Trout fishing at Lake Taneycomo

It’s always a treat to fish Lake Taneycomo even if the fishing isn’t up to its usual standards. Last week I enjoyed some beautiful Ozarks scenery, ate a great chicken fried steak at Lambert’s (the throwed rolls place), and scarfed down some tasty barbeque at Dana’s. My life-long buddy Ned Spence and his lady friend …

No River For Old Men

This story was first published in the August 2009 issue of Wyoming Wildlife magazine. It was awarded the  Best Magazine Humor award  in the 2010 Magazine Humor contest of the Outdoor Writers Association of America Excellence In Craft Contests.  My buddy Ned was ecstatic. “Can you believe it? There’s nobody here but us!” Ned had parked my truck …

How we found Lost Lake

This story was published in Wyoming Wildlife magazine in March 2006. It was 1970 and I was driving my new Bronco home from the dealership. My first four wheel drive! No longer would I be confined to the road, forced to fish where others fished. Now I could go ANYWHERE! Bear in mind this was …

Trout fishing on the Yellowstone River

The first thing you’ll notice about these fishing trip photos is that there are no photos of fish. There’s a reason for that. Few fish were caught. Just a few dinks and a couple of whitefish, which are, to the trout fisherman, what coots are to duck hunters. While attending the recent OWAA conference in …

The White-hot White River

Two days on the White River with outfitter/philosopher Miles Riley is what Arkansas trout fishing is all about. We put in Wednesday morning at Rim Shoal and floated down past Shoestring Shoal to Riley’s Station where the Buffalo River meets the White, catching rainbows and a few cutthroats all the way. I don’t count fish …

Colorado trout fishing in the 1950s

This story was first published in the August 2008 issue of Wyoming Wildlife under the title Trout Tourist.           “I’m just not going to fish like that!” yelled Doc, my father-in-law, as he stomped back into our rented summer cabin. He hung his fiberglass fly rod on two nails driven into the …

Bluffs along the White River

Located just upstream from the confluence of the White and Buffalo rivers in northern Arkansas, these majestic bluffs never cease to amaze me as I boat with guide Miles Riley up toward Buffalo Shoals for some excellent trout fishing. As I look up I used to imagine an Indian standing up there with a bow …

New Mexico’s San Juan River

If you’re a trout fisherman who enjoys catching big fish on tiny flies you should treat yourself to a few days on New Mexico’s famous San Juan tailwater below Navajo Lake. And when you go you won’t find a better base camp than Soaring Eagle Lodge. After a hard day of casting tiny flies on …