tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74561516142927583442024-02-18T18:52:41.244-08:00Tenkara TracksTenkara. Adventure.Paul Vertreeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09396294738558824287noreply@blogger.comBlogger71125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456151614292758344.post-18329469191203003112020-04-13T06:26:00.000-07:002020-07-22T18:29:58.218-07:00Spring 2020 Issue of Tenkara Angler Magazine Is Live!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO6Ozj9AbSRGoA_3SAnWC3m3RbpmzMsSWP7QucqiGNDH8fV8pKS8wzROHpAV7pz5Byzt90bZiJms0tuUBsjFEobGjLaSqitlXDkc7Kc0j1ptBw6R8R9BaJn6hepwfAaa2kPFqxTDdunfs/s1600/TA.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="409" data-original-width="629" height="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO6Ozj9AbSRGoA_3SAnWC3m3RbpmzMsSWP7QucqiGNDH8fV8pKS8wzROHpAV7pz5Byzt90bZiJms0tuUBsjFEobGjLaSqitlXDkc7Kc0j1ptBw6R8R9BaJn6hepwfAaa2kPFqxTDdunfs/s640/TA.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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The Spring 2020 issue of <a href="https://tenkaraangler.com/" target="_blank">Tenkara Angler Magazine</a> went live this morning! Many, many thanks goes out to our editor Mike Agneta, for his years of hard work on this publication! Mike's contribution to the tenkara community has been immense. I'd also like to send a big shout out to my fellow contributors, Rory Glennie, Bob Long, Jr., Jason Klass, Matt Sment, Steven Maichak, Chris Stewart, Alan Luecke, Jerry Tanner, and David West Beale.<br />
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Be sure to <a href="https://tenkaraangler.com/2020/05/03/social-distancing/" target="_blank">check out my article entitled "Social Distancing"</a>, a chronicle of a long walk in a tiny canyon. Happy reading!<br />
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<br />Paul Vertreeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09396294738558824287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456151614292758344.post-58965090236705003752020-04-09T18:45:00.001-07:002020-04-09T18:45:43.737-07:00Gear I Use: Frogg Toggs Canyon Hip Waders<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The end of a great day of fishing in the canyons, wearing my Frogg Toggs Canyon hip waders!</td></tr>
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I fish small water a LOT! <a href="https://www.royalgorgeanglers.com/guided-fly-fishing/backcountry-trips/" target="_blank">I guide small water a LOT</a>! A good pair of lightweight "non-chest waders" are a must, and the <a href="https://www.froggtoggs.com/canyon-ii-stockingfoot-breathable-hip-wader" target="_blank">Frogg Toggs Canyon hip waders</a> are as close to perfect as you can get.<br />
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Here's just a bit of information to qualify my opinion on these waders. I've been fly fishing backcountry streams for about 40 years now, and I've had a lot of time to test just about every wader available. When it comes to lightweight hip waders, the field really narrows. I discounted pant waders right off the bat a number of years ago, simply because they made moisture management very difficult, and I found I seldom needed the extra protection from my crotch up to my waist. So, lightweight hip waders were what I really needed to use.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Canyon hippers drying in the sun after a long day of guiding.</td></tr>
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Frogg Toggs has been been making the Canyon stockingfoot hip waders for a number of years, and as soon as they started producing them I got a pair and began testing them. I also bounced them off their closest competitor, Chota, which is a great hipper too. For a number of reasons, which I'll explain below, I've chosen the Frogg Toggs, and I'm now on my fourth pair of them.<br />
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First and foremost, I really like the durability versus cost of the Frogg Toggs. Full retail on the original Canyons (which have been replaced by the Canyon II) was right at the very affordable price of $65.00, and that price held for nearly the entire time Frogg Toggs made the original Canyons. I've found that I can spend more than 300 days on the water in a pair of them until the feet start leaking, or the gravel guard simply disintegrates. That's 300 days of hiking more than wading, backpacking with them on, and hard use. They've simply taken all of the abuse I've thrown their way and kept on going. I've broken tree branches over a bent knee while processing firewood. I've knelt on sand, gravel, and dirt. I've wiped greasy, dirty hands on them. I've hiked hundreds of miles in them. In short, I hammered them and they stood up to hard use, especially the feet, which is the Achilles heel of all waders.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Comfortable fit and open-tops make moisture management easy.</td></tr>
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Second, I like the light weight of the Canyon hippers. My pair in size small weighs just 16 ounces, and bundles up about the size of a large loaf of bread. When I'm hiking in hip waders for miles every day, every ounce counts, and these waders waders don't slow me down. About a week or so ago I backpacked the entire length of a 30-mile canyon wearing the Canyon hippers, and I was very glad they didn't weigh any more than they do.<br />
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One reason I chose the Frogg Togg Canyon hip waders over the Chota is that the Canyons are more open at the top, and that really helps with moisture management. I guide in hot canyons all summer, and I get really sweaty inside any waders I wear. Having an open leg design lets moist, hot air out of the wader. It won't eliminate clammy legs, but it sure helps. I've found the open leg design doesn't hinder my ability to wade, since I'm on small water and it isn't all that deep. Yes, I do have to be careful not to wade the deepest pools, but I wouldn't wade into those even if I had chest waders on.<br />
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I contacted Frogg Toggs customer service recently, and they were very helpful in answering my questions about the material the legs are made of. After talking to Frogg Toggs, it's apparent the four-ply waterproof-breathable material has a nylon facing, but beyond that they were reluctant to disclose their proprietary material, and I totally respect that. What I do know about the four-ply material is that it is extremely durable, and it has withstood abuse from me that most anglers will not subject it to. The durability vs. weight is very good with these waders. The stocking feet are pretty standard 4mm double taped neoprene, and I've found they last a good long time. I am 5'7" tall, have a 30" inseam, and wear a size 8 wading boot. I found the size small Canyon hippers fit my feet just fine, with no extra bootie material to deal with.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Breaking stove wood over my knee...these waders are very durable!</td></tr>
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The quality, fit, and finish of the Canyon hippers is good. The belt straps at the top of each leg is made of nylon webbing with a standard 1" Fastex style buckle. I've never had the belt straps fail, and only had one buckle break in all of the years I've been wearing Canyon hippers. If there's one point of failure, it's the bootlace hook on the front of the gravel guard. I've broken several of those hooks off over the years, but they really aren't necessary anyway, since the elastic on the bottom of the gravel guard keeps it snug and doesn't let sand or gravel pass through.<br />
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The original version has been replaced by the Canyon II hipper, which has gray leg material and comes in at $95.00 retail (the recently imposed tariffs necessitated the price increase). Otherwise, it's the same reliable, lightweight wader as the original. If you're a highly mobile (meaning you hike a lot in waders) fly angler who frequents small water and appreciates a very durable, lightweight, and reasonably priced hip wader, you can do no better than the Canyon wader from Frogg Toggs. <br />
<br />Paul Vertreeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09396294738558824287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456151614292758344.post-87650969756005505832020-03-04T19:41:00.000-08:002020-03-04T19:51:42.666-08:00The Evolution of a Tenkara Nymphing Line<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCmYiRQaKfJ5LR5b-DniwQ81_KZjjE3JCP8DAvCTVSBCBRcrIVNoYNO_a7q3uJnMm_ofCdoFqYdKsb_nPrKj3MgOLrAATrEZnD_h4yUjn_yZ99vTyIUhnSksEf7uQkMFgzPgbzJVPC8OI/s1600/IMG_5866.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCmYiRQaKfJ5LR5b-DniwQ81_KZjjE3JCP8DAvCTVSBCBRcrIVNoYNO_a7q3uJnMm_ofCdoFqYdKsb_nPrKj3MgOLrAATrEZnD_h4yUjn_yZ99vTyIUhnSksEf7uQkMFgzPgbzJVPC8OI/s640/IMG_5866.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A half-dozen Tactical Tenkara Nymphing (TTN) lines, ready for action!</td></tr>
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Five years ago I designed two tenkara lines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a long time coming, and it happened
after considerable amount of testing, knot-tying, material sourcing, line
builds, re-testing, and more re-testing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was worth it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s the story
of one of them.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The backstory:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
discovered tenkara, or as I like to say, tenkara discovered me, in 2009.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was caught in the uptake created by two
men…Daniel Galhardo and Ryan Jordan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Both were tenkara anglers and lightweight backpackers, and both
immediately earned my respect and attention.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’ve often talked about how the real tenkara hook for me was
backpacking, and between Daniel and Ryan, and the tenkara rod they collaborated
on, the TUSA/Backpacking Light Hane, there was no looking back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At that time, the only line options I was
aware of were furled nylon lines and fluorocarbon level lines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first tenkara line I ever cast was a
tapered, furled nylon line.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were a
few things it did well for me, and many things it did not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 2010, I started casting fluorocarbon level
line, which gave me the advantage of much less line surface area, which in turn
collected a lot less water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
water-weighted belly in the furled line was gone, and it was considerably
easier to keep the line off the water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For several years, level line, especially the 3.5 diameter, was my
mainstay.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbyyppOigXCpjckjoJuv5Rail5TbXVWIo84su8vV_fpyAgv_HIy5e9rTkDGX-SxtD5TLX6ROegVbk6O6Sy-wHwiEkOT0-X6hfSie5HY7kjrXRwh0deUPteO7p3-9IY9GZdpOSXDBL_S3Y/s1600/11143273_10207431555016492_6237345284456046782_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbyyppOigXCpjckjoJuv5Rail5TbXVWIo84su8vV_fpyAgv_HIy5e9rTkDGX-SxtD5TLX6ROegVbk6O6Sy-wHwiEkOT0-X6hfSie5HY7kjrXRwh0deUPteO7p3-9IY9GZdpOSXDBL_S3Y/s640/11143273_10207431555016492_6237345284456046782_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tenkara nymphing on the Uncompahgre River tailwater in southwest Colorado.</td></tr>
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In early summer 2012 I became <a href="https://www.royalgorgeanglers.com/guided-fly-fishing/tenkara-trips/" target="_blank">one of the first professional tenkara guides in Colorado</a>. Some of the
water I ended up guiding on was a stretch of technical tailwater that held huge
cutthroats and browns, and some respectable rainbow trout. All of these fish received nearly constant
pressure during the summer months, and I discovered the secret to catching them
and getting my clients on them, was getting flies, especially nymph rigs, to
the exact depth where the fish were holding in feeding lanes. Western fly anglers could use strike
indicators, with adjustment along the leader, to achieve this. They were also adding and adjusting weight to
their nymph rigs. This had been standard
procedure with western nymph fishing for years.</div>
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I initially tried fishing traditional kebari on that
tailwater with limited, VERY limited, success.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I simply wasn’t getting my flies down to the trout, and those trout
wouldn’t move much to take a fly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
switched over to proven western nymph patterns, mainly a double nymph rig, and
started adjusting my split shot weight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I even ran a drop shot rig.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once
I found the right depth…BAM!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The light
bulb started flickering above my head!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
was working…sort of!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Step two was dialing in my depth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once I found the depth in the water column
where the fish were holding and feeding, I had a hard time staying at that
depth from one drift to another without the aid and bulk of a strike indicator.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did have a fluoro level line with
alternating colors in knotted segments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Those alternating colors helped, but it still really wasn’t enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I came home from a summer of guiding in
southwest Colorado to my home water, and on one particularly gloomy, cloudy day
on a huge, dark green bend pool on the Arkansas River, the light bulb stopped
flickering and flashed like fireworks!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That’s the day my Depth Dots and my weight-forward design came into
action.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Depth Dots gave me a
foolproof way to maintain consistency in drift depth, and they gave me another
“spotter” along the span of the line to keep track of my drift above the
surface of the water, which was effective in low light conditions.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8gwDbwjSWraMX58umCQG7AqFXmPdp8FHb5TlzJU0vUR9kcPMY2QPOfAwOQOIp_Vb96z-tWEVWpkpSZwtZ0t-EmMGXR18pimHaPB4uPHqZLu8_PxFUKpcuAJeG8nFnczwEBQpjYai5CEk/s1600/IMG_5852.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8gwDbwjSWraMX58umCQG7AqFXmPdp8FHb5TlzJU0vUR9kcPMY2QPOfAwOQOIp_Vb96z-tWEVWpkpSZwtZ0t-EmMGXR18pimHaPB4uPHqZLu8_PxFUKpcuAJeG8nFnczwEBQpjYai5CEk/s640/IMG_5852.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An exclusive feature of the TTN, the Depth Dot.</td></tr>
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I came home from that day in Bighorn Sheep Canyon and started
making prototype nymphing lines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a
traditional bowhunter, I also took what I knew about the efficiency and power
of the weight-forward handmade arrows I had been making for years, and I
applied that to my nymphing line.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
weight-forward-of-center arrow carries much more penetration power to its
target, and by applying that theory to the 12’ span of a tenkara line I found
that I had weight-forward tapered line that could deliver anything, from a
single traditional kebari all the way up to a weighted double nymph rig, with
finesse and accuracy that required nothing more than a slow, methodical arching
cast forward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In short, the weight-forward
taper worked.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Since then, I spent another year testing taper, line
diameter, and line length.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I finally
arrived at a line that worked really well, and accomplished everything I had
set out to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After testing the
<a href="https://www.royalgorgeanglers.com/tactical-tenkara-nymphing-line.html" target="_blank">Tactical Tenkara Nymphing</a> line on the Arkansas River freestone right next to my
home in Canon City, Colorado, I started traveling and fishing it elsewhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 2016, <a href="https://issuu.com/troutrageous1/docs/tenkaraanglerpremiumfall2016.issuu" target="_blank">my friend Shawn and I made a trip to the Alaskan interior</a>, and the TTN line was very effective on trophy arctic
grayling and sockeye salmon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The next
year in 2017, <a href="https://issuu.com/troutrageous1/docs/tenkara_angler_spring_2017" target="_blank">I made one of several trips east to the Driftless in southwest Wisconsin</a>, and again the TTN really shined on the crystal clear little spring
creeks in the coulees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve also taken
the TTN to challenging tailwater fisheries on the South Platte and Arkansas
Rivers in Colorado with great success.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><a href="http://www.tenkaratracks.com/2018/10/tenkara-bricolage-long-overdue-catching.html" target="_blank">In 2017 and 2018 I returned to Alaska</a>, the Bristol Bay region, to target
huge rainbow trout, and again the TTN got the job done.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7VnKGlEu8g4GrgrUEX-BkucqXbmqJnx1zY8TLURo-X8A0yhYt9L_NTyoIL3qwQbRjzlnuuo_ftf1CYM6-anjQKIj5GdrUd1pD2R6QwSgdSnn2mPOsOuyf7ARjrwkix5bwZX44e0p4TE4/s1600/DSCN4394.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="901" data-original-width="694" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7VnKGlEu8g4GrgrUEX-BkucqXbmqJnx1zY8TLURo-X8A0yhYt9L_NTyoIL3qwQbRjzlnuuo_ftf1CYM6-anjQKIj5GdrUd1pD2R6QwSgdSnn2mPOsOuyf7ARjrwkix5bwZX44e0p4TE4/s640/DSCN4394.jpg" width="492" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hooked up with a trophy arctic grayling on the Tangle River, Alaska.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Running a double nymph rig through the tailout of a huge pool on the Copper River, Alaska.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFKL-UBM4AqlAAOimIRlSjzgsuGUVu2fAKmfSclMKY4DhVk9nDhweWgh-TnYFlEQn3-qZbrnqvKPY3Fzfm71qQ-y9B4ZvJvDZdljVpIq8wGHp6Rypl6AgkeSzO9hOt7ltH6wKPqivtfqI/s1600/IMG_3492.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFKL-UBM4AqlAAOimIRlSjzgsuGUVu2fAKmfSclMKY4DhVk9nDhweWgh-TnYFlEQn3-qZbrnqvKPY3Fzfm71qQ-y9B4ZvJvDZdljVpIq8wGHp6Rypl6AgkeSzO9hOt7ltH6wKPqivtfqI/s640/IMG_3492.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another solid rainbow in southwest Alaska, caught with a TTN!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnPZmSmEdKNjaeZ6S1gtAklKjShFBFTCjnEMsGUL36fMkHjJTB0VnCwETkZuDSuAw7CIVCGI5NFW_cnRMp4Cc49JbQMy8JOk7Uq2H1Vt0ZKViWUZydIpFNAxFH-oN3IgR-F4AYnWxV8Vg/s1600/IMG_8674.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="275" height="465" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnPZmSmEdKNjaeZ6S1gtAklKjShFBFTCjnEMsGUL36fMkHjJTB0VnCwETkZuDSuAw7CIVCGI5NFW_cnRMp4Cc49JbQMy8JOk7Uq2H1Vt0ZKViWUZydIpFNAxFH-oN3IgR-F4AYnWxV8Vg/s640/IMG_8674.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nymping a bend pool at home in the canyons with a TTN.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.royalgorgeanglers.com/tactical-tenkara-nymphing-line.html" target="_blank">I now produce the TTN lines exclusively for Royal GorgeAnglers</a>, where I also <a href="https://www.royalgorgeanglers.com/guided-fly-fishing/tenkara-trips/" target="_blank">guide tenkara trips</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s truly a blessing to guide for a fly shop and outfitter that has
provided me an opportunity to offer these lines to the public.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
really enjoy having total control over the production of the lines, since I
hand craft each and every one of them myself. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Without outsourcing the production, I can keep
a close eye on quality, and that means a lot to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also enjoy having a direct connection with
customers who have questions about the lines, or want to share stories or
photos of the lines in action.</div>
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In short, this has been one of the most enjoyable and
rewarding projects I’ve ever undertaken!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’m looking forward to many more days on the water with a TTN, nymphing with
a fixed-line rod!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Here's a video on my You Tube channel focused on tenkara nymphing...</span></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32LE-x6dhLM&t=10s" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Small Water Tenkara Nymphing with a TTN</span></b></a></span></div>
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<br />Paul Vertreeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09396294738558824287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456151614292758344.post-79588333006194540702019-06-19T18:32:00.001-07:002019-06-20T06:39:41.046-07:00Gear I Use: DRAGONtail Tenkara Komodo<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJL__0kwzWgMyNL9Zc6ZJWyy8yA-W6sVBJP8YoJLBqdE-z3O24czI7JM1-AxDPZomRJbrYFeCSOXtHCOEyNS6oB8ITnlge9Nw-Qc1MLkKmWDV0L5ofLlUXufK9L2J7tS0GeK59wC7XFqM/s1600/IMG_6323.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJL__0kwzWgMyNL9Zc6ZJWyy8yA-W6sVBJP8YoJLBqdE-z3O24czI7JM1-AxDPZomRJbrYFeCSOXtHCOEyNS6oB8ITnlge9Nw-Qc1MLkKmWDV0L5ofLlUXufK9L2J7tS0GeK59wC7XFqM/s640/IMG_6323.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The DRAGONtail Komodo comes with a handy rod sock and a sturdy rod tube.</td></tr>
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I know, I can almost hear your thoughts..."no...please...not another tenkara rod review!". Well, this isn't really THAT, it's more like "here's the gear I use, and why". As with nearly every piece of gear in my arsenal, and I have a LOT of gear, there are nearly always other options that will do the same job. The vision I have for the "Gear I Use" series of blog posts is to simply showcase certain pieces of gear that I find useful and let you decide beyond that.<br />
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Enter the <a href="https://dragontailtenkara.com/komodo-zoom-tenkara-rod/" target="_blank">DRAGONtail Tenkara Komodo</a>. I'm a sucker for small mountain water and the trout that live there. I've been fishing this kind of water for well over 40 years. First, let me qualify what I mean by "small mountain water". In Colorado alone there are thousands of miles of streams that are from 12" to 25 feet wide and flow anywhere from 5 to 50 cubic-feet-per-second. In those streams live brook, brown, rainbow, and cutthroat trout from 6" to 16" long. That's magical water, and that's where a rod like the Komodo shines!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Typical "small water" in the canyons in southern Colorado.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5pXBEwKLfLSbD5yspHof7x0ifCzhDRCIySUQEG9Qz2tbYrIzDpNImlUvyBgNY8tM5nEfjYBGeEDlEC9W8yLZZFanYPsjsaMO-dQ4SOPZjeH_WRIRWe0OoSOf-TGG9DOm7-a0Vm7y41Fw/s1600/IMG_5909.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5pXBEwKLfLSbD5yspHof7x0ifCzhDRCIySUQEG9Qz2tbYrIzDpNImlUvyBgNY8tM5nEfjYBGeEDlEC9W8yLZZFanYPsjsaMO-dQ4SOPZjeH_WRIRWe0OoSOf-TGG9DOm7-a0Vm7y41Fw/s640/IMG_5909.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Typical "small water" in southwest Wisconsin's Driftless.</td></tr>
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Small water isn't confined, of course, to mountain streams in Colorado. There is similar water, although lower gradient, in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driftless_Area" target="_blank">Driftless</a>, Appalachians, Ozarks, Adirondacks, Black Hills, Inter-mountain West, Sierras, Alaska, and countless other places. As my good friend, Alan Luecke, mentioned on the <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tenkara-tracks-podcast/id1468043461" target="_blank">recent eposide of my Tenkara Tracks podcast</a>, there's even small water alongside interstate highways in the middle of Kansas.<br />
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So, back the Komodo. The Komodo is a lightweight, compact 320cm/275cm single zoom rod, which means it has two fishable lengths. Those metric measurements roughly equate to a 10.5ft/9ft rod. The Komodo weighs in at 2.9 ounces on my venerable Escali scale. The comparatively short cork handle has a nice double contour with a defined waist that fits my hand well. The bottom end of the handle also has a cork/rubber composite accent just above the bottom cap that's a really nice touch. I love the stealthy, matte black finish DRAGONtail puts on their rods (Hellbender, Shadowfire), and the Komodo has the same tactical finish with some muted, matte finish red accents on all but the top two sections. There's an industry standard red lilian, sans swivel, at the tip, and the artsy wooden top plug has a handy loop of nylon cord attached.<br />
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Any tenkara rods I use have to be able to do a few things really well. In addition to casting a simple level line and traditional kebari, my rods also have to be able to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32LE-x6dhLM&t=1s" target="_blank">cast a lightly weighted multi-fly nymph rig</a>. They have to be able to cast a dry fly or dry/dropper rig with a floating line. They have to have a little spine, so to speak. 5:5 mid-flex rods are out. All of the rods I use a lot are either 6:4 or 7:3 tip flex rods. It takes a tip flex rod to fish the way I do.<br />
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The Komodo will do all of that! Obviously, it'll perfectly cast a 2.5 or 3.5 level line with four feet of tippet and an unweighted sakasa kebari. It does that really well. However, that only accounts for a fraction of what I do with my rods. This past spring I took my Komodo out into the canyons with one of my 11-foot <a href="https://www.royalgorgeanglers.com/tactical-tenkara-nymphing-line.html" target="_blank">Tactical Tenkara Nymphing (TTN) lines</a>, four feet of 5X fluorocarbon tippet, and a pair of nymphs...a #18 Flashback Pheasant Tail with a #20 black RS2 trailing behind on 6X tippet. I had installed two #4 split shot about 9" in front of the top fly. As a small rod at the upper end of 6:4 flex, this little rod cast this <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32LE-x6dhLM&t=1s" target="_blank">nymph rig</a> VERY well at its fully extended 320cm length. I rarely fish a zoom rod at its shorter length if I have a choice, and I really never had to zoom it down. This setup accounted for dozens upon dozens of rainbow and brown trout in my canyons between March and June of this year. The Komodo had the spine to cast a nymph rig well, but still had the sensitivity to feel those subtle takes. I really couldn't have asked it to do more!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIozr96daa_q855J1xKcwHTQBtC-CcxlXaBeUgCXJZcLaBcXzYAqb6tw1DWF40m5xcdQkbnEaIAcTx2f2Bj_epIIi5IcnGjW7NWBke1KdAYSonp_7zuXI0j2ENHTwHw96-II3xYbG9Qyg/s1600/64402730_2750888984927601_6690779888560898048_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIozr96daa_q855J1xKcwHTQBtC-CcxlXaBeUgCXJZcLaBcXzYAqb6tw1DWF40m5xcdQkbnEaIAcTx2f2Bj_epIIi5IcnGjW7NWBke1KdAYSonp_7zuXI0j2ENHTwHw96-II3xYbG9Qyg/s640/64402730_2750888984927601_6690779888560898048_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nymphing a bend in the creek with the Komodo...southern Colorado.</td></tr>
