Blog Entries http://www.drakemag.com Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:56:53 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.drakemag.com/new_blog_testing/49.html <p><img style="padding: 4px 10px 10px 4px" src="images/blog/63/permitRelease.jpg" alt="permitRelease.jpg" width="240" align="left" /> </p><p>One of the most common saltwater fishing questions that I get asked or that appears on The Drake message board is some variation of, &quot;I have to go to some stupid/gay/waste-of-time/soon-to-be-divorced-anyway&nbsp; wedding/business conference/family reunion down in Cancun. I&#39;m</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><img style="padding: 4px 10px 10px 4px" src="images/blo [...] Tom Bie http://www.drakemag.com/new_blog_testing/2.html <img style="margin: 5px; width: 170px; height: 199px" class="jce_tooltip" src="images/blog/couch_potato_copy.jpg" alt="couch_potato_copy.jpg" title="couch_potato_copy.jpg" width="170" height="199" /> <p>For those sad souls who can&#39;t get the angling monkey off their backs and have chosen to live well above the seasonal freezing line, winter can easily slide into a cornucopia spilling over with bountiful excuses. Much like the traveling charlatan preacher for whom the mind is willing but [...] Smithhammer http://www.drakemag.com/new_blog_testing/4.html <p><br/>6/14/07<br/></p><br/><p><br/><img style="margin: 5px; width: 450px; height: 172px" class="jce_tooltip" src="images/blog/kukaklek_hog.jpg" alt="kukaklek_hog.jpg" title="kukaklek_hog.jpg" width="500" height="172" /> <br/></p><br/><p><br/>There are two (silly, I admit) number goals that I set for myself each season.&nbsp; I'm not a numbers guy (anyone who has spent any time at all guiding cringes at that term) but I do like having quantifiable accomplishments that I can get excited about.&nbsp; I want to have a [...] AK Chronicles http://www.drakemag.com/new_blog_testing/6.html <p><br/>8/12/07&nbsp;<br/></p><br/><p><br/>The fishing has been nothing short of spectacular lately. I dream about opening week, a season full of promise, a fresh perspective not tainted by previous weeks, previous clients,<img style="margin: 5px; float: right" class="jce_tooltip" src="images/blog/redhead.jpg" alt="redhead.jpg" title="redhead.jpg" width="351" height="300" /> the consistent early mornings,...sockeye season. The first week is pure. The fish are active, relatively untouched, aggressive and hug [...] AK Chronicles http://www.drakemag.com/new_blog_testing/7.html <img style="width: 200px; height: 137px; border:2px solid #666;" class="jce_tooltip" src="images/blog/opener.jpg" alt="opener.jpg" title="opener.jpg" width="200" height="137" /> <br/><br/><p><br/>If I've had better domestic fishing trips, I can't remember them. Blitzing Albies, fish from the beach, pool and locol luches at the BT, fantastic food and one questionable movie night. Others have made posts on the forum, but now, you get to the REST of the story...&nbsp;<br/></p><br/><br/><p><br/>&nbsp;k:<br/></p><br/><p><br/>This [...] Tom Bie http://www.drakemag.com/new_blog_testing/9.html <p><br/>6/8/07<br/></p><br/><p><br/><img style="margin: 5px; width: 500px; height: 169px" class="jce_tooltip" src="images/blog/openerbow.jpg" alt="openerbow.jpg" title="openerbow.jpg" width="500" height="169" /> <br/></p><br/><p><br/>Our first day of guiding clients on the river and, as might be expected, it began as an absolute cluster. Most of the luggage did not make the plane so people are scrambling to find waders, jackets, fleeces and equipment. Guides are bickering about who's going where, which boat is being [...] AK Chronicles http://www.drakemag.com/new_blog_testing/10.html <p><br/>&nbsp;<br/></p><br/><p><br/>Confessing a love for chasing chum salmon is kind of like of admitting I used to be an altar boy - something I generally only reveal to close friends. <img style="margin: 