GRAND CANYON

I did some extensive google earth research,topo maps to find this location, I did not take to many picture of the hike due to the intensity and the pace I was travelling at. It is my guess that this area See's less than 20 anglers a year, and  possibly most arrive by raft just to camp and toss a line in the water for a hour or so. By far this had been one of the toughest backpack trips I have ever done!

It took me about 3-1/2 hours to reach the Colorado river, its amazing how small you feel once your in the Grand Canyon!

I found a large boulder to try my luck from, the current in this area was a bit tricky; after a few casts I had the depth needed and the currents figured out and from there it was fish after fish! I used several different setups, hopper midge///hopper san juan/////wollybugger midge/// san juan midge. With a good drift any of the setup's worked equally as well. I credit that to the lack of anglers these fish see.

Some rafters floating by, how amazing is this place!

On my way back to camp there was 3 large lizards hanging around, I decided to see what they thought of my hopper, to my surprise one of them jumped up and grabbed it and hooked himself lol.....I managed to unhook the poor guy and set him free!

After the lizard incident I arrived at my tent to find a rattlesnake slithering into the bushes! That's a bit nerve racking especially when your alone and so far away from help! He went his own way for the evening.

The hike out which I knew was going to be rough was just that! I averaged about 1.15 hr per mile. The hike is approximately 5 miles of up hill boulder scrambling, some times the only way is to go straight up the side of the loose boulder fields! Its was also HOTT to make it even more interesting.

This was a amazing trip, fishing was great the backpacking was extreme and the views were priceless. The Grand Canyon is definitely a special place!

SPRING MOUNTAIN NEVADA---MAY--2011

With me now living in Las Vegas,NV I decided to go chase down some native Lahontan cutthroat trout in a stream about 1-1/2 hours outside of town. Its hard to believe you can go from Vegas lights to a awesome area like this in such a short time!

This creek is spring feed and therefore stays cold enough year around for this beautiful Lahontan trout to thrive!

What a phenomenal little gem of a creek this is!

I caught all the fish off hopper/dry fly, you had to pick your casting lanes very well; tight quarters all the way up this creek!

These fish are just a great breed of trout! There seemed to be around 8 to 10 trout that were feeding in each pool, some pools I was able to be stealthy enough to pull 6 or 7 out.

This was another great day trip catching wild finicky trout!

WEST FORK CLEAR CREEK ARIZONA APRIL 2011

Started the fishing season out in a beautiful but rugged canyon; i had the canyon entirely alone for the two days i was there, that's hard to believe knowing this area is 3 hours from Phoenix,AZ. The hike down into the canyon is rugged but once at the bottom, you realize why you made the trip.

The hike took me about 3 hours to get to a ideal campsite; near a bend in the creek and on a sandy beach area!

The rainbow in this section of the river are all wild, the creek was running low and very clear, throw a wild rainbow in the water and it becomes a finicky trout.

I hiked down the river about a 1/2 mile and worked my way back up fishing pocket water and the deeper runs, i was rewarded with some great fish for the size of this creek!

I managed to pull out a couple of brown trout from the creek.

The fishing was great and the scenery was even better, there is nothing like finding solitude in a area like this! I hope to travel to many more wild trout streams in 2011!