A few weeks ago an extended family member asked me why I waste my time reading fly fishing blog and even more time writing one.

The question was meant to be just what it sounds like (an overt expression of disdain among other things), though if I had to guess, I’d bet my answer wasn’t what they expected to hear.

While I can’t recall exactly what I said in response, my point was this – unencumbered by the constraints of keeping advertisers happy, being politically correct and the other burdens of selling paper fly fishing mags, there are a handful of fly fishing (and outdoor) bloggers out there who can really write, often with a candor that is startlingly refreshing.

I further explained to my taunting kinsman that while readers of fly fishing blogs do indeed have to ‘sift through the chaff’ a bit, there’s more cutting edge, heartfelt, media-rich fly fishing content on the web than ever before.

Finally, I added that, despite said family member being an occasional fisher (as long as a guide is handy to show him where to stand, cast and pee), he probably would never understand the passion that captures some folks in the fly fishing world.

I wish I’d had this post from Wayne over at Will Fish for Work to show him as an example. Wayne’s been doing a bit of digging into the Bitterroot – Mitchell Slough diversion issue that’s shown up on the fflogosphere’s radar lately, and knocked a couple of points out of the park in Another Look at Channeling on the Bitterroot.

False Casts and Flat Tires added more images yesterday on the story they broke a few days back on some man-made channeling work that was diverting water to the head gate of the infamous Mitchell slough. Predictably, a fairly big uproar has ensued and it has become an over night “who done it”, probably more so given it’s proximity to one of the most contentious stream access battlegrounds in recent memory. While reading blog posts, comments and emails (some solicited) from several people; conservation group leaders, guides, and every day fishing folk it got me thinking about our role as watch dogs of our streams and rivers and protecting our access rights.

There’s nothing natural about putting a bulldozer, a track hoe, or an army of pick and shovels in a stream bed, making alterations and diverting water from one place to another. I don’t care what the studies show, anyone says, who mitigates, oversees the permits or whatever; that’s going to have an impact. What is that impact worth, what is gained and what is lost? Who benefits, who does not? Whose water is it and who decides how it’s divided among potential users? My guess is that I am not the only one thinking along these lines and they appear to be the heart of this particular issue.

And this…

“We have met the enemy, and he is us”. Ok, so that’s quotes been beat to death but like it or not, I think it applies. Changing Montana water law and the attitudes behind them is unlikely and may not even be necessary because the open forum instituted in the 301 permit process gives everyone a voice in the matter- if they choose to use it. It’s not enough to have organized entities like Trout Unlimited represent us, we can’t hide behind them and let them do our dirty work. While they are a great organization they can easily be portrayed as having an “agenda”. One voice is an opinion, many voices; a consensus. When you have a big enough consensus, you get the decision you want. Don’t believe me? Look at the pictures at False Casts and Flat Tires or the old Supreme Court chambers in the Montana Capitol during the last battle over stream access.

Great stuff. Work loads and a possible near term move will keep Jake and I sidelined on this issue for a month or so – keep it coming Wayne and the FCFT boys.

Tags: River - Bitterroot

Jake’s tied up this morning, so I’m pinch-hitting for him and his Thirsty Thursday beer post.

After several weeks of 60s and 70s here in central Texas three days of temperatures in the 50s have the locals back in winter coats, scarves and gloves.

At a friend’s home a couple of days ago we were served hot coffee with a twist – something she called South of the Border Coffee.

Hot coffee, slightly sweetened, with a splash of Kahula and tequila and topped with whipped cream – warming, smooth and uniquely flavored.

Our hostess claimed it originated in south Texas along the border given the region’s penchant for tequila; having sampled it we now don’t give a hoot where it came from – this one’s a keeper.

Keep that coffee pot humming – bet you’ll want another one….

4 cups freshly brewed hot coffee
2 generous teaspoons sugar
6 ounces Kahula
6 ounces nice sipping Tequila
Whipped cream
Cinnamon, ground

Fill four pre-warmed coffee mugs with hot, freshly brewed coffee, leaving room for 3 ounces of liquid.