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Another task my tenkara rods must be up for is fishing western dry fly patterns or even dry/dropper rigs. To do this, I designed a floating line that combines small diameter, low-profile, no-stretch material with the most buoyancy possible. My <a href="https://www.royalgorgeanglers.com/tactical-tenkara-nymphing-line.html" target="_blank">Tenkara Floating Line (TFL)</a> meets those requirements, and the Komodo can cast dries and dry/droppers quite well, as long as you keep the fly sizes matched appropriately with the small rod. I built a special 11-foot TFL line for it, and headed to southwest Wisconsin's Driftless with a boxful of <a href="http://www.richosthoff.com/2378/index.html" target="_blank">Rich Osthoff's #16 brown elk caddis</a> patterns, as well as a couple dozen of the late <a href="https://www.royalgorgeanglers.com/umpqua-better-foam-caddis-3-pack.html" target="_blank">Larry Kingery's #16 Better Foam Caddis</a>. While fishing in the Driftless, I even added a #18 Guide's Choice Hare's Ear as a dropper under the adult foam caddis. The capable Komodo, with its strong 6:4 flex, handled all of that well, even with a solid breeze. When I found myself fishing really small water choked up with overhanging trees and tall grass, I zoomed the Komodo down and found that it fished quite well at its shorter 275cm length. It did require that I switch to a shorter 10-foot section of level line to make casting and line control during the drift feasible.<br />
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I stopped worrying about small tenkara rods handling relatively big fish a long time ago. The biggest fish I've caught with this rod to date is a nice 16-inch brown trout from the Driftless, but I've also caught many 12-inch rainbows in my southern Colorado canyons, and those 'bows can really fight, and there's more current here than in the Driftless. I'm sure this rod could handle any 16-inch trout, maybe even a bit bigger.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLH-XJ8nabqxYWKqDlbznzopcvS-JPpNAPyKcVFJO3NcGJ-w9O8oR2_gOK3LHBNwy85hWW5snNkzvpjjT97vdi9YcBxnOP0WnEfQu7lRYvchqOjsZxKJffKrRIf01qcLImAc35x5J7_Jc/s1600/IMG_3604.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1256" data-original-width="942" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLH-XJ8nabqxYWKqDlbznzopcvS-JPpNAPyKcVFJO3NcGJ-w9O8oR2_gOK3LHBNwy85hWW5snNkzvpjjT97vdi9YcBxnOP0WnEfQu7lRYvchqOjsZxKJffKrRIf01qcLImAc35x5J7_Jc/s640/IMG_3604.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My biggest catch so far on the Komodo. Southwest Wisconsin.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGHLoXC0Z4Mp9hIg02MSi9zfnNYFeDg12G6t2sTy1g_vqgCXEUEq13ue9tCKwNhTbVbfw1wECk7HEo_1PhNAt8g-iEIIVey5CfR_F829gz0xs_IMp-VDIZwefKQ05DT8l6Y0WsH4Ls8pk/s1600/IMG_3606.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1440" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGHLoXC0Z4Mp9hIg02MSi9zfnNYFeDg12G6t2sTy1g_vqgCXEUEq13ue9tCKwNhTbVbfw1wECk7HEo_1PhNAt8g-iEIIVey5CfR_F829gz0xs_IMp-VDIZwefKQ05DT8l6Y0WsH4Ls8pk/s640/IMG_3606.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another Driftless brown.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik8yW4edCNmbH8PFgMU4SWXdV0vtcCXq5_JHUa9zp3rSbuPuamS9i-B-N6isFDvff55xirF7Shrr5PSVrnxC_WWIMJaZ6l-WPKkr3CUGCbbwP_GflkPLVB5t2u8lOEdSZyVRzIaPJ93hM/s1600/IMG_6196+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="658" data-original-width="878" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik8yW4edCNmbH8PFgMU4SWXdV0vtcCXq5_JHUa9zp3rSbuPuamS9i-B-N6isFDvff55xirF7Shrr5PSVrnxC_WWIMJaZ6l-WPKkr3CUGCbbwP_GflkPLVB5t2u8lOEdSZyVRzIaPJ93hM/s640/IMG_6196+%25282%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of dozens of brown and rainbow trout caught with the Komodo in the canyons in southern Colorado.</td></tr>
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Lastly, the Komodo offers a LOT of bang for the buck! I greatly admire that in any piece of gear, whether it's a knife, a pair of boots, a rifle, or a tenkara rod. It's the same reason I drive Toyota pickups and Subaru cars. DRAGONtail Tenkara has offered up a very capable small water rod with the Komodo, and it's $119.99 price tag puts it well under the competition. This fact impressed me so much that I recommended the Komodo as the small water tenkara rod that <a href="https://www.royalgorgeanglers.com/dragontail-tenkara-rod-komodo-zoom-9-105.html" target="_blank">we stock at Royal Gorge Anglers</a>, as well as the one I use with my clients <a href="https://www.royalgorgeanglers.com/guided-fly-fishing/tenkara-trips/" target="_blank">my guided tenkara trips in the canyons</a>.<br />
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This compact, strong rod is a winner in my book! I'm looking forward to using it on guide trips and on my own fishing adventures on small water. Great job, DRAGONtail!<br />
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<br />Paul Vertreeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09396294738558824287noreply@blogger.com0Cañon City, CO 81212, USA38.4494063 -105.225331638.3498978 -105.3866931 38.5489148 -105.0639701tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456151614292758344.post-74045459143104954892019-06-14T10:44:00.005-07:002019-06-14T10:46:42.519-07:00Tenkara Tracks Podcast is Live!Here's a quick blog post to let you know the Tenkara Tracks Podcast is LIVE! A big "thanks" goes out to all of my guests on the inaugural episode, "Trout, Beer, and Cheese Curds"...Shawn Larson, Dave Noll, Matt Sment, Zoan Kulinski, and Alan Leucke. It was a pleasure traveling to the Driftless and hanging out with all of you! I'm sure looking forward to it next year!<br />
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You can access the Tenkara Tracks Podcast <b><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tenkara-tracks-podcast/id1468043461" target="_blank">HERE</a></span></b>.<br />
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<br />Paul Vertreeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09396294738558824287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456151614292758344.post-88623316930520032822019-06-06T14:42:00.002-07:002019-06-07T20:58:59.143-07:00A Splendid Spring!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Spring and fall are my favorite seasons here in the canyons and the southern Colorado Mountains I call home. This spring was one of cool weather, lots of snow in the mountains, tenkara in the local canyons, and one of the most perfect turkey hunts I've ever had!<br />
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I started poking up into my canyons as soon as the weather permitted this spring. One day in February I hiked down into one particular canyon with about a foot of snow on the ground to find miles and miles of the creek frozen completely over. It's always comforting to know that below that ice in the deep bend pools there are brown and rainbow trout holed up for the winter in their near dormant state, waiting to see the sun slant through warming spring water.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh33kxxZUTJ-e70QffbUH4GshG3W8NzkVOD5QG-GNkh7yvkE7UlGeann2cRnaTNkHDEpfYRlSUWNBiVSAHB0UajbdjH5iBfr1bXY5tPJx26FOsjZaCyxpYjFUVZINv7KKZqS7ga2pPk_0c/s1600/IMG_5140.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh33kxxZUTJ-e70QffbUH4GshG3W8NzkVOD5QG-GNkh7yvkE7UlGeann2cRnaTNkHDEpfYRlSUWNBiVSAHB0UajbdjH5iBfr1bXY5tPJx26FOsjZaCyxpYjFUVZINv7KKZqS7ga2pPk_0c/s400/IMG_5140.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hiking down into the canyons on a cold, snowy day in February.</td></tr>
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Once the ice melted as the spring sun rose above the canyon walls, I started fishing. This was in early March. I was always fishing double nymph rigs then, with a lightly weighted baetis/midge setup. As usual, this was all done with a tenkara rod.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Guiding one of my favorite clients in the canyons in mid-March.</td></tr>
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I've always said that April/May and October/November are my favorite months in the canyons. This April was superb, and I even started to see some #18 tan caddis come off around the middle of the month. Once that happened I switched to my spring nymphing rig, consisting of a #18 caddis pupa and a #20 black RS2. This combo worked on dozens of fish during the month of April, and I continued to cast that rig with my<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32LE-x6dhLM" target="_blank"> Tactical Tenkara Nymphing (TTN) line </a>with a newly acquired <a href="https://www.royalgorgeanglers.com/dragontail-tenkara-rod-komodo-zoom-9-105.html" target="_blank">Dragontail Komodo rod</a>. That rod proved to be a really nice small water rod this spring, and worked very well with my line and lightly weighted double nymph rig. Despite the fact that I saw caddis adults, I didn't see many rising trout at all in April, and only fished an adult dry caddis pattern a few times with limited success. I also fished a #20 adult blue winged olive a few times too, with the same limited success.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqmhsZF4Rb0964758VgBGYI4dnspR0JgkqBdtSKGLODQPZZQ0AE3SkcE7nt0VYV6mFh2ya9iL5cI9gWuqmatXETvI7nC8wLFXzc6p933M5pnvTQeaRJ2CDtYxb_PZJYiyNmrOy5BEcerg/s1600/IMG_5497.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqmhsZF4Rb0964758VgBGYI4dnspR0JgkqBdtSKGLODQPZZQ0AE3SkcE7nt0VYV6mFh2ya9iL5cI9gWuqmatXETvI7nC8wLFXzc6p933M5pnvTQeaRJ2CDtYxb_PZJYiyNmrOy5BEcerg/s400/IMG_5497.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of my favorite bend pools on a warm April day.</td></tr>
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April has long been a favorite month in the woods as well. I've been hunting wild turkeys for over 30 years, at first in the <a href="https://www.outdoorhub.com/stories/2016/03/23/10-best-states-spring-turkey-hunting/" target="_blank">longbeard mecca of northern Missouri</a>, and later in my <a href="https://www.realtree.com/turkey-hunting/turkey-hunting-nation/2019/colorado-turkey-hunting" target="_blank">home state of Colorado</a>. I had recently gotten permission on a large chunk of private land in northern Fremont County, a 40-minute drive from home. I was very familiar with this area and the surrounding public land, and the addition of my new hunting spot was a godsend. I can't express enough thanks to the landowner for his generosity and hospitality. After some initial scouting which resulted in locating a good number of birds, I made a plan to take Friday, April 19th, off from work. Awake at 3:30 AM, I was on the road by 4:00. Forty minutes later I parked by the old barn, threw three decoys over my shoulder, grabbed my shotgun, and walked a half-mile north. It was bone-chilling cold and windy...not exactly ideal for turkey hunting at 8,500 feet in the Colorado mountains! I set up in the corner of an old oat field leftover from last year. I was tucked up under a cluster of Gambel's oak, with the two hens and one jake decoy in the corner of the field, about 30 yards in front of me. After hitting my owl hooter a few times over the next hour, I failed to elicit any gobbles from the cottonwoods down by the creek. At around 6:00 am I spotted several hens through my binoculars, scratching in the dirt about 200 yards away. Then I saw the tips of a fan! I started yelping with my old slate call, and worked those birds up to my position. Once the five hens and big gobbler were within about 40 yards the gobbler finally realized my jake decoy was a threat. He stuck his head out and ran straight for the jake decoy. That big gobbler fell to a hot load of copper-plated #6, and by 6:30 am my hunt was over. In every sense, this was one of my most perfect and best turkey hunts ever. It was one of those times when the planets align, the gobbler comes running to your call and decoy, and goes down hard. I can really only remember one other hunt, many years ago with my good friend, Randy, when things came together any better!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm3yItzOtlMlIUTMQ24c3F8GGFjUj3UFvj_TZtefv0lmyp-TMdd2JaF_hPMeiOYqO-x3DVkwXjQQRd4DNiXUYuPG6o0XUzRr96JPI0t4MB7bMgJdRaUTf9djMophe6ypPOvtvcika_JI4/s1600/IMG_5602.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="654" data-original-width="500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm3yItzOtlMlIUTMQ24c3F8GGFjUj3UFvj_TZtefv0lmyp-TMdd2JaF_hPMeiOYqO-x3DVkwXjQQRd4DNiXUYuPG6o0XUzRr96JPI0t4MB7bMgJdRaUTf9djMophe6ypPOvtvcika_JI4/s400/IMG_5602.JPG" width="305" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scouting for turkeys the weekend before spring season opened.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhynFFGGJssZRw-Zo9xCt_uRlxNmlP6gj1TdH6XGXpJISlbrTnaN8qncK-9KNGlu-28ExXzhYonueEDwKkCDgVSoGGbu1GHlahsH-CGzQ7e2eUpP3NSXbHUeA1Fyrz8TxrAfcE59XRlGUY/s1600/IMG_5595.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhynFFGGJssZRw-Zo9xCt_uRlxNmlP6gj1TdH6XGXpJISlbrTnaN8qncK-9KNGlu-28ExXzhYonueEDwKkCDgVSoGGbu1GHlahsH-CGzQ7e2eUpP3NSXbHUeA1Fyrz8TxrAfcE59XRlGUY/s400/IMG_5595.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tools of the trade. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVkppQKvR5hWx3MrVDr2DYtIrBl5we96NGxePInAzzl0KjoCg3_IJN0FjNyKtejYRhv-7h8nz9Z2hm5OAeWw0jLSDiQdrYX2s4Run4tIUdrRF6wPcmDxn8iK8mqJ_6NYL9xhRJj-74TMU/s1600/IMG_5610.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVkppQKvR5hWx3MrVDr2DYtIrBl5we96NGxePInAzzl0KjoCg3_IJN0FjNyKtejYRhv-7h8nz9Z2hm5OAeWw0jLSDiQdrYX2s4Run4tIUdrRF6wPcmDxn8iK8mqJ_6NYL9xhRJj-74TMU/s400/IMG_5610.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A good score on a solid gobbler at 6:30 AM.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqOxKPE_-N162cJY79HG_rnb-Fg8uuUnZVQjBbZl1czOztL-ZFSCrnczF53ZD4b3mihtmxrMmIcHRZRUqj7K_kD2aV7k8Cc91cktBqmkaBsNX0g4oHBigKTWlJaRj4ld3H-dIMmwgLQx4/s1600/IMG_5631.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqOxKPE_-N162cJY79HG_rnb-Fg8uuUnZVQjBbZl1czOztL-ZFSCrnczF53ZD4b3mihtmxrMmIcHRZRUqj7K_kD2aV7k8Cc91cktBqmkaBsNX0g4oHBigKTWlJaRj4ld3H-dIMmwgLQx4/s200/IMG_5631.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQF93NAKpVRsQdGMDLx4_dyCDrqrYFx5fgJbRIWkKUYzvvgGZBTSQ4m-2l0vJ3hrlWA6jWF6f7b4saBPmP9X8Q6OqSsMGqSsNREsNZiBNzWUvCnY3BdETOYugb7GFARWoQfPU-2Rw8w7o/s1600/IMG_5663.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQF93NAKpVRsQdGMDLx4_dyCDrqrYFx5fgJbRIWkKUYzvvgGZBTSQ4m-2l0vJ3hrlWA6jWF6f7b4saBPmP9X8Q6OqSsMGqSsNREsNZiBNzWUvCnY3BdETOYugb7GFARWoQfPU-2Rw8w7o/s200/IMG_5663.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lots of really good breast, leg, and thigh meat on this bird!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfW-1EN2LQV3XQZrUOYAGgEpH1BK06mYdN9eYq8D9zAj9p0eRUnJuiAocf_97I6yZaVKwD81OjFnjQaBV3Wwy7j_8txy-lSsf8p4T5-XjXB5jG9Cf52YPoDJumskVv39MaGS_eynR5ds0/s1600/IMG_5660.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfW-1EN2LQV3XQZrUOYAGgEpH1BK06mYdN9eYq8D9zAj9p0eRUnJuiAocf_97I6yZaVKwD81OjFnjQaBV3Wwy7j_8txy-lSsf8p4T5-XjXB5jG9Cf52YPoDJumskVv39MaGS_eynR5ds0/s400/IMG_5660.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We roasted these breast fillets for Mother's Day dinner.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgW_w0i5aaoZjlrR6mDLUiEk5nJ74v0yyL5i-59phE7pHl_-bU5CtB4i2E3gEb7Sifv6lwszPu6_0f6_7yDr07sSVqkK_3d3OhhcEXX4CQ2BTBQzBeciS6AzDsCDGb9Hc-42A53W9WLAo/s1600/IMG_5643.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgW_w0i5aaoZjlrR6mDLUiEk5nJ74v0yyL5i-59phE7pHl_-bU5CtB4i2E3gEb7Sifv6lwszPu6_0f6_7yDr07sSVqkK_3d3OhhcEXX4CQ2BTBQzBeciS6AzDsCDGb9Hc-42A53W9WLAo/s400/IMG_5643.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An absolutely perfect hunt!</td></tr>
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<br />
May arrived with anticipation! The flows in the canyons were much better than they were last year, and the sweet spot of 25-35 cubic-feet-per-second became a weekly event that lasted several days. The browns and rainbows that had been stacked up in the deepest holes, covered with several inches of ice all winter, started to move and spread out in the bend pools. As of today, the fishing has only gotten better each week. There are still very few blue winged olive or caddis hatches, but around 9:00 am each day there's a sporadic BWO hatch. Regardless, the browns and rainbows are eating #18 beadhead pheasant tails and #20 mercury flashback RS2s with abandon.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZTKw9619_rjO8qlVFeJz4qZbRJcPSRJl5jdUN33DbLs4LRDGnDpcKcQCFcoeHYeqfhjzTaekWPxWArRiu-lP0LWYnLmpm0ug1qmZAdhHWKrpCrd-dR74VpfhVY51PTaQ3eD_BbjCU6Js/s1600/IMG_6180.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZTKw9619_rjO8qlVFeJz4qZbRJcPSRJl5jdUN33DbLs4LRDGnDpcKcQCFcoeHYeqfhjzTaekWPxWArRiu-lP0LWYnLmpm0ug1qmZAdhHWKrpCrd-dR74VpfhVY51PTaQ3eD_BbjCU6Js/s400/IMG_6180.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Home.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO-mBWxzpbzDbcG1yXdiaPN1nq0h1Rl-GPK7vdPix7b5QpQUG33iazSKPrkFaLbbtSpq4AFp01XCxPd7VRT5U1GiSXdhoNBA2e2praeF64kXlYhkQECKOiVitLvoe63SG6qxhaLfoRg5g/s1600/IMG_6154.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO-mBWxzpbzDbcG1yXdiaPN1nq0h1Rl-GPK7vdPix7b5QpQUG33iazSKPrkFaLbbtSpq4AFp01XCxPd7VRT5U1GiSXdhoNBA2e2praeF64kXlYhkQECKOiVitLvoe63SG6qxhaLfoRg5g/s400/IMG_6154.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A classic bend pool in the canyons.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOqdkAKwvofvknOmQr4-QdjsgMekwKNvkyFdYbkYg6RHIr-jMLpLpxsrgfcPN6IYR83f3ObYSpB3D4sq-pDBp6tpr-0yL1EHGqbJN-joLiSUOhSPlrb5-Ni9UKoBfL6qBa3wP7Lf2F1oM/s1600/IMG_6155.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOqdkAKwvofvknOmQr4-QdjsgMekwKNvkyFdYbkYg6RHIr-jMLpLpxsrgfcPN6IYR83f3ObYSpB3D4sq-pDBp6tpr-0yL1EHGqbJN-joLiSUOhSPlrb5-Ni9UKoBfL6qBa3wP7Lf2F1oM/s400/IMG_6155.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My favorite place!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCdE4-2Ws8mI5ge4iROdXnlMCvOVCJ9OsM6drNnJZ5BmZK5mJCibitRQIaUgFza8QYPaBR0kDN2-KSawADLCFxbP9psyPN4GniUz6DQjJ80qISsjJqzwMOXBxFa7mgV93B3AUFwxeiHDw/s1600/IMG_6162.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCdE4-2Ws8mI5ge4iROdXnlMCvOVCJ9OsM6drNnJZ5BmZK5mJCibitRQIaUgFza8QYPaBR0kDN2-KSawADLCFxbP9psyPN4GniUz6DQjJ80qISsjJqzwMOXBxFa7mgV93B3AUFwxeiHDw/s400/IMG_6162.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another bend pool with a classic bubble line!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9cC4MAKbbFYVgpMIC2JppwfWhtxner0B-0U8PLsbhCV1-mJBP8__a-We6D6WZ2tyqnbkHJD1JMQSsEQLYMDoWtvlG9WBE99niSzlCUKGESzgq1Xw9Ahyphenhyphens8qHdiB735jC7vr4ARCbtk2c/s1600/IMG_6149.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9cC4MAKbbFYVgpMIC2JppwfWhtxner0B-0U8PLsbhCV1-mJBP8__a-We6D6WZ2tyqnbkHJD1JMQSsEQLYMDoWtvlG9WBE99niSzlCUKGESzgq1Xw9Ahyphenhyphens8qHdiB735jC7vr4ARCbtk2c/s400/IMG_6149.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cholla cactus and Rocky Mountain Lupine.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh56BoV2URsnED3cYAr_Yo3VE1n6H_ZSAe1_Cu53q7eLj3_qHcs3gvZzLcc4o9PcszgZFlL-SWnQbDyfR7FgepLTyU9FulopBg3ShqHtgR78Mg2r-LTHEKkdJgzSODcWLU2xmVu5jPcgQU/s1600/IMG_6150.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh56BoV2URsnED3cYAr_Yo3VE1n6H_ZSAe1_Cu53q7eLj3_qHcs3gvZzLcc4o9PcszgZFlL-SWnQbDyfR7FgepLTyU9FulopBg3ShqHtgR78Mg2r-LTHEKkdJgzSODcWLU2xmVu5jPcgQU/s400/IMG_6150.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rocky Mountain Lupine. One of my favorite spring flowers. When the lupine blooms, the spring fishing is the best!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjckmtVCHi5AppOD5Wy420izRCMe0tkZUYmaRWkrt27dljiFF2F00LjxmWrVCx7BjEL6LdKtodzu0yDLg3W4qPOFzIPjUNsNi0QmkrHI0VsbagDtznQaLHLOmK5IUm0WZT1dJtHarM-u7s/s1600/IMG_6158.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjckmtVCHi5AppOD5Wy420izRCMe0tkZUYmaRWkrt27dljiFF2F00LjxmWrVCx7BjEL6LdKtodzu0yDLg3W4qPOFzIPjUNsNi0QmkrHI0VsbagDtznQaLHLOmK5IUm0WZT1dJtHarM-u7s/s400/IMG_6158.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More spring blooming wildflowers1</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjex0JMB7q7hLCTieDsiX4dPnEESwlyO_Fq7y7jXFgxlEx5ad4UsX18ekhcHMGF4BU-spERplDiBfHey49qGbIXfSwoBdLjAQ9q499rnYzQWF3QezMLVYNYYin6lm2H7-wBDI0T_zkgAVw/s1600/IMG_6174.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjex0JMB7q7hLCTieDsiX4dPnEESwlyO_Fq7y7jXFgxlEx5ad4UsX18ekhcHMGF4BU-spERplDiBfHey49qGbIXfSwoBdLjAQ9q499rnYzQWF3QezMLVYNYYin6lm2H7-wBDI0T_zkgAVw/s400/IMG_6174.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spring gold!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoAHN5slPzxbLLbk21yhmxdgrPdEEc0E3YRK_o4QopvSjln04-GzrhW9bnBw2UnJNkEKXlPMQGAYmLl9iET1LRsDrB4mDJ1GMWNPNZI3-qCpQ4YZVjeURqiByxv_3X5xQxe7ILB1gSQkA/s1600/IMG_6152.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoAHN5slPzxbLLbk21yhmxdgrPdEEc0E3YRK_o4QopvSjln04-GzrhW9bnBw2UnJNkEKXlPMQGAYmLl9iET1LRsDrB4mDJ1GMWNPNZI3-qCpQ4YZVjeURqiByxv_3X5xQxe7ILB1gSQkA/s400/IMG_6152.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A nice spring rainbow from the canyons!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1vdN-Vd1SomAQQYrS_0FPgAZ0ghVhlwwHSYyoGfrWBb4WFHzVLljmtZ5TDcpsKgLge_qvxPU8dIdiIpbf2ShtqpBCN7OJRL6FZxesmBDMXtUHqo4g-__IJjdr6geq_EMdXk0J7shJXwo/s1600/IMG_6156.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1vdN-Vd1SomAQQYrS_0FPgAZ0ghVhlwwHSYyoGfrWBb4WFHzVLljmtZ5TDcpsKgLge_qvxPU8dIdiIpbf2ShtqpBCN7OJRL6FZxesmBDMXtUHqo4g-__IJjdr6geq_EMdXk0J7shJXwo/s400/IMG_6156.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...and an energetic brown too!</td></tr>
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<span style="text-align: center;"> </span>May also brought the fourth annual Tenkara Wisconsin Driftless Campout on my birthday weekend. My good friend and frequent traveling partner, Shawn Larson, and I flew to Minneapolis on May 16th and got home late on the night of May 19th. There will be much more on that on what will be the first ever episode of Tenkara Tracks Podcast in the next month or so! You'll have to tune in, and I think you'll be entertained and will learn a few things by listening to the show. I'll have several guests join me who attended the campout!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkWy6UKjcXGqp_tt9_SaIUSRIHeYJ7lemoF38hIsPqmvsMbM2yDs8mVzNcf-pAUWKzUiViKXOAgvJ2bPuIkSohaKW-vu_mCAtZqgoq-BGyYaw0wSddE3xr2SDK71bJ588EYUlVTilXkL0/s1600/IMG_5871.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkWy6UKjcXGqp_tt9_SaIUSRIHeYJ7lemoF38hIsPqmvsMbM2yDs8mVzNcf-pAUWKzUiViKXOAgvJ2bPuIkSohaKW-vu_mCAtZqgoq-BGyYaw0wSddE3xr2SDK71bJ588EYUlVTilXkL0/s400/IMG_5871.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyd-eFs7tnf_Mu2bs1Rbz-Ioz5tHOOffSm0lhh81IlI9gCaVdCptjDIOyB4IjCx-2bv1BISMfcxa4IGnLZ8JUiGX9Zp5nLHAbFS73czvzXlUmSUsB8MkSJViCBhj1AjaN7QegXlqijaiI/s1600/IMG_5869.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyd-eFs7tnf_Mu2bs1Rbz-Ioz5tHOOffSm0lhh81IlI9gCaVdCptjDIOyB4IjCx-2bv1BISMfcxa4IGnLZ8JUiGX9Zp5nLHAbFS73czvzXlUmSUsB8MkSJViCBhj1AjaN7QegXlqijaiI/s400/IMG_5869.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Celebrating my birthday at Denver International Airport with a liquid breakfast!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI6f3gZBbax74pbZvTwiwXOxtf2gB9hr-k4JuBAWtR__z9UARtIuIWYGt3d8SdiOwjP7LVingYQA9Gwyr60d0GKTUobdSxT204BOzQ1sxv8-D38inxQilEjXruRpUMzkFaWkpc2Op2XHY/s1600/IMG_5879.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI6f3gZBbax74pbZvTwiwXOxtf2gB9hr-k4JuBAWtR__z9UARtIuIWYGt3d8SdiOwjP7LVingYQA9Gwyr60d0GKTUobdSxT204BOzQ1sxv8-D38inxQilEjXruRpUMzkFaWkpc2Op2XHY/s400/IMG_5879.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">32 wonderful tap handles at Union 32 Craft House in Minneapolis.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivFo1YNJDZSXR5aGxR58F7b4lQBDEJ4tpdBV_E6EvcKRI1fh1PuZU5ZNCz1w7PNeIfJax8wVbNTj6_IpNmgv3mlTz88OfSQpIqLwzdZ1_JQdOBs1NTytJLVJk8DsNICBZxHlZAoohboJE/s1600/IMG_5877.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivFo1YNJDZSXR5aGxR58F7b4lQBDEJ4tpdBV_E6EvcKRI1fh1PuZU5ZNCz1w7PNeIfJax8wVbNTj6_IpNmgv3mlTz88OfSQpIqLwzdZ1_JQdOBs1NTytJLVJk8DsNICBZxHlZAoohboJE/s400/IMG_5877.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Union 32's wonderful Black Dog porter.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCRcj4BM3AvYxD4wFXEzMQpl6O_7uJrUWyQZHynlrzXzSXLCs3iLZOG4PDAwvvFP3gz6K4eN57uJBvmdpxBzDRzL-VfX605klnyMNyVpmOUJBgpSFiYM_vuBYxDlxfJAKJy_gMDmHpjuk/s1600/IMG_5890.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCRcj4BM3AvYxD4wFXEzMQpl6O_7uJrUWyQZHynlrzXzSXLCs3iLZOG4PDAwvvFP3gz6K4eN57uJBvmdpxBzDRzL-VfX605klnyMNyVpmOUJBgpSFiYM_vuBYxDlxfJAKJy_gMDmHpjuk/s400/IMG_5890.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The welcome party at Esofea Park, between Coon Valley and Viroqua, Wisconsin.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGzQhyphenhyphenPjevRjsQOVl5p46CX9QAAvegPLqONdGTekqBrFNaukafupoKnxwS3oBURs663hnMEBUDaT5TqSccJp0OJSz2-m4zLgi1Z6ZUBtrevBdn_t4AT6_Fp-zGghkFT4U9IFFNGX6dSf0/s1600/IMG_5886.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGzQhyphenhyphenPjevRjsQOVl5p46CX9QAAvegPLqONdGTekqBrFNaukafupoKnxwS3oBURs663hnMEBUDaT5TqSccJp0OJSz2-m4zLgi1Z6ZUBtrevBdn_t4AT6_Fp-zGghkFT4U9IFFNGX6dSf0/s400/IMG_5886.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chef Dave, always at the ready! One of our two most excellent camp hosts!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimHNT-RBAbLA7Drm_709bISAJSFUMJjajYOoHUuISqE7KXfjczBsGEFKdI6qNw2x-qebnsCqDliT4pxleKImhZZTix3KDdxEW1yf-hrOMsDbxK7N8VyALcutiXeSoiLPN-Ti1Ni3ygXhE/s1600/IMG_5891.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimHNT-RBAbLA7Drm_709bISAJSFUMJjajYOoHUuISqE7KXfjczBsGEFKdI6qNw2x-qebnsCqDliT4pxleKImhZZTix3KDdxEW1yf-hrOMsDbxK7N8VyALcutiXeSoiLPN-Ti1Ni3ygXhE/s400/IMG_5891.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chowing down on steaks and potatoes in camp!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilBiMXaLPQmDVmD84bwmiBIcBjQ_UQpYXFP88O0RNUl5I9crGlS5ZtJpqCnGlGB2Y-Rrc4LXFffeXPi2UjgBeEllvf30TE6bKsIEsbnX2w0aJAw-Uz69ZyXK35qC9RCag6JFEAN0JVWWE/s1600/IMG_5892.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilBiMXaLPQmDVmD84bwmiBIcBjQ_UQpYXFP88O0RNUl5I9crGlS5ZtJpqCnGlGB2Y-Rrc4LXFffeXPi2UjgBeEllvf30TE6bKsIEsbnX2w0aJAw-Uz69ZyXK35qC9RCag6JFEAN0JVWWE/s400/IMG_5892.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Can you say "yum"?</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim7GwxNT4O6Ou3L6mwoST-F2OwQbZpIbEFXeSNnCwXROIcqfqYqo0n3Vh4p76agROUXPgIZnkLvGLEWtFJQp3Tb7b1kIWVepnp7VVaKxnF2JfdU8oBkM_WPm3FOzBLngO_J4sIkR5QaNI/s1600/IMG_5944.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim7GwxNT4O6Ou3L6mwoST-F2OwQbZpIbEFXeSNnCwXROIcqfqYqo0n3Vh4p76agROUXPgIZnkLvGLEWtFJQp3Tb7b1kIWVepnp7VVaKxnF2JfdU8oBkM_WPm3FOzBLngO_J4sIkR5QaNI/s400/IMG_5944.