Fishing Reports, Holiday Libations, and Gabe "the grizzly" Duran

So, my wife and I just dragged the Christmas tree out of the house so I think it is officially time to work up a post Christmas Blog post. I am going to try to keep the post fluid as I am watching Notre Dame play Rutgers in the New Era Pin Stripe Bowl and the game is tied up at 10-10. If the post seems a bit disjointed know that I took breaks to yell, scream, and chew my nails…

I’ll start this post Christmas pre new years season with a few fishing reports…Bottom line though is everything is low and clear. We need rain bad…this weather is pretty scary.

Lower Yuba River is low and clear flowing at 725cfs – this is as low as I can ever remember it. Fishing has suffered due to the conditions but fish still need to eat so there are fish to catch. I spent Sunday and Monday guiding the river and I would rank fishing as fair. Sunday the fish were eating small baetis nymphs and midges so my guys had trouble keeping fish hooked and setting the hook. Monday fish were eating egg patterns and bigger attractor nymphs (#16 and #14 Flash back PT’s) so we had a bit better day. The river was crowded with wade fishermen both days and the few pods of fish eating dries during the baetis hatch had anglers fishing them so we didn’t get to fish to them but they are there and eating size 16-18 baetis. Most wade fishermen are focusing on the river above the bridge, we caught fish all the way throughout the river so if you are heading out look below the bridge to get away from crowds and get some fresh water.

Lower Sacramento River is Low flowing 3760 cfs coming out of Keswick. This is crazy low as well – offering a low of wade fishing for walk in anglers which is cool. I floated the upper stretch on Saturday (Posse Grounds to Bonnie View) and Ryan J. and Slim floated the next two floats down river. Fishing up top was fair and we did hook some big fish not huge numbers but good fish. Ryan and Slim had good days as well hooking some steelhead as well. Most of the fish we hooked were on small baetis patterns and talking to Ryan J and Slim most of their fish came on eggs still. There are some fresh winter salmon moving around and fishing should remain pretty good throughout the winter on the upper stretches. I have also heard of some nice steelhead being caught down low by chico on the Sac. I am going to try to get out and swing some flies next week. Most likely will be casting practice but with the low flows fish are really slowing down and holding up in the lower river.

Lower Feather River I have heard has a few fresh winter steelhead in it but most of the bulk of the fish have been in the system for well over a month. The upper stretch above hwy 70 opens Jan 1 and will provide some fishing for down streamers for a few weeks which is always a big draw and I usually get suckered in to going a few times myself. If you go try to avoid fishing for spawning fish in the shallows and focus on the deeper runs and riffles. Most fish are caught on egg patterns and basic attractor nymphs. Remember above the hwy 70 bridge is barbless and catch and release, also make sure you have your new steelhead card and it is filled out before you step in the water. There will be Wardens out.

Holiday Libations Report/Review – I filled up the Growler with Sierra Nevada Beer Camp Belgian Style Black IPA for the annual Johnston/Brown family Christmas eve celebration. I have tired this beer in the bottled beer camp 12 pack and liked it the best out of the variety beer camp offering but I wouldn’t give it a great ranking. Out of the tap and into the growler it was much better, I would give it a very good ranking, not great but I am tempted to go re-fill the growler with it this week.

My goal over the last few years has been to turn Ryan Johnston into a brown water man – take him from his cheap beer sugary frat boy drinks to big boy IPA’s and classy brown water. His wife Bonnie has been helping and really turned the corner this Xmas by getting him a bottle of Johnny Walker Blue Label – I was definitely upstaged with regards to my gift of a bottle of Double Black. That said Ryan poured us a few clean tumblers of Johnny Walker Blue and that was down right amazing.

yum

I also have been avoiding going into the new Bev Mo that opened up in Chico and I finally broke down and went in to buy Ryan J’s Xmas present of a bottle of Double Black…bad idea. I walked out with a few bottles of Brown Water I have been “needing to try” …. I really wished I would have never gone in. That said I did crack the bottle of Tullamore Dew…”Irish’s most distributed Whiskey”…Never tried it and so far I really like it.

