Winter Fishing in Black and White

I fished a week ago Friday, which was essentially the first day of a massive blizzard that was followed by a blast of subzero temperatures. So I think its safe to say that we have now--for all intents and purposes, no matter what the pesky calendar says--entered the winter fly fishing season.

To kick it off, I put together a slideshow of photos from last week, along with some images from a trip last February. I decided to go black and white because the white snow and dark water always create that stark contrast that looks so good sans color. I hope you enjoy.

It is Thanksgiving, So Why Not Try the Three-Fish Combo?

Per the Headhunter Blog, why not ditch the traditional turkey (or somewhat less traditional turducken) for a walleye stuffed with a trout stuffed with a perch? Oh, and baste it in whitefish fat.

Sounds like the preferred thanksgiving meal of an eight-pound brown trout, or a northern pike.

Happy Thanksgiving, from The Eddy.

Idaho Adopts Year Round Fishing Season

One of my first posts upon returning to the world of blogging, dealt with Idaho Department of Fish and Game's (IDFG) proposed rules changes, and specifically the change to a year-round general season. Several months have passed and the department has adopted that particular change and several others.

I am glad to see Idaho go with the year-round season as I enjoy early spring fishing and even the occasional winter excursion. Once the new booklet comes out, I may start planning some spring trips to new locations.

However, there is one change that I am a little worried about: the extended ice-fishing season on Henry's Lake. IDFG Biologists have said in the past that the current ice fishing season does not have a great effect on the lake's trout population. But many fly anglers who frequent the lake are against any kind of ice fishing season, especially an extended one. Fish and Game seemed to take this into account, but still decided to go forward with the extended season.

Hitting the Links: Return of the Wulff

Most of Eddy Country is currently shut down and snowed in. Something like 800 schools are closed. So enjoy the links and don't end up in a snow bank.

• Chi Wulff is back and broadcasting. Which reminds me of one my favorite quotes from Pulp Fiction, courtesy of Winston "The Wolf" Wolfe: "If I'm curt with you it's because time is a factor. I think fast, I talk fast and I need you guys to act fast if you wanna get out of this. So, pretty please...with sugar on top. Clean the [redacted] car."
• Ted Williams blogs about the potential Bristol Bay disaster and an upcoming National Geographic coverage of the subject. Check out the NatGeo story and slideshow.

Henry's Fork Motors Update: HFF Weighs in on Proposed Ordinance

The Henry's Fork Foundation (HFF) has commented on the proposed Fremont County Waterways ordinance that would govern the use of motors on the Henry's Fork. The foundation makes a point of applauding the county commissioners for meeting many of the public demands concerning the issue. Which is a good point to make, I think. With all the blood that has been brought to a boil over this issue, its important to note that the proposed ordinance could be much worse and the commissioners have implemented many of the comments they have received.

With that being said, HFF has some concerns about the proposed ordinance (more or less the same concerns most fly fisherman have). From the email that went out to the HFF mailing list:

"The Foundation remains concerned about allowing motors on the Henry’s Fork from Vernon Bridge downstream to the upper end of the Fun Farm backwater (including the Chester Dam backwater). The potential for user conflict in this section is very high. Most of the land alongside the river in this section is private, and many of those landowners have expressed their opposition to motors. Motors are not needed to access this stretch of river. In seven miles of river, there are four public boat ramps, good walk-in access on the Idaho Department of Fish and Game land below Chester Dam, and walk-in access thanks to landowners who provide that access to fishermen."

The issue is far from over as another meeting is approaching. A public hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, November 30 at 6:00 pm in the Fremont County Annex Building in St. Anthony. If you wish to submit a written comment, comments are due by 5:00 pm on Monday, November 22. Comments may be faxed to the Fremont County Clerk’s office, 624-7335, or e-mailed to Fremont County Clerk Abbie Mace at amace@co.fremont.id.us

The Best (and only) Neil Young Impression I Have Ever Seen

As a huge Neil fan, I gotta say that Jimmy nailed the voice. Just nailed it. And yes, I know its completely unrelated to fishing...unless the 'whip' in Whip My Hair, is referring to a whip finish. Its possible.

Streamside Reading: The Habit of Rivers

Note: Now that I am finished with school, I am purging my mind of all academic texts by re-reading some of my favorite fly fishing books. Consider this the first in a series of reviews as I remember why I loved these books in the first place.

Several years ago my sister gave me a gift certificate to Angler’s Inn (in Salt Lake City) as a Christmas present. Some people are down on gift certificates as gifts, using strange logic such as “gift certificates are too impersonal,” or “why don’t you just give them cash?” As someone who spends most of their time lusting after gadgets, books, and fly rods that I cannot afford, I say to those anti-gift-certificites: why must you attempt to ruin everything good in the world?

I used my gift card (thanks, sis) to purchase Ted Leeson’s The Habit of Rivers. And as I re-read it recently I found myself reading with a pen and marking up my edition with notes and underlines. Leeson was an English professor (and still may be) and his mastery of his native tongue shines through. Some of my favorite passages:

On steelhead fishing:

“There are advantages to being self taught; the quality of instruction is not one of them.”

On winter fly fishing (this is timely):

“Everything—the weather, the water, the fish, the absurdly tiny dry flies in a brittle plastic box, your own better judgment, all argue against your being there. But somehow there you are, urging private folly against prevailing wisdom, leaving others to wonder whether you know a little more or a little less than they do. Which is precisely the case.”

