A Place Of Myth And Legend-Ku

To that place of
myth and legend.
a quiver of cane in hand.

Beneath Fir and Maple,
The song of legends within riffle's wake.
May my fly be worthy.

Like a candle,
at both ends,
flames ever closer each cast.
A commitment to the canon of swing.

Alone this river taunts.

At each bend,
my elbow, sip from the flask,
be more than.

The sound of a rivers
anthem, in the pulpit,
its sermon encourages.

Swing pilgrim.

Traveled to the North Umpqua recently to do what we all must do. I had fun meeting up with a few of you. Together we had a little Spey camp going. it was great to share some of the rods I've been building and getting some feed back from not only fellow swingers but from a few fish as well. River was high, but early mornings provided the best action. I brought 4 fish up in tail outs in the usual places. I had two on and one was really hot, swung him up on a Lamire style waker near Wilson Creek. later in the evenings i found a few Searun cutts rising in the Mott area and had fun swinging to them small traditional wet flies for the NU, one a Umpqua Special, Al's Special and a variation of a Silver Hilton but all in Gold. They were very aggressive and fun on the 300grain trout spey. I'm pretty much a rookie to the Umpqua but i have to say the Doc Crawford's Book on the North Umpqua is incredible with all its maps and info, it can be found easily on line used if you want to check it out.

Rain Forest Haiku, 4-2-2017 Olympic Peninsula Spey Trip

Temple run.
Breath dreams like air. I swear,
the trees sing!

Of fur and feather,
tinsel and silk
Swung deep,
One on one off.

The sound of riffles song
Cascades of foam, turbid glacial melt.
Now one, my fly and willow.

These trees,
of ash and spruce,
tell stories. 

photo by George Revel, Lost Coast Outfitters

photo by George Revel, Lost Coast Outfitters

Fecund fresh,
moss and fern, heavens drapery.
Temple of Kugel creek.

Not too fast,
Not too slow, seems just right.
Around every bend,
magic.

I drove up to Seattle taking a few days to visit some local galleries and the museum on Bainbridge Island that recently purchased a sculpture for their collection. I headed of for Forks via the ferry then through Port Angeles arriving then in Forks. immediately i saw a few runs on the legendary Sol Duc that I needed to swing sooner than later. After checking into the hotel I headed to my first few spots. Its interesting to learn about new rivers when your doing this DIY style. I did meet up with a couple of friends Dax and Leslie, during the trip, they gave me some advice. I never thought that on some of these rivers the winter runs will hold in different types of water than each other at times and that I should be aware of covering the water a bit more systematically. I fished the Hoh as well, both rivers being favorites! I got into 2 fish during the whole time there but wasn't able to land them.
out of the total 7 days I had on the OP, the rivers where only fishable for 4 of them, constant rain had them dangerous to wade and or blown out. All and all I felt I did pretty good for never fishing there before. Now home drying out getting ready for Spey O'Rama!

Swing-Ku, South Fork Eel, March 2017

Gett'n itchy to go. 

just feel'n like day trip'n, until the main event.

California dreaming.

Along the river trail,

the secret spot we all know well.

fern and moss, encourage hopes.

A perry poke and swing.

Around rivers bend.

Todays perfect tail out found.

Black and blue, swung into  shade

3 on 3 off.

Bend that bamboo!

Yuba-Ku 12-7-2016

This withered river
The Cotton woods aflare.
Harvest moon sets, drizzle rain. 
Beatis emerge. 
Each cast a reflection of
a new year to come. 

Sometimes we go fly fishing not to really catch a fish, but to catch some time with another kindred spirit. Spending time on a river, walking miles searching, where hours can go by with out conversation. Thanks for the day!

Yuba-Ku 12-1-2016

 Before Yule rise to the beat,

baetis and trout along currents edge.

Single cast, single rise,

like the Moon and Mars,

we together.

I'm always excited to fish opening day on my home river. I don't know really why I go anymore. My quest in fly fishing has changed so much over the years. Looking back through my fishing journal, 15 years ago I caught 40 fish on opening day above the hwy 20 bridge. Of course I was casting beads and San Juan worms... At some point I began to change and catching a bunch of fish wasn't what my fly fishing experience was about anymore. So here I am at this river with probably 30 others. It's almost like homecoming really. Today all I brought was a few variations of BWO drys and some small Hilton variations to swing with a new Spey rod I'm testing. At the end of the day I connected to 3 amazing fish all on drys. My intention is not to be better than someone else, rather my hope is to inspire us all to challenge yourself to try something different don't buy into what everyone else does. Find your own truth on the river and believe in it.

Yuba-Ku 7-24-2016 Yuba on fire!

Sparrow, swung pulses.
Big flash, rainbow kype-jawed.
Oh, what a monster!

Yesterday I fished the Yuba River with no expectations, just really going to field test this new ‪‎bamboo‬ quad ‪‎spey rod that I've been making over the past few months‬, to this date I revised the mid and tip section three times. Each time making the rod faster and faster. It really likes a 435 scandi head with a floating poly leader, effortless casts to about 90 feet. Well I guess with the results I think I'll go ahead and take off the masking tape wraps and put some silk on her! I just can't settle in on the color.... I sort of like the idea of Black against the auburn cane,sort of how my buddy Dave does of his switch rods, but then again I like the dark olive translucent wraps I've been doing on the single handed 6wt Quadrates. What do you think?

A new small brewery opened down the street from my workshop here in Oakland so my buddy Jacob who is a rod maker had a few of their IPA's while talking tapers.... a very good time!

Sierra High Route-Ku 6-12-2016

Basins of water and granite,
hidden within abundance of color.
In my hand, Sierra sunset.

At the pass,
fields of granite inspiration.
Like New Years day.

Ranger buttons and fireweed,
along this talus strewn basin, hopping.
The smell of solace and solitude.

On the high route,
my spirit soars, freedom.
Golden eagle circles above.

Feeling the zone.
Feet float like wings,
over granite.