Divide the sugar, Kahula and Tequila equally between the four cups, top with a generous dollop of whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Enjoy.

Tags: Thirsty Thursday

Underwater Love from Flying A Films on Vimeo.

Tags: Steelhead

The Wild Salmon Center and Trout Unlimited yesterday published a bruising (112 pages with the annotated bibliography) as well as damning treatise on Bristol Bay’s Wild Salmon Ecosystems and the Pebble Mine.

A mighty effort, superbly done from where we sit, and while we’ve not yet ground through the report in it’s entirety, if so empowered we’d make this required reading for any and every fly fisherman on the planet.

Required reading? Yep, even though I know that term makes some folks skin crawl, there’s a simple yet compelling reason to say so.

Offered as just one man’s opinion, I think we’ve reached a point in human history where technology allows us to devise ‘projects’ that are of such a colossal scale they’re almost unimaginable to we mere mortals.

Here’s a couple of examples from the report with astronomical numbers…

The mine would produce up to 10.8 billion tons of waste rock. To put this number into perspective, if Pebble Limited Partnership used rail cars capable of carrying 100 tons each to transport the 10.8 billion tons of ore, the effort would require 108 million rail cars. Using standard 65-foot-long rail cars, the train would measure 1.33 million miles, long enough to  circle the Earth at its equator over 50 times.

Nine miles of dams reaching up to 740 feet high would be required to impound just 2.5 billion tons of the toxic waste produced (called tailings).  These impoundments, known as tailings storage facilities, would be some of the largest in the world and must impound the tailings forever to protect the highly productive Nushagak and Kvichak Rivers.

If you’ve read anything about Bristol Bay and Pebble over the past few years you’ve probably captured a glimpse of the richness the region’s rivers hold, particularly the Nushagak and the Kvichak.

Here’s another particular from the report that caught our eye and is again almost unimaginable…

The Bristol Bay basin is one of the top producing wild Pacific salmon systems in the world, yielding up to 40 million mature salmon each year.

Don’t know about you, but I can’t really visualize 40 million mature salmon in any given place at any given time. Hell, I’d be hard pressed to imagine 400 mature salmon in any one place at any one time.  I’m even less able to visualize a 1.33 million mile long train of ore snaking over the Alaskan tundra.

How big is ginormous? Mind-blowingly, national-debt-level big, absolutely unimaginably big.

Pebble has become the poster child for juxtaposing the grandiose plans of man against mother nature, clean watersheds and native fish.  The scale of the Pebble project is so large it defies comprehension; the risk the Pebble project poses is even greater. Just say no.

Tags: Water Worth Saving

Calling Hogs from Yukon Goes Fishing on Vimeo.

Tags: River - Bitterroot

Zach over at False Casts and Flat Tires has recently put up some additional pics of the gravel work done over on the Bitterroot at the Mitchell Slough headgates.

Sure will be nice to get the rest of the story….

Tags: River - Bitterroot

Misery Loves Company from Hooked Up Films on Vimeo.

Tags: Fish Stories

If you missed it read Part 1 of Charity and Ian’s interview here.

If you can tell us without breaking a sacred promise or revealing too many secrets, where do you head to fish on a day off?

Ian: It depends on the time of year. There’s so many different types of water nearby we rarely do the same “full day off” trip twice in a season. We usually fish the big streams or float the tailwaters in the spring so we’re on the best dry fly action. In the summer we either hike into remote brook trout streams or float for smallmouth bass. Come fall we’re usually looking for big brown trout in the creeks. In the winter we do a ton of afternoon outings on our local streams.

Charity: Since the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is in our backyard, we often spend an afternoon fishing along any number of streams in the park. We love to hike in on a pretty day. There are just so many options. Fishing streamers is my first choice if we’re floating, even if there is a hatch. I’m a little bit of a streamer fishing addict!

