From the high volume of weather related Facebook posts in the last few weeks, I’m pretty sure that we’re all more than a little tired of being polar vortexed. I get it. It’s cold and snowy outside, no pics needed, I’m scraping my car windows just like the rest of you. From an angling perspective, my...
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Mar 29, 2014 • I’ve got a fever. Both literally and figuratively. February and March has been one of the most illness laden stretches in recent memory. Packing up my goods during pregame warmups recently looked more like a NyQuil commercial than a fishing trip. And the malady doesn’t stop there. I’ve been feverishly laboring on the vise with an acute...
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Feb 24, 2014 • I had just settled down for a long winter’s nap when it dawned on me that I’ve been negligent in my duties. Slow and steady wins the race, right? This post has been in limbo for quite some time. I partially completed the story a few weeks back, but the subzeroness of my daily life...
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Jan 10, 2014 • After multiple weeks of holiday cheer (and the extended break compliments of the weather terrorists) the juices are now flowing again. The Minnesota winter trout fishing opener can be a rite of passage. For me it’s simply the removal of a mental barrier. I rarely race out to be on the water simply to fill in a...
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Dec 23, 2013 • Tamp down those thoughts of Sugar Plum fairies and let’s get back to what really matters. The glass half full portion of the equation tells us that we can be mining some of our favorite runs in just under two weeks. Can I get an Amen? With that in mind I’ll take you back to...
Happy holidays, folks. For those of you still sifting through the blogosphere, I’ll offer you up a little respite from the Adrift™ historical record by providing some angling action from last week. The early morning traffic on the Milwaukee River was less than I anticipated for a holiday weekend. My Black Friday tradition is usually...
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Nov 26, 2013 • My hiatus from local fishing reporting ends today. I’ve left it to others to provide you blow by blow accounts of middle west cold water conquests. Those of us who have chosen the path of blogdum are always faced with the blank page. What path do we chose to fill our infinitely scrolling publication? Long...
I’m intentionally leaking fishing content at a snails pace at this point. This approach allows us to live vicariously through my summertime exploits. Let’s pick up where we left off last time folks. Rode hard, and put away wet. Adrift in the cold, hard world of multi-million dollar mountain properties. Fortunately my exhaustion didn’t prevent me...
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Oct 18, 2013 • The allure of the unknown pried me from my lunching location neatly tucked into the cozy confines of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison in the Curecanti National Recreation Area. A day and half of eating out of a cooler left me longing for more. I set out to indulge in a celebratory meal in Montrose and potentially shoot the...
Just thought I’d throw down a quick, “how do you do?” The good news is that there’s a lengthy wrap up on my Colorado excursion sitting in the queue. The bad news is that I’ve neglected finishing the writing. I’ve been too busy logging stream miles, and made a recent pilgrimage to see the new/old...
All my bags are packed I’m ready to go. I’m standing here outside your door. I hate to lose my temper and say f-ing goodbye… “I should be soaking in ice cold rocky mountain waters by now,” I reassured myself. Instead I stood in a hornet’s nest of malcontents where expletives and claims of highway...
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Aug 20, 2013 • In my teen years I picked up the nickname “Brother Carp” from my fishing crew as a moniker of solidarity. The reasons for this become harder to explain with my advancing age. My buddies and I somehow picked up the brotherhood theme in our many hours of outdoors tomfoolery and perhaps the influence of an...
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Aug 11, 2013 • As I pressed my nose up against the glass I couldn’t help but contemplate another urban angling assault. Unfortunately I don’t own an “Urbanist” fly fishing pack, so I felt rather ill prepared for the task at hand. Rather than another Manhattan raid, the subject of this contemplation was the all too familiar “Windy City”...
Where has summer gone? From deep in the Ozark Mountains, to some rocky mountain highs , I’ve been peddling my goods far and wide since our last visit. What little free time I’ve had has been spent doing this or that rather than paying homage to the blog. The first order of business has been...
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Jun 25, 2013 • I must confess that I’m running a little behind on the blog posts. The dog didn’t eat my homework, but between traveling, work and fishing there’s been little time for superfluous zeros and ones. I’ll do my level best to right the ship and get this thing back up to speed with my current backlog of...
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Jun 13, 2013 • My arrival in the land of fast walkers had an eerily familiar vibe to it. Apparently the cool wet weather that has blanketed the homeland had found its way to the city. There would be no grandiose vistas as we crept in on the Queens-Midtown Expressway. Manhattan was socked in like a cold mug of...
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May 28, 2013 • There was an inordinate amount of chatter last week about the subject of “winning,” at the Adrift™ worldwide headquarters. To most practitioners of the angling arts, winning is measured in inches and pounds. To the youngest inhabitants of my domicile, winning was measured in red, white and blue. It’s the time of year that we look...
