Overall, I had a pretty good year. My "days on the water" continues to go down since my visits to the Kern (the nearest water to me) have dropped to once or twice a year from what used to be almost weekly during some seasons. On the other hand, the quality may have gone up.
I got in 40 full days on the water this year (compared to 44 last year). I fished at least once every month of the year. There were several new outings and/or new people I fished with. Started the year off with a bang fishing for steelhead with Luc.
![Image](http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f18/spandoc/2013/January%20Steel/2ndday007_zpscda6b529.jpg)
Followed that up with another trip to Pyramid with a motley crew of addicts which resulted in no fish but was still a bang. Several trips with Mike during the spring and some spring skiing with the boys made that a fun season. For some reason, even though I have driven past it for years, I had never fished Crowley. Probably because I prefer moving water - nevertheless, it was something I had long wanted to do and BobK was kind enough to get me out on the lake for the first time. A nice hike with the wife and oldest son to a beautiful high country lake in June rounded out the first half of the year.
![Image](http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f18/spandoc/2013/Warmup/warmup09_zps871086e3.jpg)
![Image](http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f18/spandoc/2013/Warmup/warmup11_zps4964c4ea.jpg)
July of course brought the great GTW opener and backpack shared with many addicts (I think we were 21 this year??!) Not everyone made it into the group pic, unfortunately.
![Image](http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f18/spandoc/2013/GoldenTroutWilderness2013/2013GTW11_zps3ae38067.jpg)
![Image](http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f18/spandoc/2013/GoldenTroutWilderness2013/2013GTW37_zps95377060.jpg)
The highlight of the year may have been the first installment of the retirement home search tour where I hit Bozeman and Boise. In Bozeman, an old friend from like 30 years ago had found me on Facebook, saw my fish pics and sent me a message. "Hey, I see you are a fly fisherman - me too! I live in Bozeman, I have a drift boat, why don't you come visit?" Hmm, twist my arm. A few days there and then a few days with Mike showing me around his town (Boise) was an excellent midsummer break.
![Image](http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f18/spandoc/2013/RetirementTour/Retire56_zpse9189cb6.jpg)
The fall was fairly slow with the exception of the annual Volcano Party which was a lot of fun, partly because I got to meet some new addicts and also because my oldest son joined us, fly fishing for the first time in a couple of years. Due to the drought the fishing was slower than usual this year, but it was still a great time.
![Image](http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f18/spandoc/2013/Volcano%20Party/Volcano04_zpsd6fdfada.jpg)
![Image](http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f18/spandoc/2013/Volcano%20Party/Volcano10_zps18ae7474.jpg)
Starting in late October though things slowed down a bit. I rented the condo for the whole ski season this year (gotta pay the mortgage somehow) so I was up in late Oct. and early Nov. cleaning and getting it ready and gee, what a surprise, finding some time to fish the locals. In December I finally got out with Mike for an overnight to fish the Big Reedy for a couple of days. That was a nice way to round out the year.
![Image](http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f18/spandoc/2013/WintSolst/WSolst11_zps7af12998.jpg)
For the New Year, who knows? Luc and I will be headed north for steelhead again in January, so I can't wait for that. Mike and Curtis and I have a trip planned February which he mentioned that will be to a new spot (for me) so those are a couple of good trips to at least get things off on the right foot. Other than that, and of course the Volcano Party, I don't know what the rest of the year holds. The wife and I are interested in checking out the Pacific Northwest area for retirement home search II, so that might be our summer trip. Either that or put a magnetic GPS tracking device on Jimbo's rental car and sneak around following him fishing for cutthroat for a few weeks in the summer.
![Laughing :lol:](./images/smilies/icon_lol.gif)
All in all, fewer days, but some quality stuff. More fishing and more friends is my hope for myself and for all of us for the New Year.
![none :grouphug:](./images/smilies/sLo_grouphug3.gif)
Jon