Devil’s Tower Road Trip

July 23, 2016 By TB

ROAD TRIP!!!

On our way from Michigan to Montana, we decided to take a side trip to Devil’s Tower National Monument. The SaraLinda was up for it so we gassed up with the big boys and headed across the midwest cornfields on I-80.

When we made it to South Dakota and I-90, Barb actually took over and drove the SL for the first time. She made about an hour of clenched teeth driving before she turned it back over to me. We needed a rest before we made it to Devil’s Tower, so of course, it was “Wall Drug or Bust”. It was HOT to say the least. Our temp gauge registered a high of 110 but we couldn’t get a pic quick enough but we caught it at 109.

After our night in Wall, we headed to Wyoming, which meant Devil’s Tower couldn’t be far. We pulled the SaraLinda into our campground and boy were we surprised at the incredible view our View had. We looked directly up at Devil’s Tower from the campground.

The campground does a somewhat cheesy but ultimately very cool thing each night. With Devil’s Tower as the backdrop, they show Close Encounters of the Third Kind on an outside big screen TV. Barb and I still remember seeing it for the first time back in November, 1977. This time was pretty special given the environs. What was really fun was seeing families watching it for the first time.

After watching the movie, we headed up the mountain to Devil’s Tower to try out the camera on a night shot. Lots of trial and error, but we got a couple of pretty good shots of a moonrise along with the tower and stars. Many thanks to Keith Mitchell, John Woody and Don Henderson, my photography gurus for helping me figure all this out. Turned out great I think. Afterward, it was back to the SL and our oh so appropriate nightlight (make sure to see the pic in the attached movie 😉

The next morning we got up before dawn to see if we could capture a sunrise on the tower. We found a family of deer as we climbed back up the hill. The buck was really watching out for everyone. We ended up hiking Joyner Trail to get some great photos of sunrise and how it hit Devil’s Tower.

After getting shots along Joyner Ridge Trail, we headed to the tower to hike the Tower Trail that circles the entire Devil’s Tower. It is truly awe inspiring to walk it. We saw ten climbers scaling the columns that make up the tower. We even heard their grunts and screams…. eeeeeek!

Devil’s Tower is a sacred place to many Native Americans. In June, climbers are not allowed on the tower. Tribes connected to the tower come and place prayer cloths on trees around the tower, conduct ceremonial dances and more. You can see the prayer cloths everywhere as you circle the tower. The Native American Lakota Sioux (great grandmother on my dad’s side) in me made visiting here very special. Must do more research when I get a chance.

We encountered lots of wildlife as we hiked the trail. From a squirrel stretching on a log to two fawns playing just off the path. The night before we saw a fox and a zillion prairie dogs.

There are so many incredible views as you hike around Devil’s Tower. You can even see the valley where the spaceships came in the movie CE3K. I highly encourage anyone heading near this area to stop and take the hikes around Devil’s Tower. If you can, spend the night at the campground at the base of the tower and watch the movie as well. We hope you enjoy the slide show movie of our journey to Devil’s Tower. Road trips ROCK!

Au Sable, Lagniappe, Little Manistee, Manistee, Pere Marquette

Pure Michigan

July 22, 2016 By TB

We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Michigan, fishing the “Fab Five“. We also had a great time with family camping at Holland Beach and at Hartwick Pines State Campground. The “Trout Town” of Grayling was a treat from awesome fly shops like the Old Au Sable Fly Shop to great food at Spikes Keg O’Nails and Goodale Bakery.

Fishing the 4 TU Top 100 streams, theAu Sable, Manistee, Little Manistee and Pere Marquette as well as the Pine was a real treat. We caught (and released of course) dozens of little brookies and a handful of really nice sized browns. While we missed the “hex hatch”, we fished dries and twitched/stripped streamers to lure the fish to our nets.

Please enjoy this tribute to our time in “Pure Michigan”. We’re now rambling on to points West.

Au Sable, Little Manistee, Manistee, Pere Marquette

The Michigan Fab Five

July 21, 2016 By TB

Yes, I’m a college basketball junkie. I can still vividly remember the excitement around a group of 5 mercurial freshmen at the University of Michigan that set the collegiate basketball world on fire during the 1991-92 season. But this isn’t about basketball, but about the “Fab Five” trout streams we had the pleasure of fishing in Michigan. Four of the streams are a part of the TU Top 100 Trout Streams. The fifth, honestly fished better than any of the others even though its not on the “Top 100” list.