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dave rustling up breakfast.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIXLr4tyz2MEehazeEl6Ut49khfkZ77vgWcNqkccP_O6vwrNsoyVYlPPIO8RQrl1JXkt4vvJNSjTjzIHHzEf3VoTCr3JHJALqq-6YJ0ouHfnpgmC313QOdMPdyglqMjZkW-b9b2yXkmoE/s1600/IMG_5896.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIXLr4tyz2MEehazeEl6Ut49khfkZ77vgWcNqkccP_O6vwrNsoyVYlPPIO8RQrl1JXkt4vvJNSjTjzIHHzEf3VoTCr3JHJALqq-6YJ0ouHfnpgmC313QOdMPdyglqMjZkW-b9b2yXkmoE/s400/IMG_5896.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zoan's really cool A-frame pop-up.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2B37VN5esSSCmPjuJJ3bpVDMrfh2F1RgDiBptOqU9J75_N7nrIEUXx6zygiHwAR2qphNfdQhjlZcBoUwj8gkq4632Cj8A139-RqbOpxIf3LlKbrctgahJgGtxKxDIxxjLg22FrgPKuFg/s1600/IMG_5889.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2B37VN5esSSCmPjuJJ3bpVDMrfh2F1RgDiBptOqU9J75_N7nrIEUXx6zygiHwAR2qphNfdQhjlZcBoUwj8gkq4632Cj8A139-RqbOpxIf3LlKbrctgahJgGtxKxDIxxjLg22FrgPKuFg/s400/IMG_5889.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of the tents in camp. Esofea Branch is right behind camp, and has great fishing!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0d0axqGuF_yfvnY1LktMKLm5X2Onv3K9cmJpexXfwLnfxP8TGLJYvVeI1bBBIO-Rc62xOonjFW1zb3cAJHmFf8s7nEx3AzytcgT38l3e3fuxsx22BxPsJ4YWwCEFzyhKX6qTHWiIr-Ac/s1600/IMG_5994.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0d0axqGuF_yfvnY1LktMKLm5X2Onv3K9cmJpexXfwLnfxP8TGLJYvVeI1bBBIO-Rc62xOonjFW1zb3cAJHmFf8s7nEx3AzytcgT38l3e3fuxsx22BxPsJ4YWwCEFzyhKX6qTHWiIr-Ac/s400/IMG_5994.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shawn Larson and I. Trout do not have a chance.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGYSGJBCJ8lisp0zluaqOxUSKnfThyphenhyphenGpm2tFE1fhMB0WvpGctkkQvkWap2cR23cZfsearqFpgY7-q9fos4vBTueqi_b5k_4JSpP0AIdvAK6hQDGKg_W3hICPccPDaSx5_UDXKb2ZZ_57M/s1600/IMG_6001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGYSGJBCJ8lisp0zluaqOxUSKnfThyphenhyphenGpm2tFE1fhMB0WvpGctkkQvkWap2cR23cZfsearqFpgY7-q9fos4vBTueqi_b5k_4JSpP0AIdvAK6hQDGKg_W3hICPccPDaSx5_UDXKb2ZZ_57M/s400/IMG_6001.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just another day in the Driftless. Following the Amish neighbors down the road.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqmwmPN7OJOnlknPpH_4oINXw85F4Tl3t8fLprumH5u77eU0AhQTKoGfMX-1LiUkWxAnfNfjStuYksFCyq0yUs7VAwRewGzGQO8RNnW2c-sogfx5h3O5uIsh4mOT-FhLJjDWpq_us45EA/s1600/IMG_5960.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqmwmPN7OJOnlknPpH_4oINXw85F4Tl3t8fLprumH5u77eU0AhQTKoGfMX-1LiUkWxAnfNfjStuYksFCyq0yUs7VAwRewGzGQO8RNnW2c-sogfx5h3O5uIsh4mOT-FhLJjDWpq_us45EA/s400/IMG_5960.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shawn, fishing a cut bank on the West Fork of the Kickapoo River.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzZMCeT9l3h3ZujAvoS97_lQKrjBdlE6sTjTfkLQtuCJ2BZyrxI7s16Fs-wS41svoolatk5M6kO9DFm9ZcMM1LdTsiuV8nEwseo_y1YLYM67kh00iz2oT51kBPBwSeaQsA60WXPD9wLrU/s1600/IMG_5956.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzZMCeT9l3h3ZujAvoS97_lQKrjBdlE6sTjTfkLQtuCJ2BZyrxI7s16Fs-wS41svoolatk5M6kO9DFm9ZcMM1LdTsiuV8nEwseo_y1YLYM67kh00iz2oT51kBPBwSeaQsA60WXPD9wLrU/s400/IMG_5956.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...and a hookup!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSCGjWCesS-IBMQnuNztr0Yv_pSVU15tip6RfB2FY_7Q4lpbTxxx6FAfQhSX326VUuVNqihg32BYUx8t7T6fL22YHuABkvtRYpXZZ1OszH3x-29FVH5xke6sjkkBRmW_3qQFopmLKlbGY/s1600/IMG_3604.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1256" data-original-width="942" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSCGjWCesS-IBMQnuNztr0Yv_pSVU15tip6RfB2FY_7Q4lpbTxxx6FAfQhSX326VUuVNqihg32BYUx8t7T6fL22YHuABkvtRYpXZZ1OszH3x-29FVH5xke6sjkkBRmW_3qQFopmLKlbGY/s400/IMG_3604.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It was a good day at Duck Egg!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpkoOAoZQQvzqoaQwEcggzM1TWSlBolG-eKwtEUDCoxJs0AjKaRLhjMfvpqRFpijVBCazq03olR0dDPXPYRjP5TAl4Nf0ITbrQa0W-A7bK9_FJ-51BdWfLg9-Fw-lGPQm3s2EF7yLzEOQ/s1600/IMG_5919.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpkoOAoZQQvzqoaQwEcggzM1TWSlBolG-eKwtEUDCoxJs0AjKaRLhjMfvpqRFpijVBCazq03olR0dDPXPYRjP5TAl4Nf0ITbrQa0W-A7bK9_FJ-51BdWfLg9-Fw-lGPQm3s2EF7yLzEOQ/s400/IMG_5919.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another really good brown from Duck Egg.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLE8ZaxNsSg3UlIQR0ZX0sjHiOKtJNYCIU_MtIBeWDuezNdALaMfoIuWH3_dwZbLdP12pXGv87hb3P4fXLXVG0tfBR6_Wlczm5hDkX5MxVpglH7TASKNRijLZH4v4SOId7yF8_hIOhznc/s1600/IMG_5929.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLE8ZaxNsSg3UlIQR0ZX0sjHiOKtJNYCIU_MtIBeWDuezNdALaMfoIuWH3_dwZbLdP12pXGv87hb3P4fXLXVG0tfBR6_Wlczm5hDkX5MxVpglH7TASKNRijLZH4v4SOId7yF8_hIOhznc/s400/IMG_5929.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Working our way upstream in Bohemian Valley.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg85eUNPIb9p0FAMH0nIl0sI9BH5hOuOeGePBPTcLiiYtf67BmR6l9mMuLihAlKvG0huwMyAbkXfVBTY8EEp4yMv2us-tljJFe_G5tN0kVAuFpYVW8mnHRACJoYVqloIFQmaovMw5_gqdU/s1600/IMG_5931.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg85eUNPIb9p0FAMH0nIl0sI9BH5hOuOeGePBPTcLiiYtf67BmR6l9mMuLihAlKvG0huwMyAbkXfVBTY8EEp4yMv2us-tljJFe_G5tN0kVAuFpYVW8mnHRACJoYVqloIFQmaovMw5_gqdU/s400/IMG_5931.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is where a short tenkara rod really shines!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1t15mHeYH-PyOswVd_E3UdqPHXrNvjIsPRktZO7wUNGChTBuIwjSIL5Kp2n3LXzJ5aNEz91JrcAw3dUiCR6GuPvelvILeUk9xhuDkVz7hQGXRqanLLHWePyYdHSly_P64_DK1vwLcbf4/s1600/IMG_5992.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1t15mHeYH-PyOswVd_E3UdqPHXrNvjIsPRktZO7wUNGChTBuIwjSIL5Kp2n3LXzJ5aNEz91JrcAw3dUiCR6GuPvelvILeUk9xhuDkVz7hQGXRqanLLHWePyYdHSly_P64_DK1vwLcbf4/s400/IMG_5992.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Many possibilities!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGGxcLROvU3zTb9TCxHo4SftAeZCrtBCLZD45U43QhMAF2w_Lf7cA25mXQ9hmDbp_-2GSXH_P8XcF1P0t4TqOjpUFiHfpVT8CNcEYMgBHhPxpGImXtbLeYeJZZC1pxp81N5dxocp-abgw/s1600/IMG_3623.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="924" data-original-width="1232" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGGxcLROvU3zTb9TCxHo4SftAeZCrtBCLZD45U43QhMAF2w_Lf7cA25mXQ9hmDbp_-2GSXH_P8XcF1P0t4TqOjpUFiHfpVT8CNcEYMgBHhPxpGImXtbLeYeJZZC1pxp81N5dxocp-abgw/s400/IMG_3623.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Making my way back down to the Jeep after a full day of fishing.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisWeEz1IjyRGkasR8cm3z7JdZ8nomTqfnPNFiAvTCJAV6YQ51e_cOIGY5LuADVdtLR0X7mwdFxG1vJTQjBuCeh3epZmaTyAKRjBmO-6fLdog7QWMjhOncQbtgz0czDBZF8VPg4LBIyDT0/s1600/IMG_6010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisWeEz1IjyRGkasR8cm3z7JdZ8nomTqfnPNFiAvTCJAV6YQ51e_cOIGY5LuADVdtLR0X7mwdFxG1vJTQjBuCeh3epZmaTyAKRjBmO-6fLdog7QWMjhOncQbtgz0czDBZF8VPg4LBIyDT0/s400/IMG_6010.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our home away from home for the weekend.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGlGh-cETG9NmRTpjoybsaWHR5eeKLvQlI1QgqSfaOdagLa-7lxOWxDv5VDwKXTcPF60Pv4ZaCLdl7THOHrDf2rriCUZLlsCDWJcUnksJS1unkF8R7rJoF5syXn7S4XFlij7WRqAG4TF8/s1600/IMG_5939.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGlGh-cETG9NmRTpjoybsaWHR5eeKLvQlI1QgqSfaOdagLa-7lxOWxDv5VDwKXTcPF60Pv4ZaCLdl7THOHrDf2rriCUZLlsCDWJcUnksJS1unkF8R7rJoF5syXn7S4XFlij7WRqAG4TF8/s400/IMG_5939.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside our yurt.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzVCXJl9qWGHliJuBGDOdhf6mXX2xnBcWShsj8oGWd0fB9Q4eekfQ5xswH66JjPxiDCzwQSMJG4FQIQUTRzEKvBVnt5Xid79jE8xDVTNJk2J0lBuFiJadA12oKxnVSIKHhAdHgmNkRTOc/s1600/IMG_6006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzVCXJl9qWGHliJuBGDOdhf6mXX2xnBcWShsj8oGWd0fB9Q4eekfQ5xswH66JjPxiDCzwQSMJG4FQIQUTRzEKvBVnt5Xid79jE8xDVTNJk2J0lBuFiJadA12oKxnVSIKHhAdHgmNkRTOc/s400/IMG_6006.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the craft breweries we found in the Driftless. This one was special!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAUUC0q4sI33SogT5q3ygMm__DUvxI9qjqYrZrFCKk2_XM6tVqTNDOld7Hz-eZSDsDxwwGR-a04JzgmskAgEmwZugCx4iPkIt7K-YBftpGwrXUDd4qo74kGDYlbeuMY1Ty75hykP62-ho/s1600/IMG_6005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAUUC0q4sI33SogT5q3ygMm__DUvxI9qjqYrZrFCKk2_XM6tVqTNDOld7Hz-eZSDsDxwwGR-a04JzgmskAgEmwZugCx4iPkIt7K-YBftpGwrXUDd4qo74kGDYlbeuMY1Ty75hykP62-ho/s400/IMG_6005.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here's to the Driftless! Home of trout, beer, and cheese curds!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh89DYIDsYFm3n1ngr1Zyac3nN7p_zHwUw2qLWgTjPmXMR_epygkUf9YLr132zBVcD03vNRNanyj17MQCGg_rFvZNUa0GyjNPePDi0I34tyHZ3JL4ahD_oCkLCa4FiBdq1PqGgpgOorIKU/s1600/IMG_5937.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh89DYIDsYFm3n1ngr1Zyac3nN7p_zHwUw2qLWgTjPmXMR_epygkUf9YLr132zBVcD03vNRNanyj17MQCGg_rFvZNUa0GyjNPePDi0I34tyHZ3JL4ahD_oCkLCa4FiBdq1PqGgpgOorIKU/s400/IMG_5937.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hanging out at Legacy in downtown (don't blink) Coon Valley, Wisconsin.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3tVjy9J36F-BHdarbrhqgcBSJZlGhBlaLs_y5onjDFOP1YN5EzjSlQmqTubgUX3qNAg1LC98o5BsxWhVIjSDtsx67U4ta38l98AhKsGDMbkneNF9uZywabgiPilPR3rjF1YCl4MH3FQc/s1600/IMG_6011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3tVjy9J36F-BHdarbrhqgcBSJZlGhBlaLs_y5onjDFOP1YN5EzjSlQmqTubgUX3qNAg1LC98o5BsxWhVIjSDtsx67U4ta38l98AhKsGDMbkneNF9uZywabgiPilPR3rjF1YCl4MH3FQc/s400/IMG_6011.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My good friend and client, Alan, on Esofea Branch.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGQ_3E2qdfG2hvFj-hUtKT7aHNi2_Z9kNU_cOIwdVPi1M0PFQZQnQySZI5bkqsMwvfzSzw9XBgWN85u2EBtzwLo1ZqQJ2xnUR3rzV6uMeRD-mYWWMI5O7vs-bS8r4nWmCx9ciRpb5FgcE/s1600/IMG_6015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGQ_3E2qdfG2hvFj-hUtKT7aHNi2_Z9kNU_cOIwdVPi1M0PFQZQnQySZI5bkqsMwvfzSzw9XBgWN85u2EBtzwLo1ZqQJ2xnUR3rzV6uMeRD-mYWWMI5O7vs-bS8r4nWmCx9ciRpb5FgcE/s400/IMG_6015.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rob Worthing, working a bend pool on Esofea Branch.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwDGh8xIt3IFYik9xojiNT-HERHpj7E0Jtht4ugIn_Mn7HuGfggQWU-PHZ5oyICT0sq0344SgxrontVk62pC6q6h7NlpidHOGgrrLytKYvDNX0vA-BfKE8why2-_C82-uXZPl3vHZryoc/s1600/IMG_6012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwDGh8xIt3IFYik9xojiNT-HERHpj7E0Jtht4ugIn_Mn7HuGfggQWU-PHZ5oyICT0sq0344SgxrontVk62pC6q6h7NlpidHOGgrrLytKYvDNX0vA-BfKE8why2-_C82-uXZPl3vHZryoc/s400/IMG_6012.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jeff, working his way back downstream on Esofea Branch, not far from camp.</td></tr>
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<br />
We had a late, cool, wet spring here in Colorado. As of today, June 6th, the runoff is finally starting. My local canyons have gone from the golden, perfect flow of 30 cfs to just over a hundred. The headwater mountain range of those streams in the canyons have <a href="https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/co/snow/" target="_blank">snow water equivalent of over 360 percent!</a> It'll be a great runoff, even if I can't fish the canyons for a while. A big runoff will scour out some of the really good holes that filled in with sand after last summer's flash flooding. The canyons, and consequently the trout, will be better because of it.<br />
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I hope you had a splendid spring, and here's looking forward to a stunning summer!<br />
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<br />Paul Vertreeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09396294738558824287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456151614292758344.post-2823707867995599982019-03-19T07:43:00.000-07:002019-03-19T07:43:17.765-07:00Gear I Use: Little Presents Fishing Gloves<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Once in a while I get a hold of a piece of gear that just makes good sense! These gloves are that kind of gear! </div>
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A while back, my friend Chris Stewart, aka "TenkaraBum", started carrying <a href="https://www.tenkarabum.com/little-presents-fishing-gloves.html" target="_blank">Little Presents fishing gloves</a> on his onine store at <a href="https://www.tenkarabum.com/" target="_blank">TenkaraBum</a>. I already had two other pairs of cold weather fishing gloves, one pair of old ragg wool no-finger gloves, and one pair of synthetic open-ended mittens by Marmot, so I really didn't need yet another pair of fishing gloves. However, I'm glad I ordered the LP gloves from Chris!</div>
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Chris has a great description of the gloves on his website. I was pleasantly surprised to see the gloves were available in olive green color, in addition to black. I have way too many pieces of gear that are the standard industrial black color, and the olive color of these gloves fits in well with a lot of the clothing and layers I fish in.</div>
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I found the palms of these gloves quite grippy, but the webbing pattern isn's stiff at all. That's a complaint I've had with other gloves that have a non-slip palm, especially as the gloves get older and the non-slip coating gets more brittle. </div>
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In Chris's description of the gloves he says, "one size fits most", and I found that to be true. I have small hands, and the gloves fit me well and weren't overly loose. They're stretchy enough to fit all but the biggest hands.</div>
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I have a feeling these new gloves are going to get quite a workout early this spring! If I'm out on a REALLY cold day, I can always slip a fleece mitten on over the LP gloves. If they get wet, I can wring them out, put on a dry spare pair of gloves, and hang them on my pack to dry. That shouldn't take long, since they're synthetic.</div>
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In all these <a href="https://www.tenkarabum.com/little-presents-fishing-gloves.html" target="_blank">Little Presents fishing gloves</a> are a winner! </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaxFcDvdUJCWyAwbnWU6tc7tgjS2fzUP6GrflnKijC63eWkjenjSPN02Uj1lAH7O4VQxqDDh_cuBvV_X9KnwvkD9oKWwAq7efF7ybcl2_-Nhf-YveekLX1KKybNHrB0qTbiWNmAD3MJPw/s1600/D384AA53-04F7-49D4-BFD0-7364E18A37C0.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaxFcDvdUJCWyAwbnWU6tc7tgjS2fzUP6GrflnKijC63eWkjenjSPN02Uj1lAH7O4VQxqDDh_cuBvV_X9KnwvkD9oKWwAq7efF7ybcl2_-Nhf-YveekLX1KKybNHrB0qTbiWNmAD3MJPw/s640/D384AA53-04F7-49D4-BFD0-7364E18A37C0.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grippy, lightweight non-slip palms!</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoszqH2VQBMSDDPQLt0NGWgtFf8XOw-9LZcelfWvMMot96o0svGWaqKVVUoqCK0Zou5j4SvCcqZj4shQrDF_FIYDgI9bNTS3tFmkuYEqJlUQXmdvpKNslzgKtosPJKbbu69oK99KQA9rw/s1600/IMG_5418.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoszqH2VQBMSDDPQLt0NGWgtFf8XOw-9LZcelfWvMMot96o0svGWaqKVVUoqCK0Zou5j4SvCcqZj4shQrDF_FIYDgI9bNTS3tFmkuYEqJlUQXmdvpKNslzgKtosPJKbbu69oK99KQA9rw/s640/IMG_5418.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Paul Vertreeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09396294738558824287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456151614292758344.post-1869448241005305082019-03-04T15:36:00.003-08:002019-03-04T17:23:09.317-08:00Food I Eat: Sawtooth's Kasha<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQxft5IzHK59USewysxQvb0kuvvDgXwLIoweYVWmiP8ObLDjWonOEWf1pm5Oz2v6OWqJCH-dksomIjDaT4j4CiuPj2ScY1Xd9sNB-mGwnLDZgmqvK-nZTipCzpYIacqEEu6Zezd1QeYv4/s1600/IMG_4662.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQxft5IzHK59USewysxQvb0kuvvDgXwLIoweYVWmiP8ObLDjWonOEWf1pm5Oz2v6OWqJCH-dksomIjDaT4j4CiuPj2ScY1Xd9sNB-mGwnLDZgmqvK-nZTipCzpYIacqEEu6Zezd1QeYv4/s640/IMG_4662.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rehydrating kasha on my Bushbuddy Stove. My go-to backcountry meal!</td></tr>
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I've had a multi-year blog series entitled <a href="http://www.tenkaratracks.com/2014/01/gear-i-use-series.html?m=0" target="_blank">"Gear I Use"</a>, which features various lightweight backpacking gear, tenkara rods and lines, and other highly useful items I pack into the backcountry. Until now, I really haven't given thought to sharing the meals I use while backpacking and guiding in the boonies. With this new series, I'll share homemade recipes, preparation and storage tips, and nutrition information. I hope you'll find something of value here, and that it'll make your taste buds sing, even if you're sitting under a Engelmann spruce at 11,000 feet, high on a ridge in the Colorado Rockies, in the pouring rain!<br />
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A couple of months ago, while working the <a href="https://www.royalgorgeanglers.com/" target="_blank">Royal Gorge Anglers</a> booth at the Denver Fly Fishing Show, RGA founder Bill Edrington and I quickly started discussing food and cooking, as we usually do when we spend more than ten minutes together. Bill used to write an interesting column in <a href="https://hcamagazine.com/" target="_blank">High Country Angler Magazine</a> (the now out-of-print online-only <a href="https://coloradotu.org/" target="_blank">Colorado Trout Unlimited</a> magazine), entitled <a href="http://tightlinesandtastyspoons.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">"Tight Lines and Tasty Spoons"</a>, which was based on his <a href="http://tightlinesandtastyspoons.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">blog of the same name</a>. The only thing Bill loves to do more than fly fish is cook (and eat well), and in that he and I have much in common. It was my conversations with Bill about food that got me thinking about sharing my backcountry food with others on my blog.<br />
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I have a number of bulletproof meals that are suited for backpacking, and I also use them for the <a href="https://www.royalgorgeanglers.com/guided-fly-fishing/backcountry-trips/" target="_blank">backcountry fly fishing trips I guide each year for Royal Gorge Anglers</a>. Some of them are only prepared for backpacking, and others are tailor-made for full-day guide trips. I'll share a bunch of them here, and explain the differences.<br />
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The first meal I'll showcase is <i>kasha</i>. It's the one I use the most when backpacking solo, or when I'm day hiking in the canyons with a tenkara rod in my hand. It's extremely versatile, easily customized, and it's very nutritious. It's my go-to backcountry meal above all others. Here we go...<br />
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Kasha. In simplest terms, it's a a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckwheat" target="_blank">buckwheat</a>-based porridge. It's been around for at least a thousand years, and has historic roots in Central and Eastern Europe, especially Belarus, the Czech Republic, Poland, Russia, and Ukraine. Kasha is generally made of toasted <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckwheat" target="_blank">buckwheat</a> groats, with a wide variety of ingredients added, although in the Slavic region it can also be based on wheat, barley, millet, oats, or rye. I have focused only on kasha made with toasted buckwheat groats.<br />
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In historic Russia, kasha was made either savory or sweet, by using either water or milk as a base. I prepare my kasha the savory way, and only use water, simply because water-based kasha is better suited for dehydration. More on that later. While Russian kasha is served as a side dish, mine ends up being a one-pot meal. So, I've taken a very traditional Eastern European side dish and adapted it into a backcountry meal staple that includes both vegetables and meat.<br />
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I have no doubt that historic <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Promyshlenniki" target="_blank">Siberian <i>promyshlenniki</i></a>, those 17th and 18th century traders, trappers, and craftsmen, added meat and available vegetables to their kasha as well. One-pot meals, prepared over open fires, just make sense to an outdoorsman, whether it's 1719 or 2019. As you'll see, kasha has excellent nutrition, which is needed when living outdoors in the wild. I've read, and re-read, the wonderful book, <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Notes-East-Siberian-Hunter-Cherkassov/dp/1468528971" target="_blank">Notes of an East Siberian Hunter</a></i>, and can find no mention of kasha. However, given it's historic widespread use all over Eastern Europe and Siberia, I can't see why those folks didn't eat it.<br />
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So, here we go...Sawtooth's Kasha:<br />
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Ingredients:<br />
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* 1 cup toasted buckwheat (I use Uvelka toasted buckwheat groats, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KVRB132/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1" target="_blank">straight from Russia via </a><br />
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KVRB132/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1" target="_blank"> Amazon</a>)<br />
* 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil<br />
* 1/2 yellow onion, diced<br />
* 1 cup diced crimini mushrooms<br />
* 1 cup oven-roasted Brussels sprouts (something I have on hand often)<br />
* 1/2 cup roasted chicken breast, diced (you can also use any pre-cooked meat like venison, pork, <br />
beef, bison, etc. Think "stew meat" and you'll get the idea. I like it with leftover pork chops meat<br />
too.<br />
* 1 cup chopped spinach<br />
* 2 cups water<br />
* 3 chicken bouillon cubes<br />
* Spices (smoked paprika, garlic powder, Montreal steak seasoning)<br />
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**Note: make sure your meat and vegetables are diced up nice and small. It really helps rehydrate and cook up better later on if you are going to dehydrate your kasha. If not, leave it big and chunky.<br />
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In a non-stick deep dish fry pan, pour the buckwheat into the preheated pan. Toast the groats until they start to "pop" (watch them closely, you'll see them wiggle and crackle). This is just before they get hot enough to smoke. I like to stir them often during this toasting. It only takes 5 minutes or so.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Buckwheat groats during final toasting.</td></tr>
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Stir in the olive oil and add the onions. Continue to sauté the onions until they start to soften. Then dump in the mushrooms and sauté just a bit longer.<br />
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Once the onions have softened, pour in 2 cups of water and drop the bullion cubes in. Season with your choice of spices. Stir, cover, and simmer for about 15 minutes (at 5,400 feet elevation). If you're lower elevation, it won't take as long. I test the groats for doneness, and I like them soft, but firm. If you need to add a little water along the way to get the groats done, do so.<br />
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Dump in the Brussels sprouts, meat, and spinach. Season it some more, cover, and turn down to low so you can heat the whole thing up. I like my finished kasha to be about the consistency of thick oatmeal. It's a certain "goopiness" that lends itself well to dehydrating, which is the final step.<br />
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I usually can't stay out of my kasha once it's cooked! Once it's done and set off the stove to cool, it's time to lay it out in your food dehydrator.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFiYjY7iO6QXSsLMwY0Anx8qLPLms8nEaDTQOZ97QozGjPKuhggiwtjDU9pNBxGkbzA1Dw8twLr3TGsT45QU0RhqqkH9TGDVRyBE_RG8bVWCDnz_SGKD-CrG5yygO3R0ZCs5aArWfWhDE/s1600/IMG_5321.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFiYjY7iO6QXSsLMwY0Anx8qLPLms8nEaDTQOZ97QozGjPKuhggiwtjDU9pNBxGkbzA1Dw8twLr3TGsT45QU0RhqqkH9TGDVRyBE_RG8bVWCDnz_SGKD-CrG5yygO3R0ZCs5aArWfWhDE/s640/IMG_5321.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A batch of Sawooth's Kasha, ready for the dehydrator!</td></tr>
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I have an old Nesco American Harvest food dehydrator that has paid for itself many times over. I really like the one I have because you can fine tune the heat setting. I line the trays with parchment paper, and spread the kasha out over the lined tray until it's about 1/2"-3/4" thick, filling the entire tray. You can really get a lot more food in the dehydrator if you fill up your trays. A batch of kasha will fill about three trays, and you will have plenty left over to have it fresh for supper! I run the dehydrator on 150F temperature for around 12 hours. You will find that the Brussels sprouts take the longest of all of the ingredients to dehydrate. When they're dry, you're done!<br />
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Once the dehydrated kasha has cooled, I pack it into 1-quart Ziploc freezer bags, and stick it in the freezer. You can leave it out of the freezer in a cool, dark place, but because it has some olive oil in it, I like to have it in the freezer. It'll last for months, and beyond, if stored this way. You can also vacuum seal it to make it store even longer.<br />
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When I'm cooking it back up in the backcountry, I use 1 part dehydrated kasha to 1 part water. This will cook up nice and thick, and will come closer to the consistency it was when fresh, rather than a watered-down soup. Either are tasty, but I like my kasha thicker. Adjust your water accordingly when cooking it back up. I've found it takes about 10-15 minutes to boil it up on a <a href="http://www.tenkaratracks.com/2014/01/gear-i-use-stoves-and-grills.html" target="_blank">gas backpacking stove</a>, <a href="https://bushbuddystove.com/" target="_blank">Bushbuddy</a>, or open fire, to get it done. Once the meat is tender it's done.<br />
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As I said earlier, kasha can be VERY nutritious, and is gluten-free. You can tweak it with ingredients to your heart's content to adjust the nutrition. Here's the breakdown of just the buckwheat, which is the main ingredient and base for the kasha...<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: inherit;">Nutrition value: Per 100 g. proteins – - 12.6%, fats – 3.1%, starch – 60.7%, cellulose – 1.1%. Minerals</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: inherit;">(mg): Na - 3.0, K – 380, Ca – 20, Mg – 200, P – 298, Fe – 6.7. Vitamins (mg): B1 – 0.01, В2 – 0.43, РР – 4.19.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: inherit;">Energy value – 355 kcal.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Many years ago, <a href="https://kifaru.net/brains.html" target="_blank">Patrick Smith</a> and I arrived at a 100 cal./ounce measurement for really good backcountry food. I think, with the right ingredients, kasha will meet that measurement. It's easy to prepare, tastes great, dehydrates and rehydrates well, and has some deep history as a staple for adventurous outdoorsmen. In all, it's my go-to meal! Enjoy!</span></span><br />
