2012 - Another epic year in the books

To say that I enjoyed 2012 would be an understatement.  Not surprising to most, a number of my days were spent chasing fish.  I enjoyed fishing my usual haunts in and around Pulaski, NY and was lucky enough to explore and fish in America's last frontier.  Each month of 2012 was special in its own way.  If you have a moment, keep reading and enjoy some photos and videos as a 2012 "Year in Review" of sorts.  As I write this and go through photos from this year, I realize how lucky I really am.  I wish you all a safe and happy New Year's Eve and 2013.  I have a feeling 2013 is going to be a good one.  Enjoy life to the fullest and do what you love to do each day, whatever that may be.  Here's to tight lines and fishy tales in 2013!

KH

January
I spent most of the first month in 2012 wrapping up my extended tour in NYC for a work project.  After over 16 months living in a hotel in NYC, it was nice to see the light at the end of that tunnel.  Luckily for me, I was able to travel home on weekends in order to get some time in the woods and on the River in order to balance out the hectic city life.  This is more my speed!

February

We had an unusually mild winter in 2012.  This made for much more pleasant winter steelhead fishing.  However, the lesser amounts of snow and resultant snow pack would cause some concern during the spring melt.  But when you can't do anything about it, might as well enjoy the pleasant present!

March

March is usually a turning point for the weather in central New York.  The days get longer and the sun begins to warm more and more each day.  Typically, we will get one "last hurrah" storm in March.  With a keen eye you will notice the lack of snow on the ground in the backdrop of these photos.

April
The mild weather continued into April.  With the weather window remaining open, my Dad and I decided to continue construction on my cabin that we started in the fall of 2011.  I made a trip to Nashville to visit some old friends and see Tedeschi Trucks Band at the Ryman Auditorium (You all know I enjoy their music, I need not elaborate on this topic).  And of course, spring steelhead fishing!

May
The arrival of May usually signals the departure of the steelhead from the Salmon River as they head back to Lake Ontario following the spawn.  As the steelhead exit, the smallmouth bass enter the local streams to spawn.  I also discovered a new warm water target to hold me over during the summer months.  Carp on the fly!

June

June brings warm weather long days and less and less opportunity to catch trout!  But have no fear, the local warm water ponds provide ample opportunity to catch fish on the fly.

July

My birthday month was chock-full of gifts and adventure this year.  Early in the month, I took a trip to the Adirondack Mountains with co-workers.  I made a trip to Chicago to visit my sister and brother in law and attended my 5th Tedeschi Trucks Band show (See above statement about TTB.  I have a thing for Susan Tedeschi).  To top it off, while in Chicago my cabin was finished off thanks to some local hard working Amish fellows.

August

August, the dog days of summer.  Unfortunately, I didn't spend as much time on the big Lake as I have in years past.  I did get out one day as the salmon fishing was beginning to heat up.  Much of my time was also allocated to preparing for a big trip to come in September.  Clearly organized chaos was my method of getting gear ready for the trip!

September

Alaska!!  It is truly a place of unmatched beauty.  I spent two weeks in this majestic place and not a moment was wasted.  The first week I traveled around hiking and taking photos from Kenai Fjords National Park in Seward, through the Matanuska River Valley and finally to Denali National Park.  The second week I spent fly fishing at the Royal Coachman Lodge in Bristol Bay.  What a place!

October

Back to normal life after the Alaska trip.  Fortunately, normal life in October includes some of the best salmon and trout fishing in the Salmon River and other local Lake O. tributaries.  For a second straight year, I had a high school reunion of sorts with two old friends, Tony Gugino and Chad Nicholson.  What better place to meet and hang out than on the river!

November

After much introspection, I decided to dive in head first and get my NYS fishing guide license.  This was a big move for me and it took a lot of time to convince myself that I should do it.  But at the end of the day, I love fishing and I can't think of anything better than to share that passion and teach others how to catch these beautiful fish.  Also, the fishing in November was pretty great!

December

Here we are, the end of the year already.  With 11 months in the rear view mirror, December allows us to take a look back and look ahead at what is to come.  It is also the time of year to enjoy the company of family and friends.  This year, I was luck enough to take several family members steelhead fishing during the week of Christmas.  The weather can make it a little brutal, but seeing their excitement about hooking and landing one of these beautiful fish makes it all worthwhile.  In my mind, there is nothing better!

It has been a while...

I have been fairly negligent over the last year in keeping up with my blogging aspirations in 2011.  So, on that note, here is the KH on the SR 2012 Edition.