We started our Michigan tour in the Grayling area (stayed at Hartwick Pines State Park) which boasts two Top 100 Trout Streams, the Au Sable and the Manistee. The prime season for the “hex” hatch had just ended but when we walked into the Old Au Sable Fly Shop in Grayling, Andy convinced us we HAD to go out that very night and try. Barb and I went out around 9:30pm to the Goose Creek Campground Access to the Manistee River, hiked in about 1/4 mile and found our spots. We both had nice cut banks with some structure around them where big fish might hide. We had our headlamps on our heads but off as we awaited a possible hatch. While it never came, I did catch a nice 14″ brown on a “hex” fly about 10pm. When 10:45 arrived, it was pitch black outside and Barb was ready to go. Naturally, at that very time, a huge fish (think 24″ or more) hit Barb’s fly in the dark. It surprised her so much it got away. Not much happened after that so we headed back to the car around 11:15pm.

The next day, Chris Drake (son-in-law) and I floated the Manistee with Alex Lafkas in a genuine Au Sable River Boat. While the fishing that day wasn’t too great, we had a great time on the river (see gallery pic) catching a few small brook and brown trout. Unfortunately, a big thunderstorm blew up and we high-tailed it off the water.

Next, it was Barb’s turn to be in the the Au Sable River Boat with Alex as we floated the Au Sable River. We put in at 2pm and fished until 10pm that evening. Since sunset wasn’t until then, we had a great time fishing with the sun off the water for half the time. What that meant was that we had brookies and browns rising regularly and we caught our share of them on dry flies. Lots of fun and an incredibly relaxing float. We also saw where Trout Unlimited was originally formed (see gallery collage pic).

Barb and I waded the Au Sable on our own a couple more times while we were in the Grayling area. Wading both up and downstream and hitting the banks looking for big fish, we were happy with plenty of 10″ trout. Every so often, a special racing canoe would come barreling down the river past us. There is a big race every year on the Au Sable called the AuSable River Canoe Marathon and teams were already preparing for it.

We next moved down to the Irons/Baldwin area to fish 2 Top 10 streams, the Pere Marquette and Little Manistee, as well as what was described to us as the “best” trout stream of them all, the Pine River. The Little M was just down from our campground in Irons. Barb and I found access points at the Irons Road bridge our first morning and stepped into a small stream fishing for brookies and the occasional brown. We found a few but had a wonderful morning searching them out in each pool (see gallery pic) as we walked downstream.

When we hit the DLoop fly shop in Wellston, we were told that the Pine River was the one we REALLY wanted to fish. Lucky for us, we got a slot to fish it. Guided fishing trips on the Pine are regulated heavily with only a few allowed each season. Turns out the Pine is much more a paddlers river and thus protected for them. We went out with Brad Turner, The PM Angler. Brad was as excited as we were in that he’d not paddled the Pine in some time as a guide. We had a blast on the trip (another 2pm – 10pm) and caught numerous fish and some really nice ones (see Barb’s catch in gallery above). The fly of the day was “The Skunk”, black streamer with white rubber legs that we twitched and stripped. Barb was especially deadly with this method.

Finally, we fished the Pere Marquette River in somewhat the same way we’d fished the Au Sable. We waded it on our own a couple of days before floating it with Tommy Lynch, “The Fish Whisperer”. While the “bite” wasn’t on in a major way, we still hooked into a few good sized browns throwing hoppers and “The Skunk”.

All in all, the Michigan “Fab Five” rivers where just that….. fabulous!

Lagniappe, Top Trout Towns

Top Trout Towns

July 21, 2016 By TB

What makes a “Top Trout Town”? In 2009, Forbes Magazine published its list titled “North America’s Top 10 Trout-Fishing Towns“. The author admitted that it was totally subjective but listed out 10 communities rich with trout fishing opportunities. Fly Rod & Reel published its list of the “Top 10 Trout Towns” with some criteria: Pitfalls, Big Draws, Best Eats, After Hours, Kick Start with Caffeine, and Kicking the Dirt. A book has even been written about the subject by Bob Mallard, “25 Best Towns Fly Fishing for Trout“. As we travel around on our River Ramble, we are visiting many of the towns in these publications and more. Of course, we are finding our own criteria for our own personal “Top” list, including important characteristics like: local watering holes, best local beer, great local coffee, unique local eats, fly fishing economic benefit to the community, best live music, etc… We’ll share more on all of these along the way and will likely be changing our minds along the way as we visit more and more of these locales.

