Big Wood River

““October had tremendous possibility. The summer’s oppressive heat was a distant memory, and the golden leaves promised a world full of beautiful adventures. They made me believe in miracles.” – Sarah Guillory Frost on the windshield, gold on the water, miracles on the line: that…”

““It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.” – Ursula K. Le Guin The trout give the journey direction, but the pursuit is what keeps you coming back. Silver Creek When the cool weather returns this weekend, it will concentrate…”

““Some of us think holding on makes us strong, but sometimes it is letting go.” – Hermann Hesse Fly fishing is about letting go: the line, the fly, the fish, the outcome. Embrace uncertainty, not rigidity. Silver Creek Fall Baetis and Mahogany duns will be the main fare on the…”

“Photo: Bob Knoebel “Spend the afternoon, you can’t take it with you.” – Annie Dillard An autumn afternoon on a river is something you can hold in your heart even after the cold water running past your legs is gone. Silver Creek Fall has arrived on the Creek. You can hear elk…”

““The best fisherman I know try not to make the same mistakes over and over again; instead they strive to make new and interesting mistakes and to remember what they learned from them.” – John Gierach True mastery never eliminates mistakes; it finds them useful. Silver Creek…”

““Best of all, he loved the fall, the leaves yellow on the cottonwoods, leaves floating on the trout streams, and above the hills the high blue windless skies…” – Ernest Hemingway Hem had it right juxtaposing the stillness of the sky against the subtle movement of leaves and…”

““If you want the rainbow, you have to put up with the rain.” – Dolly Parton A beautiful, bright sun, windless day could mean tough fishing. But if blustery weather is in the forecast, head to the river. Silver Creek The possibility of rain and cooler weather is in the forecast.…”

“Photo: Hillary Maybery “Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald The rivers continue to drop, cool, and clear. The trout are becoming more aggressive, feeding on revitalized late-season hatches. The foliage is beginning to turn from…”

“Photo: James Conrad “Whether you succeed or not is irrelevant — there is no such thing. Making your unknown known is the important thing.” – Georgia O’Keeffe Every cast counts, whether or not it ends in a fish. The value isn’t in the outcome. It’s in the act of reaching toward…”

“Photo: Hillary Maybery “Rhythm was just as important as color and just as complicated. It was one rhythm superimposed upon another, our father’s four-count rhythm of the line and wrist being still the base rhythm… The canyon was glorified by rhythms and colors.” – Norman Maclean…”

“Photo: Hillary Maybery “Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” – Berthold Auerbach For anglers, the river’s symphony washes from the soul the dust of everyday life — the swell and hush of the current, the riffle’s rush of white noise, the promise of a…”

““When we first begin fighting for a dream, we have no experience and make mistakes. The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.” – Paulo Coelho The trout don’t care if you botch your presentation — if you fail, learn and adjust your next shot.…”

““To put your hands in a river is to feel the chords that bind the earth together.” – Barry Lopez When you wade a river for a season, it begins to shape your imagination. You become connected to its vicissitudes and your heart ripples to its iron strings. The water’s rhythm gets…”