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Paul Vertreeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09396294738558824287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456151614292758344.post-48673703836232142432019-02-24T15:17:00.001-08:002019-02-24T16:39:35.185-08:00Gear I Use: Bushbuddy StoveQuite a while ago <a href="http://www.tenkaratracks.com/2014/01/gear-i-use-stoves-and-grills.html" target="_blank">I wrote about the various stoves I use</a>, and this blog post is about the one I use the most when I'm out solo, the <a href="https://bushbuddystove.com/" target="_blank">Bushbuddy Stove</a>.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cooking up a batch of potato soup on the Bushbuddy Stove.</td></tr>
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There are several things that make the <a href="https://bushbuddystove.com/" target="_blank">Bushbuddy Stove</a> ideal for my use... <br />
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First and foremost, with a Bushbuddy (a gasifier type ultralight wood burning backpacking stove), you don't have to carry any fuel because you're surrounded by an unlimited supply of fuel (twigs, pine cones, bark, and assorted biomass). This is important in and of itself for several reasons. The absence of white gas fuel bottles (which I would use for my MSR Whisperlite) in my pack logically equate to lighter pack weights. The absence of iso-butane fuel canisters (which I would use for my Pocket Rocket or Coleman Exponent F1) also mean lighter pack weights, as well as eliminating the waste of discarded empty 110g or 220g canisters. Lighter pack weight and no wasted empty fuel canisters! Low impact on both my back (pack weight) and the environment (discarded fuel canisters).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Bushbuddy stove, and a Four Dog 1.1L Mors camp pot, <br />
cooking up a batch of dehydrated kasha with brussels sprouts.</td></tr>
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Secondly, the Bushbuddy has very little impact on the environment. This is especially good in the canyons where I explore, fish, and guide tenkara trips. By the time Lieutenant Zebulon Pike poked up into these canyons in the winter of 1806-1807 during his southwest expedition, Native Americans had already been doing so for hundreds of years. Fire rings dot the narrow riparian zones along the creeks in my canyons. Because the Bushbuddy stove is a self-contained fire-powered stove, there's no need to use the old fire rings or make new ones. It's literally a "Leave No Trace" way of cooking with fire. Because the Bushbuddy uses small twigs, pine cones, and bits of bark, the impact on the dead and downed trees is minimal, and requires no unsightly cutting of branches with a hand saw or chopping of wood with a hatchet. Again...low impact, this time on the local environment.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The fire starter I use the most with the Bushbuddy...cotton balls soaked in Vaseline.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finger-sized twigs...juniper...great fuel!</td></tr>
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Third, the Bushbuddy stove has become an integral part of my cooking "system, and I've found a couple of cook pots that it nests into, saving space in my pack. I had been using titanium pots made by Snowpeak for many years, but in the past few years I've migrated to the hard anodized aluminum pots offered<a href="http://fourdog.com/" target="_blank"> by Don Kevilus over at Four Dog Stove</a>. <a href="http://fourdog.com/1-1-liter-bush-pot-hard-anodized/" target="_blank">Don's purpose-driven 1.1L Mors bush pot</a>, originally used by the bushcraft legend, Mors Kochanski, is a perfect fit with the Bushbuddy stove. It's this duo that claims a spot in my backpack, and they are tailor made for each other. I will be covering ideal cooking pots in a future blog post, but rest assured that the <a href="http://fourdog.com/anodized-aluminum-camp-cookware/" target="_blank">Mors camp pots made by Four Dog Stove</a> are bulletproof and affordable.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Four Dog 1.1L Mors bush pot. The Bushbuddy nests inside it perfectly!</td></tr>
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Lastly, the <a href="https://bushbuddystove.com/" target="_blank">Bushbuddy stove</a> is handcrafted by an acquaintance of mine in remote interior Alaska. It's a US-made, small batch piece of gear, crafted by a couple who live off-grid near Tok, Alaska. This is no late-to-the-party <a href="https://www.solostove.com/?gclid=CjwKCAiAnsnjBRB6EiwATkM1Xhv4EH052q9COCVeD-iLTGK3S9cB1tsx3CUVr30Q_zMKuT7kZfgcbBoC1_MQAvD_BwE" target="_blank">offshore cookie cutter knockoff made by workers who will never know how it's used</a>, or even the genius of its design. <a href="https://hikinginfinland.com/2009/11/interview-fritz-handel-from-bushbuddy.html" target="_blank">Originally developed and handmade by Fritz Hande</a>l in Canada, and then passed down to his apprentice, Jeff Tinker, the Bushbuddy is truly a homespun piece of gear. I have much in common with Jeff, and his wife, Belle. We both heat our homes with wood we cut and split ourselves, although their needs in Alaska eclipse those of mine in the southern Colorado foothills. We both enjoy doing things our own, self-supported way. The stainless steel stove material Fritz Handel originally used, and is now used by Jeff, was first given to them by <a href="https://kifaru.net/brains.html" target="_blank">my dear friend Patrick Smith</a>, founder of Mountainsmith and owner of Kifaru, International. I highly respect Jeff and Belle for the lifestyle they've chosen, and it's very satisfying to fire up my Bushbuddy stove, knowing that Jeff and Belle's hands were the only ones that touched my stove before it arrived on my doorstep. <br />
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As for the crafting of the Bushbuddy stoves, all of it is done by Jeff and Belle. According to Jeff, Belle does at least half of the work. Jeff does all of the forming, drilling, grinding, and welding of the outer shells, pot supports, and fireboxes. Belle does all of the material processing, which includes shearing stainless steel pieces (they get them in bulk rolled coils), cutting out discs for forming, hammering out pot supports and ash pan tabs on the anvil, welding all of the ash pans and heat shields, and etching the logo on the bottom of the stove. Belle also processes all of the cardboard used for packaging. All while caring for a 16-month-old baby while pregnant with their second child. My respect for Jeff and Belle goes beyond the crafting of the Bushbuddy stove, as it takes Jeff around 20 hours a week just to keep up with the demands of living an off-grid life in remote Alaska. Add that to the 2-3 hours it takes the two of them to produce just one Bushbuddy stove. I'm both amazed by their grit and ingenuity and thankful that there are people in this world like Jeff and Belle!<br />
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I couldn't be happier with my Bushbuddy stove (made by Jeff and Belle several years ago, under the previous Nomadic Stove label), and the history and deep workmanship that it represents, going all the way back to Fritz Handel's original hard work, and all way up to the present with the crafting of these wonderful stoves by Jeff and Belle. I've said it before many times...utilitarian ART!<br />
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<br />Paul Vertreeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09396294738558824287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456151614292758344.post-34147511256542603742018-11-12T18:46:00.000-08:002018-11-12T18:46:43.360-08:00Windows of Opportunity<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's shoulder season in the southern Colorado foothills and canyons. It's that time of year when you can run the air conditioner and the heater in your truck all on the same day. One weekend it can snow six inches and the next one you can go for a trail run in shorts. There are windows of opportunity to get out into the canyons in pursuit of browns and rainbows, and you have to grab those windows when you can.<br />
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Winter storms are in the forecast, but not quite here yet. Coming tomorrow. Navigating my truck down washed-out switchbacks and bedrock to the bottom of the canyon, and then back up the opposite wall to a hidden pullout. Getting out of the cab, I notice the so-called road was so rough it rattled my gas cap open.<br />
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A good friend meets me at the pullout, his own truck dusty and disheveled from the trek. We've fished together in the canyons, and beyond, even to Alaska. Conversations begin where they ended weeks or months ago.<br />
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We gear up and start the thousand-foot drop down the canyon wall to the creek. Old knees and worn backs welcome the weight of wading boots and backpacks. Our bones and muscles know this routine well, and we know this is the easy part...we will have to climb back out at the end of the day.<br />
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The water is low and gin clear. The browns and rainbows are holed up in the bend pools...spaces between cold rock and deep water. They aren't picky, and they know they have the same windows of opportunity to eat what they can before the winter ice closes off their world for six months. Hard takes on Killer Bugs, Beadhead Squirrel Nymphs, and RS2s. It's an exceedingly good day.<br />
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The sun sets early behind canyons walls, and the temperature plummets. We climb the thousand feet up and out of the canyons, chests heaving and brows sweating, sad to be leaving Once on top of the wall we sit in the dark drinking beer, discussing the day, the fish we caught. We feel fortunate to have had this window of opportunity!<br />
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<br />Paul Vertreeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09396294738558824287noreply@blogger.com0Cañon City, CO 81212, USA38.4494063 -105.225331638.3498978 -105.3866931 38.5489148 -105.0639701tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456151614292758344.post-2681599704211584332018-10-30T19:04:00.000-07:002018-10-30T20:01:48.078-07:00Delicious Autumn!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "lato" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">“Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.” --George Eliot</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Autumn in the canyons!</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "lato" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">I'm sitting here on my patio five minutes from the banks of the Arkansas River. We've already had measurable snow this month. There's a foot of desicated, brown, crunchy maple leaves in the backyard. The shadows are getting longer, the days are getting shorter, and it's my absolute favorite season of the year! It's that same season that calls to me every year, urging me to get with the program and get firewood cut and split, get elk anchored to the ground and in the freezer, and get out onto the water to grasp what remaining fishing can be done before winter sets in. There's both a soothing relaxation of the season, and a haunting reminder that it'll all be wrapped up by Mother Nature, whether I like it or not, in the next few weeks. I heard (or read) somewhere that the same Mother Nature saved all of the beauty of the other three seasons and dumped it into this one all at once. I tend to agree.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Golden aspens and long afternoon shadows!</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "lato" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">This fall has been blessed with success and fraught with failure. I'll take them both in stride and keep on trucking. First of all, I've been fortunate enough to spend some really great days out on the water, enjoying Indian summer and catching a lot of fish. Secondly, I've been struggling with some injuries caused by a 20-plus year career in the Army, that raise their ugly heads a couple of times a year, and those injuries made me miss my wilderness elk hunt during the first season here in Colorado. You just cannot haul 150 pounds of boned-out elk meat out of the backcountry in a backpack with nagging, decades-old problems with your lower back, not to mention the wear and tear of 40 years of backpacking. So be it...I know where those elk live, and they aren't going anywhere. I'll be back after them in a late season hunt this year when there's plenty of snow on the ground.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "lato" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Back to autumn fishing. After a good <a href="https://www.royalgorgeanglers.com/guided-fly-fishing/" target="_blank">guide trip</a> in early October with some awesome clients, I was able to get out into some higher canyons for a full day of fishing. Just prior to that trip, I had made the <a href="https://www.royalgorgeanglers.com/tactical-tenkara-nymphing-line.html" target="_blank">Tactical Tenkara Nymphing (TTN) line I designed</a> public, offering it exclusively through the fly shop I work and guide for, <a href="https://www.royalgorgeanglers.com/" target="_blank">Royal Gorge Anglers</a>. It was a whole lot of fun to take that same capable tenkara line out <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32LE-x6dhLM" target="_blank">into the canyons this fall for some small water nymphing</a>. I had been testing and tweaking that line for nearly three years on water ranging from my tiny canyons and larger rivers here at home in Colorado, to streams in southwest Wisconsin's Driftless, and then all the way up to Alaska where it worked amazingly well on trophy Alaskan rainbows. Most of my big water nymphing is done with the standard 12-foot TTN, including the fishing I've done in remote Alaska. However, I've also dialed in the taper of this weight-forward line to a shorter overall length line for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32LE-x6dhLM" target="_blank">small water nymphing here at home in my canyons</a>. It was this shorter line (in this case an 11-foot length) that I used this fall for some stellar fall fishing at home. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The heart and soul of small water nymphing, my 11' TTN!</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "lato" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">A couple of fall trips to tenkara waters really stand out this year. One was very close to home and the other was a few hours away. Both of them were a celebration of this brief season here in Colorado, and a thoughtful comparison of solo fishing and the camaraderie of fishing with a friend.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "lato" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">I happen to <a href="https://www.royalgorgeanglers.com/guided-fly-fishing/" target="_blank">guide with some very talented folks</a>, who also happen to be very good friends. This past season, my busiest ever, was spent guiding some group trips (enough clients to warrant two guides) with a couple of solid fellow fly fishing guides. One of them, Joe, has been my fishing partner on more than one "guides day off" fishing trip this year. We partnered up for one such trip in mid-October this year. We headed up to around 8,500 feet to one of our favorite canyons. I really didn't know what expect up there, because I just hadn't had the time to scout it at all this year. What I did know was that there had been widespread low water this year in all of the canyons, but of all of the canyons I fish close to home, this one was one of the highest in elevation. That would give us lower water temps, and hopefully higher flows. My estimations were correct, and Joe and I found conditions just about perfect for a day of small water canyon fishing. The aspens were golden, the cool fall air was refreshing, and the brown trout were hungry!</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A beautiful fall drive in my Tenkara Taco on dirt roads to the canyons!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Good company!</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "lato" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">On this particular trip I took along a <a href="https://www.zentenkara.com/shop-tenkara/suzume-rod-wsock-and-hard-rod-tube/" target="_blank">Zen Tenkara Suzume</a>, my favorite small water rod. I nearly always fish this rod at it's fully extended length of 10'8". I teamed this rod up with my <a href="https://www.royalgorgeanglers.com/tactical-tenkara-nymphing-line.html" target="_blank">11' TTN line</a>, with about 3' of tippet, terminating with a <a href="http://www.richosthoff.com/" target="_blank">#16 olive Bead Caddis tied by my friend, Rich Osthoff</a>. I put one #4 splitshot about 9" in front of the nymph. It was a simple, lightweight nymph rig, perfect for small water nymphing!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A rock-solid small water rod!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rigged up for a full day of fall fishing.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rich Osthoff's wonderful little nymph.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "lato" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">I stopped counting fish at around 30. It was a great full day of fishing with a good friend. The Colorado fall colors were vibrant, and the air was cool with a hint of the coming winter. It was a simply amazing day!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fall colors, fall water.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joe, working a tailout.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT5alO01MgA9EU031Ao9vEejkEGj9hevlqlhB00Fzs38CTNWGXGNgSicl_lnXOmiTExO4YGYgnapsQbIfUpTlPVPhLcT7YjOD1CQgARygc_S-E8cmrVFqx7sEpqmDPYiKT1D4LH7lMWYM/s1600/IMG_4290.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT5alO01MgA9EU031Ao9vEejkEGj9hevlqlhB00Fzs38CTNWGXGNgSicl_lnXOmiTExO4YGYgnapsQbIfUpTlPVPhLcT7YjOD1CQgARygc_S-E8cmrVFqx7sEpqmDPYiKT1D4LH7lMWYM/s400/IMG_4290.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A beautiful little brown trout</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "lato" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">The next fall trip that really stands out is my annual pilgrimage to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. Our family has been making this trip, on the same weekend each year, for a very long time. We usually rent a cabin in or near Estes Park, and this year was no different. We had room in the cabin for our immediate family and a few guests, including our oldest daughter who's attending college at Colorado State University in Ft. Collins, about an hour away from Estes Park. Each year, I'm able to spend a whole day during this retreat fishing in Rocky Mountain National Park.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Passing through my Stomping Grounds, en route to Estes Park.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGHuanI-mTFV2UVTcUfIcb2HUzdmRNhD9NSCOFDxfHWrYmlmohRWWV_R1DVZ1zON_-59UiNTGcZvk2C5ng5F_NxXPS4HTYra7-z0-j8HLbuZgxKcG78WwlNnoO4OaRDEzeCmcpkjFKjpw/s1600/IMG_4373.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1035" data-original-width="1600" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGHuanI-mTFV2UVTcUfIcb2HUzdmRNhD9NSCOFDxfHWrYmlmohRWWV_R1DVZ1zON_-59UiNTGcZvk2C5ng5F_NxXPS4HTYra7-z0-j8HLbuZgxKcG78WwlNnoO4OaRDEzeCmcpkjFKjpw/s400/IMG_4373.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mule deer in the yard at the cabin in Estes Park.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "lato" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">My normal routine is to get up before dark, brew coffee and eat breakfast, and then head into Rocky Mountain National Park for my fishing day. Over the years, I've spent most of my time fishing the Big Thompson in Moraine Park and Forest Canyon, and fishing Glacier Creek below Bear Lake. This time around I headed back to my regular spot on the Big Thompson at the upstream end of Moraine Park, and started fishing up. If you fish this way on that section of the Big T, it becomes increasingly overgrown with Douglas fir, blue spruce, willow, and western river birch. Thankful that I was casting a relatively short tenkara rod (the Zen Suzume), I kept fishing upstream until I finally had enough of the spider web of tippet-catching vegetation overhead. In the process, I caught a dozen or so brook trout on the upper half of this stretch, and half as many browns on the lower. Luckily, I had enough time left to head over to Glacier Creek, so I at my lunch on the bank of the Big T in Moraine Park, and then headed back to my truck.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A glorious view of Moraine Park!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Big T, near the entrance to Forest Canyon.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The headwaters of the Big Thompson River.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An upper Big T brown.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "lato" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">After fishing the Big T, I drove out of Moraine Park, enroute to Glacier Creek on Bear Lake Road. At the downstream end of Moraine Park the park rangers had set up a roadblock. Once I got to the head of the long line of vehicles, the ranger informed me that because every single parking space had been filled between Moraine Park and Bear Lake, they were turning all traffic away for about an hour. In all of the years I've been fishing Rocky Mountain National Park, and that's a lot of years, I've never seen this happen!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A view of Longs Peak from near Deer Ridge Junction.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Horseshoe Park.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "lato" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">After pulling a quick u-turn at the roadblock, I drove up to Deer Ridge Junction, down into Horseshoe Park, and drove up along Fall River and parked just below the Alluvial Fan. It's a good quarter-mile hike across the grass and marsh of the valley to Fall River, but it was worth it! After the devastation of the last flood on Fall River, I was a little worried that it may not have fully bounced back yet. I was pleasantly surprise to find a LOT of trout in the river. Bright sun and no shade along the river (the exact opposite of Forest Canyon) made it challenging! </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fall River in Horseshoe Park</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fall River, looking downstream toward Estes Park</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Fall River brown.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "lato" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">In all, I've had a very enjoyable fall season of tenkara! I don't think it's over yet, but we're close. There are sometimes brief windows of balmy weather even into December, and when they come along I'll jump on it! But for now I have a hot wood stove heating our home, six inches of snow in tonight's forecast, flies to tie, and tenkara lines to make. Life is good!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "lato" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span>Paul Vertreeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09396294738558824287noreply@blogger.com0Cañon City, CO 81212, USA38.4494063 -105.225331638.3498978 -105.3866931 38.5489148 -105.0639701tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456151614292758344.post-282401194075263102018-10-16T13:00:00.003-07:002018-10-16T18:38:12.338-07:00Tenkara Bricolage: Long Overdue Catching Up!After a long period of being solidly placed on the back burner, here's a short blog post to catch up a bit!<br />
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Each year I try to get out into the canyons either in late fall, or early spring, for a multi-day cold weather backpack trip. During Thanksgiving break last year, I found a window of relatively mild (highs in the 40s and lows around 20) weather. It ended up being a four-day solo backpack trip to one of my favorite spots in the canyons, and it was filled with peace, solitude, and hungry trout! These kinds of trips really recharge my batteries and clear my head!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Out in the canyons with my Kifaru KU3700, packed full.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Long shadows fall early this time of year!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1diQP8oQ6VZiGs9jGC6LN1sY-ayCSF8QF4NVMKOVuIgIvcH1nhpxa66Q_Z3xVgDi_GD3OeagWEOgRNJdahsuDcznXdr-gjeGEpAJNGLb10WwIChQ-gQSrqmEKeaZYJtSbcg_F8n7EXUM/s1600/IMG_1049.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1diQP8oQ6VZiGs9jGC6LN1sY-ayCSF8QF4NVMKOVuIgIvcH1nhpxa66Q_Z3xVgDi_GD3OeagWEOgRNJdahsuDcznXdr-gjeGEpAJNGLb10WwIChQ-gQSrqmEKeaZYJtSbcg_F8n7EXUM/s400/IMG_1049.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Standing beside my Kifaru Sawtooth, the best cold weather solo shelter in the world!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgikvf4xVYWq8pgfAYH3dV60yxwWoOvw-0vXuOGvNZgzIfIDqUrVpYi-cgJtg9d024e_CnfN_yruH0lUj5J5ruchW403M6Idx3RKPDtRDu31GFgWyiaPrrVNxk4gqdb6laq4WFESdL8uxg/s1600/IMG_1127.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgikvf4xVYWq8pgfAYH3dV60yxwWoOvw-0vXuOGvNZgzIfIDqUrVpYi-cgJtg9d024e_CnfN_yruH0lUj5J5ruchW403M6Idx3RKPDtRDu31GFgWyiaPrrVNxk4gqdb6laq4WFESdL8uxg/s400/IMG_1127.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Camp.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoCofQEmi2IFFdZgvcNoSIU1S1JRsEMZLxCKMZ1R6ovA6zB87DeFCcBZvkdmo5KNkUEM9eW3gqe4W6167icFr9A7IaUN8fsucqZ3-N2d4R4bJuRM_6PAuvQidAfo6QAVT3mwUsKk7Sqaw/s1600/IMG_1116.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoCofQEmi2IFFdZgvcNoSIU1S1JRsEMZLxCKMZ1R6ovA6zB87DeFCcBZvkdmo5KNkUEM9eW3gqe4W6167icFr9A7IaUN8fsucqZ3-N2d4R4bJuRM_6PAuvQidAfo6QAVT3mwUsKk7Sqaw/s400/IMG_1116.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking downstream toward my camp, a mile away.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieB7xkwMyvBhGfFoEzqNPsbxtPDg2f7BzHEvrL15YQbxvzZQ7a-rRZ5ySqZQ_h9NPomyWPMHm-Cs8oRsWnUdXjgjSVHHt2mP5scFd-7rRPOD5pJwG4oa-V2ftF76kKlwqDWLtpRp-idTQ/s1600/IMG_1124.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieB7xkwMyvBhGfFoEzqNPsbxtPDg2f7BzHEvrL15YQbxvzZQ7a-rRZ5ySqZQ_h9NPomyWPMHm-Cs8oRsWnUdXjgjSVHHt2mP5scFd-7rRPOD5pJwG4oa-V2ftF76kKlwqDWLtpRp-idTQ/s400/IMG_1124.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cooking up a hot cup of kasha for lunch.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG1XMQNw5lioSPwAMlrlS67PA_cyDRXCZuFCaP94u6Livnh-sC7IlZXzKueLh-MobSZt3ZnLUiNbSUi-TqJafviN8I_HjgzqlkBEqAt9EaB4FGPfT0DnZXO9B2QJfum0kohe7A_JiWqqc/s1600/IMG_1110.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG1XMQNw5lioSPwAMlrlS67PA_cyDRXCZuFCaP94u6Livnh-sC7IlZXzKueLh-MobSZt3ZnLUiNbSUi-TqJafviN8I_HjgzqlkBEqAt9EaB4FGPfT0DnZXO9B2QJfum0kohe7A_JiWqqc/s400/IMG_1110.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of dozens of late fall browns.</td></tr>