Gabe “The Grizzly” Duran – I lost a great friend and the fly fishing world lost a great ambassador recently. It really threw me for a loop as Gabe was my age and a great friend, I wrote a short post that I never posted with his memorial service next week I will post it here…

the master mind of our fantasy football league

professional fish wrangler

I woke up this morning with a missed call from Ryan followed by a text that read,  “Hey man Gabe died last night at the house…” It was followed by some details but as I read my mind was traveling from the Feather to Fall River over to the Trinity…guide houses, boat ramps, fly shops, parking lots and the all times over the last decade I spent with Gabe. I can’t say I broke down and cried but I did sit down with the feeling like I just got punched in the gut…the void of feeling before the emotions rush in is a weird spot to be….I can’t say I was Gabes best friend but the beauty of Gabe was he made everyone feel like they were.

I worked with Gabe at various outfitters, lodges, as independent guides, and shared many many runs and floats all over Northern California with him…I fished with him as a friend, tied flies with him, drank copious amounts of beer with him, talked Giants baseball, played fantasy football with him … an always felt like I needed to hang out with Gabe more. I always thought just if he lived a bit closer or I had more free time…

What I will remember about Gabe is the fact that everyone loved Gabe. In a game like guiding there are clicks, feuds, rivalries, and down right enemies but Gabe was above all that, he rose above it all and spread his positive attitude and vibe where ever he was and whom ever was out on the river had a better day after crossing his path. No matter what crew you ran with or were part of you liked Gabe…everyone liked Gabe and in all the years that Gabe was a guide in Northern California I can honestly say I never heard anyone say a bad thing about him. I even remember ounce someone saying “its not like I can get mad at Gabe”

He was one of the most humble self affacing guides I ever met but one of the most competent and skilled guides I knew. He could put clients on to fish on some of the most technical spring creek fishing around on the Fall to Steelhead on the coast to draggen row down the sac for salmon. Guy was just fishy. He understood the personal aspect of guiding as well. I never saw someone in Gabes boat without a smile on their face or that at some point with in ear shot did not let out a huge belly laugh. He knew how to make people smile and have fun on the water no matter how many fish they caught.

Gabe was the real deal as we say…he lived and breathed fly fishing, rivers, and the fish that swam in them. He built his life around rivers and decided a “normal” life was not for him living the life that people in cubicles, long commutes, and suburbia dream of. I truly loved him and will miss him.

Fishing Reports, Flaming Lip Dragons, and music+beer=happiness

Lower Sacramento River

I spent 3 days over the last week on the Lower Sac floating from Bonnie View down to Anderson. The flows are crazy low around 3600cfs coming out of Keswick. Fishing was pretty darn good most days…no huge fish but really good numbers for late November. Most fish came on beads, small mayfly nymphs (a few new ones I am working on), and rubber legs. There were still a few fish hanging in reds but most fish were in the riffles hanging off the reds and back in some deeper water. The flats were tough and we only got a few smaller fish in the flats. December is traditionally a big fish month on the L. Sac. Not big numbers of fish of but some really nice fish. Last December I caught some of the biggest rainbows I had caught on the Sac so hopefully this December will be the same.

L. Sac Winter Rainbow

Cast Hope Double

First Lower Sac Bow

Lower Feather River

I spent two days last week on the Feather. Usually Thanksgiving week is my last days on the feather for the fall. Usually weather has mixed things up on the Lower Yuba and moved some of the Yuba Winter Steelhead up river and I move over to the Lower Yuba and Lower Sac for Dec-Feb, until the first pushes of spring steelhead show up in March on the Feather. This year though with the good returns the last week was hard to believe that it was thanksgiving week. We hooked nice fish all the way down the river to Gridley where usually most fish are concentrated up in the low flow. All my clients hooked multiple fish and I would imagine that fishing may continue for a few more weeks. That said the flows are scary low in the high flow, 994 cfs, this is as low as I can remember the river being. The low flows I think have slowed the fish down and kept fish spread out a bit longer then in previous years. Most of my fish came on bugs and not beads or egg patterns. Prince nymphs and birds nest did the best and it seemed if you had a mustache in honor of MoVember you caught more fish.

