Search results for: fall river

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

Maryland Memories

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.

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Beaverkill, Delaware, Willowemoc, Woodstock

New York State of Fun!

By TB

Our time in NY state was FUN!  When we arrived in the Lake Placid area to fish the Ausable River, it still seemed like winter.  There was still snow on Whiteface Mountain.  It was cold and rainy and perfect for fishing.  As we left Roscoe, NY, we’d had days in the 70’s and sun.  Spring finally caught up to us in New York and we had many fun adventures.

The Lake Placid / Wilmington area is rich with Olympic history and great fishing.  We had a trip down memory lane touring the Olympic Center where the “Miracle on Ice” occurred.  I could still hear the call… “Do you believe in miracles?”  A plaque on the wall memorialized all of the winners, including Eric Heiden who won 5 gold medals in speed skating which was held on an outdoor track, the football stadium for Lake Placid High School, which was flooded for the events.

When we were planning our trip to the area, we had numerous recommendations to get Rachel Finn from Hungry Trout Fly Shop as our guide.  We were so lucky to get Rachel and on a very cold, rainy day, I went fishing with her; Barb decided to stay in the SaraLinda and keep warm and dry.  Rachel took me to several different spots on the West Branch of the Ausable River and taught me to tight-line nymph (euronymph or czech-nymph).  We got into a few fish and had a blast fishing.  We did the guide talk interview in the guide shack of the fly shop.  Rachel is a great guide and her interview is one to be sure to watch.

When we headed south from Lake Placid to Roscoe, we saw spring emerging.  It was fun seeing all the trees budding out and flowers starting to bloom.  And yet, tonight as I’m writing this, we are in a freeze warning.

Roscoe, NY is known as “Trout Town USA”.  It is one of the  top 10 trout towns according to Forbes magazine.  We had some fun taking pictures of all of the “Trout Town USA” sites in town as well as sampling the locally sourced Trout Town brews of Roscoe Beer Company.  We also sampled some of the Catskill Brewery’s products on the recommendation of Zach Anderson.

Zach was our guide on the East Branch of the Delaware River.  I got to float fish with both Barb and Dr. James Kelley who came in for a long weekend.  Zach put us all on fish as you can see in the video.  Ken and Michelle Tutalo of the Baxter House River Outfitters put us together with Zach and also shared some prime spots for us to fish as well as what flies to use.  They were spot on.

Speaking of Dr. Kelley, we had a blast as he came in when Barb went home for her Mom’s birthday and Mother’s Day.  We fished the Beaverkill, Willowemoc, East and West Branches of the Delaware.  We even got to visit not one, but TWO, Hall of Fames.  First, we took a day and went up to Cooperstown, NY, to visit the hallowed halls of the Baseball Hall of Fame.  Next, we visited the Catskills Fly Fishing Museum and Hall of Fame in Livingston Manor.  More stories to tell but we were missing our third “Amigo”, Dr. Dan McCormack, who will hopefully join us this fall in Colorado.

Barb and I tried to get in to see a Midnight Ramble at The Barn, Levon Helm’s studio.  Unfortunately, nothing was happening when we were there… BUT…. we finally made it to the site of the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival, Bethel Woods.  We geeked out and went onto the original site of the festival, stood on stage and pretended to play to the crowd.  The spirits of Jimi, Janis and all the artists were present.  It was a very special trip for us.  The museum is not to be missed.

NY was definitely a “State of Fun” but it’s now time to head back to Pennsylvania and….

Ramble On!

 

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Lagniappe, Video

Thanks North Georgia!

By TB

Our time in North Georgia was filled with fishing, good food & drink, music, camping and more.  We fished 2 of the rivers on the Trout Unlimited (TU) Top 100 Trout Streams list, the Chattahoochee and the Toccoa.  We actually fished two different parts of the Chattahoochee River.  We fished the tailwater section near Atlanta with Chris Scalley of River Through Atlanta and then fished the Upper Chattahoochee with Chuck Head of Unicoi Outfitters in Helen.  We fished the Toccoa tailwater with Hunter Morris of Unicoi Outfitters and Fly Fishing North Georgia.  We also fished the Toccoa above the dam and had great fun catching these beautiful rainbows.  Their color was amazing.  I know getting to the mountains in North Georgia may be hard for some, but for all of you that fly in, out or through Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport…. you have no excuse not to call Chris Scalley and go fishing.  Just do it!   And take a few extra days to go see Unicoi Outfitters in Helen.  For now, click on “Read More” for highlights about this incredible special part of the world and watch the video highlighting our time in North Georgia.

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Rivers, Video

Deep in the Heart of Texas

By TB

The Guadalupe is our “home” river.  It runs from the Texas hill country to the Gulf of Mexico.   While there are several dams along the river, the one closest to our home base is Canyon Lake Dam.  Below the dam, the river flows along limestone cliffs in an area that is heavily used for recreation.   In the summer months, you’ll find a flotilla of tubers going down the river enjoying the cool, clear water.   When winter comes, the river becomes home to the southernmost trout stream in the US.   The river is stocked with trout in the winter months by both the Texas Parks and Wildlife department and the Guadalupe River Trout Unlimited chapter.

Barb and I fish the “Guad” whenever we can from late fall through spring and plan to setup our RV right on the river when we aren’t traveling the country to the other 99 trout streams in the Top 100 (according to Trout Unlimited).  I had the distinct pleasure of floating the river with some dear friends and a couple of great guides from All Water Guides, Alvin Dedeaux and JT Van Zandt.  More on them in another post coming soon.  For now, enjoy this short video highlighting the beauty of this river.

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