Things are warming up

I'm thankful the snow is finally out of here! It's been in the 60s almost every day and even hit 80 yesterday.

I've been sneaking in fishing trips any time I can...

10 minutes while running some errands to cast to rising stickies with dry midges...

Heading out in the evening for the same stockies and realizing the panfish are waking up..

And some quick 15 minute trips to a small lake near my office on my lunch break for some cruising carp..

It's been awesome to finally get to target some non-trout species. Now i just need to find some bass.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have about 50 hours of yard work ahead of me. At least I have some cold friends to help me out. Happy Saturday.

November Late Night Triple Play

I got home from work and had a nice package waiting for me. The crew over at Risen Fly sent me a prototype of their new ITB fly rods to test out. These aren't even on the market yet so I was excited to give it a go.

I've been out about 10 out of the last 15 nights in search of big carp at night and I've quite  a few hookups but nothing landed. That changed last night.

I tied up a big tandem egg fly pattern and hit the stream around 9pm. It was still 50 degrees so I knew they'd be more active than earlier in the week when the temps were freezing. It didn't take long until I was giving this new rod a solid workout. I had this thing bent almost in half and had 3 runs into backing and it held up like a champion. This 9-10 lber was my reward for the 10 minute fight.

Usually when I land a big fish at night, the rest are so spooked that the run under the street lights turns into a ghost town. I was surprised when I saw a pod of suckers moving up quickly after releasing the carp.
 I saw one shape that seemed a little darker and was moving a little different. Could it be a trout? The closest stocking point to here was about a mile downstream, or half a mile upstream, which was separated by a big dam so I didn't think so, but I gave it a swing anyway. 10 seconds later, BAM...a fat stocked rainbow is on the end of my line.

The pod of fish still wasn't spooked so I figured I'd swing my egg pattern through the pod again. I wound up hitting two suckers in a row and decided to call it a night.

I know the quality of the pictures is not the greatest. Hard to get a good shot in the pitch black when you're sliding around on wet leaves. It was a hell of a fun night and I look forward to testing out this rod some more this weekend. Look for a full review coming soon.

Also, in case you're interested, DTT stickers are back in stock! They are available in the fly shop section. As an added bonus, All orders of 3 or more stickers will get a free fly hand tied by yours truly. Can't beat that! I'll also have some on hand tomorrow at the Fly Tying Symposium in Somerset NJ if you're interested. They are free if you buy me a beer :)
Click here to get some.

It's that time of the year

The golden pigs are fattening up for winter. More later.

Sacramento, Senkos, and HOLY SH*T

My car is in the shop, along with my 5/6 weight rod and fly boxes. Forgot to take them out. My 4 weight has a broken tip and will be heading back to TFO headquarters for a fix up.

I wanted to fish tonight and I didnt' want to string up an 8 weight or a switch rod, so out came the St. Croix Ultralight and some Senkos.

It amazes me how well Senkos work. There is something about these things that just drive bass nuts. I caught about five 10-12 inch smallmouth in 20 minutes, and this monster fat rock bass.


I've tried to mimic Senkos through fly patterns, and these bugskin wigglers have been doing great, although not quite as great as a real Yamamoto one.


In other news, I just booked my flight out to Sacramento for a wedding from 9/13 through 9/16. I've heard about a Salmon run in the Sacramento River. Luckily, the wedding reception is right on the river and yes, I'm not beyond swinging a spey rod in a tuxedo for a chance at a real anadromous salmon. Anyone have some suggestions? Looking for places to fish, patterns, and hell, even a fishing partner to show me around.

Before I go, I was browsing the Chive today and I came across this. HOLY SH*T.