Thursday, November 10, 2011
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
I've got some catching up to do...
Time has been flying by, and I just realized it's been well over a week since my last blog update. In all honesty, I've been busy as hell at work, painting the nursery for the upcoming addition, and doing a lot of commercial tying for a few people.
I'd love to post up some pictures of the bugs, but unfortunately I lost my camera. Yes, that camera. I really liked it so I do hope it shows up somewhere. I don't think I've ever tied up so many rubber legged copper johns in my whole life!
The camera also has pics of some fish I got in to on Sunday. After the bad storm last week, I haven't been able to get out fishing. I finally decided to take 4 hours on Sunday and hit the Little Lehigh. I was pretty disappointed when I got there. First off, it was packed with people. Also, since they lifted the no wading restrictions you now see yokels standing in the middle of the stream, walking through the best runs to fish, and kicking up the spawning beds for the brown trout. It's really depressing to see. After watching some guy fishing for two big spawning browns without luck and deciding to just walk out to where they are and cast over them, I said "hey man, you're kicking up some spawning beds. Can't you see that?" He replied with "Who cares? These fish can't reproduce here!". I've caught 3 inch fish from this stream so I know that's not true. I decided to be the better person by picking up a big rock, chucking it into the lane he was fishing, waving at him and walking away. Sorry dude. Show some respect.
This stream isn't that wide and I can literally roll cast across the whole thing in the widest stretch with a 7'6 four weight rod. Why are you wearing chest waders?! Anyway, everyone I talked to seemed to be complaining about a tough bite, most managing only one or two fish. I felt that way for the first half hour, but about 6 fly changes later, I found the golden ticket. Red size 18 zebra midges with a white glass bead head. I went on to land 4 nice fish and fight about half a dozen more. The fish weren't huge, but definitely had some deep, dark fall coloring. I think the run off from all the snow caused some colder water temps which darkened them up. If I ever do find my camera, I'll post the pictures.
In other news, there's a couple of events I'm pretty excited about. First off is the upcoming Fly Tying Symposium in Somerset NJ.
The lineup looks great for this and it should be a good day. I'm definitely bringing some cash to stock up on tying supplies. If anyone else is heading there, feel free to drop me a line and let me know if you'd like to meet up and grab a beer.
Also, on 12/17 the guys over at PA Fly Fish are hosting a fly tying jam. Looks like I'm going to be tying there, and actually doing a demo. I'm looking forward to it. It's also close to the Pohopoco, so I can hopefully sneak in some good fishing before and after it!
In closing, I'd just like to say that Daylight Savings Time officially sucks. It really smacked me in the face tonight when I left work at 5:30pm and it was pitch black when I walked out the door. I think the worst part of it is those little quick fishing trips you can sneak in on the way home from work while stuck in traffic can no longer happen. Spring can't get here fast enough already!
I'd love to post up some pictures of the bugs, but unfortunately I lost my camera. Yes, that camera. I really liked it so I do hope it shows up somewhere. I don't think I've ever tied up so many rubber legged copper johns in my whole life!
The camera also has pics of some fish I got in to on Sunday. After the bad storm last week, I haven't been able to get out fishing. I finally decided to take 4 hours on Sunday and hit the Little Lehigh. I was pretty disappointed when I got there. First off, it was packed with people. Also, since they lifted the no wading restrictions you now see yokels standing in the middle of the stream, walking through the best runs to fish, and kicking up the spawning beds for the brown trout. It's really depressing to see. After watching some guy fishing for two big spawning browns without luck and deciding to just walk out to where they are and cast over them, I said "hey man, you're kicking up some spawning beds. Can't you see that?" He replied with "Who cares? These fish can't reproduce here!". I've caught 3 inch fish from this stream so I know that's not true. I decided to be the better person by picking up a big rock, chucking it into the lane he was fishing, waving at him and walking away. Sorry dude. Show some respect.
