Stocking Stuffers

Christmas in my family is pretty low key, and the last couple years the only steadfast tradition has been fishing the Pan on December 24th. This year it was the 23rd and the 24th. We were blessed with chilly temps and few anglers, which resulted in a number of fish my brother referred to as "stocking stuffers"

My brother's first fish on his new stick, five minutes into using it (9'6'' 6 wt. fighting butt sage the 'one')

and another buck for the 'one'

I know...more grip and grins

From last week, your typical trout habitat

We made a pit spot on Christmas in Silverhorne, and decided to walk the river near the outlets looking for fish. We hooked a few, but the last one we hooked caused some major problems since neither of us had waders on, and the fish wanted oh so badly to make it downstream, we had to use some old tricks to coax him back upstream. Again, I can't say enough about the Sage 6 weight of my brother's. The stick is a wand: supple tip and major backbone, and so much lighter than my 8'6'' 5 weight.

Shot Glass Preview

Shea Gunkel's new series of flies is (in my opinion) a spin off of his 'Splatte' series of flies. I was given a handful to fish, but they are so ascetically pleasing that I figured I'd show them off even before I fished them, and then in the next few weeks fish them hard.

One of the interesting traits about these flies is that they are all tied on a 2499 style hook: creating a larger hook gap, something Shea has been experimenting with lately. The bead in the middle of the thorax makes this fly anatomically similar to the profile of most mayfly nymphs. As well switching between tungsten, brass, and plastic beads gives the fly its versatility.

Thanks Shea for the Samples! Here is a link to Shea's Blog where you can learn far more about his flies.

Platte River Special

Lack of fishing was replaced by learning to paint. First try at painting...very difficult form of art.

The next post will focus on a couple visuals of Shea Gunkel's new "Shot Glass" series of flies...his talent is pretty obvious