Flaming Lip Dragons Attract Steelhead - This picture is proof

Tales from the ‘Ville

So, as the feather winds down this may be my last tale from the ‘ville until spring…a few weeks ago I was approaching the pull out and witnessed a man and women with two kids in a drift boat anchored up fishing. Good to see, actually great to see. The dad was fishing and the young kids were watching and sitting in moms lap. As we both made our way to the take out mom jumped out just above the ramp and pulled a bike out of the bushes…didn’t think much of it as I was putting my boat on the trailer and packing things up. As I was getting into my truck my clients told me that they were talking to the guy and it was his first float in his new boat, cool but where did mom go….well as we were driving down the road mom was pedaling down the road on an old mountain bike, I assume back up to the truck with the trailer.

Many thoughts ran through my mind in the dwindling winter light of my truck cab…should I pull over, umm I can’t I have no room for her, well I could fit her bike in the boat and she could squezze in…eehhh to late….then the other thoughts, what kind of dude makes his wife ride a bike through the Oroville wild life area, down a desolated road, to run a shuttle in the dark. I also thought I wonder what she is thinking about this whole boat purchase thing as she hammers down on those pedals…or does she know fro 30$ or so they could of hired a shuttle…The things you see in the ‘ville

Lower Yuba River

I have not been on the L. Yuba for a while but will be spending plenty of time on over the winter and early spring. Last time I was over there was 2 weeks ago and small bugs was the order of the day. S&M’s and The Amigo (a new may fly nymph that will be coming out soon through Montana Fly Co.) caught most of the fish with a few fish in the lower river coming on egg patterns. Even threw some dry flies to rising fish in the flats eating small baetis and midges. The flows are still up around 1000cfs and like all river the Yuba could use some rain and color. Winter is a great time to be on the L. Yuba so I am hopeful we will get some rain and things will get going.

Nice Lower Yuba Winter Bow

Fly Shop News

A life time industry man and Nor Cal Local George Revel announced that he will be opening a new Fly Shop in San Francisco named Lost Coast Outfitters. It is a long time coming that someone opened a Fly Shop in San Francisco proper. Check out the website www.lostcoastoutfitters.com or go check out the shop when it opens Dec 9, 2013 inside Wingtip 

550 Montgomery Street

Inside Wingtip

San Francisco, CA ‎ 94111

Booze News

So I have been enjoying the brown water lately, a Makers Mark or Johnny Walker Red with some soda water and lime is my choice but I do have some top shelf stuff I have been having neat on a cold night every so often. I really do love a Makers Mark with Soda water and lime though…tough to beat as an evening cocktail. I also bought the Anchor Steam Sampler for our family thanksgiving. I love Anchor Steam beer but to be honest the 6 packs are always damn expensive at safeway where I shop usually. The 12 pack sampler was on sale for $14.99 so I was all over. It had Liberty Ale, Porter, Anchor Wheat, and the standard Anchor Steam. The Liberty Ale is so/so and the Wheat Beer is a great beer though not really my type of beer this time of year though. The Porter is the best by far, by far one of my favorite Porters as of now. I have tasted some of the collabaoration brews between Sierra Nevada and Anchor Steam and it now is clear where elements of those beers come from.

Frosty, dark, and thick...yum

Music News

So I read an NPR article entitled “A Rational Conversation: Is Emo Back?” basicly telling me all the music that I listen to was making a “come back” or “revival”…personally for me it never went away but lets be honest many of the records were recorded over a decade ago, the bands have broken up, and even went on re-union tours…getting old I guess.  The good thing about the article is all the “Revival” bands it talked about. I listen to “Dads” but haven’t bought any of their albums yet though, not cause I don’t like them though just haven’t digested the two albums I did buy. The “Dads” are really good though as they use all sorts of cool tunings and kinda blend poppy emo with some hard core elements. The one I did buy from this article was “The World is a Beautiful Place, and I am not Afraid to Die” I bought there last two albums When ever if Ever and Are here to help you. This band is really cool, kind of like American Football mixed with Mineral and a little hard core vocals…

