IA Born

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A little over a year ago, one of my dad's Army buddies from Vietnam told me one of his bucket list things is to learn to fly fish and go to a western trout stream. John and I have always been close since I first met him at his first 173d Airborne Brigade Reunion in Rochester, MN in 1995. I told him I'd do everything and anything I could to make it happen for him. Another of the group, Chuck, where I turkey hunt in TX, was sitting there and asked if he could join the adventure. He was an avid fly fisherman back in the day. Absolutely no problem on our end. They were all together and survived the battle I've described before from Nov 11, 1967. My son, Jacob, and I started making plans. Last Christmas, John's wife contacted me about what all he'd need to get started so she could Christmas shop for him. We solidified the dates this past April during our turkey hunting adventures and I told him the San Juan River, below Navajo Dam was a great place to learn to fly fish. I told the group the San Juan can be very technical, but its also very forgiving and non-technical, which is a great place for a beginner. Somewhere along the way, my best friend of 47+ years, Jeff, invited himself on the trip. No problem and, luckily we have a couple of extra fly rods/reels thanks to my wife's and daughter's set ups. The plan was to meet at Float-n-Fish in Navajo Dam, get waders rented for those who needed them and hit the river for a couple of hours before we could check into our AirBnB. The only complication (or addition to the adventure, I suppose) came when Jacob and I hit Farmington and I realized I forgot to pack our vests and nets. I'll let you all figure out my choice of words, but they were definitely not family friendly. My lovely wife offered to overnight everything to us, but we needed gear to fish that day and Friday morning, with no guarantee of when/if things would arrive in the community of Navajo Dam on Friday. I promised my wife I would replace gear at the bare minimum to be able to successfully fish. We formed a plan and took off Thursday afternoon. It was slow and hot, so we regrouped, got checked into our AirBnB and relaxed for a bit before checking out Texas Hole that evening. I was spending most of my time as the "guide" and my son was acting as my "assistant guide", helping the folks who have never fly fished before. Jacob was great in that essence and I was trying to work a little harder so he could fish. John struck first Thursday night with a great 'bow, after I suggested he hit the seam along the riffle with his nymph. I had barely turned around when I heard that magical sound. Not only was this his first trout on a fly rod, it was the first fish of the trip and he was beaming! In general, mornings were slow and we always ended back at Texas Hole for the evenings. I'll stick to the evening action for that sake. Jacob ended up landing a beautiful bow Friday night on a dry fly, followed by Jeff (very rookie), who landed 3 great 'bows on a dry within 20-30 minutes. We left too early Friday, because the hatch didn't start in earnest until about 7:50pm. Right as we were leaving, I saw it and badly wanted to cast in the low light, but the group was on the move about 5 minutes prior. We had an early supper Saturday at the Sportsman's Lounge, with the idea that we'd stay until we absolutely couldn't see anymore. I'd told them stories about past experiences on Texas Hole when you're struggling to see your fly. I managed to strike first with a very pretty 'bow on a nymph on the other side of the seam John and Jeff caught from. I gave Jeff that spot because I knew where I wanted to be when the hatch started. The hatch didn't disappoint, either. Jacob caught another nice 'bow, I landed three 'bows on two different dries, and Chuck caught the best fish of the trip, a pretty brown on a dry right as light was fading. My last one was in the dark where I couldn't see my fly, but I could see the rises. I cast out and was watching the general area, when I saw a rise. Hoping for the best, I lifted to set and, BOOM, fish on. Everyone was already across the channel, but Jeff came back to help me land in the fast-fading light. I'm counting Chuck's brown as the last official trout of the trip since he could actually see the take. I'm counting my last one (in the dark) for me, because of my friend, a Vietnam combat vet Marine named Bob (like my dad), who taught me that trick back in 2007. And we're talking about a return trip and other adventures. I know how big my dad was smiling down on us this trip. I hate that my computer turns these all 7 ways of Sunday and I can't figure out how to rotate them properly. Walking into Crusher Hole Thursday afternoon View from Munoz upriver Munoz. Jacob in the foreground and John on the right. John on the seam at Texas Hole John's first trout fly fishing Jacob's first trout in just over a year. Jeff's 1st of three on a dry My nymph trout My 2nd on a dry, a #22 midge cluster Chuck's last light brown My 3rd on a dry Saturday night, when it was too dark to see my fly The Gang before parting ways Sunday

Aw, heck, I'll give you any info you want on the San Juan, anytime. Just let me know when you're going. There are 2-3 nymphs and 2-3 dries that are consistent throughout. There are others that work, obviously, but a select few that are consistent no matter what time of year and what hole you're in. I typically only fish two specific nymphs, and rarely branch out beyond two dries.

