Tamarack's Guide Service

30 days of travel is a lot.  The trek from Washington to Florida was a doozy. Kristen and I learned a lot about how to trout bum travel and also the inability of vehicles to perform when needed.

That being said I also learned a lot from Florida. It’s a lot like LA in California but swampy.  Lots and lots of people.  And concrete. The waters are…different.  Salty rivers that are more like big estuaries, mangroves filled with dolphins and manatees, and silty, sandy, lagoony waters. 

It’s a lot like lake fishing in the PNW. Sneaking around trying to see feeding fish in some form.  The redfish tail, push, and splash a lot like carp. They are spooky, a lot like carp, and they eat little crustaceans or Crunchy flies, like a carp.  If you haven’t figured it out it’s similar to carp fishing.

The motor boat is to get you to and from these places separated by large open areas of water. It’s not the easiest thing to fish out of compared to a drift boat. The skiff is cumbersome compared to the dory or drift boat.  Weighted by a 200lbs motor, battery, fuel, and then people and gear.  It’s considerably clunky compared to moving and using a drift boat. I’m sure it’ll get better with practice, but it’s definitely not in the same realm as the dory.

It needs some mods to fish better.  Smaller casting platform in the front, with a space for an anchor to also help weigh the front end down a little more.  Which will help with poling. A longer stick will get me motor clearance while poling, but the boat rides like a spoon with 70% of the weight in the rear.  Getting the nose of the boat into the water will help keep the boat from spooning while poling.  As will practice.

The motor was never opened up to full throttle.  Never needed it. At 3/4, throttle we are at 20 mph, and it’ll go 30 to 35. By the last day of us on the water, I was more comfortable running the boat. It still needs the steering wheel upgraded with a different part, but she works. I logged 6 days’ worth of hrs on the boat. Far less than I had planned for in the 20 plus days I was down there.

We had a lot of shenanigans that almost busted the whole trip. Almost left without the boat. Had one of the worst business experiences with a Marina in Orlando and wasted well over $800 on gas just in the first week of being down there. Almost got screwed out of $3000 if it weren’t for some awesome Crystal River Locals. Once we had the boat working, we were dealt some shit weather and were put down for 5 days. We scrapped our plans to drive and experience more due to a stack of issues when we finally arrived. And that was after the car troubles on the way down.

Long distance trout bum travel is a different thing. We see a lot of this leisure travel life shit in social media all the time. It’s an insane amount of money. I’ve been to $1000 plus a night places, fancy lodges, hotels, and outfits. It’s not all it’s cracked up to be. The trade-off is sometimes your guide rig tries to explode, or your camper you’ve lived out of for a year has its water pump go out. But the AC works, and the bed was wicked comfy compared to anything I’ve ever slept on. But the on the road life after camper living all guide season definently tugged on the patience during our trip. Kristen and I got through all of it without anything crazy. All issues were handled even when the truck was getting funky 200 miles left to go. We drove over 4000 miles together, saw countless things, and experienced some real stuff that was different and new. To be able to share the whole adventure was dear to me. We travel and live this trout bum life well.

Experiences that are raw and self-made are the best. I got to see 16 new states I’d never been to. I got to see some of the real beauty and diversity this country has. Meet all sorts of people with a dash of culture shock in areas. I set out to have that experience. Dealt some shit but learned and will have a different experience next time. Planning only works so far. The ability to wing it and be comfortable in the chaos is key.

I went to Florida to see if I could see myself guiding in that space. The short answer is no. I don’t. At least not where and with what I experienced. More is needed. The areas I was in were too populated, too busy, and not what I want to guide in. It’s a little too like lake fishing for me. I plan on trucking back down there before I come back to the homewater for the spring season.

I got to experience some fish, but that wasn’t my goal. Fish come later. Just like trout did for me. Kristen got into fish, and next time we will take a guide trip earlier in the trip, we got too burnt out to perform at that level by the time it came around.

It was quite the experience to be on the poling platform and see redfish pushing, see snook move for baitfish. Dolphins hunting in the backdrop, manatees breathing and breaking the surface. To see Speckled Trout come from nowhere and smash shrimp fly patterns I tied was neat. I got to see my partner light up with the success of saltwater fish on the fly after a hell of a time on the trip.

