Check out the July Smolt of the Month entrants; the judges will be convening, um, right after, the, uh, NW summer salmon run slows down. Right after.

Winner announced Tues, Aug 9th.

For the last several summers, we've been carefully watching the retention pond next to our Area 542 Funny Feelings LLC (FFJ publisher) headquarters, as mergansers, herons and other fisher birds occassionally gulped down small fish. Unsure as to the species, or even if they were surviving each year, I would load up the three weight and cast out small bugs, terrestrials, little poppers and each summer, there were no takers.

From retail representative, sandwhich artist, FFJ friend and contributor Copi Vojta of Bonedale, CO comes the follow up to last year’s tasty treats. Can Hopper Mac and Cheese be far behind...

The call went out and Smolt Nation has spoken; from the tribs, lagoons and retention ponds, core smoltiers have sent in their small-is-the-new-big coups from around the planet. It is simply phenomenal the speed and velocity that responses came in, as well as the diversity. Smolt of the Month may well have been helped this time around with the addition of the ultra-sweet Kleen Kanteen-FFJ colab water-of-life vessel. Get your entries in for July SMOTM, don't let your compadres out-smolt you...

While we've been biding our time waiting for prime smolt season as well as delivery of a very special prize, the time is nigh: Smoltiers of the world unite -- our popular Smolt of The Month contest is back! We are going to go ahead and kick start SMOTM, brought to you by Kleen Kanteen, for July right now.

Send us your small, your tiny, and your barely perceptible. The rules are simple: The fish must be small and it must be fly caught. Past winner's include bass, flats snappers and goldfish. Yes, goldfish.

With enough hoarded miles for a moderate space shuttle flight, and the addition of Alaska Air's new Bellingham-Honolulu direct (yes, you read that correctly). FFJ's Creative Director, Jessie Lu and I had simply run out of excuses to not shut down the iLife for a bit and get out into the analog world 0f warm emerald waters.

Reading meets rod and reeling when you keep a worn poetry paperback in your knapsack while along the water. And sometimes, like this time along French Creek in southeastern Pennsylvania, olde fashioned writing results . . .