The Ignorant Angler

I needed to get out of town yesterday. So……I drove to Idaho.  I had an unused Idaho fishing license, and had never fished the Henry's Lake area.  Armed with Mike Lawson's book, off to the Flat Ranch I went.

Purchased by the Nature Conservancy nearly twenty years ago, the Flat Ranch property is located just south of Henry's Lake in Idaho. It's about fifteen miles from West Yellowstone, Montana. More info here.

It's primarily a nature preserve, with the opportunity to fish thrown in. There's a nifty visitors center. The porch is a nice place to kick back and take in the views.  I grabbed my cooler and had lunch before heading out to explore the property.

There are cows too.  It's still a working cattle ranch.  There are several large fenced pastures. Livestock are managed in some sort of rest rotation system.  Overall, the riparian areas appear to be in good shape.
During summer, speakers deliver weekly lectures on topics of local interest.

As for the fishin…

Here's a little problem.  For most of my fishing career I'd fished without a net.  Why?  Heck, I didn't think that I needed one.  My attitude towards landing fish was…."I'll just grab 'em".  Well, even little fish have quite a bit of spunk in them.  Just when I'd be ready to "grab 'em", they would dart away. Four, five, six times.  That's a lot of spunk.  Frustrating for the fisherman, probably for the fish too. Not to mention the needless tiring, especially when the process could be expedited.

I started spring creek fishing a couple of years ago.  In a compassionate, conservation minded moment, I decided that it was time for a change.  Actually, I got tired of not being able to land fish that were already at hand.  So, I invested in a net.  Good move.  Get them close, one scoop, done. No more of this darting away business.

Now the problem.  See if you can figure it out.




Small fish from our mountain creeklets pose little problem.  No…

Mind travel

The need to get away

The perfect day.  What goes into it?  
For me, a place
Surroundings. Conditions. A certain feel
I close my eyes, you too



Overcast a fifty degree day light mist a steelhead stream Southeast Alaska












This is where I go





A nicely done piece about a special part of our world by Ian Majszak and Detonation Studios.

For more information about the Tongass and its salmonids and to support conservation of such:

The Tongass:  America's Salmon Forest