I watched huge thunderstorms 30 miles out in the Atlantic. Saw Alligators and Armadillo. Listened to 2 dolphins hunt together one night less than 40 feet from camp. Could hear them clicking and sounding to each other, swimming fast breathing hard, then smashing food in the mangroves. Pretty cool, that was a new one.

My time in Florida reminded me of my time in Alaska. I dug a lot of the experiences, but it definitely wasn’t a full-time or part -time thing for me. Florida left me with similar vibes.

I’ll be back, and I’ll be visiting more places. I want to go back to Louisiana really bad. That place is cool. But I am also looking forward to trout season. Trout are one of the cooler things you can chase on a fly anglers. I fished for a lot. Trout definitely have a lot more going on. These kind of experiences do make me appreciate my time trout fishing.

I’m really looking forward to chasing trout here in Michigan. Totally different than out west. And that new boat opens up a lot of things for me.

There are 47 days left open for Yakima Dates in the Spring and Fall. Michigan stuff comes soon, and a hosted trip to the St. Joe in Idaho is in the works. I’m getting started on fly tying and working on a bunch of soft goods and stickers that go up on the web store.

Reserve your dates early. They go quick anglers. Trip prices have come down below $500. I’ll have a slew of my own hand tied flies for guide season. But trips are now bring your own lunch. I also have Bass dates open in late April to May 10th with the new boat!

Regular blogs will be coming out. Discussing topics and integrating with my social media. I’d like to hear from anglers on things they’d like broken down and cracked open. Fly tying videos, other content, and partnerships with Troutfreckles and Trout Psychology over the offseason. New things happening, chasing fish all over. Let’s get ready for 2024.

See ya riverside anglers.

Tamarack

I’ve lived the trout bum life for a bit. It’s not easy and I’ve touched on it in other blog posts. As I get older. Almost 38 now. Things are definitely different, perspectives change, we grow, we learn more about ourselves and who we are and what we want. I’ve discovered most of these things on the water.

My guide career is set. It’s been in motion for enough time now that it flows the way it should. It’s a smooth ride these days. I’m changing things up but it takes care of itself.

Trips book, money is made, bills get paid, life happens, fish get caught and released, and the stuff keeps on going, juice keeps flowing.

I haven’t thought much on the Yakima since I hit Utah. I’ve thought about clients and people, and good times, but not the river or fishing it. The farthest away from the yak I could drive really. Which in itself is pretty cool for me. I’ll have touched the tip of Washington and the tip of Florida before I am in Michigan. I’ve gotten to do one of things I’ve always wanted. Travel. And I don’t like airplanes so driving suits me.

As an adult I fell in love with discovering new to me places. I developed this want to go nomad from time to time. Walk about. I used to chase mountains and trails, then switched to river and waters, and now I travel for water.

I’ve been in Florida for a few days. Haven’t fished yet. The back end of business has taken precedent. My partner and I also have just offseason stuff we settle into this time of year. Coming out of guide season is a process. We shared it in the car over 12 days. But the trip and travel in general comes with stress, anxiety, and exhaustion. Travel isn’t easy. It’s part of the adventure. Weather it’s driving for days, or hiking miles and miles, or rowing river bend after rapid. The journey to destinations is where the vibe, the people you share things with, and relationships and connections become more solid.

My partner and I travel well together. Social media and all the shit out there now doesn’t show you the real parts. Just the destination and stuff for the gram.

Sharing travel is by far better than solo, which has been most of my experience. This trip down was an adventure to say the least. From broke cars, to laughing and crying. Watching brown trout spawn in Idaho. Hearing my children laugh while sharing an evening. Listening to nothing as the Grand Canyon fell into darkness. Or watching the sunset over the Red Canyon in Utah just in wonder and awe. To the feel of a good hot shower. The fuck all of Texas, the absolute vibe of Louisiana. The sounds of frogs and humid cool air and the sweetest people I’ve encountered. To a sandy backroad off the freeway in Florida in the dark just to sleep before landing at our first destination. This trip had been wonderfully adventurous. Take the bad and the good.

Arriving here things hit hard and real again. But got through. Exhausted but got through. Essentially miscommunication and unprofessionalism on the part of a particular marina made for a craptastically cock up of a day. A wasted day. A defeating day.

