Ian Rutter photo R&R Flyfishing

Ian Rutter photo R&R Flyfishing

Snow, Rain and temps pushing up to the melting point have plumped up the local streams. Water is running cold. Fields, low lands and run-off gullies are full of slush just waiting for the next sunny day and warm temps. I fear near the end of this week we could experience a high water event when we get some sun and hit 40 degrees. Looks like today and tomorrow it will hold, but after that there is no telling how long we have before the first spring run-off will make its way south. I will get out today to do a bit of scouting and let you know. The photo above is from R&R Flyfishing in Tennessee.

Fly Fusion Mag V10I2-2-3Jacob Gibb takes the Goat to Fly Fusion Magazine

Last fall my friend Jacob Gibb called to see if I had time to catch a trout. This wasn’t the normal call sayin “lets go fishin”, it was the “I need you to catch a fish now so I can photograph it” call. Turned out Jacob was working on a photo essay for Fly Fusion Magazine and the photos he needed were the final images to complete “A Complex Process”. An hour later we were on the stream tending to some serious business. The pressure was on to put a trout on the other end of a Pheasant Tail Nymph he had tied. The fly was crafted from a bird he and his dog had harvested on a successful hunting trip earlier in the season. The light had to be just right, the fish had to be just right and the background had to be just right. After 278 shots, everything turned out just right and we still had a little time to get Jacob off of the camera and onto a few fish himself before dark. When everything turns out just right this great photographer allows himself a little celebration. Some old school beer previously only sold West of the Mississippi. That’s right, Coors “The Banquette beer”.  He brought a few extra for payment. Trout, twilight and tailgate, it don’t get better than that.

Last week Jacob called and told me the issue was on the news stand. I went over to Lunds Fly Shop in River Falls and picked up a copy. I haven’t read a fly fishing magazine since the shop closed and I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the read, but the photos were just right. I like that kind of assignment. Here are a few of the photos.Fly Fusion Mag V10I2-26-27

Fly Fusion Mag V10I2-28-29