15 seconds of Fly Fishing - Many Flies Have Come to You....

"Many flies have come to you/with a line that wasn't true/and you passed them by." Enjoy this latest installment of YGF's 15 seconds of fly fishing featuring Ahmad and Andrew.

15 seconds of Fly Fishing - Touchdown - A visit to the Frying Pan

Last month, my good friend Tanner, aka San Juan and Eggs, and I made a journey over Monarch Pass to the much fabled Taylor River. Unfortunately, it didn't quite pan out. When we arrived in Gunnison, a local informed us that the road was closed because of an avalanche. This changed our plans drastically. Not wanting to give up on the trip, we drove another 3.5 hours to the Frying Pan and had a field day. The following is video from our Touchdown at the Pan.

If you want to read more detail about our series of misadventures on our way to the Taylor and eventually the Pan, check out Tanner's blog, "San Juan and Eggs."

Nomad Mid-Length Net Review

How does that Joni Mitchell song go?

"Don't it always seem to go/That you don't know what you've got/Till it's gone"

With my penchant for the hip-hops, I prefer the Janet Jackson remake. That's my jam.

Anyways, I digress, like Joni was saying, "You don't know what you've got/Till it's gone." It's true. Three months ago, I left my trusty Mid-Length Nomad net on the banks of the South Platte River in Cheesman Canyon. Since that fateful trip, it's been a struggle to quickly and safely land, photograph and release fish. Fishing without my mid-length Nomad is like fishing without a mustache. I'm naked on the water.

25" brown fits comfortably in the Nomad Mid-Length Net.

In the past, I was of the opinion, that a net is a net is a net. Times have changed and so has my opinion. A net is a net is a net, unless, it's a Nomad net. I've owned and shattered several wood nets in my day. So, the transition to the lightweight carbon fiber/fiberglass composite was a welcome one. The mid-length net is 37" in length and weighs less than a pound including the rubber bag (0.88 pounds to be exact). The net is coated with a rubberized finish called RiverKoat, which allows for optimal grip when the net is wet. The mid-length net, which floats, comes standard with a clear rubber bag whose opening is 13" wide and 18" long.

Big enough for the average carp.

Over the last two years, I have put the mid-length Nomad net through it's paces. From the big water of Montana to the technical tailwaters and carp flats of Colorado, the Nomad Mid-Length net has corralled it's fair share of fish on a wide variety of tippet sizes. The mid-length net is lengthy enough to reach for a hooked fish without putting too much strain on light tippet. The net itself is light enough to handle with very little effort, making the netting process smooth and relatively effortless. It's easy to carry around tucked against one's back with a sling or lumbar pack. Additionally, this lengthy and light net is durable.

Scoop and Score. Photo: pinchetruta.

I am notoriously hard on my gear. I routinely dropped this net against rocks and pavement. Over the two years of abuse, it showed little signs of wear and tear. Last spring, as I walked back to the car after a long day on the South Platte, I slipped on some ice and pulled a classic "legs pointing towards the sky, fall on your ass" pratfall. The mid-length Nomad net was flush against my back, tucked between my body and my Orvis Guide Sling. As I've most likely expressed in past reviews, I am not small. I'm 6'2" and 220 lbs. When I pratfell/pratfalled/pratfallened, the mid-length Nomad took the brunt of my weight. Instead of splintering and shattering into pieces, the net sustained some surficial damage. The structural integrity of the net survived and it lived to net many a fish after the fall. I am nothing but impressed by the quality of construction and design of the mid-length net and would recommend it to any angler in the market for a new net.

Check the Mid-Length Nomad Net in action in several past YGF videos: What Can Browns Do For You?, 40 MPH and RISING, Cielo Grande, and Glass Carp.

Surficial Damage after the big pratfall

The Mid-Length Nomad Net is available in three different colors (green, river camo, and tailwater) and ranges in price from $149.95 to $159.95. Nomad/Fishpond has a wide variety of net sizes in their lineup. From the smaller Hand Net to the Full-Length Boat Net, Nomad has a net for every purpose. Check their lineup out at fishpondusa.com.