I am still exhausted from it today. Checked out today. Whatever is pressing can wait. I have little care to solve, do, or talk. Yesterday was rough, today will be easier, tomorrow shit will get done.

I met some amazing people when I picked up my boat. The kind of people I set out to encounter on trips like this. The passionate, local, knowledgeable, unassuming people. Good-hearted, welcoming, and downright wonderful people. They are the sauce of travel. The good stuff. The ones that go put out their way and call in on others like them to move things and people forward positively and with that good energy.

Thankful for those kinds of people, and I always strive to be one. I was reminded yesterday to be myself, be the chill fishy dude, and put the energy out there, and things will get done. I am too old to put my head down though. 22 year old me would have let a lot of yesterday get to me but would have not done much about it. Now me has the patience of a saint… but knows when it’s abused or taken advantage of and how to pivot. I get shit done and I make things happen. I’ve been good at making something out of nothing as I’ve gotten older. Yesterday, with the help of aforementioned people…shit got done.

I’m here to fish. To learn, to experience, explore, and discover. I’m a damn good angler and that’s why I’m here. Boat has been handled. So that I can fucken get to it.

Previous shop that was supposed to do my boat dropped the ball, treated me like I didn’t matter as a customer, miscommunication and misled, and apparently overcharged me when asking and calling around. So. I don’t give my patience to people like that, and I definitely don’t give them my money. Really don’t want them anywhere in my orbit. Money is being returned, and boat goes to the locals that went out of their way, made calls, put in work and passion and foster the people side of this experience. Which was the point.

I don’t have time to waste on anything that doesn’t have the kind of energy, vibe, passion, atmosphere, that I want. Nor do I have to give my time. Getting to old for that.

Florida by the way is a fucken mess. And it ain’t humid. It’s just fucking hot. I like Louisiana way better. Now I may change my mind as I experience the water but anything down here that has concrete, or doesn’t have water touching it…sucks. You all think driving in Seattle sucks…fuck. this place is worse than LA. Florida is definitely weird. But there are fish…so I’m gonna go chase a few and see what happens.

Tis this life… sometimes. Plans never go accordingly. Embracing the chaos is the main operating procedure. The universe does as it will, and I just ramble through it. Chasin a fish or 3 before the next bend in the river breaks and I see what’s next.

Tamarack

I am the farthest south from my Homewater I have ever been. Louisiana is by far my favorite state so far. Its got a good vibe. I’ll be back to fish this place more.

Kristen and I have traveled over 2600 miles. We’ve seen some awesome stuff.  Been in the car for 9 days, so we are stoked for switching out the guide rig for the new boat and some fishing.

We’ve also been booking up our 2024 seasons. I’ve got even less dates open for Fall now with Kristen and I’s co-retreats. It’s happening fast.

It’s been mostly driving. Texas was terrible. Hated it. Hot and gross. It wasn’t until we got to Louisiana that the temps got comfortable, love thr humidity so far. The sounds of bugs, the trees, the smells, and we drove through some gorgeous areas.

It’s almost over. 750 more miles then a few weeks of fishing, new boat stuff, and some actual off time.

Book those dates anglers. Can’t wait to get a rod in my hand down here!

Tamarack

I’ve lived this trout bum guide life for a minute. My life dictated by the ebb and flow of rivers and the way trout move through the season. The guide grind, the endless road and river miles. The same backroads, same launches, same riffles, it all becomes common to me. Now that the guide season is over I am able to reflect and stop being dictated by rivers.

I am proud of what I have done on the Yakima River.  From the anglers, the teaching, and the fish encountered. I’ve facilitated some amazing moments on the Yakima River with clients. I’ve taught and helped develop some wicked awesome anglers over the years.  And I am excited to continue sharing and facilitating those experiences for anglers in the coming seasons.  Albeit less than I have previously.

I sit here less than 100 yards from one of the most technical fisheries on troudom.  Silver Creek near Sun Valley Idaho. I have chased trout here many times. Caught some, been schooled and humbled by more. But a place that I am familiar with.

A car issue due to shit mechanics now being fixed by better ones has us slightly stranded here. We are waiting for Kristen’s guide rig Harvey to get fixed up. Maybe by the end of the day. Maybe by Monday. It’s all in Flux.  Just like the rivers, my life takes on the shape of a river. I’m past the class rapid parts of my river. But it’s still spicey from time to time. After enough of some big nasty water in your river of life, not much that comes around the bend causes strife…experience and confidence are the tools that get you through.

