This years Frenzy was like no other...or wait maybe it was? How would I know this was only my second year particapating as a true F'er. Before I get into any details I need to give a quick background of what the Frenzy really is and how it came to past. The Frenzy was started 7 years ago as a few choice fisherman decided they needed to leave life, marriage, kids, and work and enter into the unknown world of a fish bum for a 5 day adventure that would change their life. Since the first Frenzy had such a deep effect on these men they decided to make the last week in May an annual occurance. This year the Frenzy started well before its offical date (June 12-16th) with the advent of trash talking emails and bragging rights posts to the Frenzy blog. The anticapation was thick and I don't think anyone really got anything done at work in the week leading up to the Frenzy. The 2008 Frenzy began as little groups started merging together and migrating to a little town up north we like to call Rexburg. Dave Hancey, Brent (Hoss), and myseft road together in Dave nascar truck. After what seemed like a short drive, we arrived to Chubbs private lake to be greeted by a 20 minute down pour of rain. That didn't stop Hoss though. He got out and was ready to hit the lake as Dave and I hung out in the dry truck. There must have been some karma in Hoss's actions, because right off the bat he saddled up a hog Bow and was the first on the board.
We were greeted by Gene and Hoss jumped on with him. So the match was on! Dave and Travis vs Hoss and Gene. It was fun everytime someone would hook up with a Bow that boat would would let out a confident yeeehaaaa!!!
We all caught tons of bass and each of us hooked up with a big bow that satified our hunger for large trout. But like most hungry boys we needed some Craigos, "all you can eat pizza" to fullfil that craving. So we meet up with the rest of the F'ers for the official Frenzy 2008 kick off dinner. (Travis and Dave received a penalty for getting salads) After rolling out of Craigo's we hit up the local Wal-Mart of Rexburg called ???. To get zingers, energy drinks, and I guess a little bit of normal food and more zingers of course. On this Frenzy we were going to live in style. Hoss got us all top of the line frenzy appearel (Hats and Shirts) to match are top of the line f'ing attitudes. The next stop was Chubb's Island Park cabin where we got unpacked, set up the XBox, hungout and waited for Dave and Hoss. (They stopped and fished Henry's Fork for a chance at some caddis)
That night Hoss, Dave and I tied flies as the rest of the crew Chubbs, Gene, Jake and Yetter played some serious boxing. Jake, must have been tired, because he moved just as much as the player he controled.
The next morning we woke up before I shut my eyes completely to go to sleep, at least it felt like it. We had one thing in mind and that was the world famous Madison River below Hegben Lake. We raced as fast as we could to get there. At least that's what Dave was thinking when he passed Chubbs and the crew going 130 MPH. The river was a little high as expected, but the water was crystal clear and perfect for some early moring nymphing. We each found our battle grounds on the river and right off the bat started hooking up with fiesty Rainbows, Whities and an occasional Brown. My favorite spot on this trip was the back point of the island. There was a nice run and a big deep eddy right below.
I spent as well as the rest of the crew alot of time there catching fish after fish on San Juans, zebra midges, copper johns and ap emergers. On the other hand Hoss and Dave crossed the river (Crazy!!!) and found their own little unfished honey hole where hoss caught 5 fish in a row on a green caddis. As we all started getting hungry we made our way to West Yellowstone, stopping to throw a couple casts in Hegben and then off to the Beartooth for some tasty BBQ and cheese fries to die for.
With some advice from Bud Lily's Fly Shop we decided to hit the Box Canyon for the chance to hit the coveted Samonfly hatch. Just like last year, by the end of the float we were mad, confidence shattered, 100 flies short and ready to write off this section of the Henry's. Hoss even got a "Thumbs Up" from a guide when he asked him how the fishing was. That made Hoss's day. I'm just glad they were far enough away that Hoss couldn't swim over there to beat him up and eat him for dinner. Since our confidence was gone, we (Hoss and I, Dave was too tired) decided to stop by the Buffalo River to get some of it back. It was just what we needed little Brookies and Bows on dry flies. After a handful of those and a taste of the beautiful scenery. We were ready to return back to the Cabin for some hamburgers, hot dogs and of course some Zingers and a Monster. Since we hadn't had enough fishing for one day. Dave (Who wanted to go) , Hoss and I stopped by the Henrys Lake Outlet to check it out. No fish, but we limited out on a stunning Island Park sunset.
