Rushed Hours

September 14, 2018 Jillian Rash

Fishing trips. Oh, how I miss a good fishing trip. Since returning home from Colorado, it's been a whirlwind of work. Yup, that four letter word has crept back into our lives. Between a backlog of rod bags (thank you all!!!), rod building and guiding Jacob and I have only managed to hit the water once. But, I guess that's what you get when you go on a month long vacation.

Last week we decided to put our "to-dos" on the back burner for a couple of hours and run up to the Davidson. It's close to the house, it holds fish, and our favorite brewery is on the way home. Win-win-win.

A Rainbow and A Pot of Gold

August 28, 2018 Jillian Rash

The parking lot was full. We walked by all the cars, searching for fishy stickers or rod tubes in backseats. Determining that this was a big river, we'd just driven all the way out here, and the ratio of anglers to cars was not that high, we geared up. I swapped out my trusty hip pack for the daypack, as I do on most 'hike' trips. It was filled to the brim with snacks, rain jackets, and water, with all fishing essentials pinned here and there.

Jacob doesn't hike unless there's the return of fishing, a guaranteed pot of gold at the end of a rainbow if you will. Which is why these are my favorite kind of fishing trips, I get to hike with Jacob because the bribe of trout always works.

Fishing Bamboo

August 20, 2018 Jillian Rash

Years ago, for Christmas, I gifted Jacob his first bamboo rod. Ever since then it's been a steady stream of learning to build and gathering all he could find. He completely immersed himself in the art of bamboo.

Since then, I've learned more about 'boo' than I ever thought I would, but it was still his. I've cast a bamboo rod from time to time, gave them the 'wiggle test', and admired from afar. I've got my glass rods, they catch fish just fine. I figured bamboo would be a world in which I was always an outsider and even a 'boo widow.'

Get The Next One

July 2, 2018 Jillian Rash

Jillian Schuller Photography - Fly Fishing

Some mornings you wake up late.

You decide on a whim to get in an hour or two of fishing.

You check and recheck the water temperature.

You catch a handful of tiny rainbows.

Where Do You Go?

June 27, 2018 Jillian Rash

What do people who aren't 'outdoorsy' do to get away? This is a question I often ask myself, but since I don't know any such people, I suppose it will have to remain a mystery. Bowling?

Confidence

June 12, 2018 Jillian Rash

One of the first lessons I received when learning to fly fish was confidence. "You've got to have confidence in that fly, in yourself," Jacob's words have remained with me all these years. It's why I fish certain patterns, choose long casts over short rolls and why I move through the water the way I do. It's all about where my confidence lies.
It's a funny thing when you lose your confidence. Perhaps you've spent some time off the water or had one too many bad trips. Maybe it was caused by a harsh word or unfounded judgment by a fellow angler. Then again it may have just disappeared and you have no idea how it happened.
For a while now my life has been filled with surgery, doctor's visits, high water, and more doctor's visits, with strict orders to stay out of the rivers and off the mountains. My body became fatigued during the process and my mind weak, resulting in a catastrophic lack of confidence.