Laegreid Outdoors

There are a lot of fish that I have a hard time catching (lookin' at you, steelhead), but most of the time I don't have an excuse for my failure. The gar, however, has eluded me my entire life because of their physical attributes. As you can see in the video below, gar have long, narrow, bony mouths that make them really hard to hook. So hard, in fact, that it took me almost twenty-five years * to actually land one. For some people, landing a gar is like landing a trash-bag with teeth, but I think they're beautiful in their own dinosaur-like way, and they're definitely fun on a 5-weight! Please enjoy the film, and next time you see a gar, take a cast and see what happens! *I didn't actually target gar that often, but I like being dramatic, so deal with it.

Fishing has been dang near impossible for me for the past few weeks, so to ward off the shack-nasties I've been tying some flies. This one is a must-have for the lakes around Laramie, or anywhere there are significant midge hatches. As a bonus, it's super easy to tie!

I've become a big fan of ice fishing this winter. Ice fishing gets me out of the house during the toughest part of the year, and it's really neat seeing the lakes I spend all summer on from a whole new angle. One of the other benefits of fishing the hard water is that I can tie flies and use them all year round now! Take a look at the video below to see an example of how to tie a simple ice jig that can be just deadly through the ice! Here are the ingredients: Hook: Daiichi 4647, size 12. Size up or down for your local fish. Bead: Black Tungsten Thread: 70 Denier Ultra Thread, White Tail/Body: Glow in the Dark Flashabou Collar: Hareline Dubbin, Hot Pink

I went out to the lakes near Laramie the other day and brought my camera along. It was a quick morning of fishing, but man was it fun! I hope you enjoy watching the video as much as I enjoyed making it:

Every good brand has a unique, recognizable logo, right? Well now Laegreid Outdoors has one, too! I've wanted a logo for a long time, but could never settle on a design until now. I present to you, dear reader, the new Laegreid Outdoors logo: It's simple, clean, and focuses on what Laegreid Outdoors focuses on: fishing and being outside. I hope you enjoy it!

Hey, stranger. It's been a while, hasn't it? Well, I'm glad you're still here, because I've got some things to show you. 2018 is gone, but it will be a long time before I forget it. Here are a few highlights from the past year: You may remember this bruiser from the Platte that chomped on an itty-bitty chironomid pattern. Pre-runoff fishing can be tricky, especially on little streams. The annual Nebraska pilgrimage paid off to the tune of hundreds of panfish. Exploring new places proved fruitful! We caught crate-fulls of colorful cutties. Sometimes the scenery was spectacular. Hella enjoyed herself. Jodi took me to Puerto Rico, and the little fish were hungry! Baby barracuda are cool. I played around with my GoPro and learned how to do some cool things, too! Here's hoping that your 2019 is everything you hope it to be and more!

I had to drive up to Casper, Wyoming for a business thing on Friday. This was good for two reasons:first, it meant a day driving and out of the office. Score! Second, it meant I would be in the neighborhood of the fabled North Platte, one of my favorite rivers. Double Score! I loaded up my gear Thursday evening and eagerly awaited the next morning's drive. After the roads opened up (they closed due to a snowstorm, which also knocked out power at our HQ) I bebopped on up through the shirley basin, bucking a wind that was probably 35mph sustained, with some seriously butt-clenching gusts. Always fun. Got up to Casper, did the meeting, and headed to the Gray Reef. The tent was pitched right away, and I geared up and headed down to the water to see what was what. On the river, directly below the damn, I got about zero hits and no interest shown from the wiley Platte River troots. They were rising very sporadically to midges, but all of my imitations fell short that evening. Such...