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!

I've been an angler for as long as I can remember, but saltwater fly-fishing was injected into my blood when I moved out to Washington state a few years back. The cold, fertile waters of Puget Sound were my playground, and I chased the trout and salmon with wild abandon. The climate up in the PacNW, while mild, was only warm for about three months out of the year, and the saltwater was always pretty chilly. That was the extent of my experience with saltwater fly-fishing until this December, when my family decided to take a little trip to Sayulita, Mexico. Sayulita is a little town about 45 minutes north of Puerta Vallarta. It's more popular for its surfing and yoga than its fishing, but that wasn't going to stop me from trying! Our first full day in Sayulita, we went swimming at Playa de los Muertos, a smaller, less crowded beach on the South side of town. As we were floating in the surf, we noticed bait busting around us. I waited until I couldn't stand it anymore...

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.

Pets! Pets are wonderful little creatures. Somewhere along the line we humans decided that, instead of eating these fuzzy beings, we would let them enter into our homes and lives as family. Certainly there were benefits other than companionship when this first started, with dogs providing keen ears and noses for hunting and security, and cats doing their work to rid the home and pantry of vermin, but nowadays that work, at least in most of the US, is less important. Our dogs still hunt and still bark at strangers (often and loudly, in the case of my pooch) and our cats still pounce on mice and rats, but the focus has shifted from having an animal out of necessity to having one for comfort. Today I will introduce to you my three beasts, and give them the appreciation they deserve, for even though they don't bring home much meat, my world would be less without them. First, we have our eldest, Freya, named for the Norse goddess of love, fertility, war and death. She was found a...

The first leg of our journey (the packing and driving part) was a hectic, foggy, sleep-deprived, 55 mph torture test, and was completed safely and without much blood loss. My lovely wife and I arrived in Laramie a little haggard, but otherwise in one piece. Hopefully while we're out here there will be some outdoor adventures before we take off for Iceland. Today we took a nice little jaunt up a snowy hillside with a couple of shaggy dogs; tomorrow we'll join my father for a Trout Unlimited meeting. Since the lakes are frozen but the ice is thin, it might be hard to get out ice-fishing, so I may be limited to just tying flies and doing fish art. There is always the possibility of going to the range and burning some powder, too; we've got a few options. For now, I'll leave you with some pictures. I sure will miss Washington and the people and places I've come to now and love there, but Wyoming is doing it's darnedest to make up for it.   Moody Blues...

I'm not sure where the superstition came from, but apparently bananas are bad luck while fishing. Try to bring a banana on a charter boat and you may well get tossed in the drink. You can imagine my reservations, then, about buying a vessel that looks like a ten-foot long, overripe banana: the Intex Explorer K2 inflatable kayak. As of yet, however, most outings in the banana boat have resulted in at least one fish brought to hand, so perhaps the superstition only applies to fruit. Lets run down the specs! Dimensions: 123 x 36 x 20 inches Weight: 36 lbs Seats: 2 Chambers: 5 total; the sides and floor that make up the body of the kayak, and the two seats are also inflatable. Comes with: 2 paddles, detachable skeg, hand-pump Pros: Easy to set up and take down. The pump that came with the package seemed flimsy at first glance, but is surprisingly efficient. Total set up time is between five and ten minutes, depending on how badly I want to get on the water Comfortabl...