Silver Creek doesn’t call to me.  The Browns are actively spawning.  I can see 20 plus inch trout on redds just outside the camper. It’s pretty fascinating. But I have no desire to fish them. It’s cold, and they are busy doing fishy things.  I’ll observe and enjoy the ability to see them and have their company without disturbing them. I am trout fished out. And I’ve played and held Silver Creek Browns. No it’s time to let the body rest and let the mind simmer.

Florida is not far away.  We wait in the presence of Moose, migrating fowl, rustling sagebrush, and the soft sounds of Silver Creek quicksilver in the late season glare as the snow creep down the Sawtooth Mountains. Pushing us south.

I am slightly restless. This is a big step, a large investment, and a new world of fly fishing and boatwork that I am novice in. A place I haven’t been in my profession in a while. And I’ve been in guide mode for a long time. Less fishing. So, there is this anxious anticipation to get into it. Being delayed is helping me keep my cool.

I’m getting help from social media followers and fellow guides and anglers with places to fish. I’m starting to tie flies for specific fish. I’m also working, as I write this blog, I’m also trying to book up my 2024 trout season on the Yakima. Strategizing my money for the offseason, running reports for this past year, prepping fly tying, paying for a boat, while also trying to enjoy rest and the slow down. At least I’m not rowing.

The down time is nice. It’s rare I get to enjoy sitting next to my partner drinking coffee and chatting about non fishy things during the season. Both of us guides and anglers we have little else to talk about when we are working. The offseason is for everything but fishing. Even Florida is for us to have fun and be leisure without too much, if any pressure to produce. Just enjoy.

So it’s just chilling and patience at this moment. Things happen at the flow they do. And this bend in the river is wide and slow…but the end is just yonder.

Tamarack

Anglers!

The 2023 season on the Yakima is over for me. It was a tougher one in terms of fishing. Summer was weird. Spring was good until blowout. Fall was meh. Not the first won’t be the last. The Yakima is a fickle river.

That was my last Full time guide season on the Yakima. Next season we are only running 80 days total between the spring and fall seasons. I’ll be in Michigan next summer guiding and taking some much needed time away from guiding to spend time with my children. They are older now. Teenagers and I have the ability to not work in the summer and spend it with them so I will.

I also have new adventures in Michigan that my partner and I are working towards. After finishing up this season and after last year’s haul of 207 guide days I’m ready for a change.

I can take summers off and work sparingly because I am going to add the southern saltwater to my guiding program. I am currently on my way down to Florida.

Kristen and I are trout bumming our way down to Crystal River Florida to link up with Hog Island Boatworks and Portside Marine on a new skiff just for me!

It’s been a long time coming and I’ve worked really hard to get to this step. This has always been the goal. To hit 10 years and them branch put more. With saltwater on the winter schedule. Being a trout guide for years, I know the winters suck. And I do t chase steel. And I hate the cold. So Florida it is.

We are in Pendleton Oregon right now. Lotta prep work today before traveling across the country with our camper, dog, cat, and us. We wanted to get out of Washington today and beat the incoming snows.

We are just in front of it. We rest again in the Sun Valley area of Idaho tomorrow. Chase Some Idaho trout and visit my kids over the weekend. Then through Utah, canyons, New Mexico, little bit of Texas, dash of Oklahoma, Halloween in New Orleans, jump through Mobile Alabama, and into Florida. Where we will hang until December.

Here we will be enjoying time off, gathering content for social media, experiencing saltwater fishing and parts of the country we’ve never seen. Chase and learn new fish and water. I hope to find water critters I like to chase and guide for. Above all, I get to explore and discover something I have dreamt about as an angler for a decade. I’ve wanted to travel south and chase fish down there since I became a guide. Now I get too. And I am on my way.

I am stoked to share it with everyone.

I get to see places I never thought I would and fish them. I am beyond grateful for the support of my clients and the angling community over the years and can’t wait to guide and share more. This shit is pretty cool anglers.

See ya on the road, ramblin’ down south for some salty fish.