Luckly, I have plenty of blogging fuel in my near future.  With a trip to Alaska the first two weeks in September, the start of the marathon salmon and trout season on the Salmon River and an Adirondack Mountains backpacking trip in October, there is no shortage of material.

Take a look below at the most recent video I've put together from fly fishing endeavors in NY and UT.  Stay tuned, there will be some good things to come!

The Utah Trip in Review

I recently spent a week in the great state of Utah on vacation.  I've said it before, but Utah is one of my favorite places I've ever been.  From the mountains flanking the Salt Lake valley to the desert and canyons down near Moab, Utah is an amazing place that should be seen by all.

The first two days I spent hiking around a couple spots.  The first day I had planned to hike to Deseret Peak.  But, as often is the case, Mother Nature had something else in mind for me.  The road to the Deseret Peak trailhead was closed due to flash flooding and debris flows because the start of the spring melt of all the remaining snow in the mountains.  Being necessarily flexible, I found another trailhead to get onto and had a nice hike.  The Stansbury Front Trail led through some pretty dry terrain with a few views of snow at some of the higher elevations.

 

Day two I hiked a familiar friend, the Lake Blanche trail.  I had originally planned to try and do some fly fishing in Lake Blanche.  But, like the day before, the mammoth snow pack changed those plans.  Lake Blanche was still locked up with ice and the majority of the hike to the top was snow covered.  This made for a beautiful, but slightly more taxing hike.  As compared to the hike from the previous day, the Lake Blanche trail was a winter wonderland!

I played around with the GoPro video camera in addition to taking some still shots while hiking the first two days.  Here is a video I put together.

The next three days, I fished with Wasatch Guide Service at various spots around Utah.  The first day I fished with Dusty Kenner at a stillwater lake in the high desert of the Uinta Basin.  I can't divulge any more details about this location.  But, suffice it to say it was a blast catching tiger trout and Colorado cutthroat trout.

On the second day, Dusty and I hit the Lower Provo River.  What an incredible fishery the Provo River is!  We landed somewhere around 15 beautiful brown and rainbow trout and hooked a good many more!

On the third day, I fished with Wasatch owner Jeremy Jones.  We also hit the Lower Provo and had another great day.  After a bit of a slow start, we ended the day on a high note with about 12 browns and rainbows in the net. 

The following morning I got up well before daylight and and made the 3.5 hour drive from Orem south toward Moab.  I arrived at Arches National Park at 7:30am, just as the gates opened.  This is an area of Utah that I had not previously experienced.  It is an entirely different type of beauty.  The high, snowy mountains are replaced with towering sandstone pillars and slot canyons.  I am currently reading The Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey.  The introduction to the novel includes a perfect quote from Abbey describing the desert landscape:

"There is no shortage of water in the desert but exactly the right amount, the perfect ratio of water to rock, of water to sand, ensuring that wide, free, open, generous spacing among plants and animals, homes and towns and cities, which makes the arid west so different from any other part of the nation.  There is no lack of water here, unless you try to establish a city where no city should be."

Here is another video from the three days fishing with Dusty and Jeremy as well as my time spent in Arches N.P.  Utah is an amazing place that should be experienced by all.  I'm already trying to plan my return trip!

Utah: Life Elevated from Ken Hubbard on Vimeo.

The New York State Trout Season Opener

As some of you may know, I had the privilege of fishing with Tony Gugino and Brian McClintock, editor of GoFISHn.com, on April 1 and April 2, 2011.  Without even realizing it, I had booked this trip beginning on the opening day of trout season in NY State.  I was more inclined to equate the April 1 date to the opening of the Upper Fly Fishing Zone on the Salmon River in Altmar, NY.

While some may have been targeting small stream browns, brookies and rainbows around the state, Brian, Tony and I were after some much bigger trout.  The big nasty sibling of the rainbow trout....the steelhead.  Now, don't get me wrong, I love the transition to fly fishing for small stream trout.  It is an entirely different art form.  But, as long as these bruisers are around I'll go after the steelhead any day of the week. 

Since we had two days of fishing ahead of us, we decided to move around a bit and try some places we hadn't fished in a while (or in Brian's case, ever).  It paid off in spades!  Under the expert tutelage of Tony, Brian and I landed 13 steelhead along with 3 brown trout. 

When you look at these photos, you would think that these fish must have come out of big water.  I can safely say (without blowing up our spots) that some of these big, ahtletic fish were caught in water not much bigger than what my fellow anglers were wading through in search of brookies on the trout opener.  Pretty amazing!

Soon enough, I'll turn my attention to fishing for resident trout in small streams like Nine Mile Creek and Chittenango Creek.  But, for now let the drag peeling onslaught of the anadromous trout continue!