GT’s Final Four Winning Picks

Posted on March 31, 2012 by Greg Thomas

Want to be saying, I told you so, when One Shining Moment is playing on Monday night? Well, I wouldn’t place the family fortune on my picks at Vegas, but you could make some simple side-bets with friends and stand a pretty good chance of winning if you follow my lead here. Here’s what going to happen today.

The SemiFinals

Louisville and Kentucky

Skill set galore at Kentucky versus a bunch of grind it out kids from Louisville. Common sense says take the talent in Kentucky and figure on them finding a way to overcome the adrenaline and pure will to win from Louisville. But there’s a little more to think about here. John Calipari, Kentucky’s coach, is infamous for blowing Continue reading →

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8 Things to put in your spring/summer pack, right now

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Greg Thomas

It’s that time of year when the weather is changing and you stand a good chance to arrive at the water lacking something you really need. Remember last year, when late fall arrived and the snow was blowing around your face like a vortex and you peaked in that pack and said, “Gink? Yea, right.” And you cast it into the back seat of the quad-cab where it’s been resting for four months, amongst those nastyfied Pringles and that half of a Fillet o’ Fish that you dropped between the seats when you had to sleep in your truck because you’d had too much fun at the Blue Moon in Twin Bridges. It was cold back there, wasn’t it, with nothing greater than breathable waders and that Labrador puppy for protection against a 20-degree night.

So what I’m getting at here is that you’re probably lacking Continue reading →

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South Fork Boise: Update on bull trout

Posted on March 26, 2012 by Greg Thomas

Back in January I was speaking with Nick Coe, who works with Icy Bay Lodge out of Yakutat, Alaska, a silver salmon fisherman’s paradise. He spends winters in Idaho and recently sent a text with some interesting pics after fishing the South Fork Boise River below Anderson Dam, east of Boise. Continue reading →

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Men’s Journal: Save NW Salmon Now!

Posted on March 24, 2012 by Greg Thomas

I love it when mainstream media covers outdoor subjects and Men’s Journal, which reaches an astronomical number of subscribers, did just that recently, in a piece on dwindling salmon runs in the Pacific Northwest.

They focused on the Idaho’s Salmon River, one of my favorite steelhead rivers, but they covered other streams as well. This bodes well for any hopes to return WILD salmon and steelhead to former abundance. Thanks to Greg Stahl at Idaho Rivers United for sending a heads-up. Here’s a teaser. Click below for the entire read.

by Kevin Gray

Riggins, Idaho, population 410, is a scenic town, hugging a turn in the Salmon River. The river, locals say, was once so full of Chinook salmon that people joked you could cross it on their backs. During spawning season, “they made such a racket that you couldn’t sleep at night,” says Rexann Zimmerman, the 59-year-old owner of the Hook, Line, and Sinker tackle and liquor store. “Now they’re something rare and precious.”

The Columbia River Basin, encompassing parts of Washington, Montana, Idaho, and Oregon, was once   Read The Men’s Journal Article HERE

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Arkansas Record Bass Recalled

Posted on March 24, 2012 by Greg Thomas

I love this big bass game and all the shenanigans that go along with it. Records? I don’t really give a damn about records in angling, other than to know the top end of any given species. But, for chest thumping? No way.

Now, it’s different with bass. There’s money and sponsorship dollars on the line and if I were a bass guy I’d probably spend most of my life looking for Mr. Big. That said, Continue reading →

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Orvis Podcasts Hit 2 Million Views

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Greg Thomas

I’ve been throwing out the love to Orvis a bit lately, ranging from the most recent post on Tom Rosenbauer’s book, Guide to the Essential American Flies, to the Orvis online knot guide, and now to a major milestone—Orvis’ online podcasts, which Rosenbauer creates, have been viewed more than 2 million times.

That’s a lot of views and the reason for it is that Rosenbauer provides Continue reading →

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Tom Rosenbauer’s Essential American Flies

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Greg Thomas

At first I wasn’t too excited when I received Tom Rosenbauer’s Orvis Guide to The Essential American Flies, and that was a little hard to admit because I consider Rosenbauer one of the great people in fly fishing as well as a personal friend.

But then I thought about how long I’ve been in fly fishing and considered what I most often pull from my fly boxes. By doing so I remembered two things: First, I reflected on how useful basic pattern books, including Tying Dry Flies and Tying Nymphs, by Randall Kaufman, were to me when I started tying flies and throwing the long rod; and, second, I peered into my boxes and saw a plethora of Continue reading →

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Image of The Week: Look Close

Posted on March 19, 2012 by Greg Thomas

Ok, so it’s not the most exciting image you’ve ever seen. That’s not the point. This one just serves as a reminder that it’s spring Baetis time and that’s what you see crawling around on that log. Maybe it’s a little early to see strong hatches on most waters but, be sure, there are some Baetis coming off in the Rockies and it’s go time to match them.

And what to match them with? If all you have are Parachute Adams’ in sizes 16 and 18 you’ll probably do just fine, as long as you are fishing those off of 5X tippet and can cast worth a damn. Specific matches? Yea, try Baetis cripples and emergers, such as a biot Sparkle Dun, Baetis no-hackle, and olive short-wing emerger.

Look for those bugs coming off in the afternoons, say from noon on with a peak around 3 or 4 p.m. Get out there because spring offers some of the best dry fly action of the year.

Rainbows sipping Baetis.

 

Posted in Flies, Northern Rockies, Northwest | Tagged | 2 Comments

Save the St. Joe and Coeur D’ Alene Cutthroats

Posted on March 19, 2012 by Greg Thomas

I’m a big fan of fishing in north Idaho and I love that area’s cutthroat streams, including the Coeur d’ Alene, St. Joe, Lochsa, Selway, Kelly Creek and Clearwater. Over the past four years there have been catch-and-release only regulations on the St. Joe and Coeur d’ Alene rivers and dedicated fly fishers have seen overall numbers and size of the cutthroats in those systems increase.

Unfortunately, a vocal group of fish-whacking fanatics is Continue reading →

Posted in Conservation, Idaho, Northern Rockies | Tagged , , | 11 Comments

Biggest Taimen I’ve Ever Seen

Posted on March 15, 2012 by Greg Thomas

I’ve been working on Fly Rod & Reel’s Angling Adventures issue and I assigned a piece on fishing taimen in northern Mongolia, the old stomping grounds of Gengkis Khan. While doing some research I came across a blog called Pike First. There’s a lot of pike info on this site, but there’s more—shots of taimen that are bigger than any I’ve ever seen. Continue reading →

Posted in Conservation, Travel | 1 Comment