Tamarack

It is Fishtober anglers. The end of the season is upon us. I begin my last 21 trips for 2023 on the Yakima River here in Washington. My homewater. The water I learned on. Where I cut my teeth, became an excellent angler, and became a good guide. I have fished this river since the winter of 2004. I have put more days on this water than most in 19 years. I have guided full time since 2015. I’ve done over 1000 guide trips on this watershed. I’ve floated the Yakima to the sum of 15,000 to 20,000 river miles now. I’ve caught thousands of fish. It has been one of the great joys of my adult life to be able to fish and live with the Yakima River.

I have taught thousands of people how to fly fish. I have worked with over 50 clients for 8 years, losing count of how many days we’ve fished together over the seasons. My regular client roster is massive now. Few…hundred. I turn away trips and have a waitlist. I’ve worked very hard over the past decade to make this dream of being a fly fishing guide a reality. My passion for my work, my business, and my clients is of the utmost degree. I am proud of what I and my anglers have done here on the Yakima.

I have spent hundreds of hours on conservation on this watershed. My literal blood and tears poured into these fish and the places they live. I am proud of the work I’ve done to give back to the river, the community of outdoorsy people, and my angling community.

I love all my clients. You have all supported me, been there to help me when I needed it, and we’ve shared countless hours enjoying, learning about, and chasing these wild trout here on the Yakima. I can not thank you enough for supporting your local trout bum guide all these years. You have made this beardy dudes dreams come true.

That being said, anglers. I am tired. I know every inch of this river system by memory. Photographic memory anglers. It’s seared into my brain mush. I know the lines at each flow increment, I know how the river is going to move my boat hundreds of yards ahead. It is almost autopilot these days. I know each and every crevice a fish can be in at any time of the season, and I’m pretty sure I can get them to eat most of the time. It’s been a constant flow of the Yakima for years.

I’m just a poorer kid from rural eastern Washington. I graduated high school with 75 kids. The biggest city I had ever seen was Seattle until I was well into my 20s. I started traveling trout bum style when I could back then. I went to all the famous Montana rivers, caught fish all over Montana, went to Alaska, went to BC, went to Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, I’ve fished damn near all I can and could. I’ve been on another 10,000 river miles all over the west. I’ve floated lakes and caught anything that would eat a fly. I’ve explored and fished all I really care to have fished out here these days. I have my favorites. I’ve made revisits, and I’ve encountered some of the most amazing and mesmerizing experiences of my life during it all.

But I want more. And I’ve tasted more. And my drive for adventure, adrenaline, and new discoveries is all but at a rolling boil now. I can’t sit still anymore. I haven’t had a summer off in 10 years. I haven’t fished out of my comfort zone or skill set in many seasons. I want to chase fish for me. I want to have my heart thump, my blood run, and my angling put to the test. I want something foreign and fresh, something I can’t read and don’t understand. I want to figure it out all for myself with my skills, a flyrod, and my noggin. I want to explore.

I am doing that for myself moving forward. I am changing things up. For me, for my clients and for the Yakima. I’ve put a lot of pressure on this river over the years. It’s time it had a little less from me. My clients are also mostly, at a plateau for this watershed. We are mostly at a level where we can figure it out, learn and practice advanced and mastery level skills, and chase trophies on this river. Awesome. We did good anglers. Nows the time to step it up.

While I get to fish on my own in the summer, I encourage my clients to do more of the same. Go fish for yourself. Fish with other anglers, build up the community, push for the changes and things you want from your fisheries. Explore and discover with the skills I have bequeathed to you all and chase trout. I am not always necessary for fish to be enjoyed.

There is so much more out there for anglers to enjoy with a fly and rod. And I am also an angler…not just a guide. I want to fish too. And I haven’t got to do that much these days and it’s starting to wear on me.

So I head south to Florida anglers. With some help from my friends at Hog Island Boatworks, I am fishing south and working towards a winter guiding program somewhere in the southern saltwater for 2024. I get to explore and chase new things now. I am excited and I wouldn’t be able to do it without the support of my clients.

Don’t worry you all get to come along. I can’t wait to share the new adventures. And will be seeing lots of my Yakima clients in new places before too long. I am also working on a summer program for Michigan fisheries for 2024! There’s so much more coming anglers!

