Fly Art

Hannah Belford, head guide, lodge owner, fly tyer, woman's advocate, and also artist:

Steelhead Photo Gallery

Worked on the computer this week on a new format and am stoked to add a new page....The Rogue Angels Photo Gallery: Steelhead. A collection in one place of stellar women and gorgeous steelhead. I haven't quite added all the pictures, but this is a start. I'll be working on a Salt page as well as Trout. Feel free to leave praise, criticism, or funnies here-I'd like to know what you think.
-k8

Kiss Me I'm A Fish.

Young Angels, Kaitlyn and Louise, kiss the fish.

Friday Pin Up: Retro Dinner Edition

There's beer at this party, fantasy friday anyone?

More Roosterfish...

another roosterfish from last year.

Countdown

It's really already begun, a week ago. We're counting down to departure. A little bit earlier than last year heading south of the border, Baja.
First stop in San Diego on Wednesday to work a show (I dread that word but it's for a good cause), for the Sportsman's Alliance and Trout Unlimited raising awareness concerning the proposed terribly crappy Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay Alaska. Please tell me you know about it, if not GO HERE to learn more. We'll be recruiting people to sign petitions and buy cool stuff like Abel-made Coasters that say No Pebble Mine, t-shirts, and sweatshirts too. If you live in San Diego, come visit.
After packing up the show we slide through the border without hassle and sail on down to southern Baja to look for roosterfish. The Starship Enterprise has dropped its shell and been reconfigured back to its original form, The Silver Destroyer. This time complete with a beat up 4 wheeler hogging the bed. Booya.
Meanwhile, The Crumpster is at the deadline to finish his jet sled boat project he's been working on all winter. I am organizing and packing all of our fishing gear for both Baja and Alaska. To say this is easier the second time around is an understatement, but no small task either my friend. Planning for the next seven months of your life is weird no matter how many times you've done it. The thing making it most difficult is leaving during prime steelhead fishing season. I'm pretty bummed. And yeah, maybe I should be smacked for saying that.
Regardless, we're outta here on Monday. And if we're lucky the first stop will be in Redding, to holler at The Fly Shop.

Here's some roosterfish photos from last year to peek your interest:

Friday Pin Up: Making Dinner Edition

He also makes drinks on the other counter. Fantasy Friday anyone?

You Don't Need Luck........If You're Good!

A beginning steelhead fly fisherman, Rogue Angel Lisa, has proven she's a quick study with more than just luck on her side. Wielding a Scott LS2 15' 9wt spey rod and a Clearwater Special fly tied by her boyfriend, Lisa hooked into this beautiful chrome steelhead recently. The silver bullet proudly displayed the power of winter steelhead with long runs and jumps to boot. Nice work landing such a feisty fish, Lisa.

the fight!

beautiful chromer!

Photos courtesy of Lisa Rice

Happy St. Patty's Day

May the holes in your net be no larger than the fish in it. ~Irish Blessing

Young Angel Louise

First fish on the fly rod and a respectable release. Nice work little angel!

Photos courtesy of proud father Michael

Spiral Out Keep Going...

Did someone dump a bucket of water on my car? The beautiful clear morning driving to meet Rogue Angel Whit, gave way to dark clouds and water kept coming. Rain building. So this is what they meant by 'big storm' coming our way. Lucky for us we were exploring new water on foot and we're both stupid stoked. I coerced some info from a generous soul on areas to focus and we were feeling high....just on excitement. Hit a high traffic spot first, no takers. Just a lonely big guy talking at me about dangerous mosquitos.

Headed up river to a gnarly steep bank. We slide down. Once down, you will literally die if you misstep...no way you could pull yourself back out of that deep fifteen foot drop off. We speculate wildly back and forth about the fight. Concluded we'd be screwed. We found ourselves eyeing the lower run below a boulder garden of rapids, the other run is always greener. Next thing we know we're scrambling banks to fish it.

Standing on the short ledge, if you raise your rod higher than ten feet you're tangling in vicious trees. We challenge each other with side spey casts and tight d-loops. My head soaring from a longer cast, I step down to feel nothing solid and begin to sink. Scrambling against a rock face cliff I grabbed a root with one hand, working my rod hand up to another holding on with a mighty grip. My suspended feet clumsily search for anywhere to shove the toes. My arms hurt as my feet desperately scrape the rock. Extending my leg a little further I find a tiny rock to perch my foot and slither my body weight closer, grasping roots and little rock ledges. They call this bouldering in other sports. Making it to a small ledge I sigh a bit of relief and consider warning Whit. Then I turn and cast underneath the overhanging trees, fly swings in and gets slammed. Line goes limp. I cast like I'm target shooting. Repeated swinging....looking for rocks or something to dissuade me from realizing the inevitable. That WAS a steelhead. After her brief swimming expose, Whit follows in and confirms.

Next area we find boasts of beautiful steelhead green swinging runs. Perching on a rock, Whit starts at the top of the run and swings through while we chatter about fishing. She's deep into a funny story when we both see her line come taught and then limp. Yelling ensues. We forget what we were talking about.

