Yeti Sighting! - Northern Minnesota

As the snowpack is finally diminishing here in northern Minnesota there have been some strange sightings as of late. Most recently has been a confirmed sighting of a YETI in Detroit Lakes. I intially spotted the YETI out of the corner of my eye. I was unsure of what exactly I saw, wondering if my eyes had been playing tricks on me. It's not uncommon for mirages to appear over snow, much like the apparition of water in a desert. But a YETI? Something came tumbling out of the woods, right at my truck. I came to a screeching halt as my front tire made contact with the object. What was it? I hopped out of the truck to see just exactly what it was.


I couldn't believe I was seeing this with my own eyes, a YETI in Detroit Lakes! A perfectly unscathed specimen too! Wow, the press will have a field day with this one! I quickly looked over the YETI for any signs of injuries and none were to be found. I quickly secured the YETI in the cab of my truck and made haste back to the Roughfisher Command Post.


After a closer inspection back at home base, I identified the YETI as a 50 quart specimen from the Tundra. A beautiful specimen indeed! There was so much potential with this YETI! I was practically giddy with excitement, dreaming of all the possibilities for good times I can share with the YETI! Think of all the fishing and camping trips we can go on! I can't wait to dress up my YETI. I'll be sure to post stories of my new YETI's adventures. Stay tuned!


Thanks YETI!

Reality Bites

I recently did a guest post for the Scientific Anglers & Ross Reels Insider blog, encouraging folks to hit up the Fly Fishing Film Tour, a highly successful and well attended event held at theaters across the country. While the rationale listed are compelling enough to head out to the show, here's what really happens at the F3T.

Listed are the reasons published on the SA/Ross Insider blog followed by my repsonse.

1. An evening packed with fly fishing footage captured in near every corner of the planet chasing foreign as well as familiar species of fish is always a great time, and a great way to get excited for the upcoming season. It is always interesting to see how the action is captured from the different perspectives of the cameraman and director.
For half the show you're sitting in your seat wondering where in the world is Uzbekitajikikurdistan and why in the hell did they travel all that way to fish for stocker rainbows? The other half you're wondering if everyone in the film is stoned the whole time, how did they pass through customs, how did they get any sponsors to pick up the tab for this film, and how do I get in on this racket? Show us something really bold and daring, like fishing the muni cesspool for mutant cyprinids.

2. The F3T is a great place to catch up with friends, reconnect with old acquaintances, and meet some new folks, possibly even future fishing buddies.
The F3T is a great place to see wannabees, Orvis boys, hacks, and washed up old guides hitting on little duck lipped girls, cougars, pumas, divorcees, Stage 5 clingers, and anything else with a pulse. Even more entertainment when the burnouts are trying to score with industry gals who are way out of their league. Word from the underground has it that April Vokey will be making a cameo at this year's tour stop.

3. Your ticket will get you access to great SWAG and killer prizes from the tour sponsors during the show, as well as sweet discounts at participating fly shops across the country.
Watch from the crowd as some clueless first timer newbie walks up on stage to claim the grand prize of an all expense paid guided trip to the tropics or the newfangled, industry over-hyped rod and reel. If it wasn't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all. I'll stick to my F3T swag trucker hat thank you very much.

4. The F3T road crew are an eclectic group of passionate, die hard anglers. These guys are true road warriors and have fished across many borders. Their fishing adventures are unforgettable and their exploits from the road are even more legendary. If you get the opportunity, don’t pass up the chance to shoot the breeze with one of these colorful characters.
I've witnessed firsthand folks playing pimp for some of the tour members, hooking them up with everything from women to weed. When last call comes around, you'll be sure to find these guys getting swept out the door. Rode hard and put away wet. Don't drop the soap!

5. Unless you’re fortunate to live in a warm climate with access to year-round fishing, or have got a hot tropical trip lined up for the winter, is there really anymore reason to leave the snowy, icy grip of winter behind for the evening and talk fishing?
Do you really need an excuse to get out of the house and get hammered on cheap watered down beer, making a complete and utter fool of yourself in public? I bet you a Hurricane High Gravity you don't.

Everybody have fun and I hope to see you all at the F3T in Minneapolis this year! Stay classy, Minnesota.