Frankly I’m amazed at the number and diversity of hatches you see in your neighborhood. Which is your favorite one to fish? (I know, this is really an unfair/stupid question to ask….)

Ian: Mmmm, mmm, mmmm…. Do we have to pick just one? I’ll have to say the Quill Gordon hatch in the Smokies takes the number one spot because it’s a big bug that drives the trout crazy. Every year we’ll catch a 16”-18” fish on a dry fly during this hatch which doesn’t sound like much to some people, but in the world of wild, freestone, Eastern trout that’s a big deal.

Yellow Sallies in the Smokies are fun too. It doesn’t happen long in the evening and most people have already gone home, but for about 30 minutes it’s crazy while the stoneflies are laying eggs.

There are also Sulphur and caddis hatches on the tailwaters that are nothing short of phenomenal. Sometimes there are days when the fish are rising everywhere, you’re into fish for hours, and then you look around and realize you haven’t moved 200 yards all afternoon and you have miles to reach the boat ramp. This is a different world from the mountains too, and you can count on big fish up rising to little bugs.

Charity: Ditto.

What are some of the best kept secrets about fly fishing in the Smokies?

Ian: There is so much water! There’s about 800 miles of trout streams just inside the park. Granted, you must have an appreciation for creeks, but it’s a seemingly endless amount of water, and plenty of them are reasonably large. Seriously, I can think of three streams only minutes from my house that I can barely remember the last time I fished them because we have so much water all around. Also, there’s a common misconception that all the water is extremely tight and nothing could be further from the truth. Most of the best streams have plenty of casting room.

Another thing I absolutely love is the fact I can fish big tailwater rivers and smallmouth without having to put in much travel time.

Charity: Fishing is good here just about year round. You can usually find a creek or tailwater with good fishing any day of the year. We have an open season all year and it’s pretty rare that it’s too cold to fish. I’ve learned over the years that a lot of people across the US are freezing in March while we are out in the river every day catching trout on dry fly. We have such a great climate here, it allows us so many options.

We couldn’t help but notice that you come out to our neighborhood every year; what do enjoy most about the Greater Yellowstone area?

Ian: For me it’s primarily a change of scenery. The Western landscape is so different because there is so much in the way of flat terrain and open views compared to where we are. Our rivers and streams are in deep, forested valleys so the feel is completely different. We have pretty country, but it’s completely different. The wildlife in Yellowstone is also easier to see than here in the Smokies. We have the highest density of black bears in the United States, but only get fleeting glimpses of most wildlife because of the dense cover.

Charity: For me the wildlife is the primary draw. I love floating or wading down the river and having to stop to watch a big moose cross the river! We just don’t have moose and bison here and they are huge, beautiful animals. Fishing in the western parts of the US also gives us an opportunity to spend time with other people in the fly fishing industry with a totally different outlook. It never fails that when we have conversations over drinks with Western guides there’s always a “grass is always greener” somewhere else thing going on. We love the fact that western trout are generally bigger and easier to catch – always a plus for a guide. A lot of the guides we meet out west can’t get over the fact we have a 9 month guide season and have the added diversity of smallmouth bass.

Some folks might call you crazy in today’s economic environment for working in the fly fishing arena. What advice would you give a talented young guide with big dreams these days?

Ian: In my experience the biggest challenges in guiding have nothing to do with fishing. It’s all about customer relations, promotion, and money management. My first piece of advice is not to let money burn a hole in your pocket. You’ve got to be able make a paycheck last, particularly when you move into the off season. You can catch more fish than anybody else in the world, be the best casting instructor, and most personable individual out there but you won’t last if your vehicle gets repossessed and your home is in foreclosure.

That’s not the advice any aspiring guide wants to hear, but that’s the fact. Any guide who has been in the business full time for more than two or three years without a trust fund has a lot more on the ball than just fishing smarts.

Charity: Yep, we’re crazy. No argument there. Just be happy doing what you do for a living and make sure that’s the priority.

If you could encourage fly fishers to do just one thing in terms of stewardship this next year, what would that be?

