Laegreid Outdoors

Two years ago, I wrote a post about how cool grass carp are, and how fun it is to fish for them. Well, all that still holds true, but this year I was able to catch one of these beautiful fish on camera! Even though the weather in Wyoming has been abnormally cool and wet, I stumbled on a few grass carp milling around in some very shallow flooded grass. They were tailing like bonefish on a flat, so I figured it was a good time to try to catch one. It took probably about 45 minutes to an hour to finally get a good hook-set (there were a few misses before that), and it was game on! This fish only took a few good runs, probably because the water was still so cold, but it's still a special feeling being connected to such a powerful beast. I hope you enjoy the video!

There's a lake that I like to fish that is great for rainbow trout, but it also has a hidden gem of a species that nobody seems to chase: grass carp. I tried a few times last year to land one of these beasts to no avail. I will say this: grass carp are not an easy fish to target. Their diet is weird, their eyesight is amazing, and their lateral line, the sensory organ that detects vibrations and changes in pressure, is incredibly sensitive. I've dropped flies just a hair too close, which puts them down. A cast that lands over a fish can cause the whole pod to explode in fear. Sloppy wading, the wrong fly, a tippet that's too heavy, tippet that's too light, there are hundreds of things that can screw up your shot at a grass carp. Not to mention that if you hook one, they can bend your hook like it's a wet noodle or snap your tippet with very little effort. Sometimes, however, the stars align and you can get hooked up to one of these beasts, and when that happens yo...

We've been in a period of politically-charged posts recently, something I had not planned for this blog. It's important stuff, and the future of fishing and hunting and public lands are in serious jeopardy at the moment, but in this post, we're gonna step back and take a look at some pretty pictures. Keep fighting the good fight, but don't burn out. It's summer, take some time every now and then to get out to the places you love and clear your mind. Cutthroat Trout are usually gorgeous, but the slash on this one was particularly vivid! This toothy rainbow was all about the chironomids. Chunky. My dad and I stumbled on some grayling the other day. They are really interesting fish! None of the grayling were huge, but what a cool opportunity. Fish on! Crows are cool. Lavender in the park.

It's not often we get to hear of a massive societal change for the better, especially not when the environment or conservation is involved.   Occasionally, however, we get a win. The short version of the article is that demand for shark-fin soup in China is down due to a large public-awareness campaign (most didn't know what is in the soup and/or how it is harvested) and, more surprisingly, government action forbidding extravagant food, such as shark-fin soup, from being served at its banquets. Demand for the soup is down 50-70%. For those of you that don't know, the main ingredient in shark-fin soup is, you guessed it, shark fins.  The problem with that is, because only the fins of the sharks garner high prices from Asian markets, fishermen catch sharks, hack off their fins, and return the maimed, but still living, animals back to the sea. This is a wickedly cruel thing to do, not to mention a waste of perfectly good shark meat. The steps taken by shark supporters to...