Poodle Magic

So If you've read my blog before you probably know that I love to fish streamers. Jamie was on the front edge of this streamers revolution. He was chucking lead lines and big flies long before it was in every fly fishing magazine. One day He took me out and a buddy out and was pulling big browns off the banks in September and it just blew my gourd! Ever since then Ive been hooked. Anyways This fall many a big fish were taken on streamers of all types but one fly in particular seemed to make the magic happen the most. That was Rouse's own Poodle. We've always kind of like to keep our hot flies sneaky but last year Jamie leaked this fly to Orvis and now its available in three colors to everyone. Winter streamer fishing can be the best of the year if the flows are right. So don't be afraid to go ahead stock up on them!

Jamie Rouse Fly Fishing Adventures

So as this slamming fall season begins to slow and we ease into winter, Kati ( the business end) of Jamie Rouse Fly Fishing has been doing some awesome new stuff to our Teams official website and to the Guide Shack Chronicles. It's got some cool new photos and features and is really becoming sweet! Make sure you subscribe to it as well so you can see what else is going on with the team! Winter is usually an awesome time on the Little Red River. It's looking like we will have low water around the first of January. Winter midge fishing can be stellar as well as an amazing streamer bite. We are offering a cool "Cabin Fever" trip. Make sure you email Kati for booking and trip info! My book already has a pretty solid chunk of Jan. booked so get in on the killer winter action while you still can!

Merry Christmas!

Well its Christmas Eve!  Amy, Caroline, and I went out to break in the new boat for a test drive today...We just made a couple of drifts.  Maybe 4 or 5, and Amy had 4 fish on  and landed 3 of them! Afterwards Caroline got cold so we headed in for the ramp. The new boat rides smooth....real smooth. I'll post some pics soon. Anyways, I was just browsing some of the blogs I like to read and stole this poem from Moldy Chum.  It's just a silly little Christmas poem I thought I would re post!
                        Twas the night before Christmas when down by the stream
The full moon looked out on a chill winter scene.
A lone trout was sipping a midge in his brook,
Untroubled by worries of fishers with hooks.

Then from above a small sleigh did appear
Pulled by a brace of eight tiny reindeer.
It swerved of a sudden and down it did glide,
Settling its runners along the streamside.

The fat, jolly driver dove into his sled
And emerged with his three weight held high over head.
"Thank you my elves for this wand smooth as silk.
This break will be better than cookies and milk."

Shout out!

The busy fall season is starting to slow down...at least for a few days. I've taken some time off to celebrate the holidays with the family. It's been nice to come off the daily grind for a while. Some exciting stuff took place on the river this past year. We had fairly awesome fishing all year. We started off last spring with some stellar march brown and caddis hatches. Eased through summer with some sweet days catching fish on hoppers and some trip to the "fork" and dry run creek crushing fish on cicadas. The fall season was silly. Streamer bite was awesome as well as nymphing. We had low water days of sight casting to monster browns, and days of super high water boating over 60 browns a day. The boys from Southern Culture on the Fly came down to do a story and get some bent rods. I posted about these guys last week. Follow that link and it will take you to their website and blog. They just added some cool new photos from there trip. These are just teaser shots of what will be to come in the Jan. issue! Y'all check em out! This photo is courtesy of Steve Seinberg of S.C.O.F.

And the Fun Continues!

Today I worked a group trip with fellow guide Greg. It was a father son trip. Jamie took the two fathers yesterday and Greg guided the two boys. Today I guided the two boys and Greg guided the dads. It was a pretty cool day. Greg packed us chili dogs and Frito pie for lunch and we bundled up to face the cold! The boys did great. Jack seemed to have his voodoo right and landed several super nice fish. Here are a couple of his hero shots!

keepin it in the Fam.