Ian: I would encourage everyone to spend a day working with fisheries biologists in some way. I try to spend a few days every year working with biologists in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It’s shocking to me how many anglers think they know everything about fish when all they do is go fishing. Seriously, most anglers can’t name more than one or two non-game fish species in their local waters, but their welfare and populations are directly linked to gamefish.

Spend a few days with someone who has a formal education in fisheries and spends their time on the river in a completely different capacity and I guarantee you’ll learn something new and have a renewed outlook on issues that effect fisheries. This makes you a better advocate for rivers and streams you love plus it makes you a better angler.

Charity: We love spending time with the fisheries biologists in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and have spent a lot of time working on the brook trout restoration projects. We love to do it because we love the area and it really gives us that “Proud Parent” feel when we can take anglers to fish a stream we helped restore. Trout Unlimited does a great job of putting together programs across the country. Find one in your part of the world and make it yours by getting involved.

I also would recommend any kind of project that helps get people outside. I spend lots of volunteer time with Casting For Recovery and I just love introducing women to the sport of fly fishing and just getting them out in the river in waders is always an exciting moment! There are so many great programs out there. If you have the ability to help someone get out in the river whether it’s a breast cancer survivor, a war veteran or a child, it’s a really fun way to share your passions and possibly change someone’s life.

Many thanks to Charity and Ian for taking the time to plow through these interview questions; I’m headed out that way next fall and need to drop in and fish with you guys. Yell next time you’re headed out our way.

Tags: People of Fly Fishing

2011, Under Water from Steve Hoovler on Vimeo.

Tags: Fish Stories

We’ve followed Charity and Ian’s website after a friend utilized their guide service a few years ago and shared what a great experience he’d had with them on trip back East.

They’ve been on our list to interview for a bit and when Charity starting chatting with us a few weeks ago about a design project we asked for help on, it seemed like the time to pester this busy husband and wife team for an interview.

Ian and Charity Rutter operate R&R Fly Fishing Guide Service in Townsend, Tennessee. They don’t have a fly shop, just a guide service, and that’s the way they like it since that allows them to spend their days outside on the river. They live just a few minutes outside of Great Smoky Mountains National Park and about an hour from the Clinch and Holston River tailwaters where they also guide.

They’ve written five books about fly fishing around their region: Great Smoky Mountains National Park Angler’s Companion, Tennessee Trout Waters – A Blue Ribbon Guide, Rise Rings & Rhododendron – Fly Fishing the Streams & Tailwaters of Southern Appalachia, Fly Fishing for Brook Trout in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and Fly Fishing with Streamers – Advice from the Guides.

Charity and Ian have shared a lot of good stuff with us; their interview will be posted in two parts.

You guys live and work in some of the most scenic territory in the country; what’s really special about Townsend that prompted you to call it home?

Ian: I grew up in East Tennessee and moved about 45 minutes from my previous residence to move to Townsend. I moved here specifically for the fishing since it’s at the entrance of Great Smoky Mountains National Park and 90 minutes or less from three trout tailwaters. Give me an extra hour and I can get to four more tailwaters and God only knows how many more streams.

The fish in the Smokies are not generally very big, averaging about 7”-9”, but there is a tremendous network of hundreds of miles backcountry streams, the weather is tolerable for fishing at least 9 months of the year, and the fish have a strong dry fly bias.

Charity: I grew up in a small town in midwestern Oklahoma so I’ve always had an affinity for small towns. Townsend is one of those places where everyone knows everyone else. Living in the mountains… What can I say? I live in the mountains. What’s better than that?

Having done so in the past, we know that it can get interesting having both husband and wife working hard in the family small business. How have you guys made it work?

Ian: It’s good to hear outside affirmation that it’s working! It takes more effort than just about anyone realizes, but at the same time I’m not sure I’d want this business situation without Charity. We’re very fortunate to have abilities which compliment the other. Charity is much better at dealing with people on the phone and coordinating the calendar. Charity’s artistic ability is phenomenal and I think it’s largely responsible for the success of our books.