On hatchery trout:

“In local angling circles, these trout arise a species of contempt otherwise reserved exclusively for the Los Angeles Lakers.”

And finally, just a beautiful string of words:

“The angler’s part in fly fishing begins and ends with the fly, and everything in between—the tackle, the planning, the preparations, the trip, the reading and wading of water, the casting—are all ancillary, mere vehicles for delivering the fly from vise to trout, for transferring it from one set of jaws to another.”

Leeson is a wordsmith and a philosopher. And while his roundabout style may not be direct enough for some, its just right for this old English major. I am now saving change so I can purchase Inventing Montana: Dispatches from the Madison Valley, which just might help me survive the long winter.

Hitting the Links: Wyoming Dam Watch Edition

While the Henry's Fork motors situation rages on, here are a few (mostly depressing) links to sink your clicks into...

• Rocky Barber (one of the best outdoor, newspaper-sponsored bloggers around) weighs in with a couple of pieces: one on Bull Trout, and one on the old days of the Snake River.
• Some irrigators in Wyoming want to dam up the Green River (one more time). It looks a nonstarter, but its worth keeping an eye on.
• Speaking of the Green, don't forget about this debacle, which won't seem to die.
• The Trout Underground weighs in on the Henry's Fork motors (I just realized that sounds like a car dealership) situation. Lets see how the Fremont County Commissioners like receiving emails from 700 million Undergrounders in the world (just a rough estimate).
• And just in case you were wondering, it snowed here this week, pretty good covering of wet white stuff, really. So summer is over and winter has begun. Seems about right.

Henry's Fork Motors: Is the Saga Drawing to a Close (and has individual delusion reached a new level)?

It looks as the though the Fremont County Commisioners have come up with a plan, and while it is better than nothing, its still not a perfect scenario.

The proposed ordinance would allow motors up to 10 horespower on several sections of the river, including the very popular stretch of the lower river below Vernon Bridge and the stretch upstream from Mack's Inn. While this proposed ordinance would protect The Ranch and Box Canyon, anglers will have to hope the effect on these other important sections of river will be minimal.

Perhaps even more disconcerting is this line from the story:

Commissioner Skip Hurt said he doubted a Henry’s Fork Foundation study of the economic benefits the sport of fly-fishing brings to the county.

I remember the quote that spawned this line. Hurt questioned the validity of the study after Trafton and the other HFF folks had left the meeting.

This is the kind of attitude I have often encountered in Eastern Idaho (unfortunately). Many folks fail to recognize they live near one of the most iconic, beloved, and famous trout streams in North America. For many visiting anglers, the Henry's Fork is Mecca, the spiritual center of fly fishing in the West. For many locals, they'd rather be fishing the South Fork.

I remember reading stories about the Henry's Fork as a kid in Jack Dennis Fly Tying Manuals. I spent my youth dreaming of fishing the famous flat water and ridiculous hatches that are the river's trademark. Living near the river was a major reason I moved here. And yet Skip Hurt thinks the HFF is making up numbers, even though you can hardly read a book about fly fishing and not be hammered with allusions to The Fork. The people are coming Skip, they have been coming for decades. And they bring their wallets and charge cards with them.

In Praise of Stillwaters

There is something about lake fishing with a sinking line that I find completely unique and exhilarating. Don’t get me wrong, I prefer dry flies but I am no snob. I’ll take what the defense gives me. Still, there is just something about bobbing on the surface of a lake—be it in a float tube or a boat or whatever—with the fly and line plunged to the heart of the deep below. You feel a connection to absolutely nothing while the fly is underwater. You cannot see it. You can only feel the resistance of the water as you strip. And a slow strip, well it almost feels weightless. So there you are, one man with one (or two) flies in this massive expanse of water—the featureless disc as Gierach called it.

Sometimes, in that situation I can’t help but feel a little bit like I am fishing in a proverbial haystack with a proverbial needle. There is so much water, and my little fly is somewhere down there like whisper in a windstorm. I think it’s the lack of sensory attachment that does it. All other forms of fly fishing have some visual component to focus on: the fly, the indicator (be it some bit of yarn or the tip of the fly line), even with a streamer in a river you’ve got the water (and the features of the surface) to look at (not too mention the fly line and the likely spots where trout might be waiting. But on a lake, with a sunken fly, you could almost fish with your eyes closed once you have determined that you are in a fishy spot. Its just you and that never-ending surface and what lies beneath. And when the take finally comes, you go from nothing to, well, everything.

Living on Borrowed Time

Since this year's October stole August's weather, November seems to think it is September (at least so far). Who knows what this precludes as far as snowpack goes, but for now fishing in the mid 50s after Halloween feels like stealing.

Like any good thief, I'm off to fish tomorrow. Perhaps I'll return with new perspectives on the secrets of the deep. But I'll be satisfied with a couple of decent fish and another photo like those from last week.

Coming up I have a couple of Streamside Reading posts where I revisit past classics, more emptying out the backlog, and a rather oddball addition to the eddy music playlist idea.

If you're lucky enough to get out this weekend, I hope your knots hold and lines are tight.

Sunrise, Sunset

Spent the weekend in Island Park (and yes, I did a little fishing). But the best catch of the weekend for me may have been some photos. I took the first two (sunrise) shots prior to fishing and the sunset shot (last one) at the end of the day. Pretty nice way to bookend a day on the water.