Brian Wise

The Evolution....too sweet. Looks good in the copper color too! Brian

Brian, I would have to say the Tecumseh area on high water in the winter is your best bet on the fly. They will generally take a run when the water from the NFOW and Bryant get high and the lake starts to fill. I am thinking about taking the drifter out against all of those boats and anchoring when they make their run. Brian

JJ, Brodin has some of the clear rubber bags but I can't find them on their site. Here are some though... Rubber Net Bags You will never go back to a mesh bag man! Brian

Waded in to the islands above Patrick today with Brian Sloss and a friend of his in some drizzle and a light rain. Started at the second island upstream of Patrick and immediately got into young of the year rainbows. Both sides of the island fished pretty well, hooked a fairly nice brown there too. Basically the fishing stayed the same all the way back down to the trail. Caught a couple of 16" rainbows, hooked some nicer fish and lost them, but all in all a great day of fishing for only fishing about 3 hours. Brian even caught a young of the year (wild) brown 20 minutes after I told him that we probably only catch one a year. Brian

That is them Don. It is more of a screen print on them though. They are in a rectangular harder plastic "case." I do have to say I wouldn't call them the most warm piece of gear that I have but as a base layer they are really good. Brian

Greg, It is called RemTech Performance Apparel. Like I said it is made by Remington. I know they have them at the Wallyworld in Mtn Home. They are going fast, and I mean fast. I needed a Medium and had to wait about a month until they stocked more. Looks like a trip to Mtn Home is in order for you....then "maybe" fish the White since you are so close. Brian

Technically I would take a stab and say that there is a least "some" midge activity on all of our trout waters during the winter....could be wrong though. Probably not as thick as the tailwaters but still there. As far as layering, Remington is making a Under Armour type of base layer that is at Wallyworld. I do have to say that it isn't Under Armour quality but it is real good stuff. AND they run for something like $15 for the shirt and $15 for the pants. Brian

Hey all, Guided pretty much all weekend (except for Thanksgiving Day.) Friday started off 14 degrees at my house...chilly to say the least. Had real new fisherman, one actually had never caught anything on the fly rod. A lot of instruction got them fishing pretty hard after the first couple of hours...then they had to learn all over again how to fish out of the drift boat. They didn't do real well but the takes were there period! Usually if I have to say "setTheHook-Set The Hook-SET THE HOOK" that fish will not be landed. All fish that day came on egg patterns. Saturday started off about 15 degrees warmer but within the first couple of hours the temperature dropped and wouldn't recover all day. Fished the same people Saturday as Friday. Fishing was slower Saturday (judging by how many times I said "Set The Hook") but it was great to see the lightbulb go off on several, several different things with new fisherman. Sunday brought me rain, a pretty experienced fisherman, and an OA reader. The temps were not bad at all so the rain was welcomed in many different ways. All in all fishing was good. It had it's slower times and the fish seemed to come in "spurts." We didn't get a realy count on the fish but he was pushing a dozen, mostly young of the year fish but a couple of fish that were 2 year olds and one that was about 14". Fish Sunday came on egg patterns and Golden Stones. Good fishing!! Brian

Took a short wade-in trip to the islands above Patrick. This water is seriously some of my favorite water on the river. Started off with a stone/egg pattern rig and got into some of the fresh stocker browns from the most recent stocking right off the bat. Between the first and second island I decided to fish a spot that always looks soo good but we rarely bring many fish out of and landed an 18" brown out of there. Good, short day of fishing and awesome weather! Looks like we are going to have a cold snap coming and I am guiding all weekend...hope it doesn't get too brutal. Brian