Yesterday I fished with my brother-n-law Lewis and his friend Danny. Same story as it has been for a while now...The fishing on the Little Red River is kicking serious tail, the water is seriously high and the boys absolutely laid the smack down on some serious brown trout! It was awesome to get to spend some time with Lewis and getting to know Danny Better. The style of fishing we had going on was completely new to the both of them and they adapted well. Here are a couple of the grip-n-grins from the day!

Another stellar day in high water!

Friday I got the chance to guide some super cool dudes Zach and Matt. They are involved with the mag. Vertical. Its a publication out of NW Ar. So they brought along Jacob. They had no clue what to expect with over 6,500 cfs pumping. They crushed it. We were caught probably 60 browns. Most of them taped out between 16-20 inches with a couple over that mark. It was unreal. Anyways we had a killler time on water! Hopefully we will see some of Jacobs stellar photo's in an issue to come soon!

Southern Culture on The Fly

Last week the boys from Southern Culture On The Fly came down to get a little bit of Jamie Rouse Fly Fishing Adventures in their life. Jamie and I guided them for two days in the high water and had a killer time. Steve and Dave kicked some serious tail on the water. We caught crazy numbers of solid fish. The cookie cutters seemed to be in the 18-20 inch class. Be looking for an awesome story in the mag. in the Jan. issue!

Mike and Richard

So today was the first day of two unit water around the clock, I knew it was coming but just was not expecting it to be this week.I got the pleasure of fishing with Mike and Richard. I guided Mike back earlier this fall. Mike grew up in the sport and has a solid stick on him. Richard his pal from Texas had never done any fly fishing. Today certainly had it challenges in store for us but the guys did great and we landed some good number of browns including a couple of really solid fish!

Tom and Brad

Today I got the chance to fish with Tom and Brad Walsh. I've fished with Brad and his dad before but it was my first time to fish with Tom. The boys lit it up out there. Our first hook up was a double and the boys had on both 18 inch browns. That started the fire in the guys. It was a blast watching the brotherly competition. Although the highlight of the day to me was the last double of the day. We got both fish scooped in the net, a photo took and both fish released. Certainly probably a memory that will stay with these guys forever!

A Little More Maiden

Yesterday I got the pleasure of fishing with John Solo. Don't get me wrong. Its always fun to have two guys in the boat but fishing a single is really my favorite. You can climb out of the boat and fish sneaky spots that you cant with two, Conversation becomes more personal, and its just down right fun! Anyways John crushed them yesterday. We landed a bunch of good browns and some pretty solid rainbows as well! Here are just a couple of my favorite fish from the day!

Maiden and The Farns

Friday was Farnsworth's last day to fish with me, and he invited another great client of mine John Maiden. It was a fun group trip that I worked with Tony. It was cold and the water was high but the guys stepped up there game and did great, both guys caught several solid browns each. It seemed as if they came in waves. We would catch several nice fish back to back then nothing. Which I never mind working hard for some good fish, makes you appreciate them that much more!

3rd times a charm

So I've been fishing my man Farns for the past few days. Today I got the pleasure of fishing with him and Jimbo. Water was lower this morning than it has been as of late and we took the opportunity to do some wading. The rainbow fishing was off the charts good. As the water rose we jumped in the boats to do some drifting and pounded tons more fish. Robert and Jimbo both landed handfuls of good browns and the Farns got himself a new personal best!

The Farns Day II

Today I fished with the Farns again. Papa Rouse and I ran a group trip and Jamie took Jimbo. Fishing was awesome. We had a great water schedule and did some serious work on the fish. Both guys caught some seriously nice fish. Roberts best two fish were his first fish of the morning and the last fish of the day! The morning started off cool still with snow on the banks and made for a beautiful back drop.

Farnsy's Back!

Today I fished with my man Farnsworth. It was suppose to be him and one of his clients but his guy had to bail. Weather was cold and snowy. Water was up and down and kinda off color in the a.m but...Fishing was awesome! We saw one other angler the whole day and we absolutely crushed brown trout! We waded, we drifted, we chucked streamers, we nymphed. We covered all the basis today, We even ate hot steak sandwiches on the riverbank! I would have to say though one of my favorite parts about today was when Robert started rowing and let me catch some brown trout! Life is good on the river when your with good friends!

