The winter of 2012 has been an opposite of 2011. It's been a kinder and a subtle one. While we were ...

Editor's note: As is often the case, this post/article is continued in the next post in the forums. Becoming a smallstreams.com member is free, and always will be. Why not join us in the forums and share your own fly fishing tales and read the rest of this story? -Gus

On our last visit, I had been telling you about my fishing trip into the backcountry of the Little Yosemite Valley and describing how I had managed to survive the hike and had even managed to catch a few fish the very first afternoon. So after all of the hiking and the fishing it is no surprise that I fell into a deep dreamless sleep content and happy with the world.

I woke to the sound of two of my three tent mates, through hikers who were on a 50 mile circular dash around the Yosemite back country, stirring to get their stuff packed so they could grab a quick breakfast and be off on another 10 or 12 mile stroll. I giggled to myself thinking that I could just roll back over and go back to sleep for a while and that all I had to do for the next two days was fish, rest and maybe fish some more …….. and oh yeah smoke a cigar and have a sip of bourbon while watching the wonderful scenery of Yosemite change color and texture with the various different phases of the day’s light. ...

I had only fished this section of water once before, and it was with good success. The lower stretch is decent brown trout water. There are lots of large, deep pools interspersed with smaller plunge pools and runs. There are several small waterfalls scattered through this area as well. It also has a few brookies that have dropped down from further up in the drainage. They become more prevalent as you travel upstream. The creek eventually splits with one fork holding browns, and the other, nothing but specs. The plan today was to start in the lower, mixed water area and get my brown trout fix. At the junction, I would switch gears and pursue the natives.
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Editor's note: As is sometimes the case, this is a two part story that Satoshi shared with us. This first part is published to the front page. To read the rest that follows in his next post, become a member of smallstreams.com and join us in the forums!



The right hand photo was taken just a few hours after the left was taken in the same stretch of a stream. Do you believe if I say the change in the water level from left to right occurred within almost 5 seconds?
That’s exactly what I saw.

From September 11 to 15, I went to Tohoku region for fishing, staying at my regular inn, Kubota lodge. The trip has been one of my annual events for these several years.
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Editor's Note: This is part one of a two part story that rbaileydav wrote... if you want to read the rest of the story, join us as a registered member of smallstreams.com!

You can’t be lost………………… if you don’t know where you are going. That is one of life’s truest statements and one of life’s greatest luxuries. I am not a “young un” anymore and to be honest, I am a hell of a lot closer to fifty that I care to admit….. read that as less than another calendar year, but when I have a chance to disappear into the woods with my backpack strapped on and no specific destination in mind that is a true luxury. I recently had a business trip scheduled for late in the week in Portland Me. I can hear you guys out there already, so yes I know my business schedule doesn’t suck all that much does it … regardless of how much I might pregnant dog about it. ...

Annual Colorado Trip 2011



Back from another glorious trip to Colorado. Fish were caught, rain ...

Sometimes life throws you curve balls you can’t hit and the world just seems to be a joke I don’t get. My personal life has been in a shambles lately and I don’t seem to have the ability or capability to change it. I actually caught myself driving down the road on a beautiful early summer morning, headed out on a fishing trip, thinking about my marital options and solutions and realized that I was so very sad that tears were rolling slowly out of my eyes, of course I blamed it on the sun and the wind since the top was down but even I couldn’t convince myself that was really it, I was actually crying. Well after making a few indelicate and certainly not politically correct remarks about what lingerie I must be wearing and a stern “get your shit together” lecture I shifted my thoughts to my “home waters” which fortunately for me I was actually in route to. It had been way to long since I had visited my old friend and we all know that the special bond with your home water is something that always makes you feel better. As I came over the next hill top and dropped down into the valley I couldn’t help but smile at the towering ridges which shown in a shadowy blue relief against the mid morning summer haze. I could see the heat shinning through the distance, even though it was not quite yet June. My face actually broke into a smile as I crossed the river for the first time and realized that it was running at a perfect depth and with just a very, very light shade of color which those of us who fish her regularly, know always makes the fishing better than normal. ...

I took a trip to my favorite destination a few months early this year. Normally I go up every summer. Playing ...

Editor's Note: Warning: Graphic fishing hook and human interaction content!




Aloha, went ono fishing yesterday. Got two nice ones, 37 and 52lbs. Had a big cuda hit a skirt and I didn't even gaff it, just threw it in the box. My friend wanted to get the skirt back in the water and I went to get the trail hook out of the cuda's mouth. Only using my leather man I tried to avoid the teeth, but when I grabbed the hook the fish jumped and put the first hook in my hand. I tried to push the barb through, but the hook was pretty big. I was afraid I might have nicked the artery by my thumb and decided to just head in and go to the emergency room.
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