dinner are left before our Yellowstone Expedition will be over. It seams like yesterday when we hit the trail...
Yellowstone Adventure Final Update
Greetings from beautiful Jackson Hole, Wow! What an incredible ending to the trip it has been. Yesterday was spent rafting the beautiful Snake River canyon, which provides both amazing scenery and thrilling whitewater. This adventure will surely be remembered for a while, as the canyon is known around the west as some of the best whitewater around. Today our group teamed up with WorldCast anglers...
West Elk Update 1
Well, we just certainly had one of the most epic beginnings to any trip in recent memory. After leaving DIA, we drove to Buena vista for our first night. The action really got started on our second day. We picked up our supplies in Gunnison and headed south. Once we reached our campsite, we quickly set up our tents and immediately got to fishing. Despite the creek being somewhat blown out from a...
Slough Creek BC
Hello from Yellowstone, Our group of now experienced anglers came out of the Slough Creek backcountry this afternoon all with stories of the big wild cutthroats that had eagerly taken our flies. The fishing was incredible to go along with the scenery. It is truly one of the most phenomenal trout streams that the country has to offer, filled with large cutthroat lurking in deep pools formed by...
Yellowstone Expedition Up Slough Creek
The last six nights in Yellowstone have been nothing short of spectacular. Our group Split into two groups as we took turns heading into the backcountry of Slough Creek for three nights each. The first group ready to hit the trail in search of some Slough Creek trophies." /> After three days of fishing the Lamar Valley front country the second group was ready to have their shot up Slough Creek." /...
Lamar River Valley
Howdy From Yellowstone, Our group is out of the beautiful Lamar River Valley backcountry. Our hike in was astonishing as we backpacked along the Lamar River with mountains on both sides of us. We travelled through herds of bison and across rivers to reach our final destination; a gorgeous campsite tucked at the confluence of Cache Creek and the Lamar River. The afternoon was spent pulling out...
Yellowstone Adventure BC 1 Update
Greetings from Yellowstone National Park, manditory Old Faithful stop" /> We exited the Grebe Lake backcountry yesterday, and our awesome group of young anglers fared very well in their first true Yellowstone backcountry experience. Despite some windy conditions on the lake, our entire group caught fish. Some of the fish caught were the first ever on a fly rod, which is a huge accomplishment. Our...
Rocky Mountain Update 3
We hiked out of the backcountry this morning, and boy was this last backcountry an epic one. Over the past four days it’s safe to say that the group, as a whole, netted several hundred fish! We were a bit delayed starting our hike due to the ongoing road repairs from the 2013 Big Thompson River flood. But we eventually got to the trailhead and started out with a solid 6 mile uphill hike to our...
Colorado Rocky Mountain Update
This afternoon we made our successful return to civilization after spending four days in the backcountry of Rocky Mountain National Park. I am proud to report that every member of the group caught and landed multiple fish and are on their way to becoming accomplished anglers. Our first day started with about a 6.5 mile hike in to our first campsite. We reached our destination in the early...
Goodbye Maine
Yesterday marked the final day of our Maine Expedition. Our great group of fisherman and fortunate timing made for some of the best fishing of the summer thus far. The last two days were spent on the Rapid River, while staying at the historic Lakewood Camps. I think it is safe to say it was the highlight of the trip! After our 3o minute boat ride we were all eager to hit the river. We quickly set...
Winding Down in Maine
Hello from Maine, Our time here is flying by! After exiting the backcountry we spent the Saturday and Sunday in Greenville Maine before heading west to the Rangeley Lakes Region where we will spend the rest of the trip. A spectacular view of the fireworks show over Moosehead Lake." /> On Sunday we celebrated the 4th of July weekend with some community service and an evening spent fishing the Upper...
