The only reason i write this blog is to share the joy of fishing with others. This is also the main reason I’m still guiding after 50 years.

In the course of this journey there have been a few anglers I’ve seen grow from boys into men, with a true vicarious thrill seeing their passion for angling and skill set improve with time.

One of these Young Turks is 35 year old David Dvorak, jr. His Dad and i have been solid Buds for over 40 years building on a brotherly bond which can only be forged in combat. Dave senior & me didn’t carry guns. We humped hoses into burning buildings as career firefighters.

Dave’s kids, DJ & Tommy became like my own kids. About a dozen years ago DJ and i had a long conversation about his future : stay in Janesville, Wi. and work in the family landscape biz or follow his dreams of becoming a teacher of both math and the outdoors experience in the Colorado Rockies. This past school year DJ organized 48 river rafting and mountain climbing trips, taking dozens of middle school kids on overnight adventures.

He doesn’t come home much, so when Brother Dave said DJ wanted to go fishin’ the Miss with me again the need to make this fishin’ mission happen was set in stone.

I don’t like guiding on weekends, especially on my birthday. But the chance to see DJ’s angling skills set the stage for a birthday to remember.

Out in the rockies DJ learned to use a flyrod and chase trout. He wanted to apply this skill in battle with a swarthy northern pike.

usually hooking up with a toother pushing double digits only takes a couple hours at most. But if you don’t think God has a sense of humor–try telling him what you’re gonna do!

Over the next six hours we caught a bunch of bass, several with substantial dimensions, sauger and walleye. I caught the only northern. If this fish was wood it would have been the perfect handle for a ball peen hammer.

It was getting right down to ‘one more cast” time. I told DJ to drop his fly off the end of a gnarly limb in the midst of a mess of water willow–a spot about the size of a five-gallon bucket–then focused on using the MinnKota to make the task a little easier.FISH ON!!

DJ’s 8 weight Reddington rod loaded up with a heavy critter with a bad attitude. Pike fight hard. Bowfin (a.k.a. dogfish0 fight harder. For my nickel dogfish are the best pull in the River.

Fifteen minutes later Brother Dave slid the net under a throwback to Jurassic times almost 30″ long. Catching a dogfish on a flyrod is a rare and difficult feat. I shot video of the whole battle. After a quick measurement and foto the fish was released.

Once home I checked the record book. It looks like DJ Dvorak has a new World Record bowfin using fly gear and a 1X tippet!

DJ said it was his 1st ever dogfish and the biggest fish he had ever caught using a flyrod. Telling a client where to cast and seeing them catch a PB on several different levels is the best birthday gift an old guide could ever imagine.

No apologies in sharing this story with y’all. If you want to know about River conditions right now; pretty close to perfect.

tight lines!