Feathercraft Easter Offer

The guys and gals in St. Louis don't rest when it comes to promotions for the fly fishing crowd.

Check out their latest offer to all of us who prescribe to the fur and feather. 
Feathercraft Save Big Easter Weekend.

Korker's Limited Edition Darkness Chrome Boots From Feathercraft

Received notice today from those purveyors of fine fur, feather, and gear - Feathercraft, of a special offer on the highly sought after Darkness Chrome wading boot from Korkers.

This boot was originally intended only for professional guides and industry people but due to the popularity of the Chrome boot and short supplies, Korkers has release 400 pair of the Darkness.  Feathercraft has a limited supply so if you just have to own a pair of these beauties you better act fast.

Get on the details from Feathercraft on the "Limited Edition Darkness".

December's Breath

On the road to the river Blue,
December's eastern sky is windswept.
Clouds painted with broad brush strokes,
on a horizon serving as canvas.
Colors of a forlorn grey hue.

Round bales standing in the field,
evidence of winter cattle prosperity.
Ducks on a gentle prairie lagoon,
resting from the hunter's wield.
The wind is mean today,
will it cause trout austerity?

December's breath is bitter today.
Fewer souls on the river Blue now,
early season anglers have vanished.
Like hard-earned money from the wallet,
of a veteran Saturday night drunk -
practicing the occupation of getting polished.

Those left - old salts, true lovers of the art.
They face the wind, cold, and pain.
Bitterness embraces the lot of them, but still,
head on to torment, for time grows shorter.
Tearing eyes, frozen guides, steadfast -
forward in the time that remains.

December's breath finds me today,
lays steely heavy in my chest.
So very numbing to the fingers,
these seeking eyes grow wet.
But, time pushes forward with me,
in the stew I slowly wade.

The Rocking Chair is the target,
a place foreign to fur and feather.
A favored place of the bait fisher,
a cradle from the weather.
Bugger and midge are the team
into the pool they drift.

First drift brings a trout,
but more trout would be not,
Upstream is calling - another course,
through a channel, a north fork.
So-long granite chair, I make a new way,
fishing you will wait another day.

The first fish is give a name,
as the second and third at Glory.
The wind is brutal at Glory,
and I hear the south wild call.
There's more fish to be counted,
and more fish to be named.

Counting all the fish, naming all the fish,
a compulsive disorder by a compulsive man?
There's Silverside, Aurora, Nova, Starchaser,
then Flash, Jumpin' Jack, Rascal, and Pegasus.
Each new fish counted, each new fish given.
Nineteen fish counted, nineteen fish named.

Pools and pockets are so rewarding today,
the south wilderness is quite kind.
The harbor known as the Cove,
is where the treasures were hid.
Awaiting battle with the fur and feather,
and angler of the cold season weather.

There are no timepieces on the river Blue,
except the timepiece of time itself.
Forever passing, never stopping,
ticking at it's own rhythm and rhyme.
Time today has passed for me,
and it's now time to leave the river.

On the trail out by Coyote Pass,
two bucks locked in battle.
Driven by that deep natural desire,
glorious nature in it's essence.
To the victor goes the spoils,
Focused, they never since my presence.

December's breath blows down my neck,
as I slowly climb that last steep hill.
Thanks are given to the creator,
for all the wealth and thrill.
December's breath - we'll meet again.

The Rocking Chair

North Fork behind Glory.

Trout named Silverside.

South Wilderness trout.

Trout named Aurora.

Eastern fork of the south wilderness.

A Perfect Method

Last night I was reading one of the better fly-fishing blogs that is available these days. The author is a gifted lady that seems to have a real passion for the fur and feather.

Her latest blog entry was a report on a fly-fishing trip to Montana. Seems like the outing was one of those days all of us have had at one time or another. A long day if you will, where the trout are extremely hard to figure out and quite stubborn in their insistence of ignoring our offerings.

The author speaks highly of her guide calling him the hardest working man in fly-fishing and it does indeed appear the guy worked his south-side off trying to increase productivity.

The guide, after pulling trick after trick out of his magic vest, resorted to what the author refers to as a super-funky rig. Quite simply, the method involved dead-drifting a streamer with a much smaller nymph pattern trailing. Sure enough it wasn't too long until, ka-Ching, the outing started battling more trout.

I found this part of the report most interesting because dead-drifting a streamer with a smaller fly trailing, is a method I've been using for quite a long time on Blue with good success. As a matter of fact... it's become my favorite method of battling the bows.

Usually the streamer is always a bugger and most of the time it's an olive color, but brown and black also work quite well. As far as trailers used, the list continues to grow. Of the trailers I've used my favorite is the soft hackle category with the partridge and orange ruling. Other favored patterns include the pheasant tail, hare's ear, scud, zug bug, prince nymph, crackleback, san juan worm red, and san juan worm claret. The possibilities, at times, seem to be many.

Just thinking of the times I've used this method has me growing ever more excited about this trout season at Blue. The days are passing quickly my friends, and soon we will be casting the fur and feather to the bows of Blue.