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Early spring 2018 rolled around, and on February 24th the weather turned warm. My frequent partner in the backcountry, Shawn Larson, joined me for a full day deep in the canyons. It was an amazingly productive day, with hungry browns eating BWO emergers and midge patterns on lightly weighted nymph rigs, cast with a prototype of my weight-forward tenkara nymphing line. This was actually the first day of fishing of 2018, and we had a blast!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnjvhYDSZTSVEKwH3bxc9tzkOhqmBXI5rCe_Xh2oUdvBKxuw_LFyZtYkHkFDSYHScTXcu5tA2LBd8ym_0fATnwJrNPjUfQTn-mRTaIAN1DiE5J08DJxA_kmq85LXKPpSrcA2oGEXrEvqM/s1600/IMG_1858.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnjvhYDSZTSVEKwH3bxc9tzkOhqmBXI5rCe_Xh2oUdvBKxuw_LFyZtYkHkFDSYHScTXcu5tA2LBd8ym_0fATnwJrNPjUfQTn-mRTaIAN1DiE5J08DJxA_kmq85LXKPpSrcA2oGEXrEvqM/s400/IMG_1858.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shawn, testing icy water.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiySaa1Y2AdN3bwCkkLISdbPvpUsZpMD5sIdY3UZCEQ-yiONH3uWvanzMcqxOUph0gyo6KKzri113ys-SSunsN2GX_go9xj_cyg0xNGPpoVxFPsmK1yO7ZV3ZlyBthOptf0A4JtyGjiC_A/s1600/IMG_1866.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiySaa1Y2AdN3bwCkkLISdbPvpUsZpMD5sIdY3UZCEQ-yiONH3uWvanzMcqxOUph0gyo6KKzri113ys-SSunsN2GX_go9xj_cyg0xNGPpoVxFPsmK1yO7ZV3ZlyBthOptf0A4JtyGjiC_A/s400/IMG_1866.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fishing one of dozens of bend pools.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjckvHRiARCx2I3zMCDeM4J2G3f27tO-mV-4lHrhOHPQsI2zxTYt8sSj4NAx1kfqtvUlRF41V59z3pO-MCI3ARDFu8wyNbFHx819azH-2Yxoj-dmtWtdoQ3RXj2HirYZjGDHNMKyd4ihKo/s1600/IMG_1870.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjckvHRiARCx2I3zMCDeM4J2G3f27tO-mV-4lHrhOHPQsI2zxTYt8sSj4NAx1kfqtvUlRF41V59z3pO-MCI3ARDFu8wyNbFHx819azH-2Yxoj-dmtWtdoQ3RXj2HirYZjGDHNMKyd4ihKo/s400/IMG_1870.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A welcome patch of sunshine!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDRuEg4cydEQJWrvVQWeUtI3pNDf-q3b__mggeatKfuV2Zm7TTFawWcQZPbnJ2MrJAm9msU6AwCAzEjxj9Pd1CjFITgWLfSHkO7DnvIIQ6wUmTXHTQ49FVGb-rihCGLBJ096ncEv1bq4g/s1600/IMG_1912.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDRuEg4cydEQJWrvVQWeUtI3pNDf-q3b__mggeatKfuV2Zm7TTFawWcQZPbnJ2MrJAm9msU6AwCAzEjxj9Pd1CjFITgWLfSHkO7DnvIIQ6wUmTXHTQ49FVGb-rihCGLBJ096ncEv1bq4g/s400/IMG_1912.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A face only a mother could love. His, not mine!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR6deikhG6sRkiioN-a3uhX5Y4869tuz333YLq-Iam2rIt7mQSHc5RqRewU3OuhTzLlZRfXT5A9IoSz3l95xKaMOerENCr0HinSCvgOQoUwC0D2lliYKPivbZYOrBtPrVpjaz4NWgpEt0/s1600/IMG_1901.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR6deikhG6sRkiioN-a3uhX5Y4869tuz333YLq-Iam2rIt7mQSHc5RqRewU3OuhTzLlZRfXT5A9IoSz3l95xKaMOerENCr0HinSCvgOQoUwC0D2lliYKPivbZYOrBtPrVpjaz4NWgpEt0/s400/IMG_1901.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Side by side Kifaru 14'r packs. Mine is the Ranger green on the left, Shawn's is the coyote brown on the right.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiefuJ484B5942R9Lpdfu6a0nPxNvxfKrHtL8ZgUseC3vtDCsKUdiQHUh_NNQM8NRD2XKbaJEl__nKJAQJvuS6HGwQkz8Edc1DokCk4wBmV187PcanG3IT1zcZDLVfS7RIks_mvtQOq8qA/s1600/IMG_1914.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiefuJ484B5942R9Lpdfu6a0nPxNvxfKrHtL8ZgUseC3vtDCsKUdiQHUh_NNQM8NRD2XKbaJEl__nKJAQJvuS6HGwQkz8Edc1DokCk4wBmV187PcanG3IT1zcZDLVfS7RIks_mvtQOq8qA/s400/IMG_1914.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Whipping up a pot full of potato soup, using my Bushbuddy stove. This is the original Fritz Handel design, and this one was handmade for me by Fritz' successor, Jeff Tinker, in Alaska.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYPVLrhyiyziWyo5fdD_IiEfSTIyjpBMiJjAYVoCBwuyhIORXG9Yzapdmx2bxVtaUtoPcZSlGy_LdjfPzXsVOjlv75f714ATbwrWHyqVsSAu7HESqlXVXU-8_QTxPCP1RLJJ8zsPNky8Q/s1600/IMG_1878.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYPVLrhyiyziWyo5fdD_IiEfSTIyjpBMiJjAYVoCBwuyhIORXG9Yzapdmx2bxVtaUtoPcZSlGy_LdjfPzXsVOjlv75f714ATbwrWHyqVsSAu7HESqlXVXU-8_QTxPCP1RLJJ8zsPNky8Q/s400/IMG_1878.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is what it's all about!</td></tr>
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<span style="text-align: start;">Each guide season I end up saying "that was the busiest season yet!", and this year was no exception! I had a great time guiding both tenkara and western trips for <a href="https://www.royalgorgeanglers.com/" target="_blank">Royal Gorge Anglers</a>, and my seventh year as a tenkara guide was one of my best. It seems only yesterday that I was starting out in 2012 as one of the first <a href="https://www.royalgorgeanglers.com/guided-fly-fishing/tenkara-trips/" target="_blank">tenkara-specific professional guides in Colorado</a>. Things have come a long way since then, and I've learned a lot about the fly fishing industry in the past seven seasons! </span><br />
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Here are a few highlights from my 2018 guide season. I actually start my guide season in mid-spring and it usually goes into October. Here are just a few photos taken during those trips.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN6d9o7HvUMQc82AbArj5K2i1CiLr39DjqI81VnnIDKtCstRQl6zWMowfkh4OrcoeglxyrHYnG7c9P8vpdJV2pwtqlZuhNyLBvUuhguw4Pa708mGLWeYnrrVA3BfRhaocfWpJWgMEYW2A/s1600/IMG_2497.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN6d9o7HvUMQc82AbArj5K2i1CiLr39DjqI81VnnIDKtCstRQl6zWMowfkh4OrcoeglxyrHYnG7c9P8vpdJV2pwtqlZuhNyLBvUuhguw4Pa708mGLWeYnrrVA3BfRhaocfWpJWgMEYW2A/s200/IMG_2497.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEw6Av9JpbCrQReXdrisIE5e35D57i_2rqNPvwZAvKZP_Rbz8EmxX1IJ3fZ6qhLkzw31VB0gzX1aBWT3o9BbmF6OHFGJcUrkpUsasvB6AY9SvhnECbmuQtmdZKB1Kfcx_HVpG2wVbcS58/s1600/IMG_2498.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEw6Av9JpbCrQReXdrisIE5e35D57i_2rqNPvwZAvKZP_Rbz8EmxX1IJ3fZ6qhLkzw31VB0gzX1aBWT3o9BbmF6OHFGJcUrkpUsasvB6AY9SvhnECbmuQtmdZKB1Kfcx_HVpG2wVbcS58/s200/IMG_2498.JPG" width="150" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ6sgy1niNv4gXGkpuQDcUDEqLKPUEgjW9NYOaCRecr452L0GbVHHn1WLlNf-3ESPiHQLthiKGQZYRVy_8LbMLoFbnJDpdipYzwkv717f-RGilKAvJoE2W_T5qK_ytFrZsFLD5CEw0SLo/s1600/IMG_2508.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ6sgy1niNv4gXGkpuQDcUDEqLKPUEgjW9NYOaCRecr452L0GbVHHn1WLlNf-3ESPiHQLthiKGQZYRVy_8LbMLoFbnJDpdipYzwkv717f-RGilKAvJoE2W_T5qK_ytFrZsFLD5CEw0SLo/s200/IMG_2508.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEJJH88A6iPeiOOIA46lBxhfyfQqSUGHh1pm4Yyzu36tZu_w7_R-aKkZBcoITyauF7izWEAd-e2ARL_U3YPRmgB4F62NLBFeSDg7nYTE0MSVM_hpJ32HMCdBG6-7ZHdodXZwJyLL9ZFPs/s1600/IMG_3146.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEJJH88A6iPeiOOIA46lBxhfyfQqSUGHh1pm4Yyzu36tZu_w7_R-aKkZBcoITyauF7izWEAd-e2ARL_U3YPRmgB4F62NLBFeSDg7nYTE0MSVM_hpJ32HMCdBG6-7ZHdodXZwJyLL9ZFPs/s200/IMG_3146.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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Then there was that little side trip called <b><i>ALASKA! </i></b> This was the third year I've hosted a group of clients to <a href="https://www.royalgorgeanglers.com/travel/alaska/" target="_blank">Intricate Bay Lodge through Royal Gorge Anglers</a>, which is a one-of-a-kind fly-in lodge situated on the shore of Lake Iliamna, Alaska. Each year I accompany up to 9 clients during the opening week of rainbow trout season. This week-long trip is spent flying out in bush planes or jet-boating across the bay to remote destinations on the Copper, Kvichak, and Gibraltar Rivers. This is a mixed-bag trip featuring both western and tenkara fly fishing for huge trophy rainbows, equally beautiful arctic graying, and once in a while we even catch a dolly varden or two. The lodge accomodations are wonderful, the staff bombproof and talented, and the landscape and fish are simply stunning! This year I took a great group to Alaska, some of which I knew previously, and a couple of new faces that I had the privilege of getting to know. Spending the day with good friends, in the Last Frontier, sight fishing for huge rainbows, is an experience every fly angler should have! I'll be hosting the next trip to Intricate Bay Lodge on June 8-15, 2019!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Intricate Bay Lodge</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our capable Cessna 206.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Up close and personal with a sow and twin cubs on the shore of Intricate Bay.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First cast of the day on the Middle Copper River.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The second year in a row the Kvichak River gifted me a 28" rainbow!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Good company in the raft on the Middle Copper!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Relaxing at midnight in the greatroom at the lodge.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My good friend, Jake, with a dandy rainbow.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9oO5H-_ovFSVKOtROeHkxQ6kzKOZTjTUSoSihkjFz2PbGqmQLTYNbUVvHwC6uzH4Kbydq62QT_GQq6gMvFfkxYUKdzUj3wz7SPqgdZS04ySZ-A-3s6cEXaOkGLJ72RdZ2xFhK1f2Ro0M/s1600/IMG_1255.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9oO5H-_ovFSVKOtROeHkxQ6kzKOZTjTUSoSihkjFz2PbGqmQLTYNbUVvHwC6uzH4Kbydq62QT_GQq6gMvFfkxYUKdzUj3wz7SPqgdZS04ySZ-A-3s6cEXaOkGLJ72RdZ2xFhK1f2Ro0M/s320/IMG_1255.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Releasing a giant on the Kvichak River.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view of the eastern end of the Aleutian Range.</td></tr>
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Lastly, in early August, I took a break from guiding to join my good friends, Shawn Larson and Eric Lynn on an epic 50+ mile backpack and <a href="https://www.mountainridgegear.com/" target="_blank">burro packing</a> trip into the Wind River Range of western Wyoming. I'll write a separate blog post very soon about that trip, which will undoubtedly morph into a longer magazine article, but for now here are a few photos from that trip.<br />
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<br />Paul Vertreeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09396294738558824287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456151614292758344.post-89025314591798923562017-11-29T14:49:00.001-08:002017-11-29T14:49:51.871-08:00In Search of WaterA good friend recently suggested that a hidden creek he found in the canyons might have enough water in it to hold a few tiny brown trout. That was all I needed to start planning a full day in search of that particular creek, and in search of those particular trout. I had no idea what I was getting into, but scouting new water is always fun!<br />
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I used that whole plan as an excuse to put some much-needed miles on my legs, heart, and lungs too. After poring over maps, I came up with an off-trail loop, about 10 miles in length, that would include at least three miles of that unknown creek. It was a great exercise in scouting...a strenuous off-trail hike, lots of use of the map, GPS, and compass, and even a bit of bushcraft thrown in for good measure. In all it was a great day, even if I didn't find any trout!<br />
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<br />Paul Vertreeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09396294738558824287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456151614292758344.post-62855151236791683952017-07-30T16:51:00.004-07:002017-07-31T08:01:07.143-07:00Gear I Use: Banks Fry-Bake Pan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRlH5xKI_UoU11jlTu_2sk3hUwpxW9PF675iTCbTiPDo1Rp4F9Y6TvgbEwE3KA1oXdqqt00ArbqofUuK6Kjtvm0_CZf-fz5h0t52VHsFOAHLm3KaQE_N8yQblkTsSj3P28HnE0TkMQ3aE/s1600/IMG_6320.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRlH5xKI_UoU11jlTu_2sk3hUwpxW9PF675iTCbTiPDo1Rp4F9Y6TvgbEwE3KA1oXdqqt00ArbqofUuK6Kjtvm0_CZf-fz5h0t52VHsFOAHLm3KaQE_N8yQblkTsSj3P28HnE0TkMQ3aE/s640/IMG_6320.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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You might wonder what in the world a lightweight fry pan and tenkara have in common. They may seem totally unrelated, but in fact (in my world) they are tightly connected. Bear with me, because tenkara and backcountry cooking keep me busy!<br />
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Well over a decade ago, my good friend and frequent wilderness companion, <a href="https://kifaru.net/brains.html" target="_blank">Patrick Smith</a>, gave me a 5-ounce, 9" cake pan he bought at King Soopers. I'll bet he didn't pay over three dollars for it. Well, that pan, forevermore called the "fish pan", has cooked up literally hundreds of trout, made-from-scratch biscuits, sliced elk tenderloin, freeze dried hash browns, sausage patties, dried eggs...you name it. It's been dented, scorched, washed with sand and creek water, and hauled all over creation in my backpack. It was a really good pan. However, it lacked a few things...durability, a fitted cover, and the ability to bake.<br />
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Enter the <a href="https://frybake.com/" target="_blank">Banks Fry-Bake Pan</a>.<br />
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I had been researching a replacement for the venerable fish pan for quite some time. One day while I was actually doing some browsing online about backpack cooking, I stumbled upon the Banks Fry-Bake Pan. As soon as I read the specifications and reviews I knew I had to order one as soon as possible! To my surprise, there was also a good amount of information out there about cooking with it, including recipes, in the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Cookery-National-Outdoor-Leadership-Library/dp/0811731081" target="_blank">fine little book entitled "NOLS Cookery"</a>, produced by the <a href="https://www.nols.edu/en/about/" target="_blank">National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS)</a> and published by Stackpole Books. The Fry-Bake Pan is a cornerstone of NOLS' bacI kcountry cooking program.<br />
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The Banks Fry-Bake Pan comes in three different sizes - an Expedition (10.5" X 2" deep), an Alpine (8" X 1.5" deep), and a Deep Alpine (8" X 2 3/8" deep). Each comes with a close-fitting cover specifically designed to hold hot coals or charcoal on top for baking. Since most of my use would be for backpack trips and guiding tenkara trips with a large day pack, I chose the smallest and lightest pan, the Alpine. <br />
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Here are the specs for the Alpine model Banks Fry-Bake Pan from their website:<br />
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<div class="foxyshop_descriptionfield_title variation-pan-measures" id="fs_title_13_1" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Outside diameter: 8"</span></div>
<div class="foxyshop_descriptionfield_title variation-pan-measures" id="fs_title_13_1" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Depth: 1 1/2" </span></div>
<div class="foxyshop_descriptionfield_title variation-pan-measures" id="fs_title_13_1" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Weight: Approximately 7 oz.</span></div>
<div class="foxyshop_descriptionfield_title variation-pan-measures" id="fs_title_13_1" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Total weight: Less than 12 oz.</span></div>
<div class="foxyshop_descriptionfield_title variation-pan-measures" id="fs_title_13_1" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="foxyshop_descriptionfield_title variation-pan-measures" id="fs_title_13_1" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Alpine Fry-Bake Pan is spun from .062" 60-61 "O" member aluminum and then given Uniform Anodic Coating of .002 inches of clear hardcoat. (<b>NOTE: </b> This hardcoat anodizing makes the pan what I would call "stick resistant". It isn't stick proof the way Teflon might be, but you sure don't have to worry about Teflon particles getting into your food. Just apply a light coat of oil and you'll be fine)</span></div>
<div class="foxyshop_descriptionfield_title variation-pan-measures" id="fs_title_13_1" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="foxyshop_descriptionfield_title variation-pan-measures" id="fs_title_13_1" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Pan measures:</span></div>
<div class="foxyshop_descriptionfield_text variation-pan-measures" id="fs_text_13_1" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">8" in diameter x 1 1/2" deep</span></div>
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<div class="foxyshop_descriptionfield_title variation-total-weight" id="fs_title_13_2" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Total weight:</span></div>
<div class="foxyshop_descriptionfield_text variation-total-weight" id="fs_text_13_2" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">less than 12oz</span></div>
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I was impressed that several options were offered for the pan cover. Standard lids, NOLS-style lids, and lightweight lids are offered. Here are the specs for the three from the website:</div>
<div>
<div class="frybake-details" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 484.046875px; word-wrap: break-word;">
<div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">Standard and NOLS-Style Alpine Fry-Bake Lids</strong> are spun from .050” 1100 “O” temper aluminum and weigh less than 5 oz.</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">The Standard Lid</strong> has an “L” shaped tab for lifting riveted with 2 rivets to the lid. This tab has a small hole in it to allow for insertion of a stick, “O” ring or “S” hook.</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">The NOLS-Style Lid</strong> has a wingnut installed with a bolt through a single hole in the center of the lid. This style is the easiest to customize with the addition of your own knob or handle for lifting the lid by replacing the wingnut.</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">The Lightweight Lid</strong> is spun of .040” 1100-0 temper aluminum and weighs less than 4 oz. The Lightweight Lid has a wingnut installed with a bolt through a single hole in the center of the lid.</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Since I planned to use my new pan mostly for backpacking and guiding, and every once would count, I selected the lightweight lid.</span></div>
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As with most really good gear, the Banks Fry-Bake Pan isn't cheap. I ordered my pan from the Banks website, and ended up spending $72.70, including shipping. However, after using this pan for the past few months, I can safely say you truly get what you pay for and it's worth every penny.<br />
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After I got my new pan, <a href="https://www.mountainridgegear.com/" target="_blank">my buddy Eric Lynn, who owns Mountain Ridge Gear,</a> sewed me a custom cover for it. He even surprised me by fashioning a deer antler knob for the lid. Thanks, Eric!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Custom deer antler knob.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Custom cordura cover for my pan</td></tr>
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I've used my Fry-Bake pan in various ways. One of the really cool things I've done is baked pizza in it, and although I didn't use hot coals on top of the lid yet, baking pizza with only my old MSR Whisperlite Internationale stove worked just fine.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting ready to bake pepperoni and cheese pizza in the Banks Fry-Bake Pan.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Piping hot pizza!</td></tr>
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I've also been using my Fry-Bake Pan for cooking up hot lunches for my clients on the <a href="https://www.royalgorgeanglers.com/guided-fly-fishing/tenkara-trips/" target="_blank">tenkara trips I guide for Royal Gorge Anglers.</a> Whether it's a drive-up trip along the Arkansas River in Bighorn Sheep Canyon or an all day hike-in backcountry trip in the canyons, I always cook a hot lunch. So far I've done bratwurst on my Coleman stove, and both pork and beef fajitas in the backcountry. One day I even put the Fry-Bake Pan directly on hot coals to sauté fajita meat because of a forgotten fuel bottle for my stove. The pan has worked well for all of this!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pork fajitas, cooked on an open fire.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hot meals in the backcountry are always a big hit with my clients!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Breakfast sausage cooked on top of a Kifaru wood stove.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cooking up bratwurst on my Coleman stove.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beef fajita mix, using my old MSR Whisperlite Internationale stove.<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Well, there you have it. The Banks Fry-Bake Pan. It's a great piece of bombproof, simple gear that'll outlast its owner! I hope you have a chance to try one of these pans out...happy cooking!</span></div>
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Paul Vertreeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09396294738558824287noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456151614292758344.post-48713745819377399122017-07-01T14:23:00.000-07:002017-07-01T16:58:41.071-07:00Tenkara Bricolage: Trade Shows, New Guide Trips, Alaska, and More!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A nice tenkara rainbow on the Gibraltar River in SW Alaska</td></tr>
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It's been a winter, spring, and early summer of planning, guiding, traveling, and most recently...fishing! <br />
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In early January I worked <a href="https://www.royalgorgeanglers.com/" target="_blank">Royal Gorge Anglers'</a> booth at the Denver Fly Fishing Show, and despite nursing what I think was a herniated disc in my lower back (nearly 40 years of backpacking), I had a really great time. Thanks goes out to all of of my former and current clients, fly shop customers, and friends who stopped by the booth to talk tenkara! It's always fun to see familiar faces come through the doors at this show. I continue to be honored to represent RGA as their tenkara guide and backcountry specialist, and I'm really looking forward to the coming season as we offer all of my existing guide trips, plus some new ones that will really break new ground as far as <a href="https://www.royalgorgeanglers.com/guided-fly-fishing/tenkara-trips/" target="_blank">guided tenkara trips</a> are concerned. <br />
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On the heels of the Denver Fly Fishing Show was the International Sportsmen's Expo, also in Denver, the second weekend in January. This time I represented <a href="http://www.zenflyfishinggear.com/" target="_blank">Zen Tenkara</a> at our booth at the expo. I was amazed at the interest in Zen rods and the rest of our products! Zen owner, Karin Miller, conducted multiple presentations on all things tenkara, and our proximity to the casting pool made it possible to show a lot of folks what a Zen tenkara rod can do. Many thanks to everyone who stopped by the booth to say "hi" and take a look at what Zen can offer! A special treat at the booth was reuniting with my childhood sweetie, Pattie. We hadn't seen each other for well over 40 years, and it was great to see Pattie (who I long ago nicknamed "Peppermint Pattie") and her husband, Craig. Back in the summer of 2006 I spent a week guiding California's champion elk caller extroidinaire, Greg Hubbell, onto bighorn sheep in central Colorado, just prior to his once-in-a-lifetime Colorado bighorn sheep hunt. After over a decade, it was fun to have Greg stop by the booth just before he competed in the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation's elk calling contest! One of the highlights of the weekend was a visit from the star of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1673441/" target="_blank">Dual Survival</a>, and owner of <a href="https://www.selfrelianceoutfitters.com/" target="_blank">Self Reliance Outfitters</a> and the <a href="https://www.selfrelianceoutfitters.com/pages/about-us" target="_blank">Pathfinder School</a>, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3948348/" target="_blank">Dave Canterbury</a>. Dave and I share a keen interest in the simplicity, affordability, and usefulness of tenkara as it applies to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushcraft" target="_blank">bushcraft</a>, and he and I had a long talk on all of those topics.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Working the trade show circuit with Zen Tenkara owner, Karin Miller. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After 40+ years...Peppermint Pattie and I!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A surprise visit from my good friend, and renowned champion elk caller, Greg Hubbell.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dave Canterbury and I, after a good discussion of all things bushcraft (including tenkara).</td></tr>
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Regarding <a href="https://www.royalgorgeanglers.com/guided-fly-fishing/tenkara-trips/" target="_blank">guided tenkara trips</a>...I have a few new ones that are worth mentioning. In all of these, our goal at RGA is to offer unique trips in diverse landscapes, with a focus on quality...quality guiding and instruction, quality cuisine, quality attention to detail. For my second season with RGA (and sixth season guiding), I continue to offer half-day and full-day guided backcountry tenkara trips. These aren't the usual along-the-highway walk-wade trips. For my off-the-grid trips, we typically drive to a trailhead, hike a mile or more down into deep canyons to the creek, and fish our way several miles into them. Everything we need for the day we carry in on our backs...there's no walking back to the truck for reinforcements! These trips are really the essence of my work as a guide...I love doing them, and I love sharing the experience!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Guiding a tenkara trip for Royal Gorge Anglers, deep in the canyons.</td></tr>