The next morning started out alot like the former except we sleep in an hour longer. Which was needed. We hit the Madison again and this time we knew what to expect. Everyone caught plenty of fish and just as always. The Madison didn't disapoint one bit. It was fun to hook up with Yetter, Gene and Jake as we all fished the Island and all caught and released some nice Bows and whities as the rest of the crew that crossed the river were getting into their own fish. On the way out of the canyon we stopped at Randy Harrops shop and got to talk to him and get some of his wise advice. He told us about Cliff Lake and how it was fishing well, so we had to try it out. As we pulled up to the lake we were stunned at its raditant ocean blue water and green pine tree back drop. About 30 seconds after Yetters first cast he hooked into a nice bow and then another. Then Gene landed three in a row. It was looking like it was going to be a fast action day, but the bite slowed down after that for our boat. Hoss won big fish honors with his 22 inch bow and the other boats caught fish too. The highlight of Cliff Lake wasn't the fishing, but the huge rope swing that caught our attention. We were bugging a couple girls about going off, when they dared us to go off. We said ok and next thing we knew we were half stripped down( well some of us, Chubbs?) flying through the air and into the icy high mtn lake. It was a blast and a much needed break. To top of the experience we gave the two Montana girls a ride back to their camp on the drift boat, while finding out that they had just recently done Acid and while in the boat smoking up a bowl of Pot with Yetters help.(one heck of a wind stop yetter) Pretty dang amazing who you will find in Montana! After fishing and breaking my fly rod, we packed up the Island Park cabin and headed to the Victor manison. Pretty nice place for a bunch of dirty, stinky fishermen. When we arrived at the house it was pretty late, but we still had enough energy to try the pond that was in the backyard. After fishing mice and streamers with no love we decided there were no fish in the pond and went to bed.
As I woke up the next morning I was determined to catch a fish out of Chubb's pond, but just like the night before no bites and not even the sign of a fish. That was just fine cause we had the South Fork on our list today. The water had dopped from 18,000 cfs to around 13000 cfs, but compared to the Madison it was raging and a little off colored. We had three different boats on the water. Travis's, Slice of Lime, Dave's Aluminun Dory and Yetter's White Water Machine. I fished with Hoss and Dave on this float (Dam to Conant) and just like the master fly fishermen they have become we started catching fish on big streamers right off the bat. Later in the day we switched to a deep nymphing rig to get our flies down to where the fish were hanging out. The flies of choice were large rubberlegs, yellow sallies nymphs, san jauns and glow bugs. The highlight of this float was the adventure down one of the small side streams. We almost died trying to stop, then out of no where Chubb's hooks up with a monster Cutt-Bow that takes him and Gene down the river to try and land the monster trout. The real fun came when Hoss spotted a large redd with actively spawning Cutts. These were big mature colorful fish that had one thing in mind, getting it on! Over the next hour Hoss, Dave and I caught and released a haft dozen of these magificent creatures. It was amazing to watch the fish swim into position to intercept the glowbug and then fight like mad.
The rest of the float everyone caught and released plenty of fish, but the surprise of the trip was when Hoss hooked up with a 10# Sucker that we invisioned being a trophy Brown. It gave him an awesome fight and was still a trophy of a fish, even though no one will say it is. To help out with Fish and Game we decided that we were going to keep all Rainbow trout we caught, so with 5 Bows in the cooler we were set to have a fish fry that night. Which I hope was good because I cooked them and no one threw up or got sick. Later that night as the rest of the crew was playing boxing and watching some crazy show. Dave and I snuck out to the upper pond that we knew had fish in it. (we saw one at least jump) This was by far my favorite part of the 08 Frenzy, because it was scary, wild and proof that putting in the time sometimes pays off. So we got to the big pond as it was dark 10 pm. I put on a PMX after about ten casts, I saw a big splash where my fly was and I had a big fish on for about 3 seconds. I thought, ok now we know there are fish in here, now I have to find out what they are eating. After one other bite on the dry. I had a hunch to try a black bugger that I really like. It was the ticket! On my second cast I hooked into a fat 17-19 inch Cutt-Bow that fought hard. After that it was all over I caught and missed several Cutts in that same age class for the next two hours. Dave was getting mad at me cause his luck wasn't going so good, but on the last bend it all changed as he landed a nice Cutt to top off the night.
