Post Number 365... Mission Complete

 Its the End Of The Year and there is nothing more fitting that I can think of posting than a spawning Salmon.  At the end of their life they make a journey to the waters of their birth and then in their most brilliant show they end their life by contributing to the circle of life.  But their death is not the end of the story and like the spawning salmon laying their eggs for a new generation of salmon to begin their journey, this blogger sees the end of this mission not at the end of the journey but the start of another.  As I have mentioned before, next year I hope to build on my fishing and painting talents and knowledge with a whole new series of posts focusing the art of the fly.
I also believe that as the year closes it is fitting to look back at some of my favorite paintings of the past year.  I will start with the fish and as not to cloud the paintings with talk of how they where made and what materials where used, I will just let them speak for themselves.  ENJOY

Most of these are available as prints on my BUY A PRINT page at the top of this blog.

 I also what to give tribute to the favorite flies of 2010.  Tenkara played a big part in my growth as a fly fisherman as did the Summer On The Flies partnership with Bigerrfish.  The flies below are some of my favorites from the last 12 months.  They in no way sum up all the original works you can still view but they are a snapshot of some of my favorites.

   I will leave you now with the last fly of 2010 which also was the first post one year ago.  The first known fly described in history was the red hacked fly and this is my interpretation of what was described.  Thanks again for a great year and I look forward to 2011 and all the new experiences that it might hold.  HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Reeling it in for 2010

Teton Valley was already covered in deep snow from previous storms before a fresh 5-12 inches landed the last two days. We had high wind and periods of heavy snow throughout Tuesday afternoon and most of yesterday. Now our temps have plummeted and wind-chill is forecasted to be a dangerous 22º BELOW ZERO! Yikes! In other words, unless I slip on some ice and whack my head extremely hard, Sunday was my last day of fishing in 2010. 2010 will go down as the best fishing year of my life. We’ll highlight more on that in the next few days.

I just came in from an incredible ski in the backcountry. I spent nearly two hours breaking a trail through deep snow up one of our nearby mountains. I was exhausted to say the least by the time I reached the summit of this foothill. At that point, all the clothes I shed while sweating my way up had to go back on to keep me warm as I skied down. What took two hours travelling up took a mere 20 minutes going down. Remarkably, I made it all the way down without wiping out and the powdery run was by far my best ski outing of the season.

Now I’m back to the computer finishing up preparations for the Fly Fishing Shows which begin next week. The shows you will find me at this January are the Fly Fishing Show in Denver January 7 – 9, Fly Fishing Show in Marlborough, Massachusetts January 14 – 16 and the biggest of all Fly Fishing Shows, Somerset, New Jersey January 21 – 23. That’s just the January line up and I hope to see some of you there!

As I work away at my computer I have many feathery visitors. Our bird feeder hangs just a few feet from me and all kinds of birds visit. At this very second I have a fine-looking Hairy Woodpecker but my camera is out of reach. Damn! However, this morning I got this picture of a Clark's Nutcracker and yesterday this hungry crow. Good stuff as they say!

I still plan to post pictures of the 12 top fish of 2010. I’m also trying to narrow down my favorite blogs of the year. I appreciate the advice and suggestions many of you have made the last few days. It really helps and any more help would be appreciated. Feel free to contact me direct or write your vote in the comments box below this entry. Thanks again!

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing Website

Wet Fly Sketch & Thoughts

Caution :  This Might Get A Bit Wordy

Just a sketch of a wet fly today with a bit of words on what I have taken out of this year long project.  When I started this project I had no idea that it would blow up into what it has become.  My original purpose was just a challenge to myself to see if I could really stick with a project for an entire year.  My hobbies vary wildly from fishing to art, wood working, literature, hiking and backpacking, aviation, home improvement, and about twenty other things that seem to occasionally occupy my time.  I started this mainly to focus two of my major hobbies.  I had hoped only to force myself to learn more about fly fishing and art and hopefully become better at both.  I gave little thought about who would follow my ramblings on fishing and art.  With alot of family spread across the nation I also thought this would be a good way to show them the art projects I had been working on since they had been my primary source of feedback.  What I did not expect was the following from other bloggers around the world or, even more surprising, that they would like to own some of my art.
I think my first realization that people might be interested in owning my art came from the response from my first really good work on this blog.  It still is one of my favorites of the past year and holds a place of honor in my dinning room to this day.

Before this year I had no idea what Tenkara was, in fact if you were to ask me even ten months ago I would probably have told you that it sounded like some new Japanese steak house.  Before this year I had not even heard of Marry Orvis and her history of flies or the early English histories of the art of angling.  I had no idea the variety of flies out there that are successful and the just as many that aren't.  I had no clue that there was so many fly fishing fanatics out there on the web, I didn't know anything of Bigerrfish, Troutrageous, The Midgeman, Jersey Angler, Cofisher & Colorado, Mike, MKG, Leigh, blake, Shoreman Owl, TarHeal, BB&B, Hopper J, WK&TL, BRK TRT, Kev, and the countless others that have not only left encouragement but inspired me to paint and fish and do it better than the last time.  If it wasn't for my wife as well I don't believe I could have kept the streak alive.  She saved me more than once by reminding me to do a post. From the bottom of my heart I thank you for a successful year helping me to complete my project.