I miss you Mid-Length Nomad Net. Won't you come back to me?

15 seconds of fly fishing - The First

This was the first YGF 15 second instagram shorty. This was made strictly on the iphone as instagram wasn't allowing videos not shot in instagram to uploaded. No soundtrack. No problem.

15 seconds of fly fishing - The YGF Preview

This YGF, instagram, 15 second fly fishing shorty features clips from three prospective standard YGF shorts. Two out of those three have been successfully uploaded to vimeo. The third...it's not happening. Not enough footage. But, it had carp.

15 seconds of fly fishing - Quick Hitter from the Ark

The next installment of YGF's 15 seconds of fly fishing is a quick hitter from the Arkansas River this fall. The upper Arkansas River, a fine freestone, was recently added to the list of Gold Medal trout waters in Colorado.

Shot on a GoPro Hero HD 1, this and the other 15 second quick hitters are the equivalent to little orphan YGF videos. They are YGF videos that didn't have a chance to grow up.

Enjoy.

15 seconds of fly fishing - Three Chees

Over the past year, instagram has been a enjoyable tool to share and connect with fellow fly fisherman, sharing stills of life on and off the water. However, several months ago, video was introduced as an option on the social media site. There are limitations. Each posted video could be no more than 15 seconds in length. As an amateur fly fishing film maker, the 15-second limit is a challenge. Challenges are good. I will be sharing all the past and future videos here on the blog. Here is my most recent 15-second short.

Enjoy.

Saturday Spotlight with Fish Porn

Last week, I took a break from not fishing to sit down with Caleb of Fish Porn for 20 minutes and talk shop. And by shop, I mean GoPros, editing software, egg timer GoPro mounts, sticking it in people's face for two or three seconds, and song choices. I am honored to be the first interview for Fish Porn's Saturday Spotlight. Have a watch and please excuse my long winded answers and "good dude"-ing.


Saturday Spotlight - Yukon Goes Fishing from FP Media on Vimeo.

The After Work Special

With spring....springing and the sun setting around 8 pm, the after work special is again a viable option. Getting into to work by 6 am and setting off alarms, so you can get out on the water by 3 pm. You know, "The After Work Special." This edit features four separate after work specials on the Bitterroot. Some trout were caught. Some were lost. Enjoy the video in HD.




The After Work Special from Yukon Goes Fishing on Vimeo.
Music:
Jay Dee/J Dilla - "Track 12," "Track 21," "Track 05," "Track 10," and "Track 17"

Also, a big congrats to Mike of Of Dry Flies & Fat Tires fame for taking the 2nd annual YGF Bracket Challenge. Internet pride goes to the Michigan man.

If you haven't entered the Fly Vines giveaway, do so here.

Montana Snow Pack - March 2012

In the Missoula valley, this winter has seemed unseasonably warm. Looking back at the last couple months, I can remember one true and very brief cold snap (in the single digits). For most of the winter, I thought these relatively warm conditions in the valley would translate to less than stellar snowpack in the mountains. But, all the rain we have experienced in the valley have translated to dumps of snow in mountains. These less than scientific observations aside, the snowpack relative to average has been steadily rising since January.

As of March 19, 2012, western Montana's snowpack is healthy. Most of the state's major watersheds have at least 100% snow water equivalent relative to normal snowpack. The upper Clark Fork and Bitterroot have 100% and 105% snowpack relative to normal. Here's to hoping that in the next couple months the high elevations continue to receive and hold snow and we get another healthy runoff with good water conditions into the summer and fall.

Revo Bearing Polarized Sunglasses - A YGF Review

It is often said that a good pair of polarized sunglasses are a fisherman's most important piece of equipment. With good reason, most of us can't smell or hear fish under a couple feet of water. Without a good pair of polarized sunglasses, those feeding trout are hidden from the prospecting fly fisherman.

