and a strong cup of coffee

My friend Staci is a fisherwoman.  She had the gear, knows her stuff and has years of experience.  Somehow, someway, I convinced her to take me fishing. We were watching the water height and strength online and it looked promising so that is where we headed.  An hour later we arrived to this:  the water had been released from the dam above and was raging.  I snapped a couple of pictures and we headed to a different spot to try out luck. Staci said this was a little high compared to what it was a few days before when she was there with her husband but it seemed doable and we wanted to be able to cast a few times just to say that we did it.  I had received two pairs of waders from a retiring coworker so I was eager to try them out and hoped that they would hold up. The bridge swung a little as we drove over it We geared up, Staci put some ties on both of our fly rods (I watched her and tried to adjust the waders).  And we headed into ...

When some blogs just talked about opening day of fishing season, Robin Follette and I LIVED it! I drove four hours north the day before to hang out with Robin and go on a few adventures (those posts are coming, but here is a sneak peek ).  The biggest was to stand in the Stream in Grand Lake Stream on opening day and try our hand at fly fishing.  We didn't really care about catching a fish but we were excited to see the groups of people that would be there and the excitement surrounding the beginning of fishing season.  We met up with Brian Donaghy of Epic Adventures to help us with gear and guidance. When we pulled into the parkinglot, we saw Brian and only 4 or 5 other vehicles.  This was not the crowded fishing adventure that people said that it would be. Robin and I were the only women there with about 6 or 8 other guys who were there to hang out and talk to people or fish. Grand Lake Stream Fishing the stream Fishing the stream Robin and I g...

I am afraid that I could really get addicted to fishing.  The only thing that is really stopping me are those images of fishing hooks embedded in fingers, thumbs, hands etc. and realizing that that could be me.  I shutter! But when Al took me out fishing on the Big Lake, I could see myself really getting into fishing.  The weather was perfect and I was eager to see if I could really land a fish.  I had struck out turkey hunting so I was hopeful that my luck would change. One of the streams leading into the lake.  Al and I met up at 8:30 and headed out.  It was perfect weather, sun and a little wind.  As we motored around, I was surprised by the lack of other boats on the water.  We talked about fishing, getting women outdoors, the status of every huntable animal around and the camps themselves.  People from all around the world fly in to stay in Grand Lake Stream and fish these waters. We had two spin casters set up and I held on...