Gone Fishing

Fishing the North Fork of the Shoshone River on opening day (July 1) is one of the most unbelievable outdoor experiences I would ever hope to have. I was lucky enough to spend the day in the fresh Wyoming air with my father and wife, while we rafted through the wilderness, catching hoards if trout. By the end of the day we had spent over six hours floating ten miles and it wasn't a big deal to trade the sunburn for the mountain of fish we caught.

As I prepared earlier in the week for opening day my main goal was to out-fish my dad, or at least keep up. See, the problem is that he only fishes with worms and I really haven't since I was a kid. It's not that I can't do it, I have just been fly-fishing and making my own flies for a long time, so I like it much better, but back to the problem. We took a couple preliminary runs in the upper part of the river (where fishing was open) last week and I wasn't able to catch anything. Bullshit! Not to mention that my dad may be the best worm fishing, trout catching, making fun of fly-fishing easterners man I have ever met. I had to do some research. It had been at least a couple years since I've casted my fly rod, so I felt like all I could do was get better.

I went into Cody Wyoming and found a couple fly shops, the first being "The Humble Fly." The guy was really cool and talked to me about how fast the river was flowing and how my flies weren't getting deep enough in the water. He gave me a couple patterns and we talked a little bit about how to tie them with more weight and get them closer to the bottom. Then I told him about not getting killed by my worm fisherman father. He chuckled and said "You know why they let little kids fish with worms right? Because it's so simple anyone can catch a fish with a worm. There is no challenge."

Just hearing that made my day. I couldn't wait go get home and give my dad grief about it. I also couldn't wait to get back to the house and get to work on making some of the flies and after about two hours of tying I had produced a plethora of North Fork ready nymphs. was ready to dominate some trout.

That morning we were up with the meadowlarks and on the river ready to fish by 9:00 a.m., only slowed once by the amazing tastes of Taco Johns. I mean, who can resist the Ole' Breakfast Scrambler?

Fishing started hot and stayed that way through the day. In the first hole we stopped I caught 2 rainbows and we never looked back. At one point I actually pulled out a fish four casts in a row. By the end of the day I had caught so many fish that my thumb was bleeding from all the teeth marks and to be honest the competition between my dad and I dissipated as we lost track of how many fish we had actually caught. Christy was even able to catch three or four - she has to let them all go, not wanting to do harm to any living thing. As we left the river were tired and hot, but had an amazing time and a stringer of fish for dinner.

By the way. I will be fishing with Rachael Nichols for ESPN's E60 today. Hopefully we can have a repeat performance.

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Horse Burning

I'm writing this post with complete regret. Normally, I'm not super concerned with who I offend or bother by my posts, but I have been strongly encouraged by enough important parties in my life not to publish the video. I am aware that the voting consensus on the site was an overwhelming yes on watching the video and most are excited about the footage, including myself, but it just isn't going to work out this time. I would like to say for my own sake, the video is amazing! I spent over an hour today putting it together and it is one of my finest works, one that my kids will look back on and cherish. So for now, I'm sad.

I would also like to clear up a couple things about the burning, a least for anyone who I may have offended. Last year I bought somewhere close to 400 acres of ranch land in Wyoming. A couple days ago we were riding our four wheelers around and came upon this wretched, stinking, rotting horse corpse. We thought it was a cow at first, but upon further review found that it was a horse. The horse had clearly been dead for over a year and needed to be taken care of. We have no idea about the cause of the horses death or how it happened upon our land, none the less, it was there rotting away. After seeking some advice I was given a couple of options, the first was taking the horse to the dead animal pit, another being the city dump and finally, to burn the horse. In my opinion the most reasonable option was to burn the horse.

Finally, I would like to say that I love and respect animals. I own four dogs and two cats, I grew up with horses and think they're amazing. I meant no disrespect to the horse. Read more...

Cow Fire

We were cruising around on our new land in Wyoming the other day and we found an old dead cow. So we decided that we would get rid of it by setting it on fire. Needless to say, it was a success. I will post the video of it soon, but for now here are some pictures. Read more...

Wyoming Driving Adventure Day 3 and 4

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Special Thanks

Hello from Wyoming. Everything is going great out here. Sorry for not getting part 3 of the drive up yet. We lost the video camera in the move. I will get it up tomorrow. The reason for this post isn't to tell you about our trip however. It is to thank Craig (Christy's uncle) for staying out our house. It is awesome knowing a special ops guy is looking after the dogs and house while we are gone. So whoever is driving up to our house at 1 am, just know this, Craig sleeps with his gun by his side. Read more...

Wyoming Drive Day 2

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Wyoming Driving Adventure Day 1

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C and C Road Trip to Wyoming

I just got off the phone with Chris and he wanted me to give a little update/teaser from his trip across the country. If you haven't heard, Chris and Christy are driving to Wyoming to spend some time with family and enjoy some time off. But instead of flying, they decided to take a road trip. After packing up the truck and small Uhaul (including 2 yorkies), they were off . 

The journey out west began immediately after football camp on Sunday. The first night was rather uneventful as they drove into the night making it as far as Indiana. The excitement began when they hit a 3 hour delay due to morning traffic near Chicago. This major setback on a 30 hour trip forced Chris and Christy call it an early day. Somewhere in Wisconsin the two found a nice casino hotel to rest for the night . This is where the tease comes in. After only a few short hours there, they managed to get themselves thrown out of the hotel. This isn't even the best part, as they were driving to the next location circumstances required that they call a towing company after only 10 miles on the road to come pick them up. 

There is no need to worry however, they are safe. You can read all about it tomorrow because Chris has promised to give a full update including video of the trip when they arrive in Wyoming. Trust me, it will be worth the read. Read more...

Cooley Fans Around The World: Part III

You'll have to excuse me, its been a while since I last checked in. Things have gotten a little crazy here in Austria---our coach left town, we beat the best team in Europe, and I took my first snaps at middle linebacker. But that is all besides the point, as I mentioned previously there is a phenomenon here in Europe of Redskins fans. You see them literally everywhere, and when I am bold enough to snap a picture you, the fans, reap the benefits. So here you have it, the third installment of Cooley Fans Around The World (sub-section Portis Fans Around The World).

Meet Nikolaus--- from Villach, Austria. A 'Skins fan through and through. Notice how even at a young age (12) he has learned to position himself adjacent to cheerleaders--well done young man, well done.
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Chris Cooley Football Camp

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