JJ, The wet fly bug hit me a couple of years ago. Honestly the first place I went was Davy Wotton, "Wet Fly Ways" wasn't on the shelves yet and he was an INSANE help. I totally have to recommend buying the dvd of Wet Fly Ways, it covers several different techniques, rigging options, fly recomendations, and so on. The best day I have had on the NFOW ever was fishing a team of wets and when things start to click you can really do some damage. Defenitely an awesome style to add to your arsenal. As far as tying them goes I really did a lot of online research and one of the better sites I came across was this article on Global Fly Fisher. Classic Wet Flies - Bergman and Beyond It also helps a lot to have someone help you on setting the wings, and marrying them as well. Also if you are open to not only fishing Classic patterns you can really come up with some cool stuff on your own. Like the fly that they guy in that article calls Black and Orange, man I tie them in red, blue, green, and yellow...the possiblities are endless. A few of my favorites: Invicta (thanks Davy) Hares Ear Wet Butcher Whickham's Fancy Royal Coachman Leadwing Coachman Have fun with it man! Brian

Sold

Vonreed, It is the 16' 9" boat...pretty much 17' Brian

Fishing downstream was about the same as your report Brian....minus the 17" fish. We did however get closer to an eagle than I have ever been. There was a bunch of BIG browns going through the motions of spawn and he was in the tree directly above them....we didn't know and he flew off from about 15' above our heads. I think he had a good meal in mind with those fish below him. TONS of young of the year with a couple of 13" fish thrown in the mix. We are hooking at least one big sucker on almost all of the floats we are taking now. Drives me crazy becuase I immediately think that it is a good brown and then after the first run they come in on their side. The browns are in full swing spawning. Brian

Now asking $350.

If a Gear Review section were to be put up better watch what you review and how you say it..... I personally think it would be a good addition to the board, but I will not review anything else on this board--good or bad. And I've never really reviewed anything. Brian

Ok Rodney, give it up! Photos of the fly would be nice, and I'll give you my home address for a dozen Brian

(sigh) Brian

Here we go again....... I would like to share the slideshow I made of the trip but I'm worried that someone will break apart how much I stirred up the bottom as I fell, with the camera pointed right at me. Brian

I had the pleasure of fishing 3 guys from Cape last Sunday. One of which was a 12 year old who was probably the best fisherman I have fished under the age of at least 17....he was good! Fish are still mostly in the deeper tailouts, and again, if you can beat the young of the year off the fly you can catch some bigger fish. We had a really, really nice bow pick up a big hunk of moss and that didn't last long on 6x. Fly patterns were a lot more strung out than the last month or so. The RFSN still caught fish but it wasn't as productive as I wanted it to be so we fished Copper Johns, flash back PT's, and San Juan Worms under the big nasty stone...all caught fish but still wasn't an insanely productive day. Brian

I was working on my paparazzi skills, I hear they need someone else chasing Britney Spears... Brian

Morgan F., It's not everyday that there is a camera handy when you take your first swim...and it was my OWN CAMERA!!! I will make that a short sequence in a slideshow, it's way too funny. Brian

Had a great time Brian! Gorgeous river, good company, good fishing....too sweet! I uploaded some photos to Picasa here: Eleven Point River Brian, I will get you that full res shot in the fog. Brian

Bump See you this weekend guys! Brian

I do have to say that if people have expensive rods (besides some insanely old antique rod) that they won't fish because they are scared that they will break them....THAT is horrible and is where ego probably comes in to play. I am not trying to say that everyone should own a $500 rod, or even a $280 rod. I am just saying that everyone should own a fly rod so they will know what we love so much. Brian

Muleball, I have been dying to get out at night lately....browns are moving man. We just had a survey done and the most fish over 18" are in the Blue Ribbon. I have been seeing a tone of big, big browns just haning out in the holes between ROLF and Blair. We have had a couple turn on the fly during the day but it was more of a "Leave me alone, I'm trying to rest" kind of look. I would concentrate on the deep tailouts above a good, long hole, LATE. After you make it through the tailout you are wanting to fish go ahead and wade into the hole. WATCH YOURSELF, don't fish alone if at all possible, especially in some of the holes through here. Ankle deep to 6'+ in less than a foot is pretty common. As for flies I would also suggest throwing something nasty.... Brian Brian