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I've been working on developing a new overnight wilderness backpack tenkara trip for Royal Gorge Anglers, and aside from a few formalities with the powers that be, it'll be a reality very soon. This trip will be highly participatory on the part of the client. We'll both carry equal loads in backpacks and share the camp chores. Exposure to backpack fly fishing and instruction in backcountry living is a big part of this trip! If hiking with a full pack, overnighting at a backcountry camp, and fishing gold medal water that's only accessible by foot is your thing, then this trip is tailor made for you! Stay tuned in the next couple of months for a formal announcement!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our overnight trips will utilize bombproof Kifaru shelters.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Backpacking into base camp.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pulled beef casserole. Backcountry dining at its best!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the river just below camp.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A nice brown trout, caught with tenkara, just downstream from our basecamp.</td></tr>
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Spring on the Arkansas River in Bighorn Sheep Canyon, and in the small, hidden canyons of Southern Colorado, was fantastic! We had a solid stonefly molt back in late February and into mid-March, followed by increasing blue-winged olive and then caddis activity. I had some spring guide trips on the Ark, and the riverside willows were literally packed with caddis! It only got better as water temps increased, days got warmer, and Mother's Day came and went. I've always said April, May, September and October are my favorite months to fish and guide on the Ark and in my canyons. The other months are great too, but there's just something about cold mornings, warm afternoons, flurries of caddis and blue-winged olives, and the certain way the shadows are still a little low on the water no matter the time of day. It's satisfying to know that these magical times on the Ark are almost exactly five months apart, nearly to the day.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX1oKbip_T1m7rakSuqVZP5ovWR2ihFOSElRCoioiwWRbLfADcNxe8vR0gf4R2RN47DThk5TB7BSNA8kBN2JI7xK2Ec887Fw0sxEai3oF1sv3luPIj_-g6i_unlZkg6QEbGrACKKuNK_Y/s1600/IMG_6676.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX1oKbip_T1m7rakSuqVZP5ovWR2ihFOSElRCoioiwWRbLfADcNxe8vR0gf4R2RN47DThk5TB7BSNA8kBN2JI7xK2Ec887Fw0sxEai3oF1sv3luPIj_-g6i_unlZkg6QEbGrACKKuNK_Y/s400/IMG_6676.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spring fishing on the Ark with a happy client!</td></tr>
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Right on the heels of the Mother's Day caddis hatch here at home, and after a couple of months of organizing, I hosted a trip to <a href="http://intricatebaylodge.com/" target="_blank">Intricate Bay Lodge</a>, on southwest Alaska's enormous <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iliamna_Lake" target="_blank">Lake Iliamna</a> in early June. This trip was offered by <a href="https://www.royalgorgeanglers.com/" target="_blank">Royal Gorge Anglers</a>, and our destination was Intricate Bay Lodge, owned and operated by Brian Harry and staffed by some of the most capable lodge staff and Alaskan guides I've ever seen. I had invited several former clients, who now had become close friends, as well as two more gentlemen from the Denver area. I'm currently writing a more detailed article on the trip, so stay tuned for more info! All I'll say for now is that tenkara is totally doable on the rivers and creeks in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_Bay" target="_blank">Bristol Bay region</a>, and if you really want to push the envelope for what fixed-line fly fishing is capable of, this is the place! Big rainbows, big grayling, plentiful Dolly Varden, wildlife, stunning landscape. It's all there. More to follow!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the neighbors, stopping by for a visit!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of many big rainbows caught on the Copper River with the strong, balanced, and refined Zen Tenkara Sagi! </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Intricate Bay Lodge on Lake Iliamna, Alaska</td></tr>
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<br />Paul Vertreeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09396294738558824287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456151614292758344.post-87000659584941634152016-09-27T19:24:00.000-07:002016-09-27T19:24:33.028-07:00Tenkara Angler Magazine is LIVE!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_jQ7svoJusDwa4kn-OBmFlfmM-EGdxsktl0-J6MldQOODGKnx65M21Qad_EPQJcDxbWy9NVD-lu0ViRUw7eDAI5ydfkxh-sJ9uJNrrBSE6dJhNqjTeQnm8lSvkOUlOUrQrgIWDQ5D_-k/s1600/DSCN4394.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_jQ7svoJusDwa4kn-OBmFlfmM-EGdxsktl0-J6MldQOODGKnx65M21Qad_EPQJcDxbWy9NVD-lu0ViRUw7eDAI5ydfkxh-sJ9uJNrrBSE6dJhNqjTeQnm8lSvkOUlOUrQrgIWDQ5D_-k/s640/DSCN4394.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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Just a note to let you know that <a href="https://tenkaraangler.com/print-copy/" target="_blank">my article</a> on tenkara in the Alaskan interior, appearing in the Fall 2016 issue of <a href="https://tenkaraangler.com/" target="_blank">Tenkara Angler Magazine</a>, is available online, and in print. It's packed with a wide range of informative and entertaining articles, and our editor, Michael Agneta, has once again done a fantastic job of putting all of it together. Enjoy!<br />
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<br />Paul Vertreeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09396294738558824287noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456151614292758344.post-67245697007801229552016-09-16T08:29:00.000-07:002016-09-16T08:36:22.445-07:00Alaskan Tenkara<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<!--StartFragment--><span style="font-family: "cambria"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><b>“To the lover of wilderness, Alaska is one of
the most wonderful countries in the world.”
--John Muir, Travels in Alaska</b></span><!--EndFragment-->
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Many things have pulled me away from my blog, and nearly all
of them have been really good things!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
enjoyed a long, busy summer of presentations on behalf of <b><a href="http://www.zenflyfishinggear.com/" target="_blank">Zen Tenkara</a></b>, guiding
tenkara trips for <b><a href="https://www.royalgorgeanglers.com/" target="_blank">Royal Gorge Anglers</a></b>, as well as spending many days behind the
counter at the fly shop there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each year
I keep a journal of client’s names, miles driven, water fished, and productive
fly patterns, among other things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
year was no exception, and my journal is full.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Toward the end of my summer guiding season, just prior to
the annual start of my “real job” as a high school teacher, I was able to allow
enough time to make my first trip north to Alaska.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My mission was to take tenkara to the Last
Frontier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I really didn’t know what to
expect, but I had rolled the idea around in my head enough to know that it
would be a personal milestone, and one that I would remember for a long time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was those and much more.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I won’t go into great detail on the trip here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A full account of the trip will be published,
along with some photos, in the fall edition (coming in the next couple of weeks) of <b><a href="https://tenkaraangler.com/" target="_blank">Tenkara Angler Magazine</a></b>, edited
by the hard-working and extremely capable <b><a href="http://www.troutrageous.com/" target="_blank">Michael Agneta</a></b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hope you enjoy it!<o:p></o:p><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl1c15-zRXQQOEP3ORlCwk8skFhhkuEphb3P49sXNiAO6Xk-2ST714K_noCvDZ2_eSauNBH6X4IYvrwUn7kp_12Dw80wMx6tYokb7w4nckiM3q1TjXQlaAvaOqU6A3TibUiPi_BkrtUyY/s1600/IMG_5081.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl1c15-zRXQQOEP3ORlCwk8skFhhkuEphb3P49sXNiAO6Xk-2ST714K_noCvDZ2_eSauNBH6X4IYvrwUn7kp_12Dw80wMx6tYokb7w4nckiM3q1TjXQlaAvaOqU6A3TibUiPi_BkrtUyY/s640/IMG_5081.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Shawn Larson</td></tr>
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<br />Paul Vertreeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09396294738558824287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456151614292758344.post-53816115751698255692016-03-27T15:22:00.000-07:002016-04-07T20:46:03.788-07:00Trip Report: Spring Tenkara in the Canyons<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It’s pretty safe to say that spring has sprung in the
canyons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ice has long since
disappeared, the baetis are alive and well, and with the recent arrival of
daylight savings time, I can fish longer and I don’t have to hike out via
headlamp.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even as I sat here yesterday
in my office, with the woodstove cranked, while a spring snowstorm dumped several inches of late March slop, I knew that come Sunday it would be back up
to near 60 degrees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I just love
spring snowstorms along the Colorado foothills!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It looks like winter one day, and it’s back to shirtsleeve weather the
next.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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I just came off four straight days of guiding tenkara
clients on one of my favorite streams.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>With warm (albeit windy) weather, willing browns and rainbows, and the
best clients on the face of the earth, it was a simply amazing week!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We spent each day on different water, and
each day we tasted a different flavor of this canyon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When my guys flew home to Utah yesterday, I knew they had experienced something special, and I’ll bet it won’t be the
last time we poke up into deep cracks containing tiny blue lines together.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixCF1g6Dx26PO32b90EnOJcn9Y7mry04Ftd7LUmJRAA1zmaf-wkuzSZE4JfOqDqKcuYfFf8tt5JUT48-NhwzwVKinbSHmTKhkDM6xvvPtLiNAMpUURwPYzr4BO31Zihq9_JFvlR9RLdxQ/s1600/IMG_4075.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixCF1g6Dx26PO32b90EnOJcn9Y7mry04Ftd7LUmJRAA1zmaf-wkuzSZE4JfOqDqKcuYfFf8tt5JUT48-NhwzwVKinbSHmTKhkDM6xvvPtLiNAMpUURwPYzr4BO31Zihq9_JFvlR9RLdxQ/s400/IMG_4075.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My clients this past week, brothers, fishing together.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNblnajlG2EcGo1f_w4M_1bJnrBauUYfPm8yxNfvC1s40ehA-0dkvGLCBWQ8IKeDn7WpLUXz4pK8O-rqUQTAqp0hVBuny6cfFX5RACk3zivuOQcKB7yGws7AfIlBRaL2cg8gbfqP1sNDA/s1600/IMG_4014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNblnajlG2EcGo1f_w4M_1bJnrBauUYfPm8yxNfvC1s40ehA-0dkvGLCBWQ8IKeDn7WpLUXz4pK8O-rqUQTAqp0hVBuny6cfFX5RACk3zivuOQcKB7yGws7AfIlBRaL2cg8gbfqP1sNDA/s400/IMG_4014.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fishing a bend.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz9hr8Cx3bWf4F3LVruuO3IueQ1TB13IBiG6BH13WuScUyxLxKMflI6xH5w_PeIBEkLKuzsyJ5x2GNf5E-JpfR-gymtu_yiyf2xAm8PgA6aAz08aMjUqmzTJlM8pFMOX0wK-3ptORqJzc/s1600/IMG_4060.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz9hr8Cx3bWf4F3LVruuO3IueQ1TB13IBiG6BH13WuScUyxLxKMflI6xH5w_PeIBEkLKuzsyJ5x2GNf5E-JpfR-gymtu_yiyf2xAm8PgA6aAz08aMjUqmzTJlM8pFMOX0wK-3ptORqJzc/s400/IMG_4060.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another one falls to the reliable RS2!</td></tr>
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As for the fishing, it was fairly consistent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Japanese mountain water and Colorado
wilderness streams may lend themselves to only fishing one traditional kebari
pattern all day long, but these gnarly canyon trickles require opening your
mind to other tactics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> These canyons contain fairly fertile streams with heavy doses of emerging blue-winged olives this time of year. </span>You have to pay attention
to what the fish tell you, and the browns and rainbows in the canyons told us
they wanted to munch on a slightly weighted two-nymph rig all day long, with
the venerable #20 gray sparkle wing RS2 the clear winner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s not to say that the fish wouldn’t take
a #18 Nosepicker or bead head pheasant tail once in a while.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However,
they wouldn’t give a sakasa kebari the time of day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even though the blue-winged olives were
hatching in the late afternoon, the fish wouldn’t take a dry off the surface because
of the wind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The hatched adult BWOs just
simply blew away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That didn’t matter
much, because our little nymph rigs were extremely effective.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We fished them on size 3.5 and 4 level line,
with 12-foot (360 cm) rods.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We cast
middle-of-the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>road medium-flex (6:4)
rods, and they did just fine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The gusty
wind oftentimes made the decision for us to switch over to heavier size 4 level
line.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fishing one of countless pockets.</td></tr>
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Along with sharing spectacular landscapes and water with my
clients, I also enjoy providing backcountry epicurean delights along the banks
of the stream.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I nearly always pack a
homemade, mostly dehydrated hot meal in on my back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The highlight of our week was a hot meal of
alfredo pasta with sautéed portabello mushrooms and Italian sausage (from the
best butcher shop in town, Hilltop Market), rehydrated and warmed up on one of
my backpacking stoves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s just something
special about kicking back in the middle of nowhere, savoring homemade Italian
cooking, after a morning of tenkara!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Backcountry, homemade Italian cuisine.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cherry cheesecake, hauled in on our backs!</td></tr>
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The canyons never cease to amaze me, and recent trips have
been no exception.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some relatively big
browns and rainbows weave their way up these creeks and end up living in some
pretty obscure spots.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Targeting the
deepest pools along rock walls on the outside of the bends in the creeks, and
undercut banks covered in thick grass produced several fish over 16
inches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s a trophy trout in water
that’s only flowing at less than thirty cubic feet per second!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A nice 18" rainbow taken on a lightweight two-nymph rig.</td></tr>
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I hope you have a chance to get out and fish very soon,
because this is one of my favorite times of the year!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I sit here on Easter Sunday, watching the
sun rise, I’m already trying to figure out how I can sneak out of the house
late this afternoon after things warm up and some of the snow melts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Happy Easter and happy spring tenkara to you!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Paul Vertreeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09396294738558824287noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456151614292758344.post-23535348298465200322016-02-18T18:17:00.001-08:002016-02-18T19:43:13.559-08:00Arkansas River Fly Fishing Festival Tenkara Clinic<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The tenkara events along the Front Range just keep rolling in! I'm pleased to offer a half-day, on-the-water tenkara clinic with <a href="http://www.royalgorgeanglers.com/" target="_blank">Royal Gorge Anglers</a> in Canon City on Sunday, March 20th, 12:45-5:00 PM! It's actually part of our weekend-long <a href="http://us7.campaign-archive2.com/?u=aa4446d2392c03a00249282cc&id=b111781896" target="_blank">Arkansas River Fly Fishing Festival</a> on March 19th and 20th (Saturday and Sunday). You won't want to miss either day! <br />
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My tenkara clinic will cover the following topics...not in a classroom but ON THE WATER.<br />
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* History and heritage of tenkara<br />
* Equipment (rod options, rod anatomy, line options, traditional and non-traditional fly patterns)<br />
* Deployment of the tenkara system<br />
* Casting techniques<br />
* Reading water<br />
* Specific technique (fishing the traditional kebari, fishing dries and terrestrials, nymphing, and <br />
multi-fly fishing<br />
* Landing and netting fish<br />
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If you've ever wanted a down and dirty, nuts and bolts tenkara clinic, this is for you! It's going to be hands-on, experiential learning...and that type of learning is the most beneficial and the most fun!<br />
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<a href="http://us7.campaign-archive2.com/?u=aa4446d2392c03a00249282cc&id=b111781896" target="_blank">Check out event details online</a>, call the shop at 888-994-6743, or email us at <a href="mailto:taylor@royalgorgeanglers.com">taylor@royalgorgeanglers.com</a> for details. <i>Registration fee: $75 per person</i><br />
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Feel free to bring your own tenkara rod and line if you have them. We will have rods and lines on hand as well.<br />
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<b><i>UPDATE: As of Thursday, February 18th, we've booked nearly half of the spots available! Book early to take advantage of this clinic! We have limited reservations available!</i></b><br />
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<b><i>I hope to see you on the water in March!</i></b><br />
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<br />Paul Vertreeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09396294738558824287noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456151614292758344.post-18584019166251683812016-01-23T10:34:00.000-08:002016-01-25T18:16:38.876-08:00Tenkara Winter Series <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzaiIH8UHkzHeMdvMyh-HsKI4Nskcbs19buV2lQyPpDHuglAkrbKGEtTNLQ94g1ek7yArFTuHigaIPLWbHrtH5LYaI_CAc7NZ1qT_UMxCvMFtM2QFpavd0TrwNqG8BqjnJGA53Tvq8amk/s1600/received_947807191965278-2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzaiIH8UHkzHeMdvMyh-HsKI4Nskcbs19buV2lQyPpDHuglAkrbKGEtTNLQ94g1ek7yArFTuHigaIPLWbHrtH5LYaI_CAc7NZ1qT_UMxCvMFtM2QFpavd0TrwNqG8BqjnJGA53Tvq8amk/s320/received_947807191965278-2.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Here's a quick blog post to plug <a href="http://www.zenflyfishinggear.com/" target="_blank">Zen Fly Fishing Gear's</a> <a href="http://www.tenkarawinterseries.com/home/#intro" target="_blank">Tenkara Winter Series</a> coming up on March 12th in Golden. The winter series is all about community and learning, and we've been working hard behind the scenes to put a solid event together for you. I know most of the presenters personally, and with the lineup we have, there's something for everyone. From the skills <a href="http://www.zenflyfishinggear.com/news/an-interview-with-dennis-coppock-tenkara-winter-series-2016-presenter/" target="_blank">Dennis Coppock</a> has built searching out new water, the technical expertise <a href="http://tenkaraguides.com/guides/" target="_blank">Rob Worthing</a> will share, <a href="http://www.bobyoungerimages.com/" target="_blank">Bob Younger's</a> tips on improving your on-the-water photography, and the wit and wisdom of <a href="http://www.tenkaratalk.com/" target="_blank">Jason Klass</a>, it'll be a jam-packed day of tenkara! We also plan to unveil some exciting new products that Zen has been tirelessly designing and testing over the past several months. I hope you can join us! For more information, visit the <a href="http://www.tenkarawinterseries.com/home/#intro" target="_blank">Tenkara Winter Series page!</a><br />
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<br />Paul Vertreeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09396294738558824287noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456151614292758344.post-11883771254585577312015-12-17T17:23:00.000-08:002015-12-18T11:32:08.488-08:00Changes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJuro4jIFcI_DfpeZGKyDLqNcaJwGZRgD67O78FdfEdGwzHhJyCfUGle-zenBm3rVbgNvWdorJJ5_qOGug4eLKsnM3ul9TavxEWV36Xgp2wpKqpvNgxZcf-_A7X_aWVF8zw_sw0hxRiv4/s1600/IMG_3485.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJuro4jIFcI_DfpeZGKyDLqNcaJwGZRgD67O78FdfEdGwzHhJyCfUGle-zenBm3rVbgNvWdorJJ5_qOGug4eLKsnM3ul9TavxEWV36Xgp2wpKqpvNgxZcf-_A7X_aWVF8zw_sw0hxRiv4/s400/IMG_3485.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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It’s been said, the more things change, the more they stay the same. This has been especially true for me over the past several months.<br />
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In August I returned home from my annual migration to southwest Colorado, where, for four seasons, I had been guiding tenkara trips for <a href="http://fishrigs.com/fly-shop/" target="_blank">RIGS Fly Shop and Guide Service</a> in Ridgway. You may know that they were the first fly shop in Colorado to offer professionally guided tenkara trips, and I was their first on-staff tenkara guide. I had paid my dues as a guide, spending my first season in 2012 sleeping in my truck and camping among bears and vagabonds in pullouts along Owl Creek Pass and the San Miguel River. Tim and Heather Patterson's amazing hospitality then provided me with much better accommodations during the next three seasons, and I'm forever thankful for that. In between trips, I had also spent increasingly more time behind the counter in the fly shop, assisting customers and scurrying around as most shop rats do, as there’s never a dull moment when you have to squeeze 75% of your annual business into three summer months. As I’ve said many times here and to everyone I meet, the <a href="http://fishrigs.com/rigs-team-your-colorado-guides/guide-profiles/" target="_blank">RIGS team</a> is an amazing collection of family business owners, fly fishing and whitewater raft guides, and extremely knowledgeable shop personnel. We worked together, fished together, partied together. I resigned my position with RIGS earlier this fall. I didn’t know until recently that the Pattersons had written <a href="http://fishrigs.com/rigs-blog/paul-vertrees-says-farewell/" target="_blank">this blog post on the RIGS website</a> upon my departure. I will never forget where I got my start as a tenkara guide. Thank you, everyone, for a wonderful experience. I’m going to miss you!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhETHY_pcr3SUuuA5CUbhmdG55fxHcX860q-SvWaircgwX3JCjmspqu3cMqlNgIJ5OU-W1v_QfynVW6MrwwMg_K9m_De89pLgyhYiZVOeOjyr7nd7v_VzC_1Ih_VN5sJTBWyPln7k7AqS8/s1600/IMG_2895.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhETHY_pcr3SUuuA5CUbhmdG55fxHcX860q-SvWaircgwX3JCjmspqu3cMqlNgIJ5OU-W1v_QfynVW6MrwwMg_K9m_De89pLgyhYiZVOeOjyr7nd7v_VzC_1Ih_VN5sJTBWyPln7k7AqS8/s400/IMG_2895.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Throwin' down with the RIGS guide crew and owner, Tim Patterson,<br />
at our favorite haunt in Ridgway...Colorado Boy Brewery.</td></tr>
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One of the reasons I made the very difficult decision to leave RIGS was a need to stay closer to home to fulfill my responsibilities as the newest member of <a href="http://www.zenflyfishinggear.com/" target="_blank">Zen Tenkara</a>, a Loveland, Colorado, based company. <a href="http://www.zenflyfishinggear.com/news/big-news/" target="_blank">Zen made their public announcement of this recently</a>, and I’ve been busy ever since! I’m honored that Zen asked me to climb aboard, and I’m looking forward to what the future will bring! Our team at Zen shares a common vision, focused on defining American tenkara and the enjoying the tenkara lifestyle.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxmkMt30vwtfxbgRyDbiCSdXhFZaSqIokoxdTpMj-7ehBRy6P_4c_5wGptOpjKSKpgLanOQ6tZTeeiS07gtnbIOKMKEa5pQYcgffwsi_Ojf4Xcqlu8qHzksGwBYiBaRHNrrwNiuStkWkA/s1600/10592896-326842530818466-590607817035328894-n-2-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="323" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxmkMt30vwtfxbgRyDbiCSdXhFZaSqIokoxdTpMj-7ehBRy6P_4c_5wGptOpjKSKpgLanOQ6tZTeeiS07gtnbIOKMKEa5pQYcgffwsi_Ojf4Xcqlu8qHzksGwBYiBaRHNrrwNiuStkWkA/s400/10592896-326842530818466-590607817035328894-n-2-.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fishing in the San Juan backcountry with Zen Tenkara owner, Karin Miller.</td></tr>
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Enter <a href="http://www.royalgorgeanglers.com/" target="_blank">Royal Gorge Anglers</a>. I’ve known RGA’s Bill and Taylor Edrington for many years. I met Bill at his Canon City fly shop when Taylor was just a kid back in the late ‘90s. Taylor is now a grown man, and has taken over the business, while Bill still spends quite a bit of time at the shop. Since we moved down into town from our mountain home a couple of years ago, I think I could throw a fist-size rock and hit Taylor’s house from where ours now sits, and the two of us have a running joke that we’re responsible for 90% of the wood smoke in our neighborhood. During a recent conversation I had with Taylor at the fly shop, he asked if I would be interested in creating and guiding tenkara trips for RGA. In the ensuing weeks, Taylor and I put together several <a href="http://www.royalgorgeanglers.com/guided-fly-fishing" target="_blank">exciting new tenkara trip offerings for RGA</a>, and we’re pleased to be making them public now. Guiding tenkara trips in the canyons of southern Colorado that I know so well, for my hometown fly shop, in the company of good friends and neighbors is a wholesomely satisfying feeling. Full circle.<br />
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So there you have it. Changes. The more things change, the more they stay the same. New (but somehow old) fly shop and guide service, and new and exciting opportunities with a company that shares a common vision for American tenkara. My tenkara has not changed, has not faltered. My love for wild trout and lonely canyons is the same. The same shining moon keeps looking down.<br />
