Page 5 - Culture

When I was a kid, my imagination led me to believe that fly fishing was exclusively for rivers and I am sure many others thought the same. As I got older, my dad introduced me to fly fishing and you guessed it, we fished in a river. Where I grew up in Albuquerque, NM there were not many places to fish, let alone fly fish. In the heart of ABQ there is a little gem called Tingley Beach.

It's been a hot summer. We finally got a cold front and some rain, but a couple weeks ago, we were still in the 90's and it was smokey. Many of our favorite waters are a bit warm for trout and we have been giving them a break. So we went Bass'n. https://youtu.be/JHot5jfVnjI Montana may be known for trout, but it is loaded with multiple species options. We love catching any species of fish on the fly, and Smallmouth Bass make a great target species. You will note Calvin using some conventional gear to prospect. Sometimes it's a good way to quickly cover water when you are short on time and hunting for fish. Once we find them, we love to figure out how to get them to eat flies. In the morning, flashy streamers stripped fast through shallow water triggered some bites. Once the sun was higher, deep, slow rolling...

First off, let me explain how this came about; last week a few of us got together for a short day on the water and on the way we had met up at a local gas station. We packed into one vehicle and the conversation got interesting, for most of us. The topic of discussion was cheeseburgers; gas station cheeseburgers.

I believe that if you really care about your favorite water way that keeping it a secret is not going to protect it for very long. In fact, I believe that when many anglers try to keep a river a secret it actually becomes more desirable to try to get to.