Now. Back to the Yak. There’s been concern about what that looks like next year. Don’t worry. I will be right back here on the Yakima for Skwalla Holla 2024. March and April. I am already getting dates lined up for anglers next season here on the Yak. We have trophies to chase! I’ll have limited dates but I’ll be running 75 to 100 guide days in 2024 on the Yakima from March 1st to May 15. And From Sept 1st to October 25th.

What about updates and that Tamarack!? I will be doing those when I’m here and also wherever else I am! Social media, and that gets a bit of an overhaul this winter. With new content and new stuff. More merchandise like flies, stickers, shirts also are coming, as well as destination trips to places like Alaska, Florida Keys, Michigan, and Idaho!

Don’t be too bummed anglers. It’s time for me to change it up. New stuff for me and new experiences for clients! And new clients, different people, new things to teach and learn!

And my summers back. I have three wonderful children I want to spend more time with before they are all adults. I have 2 teenagers and a tween. Who have summers off too. With a winter program and a full fringe season on the Yak I can share time and experiences with those three baby troots of mine.

I also am coming up on 40. I am in need of time for me. Also for my partner. Guide life takes a lot out of you. Spending time chasing experiences and life goals with her is important and a priority.

Things grow and change, just like river conditions and seasons. I am no different. I have worked towards this goal, and I am finally close. Thank you anglers. Truly from my heart thank you.

I’ll be back.

I’m not leaving.

I’m just going fishing.

See ya on the saltwater anglers.

Tamarack

Today we had frost. It was cold. It is Autumn. Our leaves are changing. We have cold water amd trout lurking for fall insects amd unsuspecting crayfish and baby salmon. It’s brutal in the fall when you’re a trout. Salmon come in, make a mess, the water slims down, predators abound, the fish prepare for the winter, bugs and small fish are on the menu.

I love the fall fishing. And my season is fully booked. I’ve got a few days open and might fill one or two but it’s enough and I’m good.

I move this October. I am leaving Washington. I will be relocating to Michigan with Kristen working on new adventures. I will be back on the Yak in March and April for trips. And again next fall. But winters are now reserved for rest, new ventures, and southern saltwater. Summers are for new trout water, chasing bass and pike, muskie and gar, small brook trout, teaching kids to fish for bluegill and spending more time fishing for myself in the summer. More time with my kids and less time with clients in the summer.

I’ll be guiding in Michigan next summer with a whole new thing fishing wise happening over there. Returning for trophy trout chasing in the west pre runoff, post summer craziness and high flows.

The fall is here and changes are coming. I get to fish with so many of my regulars this autumn and I am so excited and thankful for the support. I’m leaving, but I’m not leaving you. More options in new places, returning to the homewater when its good, and opening up the world of fly fishing to more anglers and different experiences and encounters with fish, people, and places.

See ya riverside anglers.

Tamarack

It’s last call on guide days anglers.

I am starting the last 8 week push of the season before I head south for the winter.

I’m looking to book 8 to 12 more trips out of the remaining dates. I am working for that motor and trailer that will be going on my New Hog Island Saltwater Skiff! I am very excited anglers and every trip this fall makes traveling and eventually guiding Southern fisheries more a reality.

Everyone…all my clients have been and continue to make this trout bum guides’ dreams come true. I am always thankful for my clients support and patronage. It has been an absolute pleasure and hoot to guide full time on the Yakima these past 10 years. I am excited to continue my career trophy chasing trout on the Yak and guiding new states and waters over the next 10 years.

Thank you to everyone.

Hope to see you out there before I leave until April anglers. Dates below are open. Love to see you in the boat!

September Dates:

5th 8th
10th-12th
14th
18th 19th
25th – 27th
29th

October Dates:
2nd-4th
8th
11th-13th
15th
17th 18th
23rd

See ya riverside anglers.

Well anglers. We are coming down to the last bit of trout season. The last 2 months are upon us. I’ve got plenty of dates into October open and am looking to book every day I can heading into the end here.

I’m headed south to pick up a new Hog Island Skiff on October 25th so my last trip is already booked Oct 24th.

Let’s get the available dates out there.

August: 25th and 26th

30th 31st

September: 4th-8th

10th thru 12th, 14th

18th-20st and 25th thru 27th and the 29th just opened.

October: 2nd thru 4th

11th thru 13th

15th thru 19th

23rd and that’s it!

Book your dates today it’s the last your get until April.