Fly fishing has a long history connected by fins and feathers, with some of the most famous flies we tie on today being crafted with mallard flank. The winter months for most fly fishing enthusiasts are spent at the vice, filling our boxes for the coming spring and summer. So we set off to collect the feathers ourselves! We ventured down to Stuart Ranch Outfitters to meet up with a new friend, Clay Forst, in search of some mallard flank of our own. When summer rolled around, we invited Clay to our home state of Colorado to take our Can-Ams up into the high country to catch wild fish on the flies we tied from our Oklahoma feathers.
Back in December, while the banks of our local rivers were covered in snow, we migrated southeast to the heart of the central flyway in search of some mallard flank to add to our feathers for tying this winter. Our goal? To hunt two days with Clay and in those two days, harvest a mallard drake, which I would cape out to get tying material for our adventures in Colorado this summer. So, as we got there the first afternoon, we raided the Stuart Ranch Levrack and prepped the Can-Ams for an early morning to start our hunt for greenheads (Mallard Drake).
The first-morning hunt was what Clay calls “Oklahoma Timber”. This consisted of us leaning up against mesquite trees along a popular duck hole. It wasn’t long before we accomplished our goal to get ourselves a mallard drake. While we were still hunting, it was fun to show Clay the different feathers on the bird and what we would use them for to tie our flies for Colorado the upcoming summer. There is something special about sitting in a blind or leaning up against some trees. It reminds me of team fishing a hole when you are wading or when you are in the boat with friends. The camaraderie shared makes your morning or day; whether you catch fish or see birds flying, you can still have a great time.
After wrapping up our hunt, it was time to clean the birds and attempt something Clay and I had never done before, caping out a bird. We knew the Williams bird knives were sharp, but we didn’t know how crucial that was until you try to be as precise as caping out a bird. With the bird caped out, all that was left was to let it dry out so I could get behind my vice to whip up some flies. We also set aside some of the duck to be cooked when we were up in the high country in the summer.
Fast forward 6-months, and we were ready to hit the high country in search of some small wild fish. We followed a similar pattern to get ready for a night camping in the high country. We grabbed all of our fishing gear, coolers, and camping gear our of the Levrack, loaded up the Can-Ams to head up into the high country.
It was apparent when we got up into the valley that we wanted to fish, and we were not in Oklahoma anymore. Clay was excited to get out of the triple-digit heat, and I was excited but nervous about testing out the flies I had tied 100 percent out of the mallard drake we had caped out 6 months prior.
Any nerves were brought to a screeching halt with the first few casts of the trip. The brookies were eager to eat our flies in creeks no wider than 5 feet across. Once we had our share of fishing it was time to set up camp and get to my personal highlight of the camping trip.
I had been thinking about what I was going to cook for this trip almost all summer, the meal is really what brought this project full circle. At this point we had harvested the bird, utilized it’s feathers to catch some wild brook trout, and the last step was cooking the bird. I decided to whip up some Duck and Stuart Ranch beef crunchwraps which might be my favorite camping meal of all time.
As the sun set, and we sat around a lantern (there was a fire ban, so no campfire) we all talked about how amazing this full circle moment was where we merged two passions into one cohesive experience.
This whole project could not have been possible without Clay Forst and the incredible group at Stuart Ranch Outfitters, in addition to our excellent partners Can-Am Offroad, Levrack, and Williams Knife Co.
If you want to learn more about Stuart Ranch, CLICK HERE!
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