Maine Expedition Update
Hello from Maine. We came out of the Indian Pond backcountry today, and the experience could not have gone better. Everyone caught tons of fish, especially on the two days floating the West Outlet of the Kennebec River for trophy size smallmouth. The species range was extremely wide with good sized salmon, brook trout, smallmouth, perch, and creek chub all being caught on the fly. Ready to take on...
Maine Expedition Off to a Great Start
Greetings from beautiful Maine. We are all very excited to have this eager group of young anglers on this Maine Woods Expedition, a trip that should not be short of amazing fishing and scenery. Pick up day went quite smoothly, and we were on the road to Maine from Boston shortly in the afternoon, arriving at Lily Bay State park located on Moosehead Lake in the evening with enough light to watch...
Colorado Adventure
We are out of the backcountry, cleaned up, re-supplied, and ready to start our next adventure. I must admit that the fishing over the past few days has been tough at best. Due to the heavy snowfall we received in April and May here in Colorado, the rivers are still running quite high and fast which means the fish are hunkered down and not really eating. We cut one day off the front end of our...
Maine Woods Adventure Wrap Up
Hello from Massachusetts. It is incredible that the Maine Woods Adventure is already coming to a close. We have had a great group of kids, and hopefully we will be able to fish with many of them again soon. Tonight was spent reminiscing on the good times had on the trip and fish caught, all while filling up at dinner from a local Mexican restaurant. Lakewood Camps was the perfect setting for the...
Maine Woods Update
Greetings from beautiful Maine yet again. We exited the backcountry today via canoe, which has been our main form of travel for almost the entire trip. It was a successful backcountry venture coupled with some of the greatest weather I have ever encountered in this neck of the woods. The first fish of the backcountry was a massive smallmouth!" /> One of many brook trout from the East Outlet of the...
Heading into the Maine Woods
Greetings from Maine. Things are off to a great start here on Moosehead Lake, as there is really no better place to kick off a trip. Yesterday was an eventful day filled with both backcountry preparation and fishing in the surrounding area. After fishing around the campsite for a while, we prepared an awesome meal of chicken stir fry and prepared for our upcoming canoeing trip to Indian pond...
NC Final Update
It is hard to believe tonight will be our final night spent with this awesome group here in NC, but we are lucky to to say we have had the best fishing/weather imaginable. We started our trip with three fish filled days on the delayed harvest section of the West Fork of the Pigeon River. It was perfect place for our group to develop their fishing skills, and we all caught a lot of fish in the...
Wild Brookies and Trophy Trout in NC
Greetings from NC, Our crew of anglers hiked out of the backcountry today after 2 days and 2 nights of chasing native Southern Appalachian Brook Trout. We were up early this morning in anticipation of an afternoon spent stalking monster trout on a private section of the West Fork of the French Broad River. The fishing over the last few days has been phenomenal to say the least. Watch out Brook...
Blue Ridge 16 Update
Tying Flies for the next days adventure." /> Orin learning that the end of Delayed Harvest Season definitely has its perks." /> It is hard to believe that the NC Blue Ridge Adventure is approaching the half way mark. I never thought I would say this during a trip in the Blue Ridge Mountains, but we are all praying for rain. The low and clear water has made the fishing extra technical, but that has...
X-Term with St. Christopher’s and St. Catherine’s
The increased awareness of the benefits of out of classroom educational opportunities is one of the educational trends from the past few years that I can definitely stand behind. Last week I was given the opportunity to partner up with Virginia Fishing Adventures, St. Christopher’s School, and St. Catherine’s School for their annual “x-term” fishing trip. During the last week before spring break...
2015 Photo Highlights
It wasn’t easy but after sorting through thousands of photos I picked my three favorites for each trip in three different categories. Best Group Shot, Best Fish Picture, and best Scenic Picture. Enjoy… NC Blue Ridge Fish Group Scenic Maine Adventure Fish Group Scenic CO Rocky Mountain Fish Group Scenic Yellowstone Advanced I Fish Group Scenic Yellowstone Advanced II Fish Group Scenic Colorado West...