For the last couple years, I wore a schmedium-sized, substandard quality pair of polarized sunglasses. It showed. On more than one occasion (read an uncountable number of occasions), Bucko would start talking about fish stacked up in a run or riffle. I would stare at the water, through the water, to the water and saw nothing. Meanwhile, Bucko was catching and landing the beasts from what I thought was the mysterious deep.

In the beginning of the year, I received a pair of polarized glass lens sunglasses. It changed my perspective, I could see holding fish everywhere I went. The underwater world opened up to me.

Even more recently, Revo offered me the opportunity to test out a pair of the Revo Bearing Water Lens Polarized Sunglasses. I was more than happy to take the Revo Bearings out on the water.

The Revo Bearings come in three different lens tints: graphite, bronze, and water. I chose to test and review the Water Lenses. The Water Lenses allow 10% of light to transmit through the lenses as compared to the 13% light transmission associated with the graphite and bronze lenses. According to Revo, "the Water Lenses cut back blues, and allows greens and reds to come through in environments with abnormal amounts of blue making it great for ocean and deep water wear."

Here is a brief rundown of the specifications from the REVO website (check here for more detailed specs)

• Serilium Lenses
• Anti-Reflective Coating
• Element Shed
• Revo High Contrast Polarization
• Motion-Fit
• Spring Hinges

Test Conditions - Range of weather and water conditions that the Revo Bearings under which were tested.

In order to fully test the Revo Bearing sunglasses, I begrudgingly fished in a variety of light conditions from early February through mid-March. From cloudy and snowy to sunny with a little bit of partly cloudy weather mixed in, I fished in everything. With a couple warm and rainy days, I even got the chance to fish in some slightly off-color water on the Bitterroot.

To me, there are three things that are most important with regards to a pair of polarized sunglasses for outdoor activities, especially fly fishing: 1) the quality of the optics 2) fit and comfort and 3) durability. Here are my impressions of the Revo Bearing sunglasses after more than a month on the water and around town.

Quality of Optics
The Revo Water Lens is a blue-grey lens with a blue mirror coating. Mirror coating deflects some of the light that hits the lens as a result, some light is not transmitted through the lens. Combining the mirror coating with the 10% light transmission of the blue-grey lenses, the Water Lens should theoretically be excellent bright light condition lenses.

Blue-grey lenses with a blue mirror coating

During this first month and a half with the Bearings, the lenses lived up to the expected bright light condition performance. These glasses really "shined" during blue bird days on the water. That was too be expected. I was very surprised with the glasses performance on partly cloudy and cloudy days. I expected my polarized, copper-tinted glass lens sunglasses to outperform the Water Lenses during these lower light conditions. They didn't. In many cases, I found the Revo Water Lenses to be more effective in comparison to the glass lens polarized sunglasses during these partly cloudy and cloudy conditions.

Fit and Comfort
I have a medium-large to large sized face, depending on the brand. The Revo Bearing frames are considered mid-sized frames. They fit my face extremely well. You know how some t-shirts fit better than others? If the Revo Bearing glasses were a t-shirt, it would be my favorite, best fitting, and most comfortable t-shirt. I experienced no issues with pinching, fatigue, or the dreaded facial imprinting. The spring hinges allow the glasses to hug your face in a gentle, yet firm manner.

The glasses don't feel heavy on the face. In fact, I barely notice that they are on while fishing, driving my the car, walking around town, and applying for real life jobs.


Durability
With the spring hinges, polycarbonate lenses, and nylon frames, the glasses feel sturdy. I have yet to drop them (and I don't plan on doing so in the near or distant future), but I have a great deal of confidence in these glasses ability to hold up to a little abuse. The nylon frames are flexible, but not too flexible. They maintain their designed form, while allowing for a little give here and there.

As an aside, the spring hinges are ingenious. It is the little things that add up to something extraordinary. With the spring hinge, there is an element added durability and flexibility that I have yet to encounter in sunglasses at a variety of price points.

