2014 the year of trying to get things done !

Stress is not even a word for how my year has gone. I haven't posted in some time due to the fact that I have been working on a ton of things. My life has taken turn after turn. Super storms, not just one but two have taken me to the jersey shore and then back north. The drifter in me has landed in the land of get it done before you get too old. For the last few months I have been working very hard to get things in order for becoming a fishing guide. I have worked endlessly to get my boat finished. This was no easy task. I had to build a trailer. Here, on the east coast, finding a trailer for my boat wasn't an easy deal. I have a 16' cataraft and finding a light weight trailer for it was a project. We found a ski doo trailer and cut it in half and extended it 4'. It came with doughnut wheels so I had to replace them. Wow, trailer tires and rims are a chunk of change.
Then it was on to building the deck. That took me two weekends.  One of figuring out how I wanted to build it. Then building it. I won't bore you with the details just holy hell though. This has all brought me to the building of the boat. I started building it when I was in Oregon some 5 years ago at least now. This boat isn't cheap I have had to work my ass off to afford all the parts. All of which has seemed like it just will never end. I've had to put a lot on the back burner trying to get this all done before winter hit.
I love to bow hunt and before the fish really get amped up here I'm usually in the woods. I may have gone three times this year. There are many more things that I have been trying to get done. So while all this has been happening I have been making trades for work for websites and just going non stop! I fished for trout early in the spring and then we had a drought here in the north east. So I've had the major Jone's to fish.
It's Thanksgiving today and the holidays seem to stress me more and more as the years go on. I often feel like it is always something every time I turn around. Birthdays, holidays, whatever the case may be. I dream of standing in the river with just the sound of the birds and the wind in my ears.
Those are moments that come and go in the blink of an eye. I cherish every one, as if I was doing them at this very moment. I think back to the fish I've caught on a cold winters day, memorable fish.
 For me it really isn't about catching tons of fish.  It becomes the moments away from work and the grind of every day.  Lately it seems I have the world up my ass and I have to jump fast.
Could I have just dropped what I was doing and gone fishing or hunting? Sure but, at the same time, I can't enjoy them when I know I have things to be done.

I have been blessed with a women who may be a saint in a working ladies clothes. Thank the Lord above for her because she has had my back the whole way. None of which has been easy for her, mind you. Most women don't understand a mans strange obsession with being in the outdoors (some do). I also have a few friends who have stuck with me through this and if your reading this you most likely know who you are. To my hunting buddies I'm sorry I haven't been able to put more time in the woods.
I look forward to bow season, it is different then fishing, I can't catch and release deer. My bow adventures this season have only made me want to get back out there even more. That, my friends, is another story! So I'm hoping your having a happy Thanksgiving as I Jone's to get on the river. More adventures are soon to come. Stay tuned. 

The quest to find a rising trout

So spring has sprung after a long winter. When I lived out west a guide once said go back east and go fish for your east coast trout. I have to tell you that finding these creatures has been no easy task this spring.
If you fish like I do in the winter time,  you have no choice but to nymph. When you first start nymphing it isn't so bad. I have never been one to be a purest to dry fly verses nymphing. There comes a point though were you want to see trout rising to dry flies. When I lived out west you would wait for the Salmon stone flies to start to hatch. Here on the east coast it is generally the Hendrickson mayfly. This year the weather has been insane. We get days where it hits 60 then the next day it is 30 degrees out. The water has barley had time to warm. The bugs have been hatching but the trout just haven't risen to the surface much. It comes in spurts when it happens for about 15 minutes and the rises will be sporadic. Needless to say, after a long winter we are waiting for regular weather. We were just pounded with rain last night. Upstate New York got over 300 inches of snow this year which is not a bad thing. Except at this point the rivers have been blown out for weeks. Yes you could fish some of them but how much time does one have to run from river to river and take care of other things. I'm not the only one in this boat as most of my other fly fishing friends have been chomping at the bit for some nice dry fly action.
Well hang in there I think it may be on its way as they have predicted Warmer weather in the next few days which may well bring off the bugs.
Preparing for these events is no easy task on a fly fisherman. One must tie bugs of all shapes and sizes and study a river system to find out what is hatching. http://www.troutnut.com/hatch/11/Mayfly-Ephemerella-invaria-Sulphur  http://www.troutnut.com/hatch/458/Mayfly-Ephemerella-dorothea-Sulphur these should be the next mayfly hatch to watch for after the Hendrickson and quill Gordan, which may very well be done hatching in the next week or they may explode with the warmer weather this week. So be careful with the high water and be ready to chase fish because it is coming my friends I assure you!