HotDish FlyFish Co

06/06/2024

I'm still working on coming down from this high of a weekend. I would've never thought there'd be a time in my life where I'd see and at the same place, at the same time. But let's back it all up for a moment. What a weekend full of music. Seeing the lovely dynamic duo of and perform for the Tour de was the kick off. That evening my heart melted in so many ways. Sharing this experience with a lover. Being able to see and the tear down the with was absolutely amazing! Both put on some amazing sets and are so talented. Ugh. I cannot wait until the next time I see both these bands.

The next morning I jumped on a flight and made my way to Los Angeles for the tribute concert at but first, being my first time in LA I made a stop at the famous which was a couple minutes from my hotel and smashed a chili dog. That was pretty much all I was able to do before heading to the concert. What. An. Experience. So many amazing and beautiful people. The people watching was top notch. The cemetery, I'll be going back to LA just so I can see the rest of it one day. The music was fun! Led by w/ guests and Billy Idol. It was an energetic and mind blowing experience. It's honestly humbling to watch these musicians, some of which are Grammy Award winners, make mistakes and decide to move on to the next song. It's like watching a band in their infantile stages, so honest, so raw and vulnerable.

30 years ago, a movie you may have heard of, Pulp Fiction was released to theaters and they were screening it as it was one of Johnny's favorite movies. John Travolta was the guest host. It was so cool to just sit in a cemetery, sharing a blanket, and this once in a lifetime experience with a wonderfully complete stranger who's now a new connection in my life.

The next morning I boarded a plane back home. 24hrs-ish of travel for 9hrs that seemed to go on forever, and will go on forever in my heart. Honestly the weekend couldn't have been better. Top 5 life experience, easily.

24/05/2024

Fishing in the morning, fishing in the evening, and some chores in-between.

18/05/2024

WINONA, Minn (WKBT) -- Jerry Pappenfus doesn't go to concerts a lot but when Minnesota Masterpiece Hall opens, he says he will attend them more.

17/05/2024

14/05/2024

The second part of my day I went on a solo exploration trip to check out some potential brook trout water. It was tiny! This was some good water for my 5'9 1wt Butterstick. I tied on an size 18 elk hair and off I went. This stream was riddled with beaver dams. Older ones by the looks of it by the amount of vegetation growing in them, shallow and gratuitously wide. Most of the normal stream wasn't wider than 2' at best. Eventually I found a fishable hole. I was a little disappointed when the first two fish I caught were browns. I continued my exploration. Moments, and a few more beaver dams, later I saw a rise. I cast to it and found some eager . Only caught brook trout from there on out. Casting upstream into runs, pulling a few fish wherever there was the slightest bit of depth. It was a great relief. Light lines, dry flies, and aggressive trout makes for a fun afternoon!

13/05/2024

Enjoyable morning with exploring some new water deep in the . We started out feeling almost defeated but then we figured it out. Sometimes you just have to walk far enough to find the good stuff. Never give up, that next bend might hold the water you've been looking for all morning.

12/05/2024

If is the then these are its flats. Catching bluegill on foam poppers is one of the funnest things to do on a fly rod. It is also a great way to learn how to use a fly rod

12/05/2024

What a weekend so far and there's still Sunday! Y'all heard about this amazing light show? Caught a 🦄 brookie. Caught a little bit of music at . Filled the rest of the day catching bluegill on the 1wt at the local lake.

14/04/2024

What a beautiful day out in the . Caddis were abundant and the weather was 🤌. Fished during the morning then took a long hammock break before returning to the stream in the evening. Tomorrow is looking like another stellar day! If you're coming to the area and need a guide, slide on into my DMs!

11/04/2024

Do you sssmmmmeeelllllllllllllllllalalala... What the Ramp. is. cookin'. 🤨

07/03/2024

Brown trout vs sculpin

18/09/2023

Red, yellow, orange... Fall is just around the corner

17/09/2023

Good day to float and pick up some trash with a couple of the boys.

21/08/2023

Roasted BBQ Cauliflower. BBQ sauce was homemade from a pile of tomatoes, chilies, sweet and hot peppers I had. Threw in some soy sauce, L&P, mustard, local honey, brown sugar, and spices and over the course of a few hours I cooked it down to half its volume. This s**t is 🔥

10/08/2023

It's hopper season. Tie the foam on and make'em go splat!

27/06/2023

Solid float with some buddies. 100+ day, between us, thanks to the very eager white bass. 6 species brought to hand all on the same fly. Smallmouth, largemouth, whites, pike, bluegill, and crappie.

20/06/2023

It's been a hot minute. So here's a photo dump of the past couple weeks. Featuring the king of swing

03/05/2023

Picked one of these up back at the Great Waters Expo. A tool I never knew I needed until I saw it.

01/05/2023

Day off with one of the guides from . We decided to give the a try today. Despite less than ideal conditions we ended up landing 4 different species. Pike, largemouth, smallmouth, and bowfin. I'll take it.

24/04/2023

Amazing display of the Northern Lights last night... Can't wait to see what they bring tonight

23/04/2023

Sometimes you have to blaze your own trail to find these outlooks...

19/04/2023

The big muddy is rising high... Let's see what today's rain brings

19/04/2023

Prior to the snow and then the rain, those 80° days were well liked by myself and the trout. Caddis were bouncing around, grass was getting green and the ephemerals were blooming

21/03/2023

I could see something other than midge coming off of my stream this evening but couldn't catch one. When I came back into my house to my surprise there sat, on my window interior, a BWO. Hope this gets your blood pumping, it did for me!

21/03/2023

Streamer game was 💯. That Hatchling Craw has been getting it done the past couple days and today was no different. Nymphs also got the job done. Water conditions vary. It's a good time of the year to use a thermometer. Some water that looked fishable was just a few degrees above freezing.

20/03/2023

A little high water last week from the rain sure did help clean up the stream...

19/03/2023

A pair of streamer eaters on this bluebird day. Not too shabby for only a couple hours. Kreelex Minnow and Hatchling Craw getting it done 👊

16/03/2023

Kreelex Minnow. Plain and simple and slays. This one uses Hedron Polar Flash in pearl and gold. Spirit River Real Eyes Plus. Tied on a 3xl Dai-Riki hook but any streamer hook will do, honestly. Feel free to substitute with any sort of limp flash material. This is my most productive color combo. I like gooooold.