Charity: We play off each other’s strengths. Working together we’re able to minimize each other’s weaknesses and maximize strengths. There’s also something to be said for working with someone you trust completely. You know your husband has your back and at the same time we can know if the other has an issue with something, that’s probably something we should back away from. Having said that all our married friends say their marriages wouldn’t last if they had to work with their spouse every day.

What do you enjoy the most about running R&R? The least?

Ian: I enjoy being my own boss, but it’s a double edged sword. I have to be careful about being sure to schedule time off. Most people think the self employed set their calendar up around days off, but I think we tend to worry about the balance in the checking account more. You don’t think about days off in January when you’re filling dates on the calendar, but wading on boulders or rowing a drift boat 25 days a month can beat the crap out of you. I always say the boss is a real hard ass when you’re self employed.

Charity: The part I like the least is easy – paperwork! The part I love the most is working for ourselves. I get to share my passion with other people and help them gain a respect for the rivers and fish we love. Most of the people we take fishing only get to do it a few days a year and it’s rewarding to help them learn to be better fly fishers. In most cases they’d do it more if they could, but most of the time they don’t live so close to a trout river or stream. It’s pretty cool to know you have a positive impact on people having fun. I refer to myself as “The Fun Police!” People don’t come to me with problems or to get something fixed that’s stressing them out – they come to us to have a fun and stress free experience!

How about your best crazy / strange guide day story from last year?

Ian: We were doing one of our four day backcountry fish camps in the Smokies and one of my anglers hooks a 9” rainbow on a dry fly. It started to run down a rapid and the angler was trying to pull it back it through the white water. I was yelling to him that he needed to go downstream because he wouldn’t be able to drag the fish back through the heavy water. As I was doing this I thought I saw a monster fish go downstream over the rapid. It was one of those moments where you think you imagined it because it just didn’t seem right. Before the angler could respond to my advice his fish actually swam back up through the rapid on its own. This is one of those spots with a standing wave about three feet high; really powerful water. I was thinking “Wow! That’s pretty unusual,” when the big fish I thought I had just seen came zipping up through the rapid in hot pursuit. I only saw if for a split second but just as I lost sight of it my angler has his rod just about jerked out of his hand.

I’m screaming for him to hang on, but don’t apply too much pressure because his rainbow just got eaten by a Jurassic Park class brown trout. It swam around for a minute, ran along the far bank that was full of roots, logs, and boulders. Everything just kind of stopped and I asked the guy if the fish was still there. He pulled really hard from about three directions and shook his head declaring it had him all wrapped up. From where we stood his leader wasn’t even visible.

We sat there laughing about the whole thing and I took off my vest and backpack with lunches before I waded across the stream to undo the mess. I think we even took a few minutes to review some pictures on the digital camera from earlier in the morning.

Anyway, it was at least a few minutes before I waded across the deep run of water. It was a touchy spot because it was a few feet deep and any slip would send me body surfing down the rapid downstream. I pulled on the line expecting to break the leader off somewhere. About the time the leader should have broken the line went zipping out of my hands and up the stream. I started hollering and the guy is trying to get up and go back into crisis mode. The line went slack and my guy reeled in the most beat up rainbow trout you’ve ever seen. From the three or four quick looks I got, that brown trout was 22-24”, a real shark for a mountain stream.

Charity: I had a guy last season who asked if he could swim in a big pool after we fished it. I said “It’s really cold water, but sure I guess if you want to swim you can.” He and his wife and I sat along the river banks and ate lunch. When he finished his lunch, he took off his fishing vest and started wading in. When he got about thigh deep, I really thought he was going to back out, but he kept going. He swam in the river fully clothed. It really isn’t crazy for someone to swim in the river, I had just never had an angler decided to go swimming while we were out fishing, so that was a first.