Dr. Albright strikes again!

Saturday I fished with my man Doctor Albright and a resident of his named nick. Nick had only fly fished one other time several months ago with Jamie. We came out of the launch guns a blazing picking on some nice fish. Nick landed this first brown but Doc. quickly followed suit landing several nice ones himself. Two units were ripping down the river and certainly we had to work hard for every fish we landed. Nick also ended this day with this beautiful fish to hand!

Got to love it!

Last week I got a chance to fish with Tyler. It was our first time to fish together and we were both pretty pumped up. The Corp was bouncing the water from 2 units to 1 and back to 2. It was weird water to fish but we dialed it in and got down and dirty with them. Tyler wanted to pursue some  browns and was interested in learning some new techniques. He had a good rod on him so we got out the big guns. Not only did he catch the best brown trout he's caught yet, he caught 3 of the biggest browns he'd ever caught!  We had countless monster fish eat and swipe the fly. It was flat out crazy! What a stellar day to be chucking streamers on the Little Red River!

High Water Group Trippin!

Yesterday Papa Rouse and I ran a group with some our of regular clients. I had Kent and Eddie in my boat and Jamie had Allen and Chuck. The water was blowing 6800 cfs. BIG water. The guys have fished with us before and new we could get the job done, so we geared up and hit the water. The fishing was great. We caught mostly browns and several really good ones! Despite the cold and water, the guys put their skills to the test and did great! We can't control the water, but we can adjust our rigs!

NORM!

Sunday I took my man Norm back out for a little trout action. We had a major cold front moving in on us and the trout seemed to be reacting a little strange. The morning was good though. We found some fish willing to feed and made it happen. We fished a variety of styles including swinging soft hackles and stripping streamers along with your standard nymphs. We waded and we drifted. Norm caught several nice browns in the 16-18 march and gobs of decent rainbows. We spent some time wading and sight casting to larger trout. We had a solid two footer on but he managed to take a huge jump and bust us off. Despite the fact we didn't land him, it was a awesome sight to see! Norm will be back in 10 days or so to get his revenge!

A Farnsworth Family Adventure

Saturday I guided Farnsworth and his kids.This is now become the annual Thanksgiving weekend for him and his family! It's always a blast and despite the weather, Robert was determined to make this year no different. I started of with Miles and Duval, then we swapped them out for Ansley. The conditions for teaching kids was less than perfect. Cold, rainy, and high water. The kids bundled up and did great. The goal for the day was to put a brown in each kids hand and it was a mission accomplished! Here are some of the great photos we got of some brown trout action!

The LOGO

Last week, Tony and I ran a group trip with our good friend and client Logan. I fished Logan and his youngest son John. The bite was great we got into loads of good rainbows and had a great time. John is only 10 and really held his own in the boat. We packed a big family style lunch and picnicked on the high ground. We did our best to fish the boats together to keep the siblings in ear's distance of each other so the sibling banter could take place. It was certainly an awesome day for the family to make some good memories and catch some fish! Here is a photo with Logo with a lengthy rainbow!

Dry Run Action

Today I took out my Little Buddy Will Portera and His dad Greg for some Dry Run Creek Action. The Little Red was high and muddy and I just did not think it would be great for these guys. So we hit the creek and she was Dynamite for us! Will just picked on them! He landed probably a 100 fish! Browns, cutthroats, and rainbows! Will learned to high stick nymph and got pretty dang good at it! Here are just a couple of the awesome fish my man Will landed!

Muddy River Hog!

