Sweetgrass Rod Blog posted in On the Road Blog

No one said it would be easy

Zac Sexton — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:05:02 +0100

Rolling clouds crested nearby mountains, blocking the sun, and leaving my approach to the river in shade. I pulled a wool hat down tighter, and watched the clouds. Like any trip to the river, I enjoyed every moment I stood near rushing water. My nose was a bit cold, however.

I had driven past this river stretch many times, yet it had been about a decade since I stopped to fish. Last time, I caught many trout, only a few Whitefish, and was able to relax in a riverside hot spring. This ...

Catching up on a lot of fishing

Zac Sexton — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 03:56:13 +0100

My hands have been so slimy from catching fish, I need another pair of pants to wipe them on. Okay, maybe I have not been that busy catching fish, but I have still been pretty busy fishing. I also have upgraded my computer to a different operating system, and am in transition on software updates. And, because of frozen hands, and hooks snagged in my arm while trying to release a Rainbow trout -- I dropped my underwater camera deep in a river, where it is gone forever. Collecting fodder for blogg...

Winter winds whip the river, but the fish are rising!

Zac Sexton — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 10:25:02 +0100

It warmed up just enough to keep blocks of ice clunking down the river. Sarah, Ariell and I drove upriver, gazing at mountains and the icy stream, seemingly impossible to fish. After thirty or so miles of ice-blocks, we figured we might as well hit the hot springs. But after fourty miles, the canyon closed in keeping the valley colder -- and consequently fishable. After passing miles of shadowy banks, we found a stretch that looked promising.

Ice-fly-fishin'

Zac Sexton — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 10:08:27 +0100

My foot slid too furiously forward to keep perfect balance while crossing the ice-embanked river. I stumbled to, I stumbled fro, then spun a 90 degree turn rightly. I caught myself. Which was good, as I would have likely been dead had I fallen in. Dead, because Glenn and the Booboys would have killed me for breaking my rod.

Twenty-two degrees is my minimum temperature to fly-fish in. I set that rule about five years ago, after having a great time freezing on a river and catching nothi...

My magic canyon

Zac Sexton — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 02:40:12 +0100

Thanksgiving is usually a week-long adventure for me -- only a couple exceptions in the last 15 years. This year was no exception. I fished two rivers; didn't catch anything in the big one, though Sarah, my girlfriend, had a fish bust off her 1x tippet... It was the tributary, hundreds of miles from the big river, where we managed to land fish with Sweetgrass rods and bare hands.

sometimes on some rivers

Zac Sexton — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 06:11:18 +0100

Sometimes in the cooling Fall days, bugs may appear in the surface of some rivers. And in special rivers (and some lakes), an angler can find beautiful trout rising to these emerging creatures. Then, every once in a while, a lucky angler can cast to these rising trout with a Sweetgrass fly rod. These few hours surrounded by water and rising insects will forever be remembered. If not recalled in an angler's mind, then in the steely memory of the rod cast that day. The rod most certainly remembers...

Sweetgrass and Snake River Cutties

Zac Sexton — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 22:37:26 +0100

I have been driving, fishing, hiking and wandering for the last three weeks. In five more days I'll be done for a brief stint, then on to wander more. While I have been taking a few photographs, I have yet to download them, and thus a bit behind on blogging. Most of the fishing action was recorded for Fish Whispering, my cable television show for Comcast Sportsnet Northwest. But, after my last trip fishing, I hope you find the wait worthwhile. Below, is a video I took of my most recent catch. It...

Brookies and Browns turning colors

Zac Sexton — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 23:27:55 +0100

I've been wandering around tributary streams, juicing every last bit of dry fly fishing I can. The colors I find myself surrounded in are soothing to my angling soul. The fishing's been pretty decent as well. Below is what I found on a momentary journey with a 7 1/2 foot, 3/4 weight, three pc., Sweetgrass rod:

Reminiscing the Summer

Zac Sexton — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 21:30:00 +0100

It's Fall. Seems like Summer was just a waking dream that slipped through my fish-slime-covered fingers. Now, seeing leaves turn yellow, I think back to when leaves were just getting Kelly green, during guided trips with friends from all over. One particular trip I think back to, was with Hanna Garner and Klayton Mai (German last name...). They have been coming to the Ranch for the past couple years, and I have been lucky enough to guide them, hang out and become great friends. We are friends ma...

The World's most extreme fly-fishing event!

Zac Sexton — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 09:17:25 +0100

Once a year I fish upstream for 26.5 miles, wading continuously. It seems crazy every time I do it, more so, every year I get a little older. This year, fishing for the fourth time on the Greys River in western Wyoming, was no different. It was crazy! But, I got to share the experience with my younger brother Robert Walters, his buddy Alex Muedder, and my good bud from childhood, Joe Larson. Tricia Curley, my mother and Tom Sexton, my father also showed up to keep us heading steadily upstream, a...