To date, we’ve visited trout towns that are on most “Top” lists including: Asheville, NC; Roscoe, NY; State College, PA; and Grayling, MI. Absolutely all are great but they also are all different.

Asheville is a major city with a large regional university and very diversified economy. It happens to set close to some of the most incredible trout fishing in the east. It’s the largest city in an area I’d like to suggest become a new state devoted to trout fishing. It would include Northern Georgia, Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee. There are numerous “TU Top 100” trout streams in the area. While Asheville is awesome, we actually enjoyed a much smaller community that someone described as “Asheville 100 years ago”, Sylva, NC. It’s closer to most of the NC trout streams, has a main street with multiple fly shops, has some unique local eats, multiple local breweries and a great live music scene. If you’re in Asheville, take a trip out to Sylva and visit Innovation Brewing, grab a meal at Evolution Wine Kitchen (yes, they have a great selection of craft beers and great food pairings for it) and if you’re lucky, go listen to Bird in Hand playing nearby.

Roscoe, NY, bills itself as “Trout Town USA”. Banners up on main street proclaim this proudly as do signs in many of the towns businesses. The Roscoe Beer Company is in town and distributes a very nice Trout Town American Amber Ale that I sampled liberally. Just down the road is Catskill Brewery. The Roscoe Diner is a fixture among fly fisherman in the area. The town supports 4 fly shops that lure fishermen with everything they’d possibly need. Guides abound for fishing area rivers with drift boats on every corner of town. We had the pleasure of working with the team at Ken Tutalo’s Baxter House River Outfitters. Two of the three TU Top 100 Trout Streams flow right through Roscoe and a third is a short 15 minutes away.

State College, PA, is the home of Penn State University and we’re told it’s also known as “Trout Bum U”. Within an hour drive are three of the TU Top 100 Trout Streams. If you go out to an hour and a half, you add 3 more TU Top 100’s and at least 3 other trout streams that could have been on the list. Being a university town, you have all of the benefits that brings, including some great local breweries like Happy Valley Brewing Company. You also have a PSU Ag Department creamery on campus that serves up some of the best ice cream you’ll ever find. TCO is a great local fly shop that provides great flies, supplies and most importantly, info on where to fish. We spent two weeks in the State College area and could have spent 2 months…. easy!

Finally, we just visited Grayling, MI, which has the Au Sable River flowing right through town. Old Au Sable Fly Shop sits right on the river and provides everything you could need for fishing the area. Just outside town, flows the Manistee River, another of the TU Top 100. The Au Sable is home to the founders of Trout Unlimited itself. Couldn’t really find any “local beers” but did find a great local eats spot, “Spike’s Keg O Nails” which celebrates the town’s fly fishing and paddling heritage. The are proud supporters of the annual canoe race on the Au Sable. To satisfy your sweet tooth, the Goodale Bakery in town has everything…. and I mean EVERYTHING! They are even a distributer for Albie’s Pasties, a northern Michigan concoction that was scrumptious. What we found in Grayling was that while it is a great town with two world class trout streams, it’s really more of a paddlers town with more kayak/canoe rental shops by far than fly shops.

If you pinned us down according to our criteria at this moment, we’d probably say Sylva, NC should be on any “Trout Town” list just as much as Asheville. We love Asheville but Sylva was closer to the fishing and more intimate. But so far, if you wanted to say pure “Trout Town”, they’ve already coined it, its Roscoe, NY. If you wanted to fish a dozen or more quality trout streams in an area, State College is your town. If history, some cool river boats, an incredible hex hatch and some paddling is on your list, head to Grayling.

This year, we’ll also be visiting towns on most “Top” lists including West Yellowstone (MT), Bend (OR), Jackson (WY), Ennis (MT), Missoula (MT), Bozeman (MT) and Hailey (ID). We’ll also be reporting on other “Top” towns we find along the way. We have a favorite but will save it until we fish there…. so stay tuned…. and….

Ramble On!

Big Gunpowder Falls, Lagniappe, North Branch Potomac, Savage River

Maryland Memories

July 12, 2016 By TB

We had a blast fishing the TU Top 100 rivers in Maryland: Big Gunpowder Falls, North Branch of the Potomac and the Savage. Who knew Maryland had such great trout streams. Given the proximity to DC, its really quite amazing that these streams don’t see even more pressure than they do. We sure seemed to have the rivers to ourselves a lot during our stay here. Please enjoy “Maryland Memories”, our video montage of our time in Maryland.