Maybe we can trade info: CO for San Juan!

It was hit and miss. Some really slow going with spurts of awesomeness. I suppose I could/should put a post about it.

Just got back from the San Juan below Navajo Dam. I need to plan a trip to CO!

There is a classroom Hunter Education class in Flagstaff July 20-23. If the weather holds, Saturday's class session will be outside near the Flagstaff Archer's Range. As of this post, there are 6 seats out of 40 available. I'm not the lead instructor, but you can get ahold of him in the link below. https://www.register-ed.com/events/view/198443

The class was July 20-23 and was full. We're hosting an online field day on Sunday, August 27th at the NorAZ Shooting Range. It will be a small class with only 12 slots available, since we will only have 4 instructors. That's as big of a class as we can hold with that low number of instructors.

TTT

Congrats and great story!

Same. A friend convinced me its worth the $10 and I've loved it ever since I got it.

That's awesome! It would be fun to explore and document that. What we've been seeing is pockets of high abundance and areas where we should be seeing them and aren't.

Steep, rocky habitat is actually the preferred habitat of Sonoran desert tortoises. They are only rarely found out in flats and that is usually attributed to emigration from range/territory to another. Mohave desert tortoises are the ones that live in the flats and creep up to the toes of slopes.

I think he's mentioned he likes gladiator movies! Just kidding, Tim! That's awesome. I was involved in both listing decisions for the Sonoran desert tortoise. My supervisor and I fought hard to make sure the science was included and interpreted correctly, rather than making decisions based on emotions. Numbers aren't what they used to be, but they don't need ESA protection right now!

Savage stock is SPF. Remington 700 ADL LA stock is available. Standard LOP on that one.

Class is full with an empty wait list.

Sorry, I should have been more clear. The Savage Axis stock is off a youth/compact rifle.

Still have the Rem 700 ADL (blind magazine) LA and Savage Axis SA stocks available.

Class starts a week from today and there are 4 seats left.

My pleasure! If I can use my connections to get the right answers, I'm all for it!

Just heard back from my friend in the condor program. You're good to go. "If he got drawn in 12A or B he will get info with his tag. If he chose Etag he will get the same info in the mail in a tag envelope."

They should be doing it. I was the Federal lead for the Condor program up until Oct 2021. Getting supplies through big-name companies was difficult at one point due to bureaucratic BS from the companies not wanting to deal with state contracts, even though the process was simple. I'll reach out to the new AGFD Condor lead and confirm, but it shouldn't be a problem for any hunt (youth, Champ, or general). You can always call the R2/Flagstaff office and verify, but the AGFD Condor lead is a good friend and I've asked.

That's very true. The Hunter Ed program is funded by excise tax $$ through the Pittman-Roberston (Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration) Act. A huge requirement is that there has to be an in-kind match to those Federal dollars, and AGFD uses our time as HE Instructors (volunteers) to log person-hours into the system as the in-kind match. The biggest hold-up for getting more classes is that there was a mass exodus of instructors (~70% drop) two years ago, right as we were allowed to start the in-person classes again. There were training requirements (online training classes related to managing PII and harassment) that are mandated as part of the Federal dollars. Many of the instructors decided they didn't want to go through the hoops, so they left. Every training we have to take as HE volunteers is almost exactly the same as what I have to take annually as a Federal employee. I was upset because I have to do it every year for work and then again every year to be an HE instructor and that's time away from my family. My wife encouraged me to not quit teaching, or I'd have been done two years ago, too.

TTT