a day in the life.

I've recently had several friends get a hold of me with concerns about where in the heck I've been!

I apologize that I've recently been a bit "out of pocket".  Hopefully the following images will help, at least a little bit, tell y'all about where I've been.

Twins with twins.

My second to the oldest son, Colby and his girl, Trisha blessed our family with yet another set of identical twins on February 6th, 2013.  Its been an amazing experience becoming a grandparent and watching my twins interact with their nieces!  It has been so incredible to watch!  The whole family has been so excited about the new additions to our family that its been tough to find the time to update my blog.

Between spending time on the water with clients,  running a booth and doing seminars at the sportsmen shows and Cabela's and spending as much time as we can with the grand daughters, life in the Finnerty house has been a bit busy to say the least!

Colby setting up a game camera on one of our well use Elk trails last week.

We've also been busy running the last of our winter steelhead trips, chasing coyotes and getting our spring bear season started the past few weeks.

Mia Shepherd on a recent trip on the North Umpqua.

Marty Shepherd wading deep through a favorite run on the North Umpqua.

One for the BBQ!

Two for the BBQ!

Today was the end of my winter steelhead season on the mainstem Umpqua.  I got to spend it with my youngest son, Hunter and one of my best friends, Dean Perske.  We ended the day with six hooked and four landed.  This downsteam native had successfully spawned and was headed back down river when we encountered it.

The other day I was out scouting for bear sign and while its still a bit early, I did come across this fresh bear scat.  On the right side, or if you prefer the end of this scat you can plainly see fresh grass in the bear's stool.  Spring bears start their digestive tract when they eat early spring grasses.  Not a lot of bear stool's were located, but at least one bear has exited its winter den and more will emerge with the warmer weather we're experiencing now.

Umpqua Derby

The Umpqua Steelhead Enhancement Derby was held this past few days.  This is the 21st annual derby and my 4th year participating.  The derby has raised over a million dollars for steelhead enhancement projects in the Umpqua basin over the past 20 years.

Roseburg area school kids volunteer on a number of the projects throughout their school year.  As a way to repay the kids for their efforts, all of us guides who compete in the derby donate some time to take the kids out and do some fishing on a local reservoir.

O.D.F.W. is heavily involved in the event.  Here they're releasing a bunch of hatchery trout for the kids to catch. 

 "hooked" for life.

"Are you fishing here?"

This toad was caught in my boat on Friday.  We caught it on the North Umpqua and it measured 38"!

My buddy from O.D.F.W., Greg Huchko caught this same monster, from the same run just a few weeks ago!  This particular run just happens to be one of my favorite runs for swinging flies in the gear water section of the N.U.  It also holds a special place in my heart, because way back in the winter of 1989, I caught my first North Umpqua winter steelhead in this same run with my long time friend, Dean Perske.

NOW BACK TO THE DERBY

On Friday the actual derby begins.  Teams are comprised of two guides with two anglers.  Anglers come from a variety of area businesses that "purchase" teams.  Your allowed to fish the North Umpqua, the South Umpqua or the mainstem Umpqua.  You just can't fish the same body of water two days in a row.  I was teamed with Roseburg area guide, Larry Avert.  

Larry nets a fish for a member of our team.

Another one for the team.

Everyone had a great time as always, even though fishing was slower than in previous years.  The winning team boated 19 fish over the two day event.  Dozens of brood stock steelhead were captured and transferred to ODFW personnel for transport to the hatchery for future generations of fish for the South Umpqua and tens of thousands of dollars were raised for future enhancement programs.

Next Wednesday through Sunday I'll be at the Northwest Sportsmen Show at the Portland, Oregon Expo center.  If your in the area please stop by my booth and say hi.  I'll be giving free seminars every day on a variety of topics.  One seminar will be on fishing for spring chinook on the Umpqua.  Another is on the upper Willamette steelhead and trout fishery and another is fly fishing the North Umpqua year around.  I'll also be giving seminars in the steelhead "river" that will be set up at the show.  If you've never attended this show, plan on spending at least a full day to see it all.  It's a GREAT show!

Hope to see you there.