My rod!

Zac Sexton — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 08:50:00 +0100

Not long ago, Glenn Brackett and Jerry Kustich made it to the Ranch for a little shin-dig. It was during this event, Jerry handed me my first, custom-made, Sweetgrass bamboo fly rod!!! I know, you're thinking, "but you fish Sweetgrass all the time!" Most the Sweetgrass I fish are prototype or "shop" rods, lacking the finish work on a custom Sweetgrass. In fact, I cast the first Sweetgrass prototypes, many years ago, and instantly fell in love. And after many years of friendship, peanut-eating an...

First fish on Sweetgrass...

Zac Sexton — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 07:39:23 +0100

Every once in a while, I meet a person that I know will appreciate fine art. When that happens, I take them fishing, and hand them a Sweetgrass bamboo rod. Not long ago, I was pond-side with Vic, a guest at ol' Rock Crick Cattle Company. He had never fished bamboo, so we hit the trail looking for fishy water to try a Sweetgrass creation on. We found cruising Browns on nearby pond and were soon stalking and casting aquatic beetles to somewhat finicky trouts.

Where to fish, where to fish? There is a place....

Zac Sexton — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 09:22:41 +0100

Pretty much every stream I can think of is muck. This is a little tale of the exception to that rule.

I don't have to travel far to find this place, and it's a perfect match for the Magic Stick (walking stick/fly rod combo) that Glenn made for me. With the tailwaters even running a bit high and off color, I took the Magic Stick out for a little stream adventure.

No place like home

Zac Sexton — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 00:32:32 +0100

The gloomy, Eeyore weather has turned most our water to muck. The lakes are either frozen or still a little hung-over from Winter's frost. Seeking solace, I managed to get away for a couple days and see my hometown, which literally has a creek running through it. This stream is the source of most my childhood adventures, and continues to influence my life deeply. It has been a couple years since I last fished it. I had to get back.

Sarah was able to get the same days off work and we ...

Back in Montana

Zac Sexton — Mon, 23 May 2011 22:48:35 +0100

Montana has a way of keeping me on water, and away from writing my blog. Sorry about that Dave. Not really. I am not sure I have officially mentioned it, but I've been in the Northwest working on a fly-fishing television show for Comcast Sportsnet Northwes...

Exploring new water with the Magic Stick

Zac Sexton — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 00:12:07 +0100

I had a day to mess around while I waited for a buddy to call back about fishing the next day. Ariell and I spent the day fishing a new-to-us stream -- out of cell reception.

I had been fishing five days for Bull trout throwing huge streamers and weighted lines with Jerry's 10 weight pent. I was also rowing my wooden drift boat often in white-capping waves, and was a little worn out. I needed a day's rest to fish a small stream, and found one on my forest map that looked promising. A...

The Magic Stick's first field test

Zac Sexton — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 00:48:56 +0100

Glenn finally let me have the walking stick/bamboo fly rod combo he has been showing around the country. He imagined the idea, after thinking about how I often fish remote streams and lakes, which I must hike many wilderness miles to reach. It occurred to him that I could use a good walking stick. In that stick, he figured a bamboo fly rod might as well be present, so I could fish easily once reaching my destination. He did some mental creative design -- likely after a few beers, and pulled some...

Bamboo rod critique from Glenn

Zac Sexton — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 04:14:13 +0100

Bamboo rod-making masters are rare jewels -- even with the increasing popularity of making bamboo rods. Not many makers have the time-tested knowledge and craftsmanship that the Boo Boys posses. One of my greatest joys is to spend time with the Boys, and pester them with questions. Another great joy is drinking micro-brewed beer in cans...

Not long ago, I got the chance to have Glenn cast a few rods I have been working on. One, is a salt-water capable, streamer-tossing rod that ...

They were in the surface!

Zac Sexton — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 11:10:59 +0100

Some streams flow through magnetic valleys that seem to keep you stuck on their banks. You just can't leave, as if your wading boots were made of iron. Not long ago, I found just such a river, with Ariell and Sarah. Wish I was still there. Good thing I'm going back tomorrow!

After hours of map-explorations, fishing guide page-turning and regulation-reading, I loaded the rig with my favorite Sweetgrass rods to head for some of the only open inland trout water in the Northwest. If what ...

craftsmanship on a big ol' river

Zac Sexton — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 04:37:06 +0100

I'm not sure how often it happens, but it seems to more and more, when I'm on the water. It is getting to where a lot of the gear I fish with, has been hand-crafted. Sometimes, it's something I messed with, most times it's something a friend has made. Sometimes it is a cooperative effort. A recent trip floating my newly restored wooden drift boat brought out a lot of homespun creations that were able to withstand rugged conditions.

Somehow, I was able to talk Sarah, my girlfriend, in ...