Most people ask us about black bear while we are out fishing in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Ian and I see them often, but it’s a special treat for visitors to see them out in their natural habitat. One day there was a group of 4 anglers with me and another one of our guides enjoying lunch along the banks of a great big pool with a real pretty view. One of the guys asked me “Do you ever see bears while you’re out fishing?” I looked up from my lunch and said “Yeah we see them pretty often.” Before I finished that sentence, I see motion in the trees out of the corner of my eye. I look over and say “There’s some right now.” The guy laughed at me and thought I was trying to be funny because I pointed behind him. I said “No really. Look!” He turned around in surprise as a Momma bear and two cubs strolled across the trail and down into the river to play on the rocks up stream from where we were sitting. That was pretty fun since the bears came out right on cue!

More from Charity and Ian tomorrow.

Tags: People of Fly Fishing

Redds of Spring from Native Fish Society on Vimeo.

Tags: Fish Stories

Montana has been on my mind lately.  Honestly, it has never really left my mind.  Talking to friends back home just makes it worse.  What I wouldn’t give for just a couple breaths of crisp, clean mountain air and being able to look up and see the mountains.

I’ll be back there sooner or later.  When I am, I’ve already got a few things planned out.  Here’s what I’m going to do:

Kiss the sweet ground.  As soon as I cross the state line, I’m pulling over.

Master spey casting.  My previous efforts have caused the originator of the spey rod to roll over in his grave, but there is always time to improve.

Hike back to [redacted] Lake.  I’ve been thinking about that place since last summer.

Catch a fish every month of the year.  Hell, maybe I’ll even shoot for every week of the year…

Explore new water.  With the influx of people moving and traveling to Montana, the famous waters get pretty crowded.  But there are countless miles of streams and lesser known waters that get little or no pressure.

Build my beer cap mosaic fly tying desk.  The idea is to create the image of a trout taking a fly against a background of a river bed strictly out of beer bottle caps.  That’s a lot of beer.

Eat the eggs benedict at Main Street Overeasy in downtown Bozeman.  The food is damn good and you can’t beat the service.

Float the kitchen sink in Bear Trap Canyon. Thank God catarafts are stable…

Have a sixer of Salmon Fly Honey Rye in the fridge at all times.  This is non-negotiable.

Get involved.  There will always be issues and threats to rivers, fish, and access. Now is a good time to start giving a damn.

Get the jeep fixed.  Faithful readers will remember us talking about “Billie Girl”, the Chi Wulff 1983 CJ7.  Currently she is sitting in a storage unit with the tongue of a raft trailer through her windshield.  (How that happened is not important)  Aside from  needing a new windshield, the lights don’t work, the gas tank leaks, the front end is shot, and the top is held together with Shoe Goo.

Montana will always be home for me. No matter where I am or how much it changes, it will always be home.

It really is the last best place.

Tags: Damn!

Tying Rob’s Little Pony from Rob Weiker on Vimeo.

Another pink monster for the Missouri.

Tags: Flies

I suppose one could say the same of small children, cats, mechanics and kleptomaniacs.

Like most fly fishermen, I’m devotedly attached to a handful of small, shiny otherwise obscure fly fishing gear.

Granted, after falling victim to the piles of stuff foisted on neophytes by silver-tongued fly shop masters, my assemblage of essential gear has dwindled considerably over the years. Some might suggest that winnowing to be the result of wisdom earned on the river.

On the other hand, and much more likely, striving for functional simplicity and being a cheap bastard often forges a powerful symbiosis.

Even after admitting that, after the recent and uncharitable theft of a set of clippers that had graced my vest and chestpack for a decade, the lure of a shiny new clipper bauble proved irresistible.

I like small, shiny, otherwise trivial gear.

Tags: Why I Fish

Les Voyageurs Sans Trace–Fun, Retro Trailer from Ian McCluskey on Vimeo.

From Ian McCluskey on Vimeo – “Here’s a fun trailer for our new upcoming full length documentary, ’Les Voyageurs Sans Trace,’ a quest to rediscover the 1938 French kayak expedition down the Green and Colorado Rivers.”

Tags: Inquiring Minds Want to Know