Dreams and Goals of 2012

Well 2011 is done and gone....and so is the first month of 2012. It was a pretty successful year for YGF in  many ways. Let us review the successes and failures of 2011 and look forward to 2012.

Dreams and Goals of 2011

Among all the successes of 2011. There is one glaring failure.

1. Finish my thesis. I did not complete goal 1. So, that goes back on the list for 2012. It makes it back on the list five times as it is goals 1 through 5. It is in progress and it is getting closer every day.

2. Catch a fish in each month of the year - accomplished. I like this goal. It represents a level of dedication throughout the year. In 2010, I caught a fish every month of the year. A couple of whitefish represented January 2010's success. In 2011, all trout --- all the time. This one goes back on the D & G 2012 list.

3. Catch a 20" cutthroat, 24" rainbow, and 24" brown trout. - only got one of these done. The 24" brown. I could be over-estimating it's size, but for the sake of ego rubbing let's say that this fish was 24" of brown trout.

4. Catch 3 or more trout of 20" in a day of fishing - a man can dream right. Well, I dreamt about this, but nothing came of it. Maybe it will happen this year.

5. Catch 20"+ brown trout out of the (name redacted) ponds - see goal 3.


6. Catch a 22"+ rainbow or brown trout out of Warm Springs Ponds. - I failed miserably at this. I had a whopper on at one point. But, it quickly wriggled free. Bucko certainly caught a 22"+ rainbow out of the ponds.

7. Go fishing in Wyoming. I should have described this in greater detail. Go fishing in Wyoming outside of Yellowstone Park. I did neither. I was set to hit the Wind River Range with Bucko this summer, but a familial visit conflicted with the scheduled visit. This year...this year.


8. Fish for bullies and cutties on the South Fork of the Flathead. Didn't do it.


9. Catch a fish on a mouse pattern. Failed. But, I was recently provided with some of the goods to make this year a mousing success.

10. Go night fishing and then do more night fishing. Success. Not a rousing success, but a success. Need to grow a pair and get an alarm clock that works and do some serious night fishing this year.


11. Catch fish on the following waters.  There were a lot of bodies of waters on this list. I fished some and didn't fish others. There is a lot of water in Montana, I surprisingly didn't fish it all.


12. Make more videos. Make better videos. Make videos with less shaky elements. Make it on to Moldy Chum and the like (Fish Porn, Le Mouching, Global Fly Fisher). This year was a good year for YGF. I was lucky enough to have my videos featured on Moldy Chum, Headhunters Fly Shop, Fish Porn, Le Mouching, Global Fly Fisher, Orvis News, Chi Wulff, The Fiberglass Manifesto and 45 other sites this year. Humbling to say the least.


13. Catch fish on sub-surface/"nymphed" grasshoppers. I fished streamers a lot this year. So much so, that nymphing and dry fly fishing took a backseat. The kind of backseat that the old Taurus' and Volvo's had. I didn't fish this way often. But, it was successful once with a reasonably sized brown trout on the Big Hole.

14. Catch a northern pike on the fly. Tried and failed. Instead, Bucko and I managed to catch some nice rainbows in the seemingly pike-y sloughs and backwaters.


Here is the Dreams and Goals of 2012 for YGF. This one is more species focused rather than location based.

1. - 5. Finish thesis.

6. Catch a trout in every month of the year (Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, June, July, Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec). I can already cross out January. Boo sha.

7. Catch a fish on a mouse pattern. This mouse pattern.

8. Catch a carp on the fly.

9. Catch bass on the fly.

10. Catch redfish on the fly.

11. Catch a northern pike on the fly

12. Catch a steelhead on the fly

13. Learn to spey cast with a reasonable amount of success

14. Hit a legit hatch on the Missouri and promptly get humbled fishing dries to big fish.

15. Catch a fish on a fly (dry fly, nymph, streamer) I tie.

16. Tie an articulated streamer and catch a 20" fish with said streamer.

17. Tie a custom articulate streamer pattern. Give it a bland and boring name.

18. Make a video that gets more than 9,999 views.

19. Catch 3 or more trout of 20" in a day of fishing

20. Catch a 20" cutthroat, 24" rainbow, and 24" brown trout.

21. Fish some top secret water in Wyoming

22. Fish in Alberta.


There it is. The 2012 Dreams and Goals list. I may add a couple things to this list in the next coming days. Any suggestions?

