Category: Other Locations

Dan and Nancy got a day off and went up to the Yellowstone National Park to see how the Firehole River was fishing. All the snow was melted and the river was alive with PMDs and Caddis. Dan’s new pattern, the Delektable Royal Chubbyness, in size 16 was the ticket all day. They did not want anything else. The hike was beautiful and nature was alive all about. It has been a while since we have got to get away to the park together.

Nancy

Today we went down to the Henry’s Fork of the Snake River and floated from Warm River to Ashton as a part of a special day off. The big bugs were out!!! Salmon flies, golden stones, caddis and mayflies were all out. We went down to Idaho Falls to pick up Nancy’s Clackacraft that needed repair and a repaint. It was perfect timing to hit the big bugs on Henrys Fork! The patterns we used were the Delektable Sparkle Bug size 16 in tan and in gray, purple craze size 14, and the pattern that worked the best especially down towards the canyon was Dan’s Secret Salmon size 6. That’s it. –Big Dan

Okay, Dan did not share that Nancy won the bet for big fish catch of the day. It was really fun. You can tell by my big smile 🙂 -Nancy

This day was a rare event, Dan and Nancy took a day off to go fishing and believe it, we hired a guide to spoil us. It was a big treat for us and a real fun adventure. We have been wanting to fish below Lower Mesa Falls for years. Dan hadn’t done it for maybe twenty years. This is not an easy adventure and you need to be in pretty good shape to do the hike.

The day began with a drive into the park and a trail that is steep and deep. We needed walking poles to prevent from sliding down on our buts because it’s steep and gravelly. Phil, our guide, from Trouthunter, had to push the raft down the long steep trail to the launch. All this took at least an hour. Trust us, it’s not a short trail! We took a few photos on the way down so you can see the experience with us.

Once we got down to the boat launch area it was beautiful with lots of trees and under the rocks were loads of cases from the spent Salmon Flies. The river was clear. As we put our gear on, Golden Stones were crawling over us. That was a sure sign of one of the bugs we should try.

The canyon you float through is picturesque with lots of birds and wildlife. We had action and caught trout and some white fish on our flies most of the day. Our primary patterns were Dan’s Secret Salmon and Dan’s Secret Golden Stone. We also used a variety of Chubbys with Royal being a good one. The dries floated like a cork so you could put a long trailer on it and these included the Delektable Mega Prince #10, Lil’ Spankers in various colors, Princes, and Pheasant Tails. The hatches were going on all day. We saw Salmon Flies dwindling, Golden Stones heavy, Caddis of various sizes, March Browns, May Flies, and PMD’s. It was really awesome. We also tried streamers for a bit but rare action on the streamer.

The weather was a bit too nice. We thought it would be overcast and it became sunny a good part of the day. The fish were biting the dries and eating the trailers. We waited to take pictures of bigger fish and alas most of the day our catch was in the small to mid size Trout with a few in the high teens. It was fun and silly with the catching and a great day off.

Thanks Phil!

Nancy and Dan

As the Madison got high and dirty, the big bugs arrived on the Henry’s Fork. As of this writing, they are headed past the Box Canyon. We have also heard reports they are at Rock Creek now, in early June. The Henry’s Fork was still clear, low,  and full of hatches: Salmon Flies, Golden Stones, Caddis, PMD’s, March Browns, etc..

We sent our friends Jim and Keefer to Island Park. They had a nice day fishing with the big bugs with Ryan from Trouthunters.

Keefer caught a noteworthy Hog! Way to go Keefer!

“Please find a couple pictures of my Henry’s Fork brown trout attached. This fish was landed on a size 6 Tennessee volunteer orange chubby.”

“I casted the fly a foot off the bank and dead drifted through an undercut bank near the Aura put in.”

Keefer and Nancy

Andros Island in the Bahamas is a beautiful place we enjoy every winter and have for eight years now. Andros has the third largest barrier reef in the world, great for scuba diving and for big deep sea fishing, and is the bonefish capital of the world. It is a tropical island with uncrowded white sandy beaches, lobster, conch and fish are bountiful, wonderful people, and temperatures from 70° to 80+° all winter. There are pretty flowers, blue holes to discover, and local art to be found in the neighborhood. 

Androsia batik fabric is also hand made on the island.

This is paradise in the dead of winter where Nancy and Dan can support Hermon’s Andros Bonefishing Club in Bowen Sound.

Our flyfishing friends, Chip and MaryRose escaped winter between Christmas and New Years and pounded the bonefish enjoying 80° temperatures. This was MaryRose’s first bonefish. She caught many more during her stay and grew more confident with Hermon’s guidance. As you can see Chip is a great photographer and fisher and had his share of fun.

Tim Miller came down again to stalk tailing bonefish in calf deep water everyday.

He also provided some awesome music for us at the lodge.

Our favorite flyfishing on Andros is the wading and stalking of feeding bonefish: casting to targets. The wading flats are endless. You feel like you have your very own tropical island. While the fishing out of the flats boat is fantastic, if you like wade fishing on flats, Andros is really your place. Nancy did really well at the catching this trip. She found some of the bigger bones compared to most.

She was very happy and found reason to celebrate with her favorite island beer, Kalik Gold.

Out of all the guides that we have guided and fished with, Hermon Bain is our favorite:

always a chearleader; a true coach; and a tireless worker that will find fish all day in every situation and weather condition. Hermon and his dad, Conchy, are icons in the guiding community and Conchy fishes with us even in his 70’s. It is obvious Hermon and Conchy love to be there and to help you have fun and catch fish. When they are not guiding, they are out in the sound fishing, sponging, slinging lobster, and fetching conch.

We love December, January, and February and the first two weeks of March. This time of
year offers great weather: from 70° to 80° daily; virtually no people where you feel like you are the only ones; air conditioned comfortable and very clean accommodations; and incredible home made from scratch dinners by Hermon’s wife Antoinette at the lodge. Dinners include: fresh lobster, conch, and fish.

So, if you need to escape winter and would like a very special saltwater treat, give us a call and let us help you discover paradise. You can see how relaxed we become from the island life.

When we returned home, elk were in our yard to greet us. Happy New Year!

Dan and Nancy

PS Thanks to Craig, Dave, and Jenn and our awesome crew and neighbors for watching the shop while we escaped.

It was stormy on Monday evening when my husband Tryston and I went out to fish the  creek on some private land by our home. We managed to catch a gap between rather large thunder storms and caught the water perfectly!

In the short hour and a half that we fished, the fish were eager and eating both on the surface and below the surface.  I had a Royal Stimulator as my top fly and a Delektable Mr Rubberlegs Prince as my dropper.  The fish ate them both up like crazy!

Tryston had a hopper pattern as a top fly (for indicator purposes) and a Delektable CDC Baby as a dropper behind that.  He had a little trouble getting them to bite at first while he was in shallow waters but as soon as he hit the deeper holes, the bite was on!  He used his brand new BT Grizzly 4/5 Wt fly rod with a burled wood handle that Dan Delekta made and new Galvan reel on this trip, and boy did he have fun breaking them in!  We didn’t even need to change flies once the entire time we were there.

Talk about fun!

Jenn