I also saw a live video on one of my favorite live music sights www.audiotree.tv. The sight is based out of Chicago and they have bands come in studio and record a live 4-6 song set that they tape and then stream, sell, and share…really cool site. The band is called “This Town Needs Guns” but I think has been forced to change their name to “TTNG” …societal pressure me think. The music is awesome, I would describe it as Math Rock mixed with emoish melody and vocals. It is a  3 piece and the singer plays a baritone guitar, no bass, just baritone guitar, guitar and drums…Crazy good drummer and guitar player. Search audio tree for their set and be amazed.

Feather Low Fin Steelhead

Cancellation 25 Nov - Discount

$350 Full Day Guided Trip - $75 off full price
Includes, lunch, rod/reel, flies, drinks

I had a cancelation next week and I am offering the date at a $75 discount. The Lower Yuba, Lower Sac, and Lower Feather are all fishing fair to good for winter trout and steelhead. Give me an email or a phone call if you have any questions or would like to book the date.

Veterans Day, how to deal with the nations obesiety epidemic and Brown Water.

So, first  happy Veterans Day and thanks to all the Veterans from home and abroad. I have spent the better part of my teaching career and educational career teaching and learning about wars and/or conflicts. While an under grad history major and grad student I read more first hand accounts of The Revolutionary War, Civil War, WWI, WWII, Korea, and Vietnam then I care to remember but I never failed to be amazed at the cruelty and hardships of war that so many young men and women signed up to face. The courage war veterans across the world and time have shown amazes me and I honor and thank them for what they have done.

On to fishing...So we need rain. I am still watering my yard and plants in November, this is not a good sign. Not that we won't get rain this winter but I fear that we will get the monsoon style of rain where it rains non-stop for like a month or two blowing out rivers and pretty much killing all fishing. Not that I wouldn't be Ok with that in the long run as we need the water but that would really suck for winter trout and steelhead fishing. I like nice spaced out storms over the course of say Nov 1 and March 15 that provide good rain and snow pack...oh in a perfect world.

On to the fishing reports and other ramblings...

Feather River
The salmon run on the feather this year is as good as I have seen it in 10 years...back to the good old days of the late 90's and early 2000's where there were salmon on redds all the way down past Gridley. There are also good numbers of steelhead from Gridley up through the low flow section of the river. The average size of the steelhead this year seems to be around 20+ inches with a few fish in 23-25" but not much below that 20" range. The fish are fat and deep this year as well, classic feather football steelhead. Most fish are coming on egg patterns but I have heard of a few fish coming on san juan worm variations along with mayfly nymphs and caddis pupa. Fishing should continue to be good through thanksgiving this year and hopefully with some rain the river will see a good push of late fall/winter fish.

Nice Wild Hen

Nice Big Buck

Lower Sacramento River
I have been spending most of my time on the Sac down low below red bluff chasing tributary steelhead and trout. Fishing has been pretty good and with the great salmon run the Sac is seeing this year there are salmon on redds all the way below Los Molinos. Most trout and steelhead are hanging close to spawning salmon and eating eggs and large rubber legs. The guide traffic on the upper stretches has thinned out as many guides have moved on over to the Trinity. November fishing is typically fair to good depending on the day but come December I find that I start to catch some of the biggest rainbows of the season.

Lower Sac Low Fin Steelhead

Lower Yuba River
I have not been on the Lower Yuba for a while as I usually spend most of my late October and early to mid November on the Feather and Lower Sac. I did talk to Tom Page of Reel Anglers in Grass Valley and he said fishing has been good on small bugs and egg patterns. Personally come the first big storm I will most likely head over to the Yuba, a little color and a nice flow bump should move some fish around and get the fish going again. November can be a tough month on the Yuba as the fish have been pounded sense mid september by guides and recreational anglers. Come Late November though I usually have the river to myself and with some weather fishing can be ridiculous, Some of my best days all year come in December and January on the back end of storms. Even if fishing is just mediocre there can some great dry fly fishing mixed in with Baetis hatches and the ever elusive skwala stonefly.