The aforementioned ingenious hinges hinging

Look
I think the glasses are really, really, really, ridiculously good looking. I am not much of a "fashionista" (fashonistas out there, is that the correct usage of the term "fashonista?"), but I like the look of these glasses a great deal. They have replaced my previous everyday sunglasses....as my everyday sunglasses.

really, really, really, ridiculously good looking? yup.

After a month and a half on the water, in the car, at work, at the flyshop, and at school, I have been very impressed and pleased with the Revo Bearing sunglasses. With an excellent set of polarized lens and a flexible and durable frame, I think the $189.00 price tag is very fair. They aren't the cheapest sunglasses by any means, but it matches up well with competing brands by price. I would recommend these glasses to an angler looking for a high quality pair of polarized sunglasses. Imaginary YGF seal of approval has been stamped on these Revos.

Do you want to see the sunglasses on the water? Check out my most recent video, The Leprechaun and the Yeti.

Here are some stills of the sunglasses. Thanks to Anthony from False Casts and Flat Tires for the images of the glasses in action.

From the side.

What I see right before I put them on.

Oh yeah, it comes with a protective case and a cloth. As any real pair of sunglasses should.

See? Uh huh.

DISCLAIMER: The Revo Bearing sunglasses tested in this product review were provided to me at no cost, but hold a retail value of $189.00. I currently hold no association with Revo whatsoever. As with this review and all future reviews, I will do my best to offer up my honest and unbiased opinion, good or bad.

The Leprechaun and the Yeti

Some fishing partners are tall. Some are short. Anthony of False Casts and Flat Tires is the Leprechaun. I, apparently, am the Yeti. A couple of days of fly fishing on the Bitterroot. We got into some solid rainbows and browns, but nothing too extraordinary. Things are heating up, but we could have said that about the entire winter. Although, it is good to have some dry fly fishing on the horizon.

Some guest appearances from Alec of Fly Fishing Life and Cody of Oakfish in the beginning and end of the video.

Music:
Wu-Tang Clan vs. The Beatles "City High (Instrumental)"

The Leprechaun and the Yeti from Yukon Goes Fishing on Vimeo.

I went a little crazy on the effects this time. Messed with the saturation and the shadows/highlights. Let me know what you think of the effects.

Hey, Steelhead, let me catch you.

Two weekends ago, I went steelheading over in Idaho with Matt Breuer and LG. For the past two weeks, I have been trying to muster up some grand post about how going fish-less (whitefish don't count, this isn't baseball) over the course of two, windy, cold, and rainy days was the cat's meow. It wasn't. It was like self-flagellation in the church of the Clearwater. Eventually, it started to feel kind of good. So, instead of more words, I will sum it up in FISH JERKS style.

What I thought my first steelheading trip would look like - that's how it works. First trip, big wild buck. Amirite?

What my trip actually looked like. Empty handed. For reference, BWO.

I'd do it again.

2012 F3T in Missoula - a Review

When the Fly Fishing Film Tour (or F3T) sent me a goody basket filled with bourbon whiskey, stickers, a trucker hat, and a promotional DVD earlier this year, I got super excited. I wanted to hold off on watching the promotional DVD, but my excitement got the best of me...later that night...after some damn good whiskey. I only watched it once. Then, I put it away. Hid it in the mess that is my desk. I wanted to see it in person. I wanted to forget what I saw...in the best way possible. I wanted to experience it for the first time....a second time. I am glad I did.

Last year, Missoula set the F3T attendance record of 950. Check out my review of last year's show. This year, our town topped that with a record of 1100 attendees. The night started at the Grizzly Hackle for some beers and BBQ. I met up with Matt Breuer, the guys from FCFT (Zach, Stan, and Anthony...and Zach’s girlfriend Manda), and follower of the blog and retired USFS hydrologist Sully. After the pre-party and some good conversation, we headed over to the Wilma and snagged some good seats.