This stream isn't that wide and I can literally roll cast across the whole thing in the widest stretch with a 7'6 four weight rod. Why are you wearing chest waders?! Anyway, everyone I talked to seemed to be complaining about a tough bite, most managing only one or two fish. I felt that way for the first half hour, but about 6 fly changes later, I found the golden ticket. Red size 18 zebra midges with a white glass bead head. I went on to land 4 nice fish and fight about half a dozen more. The fish weren't huge, but definitely had some deep, dark fall coloring. I think the run off from all the snow caused some colder water temps which darkened them up. If I ever do find my camera, I'll post the pictures.
In other news, there's a couple of events I'm pretty excited about. First off is the upcoming Fly Tying Symposium in Somerset NJ.
The lineup looks great for this and it should be a good day. I'm definitely bringing some cash to stock up on tying supplies. If anyone else is heading there, feel free to drop me a line and let me know if you'd like to meet up and grab a beer.
Also, on 12/17 the guys over at PA Fly Fish are hosting a fly tying jam. Looks like I'm going to be tying there, and actually doing a demo. I'm looking forward to it. It's also close to the Pohopoco, so I can hopefully sneak in some good fishing before and after it!
In closing, I'd just like to say that Daylight Savings Time officially sucks. It really smacked me in the face tonight when I left work at 5:30pm and it was pitch black when I walked out the door. I think the worst part of it is those little quick fishing trips you can sneak in on the way home from work while stuck in traffic can no longer happen. Spring can't get here fast enough already!
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Cabin fever
7 inches and counting. I just wanna fish. This sucks. At least I had fun with the fam. We headed out early before the weather got bad and took Michael to see Puss in Boots at the movies. He passed out 25 minutes in to it, leaving my wife and I to sit through 1.5 hours of a crappy animated movie.
We also got outside and made a giant snowman. I'm currently keeping my fingers crossed that we don't lose power.
We also got outside and made a giant snowman. I'm currently keeping my fingers crossed that we don't lose power.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Some new meaty monsters
I got to hit a trout stream for a little over an hour on Sunday and I was having a tough time. I did pick up one small rainbow on an egg, but besides that the fish were hugging bottom and bouncing nymphs off their noses wasn't having any success.
One my way back to the car out of frustration, I tied on the giant poorly tied Sex Dungeon I tried to make like a year ago. I had my 4 weight on me so it took me like 5 sloppy roll casts to get the damn fly out more than 20 yards but when I did, a MONSTER brown came after it. He struck the hell out of it and I somehow didn't get a hook set. I had to get home or I would have kept working him, but it showed me that maybe I should be tossing some bigger bugs.
First, I decided to revisit the Sex Dungeon and knock some of them out. Yes, that's a purple one. I actually own purple deer hair. I found it in a bargain bin at a fly shop for a quarter.
Although I still suck at deer hair heads, the rest of the flies turned out gorgeous. Lots of rubber legs and schlappen.
Next up, the Conga. This is a Craven pattern that I read about in the most recent issue of Fly Fisherman magazine. It's a pretty sweet sculpin imitation that has a faux fur (polar fiber) head. Save yourself some money and buy a huge pelt of this stuff at Michaels for $4 instead of paying double that for a smaller patch of it in the fly shops. The only downside is they only sell it in brown, black, and white. I tried dying some of the white with RIT dye but it didn't turn out so well. If anyone has any suggestions on a dye that will hold, let me know.
Last up, I'm not really sure what this is. I was looking at some other Galloup patterns and just went freestyle. Marabou tail, Zonker body over some Siman Peacock Bronze dubbing, red hare hair for the throat, and believe it or not, my first time ever using wool on a fly for the head. I think it looks pretty cool, but it might fish like garbage.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Here's the little bow from my Sunday trip. Far cry from the fish I was catching a week ago, huh?