Tales From the 'Ville...and how to deal with our nations obesiety epidemic.
As I said in an earlier post fall allows me to spend some time over in the small town of Oroville and the Oroville wild life area which are conveniently located along the Feather River. So, the feather has been pretty damn crowded this year with guides and recreational anglers. Many Sacramento area guides seem to be making the migration up to guide the Feather this year making it a bit more crowded then usual. Now I don't have a problem with this, but it has created an escalation that has not been seen in about 10 years...the motor movement.

It is no secret that a guides success on the feather is largely related to his ability to find fresh water or fish that have not been fished over by another angler. This leads to a fairly competitive atmosphere at times. Most of the chico/oroville local guides work together and plan out floats to accommodate for this but with the influx of guides from other areas this does not always work out...

So, a few guides are resulting to putting motors on their drift boats and even some anglers are running jet boats up and down the river even up into the low flow. The "I am going to get there first" mentality is taking root on the river this year. This leads to escalating water crafts and motor sizes...which in the end hurts everyone. This was last seen about 10 years ago...I was working for Lonnie Boles at the time and he went so far as to buy a 27' in board jet to be the biggest boat on the river. In the end the high flow at 1500cfs and the low flow at 1000cfs are NOT big enough for jet boats, wade anglers, and drift boats to co-exist.

Now I run a trolling motor to motor through the flats on the feather and long flat section above Gridley ounce the time changes as it gets dark so early but a motor on a drift boat on the feather to race to each hole or jet boat to pound runs before guides get to them is pretty lame...So I am taking a stand no motors! I am not going to succumb to the temptation to bring my motor boat out there. Stop the escalation...Get creative on your floats, spread out, talk to other guides and see where they are going - I am now stepping off my soap box. Also Row your boat there is an obesity epidemic in our nation and we could all use the extra exercise.

Drop your motor its race its a race!

Booze News...Brown Water Time
I have been really watching how much I drink lately...not that I have a drinking problem but I just felt I needed to slow down...might be that I am approching my mid 30's and drinking like I was in college still was starting to catch up with me...Don't get me wrong though I am not a quitter and still enjoy my beer and brown water.

This year for the second straight year I won the annual ND vs. USC bet I make with fellow guide and Sierra Fishing bad ass Jay Clark so he had to buy me a bottle of bourbon...loosing two years in a row I felt bad for him so I am going to tie him some flies, most likely while drinking the bourbon he bought me so not sure how well they will turn out. He got the Corner Creek Reserve Bourbon Whiskey for me and it is amazing. Real smooth and mild for a bourbon. Has fruity hints to it and some woody back taste but nothing to strong. Glad it is Brown Water time...Nothing better then coming home from a day of steelhead fishing and relaxing with a nice tumber of something brown.

Yum...Thanks Jay!

Music News...
Pretty straight forward right now...Gas Light Anthem, Get Up Kids, and things that sound like those two...kinda re-living my early 20's in music...I may even start taking piano lessons so I can write some songs like the ones on Death Cab for Cuties album Plans...

Waypoints Premiere - Sacramento People

CAST HOPE (www.casthope.org) will be at the Way Points premier this friday (see information below). We will be having a FREE raffle where all you need to do is fill out an information card with name, address, email, and phone number and you will be entered into a raffle for a Scott Fly Rod, Simms Cast Hope Shirts, Fly Box, Klean Kanteen's, and a few other things. The raffle will be only for those in attendance and be drawn at the movie premiere. 

Cast Hope is spreading into the Sacramento area this coming year and we will have a table set up in the lobby to sign up for the raffle and learn more about what Cast Hope does. 

Hope to see you all there!


Way Points Premier Information:

Stop by Kiene's Fly Shop at 2654 Marconi Ave for your tickets to the premiere of Waypoints by Confluence Films. 

Tickets are available for $13 at the shop. 

The show is Friday, November 8 at 7:00 pm at the Guild Theater in Sacramento. 