<br />Paul Vertreeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09396294738558824287noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456151614292758344.post-21762928682994404972015-10-07T18:14:00.002-07:002015-10-07T18:23:40.613-07:00Fins and Fur<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The first time I hiked up this trail in search of small game
and trout was nearly 40 years ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
wasn’t even wilderness back then.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had
a single shot Stevens .410 shotgun on my shoulder, an Eagle Claw Trailmaster
rod in my pack, and two cans of Vienna sausages for lunch, with visions of
squirrels, grouse, snowshoe hares, and brook trout spinning around my
head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Things really haven’t changed all
that much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Old habits die hard.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This year marked the sixth annual weekend that my group of
friends gather for an extended backpack weekend devoted to small game hunting
and fly fishing in remote Colorado wilderness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s especially rewarding because it’s the very same country I’ve been
hunting, fishing, and backpacking in nearly all my life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s my home away from home, my stomping
grounds.</div>
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We always take this trip the first full weekend of
October.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a week after the close of
big game archery season and a week before the beginning of the first combined
rifle big game season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It also coincides
most years with the full color of the changing aspens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The days are warm and the nights are
crisp.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s perfect.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Stomping Grounds, downtown Noneofyourdamnbusiness, Colorado!</td></tr>
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The bottom third of the hike always provides the best pine
squirrel hunting, and this trip was no exception.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had barking squirrels just a half-mile up
the trail, squirrels zipping across the trail ahead of us, squirrels running up
tree trunks…squirrels everywhere!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The first pine squirrel of the trip!</td></tr>
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I had recently gotten a new handmade squirrel call from
<a href="http://prairiecalls.com/" target="_blank">Larry Gresser at Prairie Game Calls</a> in Channahon, Illinois.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Larry makes some amazing squirrel calls, and
I my new call got some barks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However,
pine squirrels will bark at just about anything, including human voices, dogs,
thrown rocks, and the report from a .22 rifle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Although the Prairie call produces some outstanding barks, the “chrrrr”
of the pine squirrel is impossible to produce with any call I’ve found.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No other tree squirrel in North America barks
like this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, my quest to find the
perfect pine squirrel call continues!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My squirrel call from Prairie Game Calls. Mine is made out<br />
of a beautiful piece of Asian satinwood.</td></tr>
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I carried my new Ruger stainless 10/22 Takedown, topped with
a Leupold VX-1 2-7X28 Rimfire scope, in Warne QD rings on a Leupold Rifleman
base.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What I had hoped would be the
perfect backcountry small game rifle soon proved itself, and continued to do so
all weekend, taking squirrels and snowshoe hares out to nearly 40 yards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I dialed the scope in at 4X and left it
there, and it worked great.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At a loaded
weight of 5 pounds, six ounces, this rifle was easy to carry, made even easier
because I had it cradled in a <a href="https://store.kifaru.net/gun-bearers-p30.aspx" target="_blank">Kifaru Gunbearer </a>while I was hiking.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDnVwt0uSvZuVIsoJrF8JT-YPul6kbT41wclu5MUBbPrFM5FBVGjbfxpjdGdhBpfKuXiLI6TNFHhkP4VY55jPXsNJNVCMDCdi4fqslBoxVMErbvB2TO4nqzG1X_KkCVylSh0TlJhdVl1U/s1600/P1130488.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDnVwt0uSvZuVIsoJrF8JT-YPul6kbT41wclu5MUBbPrFM5FBVGjbfxpjdGdhBpfKuXiLI6TNFHhkP4VY55jPXsNJNVCMDCdi4fqslBoxVMErbvB2TO4nqzG1X_KkCVylSh0TlJhdVl1U/s400/P1130488.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A very capable critter-getter, my Ruger stainless 10/22 Takedown.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Once we hiked through the squirrel hotspot, we continued up
to our hidden basecamp, nearly five miles from the trailhead, at an elevation
of eleven thousand feet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My good friend,
<a href="http://kifaru.net/" target="_blank">Patrick Smith (founder of Mountainsmith, and owner of Kifaru, International</a>)
had brought his <a href="https://store.kifaru.net/shelters-c5.aspx" target="_blank">12-man tipi</a>, and we had distributed the shelter, poles, and
pegs amongst ourselves at the trailhead, each man helping with the load.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Carrying a <a href="https://store.kifaru.net/shelters-c5.aspx" target="_blank">12-man tipi</a> may sound heavy, but
its ultralight paraglider fabric makes it totally man-carryable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Along with the tipi, we also carried in an
<a href="https://store.kifaru.net/stoves-c21.aspx" target="_blank">ultralight titanium wood stove</a>, another of Patrick’s ingenious designs.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg7KphlsQhQlRLrAPh-fYSL62vjpqorbvaaSOFTgvRyMcP_MLGv4gYxLHOt4TgHt4TOE6wPShXrbfGLfDszKUMI2h7phZOpVKy3YnmEQUgivJY_aQEoRqoRHmu4vYEJ2MqPJR_eUGr1Wo/s1600/P1130476.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg7KphlsQhQlRLrAPh-fYSL62vjpqorbvaaSOFTgvRyMcP_MLGv4gYxLHOt4TgHt4TOE6wPShXrbfGLfDszKUMI2h7phZOpVKy3YnmEQUgivJY_aQEoRqoRHmu4vYEJ2MqPJR_eUGr1Wo/s400/P1130476.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Kifaru 12-man tipi and titanium collapsible wood stove. Our backcountry palace!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Speaking of ingenious designs, Patrick also hauled in a
small rice cooker, which works wonderfully well as a tiny backcountry pressure
cooker for small game meat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One
complaint that always comes up is how tough squirrel and rabbit meat can be
when grilled over coals on an open fire, whether on a spit or on a grill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The pressure cooker totally eliminates that problem,
and after 40 minutes in the pressure cooker, the meat from the squirrels and
snowshoe hares literally fell off the bone!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We were very appreciative of the testing that Patrick had done with this
method of cooking small game meat, and that he had hauled this treasure in on
his back!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ3si-VneYih_SdbfOFP6UfGfJ7u3iKH6GfE9mO_Ppo5obDEEcMbs6rI7lgi18_CHydsmPov0JedJE1VMZV3TG5VRhG843t1Jy92j5dPczGaHR2b2pYUh7J7p2plZ1bVM3ekRUcIH46jE/s1600/P1130484.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ3si-VneYih_SdbfOFP6UfGfJ7u3iKH6GfE9mO_Ppo5obDEEcMbs6rI7lgi18_CHydsmPov0JedJE1VMZV3TG5VRhG843t1Jy92j5dPczGaHR2b2pYUh7J7p2plZ1bVM3ekRUcIH46jE/s400/P1130484.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Snowline Technical Mountain Gear pressure cooker. Weight: 1 lb., 13 oz.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIMc72CuVgbB-mi1oDp6o0kkkDB5qPRDbPXuoQuay86Mrr3AKwsy2LwEF4oSHbvy4VoKw-C6XQbQbyQXAdnJejzhqZiHw293INXEEUVvW9k2wlRg2m1l_BkkkBS66M2NSBY52u9rtGGu8/s1600/P1130490.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIMc72CuVgbB-mi1oDp6o0kkkDB5qPRDbPXuoQuay86Mrr3AKwsy2LwEF4oSHbvy4VoKw-C6XQbQbyQXAdnJejzhqZiHw293INXEEUVvW9k2wlRg2m1l_BkkkBS66M2NSBY52u9rtGGu8/s400/P1130490.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Halved and quartered pine squirrels, ready for pressure cooking.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigZknKtwTt2e_1djLdvSr_mfQmnLk-RHl71AQhfyU2nSDo4Cz_k2I8uBY8WDORh9TA7pnBDt12pDjuJID9An7ui58uCT7lQIbLrjEs9z3v7_YVEt1isrOV41CIED4jSasJzeeyn-zzPGQ/s1600/P1130496.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigZknKtwTt2e_1djLdvSr_mfQmnLk-RHl71AQhfyU2nSDo4Cz_k2I8uBY8WDORh9TA7pnBDt12pDjuJID9An7ui58uCT7lQIbLrjEs9z3v7_YVEt1isrOV41CIED4jSasJzeeyn-zzPGQ/s400/P1130496.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The pressure cooker and the stew, cooking on the Kifaru wood stove.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCUNoiUInlKZirJyZxazGsh3afF9x2yWE4_iiQD0mcFBmyD8H86GqKIHnvAP1xbeewGUmPRA_XkZNHZGZGqPQXiL9ts5zglviCSZATA3gGx4agwBei1BFQUKEfqchkj-uz36MJc3OUsV4/s1600/P1130497.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCUNoiUInlKZirJyZxazGsh3afF9x2yWE4_iiQD0mcFBmyD8H86GqKIHnvAP1xbeewGUmPRA_XkZNHZGZGqPQXiL9ts5zglviCSZATA3gGx4agwBei1BFQUKEfqchkj-uz36MJc3OUsV4/s400/P1130497.JPG" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A pile of falling-off-the-bone tender squirrel meat!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Our evening meal the first night consisted of the meat
cooked in the pressure cooker and an assortment of fresh vegetables that I had
brought in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While the meat cooked, the
onions, garlic, red and yellow peppers, zucchini squash, and baby potatoes
simmered in chicken stock in another pot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Both pots fit perfectly on top of the Kifaru titanium wood stove.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once done, all of this was combined into a
stew that I dubbed “Rodent Medley”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To
say it was delicious is an understatement!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRe6qNkMYkZFqG9yjgi2vqyIC7GEj0IUUQhz0oUozm2qYOeQsJYing3HiUixHMmssxl_T5lpft04I4UBknQ2iSUhY21ZjyLLjWZiJW6rHyjw3vWHFuDx4RC1x3otarScWY0Le6LDcVu5o/s1600/P1130486.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRe6qNkMYkZFqG9yjgi2vqyIC7GEj0IUUQhz0oUozm2qYOeQsJYing3HiUixHMmssxl_T5lpft04I4UBknQ2iSUhY21ZjyLLjWZiJW6rHyjw3vWHFuDx4RC1x3otarScWY0Le6LDcVu5o/s400/P1130486.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The fresh veggies I hauled in my backpack. Baby potatoes, peppers,<br />
zucchini squash, and mushrooms.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgybYwy4IDKZ1KNjd1LESVtxjnqzkzxDaH3rk2bBe-6j2n8nbN_S4jj5934iR8zrjj3MlCLPl6zm6mUIMh6Jp5eghttOLPt4bVbrbYe05CMZuuDAJsWdHkmkCSr8NvS_hSSt59OOAMK3pQ/s1600/P1130498.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgybYwy4IDKZ1KNjd1LESVtxjnqzkzxDaH3rk2bBe-6j2n8nbN_S4jj5934iR8zrjj3MlCLPl6zm6mUIMh6Jp5eghttOLPt4bVbrbYe05CMZuuDAJsWdHkmkCSr8NvS_hSSt59OOAMK3pQ/s400/P1130498.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rodent Medley! A backcountry epicurean delight!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Late the first night I awakened to the sound of snow sifting
down the fabric of the ultralight tarp I was sleeping under.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rising the next morning to fresh tracking
snow, I was able to put the stalk on a nice snowshoe hare, which became food
for the second night’s dinner.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi71MElkpngWfJTbLEB0Co9uWsh_4lKdZBdHwDTzbSTG5BLsypaWBQ5-TIdDY5uwVxo8u2qQL2BfD47UpUHZpXTiihYse-lqRTpGRZ0PtOunwgZFkEVZKmOfHTAhpV2b6pw7jyF9mjAbTE/s1600/IMG_3220.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi71MElkpngWfJTbLEB0Co9uWsh_4lKdZBdHwDTzbSTG5BLsypaWBQ5-TIdDY5uwVxo8u2qQL2BfD47UpUHZpXTiihYse-lqRTpGRZ0PtOunwgZFkEVZKmOfHTAhpV2b6pw7jyF9mjAbTE/s400/IMG_3220.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A snowshoe hare, taken in fresh tracking snow.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
The second day of our trip was devoted to fly fishing, more
specifically to tenkara.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Several of us
had brought our tenkara rods and a few simple flies, and we knew from past
experience that the creek nearby was home to lots of 7-9” brook trout.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With a complete tenkara fishing kit weighing
less than five ounces, the ability to take it anywhere you go in the
backcountry<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>makes this a great way to
feed yourself in the wilderness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
arrived back at camp late in the afternoon on the second day with four trout to
share.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nearly everyone else had caught a
few as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The “surf” in our “surf ‘n
turf” meal was secured!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We ate the trout
as an appetizer, and dined once again on Rodent Medley stew.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know when I’ve enjoyed a meal more! <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Z-4M8SAgtY1vACRMpdf7t_H16_1WVPW5erCJp5Z8lGKax-_LysIpC9mWfENBbZ3VfhnzJ5bXH4F_WLQGqmcvLczjqmuHQekOH2znBD4vTUMS77-itf7xZrP4fpLx_aw8u1XtS2o8U0Q/s1600/P1130516.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Z-4M8SAgtY1vACRMpdf7t_H16_1WVPW5erCJp5Z8lGKax-_LysIpC9mWfENBbZ3VfhnzJ5bXH4F_WLQGqmcvLczjqmuHQekOH2znBD4vTUMS77-itf7xZrP4fpLx_aw8u1XtS2o8U0Q/s400/P1130516.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grilling brook trout on the coals.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZz4huZmH886-A61U0tlrnV1a6lsLYUkixjsRKUtKCAnkYZN78gEbSS92WLKaSGz6rzIy6j7g8xSrPzxeNcOKm7AOr2fK35483eU2EX6aWRr4VE-eMg3Lr39OM23cAlOzSzPrqtZOT5N4/s1600/P1130503.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZz4huZmH886-A61U0tlrnV1a6lsLYUkixjsRKUtKCAnkYZN78gEbSS92WLKaSGz6rzIy6j7g8xSrPzxeNcOKm7AOr2fK35483eU2EX6aWRr4VE-eMg3Lr39OM23cAlOzSzPrqtZOT5N4/s400/P1130503.JPG" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My tenkara rod and my .22 rifle. Making meat in the backcountry!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Later, after dark on the second night, we were pounded with
rain, graupel, hail, and wind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a
good feeling, snug and warm in a down bag, inside a bombproof shelter,
listening to heavy weather drum against the tarp while lightning bounces off nearby
ridges.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can really sleep well after a
storm like that.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRseJ05_7t0wZE0WTx6AB6tZ5LYUKlCbI-55PYvw_wUETj8eQ9s6VUugZMHoPJN7uWclKK9m1ameZD8Yn2dewbCxsq4yNShTsvVwxeU9BCHF80EOxaPe-0FzTTVdXToSl7MzfkA_2paKo/s1600/IMG_3219.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRseJ05_7t0wZE0WTx6AB6tZ5LYUKlCbI-55PYvw_wUETj8eQ9s6VUugZMHoPJN7uWclKK9m1ameZD8Yn2dewbCxsq4yNShTsvVwxeU9BCHF80EOxaPe-0FzTTVdXToSl7MzfkA_2paKo/s400/IMG_3219.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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Late the last morning we pried ourselves from our campsite
and started our hike back down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
always amazes me how easy this hike is going out and how difficult it can be
going in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You really can’t appreciate it
until you hike downhill for five miles going out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After easing off our packs at the trailhead,
shaking hands, and saying goodbye to good friends, we all drove home our
separate ways, dreaming of next year’s trip in search of fins and fur.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rob, on the hike out.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ori, Randall, and I.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My sensei, Patrick Smith, and I. </td></tr>
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Paul Vertreeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09396294738558824287noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456151614292758344.post-87728420219784431442015-09-12T11:00:00.000-07:002015-09-13T06:16:51.837-07:00Gear I Use: HCD-Floater<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Field Journal Entry
(September 6, 2015)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I forgot to take my
headlamp out of the truck and stick it in my waders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s dark, it’s 8:00 PM, and I’ve stumbled my
way back upriver to where I parked along the highway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got to the boulder garden at 5:00 PM, threw
a hopper-copper-dropper rig for two hours with a 12-foot floating line,
switched over to a single hopper pattern for the last hour, and caught around
twenty browns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t count.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is what September in the canyons is all
about!<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuMoz1ZFmw5TPMYmklZvhJOaQi6Fhyphenhyphenl7glBwTsSuTPV7DCI1pnN4xFY9wb-_w0QWpFbbdcaOjaOZUwpmRTrbwzcbjZIh3EJqIhrYMVmSM0Jr3FG38mFRNRVuPzhUweLIOWr-giVv8n5hU/s1600/image.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuMoz1ZFmw5TPMYmklZvhJOaQi6Fhyphenhyphenl7glBwTsSuTPV7DCI1pnN4xFY9wb-_w0QWpFbbdcaOjaOZUwpmRTrbwzcbjZIh3EJqIhrYMVmSM0Jr3FG38mFRNRVuPzhUweLIOWr-giVv8n5hU/s400/image.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">September and October on the Arkansas River...one of my favorite times of the year! Just right for a HCD-Floater rig and a tenkara rod.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Over the past 30 years or so I’ve come to realize that there
are very few, if any, absolutes when it comes to fly angling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, there ARE some things that work
undeniably well, and John Barr’s three-fly system, the hopper-copper-dropper
(HCD), is one of those, and there’s no reason why this can’t be done with a
tenkara rod!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are times and places
for going trad, and my full-flex rod, 3.5 level line, and eyeless sakasa kebari
patterns are what I go for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some days
I’ll fish that way with only one pattern, and it’s very enjoyable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then there are other times and places when
it’s equally enjoyable to test the capabilities of a tenkara rod.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s what this article is about.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">In an <a href="http://www.flyfisherman.com/featured/bc-hopper-copper-dropper/" target="_blank">article on flyfisherman.com</a> I read a while back,
co-written by Barr and Charlie Craven, they had this to say about the HCD…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">“Barr’s
three-fly method removes most of the agonizing gamble that comes with deciding
what trout might choose to eat on any given day and where. John Barr, who
conjured up the solution from his tying bench in Boulder, Colorado, calls it
the ‘Hopper-Copper-Dropper’, an alliterative way to describe a setup that is as
risk-free as angling ever gets.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">Barr
didn’t invent the three-fly method. Anglers have been tossing–and
tangling–multiple-fly rigs for years. But he has refined that approach into a
system that has not only proven itself on Colorado’s hard-fished waters but
around the United States.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">I’ve
been pushing the envelope of what tenkara is capable of doing for quite a
while, so I thought <i>why not give the HCD a try?</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve basically taken the “traditional” HCD
used by western fly anglers, refined it for use with tenkara, and the results
couldn’t have been better!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This isn’t an
approach for ALL mountain water, but it is an approach for a LOT of mountain
water, especially if your personal adventures take you to rivers like the Arkansas, my local “big”
river.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">THE
FLIES:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">A
classic (western) HCD setup includes a #10 BC Hopper strike indicator/top fly,
a relatively heavy <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>#14 Copper John
dropper, and a smaller midge emerger, caddis pupae, or baetis emerger bottom
fly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I started out with the pattern
sizes that would be used with a typical 5 or 6 weight western fly rod, and
found them to be too big.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So here’s one
tip…<b>go
down one size on all three, if you can.</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This will make the three-fly rig a little more wind resistant when
casting or when it’s windy, and it’ll work with the more flexible tenkara rod
(more on rods later).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here are my
favorite HCD-Floater combos for tenkara:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">Hopper/Indicator
Patterns:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">#14
Baby Boy Hopper<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">#14
Moorish Hopper<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">#14
Hippie Stomper (red)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">#16
Yeager’s Trude Neversink (peacock) (FAVORITE)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">#14
Amy’s Ant (red)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">#14
409 (red)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">#16
Chubby Chernobyl (tan/tan)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">Copper
John/Mid-size Droppers:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">#16
Copper John (red)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">#16
Rubber Legs Copper John (FAVORITE)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">#16
Poxyback PMD<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">#16
October Caddis Larva<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">#16
Psycho Prince (purple)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">#16
Montana Prince<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">#18
Two Bit Hooker<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">Bottom/Smallest
Dropper:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">#18
Gunkel’s Shot Glass Emerger (FAVORITE)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">#18
RS2<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">#18
CDC Pheasant Tail<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">#18
Gold Ice<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">#18
Jujubaetis<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #2e2e2e; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">#18
Jujubee Midges</span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN9UPeNHn2nRg02Kch2EPBJOc6LTek90I0T2Gkw1q3u7Yq4zSi74SS3YY4JqCsDJkjU39rGl-kidEePsyYGo4hKTEofOJy4kIc8-v4a9JUG7hxfFQ8kmJEepXxanOLAQkNMvx8mQjhLp8/s1600/P1130399.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN9UPeNHn2nRg02Kch2EPBJOc6LTek90I0T2Gkw1q3u7Yq4zSi74SS3YY4JqCsDJkjU39rGl-kidEePsyYGo4hKTEofOJy4kIc8-v4a9JUG7hxfFQ8kmJEepXxanOLAQkNMvx8mQjhLp8/s320/P1130399.JPG" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A #10 BC Hopper. A classic top fly for HCD with a western fly rod,<br />
but a bit too big for a tenkara rod.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXkHAn7cvIjNve9bPJWPkSBHvUmk5WuX5lysx4kq7k36j0baYXHGnNVqQPyGBm5tlFeqWak5RFgwdCIS89htCjA-2RvpKQ8UJs4a57RurRNOmjdb7EpBdsSHoRKsj71l0FfiiiAKg9-bs/s1600/P1130400.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXkHAn7cvIjNve9bPJWPkSBHvUmk5WuX5lysx4kq7k36j0baYXHGnNVqQPyGBm5tlFeqWak5RFgwdCIS89htCjA-2RvpKQ8UJs4a57RurRNOmjdb7EpBdsSHoRKsj71l0FfiiiAKg9-bs/s320/P1130400.JPG" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#14 Hipper Stomper (red)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAaxL31td1icxgh7csylR7ppNjb3uzvjWLkcBdUB4gtp7PZeq9Z-r3LhORG2In-ljMu7MnWmKHTFPMCWBGlp-kdsRIB4gIjccMjxD8cnO3A437AvktHVvCc9Gpcp19Nlqz0EuHQsPDK6Y/s1600/P1130402.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAaxL31td1icxgh7csylR7ppNjb3uzvjWLkcBdUB4gtp7PZeq9Z-r3LhORG2In-ljMu7MnWmKHTFPMCWBGlp-kdsRIB4gIjccMjxD8cnO3A437AvktHVvCc9Gpcp19Nlqz0EuHQsPDK6Y/s320/P1130402.JPG" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#14 Amy's Ant (red)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu5mjdS6fsri8VhfT9xkTtpWZQbHEjvqYMVYWfs1ft5JwLbIeWQZpgcDaZGmJ9ExbrpckMMtmJuuIZ7cqENeGroVld4nCQcLyzgfYJKUtLMXF1QIJwplx5MGQ_7omPtHUe1Ufa2a78I74/s1600/P1130404.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu5mjdS6fsri8VhfT9xkTtpWZQbHEjvqYMVYWfs1ft5JwLbIeWQZpgcDaZGmJ9ExbrpckMMtmJuuIZ7cqENeGroVld4nCQcLyzgfYJKUtLMXF1QIJwplx5MGQ_7omPtHUe1Ufa2a78I74/s320/P1130404.JPG" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#16 Chubby Chernobyl</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix28H7TRM4qVE3TsB3a3Mkge4RnHyhI52Ft7nOV_nIShKjRln2oTF8Ugivf2AohrlUmobcxzXR3D5xXMm67bbmDl0mzMsPfIP5Oj6W4OC2eJFCqZEUa_1kAteiqDr7EjJmiF1Yh2EGV1k/s1600/P1130409.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix28H7TRM4qVE3TsB3a3Mkge4RnHyhI52Ft7nOV_nIShKjRln2oTF8Ugivf2AohrlUmobcxzXR3D5xXMm67bbmDl0mzMsPfIP5Oj6W4OC2eJFCqZEUa_1kAteiqDr7EjJmiF1Yh2EGV1k/s320/P1130409.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Classic #16 "coppers" for HCD-Floater<br />
on a tenkara rod.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjvdc9C1xRLKbyyxDzwfQ3MqC8XjYhe1W3Lxg3ZEJhFkg6CtV4dbNW1HBDJHyHX4Tub4CsiyQG3Q6ArOBbro0nAj5Ci4B3bkW2J_8pAlO-di0e4bX3lYPV1j7PEPu-XZ_9ETPewRZyGqQ/s1600/P1130407.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjvdc9C1xRLKbyyxDzwfQ3MqC8XjYhe1W3Lxg3ZEJhFkg6CtV4dbNW1HBDJHyHX4Tub4CsiyQG3Q6ArOBbro0nAj5Ci4B3bkW2J_8pAlO-di0e4bX3lYPV1j7PEPu-XZ_9ETPewRZyGqQ/s320/P1130407.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#14 Moorish Hopper</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlIWdiZQ5ud1l-ifLAtnvb-ovIwU7sakUKsPp_e60iRgmFsaRtAmfRl7D2-g3_BYg8m9FWNIQ-_-niqN6u3WcEGBP-RVN4Y8Es4tOjx2AiD9sIt7jckSHs2XexDx2NWKviKR5ZSgZFSc0/s1600/P1130410.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlIWdiZQ5ud1l-ifLAtnvb-ovIwU7sakUKsPp_e60iRgmFsaRtAmfRl7D2-g3_BYg8m9FWNIQ-_-niqN6u3WcEGBP-RVN4Y8Es4tOjx2AiD9sIt7jckSHs2XexDx2NWKviKR5ZSgZFSc0/s320/P1130410.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">HCD-Floater "droppers", all #18</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">THE LINE/TIPPET:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">The HCD-Floater method works best with a floating line, and <a href="https://fishrigs.com/products-page/rigs-tenkara-lines/floating-tenkara-level-line-with-hi-viz-tip-126-5/" target="_blank">RIGS FLY SHOP MAKES THE BEST ONE OUT THERE! </a> Yeah, I’ve got it, I work
for RIGS, but they don’t pay me to push lines.
