Ogden Browns...

What a busy life we live in.. I didn't get to do much river fishing this year, but that's ok. Having a family as awesome as mine outweighs the tugs of the river. Even though I love them dearly, it is still nice to get in the stream once in a while! 

I snuck off to the Ogden river yesterday with Matt Barney. With our work schedules we were only able to fish the last couple hours of light. Of course I forgot my camera, so this is a picture of a Brown we caught out of there last year. We started off throwing nymphs, but not much was happening with that. We switched to dries and did okay. I landed 2, and I think Matt pulled in 5 or so. 

I needed this trip. It just seems like life is okay when you are in a river. I didn't worry about the stock market or my insurance premiums. Car problems and homework were the last thing on my mind. Even though fishing may seem simple, and it can be, it can teach you many lessons if you are willing to listen and ponder. I'll give you a couple of examples of what the river taught me just yesterday.

Keep focused, but keep your eyes open to other things! 

I was downstream trying to cast up under an overhanging tree. There was a nice pocket right next to the bank that I thought would for sure hold something. I was using a small parachute adams and it was getting dark. Talk about a bugger to see! I thought I made a good cast and was watching my fly drift down stream. Suddenly in the 'not so obvious' hole next to the one I was fishing, I saw a fish rise. Instinctively, I set the hook. Fish on. Sometimes in life we get so focused on our goals that we miss the truly important things, or even the thing that we are striving for. For example, sometimes we are so obsessed with school so that we can get a career that we miss the opportunity of a lifetime for a career! We need to stay focused on important things, but we need to remember what is important, and set the hook when that opportunity arises!

You can't always do it alone....

The glare on the left side of the river made it impossible to see my fly. I knew it was a decent hole, but I couldn't see my fly. Matt said that he could, so I cast there anyways. All I could see was glare and all of a sudden I hear "OOOHH" which is Barney language for "You got a bite!" I set the hook, and fish on! I never would have caught that fish if I was fishing alone. I later returned the favor as I helped Matt hook a fish the same way. This is another life lesson... We cannot always do things better by ourselves. That is why God said that it is not good for man to be alone! My sweet wife is my eyes when life has a glare on it. She is the one who tells me when there is something important when I simply cannot see it. Would I have been ok without catching that fish? Sure. But why fish if you are not going to try to catch fish. Could I make it through life alone? Maybe. But how grateful I am that I have someone to help me create memories and enrich my life in ways that I could not do alone.

Hey river... Thanks for the lessons.

Duck Hunt Opener 2008

You know how you always hear the story about the girl who dreams all her life of her perfect wedding date? The perfect weather, the flowers everything just how they dreamed? Well, big boys are no different. When thinking about the first weekend in October, I dream of cloudy skies, cold weather, rain and wind... And just like the movies, my dream came true! 

The opening day weather this year was perfect!!! Cloudy skies and rain!!

I went out this year with my nephew Skyler and my brother Dennis. I haven't made it out to chase ducks for the last few years because of school, so I was really excited! I used to think I was a pretty hardcore duck hunter, but I am nothing compared to Skyler!! That maniac spent the night out in the marsh to hold our spot! I helped him and his buddies little brother, Clain, carry out some of the dekes the night before, and Sky and Clain stayed the night. Crazy buggers, but I'm glad they held our spots! There were a lot of guys there early, but so were the ducks!!
I wish I could have gotten a better picture of the sky.. Dennis and I got out to the swamp about 5:30 and were anxious for first light. When it started getting light, the excitement began! We had hundreds of ducks flying all around us and skimming our setup. It was awesome! On opening day shooting starts at 8:00... As always, someone who thinks they are better than the rest took a shot at 7:40.. That is when the sky changed color. From the south, a black cloud of quacking wings rose up and came our way. I have never seen so many birds. There were THOUSANDS of them!! I loaded my gun and got reminded by sky that it was way too early. As the cloud approached, the lightning came with it. The swamp was filled with the booms of shotguns. We were the idiots who did the right thing and waited till 8:00. The big clouds of ducks had left, but we still had plenty of shooting.
The birds were flying into us, but most of them flew out just fine! I could have limited out, but those buggers are fast!! I ended up only getting a teal and a gadwal. It was so fun to be out there though!!
Skyler is an old pro and ended up getting 6 birds. This was Dennis's first real day duck hunting. He went with me for an hour a few years ago, but that doesn't really count. Even though he hasn't had much marsh time, it didn't take him long to catch on to things! He grabbed a couple guns and John Wayne'd the buggers!!
This is Dennis' first duck. What a monster!! It was actually an awesome shot! Those teal are the hardest ones to hit and he ended up bagging two of them. Good job Big D!! It was a blast to be out there with Sky and Dennis. Thanks for going with me guys! And thanks for all the work that you put into it Sky! You will be one heck of a guide some day!!