Cat Game

Do I look like a cat to you, boy? Am I jumpin' around all nimbly bimbly from tree to tree?

Am I drinking milk from a saucer?

Do you see me eating mice?

Be like Mr. Larry Johnson and fish a Ross Rx and Ross F1. Then maybe you can see what it feels like to get into your backing.

MEOW!

Creatures From the Brown Lagoon

You saw the trailer, now catch the rest of the video from uprising fly fishing:

Local residents in Atomic City, Idaho (near the world's first nuclear accident site) have become possessed by freakishly aggressive carp. These carp will pound flies in skinny water, then jump out of the water and cartwheel when hooked. Mortals can not resist their atomic tug power.
More carp action at uprisingflyfishing.com

Maybe this should be on the next F3T?

What You Think I Do

Figured it was about time I jump on the bandwagon and do one of these for carp...

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the roughfisher! Hope Santa brings you what you'd been wanting! Unless, of course, you're like the majority of us who fish the brown line and are probably on Santa's naughty list, haha!
I guess we'll all find out in a few days... Happy Holidays!

Showtime!

My new date.

Tis the season

Merry Christmas everyone, from the roughfisher.

How to be a playah: the scoundrel's guide to fly fishing

How to be a pimp-ass playah on the river:

Gear up. Outfit yourself with a Sage Z_n+1 = Z_n² + c Axis and an Abel Super Series reel with custom "Mountain Whitefish" finish. Spool up Rio's new Trout Whisperer fly line on 200 yards of 30# gelspun backing.

Start a blog; brag about how sweet you are. Master Photoshop and throw up some mad fish porn with extendo arm shots. Grip and grin. Butcher a hero shot and abuse monster wild fish for extra bonus points.

Indicator nymphing: Fish big ass bobbers the size of a globe. Start a flame war on your blog and internet message boards against anyone who calls your
indicator
bobber a bobber.

Fish with guys like MC Gracie Jones, Rice-cakes or Smithhammerzilla to boost your street cred. Anything you do will make you look like a champ compared to those dudes.

PBR? Step up to Hurricane High Gravity beotch.

Fish for weird shit in odd places like finescale dace on size 32 emerger patterns with a 000-weight glass rod. Be so obscure that no one knows what the fuck you are talking about. Who needs taimen when you can dredge for Sea Donkeys at the municipal cesspool?

Become burrito brothers with Singlebarbed and exchange dubbing "samples".

Post videos, movie trailers, photos, and links to other fishing sites on your blog, Twitter, and Facebook accounts, and no original content. Proceed to dub yourself the "King of Social Media".

Show up at the retailer show and hang out at The Drake Magazine booth all weekend, trying to pick up any leftover crumbs of coolness left on the show floor. Buy them all drinks at the bar after the show and then proceed to tell them why you're awesome and a better angler than all y'all combined. Bonus points for sniffing Mueller's aviator glasses.

Wax poetic about Mesopotamian culture with your streamside captives.

Write in your blog that you wax poetic about Mesopotamian culture.

Join the two-hander bandwagon craze. Swing intruders with a 16' spey rod on your fav spring creek. Tie up a bunch of articulated tube flies for those gnarly creek chubs.

Get decked out in Simms gear, but switch to Patagonia because things were getting too "political" on the Drake message board.

Proclaim yourself bigger than Jebus and Orvis, retreat to your mountain compound, and become a recluse pursuing stunted brookies and golden's with parr marks. You are your own island.

Actually support the Pebble Mine efforts: You need that bling for your diamond teeth so you can be just like Kanye.

Become a bass hater. Smallies are the new mountain whitefish.

Start calling carp "caprs" so everyone will think your an edgy hipster. Golden bonefish is so 2007.

Hot spot the shit out of your honey hole. GPS coordinates and Google Maps are even better. Get a story published in Fly Fisherman, American Angler, or Fly Rod & Reel about your favorite 6" brookie spot so you can have hordes of Orvis Boys hog your pool. Have a heli pad installed as well as a Starbucks kiosk streamside. Dean & Deluca caters lunch.

Have more Facebook friends than real life friends.

Elope with April Vokey.

Caveat Emptor: The roughfisher may be found guilty of several of the listed infractions.

The Next Generation

What happens when you're bored fishing for squirrels.