Here are my apparently long winded thoughts on this year’s films:

Riding High: A Season on the Fly - For the second straight year, the guys at Waterline Media opened up the Missoula F3T show. And for the second straight year, they produced an absolute monster of film. It follows the migration of tarpon from the lower Keys to the Panhandle and some of the anglers that chase them. With 90 days on the water and 15 TB of footage, every second of the film was stellar. Great opener to the show. Top 2, if not top 1 (aka favorite), film in the tour this year. The images, editing, and music was spot on.

Side Note: Someone needs to get that dog under control. Real fishing dogs maintain some level of self restraint (see anything Wilma does in any of my videos).

Sipping Dry - I have been looking forward to seeing Sharptail Media film on the big screen for 2 months (when the trailer was released). I was excited to see a film about the mighty mighty Missouri and it’s world renowned dry fly fishing. A river that I have fished numerous times and am always trying to figure out how to make the 2 hour trip from Missoula back there. I have something to admit, I haven’t fished the Mo during any semblance of a hatch. Shame shame shame on me. Perkins captured the spirit of Craig well and “that release shot” was stunning on the big screen. Besides the on point visuals of sipping 20+ inchers, Mark Raisler (S.O.L) and John Arnold (scumliner) from Headhunters were the stood out in the film (I might be a little biased). Line after line after line about the hatches, trout bums, and trout of the Missouri. You can’t beat Mark’s line - “Be careful who you bring here. Don’t bring your young children here or your teenagers here because you might alter their life and they are not going to become a doctor or an attorney, if they get hooked on this deal. It’s game over.” Top 3.

If I am being honest, the trailer might have been too good. It might have given away too much. Maybe I watched it too many times. The lines didn’t have the same pop they had the first, second, third, and fourth times around. I think it’s because I watched it too many times.

Geofish: A Mayan Prophecy - Another “backcountry” adventure from the MOTIV guys. Last year, it was vegetable oil cars. This year, it’s drug roads and landlocked tarpon. I didn’t know land locked tarpon existed. Tarpon that have never swam in saltwater. A novel concept. This flick was more a story of the journey to a unique fishery than the unique fishery itself. Solid film.

Hatch - Gin Clear Media’s submission for the 2012 F3T. This was the first fly fishing film to be filmed on a RED camera. A pretty big deal. The camera work was next level greatness. Some of the more ridiculously filmed dry fly takes I have seen. In many ways, it felt like I was watching a nature documentary that David Attenborough should be narrating. The cut was much shorter than the cut from the Promo DVD. It was a slower moving film that I think was hurt by the fact that there were so many more high action (read: adrenaline pumping) films preceding it.

Clearly B.C. - Fall Bullies - Many people may have seen this film by Todd Moen in the recent Catch Magazine. I liked it the first time. The second time, I started to lose interest. The visuals were great, but it lacked the story that the others had. The big fish were there, but something was missing in comparison to the others. It certainly didn’t help squash my desire to catch a monster bull trout. Alberta/B.C. here I come.

Reverb - Last year, RT’s submission was Zero 2 Hero. The Musky Movie. Big fish. Fish of 10,000 casts. Great characters and a great closing scene with a monster fish. This year's RT film is about a group of elder punk rockers who spend their off time on the water’s of the Driftless Region fly fishing for it’s trout. I personally didn’t connect with this film. But, I know that many people will. The visuals and graphics were spot on as always with RT’s productions. But, the fishing didn’t excite me and I didn’t connect with the characters. I don’t pay a great deal to sponsors unless shots of their products are displayed prominently in the films. Which leads me to the question: Is Orvis punk rock? (I hope that question doesn’t prevent my edits from making the Friday Film Fest)

Doc of Drakes - I am going to come out right and say it. Best film of the tour. Even though I saw it more than my fair share of times when it was part of the Drake 5 minute film festival. A great story and one great fish cannot be beaten. While the visuals don’t compete with the likes of Riding High and Hatch, the story of a 83 year-old doctor with Parkinson’s fishing the March Brown hatch with a dedicated and patient guide and the massive reward for that patience could not be beat. The crowd was engaged through the whole short. Obviously rooting for Doc to find success, the entire theater unleashed a deafening roar when Doc caught his Silver Creek monster. Cheers to Bryan Huskey.