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May 19, 2013 • Hey let’s look at a bunch of fish pics, shall we? What is it with us anyway? This baby reads like a dysfunctional issue of Playboy. Don’t hesitate to bask in this voyeuristic medley of pint-sized aquatic pin ups. Regular folks must wonder why someone would be drawn to such banter. After a recent Brookie outing, I...
I’ve previously stated that there is no greater month for trout fishing in these parts than June. It’s just a personal preference. On the flip side I’ll admit to disliking the late winter/early spring period. I don’t appreciate being the meat in the trout sandwich. Earlier in the winter things are cold, somewhat unbearable, yet...
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Apr 20, 2013 • Nothing says R&R like a magnificent sunrise in the greater La Crosse area. A quick peek out my hotel window revealed a plethora of choices. Should I wander over to the Home Depot for some wallpaper paste, or hit the Olive Garden for the all you care to eat pasta bowl with extra Alfredo? I opted...
In standard annual rite of passage fashion I strapped on the boots and donned the waders for celebratory purposes. It was birthday week here at the worldwide headquarters, and the gift that keeps on giving is a hearty round of chasing tail. For a second year in a row I was snubbed in the steelhead...
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Mar 27, 2013 • Are you tired of looking at my windshield yet? I should retire this photo from the usual assortment of flotsom, but I seem to keep snapping the pic and subsequently feel the need to post it. I think it may be a subconscious reaction to Phil Monahan after he posted one of my videos on...
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Mar 14, 2013 • Better late than never? You bet. The long wait was over as I finally made my inaugural run into the badger state for some trouting last Friday. In typical fashion it was an early departure. Dawn raids are an imperfect proposition this time of year, but I don’t give a shit. While y’all were sleeping...
One of my favorite stops on the information superhighway is the “blog apology”. If you’re not personally indentured to a blog you may not realize the effort it takes to keep it fresh. Since I’m in the business of advising actual folks on things like their “web strategy” I find myself discussing such things with...
There’s no question this will be an abbreviated treatise when compared to Frank Capra’s legendary documentary Why We Fight . The Academy Award winning masterpiece convinced legions of young men to endanger their livelihoods for the good of the country during WWII. For some strange reason I think of this classic piece of propaganda when the ice begins to firm up on the...
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Jan 17, 2013 • 2013 has been billowing like an overstuffed burrito. The ever important life/work balance has been stalled at the work end of the spectrum. There has been little room between the beans and cheese of life for chasing trout. As last week unfolded, I finally found a small window for a much anticipated day trip into...
My post holiday hangover has lingered into the new year. Day to day duties as chief brainstrust at Labor have kept me off the streams during the winter season thus far. Like clockwork, most of my clients have returned from break with guns blazing to get some actual work done. While I’m itching like mad to hit...
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Dec 27, 2012 • Is there anything more annoying than someone “tooting their own horn?” Perhaps, but why write a magazine article if you don’t want others to share in the fun? The latest January/February issue of American Angler is hot off the press and contains my feature story titled “Close Encounters.” This piece came to fruition when details of...
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Dec 24, 2012 • I’ve been relegated to the bottom of the barrel over the last few weeks. It’s absolutely the lowest point of the year from a fishing standpoint and there are very few local outlets to get a fix. Work and holiday fanfare have helped pass the time, but still doesn’t quench the thirst. The ice hasn’t...
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Dec 11, 2012 • This blog entry has been partially written for the better part of a month. It’s been lingering in the air like a stale fart. Instead of committing it to the virtual waste bin I opted to polish it up and throw it your way. The scrutiny level of certain conservative media outlets reached of fevered...
Vote Early, Vote Often The good folks at Moldy Chum have selected my Thanksgiving “Milwaukee’s Best” brown for consideration in their December Slab of the Month contest. I may not be the most ardent of Moldy Chum readers, but it’s certainly on my list of regular visits when I’m jonesing for a fly fishing fix. The midwest tends to...
It’s probably not the ideal situation if you are on the receiving end of my fishing might. I’m on cruise control after results fall short of my expectations. If I’m unable to decipher the code, it slowly burns me up inside and payback’s a bitch. My approach tends to be like the United States government’s...
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Oct 29, 2012 • There’s no question that I fancy myself an explorer. But in reality, my sense of adventure is often tempered by things like, parenting duties, work, and the certainty of my urban existence. The fishing community is rife with like-minded travelers searching far and wide seeking what experience “isn’t” in their own backyards. Exchanging pleasantries with...
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Oct 22, 2012 • By the time the kiddies are sporting their ghoulish duds on for an evening of tricks and treats I’m grasping at straws for the remainder of open water. The cold air may be slowly invading our turf, but there’s still plenty of warmwater flowing and fish to be caught. Beyond my aforementioned Muskie chasing tendencies, I also...
Let’s kick things off with what really matters. How about a proper shout out to Jack? As I sit here scribing this post my boy is recovering from surgery. Sure it was just a simple tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy, but not the most fun day for a 5-year old. In the context of the angling arts, it...