Our first stop was to fish the Big Gunpowder Falls river near Monkton, MD. Our base was the Backwater Angler fly shop. Make sure you stop in here and visit with Theaux Le Gardeur. He knows this river inside and out. He’s the “Riverkeeper” for the BGF river. He and the young guys in the shop do a tremendous job of giving you the flies and the river intel to have a great day on the water. He also hooked us up with Micah Dammeyer of Knee Deep Fly Fishing who guided us on an afternoon/evening of fishing. At 6’6″ Micah is never more than “Knee Deep” in any part of the BGF river. You can read his guide talk here.

Next stop was to fish the North Branch of the Potomac with Harold Harsh of Spring Creek Outfitter. We were in a small raft floating down rapids and fishing holes in between. Had a lot of fun and caught lots of beautiful rainbows along the Maryland/West Virginia border that the NB makes. Hear more from Harold’s interview here.

Our final stop in MD was on the Savage River. We had an absolute blast fishing this river and its tributaries. We caught many small brookies in the tribs that were gorgeous in color and spunky for their size. When we got on the Savage with Charlie Laffey and Mike Evans of Savage River Outfitters, we were treated to some amazing browns. Their size and fight were a real treat. We highly recommend this fishery and for sure heading to SRO for guiding, flies, tips and perhaps even a glass of wine by the river out back with Mike and his wife. Check out his interview on the banks of the Savage.

Cumberland, Guide Talk

Streamer Troy

June 23, 2016 By TB

If there is a river you should go and fish as a beginner to fly fishing, I’d highly recommend the Cumberland River, one of the TU Top 100 Trout Streams. Furthermore, the guide you want is Troy Humphrey of Cumberland Trout Guide. Troy had us on fish from the start, including a double (both Barb and I hooking up and landing fish at the same time) on our first drift. We also caught all three species of trout in the Cumberland… browns, brookies and rainbows.

Why the Cumberland? It gives you a really good chance of catching a lot of fish so you can practice casting, mending, setting the hook and landing fish. Often times you don’t get to practice all of these like you do on the Cumberland.

Why Troy? He talks a lot about his guide philosophy of safety, fun and fish… in that order. Anytime you get in a boat you want to have safety as a number one priority. Close behind that, at least for “Berb” and I is fun. We had a blast with Troy… Barb became “Berb” during the day. You’ll have to fish with Troy to find out why…. all i can say is, he does have a great sense of humor. Finally, yes, of course, fishing! We quit counting the number of fish we were catching about 15 minutes into our full day trip. It was evident we were going to be on fish a lot, be able to practice our skills, and hopefully hook into a big lunker along the way. Troy delivered on his “trifecta” with us. For now, please enjoy this interview with “Streamer Troy” to learn more about this great fishery.

Guide Talk, Savage River

SRO

June 15, 2016 By TB

Driving from our campground at Deep Creek Lake State Park to the fly shop at Savage River Outfitters takes you down along one of the many brook trout streams in the Savage River Watershed, Crabtree Creek. Barb and I are brook trout junkies for sure. So, of course we pulled off the road to cast our small, light rods for beautiful brookies. What we didn’t realize was what was in store for us when we made it to the Savage River, more specifically, the “lower” Savage below the dam.

Being a “technical” stream to fish, we knew we needed help and called the guys at SRO, Mike Evans and Charlie Laffey. To say that they took care of us would be an understatement. Mike sent us out to fish more brook trout streams in the watershed first before our guide trip with Charlie and him. We had a great day fishing for the wild brown trout that inhabit this beautiful stream.

We wish we had more time to fish the Savage and its tributaries. However, we know we’ll be coming back and stopping at SRO for guidance and great hospitality. They have cabins that are really nice and set right on a gorgeous and productive section of the Savage River. Get there and enjoy some great dry/dropper fishing. For now, please take a few minutes to learn more about this amazing fishery from Mike Evans.

Guide Talk, North Branch Potomac

The HH Potomac

June 15, 2016 By TB

When we saw that the North Branch of the Potomac was on the list of the TU Top 100 Trout Streams, the context we had for it was based on our time in Washington DC. That part of the Potomac really didn’t seem to be fishable for trout. We were so surprised when we reached the banks of the North Branch at Barnum WV. A beautiful trout stream was flowing before us.

We jumped into a small fishing raft with Harold Harsh, owner of Spring Creek Outfitters. Harold has been fishing these waters for decades. He took us down the river and put us on some really nice fish. Barb was slaying them all day. Harold knows this river incredibly well and you will too when you fish the Harold Harsh (HH) Potomac as we did. For now, enjoy this interview with Harold as he discusses the ins and outs of fishing the NB.

