Author’s Note: This post first appeared on Upland Equations on May 28, 2013. This past Memorial Day Weekend, I had the opportunity to go camping with my family and some really good friends at one of my all-time favorite places, Birch Creek. Birch Creek is one of Idaho’s three sink streams that flow between majestic mountain ranges…
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BOB, THE SLOB
Author’s Note: This post first appeared on Upland Equations on June 13, 2013. Every so often, a fisherman catches a fish worthy of a nickname. I caught a whopper last night whose name came to me instantly. No offense to anyone named “Bob” (including some of my friends), but I caught a fish last night that I immediately…
TO KNOW A RIVER
Author’s Note: This post first appeared on my blog, Upland Equations on June 27, 2013. As an angler, can you ever really know a river? Over the years, there have been many that I have become very familiar with and loved dearly. But I have come to understand that every river withholds some of its deepest secrets. This is one…
TWENTY THINGS EVERY BRUSH WORN SHOULD KNOW ABOUT OL’ RUFF
Author’s Note: This post is dedicated to the memory of George King, the author of That’s Ruff!, one of the finest books ever written on the pursuit of the ruffed grouse. George founded the newsletter “Grouse Cover” and the Ancient and Honorable Order of the Brush Worn Partridge Hunters, or “Brush Worns” for short, and…
DOUBLE FLUSHER IN THE OUTHOUSE
I have been hunting with my good friend, Jim Parry, a number of times over the past three hunting seasons. However, we never seem to get into many birds when Jim is around and the ones we have found have presented only tough shots. I have joked with Jim that he is the “K.O.D. (“Kiss…
THINK TWICE ABOUT HUNTING ON YOUR WIFE’S BIRTHDAY!
My wife had a birthday this week and with it being hunting season, I couldn’t help but recollect an experience I had eight years ago while bird hunting on my wife’s birthday. I’m sure you will agree that’s a risky proposition any way you slice it! In early September of 2005, I set out the morning of my…
WILD SOUTH BY PETER RYAN
WILD SOUTH BY PETER RYAN One of my favorite outdoor writers of all times is Charley Waterman. He was one of the last “Jack of All Trades” outdoorsmen who did and loved it all and wrote about it: Big game, upland game, waterfowl, fishing, camping, etc. The great thing about Charley was that he admittedly…
PLAYING FOR KEEPS
Early this morning, I fished my favorite spot, the Mini-Madison and did not even wet my net. However, I learned that there’s a much better fisherman than me at the Mini-Madison. I’ve been fishing the Mini-Madison for almost ten years now. In my book, Heaven on Earth, I wrote about this special fishing hole: The Mini-Madison truly is a wonderful place…
THE PILGRIMAGE
A “Pilgrimage” is defined by Webster’s as a journey made by a person to a sacred place as an act of religious devotion. Some may not believe that a fishing destination meets such a description, but over the years, for reasons I describe in detail in my first book, Heaven on Earth: Stories of Fly…
ANOTHER GOOD SAMARITAN
Saturday morning, my wife, Kristin, and I hiked with some of our family up to Bloomington Lake, a place that is very special to me. Twenty-one years ago, I traveled up to this lake to camp overnight with some good friends. This happened to be right around the time that I found my faith in God and changed…
BAD LEROY BROWN
In my book, Heaven on Earth: Stories of Fly Fishing, Fun & Faith, I wrote about one of my favorite secret fishing spots in Idaho, “The Mini-Madison.” I named it this when I first fished there because it reminded me of my favorite river, the Mighty Madison in Montana, except instead of being a 50 mile riffle, it is only 100 yards…
Paying it Forward (or Even an 11 Bravo can be Taught to Fly Fish)!
The week of Independence means a great deal to me. We live in the greatest country on planet Earth, and our freedoms are worth any sacrifice in my opinion. On July 3rd, I decided to drive down to my favorite spot on the Arkansas River. I was a little hesitant that morning about going fishing cause…
Upland Ways 