So as they year is closing I find myself looking forward to another year on the fly.  I have now discovered an outlet for my art and need to fish.  I have found a place to come to for inspiration and encouragement and maybe, just possibly, a place where I can sell enough of my art to pay for my obsessive need for angling gear. Tha.nks agin

The Zonker and A New Header

And as promised about 360 days ago, here is a Zonker fly in a some what different version than you might be use to.  I love the rabbit strip for bass fishing.  I have never really explored fishing rabbit strips for trout because my trout just are not to big and the small flies seem to work well. 

So now with two days left of my year on the fly I begin to look forward to the next year.  as you can see I have changed the header of this blog to reflect the new year.  Another Year On The Fly will not be a fly a day but rather a focus on quality instead of quantity.  I have decided that I will continue the blog because as they say, when you find a good thing, stick with it.  I have found in this blog not only an outlet for my hobbies but an invaluable source of information for fishing. 
In the coming year I have a few things in the works for the direction of this blog.  Continuing the theme of art and fly fishing, I plan on producing more original works on the subject of fly fishing as well as adding more posts on my fishing trips.  You might get to see a few more things like hats, shirts, as well as a project I have been working on for the last few months.  (what Is the project?  You will just have to wait till the new year.)

The Spider & The Midge

No its not some crazy title to some freekish children's book. The spider and the Midge are just two flies for one of the last post of 2010.  Simple little bugs with simple black ink and yellowish red paint, I did two of them because just doing the spider was a bit to easy.
As the year comes to a close I begin to reflect on the things I have taken away from this project and in the next few days you might get a few more words on the subject. For today you just get two flies.

To Fort Frame

I’m headed to the frame shop to drop off these two 12” x 16” original watercolors I finished for the Watercolor Magic Art Show to be held in Jackson, Wyoming January 14th thru February 11th. The show will exhibit at the Art Center, Theater Gallery. One of the pieces is of a Snake River Cutthroat Granny caught this summer and the other is of the best tigerfish I caught in Tanzania in November. While both are for sale, I doubt the tigerfish will sell because it’s such an exotic fish that few anglers have caught, however it will be a definite eye catcher. What’s really cool about this tigerfish painting is I don’t care if it sells. We don’t have a single painting of mine hanging in our house. This one will hang proudly in our guestroom.

I may also sell unlimited prints of both these fish. I’m headed for Staples before the framer to investigate the chances of starting an unlimited print series that will be very affordable. Stay tuned on this because my goal is to have any species you want for sale as a print in the very near future.

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing Website

Caddis Larvae Bug

I am mobile posting today due mainly to the fact that I completely forgot to paint a fly today. I know what you are thinking, 'really Joel, you've been doing this for nearly a year now, how can you forget?'  Well it happens and thanks to my wife, I have continued the streak.
This Caddis Fly is just a quick colorfull 'still wet' fly.

Let's Beat the Storm

It was exactly a year ago today that Rob Parkins, Zack Dalton (One of RIO Products main guys) and I floated the South Fork. Evidently, that day was the beginning of a tradition because the minute Rob walked in the door at our Christmas Eve party he asked me if I was going with him and Zack the day after Christmas. (I don’t need to tell you my answer).

This is getting ridiculous – being able to float fish in late December. Even more ridiculous, the rod guides didn’t freeze until the last half hour of our day nor did we need gloves even when we were rowing. And as usual, there wasn't another boat in sight. This is about five trips in a row on the South Fork of the Snake and we have yet to share with another boat. This is the best off-season in history!

Today’s fishing was decent. Both Rob and Zack nymphed out of the boat to start the day. Rob caught a few whitefish a rainbow and a brown trout. At mid day I took the front and tossed some streamers. I literally have not taken my point fly (bottom fly) off yet since I tied it on in November. I’m still using the black and silver Screamer Streamer and pounding the fish on it. Even when I have multiple flies on the Screamer gets eaten nine times out of ten. The fly has just been fantastic.

Wildlife was abundant today. On the drive over from Victor Rob and I saw hundreds of deer and an enormous bull elk. The elk was trapped along the roadside by a very high electric fence with three strips of barbed wire at top. It was even too high for him to jump over. As the passing traffic alarmed him he finally attempted to clear the barrier only to get badly hung up. It was a near ugly scene but after a short struggle he made it through or over, massive antlers and all. I wish I had a picture to show but we were afraid that stopping would have made things worse.

On the river we saw at least a dozen bald eagles along with thousands of Barrow’s goldeneyes, mallards, buffleheads and even a drake wood duck. Although I’ve seen a few over the years, the wood duck is an unusual sighting for this area. The out of season flocks of robins continue to nourish on the midge hatch while numerous water ouzels (dippers) dive the shallows hunting nymphs in the frigid water.

The fishing, the wildlife and even the Christmas diner leftovers we had for lunch added to another incredible day on the South Fork. The question is: was this the last day of fishing for me in 2010? Supposedly there's a storm moving in so I’d say yes, but the way things have been going, I may wander out one more time. I hope so, even if it’s just to wade fish the midge hatch for few hours.

Even if I don’t’ fish again, expect a few more postings. I’m just about done with the two watercolor paintings I’m putting in the art show over in Jackson. I’ll post pics of them soon. Later in the week I’ll post my ten most memorable fish of the year. I caught a few of these but many were caught by friends and family. This will not be an easy edit so any help from you the readers would be great. Last, I’d like to decide upon my three favorite blogs of the year. I think I have an idea but any help would be Greatly Appreciated. I hope everyone enjoys the rest of the Holidays.

Jeff Currier Global Fly Fishing Website