Lagniappe

100 x 3513 x 26 x 44

June 11, 2016 By TB

Today we are celebrating our 100th day on our adventure fishing the Trout Unlimited Top 100 Trout Streams. The SaraLinda has traveled 3513 miles thus far. We have fished 26 of the Top 100 streams and have fished 44 streams total. The gallery above is a sampling of the beautiful fish we caught today fishing the Savage River, Middle Fork and Crabapple Run in far Western Maryland.

What we found early on was that Its Not About the Fish, but its about the people we are meeting. That is still true today. From all of our guides (check out their interviews), to the fly shop owners, the musicians sharing their music with us, the campground hosts who’ve helped us out tremendously and all the people in the local diners, coffee shops and breweries we’ve visited. Its really been a blessing meeting and becoming friends with them all.

We are in Maryland for another few days before heading to Kentucky to fish the Cumberland. After that, we’re headed to Carmel, IN to see the grandkids over the 4th of July before continuing our adventure in Michigan.

We hope you are enjoying tagging along with us on our ramble. If you have any questions or even better, have any suggestions for things to do in the areas we’re visiting, please please send them along!!!

Cheers ?,

Tom and Barb

Characters, Lagniappe, Penns Creek

It’s Not About the Fish

June 8, 2016 By TB

We’ve been blessed this entire trip in meeting and being befriended by so many people…. From Jimmy and Kathy Harris and Ron Thomas in Helen, GA to Tom and Deb Finkbiner in Slate Run, PA… to all our guides we’ve enjoyed and who’ve taught us so much about fishing and the incredible places where their local trout live… to the musicians who’ve shared their songs and stories with us… all of the fly shops and their staffs who’ve put us on the flies and fishing spots for fun and successful fishing. While you might think our journey is about fishing the TU Top 100 Trout Streams, it really isn’t. As Andy Wagner, our guide on Spruce and Penns Creek says, “fishing is just an excuse”… an excuse to get together with old friends, make new friends, break bread together and be a part of a community of people who share your same “excuse”. This has been our biggest “aha” moment of the trip and it was really brought home when Andy took us on a side trip at Penns Creek.

There are many fishing, hunting and “sportsmen’s” camps dotted along the streams we’ve fished in Pennsylvania. After we’d spent the morning on Penns Creek, Andy took us to one of these camps which is known as “The Shanty”. Imagine a small, one room cottage with no electricity, no running water, no phone and the nearest road is at least 1/4 mile away. Inside is a wood stove, a sink, two sets of bunk beds, a sofa, a few chairs, a propane stove, a kitchen table, several kerosene lamps, some books and other items. Food, supplies, water (beer), propane, wood, etc… all have to be brought in via lawn cart along a path left by the railroads that runs along Penns Creek. That is the “physical” characteristics of “The Shanty”. But kind of like “its not about the fish”, its really not about the physical characteristics of this camp. Its about the people who built it and the people who now occupy and care for it and its history.

Thanks to Andy, we were honored to have met one of those people, Jeff Zim, a retired teacher and school principal. Jeff shared the history of The Shanty from when it was originally built to its current set of characters who inhabit it. The real history of the camp is in the hearts and minds of the people who’ve been fortunate enough to have stayed there, shared a drink and a cigar on the porch and fished with Jeff and the “Shanty Posse”. It’s in the stories experienced and shared. Barb and I were privileged to have spent a while sitting with Jeff and hearing some of those stories. Most of them didn’t involve fishing at all, but the characters who share our community “excuse” of fly fishing.

Many of Jeff’s stories included one of his primary “posse” members, Bob Ranck. We laughed so hard at some of the stories centered around “Ranck”. What seemed to emerge from all the stories was that Bob got it more than the rest of us, meaning he really knew and lived the saying “it’s not about the fish”. From all the stories it was clear, “Ranck” was a character. I wish we’d have had a chance to meet him as well and he could have been there to share his side of the stories being told. They were priceless!

Places like this, and more importantly, people like this are so very special. Barb and I want to thank Andy for bringing us up to The Shanty and introducing us to Jeff. HUGE thank you to Jeff for opening his heart and his stories to us. It meant the world to us both. And even though he wasn’t there in person, he seemed to be there with us in spirit… a special thank you to Bob Ranck for creating this incredible place and keeping a warm and welcoming front porch for passers by to become friends.