I have been on the water in Boca Grande, FL fly fishing every day since I returned from the Land of Giants in Montana.  And right now, I could not be more FIRED-UP about catching large numbers of Snook, Redfish and Tarpon on a variety of flies that induce strikes of a lifetime!  Thanks toall who signed my Snook petition last spring.  We were able to help the Florida Fish & wildlife Commission make their decision to keep the Snook harvest closed for another year.  That means we are going to have some more killer Snook fishing this year.  Tim was down this past weekend, and in two days, I watched him land so many Snook, Redfish and small Tarpon that it was off the chain intense!  My favorite style of fishin' -- wading up a mangrove-lined creek in the middle of nowhere!  They were pounding poppers on every bank.  We were taking incredible shots from start to finish on day two, and the eats on my hand-tied gurgler, Tim will not soon forget.  I have been finding lots of Redfish tailing and cruising just about everywhere in the back islands.  If you can't see them, just start casting a shoreline, and eventually, they will find your fly.  I was out fishing yesterday with Dick, and we had thesame experience... we started with a gurgler, and they were not eating right away. Then, at about 11:00, they were ready to feed.  We started seeing groups of tailing Redfish over rays digging in the grass while the tide fell out.  It took a couple of casts to get their attention and then they would hump up on the surface, sticking their backs out of the water while chasing the gugler and slamming the popper right at the boat.  This action makes it hard not to rip the fly out of their mouths.  Redfish have an inferior mouth, and you better keep stripping until you feel him.  That's when you set the hook.  I am excited to see how the weather and fronts unflold over the course of the winter.  We have gotten plenty of rain this fall and the rivers are pumping freshwater.  Hurricane Sandy rolled by and is blowing a hard northeast wind that is blowing all the rainwater out to sea.  We should be in for clear water in the near future.  November Fly Fishing in Boca Grande should be excellent.  I expect this winter to be one of our best in a long while.   I will look forward to seeing you on the water.  

Montana Fly Fishing was superb this summer, and so was the weather.  The weather was a bit hot, but very stable. Anyone who knows me knows that I like a little nasty weather here and there to break up the monotony of a 30 day stable weather streak.  The Missouri River drainage was low overall, and some drainages were as low as they have ever been. These conditions were too dry to have the best hopper fishing.  In many streams, fish were not taking hoppers readily, but they were crushing each other, the little cannibals.  Streamer fishing seemed to be the rule, and everyone knows I love streamer fishing.  Check out this 25 inch brown that attacked a streamer at my feet in inches of water.
The Yellowstone and Madison fished well this summer with all sorts of dries and streamers, but it was day to day.  Patrick Daley managed to hit one cloudy day out of the last 30 sunny days, and the Yellowstone pumped out some big browns like the one pictured here.  Colvin's crew ran a two boat float down the  Yellowstone and managed to put a w hale of a brown in Sea and Stream Outfitter's guide, Ryan Brewers boat using a zonker fly.  The Lower Madison was a hit as well.  We took
Browns up to 26 inches out of this river.  Take a look at the Brown trout landed in Brad Ehrnman's boat on the Lower Madison.  
     The feeder streams and spring creeks fished great in September when the nights began to cool off.  I am hoping for good flows again next year.  There should be good numbers of big browns.   Floating and wading off the beaten path water for big browns and rainbows is my game.  I like to walk and walk and walk.  Many of my fellow guides can't or won't guide a trip unless it is out of a boat which leaves the unchartered waters for me and my clients.  Understandably, not all anglers can wade long distances and the best way to approach our big rivers like the Missouri, Madison, and Yellowstone is out of the boat.   It will be exciting to see what the flows will be for next year.  Snowpacks and runoff will dictate water levels and weather is too hard to predict, but either way there will be some more big browns like these caught next year!