Proceeds benefit the Western Native Trout Initiative. 

Sponsored by Kiene's Fly Shop. 

Waypoints is an incredible travel-logue-style fishing film that truly showcases not only the fly fishing lifestyle, but the journey itself as seen through the eyes of anglers. 

Don't miss this incredible event! 

Call us at (916) 486-9958 for more information.

Mid Week Fishing Reports

Fall is under way and winter will seem even closer with the time change this weekend. There has been huge salmon returns on all valley rivers with trout and steelhead eating gorging on eggs. If you have not gotten out this fall it is not to late and winter fishing should be just as good this year with early reports of fresh winter salmon moving up river right now. Winter trout and steelhead fishing can be great up and down the valley on the Lower Sac and Lower Yuba along with Butte Creek. 

Available Dates:
Nov 26
Dec 27-31
Jan 2-9, 18, 20, 26
Feb 8-10, 15, 16

Lower Feather 

There are steelhead from Gridley up river through the low flow. There are salmon on reds throughout this stretch as well dropping eggs. Most steelhead are being caught on egg patterns and the occasional fish on san juan worms, olive birds nest, or smaller mayfly nymphs. The river has been very crowded with wade fishermen, jet boats, and drift boats. A key to catching fish is getting away from the crowds, I find fishing later in the day or hitting the areas that other anglers hit first thing later in the day after the fish have rested is a good idea.

Lower Sacramento River 
The egg bit up through redding has picked back up after slowing down for a bit. Personally I have been spending my time below Red Bluff down to Corning chasing steelhead and trout. Fishing has been pretty good as there are spawning salmon down south of Los Molinos. Best fishing has been behind salmon reds and in riffles where salmon are spawning. 

Lower Yuba River
I have not been on the L. Yuba in a few weeks but from what I hear it is still fishing fair to good depending on the day. I tend to think that by this time in the "egg bite" the Yuba usually is in need of a good rain to mix things up and move fish around...maybe even add a bit of color to the water. With the cool mornings and evenings there should be some dry fly fishing midday in the flats and softer water of the riffles. I would look for some caddis coming off midday and then fish the reds and areas where there are spawning salmon early and late. 

Now on Pintrest

Yes I know Pintrest is the domain of recipes, weddings, and such but I have started a Pintrest page to display photos and all such things fly fishing and fly fishing lifestyle related...we will see how it goes.

follow me and check it out for some serious fish porn and such.

http://www.pinterest.com/brown5540/

Early to Mid Week randomness...and a fishing report or two.

Lets get early to mid week on this…

I spent my Saturday hanging with my boys (not “my Boys” but my children) and watching the Notre Dame vs. USC game and then guided the L. Sac on Sunday. I have not had a day off in about 2 weeks so hanging with my boys, sleeping in, and watching some live college football not DVR’d college football was a nice break. I will say though when ever I take days off I feel like I am missing something by not being on the river. That said many days while on the river I feel like I am missing something by not being with my boys…solution: go fishing with my boys…but I would have a hard time charging them, their piggy banks are pretty empty and lets be honest most of the money that is in them, was at one time technically mine so there is really no money in this plan and my bank doesn’t except “quality time on the river with my boys” as payment for my debts.

rolling strong on a saturday with this dude

The Lower Sac fished pretty decent on Sunday, but I had some pretty green anglers so it is tough to tell…we had plenty of grabs, but the hooking and landing part seemed to elude us. The fish on the float I did were not as grabby as the week before but they were still pretty accommodating in most runs. The egg bite is still going strong, but we did get some fish in bug water on stonefly nymphs and caddis pupa.

Barge Hole Egg Eater

This guy was sitting behind a snag and ate a big stone fly nymph

Almost forgot…I did get out to fish myself this Friday as well. I went with my brother in law and his buddy over to the feather. We fished the Hwy 162 bridge area and each of us hooked a nice adult steelhead. I was fishing my Scott 11”6wt L2h switch rod that I have been waiting to get out and properly fish sense I got it this last winter. I have had the rod for nearly a year and not properly gotten it out and fished it myself. That tells you how much time I have to fish on my own in the fall and winter. I matched it up with an Air Flo speydicator line and it fishes great. It is a great big water indicator rod. Light enough to high stick close or double up on and bomb out some spey casts to water I could hardly reach with a single handed rod. I am looking forward to using it this spring to swing some flies on the feather for the spring run steelhead as well.

