Fly Fishing in Wyoming

After much talk about a fishing trip we checked our calendars and found the only date that would work and finally booked it.  We headed up to Caspar WY to hit the North Platte for one day of floating with a guide, another day floating ourselves, and a little wading on the way home.  Turned out to be one of the best fishing trips I have ever had! 

Our guide, Eric, from the North Platte River Fly Shop, was quite the character and also one hell of a guide.  I don't think I will ever forget some of his idioms - spoken in a heavy surfer / Captain Ron kind of accent.

"Remember, every good cast deserves a good mend"

"Clean bugs are happy bugs" - fish don't take flys covered in seaweed

"Fish the Future" (when floating down a river in the front seat of a drift boat the tendency is to stop looking ahead and fish the hole you just past and blocking out the guy in the back seat... so one needs to be reminded to fish ahead of the boat and not behind it)

The First day we hit the Bessemer Bend section which was new to me and simply loaded with fish.  We each landed around 30+ fish that day and hooked countless others.

  

 We also spent a day rowing ourselves down the river.  Joe made a great first showing and found out that it is not nearly as easy as the guides make it look.  I only did a little better and despite our follies rowing in circles we still managed to catch some good fish.

 This particular fish... despite my embarrassment to admit it... was actually caught on a spinning rod with a Rapala.  The damn thing, nor all of its buddies, would take any of the number of fly offerings we threw out there including some damn good looking streamers.  In frustration we through the Rapala and this dumb fish hit it...

 We even managed to land a "Unicorn" - the mythical Brown Trout that inhabit these waters.  This was a "small" one unbelievably...

On our way home we stopped by Freemont Canyon for a little wade fishing and didn't really know what to expect.  Joe had two big fish on in his first two casts... I will admit I was a little skeptical but then we found the fish... they were stacked in the river and they were HUGE. 

 It seemed as though every third cast or so brought in a sizable fish

On our way out Joe spotted a huge fish feeding in a pool, he tried everything to get him to take his flies but nothing seemed to work.  I had just finished tieing on a fresh rig when broke off his flies.  Being later in the day and a 4.5 hour drive ahead of us joe threw in the towel and started packing up.  With my fresh flies I gave the big guy a try... to my disbelief I got him.

After a few snaps it was back into the river for this one!  I can't wait to go back!

Irish Prince and Princess

The kids love dress up.  Every weekend, they are dressed up as something or the other.  Two of the all time favorite staples are Belle for Elizabeth and Dumbo for Andrew.  Today Andrew was Dumbo astronaut and Dumbo St Patrick while Elizabeth danced and danced!

East coast visit

Elizabeth and I went to D.C and PA back in January to visit my best friend, Cathy and her family as well as my Great Grandmom Bunny and Elizabeth's God parents, Uncle John and Aunt Myra.  Mom and dad joined us as well and we had a wonderful time.  Our fist stop was Mama's on the Half Shell in Baltimore.  It is one of Jan and my favorite seafood restaurants in the U.S. and I think that I made mom and dad fans as well.  Especially when mom quickly discovered the Italian Bakery next door.  We then made our way to D.C. and had a wonderful visit with Cathy and her family.  They gave us the valet tour of D.C.  Every time I go there, I have a new appreciation for our great country.  Seeing the monuments in D.C. never gets old to me.  Especially when you have such amazing tour guides.


Elizabeth loved seeing D.C., especially the White House and Lincoln Memorial.  She got a quill pen, ink and paper from the Lincoln Memorial gift shop that she writes with all the time.

It was really funny as we were standing next to the Washington Memorial and Elizabeth calls us over to this tree.  She was completely amazed at the holy tree and wanted her picture next to it.  Heck with all the monuments! :)

 The Capitol Building off in the distance.  The picture below was our last visit to D.C. in June 2010.  

We were all really moved about seeing the WWII Memorial for the first time.  It was pretty amazing.  I thought about my Grandpas Joe, Jan, and Enos who fought in the war.

Thanks for a great visit friends!  We look forward to seeing you again soon!!!

After D.C, we headed up to PA to visit Grandmom Bunny and John and Myra. It was my mom's birthday which was special to be able to celebrate with her.

 The highlight of the trip was visiting with Grandmom.  I just love to sit in her cozy home and listen to her stories.  She has such an amazing life and it is a blessing and opportunity to sit and listen to her insights.  Elizabeth enjoyed playing with and talking to Great Grandmom.  I'll never forget the two of them playing with balloon volleyball together and mom driving Elizabeth around Grandmom's home for hours on end on Grandmom's walker.  According to Elizabeth, Grandmom's house is one bit treasure box to explore!