2011 Dreams and Goals

I think we can all agree, as fisherman, we want to catch more fish, catch bigger fish, catch different species, and most importantly fish more. With the winter doldrums kicking in and negative to mid-single digit temperatures blanketing the Missoula valley this week, I have cabin fever bad. While the snow has been fantastic here in western Montana, my funds are in such a condition that two expensive outdoor hobbies would be one too many expensive outdoor hobbies. So, I am stuck inside with dreams of spring, summer and fall flows, insect hatches, and hungry trout - planning the beginning of my upcoming fishing season. Here are my dreams and goals of 2011:

1. Finish my thesis.

So I can get a good job, make a difference in the world, not be a starving student, but a starving scientist, and do more awesome things both professionally and recreationally.


Amendment: Plus my parents (including the pater) would like it to be so.

2. catch a fish in every month of the year (bonus points for trout)

I enjoyed the pursuit of this goal last year and I think it is a goal that will always be a challenge to complete for a variety of reasons - mostly as a result of weather and temperature.


3. Catch a 20" cutthroat, 24" rainbow, and 24" brown trout

While I enjoy catching smaller fish, the thrill and skill it takes to fool and bring in a larger and more seasoned trout is something that I find myself increasingly intrigued by. I didn't reach all of these three subgoals last year. I would like to this year.


4. Catch 3 or more trout over 20" in a day of fishing

Got dangerously close to this goal twice this past season. Again, I like big fish. Optimally, I would like to catch a lot of them. So, repeating this goal this year only makes sense.


5. Catch a 20"+ brown trout out of the (name redacted) ponds

I don't want to let the secret out about this body of water until I successfully tame one of it's beasts. I caught a 18" brown trout out of it this year. There are bigger fish in there. Much bigger. And I would like to catch them.

6. Catch a 22"+ rainbow or brown trout out of the Warm Springs Ponds

A friend of mine did so last year. I was and am still jealous of his catch. I want to catch one. It is a goal.


7. Go fishing in Wyoming

The same friend that I refer to in goal 5, swears by Wyoming and the trout that live there. And, like other friends that have fished there, he will gladly take me there, but he won't give me specific details, unless I go with. I would name more specific waters, but he won't tell me. Tales of giant browns, bows, and cutties intrigue me. "I want to go to there."


8. Fish for bullies and cutties on the South Fork of the Flathead

I like bull trout. I like large bull trout. I want to catch large (25"+) bull trout. You can on the South Fork. Again, "I want to go to there"

9. Catch a fish on a mouse pattern

See goal 9.

10. Go night fishing, do more night fishing, and catch fish while night fishing.

Everytime I have gone into Montana Fly Company in Melrose, MT to buy streamers, George (the owner) has said, "Going after the big ones, huh?". During one of those visits, George regaled us with a story about night fishing on the Big Hole, saying something to the effect of "Yeah, I go out there (during the night time) hook big fish and let them take my flies." George Kesel of Kesel's Four Rivers tells a similar story about night fishing on the Beaverhead. The biggest fish he has caught in the past 10 years was on the Beaverhead in the middle of the night during one of his midnight bathroom breaks. I have heard that fishing under the moon is the best time to fish for large, piscivorous brown trout. Some people take these monsters on mouse patterns others on streamers. Either way, I can't think of a better place to do it than the Big Hole.

11. Catch fish on the following waters (with some left over or repeats from last year): the Missouri River, Elk River (in BC), Lochsa River, Selway River, Big Hole River, Beaverhead River, Madison River, Hebgen Lake, Skalkaho Creek, Fish Creek, Rock Creek, South Fork of Flathead River, Flint Creek, Lamar River, Firehole River, Poindexter Slough, Ruby River, Yellowstone River, Bitterroot River, Blackfoot River, Clark Fork River, and Slough Creek.

I think this is self-explanatory.


12. Make more videos. Make better videos. Make videos with less shaky elements. Make it on to Moldy Chum and the like.

Pipe dream - capture enough quality footage to submit a respectable, but most likely, the (pardon my french) shittiest fish porn at the 2012 F3T.


UPDATE:


13. Catch fish on sub-surface/"nymphed?" grasshoppers

I want to throw the hopper-hopper rig. I have read of it's success. Plus, who doesn't love foam.

14. catch a northern pike on the fly

big, mean, and they like eating streamers. funny coincidence, i like throwing streamers.