One my way back to the car out of frustration, I tied on the giant poorly tied Sex Dungeon I tried to make like a year ago. I had my 4 weight on me so it took me like 5 sloppy roll casts to get the damn fly out more than 20 yards but when I did, a MONSTER brown came after it. He struck the hell out of it and I somehow didn't get a hook set. I had to get home or I would have kept working him, but it showed me that maybe I should be tossing some bigger bugs.
First, I decided to revisit the Sex Dungeon and knock some of them out. Yes, that's a purple one. I actually own purple deer hair. I found it in a bargain bin at a fly shop for a quarter.
Although I still suck at deer hair heads, the rest of the flies turned out gorgeous. Lots of rubber legs and schlappen.
Next up, the Conga. This is a Craven pattern that I read about in the most recent issue of Fly Fisherman magazine. It's a pretty sweet sculpin imitation that has a faux fur (polar fiber) head. Save yourself some money and buy a huge pelt of this stuff at Michaels for $4 instead of paying double that for a smaller patch of it in the fly shops. The only downside is they only sell it in brown, black, and white. I tried dying some of the white with RIT dye but it didn't turn out so well. If anyone has any suggestions on a dye that will hold, let me know.
Last up, I'm not really sure what this is. I was looking at some other Galloup patterns and just went freestyle. Marabou tail, Zonker body over some Siman Peacock Bronze dubbing, red hare hair for the throat, and believe it or not, my first time ever using wool on a fly for the head. I think it looks pretty cool, but it might fish like garbage.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Here's the little bow from my Sunday trip. Far cry from the fish I was catching a week ago, huh?
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Chasing the toothy critters
I've decided to hunt for pickerel and pike this weekend. I'd also say Musky, but I don't have a few spare years to catch one.
The lake I fish for pickerel contains a ton of small bass that are a bright emerald green color, so that's where I started. I call this one the Wes Mantooth.
Size 4 3XL streamer hook
Marabou - olive (tail and collar)
Orvis crystal dumbbell eyes
Sili-Legs - chartreuse
Crystal Flash (tail)
Grizzle neck hackle (sides)
Hare Ice Dub - olive green (body)
Schlappen - olive (palmered over body)
Cut up zonker fur wrapped in a dubbing loop (head)
Also, I checked out Whitakers.com today and noticed that they uploaded one of my king salmon photos that I submitted the other day. Pretty cool.
By the way, don't get Wes started on his mom, or he'll kick your ass.
The lake I fish for pickerel contains a ton of small bass that are a bright emerald green color, so that's where I started. I call this one the Wes Mantooth.
Size 4 3XL streamer hook
Marabou - olive (tail and collar)
Orvis crystal dumbbell eyes
Sili-Legs - chartreuse
Crystal Flash (tail)
Grizzle neck hackle (sides)
Hare Ice Dub - olive green (body)
Schlappen - olive (palmered over body)
Cut up zonker fur wrapped in a dubbing loop (head)
Also, I checked out Whitakers.com today and noticed that they uploaded one of my king salmon photos that I submitted the other day. Pretty cool.
By the way, don't get Wes started on his mom, or he'll kick your ass.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
NY Trip Recap, Getting Revenge, and My first Salmon
Jack and I just returned from a long 3.5 days on the Salmon River in New York. Unlike the last 3 times I've gone up there, we finally had some luck. I picked up 4 kings (admittedly - one was foul hooked right at sundown and we didn't realize it until he was in the net), and interestingly enough, a monster chub, and a sucker who both loved a red Estaz egg. Jack unfortunately walked away with two small trout on a woolly bugger, but he did hook in to quite a few.
I'm not going to post a giant play by play of the trip, but here's a quick top 5 list of how it went down and some observations.