Best part of the whole trip was watching my brother in laws friend Joe hook up on a nice big (24”)wild buck and land it…he has hooked a few steelhead on the feather but never landed one. He is a pretty good angler after cutting his teeth on the small trout water around chico. This fall he got a big river rod and is getting into steelhead fishing so it was awesome to see him land such a special fish. Funny how I was way more excited to see him land his fish then I was to hook mine…I actually lost mine right at the bank as I was trying to hurry and get mine in as I saw he was hooked up. Funny how prerogatives change the more I do this fly fishing thing.

New Ink…

I further cemented my passion and commitment to the things I love …. My wife, kids, and rivers. I have had this idea drawn up by a few artists around town…I want the two Loves wrapped around my heart: Rivers and my wife in a tattoo on the inside of my arm. Ben Lucas at Eye of Jade in Chico finally nailed it.

My two loves wrapped around my hear...date is my wedding anniversary

Music…

I have not been buying much new music just listening to a pretty consistent stable of bands…The Wonder Years, The Gaslight Anthem, and the Dangerous Summer. All 3 are in the punk, emo/punk vain. I see it as just good rock music about topics that normal people can relate to. If you can not relate to it the chances are I am not normal not you…

Clothing…

I got some new Simms Gear from the Fall 2013 Line up a few weeks ago and the weather has gotten cool enough to put it through the paces. There is some great new gear this fall. My favorite so far is the Axis Hoody. I Love my Windstopper Hoody, but at times it is a bit to warm… which is not a bad thing just need something a bit thinner as well. The Axis Hoody can be worn as a layering piece or a stand alone light jacket for cool mornings or evenings. It is made out of Polartec® ThermalPro®. It is quick drying and features no-sweat breathing capabilities. The Hoody takes care of cool mornings during the spring, summer, and fall where I would usually where just a sweatshirt over a fishing shirt with shorts. The best thing about this hoody is that I have also been wearing it in non-fishing situations. It sucks to have to have an around town wardrobe and a fishing wardrobe…and lets be honest wearing your wading jacket without waders and a fly rod in your hand just doesn’t look right. Kinda like a guy wearing a football jersey with out pads under them and a helmet on or an NBA jersey without the upper body of an NBA player. Much of the newer Simms gear is functional on the river and looks great off the river letting ones fishing gear serve multiple purposes. The Axis Hoody is a great example of this. Kudos to Simms to making gear that makes me look cool on the river and off….not an easy thing to do.

I like Black cause I spill things

Sports Report…

The Irish are 5-2 after a defeat of the USC Trojans on Saturday night. Usually I would be pumped any time we defeat the Trojans but this time just seems a little cheap. USC basically gave the game away via penalties and just plane bad play. With Tommy getting knocked out early in the second half and Hendrix coming in our offense was terrible. I personally will never bitch about Tommy Rees ever again as I am pretty sure Hendrix forgot how to throw a football and USC stacked 9 in the box and shut us down. Well a win is a win and we got Airforce this week so we should be OK.

World Series Starts tomorrow and while I don’t have a dog in the race I do enjoy watching both the Cardinals and the Red Sox play ball. They both have some fun players to watch and great pitchers. Should be a good series. I am calling Cards in 6.

Fly Guide Fantasy Football League
So, we are under way and I am sitting mid pack at 3-3 while the Deeler and Ryan J are knoted up at 5-1 though the Deeler aka La Flama Blanca is a top the power rankings. I had a pretty good shot to knock Ryan J off this week but Arian Foster going down with a Hami killed me! In other Fantasy news  Gabe Duran's Gravy Train has officially come off the rails sitting at 2-4 and he has resumed his fantasy wrestling career with the Deeler in his back yard. WWE watch out!

I love this guy