Yesterday I fished with my man Stewart and " The Farns". The night before we got an absolute torrential down power, and the river was a muddy muddy mess. We started the day off right with some good ole Rustic inn for breakfast. Then we dug into the mud and made some magic happen. We landed probably 17 or 18 fish between 18-22 inches. Several rainbows and this Monster brown that Stewart thumped! All things considered it was a pretty incredible day of trout fishing even if the water was the color of chocolate milk!

Gargantuan Rainbow!

So today I guided just Dennis. Dave had to head home to Missouri. We got a pretty good pounding with rain last night and the river was pretty off color today. I've got a spot that has been pretty good to me this year for finding some gargantuan rainbows and today she did not disappoint me. We hooked a couple of fish of equal caliber but we couldn't land them. I guess the third time was the charm! This fish for sure left us in all smiles all day!

Dennis and Dave

Yesterday I got the chance to guide two bothers who rendezvoused in Arkansas for a little fly fishing trip. Both guys are fairly new to the sport, but eager to learn. We started of the morning catching lots of fish. The river was low and we stuck to wading. As the day progressed they started to get buck fever and wanted to find a brown. We ended up sliding into a mess of nice browns to top the day off! Here is one of the ones Dennis sore Lipped!

Mickey's Monster

One day last week I ran a group trip with Papa Rouse and Mickey. We had 4 kids from the St. George's Angling society in Memphis, plus Logan and David ( the chaperones). It was an awesome time. All the kids caught lots of fish and learned a ton. We did a huge lunch family style on the bank and just enjoyed the awesome day. Mickey guided this young man into this monster. Unfortunately my picture is not the best. I kind of got a side shot because we wanted to get this fish back into the water asap! Enjoy!

Mahoney!

So I've guided my man Ryan Mahoney several times now. Last week he brought his pops down from the North East to do a little fishing. The water was low and kinda slim for drifting but we managed to squeeze a few drifts out. Ryan's first fish on of the morning was a 28-30 fish. This thing was a monster! We had him on for quite a while and he ended up busting us off, right at the boat! We did end up catching tons more trout and had an awesome day despite  experiencing "the big one got away". I guess that's what keeps us coming back!

Norm and Dave!

Yesterday I guided my man Norm and his buddy David. Fishing was great. We switched it up a bit and fished some streamers as well as drug some nymphs around. We caught lots of fish both ways. Plenty of feisty rainbows as well as some good browns. Fish of the day award goes to Norm for this hog he pulled out while jerking a huge black streamer! Dave picked off this brown swinging a soft hackle! All in all it was a pretty stellar day fishing on the Little Red River with good people!

A day Off

So yes on my days off, I like to fish. Ive been on the water almost every day for the past 23 days but when the storms came in and my client for the day cancelled I just had to jump on the chance to go fish for some piggy rainbows. I convinced Amy to wader up and go play in the rain. Fishing was great. This fatty rainbow was just one of the many thumpers caught. I landed several fish around 18 inches, a couple 20-21 inch fish. Of course the biggest one of the day got away, but Amy and I saw him and he was big! Amy Ended up catching her a lengthy hen right before we left to be the icing on the cake!

Buck Fever

So my man Henry came over to Arkansas with one thing on his mind, a big brown trout. I was a little skeptical of the conditions. They have not run any water in several days and the river is low, low, low. We dug in and found a few sneaky spots and caught some great fish. Henry got him an awesome brown. Right before lunch we had another one spotted and he let me catch one! That does not happen to often and it was a great treat for me! The afternoon winds eventually blew us off the water but only after a fantastic day of sight casting to some awesome fish!

Doc and T-Rav

Last week, I got the chance to fish with Doc and Travis. As always these guys are awesome to fish with! They love life and just are such a blast to be around. We started off doing a little wading and just beat up on the fish. Doc scored several on streamers while, Travis picked on the swinging soft hackles! Once the water started to rise we jumped and the boat and covered some water! The bite was on and off but when it was on, it was awesome! We had some nice fish chase our streamers and some awesome eats that were just super exciting!