Under the Influence

Everyone seems to want to be writing up a best of show awards from the recent 2010 IFTD show in Denver earlier this month. Not to be outdone, here are a few of the *high*lights from Denver according to the roughfisher.


BEST FILM: 2010 Drake Film Awards

When Guiding Goes Gangster from RA Beattie on Vimeo.

BEST COSTUME: ¡El bandito!


BEST STREAMSIDE INVASIVE SPECIES: Humulus lupulus


BEST TRUCKER HAT: Kyle "Mr. Social Media" Perkins


BEST STREAMSIDE SCORE: Ribbed for her pleasure


BEST FISH PORN: Roughfisher's mirror from the DSP, Gracie behind the lens


BEST SPREAD: Gracie's house


BEST POSEUR: Gracie at the casting pond


BEST BROMANCE: "When Gracie Met Roughie"


BEST PARTY FOUL: 2010 Drake Film Awards After Party

Bravo! Looks like next year's competition in the Big Easy will be tough to beat...

Flugtag 2010 -- Twin Cities

Red Bull Flugtag Twin Cities.


Over 90,000 strong filled the waterways and packed the banks of the Mississippi to watch a bunch of homemade flying machines make their way off a 30-foot high ramp. Spectators bore witness to a world record flight as team Major Trouble and the Dirty Dixies soared 207 feet to victory. the roughfisher was there to capture the world record flight on photograph.


Hilarity ensues as 36 teams liftoff from the giant ramp. Few survive the fall. Here are a few highlights:







If ever there was a craft for us fly fisherman it would be the Team S.W.A.T, a giant mosquito.


Hometown favorite Zorbaz entered their own craft in the event, Zorbaz Flying Food Zquadron, taking home the People’s Choice Award with the most text votes.


This was some of the funniest shit I've seen since watching brother Ben put the moves on some unsuspecting ladies and failing miserably. The poor kid just ain't got no game.

Flugtag!

How to become a bASS assASSin

Top tips from the bASS circuit:

1. Make sure you have a old school mesh trucker cap. Give yourself a "hey son!" if it's a Tennessee hat.
2. Pop your lid up to the top of your head. Cocked at a 45 is also acceptable.
3. Throw a ghetto nasty pattern like a Thunderbird or some Carp Crack into a shoal of rocks.
4. Wait for it.
5. Heave that sumbitch up out of the water like it was going out of style. Rip it and Grip it Son!


6. Get a half chub drooling over your bass thumb.
7. Repeat.

Oompa, Loompa, doom-pa-dee-do

"What's next? A fucking Oompa Loompa pattern?"

Ahh Jim, an Oompa Loompa.

Oh no he didn't!

Squirrel Pelt

In a classic move in search of some squirrel hides for making dubbing, I stumble across the Squirrel Pelt. Behold Natures' glory, the Ape Drape is back and in full force. Gotta love a good Kentucky Waterfall when you see one.

Image courtesy of MulletJunky.com

John Montana has spoiled me in more ways than one. Not only has he exposed me to big, sight fishable carp, but he also turned me on to squirrel dubbing as well. Sure I came up with a pretty bitchin' substitute, but it just wasn't the same. Now I'm lusting after violent tailers and spikey squirrel dub. I'm damaged goods.


I'll be picking up a few squirrel skins from Coffin Creek Furs. High on the list are the #3 Grade gray squirrel skins at $0.80 a piece. This is the brownliner's seal, and they come a dime a dozen. It's damn near open season on these critters. I'm gonna stock up on them sumbitches and get busy dyeing; rust, olive, black, yellow, blue. I'll be picking up some Pine and Fox Squirrel skins too; I'm gonna run the whole gamut. I've got a bunch of different concoctions cooking up in my head and it's about to get heavy. Think spectral. Alchemy in progress.

Look out there little fella, cause this roughfisher is a gunnin' for you.

Shit My Kids Ruined

Not a fishing topic, but relevant nonetheless to all the parents out there: Shit My Kids Ruined. It doesn't matter if you own nice things or shitty things, your kids will find them and ruin them. I'm so glad I stumbled across the site the other day and realized that my little devils aren't the only ones out there wreaking havoc on parents' shit.

I'm just hoping they stay out of my fly tying stash....