1. The Salmon - It's truly amazing to watch these things jump. The Kings kind of porpoise, doing a slight raise of their back fin out of the water, while the Cohos go crazy and shoot straight out of the water, sometimes up to 4 feet in the air. Think of someone throwing the biggest log they can pick up into the water, every 20 seconds, all day long. That's what it looks and sounds like. Unfortunately, a lot of the fish we saw and hooked up with were at the end of their journey and not looking too great. I don't get how people want to eat these things with how they are looking. You also spend the day ankle deep in rotting salmon carcass. My car smells so awful right now.
2.Even though they are close to dying off, King Salmon are hands down the strongest fish I've ever fought on a fly rod. I battled one as the sun was setting on Thursday night for over 20 minutes until he finally did a big run and broke me off. My arm was killing me.
3. Two-Handed Rod - I am 100% absolutely in love with my new switch rod. It is so much more efficient than a single handed rod. You can shoot 75 yards with ease. I'd highly suggest it to anyone who fishes big water. Much easier on the arms and shoulders as well after 12 straight hours of fishing without a break.
4. The Ugly Stick Posse - People are scumbags. Seriously. I've never seen so much blatant disregard for the law in my whole life. These guys get Ugly Sticks with bass spinning reels, 50 lb test, big hooks, and just put a tiny cube from a sponge on the hook to call it a fly. They add like 5 oz of weight, and just zip their hook through the water until they hook a fish in the fin, and then reel like hell. It's a shame that law enforcement doesn't crack down on it. They keep every damn fish they snag too.
5. Weird stuff - On Thursday, I think I was the most unlucky person on the face of the Earth. I was walking up the hill from staircase hole to meet up with John, and two guys walked by me and said hi. One had a cigar lit. When he ashed his cigar, the wind literally blew a hot ember right towards me, up under my glasses, and right into my eyeball! What the hell are the odds of that? It finally feels better today but I did have a littled blurred vision. Creepy.
An hour later, came within 12 inches of getting hit head on by a drunk driver flying through a stop sign to take a piss at a Porta-a-potty. Serious bad luck.
Well, that's about it. Here's some not-so-great pics of the trip. No amazing artsy farty shots though, I was too busy fishing. Enjoy. I know I did.
Me getting my ass kicked by a Salmon at the Staircase
John Ryan choosing a fly before the evening bite at Staircase
The snagging crew was already hard at work at 7am in the Unemployment hole
My biggest fish of the trip on a size 4 purple Estaz egg. He was pretty spawned out.
Jack working a run in the Schoolhouse pool on Wednesday night
John Ryan hooked up into this beautiful colored up Coho in the lower fly stretch right before we headed back to PA.
Drift boats getting ready to launch at first light
Another king
Thanks again to the Lutz family over at Little Salmon Tackle for the accommodations. If you ever need lake fishing gear, this is the place to go!
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011
It's almost time...
Sorry I haven't been posting much. I'm leaving on Wed AM for the Salmon River in NY to chase after Steelhead, Browns, and what's left of the salmon. I've been spending my nights intensively trying to fill the fly boxes. I've been knocking out bunnies, buggers, leeches, stoneflies, and eggs like a madman.
I'm actually really excited because I just picked up an 8 weight 11'6 LSI switch rod with a Lamson Reel.
With the Rio switch line, it came out to $420 after all the discounts. Ouch. I'm pretty psyched to try it out for the first time although I'm guessing I'll spend the first few days just getting the hang of a two-handed cast.
I'll try to get a blog post in tomorrow night before I go showing some of the new bugs, and maybe some pics from our weekend trout hunt, but for now, here's an amazing video I picked up off the Drake's website.
I'm actually really excited because I just picked up an 8 weight 11'6 LSI switch rod with a Lamson Reel.
With the Rio switch line, it came out to $420 after all the discounts. Ouch. I'm pretty psyched to try it out for the first time although I'm guessing I'll spend the first few days just getting the hang of a two-handed cast.
I'll try to get a blog post in tomorrow night before I go showing some of the new bugs, and maybe some pics from our weekend trout hunt, but for now, here's an amazing video I picked up off the Drake's website.
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