The last day of the Frenzy was a bitter sweet day. On the positive side we were going to fish the South Fork again from Byington to Lorenzo, but on the negative side it was going to be over before we knew it. On this float I fished with Gene and Jake who were great company and who sure could catch some fish. In fact everyone caught lots of fish this float it was just one of those days when the Cutts, Browns and Bows were feeding the whole day. We estimated that between the three boats over 100 fish were landed in the short 5 hours that we fished. I will never forget pulling up to the endless supply of log jammed runs that were perfect for catching big browns. Which we did on 8 accounts in the same spot or Gene trying to fight a big fish as we went down the bridge rapids. Too bad we didn't have enough time to fish the last 5 miles of river. This was a great float and a picture perfect ending to such a remarkable trip that symbolizes friendships, appreciation of nature and all her beauty and a feeling of freedom from such a heckic world. So after all this when people ask me how the Frenzy was, I answer back with a smile and a "thumbs up", because they would never really understand how great it really was.
So, I decided enough with the hunting for a night and hit the Provo for what I consider a for sure bet on success. When I approched the river I noticed that it was still running higher than usual for this time of year and a bit off colored. (probably due to the Dam construction) As was about to cross the river in preperation to get to my favorite hole. I saw a couple good rises in the run in front of me. So like any die hard dry flyer would do, I tied on an X Caddis and an emerger and tried my luck. I went 1 for 4 in that hole and was pretty upset with my hook sets. 
So as the darkness settled in. I decided I better get to my hole and see if I could find any Caddis rising fools. As I arrived there was no sign of a hatch or let alone a fish. So I took some time and retied my outfit with 4x floro instead of the weak 6x mono, just incase I got a big one on! I'm glad I did because on my first cast I missed a nice fish that spit the hook and on my second I hooked up with a heavy 20-21inch Brown. It fought really hard and after a couple hard runs came to the shore. Man they eat good at Hoovers! 
The rest of the night was one of my worst outings this year for hook ups and landed fish. I would hook them for a second or miss the fish every time one would come up for my dries and if they actually were on, I somehow managed to lose everyone before it was close to the shore. (I missed about 10 good fish) Oh well, I guess all this worthless hunting is starting to take a toll on my fishing skills. One other side note, fishing at night alone is dang scary, I mean really scary. I totally phyce myself out everytime and start to hear things and think I am going to be eaten by a Bear or Cougar and the headlamp it doesn't really help...
So we left to Lava around an hour and a half late, due to some slow moving folks (The Browns). It was alright because not only were we going to Lava, but we were also going to relax and just hangout for the weekend with 8 of our best friends. We got to the cabin a little early so the Browns and Liz and I decided to hit the local private pond for some evening fishing. When we got there I was pretty taken back the pond was really low and 75% covered in moss. This didn't stop us though we strung up our poles and with-in a few casts we had fish hitting our offerings. That night I keyed on to the PMD - Midge hatch and brought countless fish to the shore. It was awesome to set the hook 40 ft away and have the Rainbow trout just explode out of the water. Scott and Jocie also caught a couple on spinners. 
That night we stopped by the local bar to play BINGO with a bunch of rough old farmers and country folk. It was great fun and wouldn't you know it Scott even won 21 Bucks! The next morning I arose before the rest of the group snuck out of the cabin and headed back up to the new found honey hole. When I got there conditions were very similar to the night before, fish were rising periodically and there seemed to be a nice Midge hatch. 
I tied on the Single Midge #20 and the #18 PMD Hackle Stacker and a tung red blood midge. Right off the bat the Bows were keyed on to the dropper. I caught and released many bows on it then I decided to start playing around with patterns. I then caught a bow on a beetle, green hopper and a tung PT. It was fun to prove to myself that its not so much the pattern as it is the presentation. 
The last bit of the morning I spent looking at the bugs on the water and trying to figure out what they were. I was really blown away by the beauty of the gray mayflies that were hatching late morning. They would sit on the pond banks with spent wings making an easy target for hungry trout. 