5px; width: 250px; height: 110px; float: right" class="jce_tooltip" src="images/blog/chum_salmon.jpg" alt="chum_salmon.jpg" title="chum_salmon.jpg" width="250" height="110" /><br/></p><br/><p><br/>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<br/></p><br/><p><br/>&nbsp;<br/></p><br/><br /><br/><p><br/>I&rsquo;d like to believe <br/></p><br/><p><br/>the problem is merel [...] Smithhammer http://www.drakemag.com/new_blog_testing/11.html 6/5/07 <img style="margin: 5px; width: 299px; height: 210px; float: right" class="jce_tooltip" src="images/blog/closebear.jpg" alt="closebear.jpg" title="closebear.jpg" width="299" height="210" />&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; &n [...] AK Chronicles http://www.drakemag.com/new_blog_testing/12.html <p><br/>6/2/07<br/></p><br/><p><br/><img style="margin: 5px; width: 300px; height: 225px; float: right" class="jce_tooltip" src="images/blog/goldset.jpg" alt="goldset.jpg" title="goldset.jpg" width="300" height="225" />I've spent the past three days in town without shoes, pants, a change of underwear or a toothbrush and I can say with great assurance that I wish to spend no more time there.&nbsp; The sunset greeting my return atop fresh memories of &quot;civilization&quot; have fortified my confidence in ca [...] AK Chronicles http://www.drakemag.com/new_blog_testing/13.html <p><br/>5/22/07<br/></p><br/><p><br/><img style="margin: 5px; float: right" class="jce_tooltip" alt="" />This fact was excruciatingly obvious today.<img style="margin: 5px; width: 200px; height: 267px; float: right" class="jce_tooltip" src="images/blog/glass.jpg" alt="glass.jpg" title="glass.jpg" width="200" height="267" /><br /><br/><br /><br/>The fifteen foot beam dropped like a sprung bear trap and roughly tapped me on the shoulder.&nbsp; I crumbled to the floor of the unfinished yurt, writhing and moaning in [...] AK Chronicles http://www.drakemag.com/new_blog_testing/14.html <p><br/><img style="margin: 5px; float: right" class="jce_tooltip" src="images/blog/fhn5.jpg" alt="fhn5.jpg" title="fhn5.jpg" width="217" height="266" /><br/></p><br/><p><br/><br/>1) Because there's just something about a dude wearing camo, holding a bloody bear carcass. (Headline inside: &quot;Do Goldilocks a Favor.&quot;) Sure, you might not ask him to take your SATs for you, but when your gutless little hippy car slides off the road in a snowstorm, guarantee this dude rolls up in an F350 and pulls your pans [...] Tom Bie http://www.drakemag.com/new_blog_testing/19.html Chuffer<br/><img src="/video/chuff/loop_tuft_emerger.jpg" alt="Loop Tuft Emerger" /><br/><img src="/video/chuff/video_icon.jpg" alt="Video Icon" /><br/><p>Here's one for the quick and dirty set. My version of the Loop-Tuft Emerger. It's the bastard love child of the CDC Loop Wing Emerger and the Sparkle Dun, and it's a great fly for selective trout.</p><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>Recipe<br/><p>Hook: Mustad C49S<br /><br/>Thread: 8/0 uni black or colored to match body <br /><br/>Trailing Shuck: Antron fibers <br / [...] Chuffer http://www.drakemag.com/new_blog_testing/20.html Chuffer<br/><img src="/video/chuff/wally_wing.jpg" alt="Wally Wing Parachute" /><br/><img src="/video/chuff/video_icon.jpg" alt="Video Icon" /><br/><p>At the risk of repeating myself (again) I decided to do a fly with wally wings for the second video. However, I did this one as a parachute so it's not totally redundant. Now, you've just watched the video and I know what you're thinking. You're wondering just what exactly makes that fly an emerger? Well, I could go and make up some reason for it, like bod [...] Chuffer http://www.drakemag.com/new_blog_testing/21.html Chuffer<br/><img src="/video/chuff/paraloop.jpg" alt="Paraloop Emerger" /><br/><img src="/video/chuff/video_icon.jpg" alt="Video Icon" /><br/><p>This is the only fly that I absolutely cannot be without. It just flat out works anytime there are mayflies on the water. Use this emerger as a general mayfly pattern, or use the techniques shown in the video to build a very effective emerger for your favorite hatch. Enjoy!