Here's how the crowd reacted to the Doc of Drakes:



The Arctic - RA Beattie is a kung fu fly fishing video master. The Arctic is another great one. Monster Arctic Char and Lake Trout. Stunning visuals. A damn good soundtrack (which he always seems to keep under lock and key). Some Gierach sprinkled in. Sometimes, RA's stuff can seem like a SIMMS ad. There were a couple shots that were overly SIMMS-ed out. Top 3. Can I have four videos in the top 3? Answer: Yes. I am the boss of this review.

Fly: a Legacy - I will be honest, in a crowd filled with roudy fly fishing Missoulians and having chosen a seat super close to the speakers, I can’t give a fair review of Ronnie Goodwin’s submission. It was story heavy and fish light. I couldn’t hear the narration and as a result, I can’t give it a fair review. I will say this, the young man’s casting face was quite amusing. It was a combination of squinting and constipation.

Right on It: The Get Lost Project - Bonefishing in Bahamas. This film had it’s moments, namely the first half. I didn’t get the second half. It became more like a weird friendship music video. Kudos go to the pair of big bones that they showed in the first half. You (the bonefish) were big and you deserve credit for being such successful eaters of food.

The Kodiak Project: Fly Fishing in the Land of the Giants - Beautifully shot, this film is more character driven and focuses on the eclectic group of fly fishing personalities that come together to fish for steelhead in Kodiak Island. Steelhead fishing is supposed to a trial of patience and determination, right? Apparently, not on the Kodiak. Three steelhead in twelve casts. I want that.

I will admit that Conway Bowman’s inclusion in the film irked me a bit. My introduction to Conway Bowman came at last year’s F3T. In Speed, Muscle, Teeth, Conway exclaimed something to the effect of (WARNING: a good dose of paraphrasing follows) fly fishing for trout, steelhead, bonefish, tarpon, pike, bass, or any other species of fish is utter crap compared to fly fishing for mako sharks. It was some outlandish comment denigrating most fly fisherman’s targeted species of choice. So, when I heard him heaping praise on the steelhead of the Kodiak, it felt phony and forced. Everytime he opens his mouth about fishing for any other species than makos, I check out and stop listening. I am sure he is a nice enough guy, but the outlandish statement from Speed, Muscle, Teeth has sullied me on him and his opinions.

Another highlight was the aural piles of boos and jeers that the Missoula crowd unleashed towards the screen when Bozeman and the Yellowstone were featured. Ahh, friendly rivalries amongst fly fishing towns in Montana.

Final Thoughts (not Jerry Springer style), the 2012 F3T was just as good as the 2011 F3T. More freshwater this year around with some salty goodness spritzed in. A good, rowdy time was seemingly had by all. If the tour swings through your town (or semi adjacent towns), go. You won’t regret it. Check the schedule.

Did I mention that they gave out some nice prizes including some Patagonia Aluminum Bar Rock Grip boots, a Redington youth fly rod outfit, and a Sage One rod. The winner of the wading boots, who didn't have the appearance of a fly fisherman (more like a significant other who got dragged to the show), promptly muttered "what are these?" The winner of the Sage One rod acted as if Bob Barker was on the stage and she was about to spin the Big Wheel. I am pretty sure it was the price is right in her mind. Surprised she didn't have ironed on letters saying something very punny about old man Bob.

The Trout of 2011

The trout of 2011.....that I decided to take video of. Includes a 23" brown, 25" brown, 27" brown, and 28" rainbow. It was a good angling year. Happy Thanksgiving internets. Thanks for all of your support of YGF this year.


trout of 2011 from Yukon Goes Fishing on Vimeo.