The morning fishing ended when the girls came up to the pond on their morning workout saying "we were supposed to tell you it time for breakfast". It was a great morning on the pond and one that I will soon not forget. The rest of the day was spent swimming in the local pool, riding down the river and hanging out in the hot sun. After dinner I talked Scott into hitting the pond for the golden hour before dark. I strung up the rod with the same patterns as the morning. (midge/hackle stacker) I gave Scotty the rod and within a few shallow casts Scott had his sweet cast back and was hooked up with a big bow. The next 45 mins produced several hard fighting bows to Scotts dries. It was great to see the excitement and fulfillment in Scotts face as he "knocked em dead". This last outing with Scott has been very long awaited. We grew up chasing fish together from catfish and White bass at Utah Lake to sitting on the shores of the old Berry patch waiting and hoping that a fish would bite our worms. Scott and I have been fly fishing many times as we were new into the sport, but haven't been in the past 2-6 years. I wanted to show him that now I knew what I was doing and that we could in fact catch some fish. What it came down to is that I missed fishing with my best friend Scott and this was an outing that we will both never forget.
So on monday I rode the Big Springs trail up Provo Canyon (almost passing out) and on the way down I hit the Provo river (at the bridge) for about an hour as the Caddis were just starting to come off. I hooked into a few nice fish and it was fun to fish the same spot I caught my first fish at on the lower provo. On Tuesday Wayne and I decided to ride the Tibble Fork trail up American Fork canyon. The ride was awsome, but the fishing afterwards was not so hott. 
The fish were rising and we hooked and broke off one, but for the most part they were just toying with us the whole night. On weds morning I went deer scouting and shot my bow. Then that night Wayne and I meet up once more to ride AF canyon. This time as we waited for Wayne's little bro. We hit a quick down hill romp and then meet up with the others to ride Tibble Fork again. This time there were a couple nice wrecks that changed Norms color and almost sent Wayne to the ER.
The rest of the week was our Cali trip to go visit my bro and his family. Over the weekend we went to Hollywood, Yankees game, Newport beach, hung out at his pool, and a ton of driving.
Gunner and I moved over to where Aaron was and I hooked up with a nice Cutt on my Copper John dropper. 
We ended up catching 9 Cutts in that hole within an hour. The highlight of that hole was the nice 17 inch Cutt that Gunner caught on one of his first cast into the first of the run. It was great to see him make a nice cast and then watch as his top fly shot down and he was hooked up. The rest of the morning we tried a couple more spots and caught another 6 fish, but just as the fish started to key on my top fly we had to leave. In all I caught 7 fish and 4 of those were on my big #2 Royal PMX and the rest were on my Copper John or Hares Ear. It was great to be on the river for at least a couple hours and enjoy the time with family. Its memories like these that make reunions so special. 
The rest of the day we spent either at the Clegg's or Lancaster reunion for their main programs. To top off the trip we jumped off the bridge into the Salt River with Deon and Scott (which was a blast) and stopped by the Red Barron for one last homemade shake and greasy food.
This outing was set up by Brent to give Steve and Jason a little taste of what the Provo has to offer. Well it worked out, but in a way I didn't think it would. I was planning on spending most of the time with one of them, but instead I invited my little Bro Gunner for his first Caddis Hatch and the chance to catch his first fly fishing fish on the Provo. I picked up Gunner at about 6:30pm and we headed straight for the river. Brent and the crew would meet up later. We got to the river and it was practically empty. A hunch said go to the island riffles so we got to the riffles and the PMDs were everywhere. So we strung up Gunner with a Para PMD and a Killer Caddis as his dropper. The fish weren't really rising with much contestantly, but on Guns first cast he had a hit and then the second cast missed another. Finally on his 20th or so cast he hooked into a little Brown that marked his accomplishment of catching a fish on the Provo. 
He hooked up one other time and missed quite few other takes. After coaching Gun I decided it was time to give him a break and fish a little.
I hooked up with two large Browns on the north end of the Island, but they both out smarted me and somehow spit the hook. As it started to get a little darker we moved up to the east side of Hoovers. (my favorite spot) Right away Gun hooked into his largest fish on a fly rod. It was a 20+ Brown that jumped and then went on a run that all most made Gun crap his pants. Instead he held onto the line and broke the monster off. After a quick lesson on fighting large fish on a fly rod. Gunner was hooked up once more with a big brown. This time he was ready and after 3 hard runs he brought the bruiser to the net. It was awesome to see his excitement and accomplishment in his eyes as he fought the large trout. 
