Tag Archives: drift boat

The Green River

Green River October 2011

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Sometimes you catch the fish, other times the fish catches you.  That was the mighty Green River this past weekend.  Like always, I have wanted to get back to the Green since the second we pulled the boat of the water.  Storms blow in fast in the fall and the weather is always unpredictable.  However, we’ve been having an Indian summer out in Utah lately and when Wednesday came around and the weather was looking prime for the weekend we decided to make it happen.

When Saturday morning came around, I heard a knock on my window just before 4.  Fuck, that’s when we were supposed to leave.  Seven minutes later I was dressed and in the drivers seat of the Toaster with the drift boat behind me.  We even managed to arrive at Trout Creek Flies ahead of schedule.  Good thing I forgot to procrastinate this time around and packed the boat the night before.

Sun up on the C

The B and C sections of the Green are my favorite for the lack of people and the size of the fish so naturally that is what we floated.  I was thinking that we would be fishing streamers since the browns are gearing up for the spawn, but the fish were still taking down terrestrials aggressively so that is what we stuck to.  Fat rainbows on the B, probably from eating all those hoppers throughout the summer.

There aren’t any pictures to go along with this story because my dog ate my camera a few months ago and you don’t stack paper when you only work two days a week and fish the other five.  Kyle had a camera when we launched the boat, but waded a little bit too deep without one of those waterproof ones.  Strike one.

Speaking of shit hitting the fan, my dog saw Ted’s dog swimming in the water and decided to take a dive in to say hello. In the process snapped the 7 weight Ted was kind enough to let me borrow since I’ve been getting real good at breaking rods this summer.  Strike two.

The second day was a slow start for me thanks to a little bit too much booze cruisin’ the day before.  I started out hucking some meat with the Sex Dungeon and a Sasquatch.  A couple of fish tried to roll it, but none were willing to take the bait.  I switched back to a cinnamon ant and a rainbow warrior dropper that seemed to be working rather well the day before and instantly felt the tug of a small brown.  Next cast, the rude boys started acting up.  Soon after Kyle and I were switching between oarsman and fisherman and I threw my bag of flies on the front seat and managed to snap my second fly rod of the trip that was not mine.  Strike three. Shit.  Good thing I have a boat, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have any more fishing buddies.

Luckily, these rods come with warranties and I was packing a spare for Kyle to use.  I kept on fishing with the seven weight with a broken tip, but it is what it is.  Like usual, Swallow Canyon boat ramp came up too soon.  After two days on the Green you just want more.  Hopefully, there will be at least one more trip out there this year.  Oh yea, the ride home went down smooth, without any fuck ups on my part.



New England

Upper Andro Part 1

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Less than four weeks ago I was absentmindedly-perusing Wikipedia articles about the 50 states and noticed an entry about Maine Guides. Fishing has been lacking in New Jersey and I have been itching to feel the tug. I telephoned Cross Current Guide Services and booked a float trip on the Upper Androscogin in the Bethel Maine area. Fellow shredders already know this locale as the home to Sunday River Ski Resort.

The first thing a weary traveler perceives about Maine as they cross the back roads out of New Hampshire is how awesomely desolate the state is. We arrived around 9PM and couldn’t see much of anything except for the moonlight-silhouetted mountaintops.
Fast forward a few hours, dad and I are meeting our guide Kate Farnham down a short dirt road to Newt’s Landing. Mary our shuttle driver gives us and the Boulder Boat Works drift boat a lift up to the put in.

I was stoked on fishing my new Kelly Galloup 7WT Bankrobber with Streamer Express Sinking line. This time of year in Maine the trout love streamers; there is very little surface hatch activity and nymphs can be wielded with only marginal success. Kate quickly tied on a Green Flash Back Wooly Bugger with a trailing brown stonefly on 3X tippet. The stonefly had these ungainly rubber arms that apparently get the Brown Trout all hot and bothered. Our strategy was as follows; Dad was set up with a floating line and a Muddler Minnow to aggressively pound the shallow bank waters while I used the full sinking line in the trough.

Right off the bat there was major fish activity, several trout rose to slurp midges off the surface film. We both had some intense fights but no fish in the boat. A few more casts and varying up the retrieves and I landed a healthy Brown, the Bankrobber was no longer a virgin. I followed this up with two more, one on the aforementioned rig and a third on the Muddler Minnow.

We continued to pound the water until fish activity ceased. A cold front was pushing through along with a light drizzle and the fish went down. We set off down the river testing various patterns in a near fruitless attempt to get the trout feeding again. Dad on the other hand was able to pull in a sizable Rainbow as we slowly meandered down the river (Story to be recounted in another entry).

Part 2: Lunch, Dad’s ‘Bow and some late day action


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