</p><br/>Chuffer<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/>Recipe<br/><p>Hook: Mustad Signature C49S<br /><br/>Thread: 8/0 u [...] Chuffer http://www.drakemag.com/new_blog_testing/22.html <br/><br /><br/><br/><br/>5/22/07<br/><br/><br/><img style="margin: 5px; float: right" class="jce_tooltip" src="images/blog/enroute.jpg" alt="enroute.jpg" title="enroute.jpg" width="269" height="220" /><br /><br/>After thirteen hours of traveling the dog and I landed in the booming metropolis that is King Salmon, Alaska. Recycled air and gritty street dust clung to oily fir, the dog was pretty dirty too. The scene: an unpaved parking lot outside a sagging airport sprinkled with gaunt commercial fishermen and scruffy, t [...] AK Chronicles http://www.drakemag.com/new_blog_testing/23.html <img src="images/blog/bighorn.jpg" alt="bighorn.jpg" title="bighorn.jpg" width="200px" height="150px" /><p><br/>I'm sick of waiting for Bie to make a new blog post. He's been fighting that shark for like two months. So here's a quick rundown since July, like Berman's Fastest Three Minutes: <br/></p><br/><p><br/>Here's the campsite where summer really got rolling. This is back in<br/>July, at the Drake Bake just south of Bozeman, Montana, shortly after<br/>Nemo made his shark fishing post. This was my favorite tri [...] Tom Bie http://www.drakemag.com/new_blog_testing/24.html <p><br/><img style="margin: 5px; width: 180px; height: 155px; float: right" class="jce_tooltip" src="images/blog/salmonfly_bloodsport.jpg" alt="salmonfly_bloodsport.jpg" title="salmonfly_bloodsport.jpg" width="180" height="155" /> Painful reality sets in &ndash; I don&rsquo;t have a single salmonfly pattern in my box, and suddenly my meager caddis feels like trying to pawn off a puny cocktail weiner at an all-you-can-eat bratwurst fest...<br/></p><br/><p><br/>&nbsp;<br/></p><br/><p><br/>It was the way my timing usua [...] Smithhammer http://www.drakemag.com/new_blog_testing/25.html <p><br/>Bacchus, the Roman god of feasting and excess, would be proud &ndash; the orgy is in full swing and the sheer visual gluttony of the event makes focusing on the details of trying to get everything right even harder.&nbsp; <img style="margin: 5px; width: 127px; height: 80px; float: right" class="jce_tooltip" src="images/blog/caddis_sepia.jpg" alt="caddis_sepia.jpg" title="caddis_sepia.jpg" width="127" height="80" /><br/></p><br/><p><br/>Separating the continuous splashy grabs of over-eager young&lsqu [...] Smithhammer http://www.drakemag.com/new_blog_testing/26.html <br/><img src="/images/blog/Biebent_sm.jpg" alt="" /><br/><br/><p><br/>I'm fried. Fighting butt buried deep in my belly, my left hand bends backwards on the foregrip of a 12-weight while my right hand palms the bottom of a Tibor, trying desperately to slow the spinning. The 80-pound blue shark at the end of my line is heading deep for another run (again), and I saw my backing knot disappear into the depths a long time ago. <br/></p><br/><br/><img src="/images/blog/Biebent.jpg" alt="" /><br/><br/><p><br/>I'm fried. Fighting b [...] Tom Bie http://www.drakemag.com/new_blog_testing/27.html <p><br/><br /><br/> <br/></p><br/><img style="margin: 5px; width: 120px; height: 120px; float: right" class="jce_tooltip" src="images/blog/yoo-hoo.jpg" alt="yoo-hoo.jpg" title="yoo-hoo.jpg" width="120" height="120" /><br/><p><br/><br/>Runoff. Somehow the word is far too mild, not gutteral enough, to express my loathing.Can we just agree to call it turd soup? The riparian version of a south of the border bout of Montezuma&rsquo;s Revenge? <br/><br/></p><br/><p><br/><br /><br/> <br/></p><br/><p><br/>&nbsp;<br/></p><br/><p><br/>Runoff. Somehow the wor [...] Smithhammer