Whit then shows off her swimming skills again. Wet, cold, and beat up we head for the dive pizza bar. The Sicilian was delicious, the tables inspirational, and they didn't even mind the water pooling around us.

-k8

Rainy Days.

Rogue Angels Mia and Allison hit the water recently braving wet and cold conditions,

Allison DeLeone casting

Is that snow or rain? Allison casting from above.

The lucky husband, Chris D, kept the homefires warm.

all photos by Mia Sheppard of Little Creek Outfitters

Friday Pin-Up: Cleaning the Kitchen Edition

fantasy friday anyone?

Country Pleasure Fly Fishing

You've seen this Rogue Angel around before, here on the blog, and over at Moldy Chum-winning December's Slab of the Month for a beautiful BC steelhead she wrangled this past fall. Caitlin Gifford, university student, fly fisherman, & steelhead addict has been kicking around the Calgary, (specifically Bow River) Fly shop in Canada since the age of 14. Her stomping grounds has started a blog, Country Pleasures Fly Fishing Blog. When you're done browsing the blog, click on over to the shop's homepage for some sick tarpon, permit, saltwater shots and of course lots of those big beautiful browns. We'll keep a link over to the right for anytime we need a pick-me-up dose of big fish photos.

Get Coloring!

Do it for your kids! Free Olive the Woolly Bugger Books!

Enter for your chance to win a set of all three Olive books, personally signed by author Kirk Werner.
Admit it- kids of all ages love fly fishing and coloring. Tap into your inner kid by downloading any of several free coloring pages. Sharpen your Crayolas, scan your masterpiece, and email it to rogueangels@gmail.com . Don't worry about coloring outside the lines- your work will not be judged. All those who submit entries will have their names tossed into a hat and a winner will be chosen. The winner will be announced and have their coloring skills displayed on Rogue Angels. Everyone is eligible.

Deadline for entries is March 31st.

Go here to download your free coloring page, and let's start coloring!

To read my review of the book collection, go HERE

Friday Pin-Up: Doing the Dishes Edition

fantasy friday anyone?

Two Reasons To Visit France

Le quatrième poisson du récit

TRUITE-DU-MOI-DE-JUILLET---GAMMARE---12-centième---65-cm

Photos courtesy of Pierrick Chevillotte, who claims that to him these beautiful trout are as treasured as the steelhead we chase.

Got Olive?

I often hear how people want to get their kids into outdoors adventures and get them interested in fly fishing. No one wants their kids to turn into one of those kids….you know, the kids who sit in front of the computer playing video games all day. So in all fairness, you better start them young. Sorry in advance to all you parents for using this analogy, but just like training a puppy, you can’t just wait until they are older to start expecting them to behave appropriately.

What better way to entice a youngster than to start them off reading about fishing. Pretty soon they are going to be on the internet looking at fish p*rn anyway, reading about rivers and flows, and what Steelie Mike’s been catching in January….so show them the way early. Introduce them through Olive The Little Woolly Bugger written and illustrated by Kirk Werner.

Olive heads off to fly fishing camp and finds her way to your heart as she encounters snobby dry flies, bragging prince nymphs, and other “showboat” flies. Smile when Olive learns the true purpose of a woolly bugger and finally begins to feel comfortable in her own fur and feathers. Author Kirk Werner deftly masks an introduction to fly fishing with the creative play of Olive learning at camp. Read with anticipation hoping for her to earn a place in The Fly Box. Just like you and I, she badly wants to catch a fish. Bring that magic to your kid and open them to the world of fly fishing early.

However, Olive doesn’t stop there. Pursue her travels in two follow up books by Kirk, Olive and the Big Stream and Olive Goes for a Wild Ride . In Olive and the Big Stream, tag along as the new flies in The Fly Box venture to the river for the first time. Read along as your child gains knowledge of the stream, its currents and inhabitants. Rejoice in the victorious hook up and the seamless understanding of fighting a fish. In Wild Ride, Olive gets snagged (giving you a whole new perspective on losing that fly) and encounters a steelhead fry and an aging Salmon. Kirk cleverly weaves in lessons on the circle of life while teaching facts of anadromous fish, all in the guise of Olive building friendships.

You will treasure the lessons on life expertly strewn throughout these books and be amazed at Kirk’s ease of secretly teaching one the fundamentals of fly fishing while reading about an adventurous little fly named Olive. Not to mention the amazing artwork! The colorful characters filling the pages are enough to make you smile and keep your kids wide-eyed. The Olive the Woolly Bugger series is definitely the astute work of genius. Show your own brilliance and get these for your kids. Order now!

OR WIN ALL THREE BOOKS:

Enter for your chance to win a set of all three Olive books, personally signed by author Kirk Werner.
Admit it- kids of all ages love fly fishing and coloring. Tap into your inner kid by downloading any of several free coloring pages. Sharpen your Crayolas, scan your masterpiece, and email it to rogueangels@gmail.com . Don't worry about coloring outside the lines- your work will not be judged. All those who submit entries will have their names tossed into a hat and a winner will be chosen. The winner will be announced and have their coloring skills displayed on Rogue Angels.Everyone is eligible.
Deadline for entries is March 31st.

Go here to download your free coloring page, and let's start coloring!