The RIGS lines speak for themselves, and we sell a ton of them, and for
good reason. I’ve taken the RIGS
floating lines from the San Miguel, Big Cimarron, and Gunnison all the way home
to the Arkansas. They just flat out work
for the HCD-Floater system (among others).
Here’s why. First, these are (in
the tenkara world) big, brawny rivers.
Most native flows are around 400 CFS in the shoulder seasons, and the water is often 75 feet
across. The wind almost always blows,
especially in east-west running canyons like the Colorado and the
Arkansas. You need a line that’s
functional in the wind, floats so you can drift that big, floaty hopper
drag-free, and one that can effectively cast a relatively heavy three-fly
rig. The line material on the RIGS lines
makes all of that possible, with a buoyant, comparatively heavy line. The addition of a tippet ring makes threading
tippet and changing out tippet material infinitely easier. As a guide who threads a tippet ring hundreds
of times each season, I find that a selling point. As a middle-aged man who wears bifocals
constantly, I find that a selling point!
The addition of a large connection loop and an in-line high-vis strike
indicator make this a highly functional line for non-traditional tenkara.</span></div>
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<span style="color: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">With
the largest usable tippet for tenkara set at 5X, that’s where I start from the
tippet ring on the line down to the top fly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I use mono for this section of tippet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I use flouro tippet material from the top fly down to the first dropper,
staying at 5X.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The section from the
first dropper down to the second gets 6X fluoro.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Going with fluoro on the bottom two sections
of tippet keeps visibility down in the water, and fluoro is both denser and
stiffer, which helps turn the cast over better than with mono.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will typically run around 5 feet of tippet
from the line down to the top hopper/indicator fly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The droppers are each run about 16” below the
preceding fly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, from tippet ring to
bottom fly, this setup is just shy of 8 feet in length.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Add a 12-15’ floating line into the equation,
and you have 20-23 feet of line from rod tip to bottom fly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s a lot for a tenkara rod to handle, and
you really need the right rod to make this work best.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rods are next.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">THE
ROD:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">The
rivers are usually “big” on the tenkara scale, the canyons are usually windy,
and the HCD and floating line are comparatively heavy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You don’t want to take a 5:5 level line
tenkara rod on a trip like this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What
you DO want to take is a rod that flexes toward the tip (a stiff 6:4 or a 7:3)
and is at least twelve (360cm) feet long.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Rods that have performed well for me fishing a HCD on a floating line
are the venerable Amago by Tenkara USA, the beautiful Nissin Zerosum 400 7:3,
and my current favorite, the now-discontinued (but still available, if you look
hard) Daiwa LT39SF.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I much prefer the
lighter weight, better balance, and casting performance of the Daiwa, although
my Amago sure did catch a lot of browns on the Arkansas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a pinch, the Iwana by Tenkara USA would
do, and if you have the Daiwa LT36SF it would do even better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both rods are a little short at twelve feet
and 390 centimeters respectively, but they’ll work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think you get the idea…a 12-foot-plus,
tip-flex rod.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">You’ll
need a rod like this because of the weight of the line and flies, and the
ever-present wind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A mid-flex rod simply
can’t keep up with either very well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A third
factor that a tip-flex rod will handle better is current.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bigger water means heavier flows, and turning
a 16” brown trout in 450 cfs water takes a robust rod. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">Casting
an HCD-Floater rig requires a slower cast, a little more pause at the end of the
backcast, and a bit of a push going forward to deliver it to the water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not complicated, but it’ll take a few
casts to get in the groove.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once you get
in that groove, it’s pretty easy to nail the same seam, the middle of the same
big pocket, or the mid-current glass that you’re aiming for.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Times;">Well,
there you have it, non-traditional tenkara at its best.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some may even say that it’s not really
tenkara.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Matters not to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What I do know is that I’m using a tenkara
rod, and it’s a whole lot of fun! So, if you want to experience the possibilities of non-traditional tenkara, or love fishing the HCD with a western fly rod and want to try it with a fixed-line rod, give it a try! </span></div>
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Paul Vertreeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09396294738558824287noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456151614292758344.post-86786457691154832562015-09-03T19:25:00.001-07:002015-09-03T19:30:28.518-07:00Catching Up!<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m finally home from a long, busy summer in Ridgway,
Colorado, where I work full-time as a professional tenkara guide and fly shop
bum at <a href="http://fishrigs.com/western-colorado-fly-fishing-guide-service/tenkara-guides/" target="_blank">RIGS Fly Shop and Guide Service</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There really wasn’t much time for anything else, with days off few and far
between.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ll guess that RIGS does
two-thirds of their business between June and August, so drinking from the fire
hydrant is the norm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was fortunate to
be surrounded by fellow guides and shop folks who take hard work to a new
level.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have a solid team at RIGS, led
by co-owners Tim and Heather Patterson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The two of them set a high standard for hard work, flexibility, and perseverance
during a busy, stressful time of year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
couldn’t ask for a better place to work!<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7MH15tfVin212yW3xoVKn4sOv9bkwhWI079JOLa4YVD5Qn1jV0BQRcz8fx-NCFaZqvCSlXpy0TU0FoIgJrHPe6EIlcYAXQstxmGQlcWScg8z2bq_uq7lhkFEZy4uplxuf4qRFcAAK0sQ/s1600/IMG_2900.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7MH15tfVin212yW3xoVKn4sOv9bkwhWI079JOLa4YVD5Qn1jV0BQRcz8fx-NCFaZqvCSlXpy0TU0FoIgJrHPe6EIlcYAXQstxmGQlcWScg8z2bq_uq7lhkFEZy4uplxuf4qRFcAAK0sQ/s320/IMG_2900.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Closing down the fly shop on my last day behind the counter in mid-August.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnxbaD_lxMqMiPLQa4lzn7zc5-uABiv7a51YlI1-LvyleIGdzPX88rxQjkvz9cJaxTlPiEdlz4EBkkT4i5-qfvTUKxITRZiwBCLIz7CkRWuaD5uBoboAS2c9XNF9_zJEtRqewd2t6i2Qg/s1600/RIGS-Adventure-CO-Fly-Shop-Guide-Service-Whitewater-170x123.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnxbaD_lxMqMiPLQa4lzn7zc5-uABiv7a51YlI1-LvyleIGdzPX88rxQjkvz9cJaxTlPiEdlz4EBkkT4i5-qfvTUKxITRZiwBCLIz7CkRWuaD5uBoboAS2c9XNF9_zJEtRqewd2t6i2Qg/s400/RIGS-Adventure-CO-Fly-Shop-Guide-Service-Whitewater-170x123.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The busiest place in Ridgeway, Colorado!</td></tr>
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In all, I guided 25 trips, and spent the rest of the summer
working in the fly shop or shuttling whitewater raft trips.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Combined with the two tenkara weekend clinics
I put on each year, that puts my guiding up above 30 days per year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not too shabby, if you ask me!<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_7TbgeEfUFV3mEXhu4yMFipsputIBu0lchWPidICR0QfXsNv4mME2GnGdbTcpjJuyHSb4w5Z_M3x8qS5KyXpqqCy408antG7ld54R9Y01hh-8Ef541cGzBs0MuYque4jrzh4b-dB_QtA/s1600/IMG_2919.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_7TbgeEfUFV3mEXhu4yMFipsputIBu0lchWPidICR0QfXsNv4mME2GnGdbTcpjJuyHSb4w5Z_M3x8qS5KyXpqqCy408antG7ld54R9Y01hh-8Ef541cGzBs0MuYque4jrzh4b-dB_QtA/s320/IMG_2919.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Happy clients, happy guide! </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Most of my guided tenkara trips take place in the Cimarron
Range, which is a northern extension of the San Juans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ridges, spires, turrets, and hoodoos form a
line, running north from Uncompahgre Peak all the way to Cerro Summit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is stunning country!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The drive from Ridgway over Owl Creek Pass is
arguably one of the most scenic anywhere in Colorado.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’re permitted in the Uncompahgre
Wilderness, so my trips can be done from the extreme southern headwaters of the
three forks of the Cimarron River all the way up to the northern boundary of
the Uncompahgre National Forest, just below Big Cimarron Campground.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the fly shop we call this entire area “The
Cimarrons”, and it provides a vast, diverse region that’s absolutely perfect
for tenkara.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each drainage above Silver
Jack Reservoir holds its own special qualities, and is unique.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each one of them requires different
strategies and techniques, ranging from the wide-open lower end of East Fork,
to the brushy and intimate pools and pockets of West Fork, and the twists and
turns of Middle Fork.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of my favorite
places to guide in late summer is the Cimarron River tailwater below Silver
Jack Reservoir.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s technically a
tailwater, but it looks much more like a freestone.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYNc7q3Q9UavPTve0ODGPecHy3vLSjFeSD48XwutPNSM8RCp8gxLou5mj7vPxRGczROJCL-IDYQ6ygu-JKP2QFQ2JWMAjBAmWjdVXug5ZtfLGdyMDg-OZ3r8oPdhbA3MBJwr53bN5Ls9U/s1600/IMG_0586.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYNc7q3Q9UavPTve0ODGPecHy3vLSjFeSD48XwutPNSM8RCp8gxLou5mj7vPxRGczROJCL-IDYQ6ygu-JKP2QFQ2JWMAjBAmWjdVXug5ZtfLGdyMDg-OZ3r8oPdhbA3MBJwr53bN5Ls9U/s400/IMG_0586.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Cimarron River above Silver Jack Reservoir. (Photo courtesy of Stephen and Melissa Alcorn)</td></tr>
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Once or twice a summer, if the water is lower and clear, I
guide on the San Miguel River between Telluride and Norwood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This summer “The Miguel”, as we call it,
turned out to be very fishable, and my clients caught some really nice
rainbows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are few things more fun
than drifting a #14 Crystal Stimulator or Puterbaugh Caddis on the far edge and
having a nice sixteen-inch rainbow crush your fly and take you for a ride.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A fish like that on a tenkara rod is simply
amazing!<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyed6qO7ErrShAfS8pHuUPf3n8pE-O3EwqFkLDS4T-1KWRuuZoLp1f_OweykI-sM0oJgWjOxVzfIKMvpGo2SuY7jN63RTW-DGiNugp_vJaY7yXmY0SoR0JeqkwYw0lcVUrjd4dV8PKcmk/s1600/IMG_2867.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyed6qO7ErrShAfS8pHuUPf3n8pE-O3EwqFkLDS4T-1KWRuuZoLp1f_OweykI-sM0oJgWjOxVzfIKMvpGo2SuY7jN63RTW-DGiNugp_vJaY7yXmY0SoR0JeqkwYw0lcVUrjd4dV8PKcmk/s400/IMG_2867.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The San Miguel River below Telluride.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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In all, it was a great summer season!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s always fun to head 200 miles southwest
to Ridgway, and it’s equally good to return home to my family each August.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To my clients this summer…THANK YOU!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had some amazing days standing beside you
in wild water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hope you learned a
thing or two.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the most rewarding
things about guiding is spending quality time with such interesting
people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To do so in such magnificent
country makes it all that much better! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixkzJs92PqDrI7Peyt-QTE36TpC89nhm3XN0BDxoAmQvq_a5Ge1PDhgFvlOJCGC-SSZ6nfUllbsnevLWRJJua7hyphenhyphenGt-CfEOmJ0ikpOIDRKIaV3h8cH0lLs_CVhlQXKZ_qyXOH_egJo7eE/s1600/IMG_2950.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixkzJs92PqDrI7Peyt-QTE36TpC89nhm3XN0BDxoAmQvq_a5Ge1PDhgFvlOJCGC-SSZ6nfUllbsnevLWRJJua7hyphenhyphenGt-CfEOmJ0ikpOIDRKIaV3h8cH0lLs_CVhlQXKZ_qyXOH_egJo7eE/s400/IMG_2950.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My last two clients of the season, Tim and Mona. We had a stellar day fishing the Cimarron River backcountry!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Paul Vertreeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09396294738558824287noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456151614292758344.post-77292023778347857352015-03-16T20:48:00.000-07:002015-03-17T08:04:39.190-07:00Why I Kill Trout<div class="MsoNormal">
A while back I posted an article on my blog entitled “<a href="http://www.tenkaratracks.com/2015/02/canones-de-invierno.html?m=1" target="_blank">Cañones de Invierno</a>”, which was a trip report from the ca<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande";">ñ</span>ones this past December.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In that article, I talked about catching,
killing, and eating brown and rainbow trout.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I posted photographs of trout sizzling in a pan on top of a wood stove,
and of those browns and rainbows grilling on top of some scraps of iron on a
pile of glowing coals in an open fire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>While reading Facebook posts today, I found one where my partner on that
December ca<span style="color: black;">ñ</span>on trip, <a href="http://www.mountainridgegear.com/pages/About-Us.html" target="_blank">Eric Lynn</a>, explained when
and why he and I kill trout in the backcountry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Eric, thank you for your explanation!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’d like to expound upon what you wrote.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBtegNWwcKKQKV38MzA5vEF8ocwpoWpheUC_RkJC5fk77puls8n67prE1fejfY0g2F9jC6Dcop_723Yl7-ib4X_u3J-Tl9sUc9LvR_2MLzsW_xgz8q_V1-QTLxRHJ6o6IZg1yrtPb5tBs/s1600/P1120718.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBtegNWwcKKQKV38MzA5vEF8ocwpoWpheUC_RkJC5fk77puls8n67prE1fejfY0g2F9jC6Dcop_723Yl7-ib4X_u3J-Tl9sUc9LvR_2MLzsW_xgz8q_V1-QTLxRHJ6o6IZg1yrtPb5tBs/s1600/P1120718.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eric Lynn with a brace of brown trout, ready for the pan.</td></tr>
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I kill trout and eat them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, there are self-imposed limits to this, and more often than not,
I strictly adhere to a catch-and-release ethic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When, where, and why I kill trout is dependent on a number of factors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have chosen to live a disciplined life on
many levels, and my tenkara is no different. <o:p></o:p></div>
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First, I never keep fish unless I’m backpacking,
period.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not quite sure why it
bothers me to do otherwise, but there’s something about backpacking, spending one
or more nights out in the boonies, and celebrating the fact that I’m totally
self-sufficient, that makes catching and eating a trout or two acceptable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Much of my wilderness backpacking is done to
reconnect with my paleolithic roots, and I devote a lot of time practicing
bushcraft, hunting, and fishing to hone those ancient skills so important to
keeping myself safe and well-fed off the land.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUEzkFIpy2H7p_qtlkmEaECpdpnqqKtWop7SvP9qipsAxnHEyS3fBS4AHCM7owkieu6vTE1FqunnaR0gHaL6ILpEkcrAsV7scJUp3EHe9GUItsLWojzZCjYGsebOoQr8fZSTiixEtVh84/s1600/P1120316.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUEzkFIpy2H7p_qtlkmEaECpdpnqqKtWop7SvP9qipsAxnHEyS3fBS4AHCM7owkieu6vTE1FqunnaR0gHaL6ILpEkcrAsV7scJUp3EHe9GUItsLWojzZCjYGsebOoQr8fZSTiixEtVh84/s1600/P1120316.JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Freshly caught trout and miso soup, cooking over hot coals in the backcountry.</td></tr>
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Fellow backcountry hunter, and renowned hunting ethicist,
<a href="http://davidpetersenbooks.com/" target="_blank">David Petersen</a>, wrote that fly fishing (which tenkara IS, in case you wondered)
is little more than “hydraulic hunting”, a point of view shared with sporting
writer, <a href="http://stephenbodio.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Steven Bodio</a>, who Petersen quoted in his seminal book,
<u><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Heartsblood-Hunting-Spirituality-Wildness-America/dp/098165844X" target="_blank">Heartsblood</a></u>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In that book, Bodio talks
about “the occasional killing and eating of trout as a means of reminding
ourselves of the ancient visceral connection between human and fish, predator
and prey…”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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This connection with ancient food procurement, buried deep
in my genome, is important to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
why I hunt elk, mule deer, pronghorn antelope, dusky grouse, snowshoe hares,
Merriam’s turkeys, and cottontails.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
also why I hunt and fish in the some of the most strenuous ways possible,
backpacking and burro-packing deep into Colorado wilderness, far from any
bail-out my pickup could provide.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a
hard life at twelve-thousand feet.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-x8jophLAikrV42si-assQ6w5ux9psQshuCokW9-08_MKw7ILN3FQlCQogWbgaD-QWGUwOkx2cwLOoAbCrDFW29Ico5mqzMlo9DB-hhLzc0obedIzaC6DRjHb_dssHLnVZ0tPC3qXJ2Y/s1600/P1120394.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-x8jophLAikrV42si-assQ6w5ux9psQshuCokW9-08_MKw7ILN3FQlCQogWbgaD-QWGUwOkx2cwLOoAbCrDFW29Ico5mqzMlo9DB-hhLzc0obedIzaC6DRjHb_dssHLnVZ0tPC3qXJ2Y/s1600/P1120394.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brook trout, pine squirrel, rice, and tea. Living off the land!</td></tr>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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Second, the fish I kill and eat the most are brook trout,
with exceptions in canyons where there are so many brown trout it could make
your head spin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The brook trout in
Colorado’s streams need to be killed and eaten.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The fact that there are hundreds of miles of brook trout streams in
Colorado, all filled with 7-9” fish, make it a literal buffet for the
backcountry angler, since Colorado Parks and Wildlife offers liberal daily
limits on squaretails.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Non-native
brookies can put the hammer on native greenback cutthroats and, as nature
writer Ted Williams has said (quoted by Petersen in Heartsblood) regarding the
problem with brook trout in Rocky Mountain National Park, “Biologists there are
trying to eliminate non–native brook trout to aid the comeback of threatened
native greenback cutthroats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Releasing a
fish that needs to be removed from the ecosystem is worse than Zorba the
Greek’s unpardonable sin of not going to a woman’s bed when called…”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicyJOr1aaEYnu00y4stjJfCKFVYx4CVvqiHzxz_UR9p_8p0fjJ3Nn4bz15woHMNC9f-XpwMh2ii_zS6yh3qG8FfNi7zB9iXh3YBN-a8ymLvN1yunZ26qfUzFs74TBllMxVPGwELpe2PWI/s1600/IMG_1528.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicyJOr1aaEYnu00y4stjJfCKFVYx4CVvqiHzxz_UR9p_8p0fjJ3Nn4bz15woHMNC9f-XpwMh2ii_zS6yh3qG8FfNi7zB9iXh3YBN-a8ymLvN1yunZ26qfUzFs74TBllMxVPGwELpe2PWI/s1600/IMG_1528.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A nice 12" rainbow from a tiny creek. This one lived to swim another day.</td></tr>
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<br /></div>
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Third, size matters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I simply won’t kill a trophy trout, and “trophy” is subjective.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the brook trout streams I frequent, a
“trophy” fish is anything over nine inches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The lower elevation semi-desert canyons I call home hold some amazingly
big brown trout, and any fish there over a foot long lives to swim another
day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d rather chew cold elk jerky for
supper than grill a ten-inch brook trout.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The big ones stay.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This one stayed in the canyon, as most of them do.</td></tr>
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So, there you go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That’s my take on “catch and munch” versus “catch and release”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a moving target, but it always boils
down to letting the trout call the shots, and staying true to your ethics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If those trout happen to be nine inch
brookies, build a small fire, get out your grill or pan, and live off the land!<o:p></o:p></div>
Paul Vertreeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09396294738558824287noreply@blogger.com6