This past week has been one of intense and focused fishing. With only a mere 2 hours of fishing (3:30-5:30pm) I would cut out the wondering and focus on runs that would produce big healthy Browns. For the amount of time I fish it has been really good this past week...
Tues-Nov 11th (See other post)
Weds-Nov 12th Fished with Gunner-Sight Fishing for Hooked Jaw Browns (Sorry no pics, forgot camera)
Thurs-Nov 13th-Solo and Bad Weather- I decided to mix things up and film a couple fish before the storm got to rainy...It was a great night for fish numbers....(TP) See below
As I was left solo on the river I decided to work my way up river with sight fishing and the hopes of a 25+inch Brown...I never found my Brown, but with the perfect lighting and a beautiful fall color Brown it was a trophy to be had at 20 inches
Monday- Nov. 17th
We set out to catch some Browns and hopefully get Gunner some more practice landing big fish. It was his best out so far and one that will help him progress into a great fishermen. I didn't help him one bit...Atta boy Gun
"Do think I can catch one first cast?" Yep Gun
Gunner and I fished until our hands were froze and the fish were to easy to hook. It was a good night.
The stage was set, the plans were made we were going to hit the Lower Provo Weds afternoon and this time we were after quantity and in the back of our minds quality. But just like all great fishing days(which are less than more) we received both. Gun and I met Jeff and his son Grif at the mouth of the canyon and were on the river by 3:15 pm. The first spot we when to was slower and only produced a two Browns in 30 mins, so we pushed on to more productive and less fished water. 
When we arrived everything looked perfect the fish were jumping like they had mad fish disease and seemed aggressive and ready to play. Within casts Jeff was hooked up with a 16' Brown and from there the game had just begun. Next Grif hooked up, but the Big Brown (Which was pushing 20+ leaped out of the water and threw his hook. After that it was kinda a blur. For the next two hours we had constant action on 16-19' Browns and one Fat Bow, except for Gun who spent most of his time untangling his line. 
It was so good that Jeff, who had the hot hand all night continued to fish through the cold dark night (with the aid if Grifs flashlight, following the indicator) and still managed to land three more fish in complete darkness. It was fun and almost like a team sport. It is little outings like this that make me sit back and think , "Man we only fished for two and a hour hours, but we managed to reach our goals we set out to fulfil and give Jeff his most successful trip fly fishing. Man what if we had all day?" 
As we moved up river we found the perfect smaller eddy. We caught fish after fish. I was amazed how many fish were holding in the little 10 foot run. That couldn't have been deeper than 4 feet and 5 feet wide. 
After that Hoss and I moved from spot to spot looking for a hog, and catching 12 inch bows, with an occasional 15'. The other amazing thing was the weather we have been having. Its the end of Nov. (21st) and I was wearing a t-shirt and was still hot. This past week has been one of the best weather weeks I can remember in the history of late season fishing. If this keeps up we won't be ice fishing this year. Pics are limited...due to a slippery camera and water...but Hoss came to the rescue and gave me his secret: put the camera on the jeep dash and crank up the heat and dry it out completely. I did it and when I got home it was as good as new. It was a great time spent with Hoss and the tradition that burns in my heart lives on. 
Yeasterday I was lucky to have the chance to Fly Fish the Provo River with my good friend and former Professional Baseball Player Jared Fernandez. Jared now focases his professional ablity on fly fishing and duck hunting, which he's already a pro. We had a great time yesterday and I learned something new, which was an added bonus. (my new egg pattern works!!!) The catching started out slow, with all the pressure that they had faced earlier in the day. We finally moved down to our honey hole and within an hour we were in double digits. With our hands were frozen stiff and being the last on the river at dark:30, we decided to call it quits. It was great to get out with such a great friend and someone that has accomphished so much in his life.
I grew up hearing all the quotes about working hard for what you get..."Practice makes perfect", "Step by Step", "If you work harder than the rest, you will be the best", etc... from my personal experience and through countless trials and errors, I have found this concept to be completely true. If you want something or want to be great at something, than you must pay your dues. "Paying My Dues" is a concept I have gained over my years of playing traditional sports in high school and college. It is equally important in any activity that one pursues and especially crucial in ones progression in Fly Fishing. The key to the concepts success is the level of desire/passion of the pursuer. This is simple, some really want to be great, some kinda do, some do, but are scared, some do, but don't want to invest the time, and some just don't care and enjoy being average. This level of desire/passion is something that isn't(can't) taught, but is within each of us and is our personal driving force. Levels of desire can change as one decides to. For example my little sister always came fishing with us boys, but she really didn't care if she caught a fish or not. She would usually fish for an hour and then spend the remainder of the day reading a book or hiking around. But as her desire/passion of Fly Fishing grew over the years, through learning and practice. She now spends all day fishing and leaves the book in the Jeep. On the last trip to the Green she had close to a 20 fish day!!! 
In Fly Fishing it is pretty easy to get to the point of going to a river tying on a fly and catching a fish or two. I consider that the first plateau and where 95% of fly fishermen are. These are the guys who catch fish, but can't tell you why it happened, it just does, they are also the ones that fish maybe 1-2 times per month and mostly on weekends. The other 5% and the second ptateau (which is a lot harder to reach) are the ones that are passionate about their sport! They eat, drink and sleep fly fishing. They are the ones that if they did have to think about anything, they would think about fly fishing and getting better. They are the ones that have "Paid Their Dues" over long hours on the river or lake not just fishing, but studying and being taught. Most of their favorite books are fishing related and the Internet sites the same. They hunger to learn and are passionate about getting to that next level. They are never content with 30 fish, but are usually after that one that will challenge everything they got. When you ask them how they did they just quietly shake their head and say OK. To them its not the quantity that makes a successful trip, but the feelings remembered. Most would rather fish alone. I only know a handful of these legends 
After one of the windiest afternoons the evening graced myself with the perfect ending to a pretty perfect day..."Only if I wouldn't of lost that one"
That fish must of been a sign of good things to come...because my next two casts produced great strikes and on the third I hooked up with one of the meanest looking male Browns I have landed all year. 
