Find your Flow

Someone pointed out this resource to me a while ago and thought I'd pass it along to all of you. It's the USGS Waterwatch website.

What that means in English, is that you can go to the site and check the current water flows all across the country. Just click the interactive map and get magically whisked away to (wherever you clicked.) Then you hover over the small circles to get a pop-up of latest USGS data for that waterway.

Pretty cool, huh?

WaterWatch -- Maps and graphs of current water resources conditions

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! It's time to sit back, think of all the things that you have that make life a little less nuts, and rest up for the whirlwind season that is Christmas.

I'm thankful for a loving family and friends that might as well be family. I'm thankful that I've been given the opportunity to be home for the last 2 years with my young daughter and take care of her; not too many fathers get to do that.  And I'm thankful for the Grace of God to get me through all that :) .

I'm also thankful for getting introduced to one of the finest and most challenging outdoors sports created; and for every second that I've been able to spend fishing and not spend it doing some other mind-numbing task. Being able to get out and take everything in....... there's no better way to spend time on Earth.

And I'm thankful for everyone that stops by on this site and reads my incoherent jumbles. It's nice to know that I'm not just talking to myself.

Have a drink on me...

How to Make Bacon Bourbon and Other Flavorful Spirits - FoxNews.com

Just in time for the holidays! Wow your guests! Just enjoy your bacon responsibly.

Writers Unite!

Love writing and fly fishing? Enter the fiction contest by Fly Rod and Reel and you just might get your work published (along with a nice size check).

Per the site:

"A distinguished original essay or work of short fiction that embodies an implicit love of fly-fishing, respect for the sport and the natural world in which it takes place, and high literary values."

The contest is closed for 2010, but admissions are open for next year as of January 1st.

Fly-fishing - 2010 Robert Traver Fly-Fishing Writing Award

In the meantime, why don't you check out the 2009 winner Pete Fromm. It's only an excerpt, but it's quite good.

IGFA New Pending Record

Congrats to James Hodgson on the 100 lbs. African Threadfin. It wasn't on a fly rod but, by God that's a big fish!

The Latest Pending Records from the IGFA | Field & Stream

Casting For Recovery

The following email was posted on the North American Fly Fishing Forum. It is from Casting For Recovery, a non-profit that helps treat breast cancer survivors fly fishing lessons. They are in a contest to win a $250,000 grant from Pepsi. I encourage everyone to vote to help them get some much needed funding and support.

Fly of the Week: a double header!

Yeah, I know. I missed last week. Sorry guys! Between projects for work (I'm a freelance web designer) and projects for my classes (God bless higher education) I didn't have time to look at the vice, let alone sat at it.

So to make up for it, I'll give ya a double header (and early); 2 flies for the price of one! Ready? Here we go....

Love Fish and Camo?

Then you'll be happy to here that they've been married! Not in that way. Better.

Fishouflage is offering camo gear that highligts fish. I know, it sounds like a weird concept, so I had to check it out. I was afraid that it would be a little bit hokey, but I went on the site and the clothing looks pretty good.

The patterns on the shirt are a muted regular camo. They then overlay that with underwater scenes featuring a specific fish (bass, trout, etc.) Not only do they have shirts, but the also have hats, gear bags, and other accessories.

What a neat product to find just before the holidays....  :)

Beautiful Classic Wet Flies

I was nosing through the WWW the other day and stumbled on two sites that about classic wet flies.

I don't know why but I've always had a love for classically tied wet flies. There's a simple eloquence about them that will always make them stand out among the flies of the world.

Fly of the Week: Crimson Leech

Here's a different take on a leech pattern. This can be tied with or without the weighted eyes, but since I usually fish this with a floating line i just tie them with the extra weight.

If I had a million dollars....

I received the 2011 Cabela's fly fishing catalog a few days ago and just sat down to flip through it. Bad idea. I now have about 50 things on my wish list...... so if anyone has a couple grand laying around that they have no use for, feel free to send it my way. I'll give those poor little dollars a good home. :)

Have a good weekend!

Fly of the Week: Muddler Minnow

The Muddler Minnow is a great little general pattern that every fly fisher should have in their arsenal. While it can be a pain to tie (dang stacked deer hair!!) once you get it down, your good to go on a lot of other patterns that require that dreaded deer hair.

Lake Erie Steelhead trip: The trip home.

I woke up at around 5am and, knowing that I wasn't going to fall back asleep, I got up and wondered aimlessly down the stream a bit. My buddy was sound asleep, so I thought that I would suit up and sit at the spot where I landed my first fish and wait for enough light to see.

This time I fitted my reel with a sink tip, because yesterday I was having problems using the current to get to the bottom of the pool where the steelies were laying.