Unto us a Child is Born!

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
-Isaiah 9:6

While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
-Luke 6-20

I pray that none of us forgets the meaning of Christmas. While we are enjoying family and gifts, don't forget that God so loved the world that he gave His only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.

As you head back to the everyday grind after Christmas, remember to look up and be thankful for the life you have!

Merry Christmas folks. I hope to see you on the water in 2013!

Tragedy in Connecticut

Well, there really are no words of consolation we can offer the folks in Connecticut.  These types of tragedies are becoming all too common in this country.  I'm not sure I have many words of wisdom on this topic.

I guess what I'd like to say is this, as men, let's not kid ourselves about how much time we invest in our children today.  I'm not talking about the time we spend at work to earn the money it takes to put a roof over their heads, food on their tables, and clothes on their backs.  I'm referring to the actual face to face time we spend with our children.  While it's essential that we provide these necessities for our children, it's an even greater necessity that we invest personal time with our children daily being their fathers.

I hear all of the arguments about gun control and greater school security and I understand the many sides to these arguments.  But the biggest impact we could have on our communities and country going forward is to put down some of the things we often think we deserve for all of our hard work and just spend time strengthening our relationships with our children.  Our children need us daily as fathers to mold them, to teach them, to disciple them.  Our children need us to listen to them and they also need us to teach them how to deal with adversity in life.

Please pray for the families in Connecticut.  Pray that God brings them peace, understanding, and forgiveness.  And please, be proactive with your beautiful children today.  Make time.  Sacrifice your time and just commit to giving them that time going forward.  As men, we can lead our communities and our country forward on this issue, but it starts one home at a time.

As Christmas approaches, it's a great time to make time with the kids.  Think back over your childhood.  Are your greatest memories really the things that were under the tree or are they of the special things you did with your family?  It's that time we spend together that makes us who we are, not the stuff we have in life.

Embrace your kids today guys.  If there is anything I can do to help you on your journey with this, just say the word!

Take some time with your little pumpkins today!

Remembering Dad

I met David nearly 20 years ago during my brief time as a bad college wrestler.  David and I worked out together over the summer and went to several tournaments together.  At that time, David was already 40 years old and he roughed me up regularly on the mat.  We've maintained a relationship through the years, and I'm glad when we get together there is no longer any blood or bruises.

David's father was really into fly fishing many moons ago.  He built many rods and loved to tie his own flies.  As my fly fishing passion has further developed, David decided he would like to get on the water again with a fly rod and give a go at these steelhead I keep talking about.

It's been 22 years since David had a fly rod in his hand.  So, today's experience was a new beginning in fly fishing.  We spent the day getting David used to handling the fly rod, casting, and managing line.

Often in this type of situation it is difficult to get a fish to hand, let alone early in the day.  But, today was an exception.  We spent about 20 minutes in the 1st run of the day readjusting to the gear.  As David began looking more comfortable, I suggested we move to another run that should hold fish in the fast stained flows of the day.  It didn't take long and David's reel was screaming with his first fresh chromer.

This hot lady made a good first impression with long sustained runs that boasted her strength.  David was an excellent student as I coached him on battling and bringing the fish to hand.  As he admired the fish, I could see David remembering the days of old when he fished with his father.

As the day progressed David continued to improve.  The fishing was pretty tough today with the faster flows, but he was persistent.  As the day was winding down, David was doing an excellent job of accurately placing casts and maintaining good drifts.  In the last run of the day it all came together.

I pointed out a shelf on the far side of the stream and asked David if he thought he could now cast across the stream and maintain a good drift along the shelf.  I had caught many fish in the past along that self in the conditions this day presented us.  David was confident he could make the cast and manage the drift.

His line dropped at the top of the run along the shelf.  David made a nice mend in his line and BANG!  A beautiful fresh little buck came jumping out of the water.  The fish made a strong run up stream and David needed no further coaching.  He kept excellent pressure on the fish and even did a great job of rapidly reeling in line as the fish darted towards his feet.  In no time he brought the fish to submission and it was in the net.

At the end of the day, David said he thinks he will get out his dad's old rods and get them rigged up again and put them back to work.  I don't think the day could conclude any better than that.

Whether your fly fishing skills are a little rusty or even if you have never had fly gear in your hands at all, I'd love to help you put some beautiful steelhead like these in your hands too.  Call me...  LET'S GO FISHING!

Tweaking

Derek has been discussing finding time to get up to Steelhead Alley with me since back in August.  He is an accomplished trout fly fisherman, but steelhead have been giving him fits for several years.  He had planned to make the trip back in October, but he and his bride were expecting another baby and the new addition was threatening to come early, so he decided to reschedule.  Fate found a favorable time this past week for Derek to make the trip.

The conditions on Steelhead Alley have just been terrible for a couple of weeks.  We have had no rain and the tributaries have been low and clear.  The fishing has been really tough.  I had been preparing Derek for a tough trip and that is when fate stepped in.  0.67" of rain fell about 36 hours before our time on the creeks and this resulted in absolute perfect conditions.  Derek's 6 hour trip was feeling more palatable.

The biggest issue for folks with a lot of trout experience is how they view the fish.  Trout fisherman know that steelhead are genetically identical to rainbow trout, and often they assume that catching steelhead is no different than catching rainbow trout that are lifelong stream residents.   What trout fisherman forget is that the reason rainbow trout were renamed Oncorhyncus mykiss is because they are genetically closer to Pacific salmon than the Salmo species that include brown trout.  Once trout fisherman adjust their thinking of steelhead to being salmon, it becomes much easier for them to bring steelhead to hand often.

As the sun rose over the creek Derek was ready for a full day steelhead action.  He already had a handle on fly selection and getting the presentation to the fish.  He was really struggling with identifying water that held actively feeding steelhead in different water conditions.  I put him on a run and instructed him to make a drift.  He looked at me like I was crazy.  BOOM...FISH ON!  A beautiful fresh chrome hen came to his hand.

His grin was from ear to ear.  I told him it was pretty likely there is more than one fish in that run.  Hit it again.  BAM...FISH ON!  He quickly landed another dime bright fresh steelhead.  As he released the 2nd fish he admitted he would have never considered fishing that run.  We further discussed that run and why it would hold fish with the conditions of the day.  I could see the light come on for Derek. He got it.

The rest of the day, he identified runs that held fish and his reward was a double digit number of steelhead on his line.  A few simple tweaks to his game and now Derek is ready to successfully tackle the Alley on his own in the future.  It doesn't get any better than that!

If your game just needs a little tweaking...call me.  LET'S GO FISHIN'!

A dime bright reward.

The perfect drift in the right run equals FISH ON!

Look at the bend in that rod.

Yes, it does look like a rainbow trout...

A perfect release.