Every summer for the past 30 years my sons and I head to the "High Country" for some serious backpacking and fishing. Our goal is to "go where no man goes" and to catch BIG trout. This past June we found such a spot. The country was SPECTACULAR and the fishing OUTSTANDING. This is a picture of my son David pulling in a five pound rainbow caught on a black bead head.

Yes, I too caught lots of big fish. I came home inspired to paint more fly fishing paintings...and we're already planning next year's expedition. If you want to know where this lake is, all you'll get out of me is "the high country".

Last year a friend of mine, knowing my passion for fly fishing, encouraged me to start painting fly fishing watercolors. There was no hesitation on my part to jump right into the new challenge. I was especially excited to get out on the water to do some “research”. My wife, Jeanne and I live on a small farm in northern Idaho. We are surrounded with lots of water – rivers, streams, and lakes. My three sons and I have been backpacking into remote high mountain lakes for years…and now I had another excuse to grab my fly rod, my backpack, my camera, and my boys and head into the “high country.”


Last summer I was especially excited for our annual fly fishing trip with my fishing buddies into the Canadian Rockies. We dry fly for cutthroats and wet fly for BIG bull trout. It’s always a great trip, but last summer was particularly wonderful – lots of big fish, great painting material, and an encounter with four grizzly bears. By the time winter came, I was loaded with lots of good material and an enthusiasm to paint. After years of painting leather chaps, worn out barn wood and metal spurs, these fly fishing pieces have been an exhilarating adventure for me to learn how to paint water, skin, fish, and wicker creels.


Yesterday I saw the first evidence of Spring coming – the arrival of Spring Robins and sunshine. Today I broke out my maps of the high country and Canada and can’t wait to do some more “research” this summer.