“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” - Benjamin Franklin We can tell you which river to fish, what fly to use, and the best time to go. But if you really want to learn, you need to pick up a rod and do it. If you are looking to get involved,…
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“It is not that I'm so smart. But I stay with the questions much longer.” - Albert Einstein The number of fish caught is not the measure. What makes a good angler? The ability to ask the right questions and stay with them. If you are looking to learn the right questions to ask, join a Fly Fishing 101 session…
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“You can't be unhappy in the middle of a big, beautiful river” - Jim Harrison This opening weekend, it is time to reset your priorities. Put all your fringe pursuits aside and seek happiness, and a few trout, in a big, beautiful river. Big Wood The snow and rain the mountains received this week will help slow the runoff on…
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“...it is not fly fishing if you are not looking for answers to questions.” - Norman Maclean The question all anglers should be asking right now: Will there be enough water? March and April have been extremely dry months and it appears that the drier than average pattern will persist through May. The high altitude snow continues to come down…
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“Water, is taught by thirst.” - Emily Dickinson A year ago, the annual snowpack in the Wood River and surrounding basins were right around 70% of average. This year the Wood River Basin sits at 65%, the Lost at 52%, and the Little Wood at 47%. While much of the southern part of the state is abnormally dry, the heart…
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“Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.” - Bruce Lee Like the water resting on…
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“It is spring again. The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart.” - Rainer Maria Rilke The ode of the river beckons the angler to apprehend the flowing stanzas of riffles, pools, and runs. And the trout dance to the measured rhythm of the midge. An angler with an open heart and eyes will find poetry everywhere.…
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“It is utterly soothing to fly fish for trout. All other considerations or worries drift away and you couldn't keep them close if you wanted. Perhaps it's standing thigh deep in a river with the water passing at the exact but varying speed of life. You easily recognize this mortality and it dissipates into the landscape.” - Jim Harrison In…
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“We hear nothing so clearly as what comes out of silence.” - David James Duncan Fresh snow absorbs noise, rendering a canvas of silence along the river. Add to the composition the crunch of vibram soles, the brush of frosty Gore-tex, the crackle of frozen water, and the swish of rhythmic graphite. In the moment before the take... a symphony…
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“The line between catching fish and not catching them is often very thin.” - Ted Trueblood Anglers with a balance of preparation, patience, humility, confidence, and faith approach the thin line between catching and not catching with more frequency. The end result is more fish caught. The Big Wood In the last week of January, the snow water equivalent for…
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