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.

Well, I've made it 3 years. I celebrate by fishing (and doing a giveaway!)

3 years ago today, I started this blog. I can't believe I still have it going. I've slacked off here and there with posting during the warmer months, but I always somehow manage to find my way back to it once the chill sets in. I'd like to thank everyone who has read, commented, and shared my posts. I greatly appreciate the support and the kind words over the years.

I'm keeping up with the birthday giveaway tradition again this year. (If you weren't around last year, here is the original post). It won't be as good as Cameron's, but we have some nice stuff lined up from:

Risen Fly Co.
Stonefly Press
Strip'n Flywear
Eat My Fly
and more, including some sweet flies, stickers, etc.

Check back this weekend for full contest information. I'll also be donating a quarter for each contest entry I receive towards aid for the Philippines. The more people who sign up, the more I donate.

Anyway, I've been warming up the vise again recently and whipped up a few dozen various old and new midge patterns.

I celebrated the 3 year anniversary by hitting the LL in the cold with only about 90 minutes of light left in the day. All I'm going to say is........WOOOHOOOO.

Also, just to jump on my soapbox really quick, dirty jeans are a small price to pay for not wading through the water and damaging the habitat. Don't wade if you don't have to. :)

Dub the Funcrageous Fly Fishing Bowtroutaholics (a.k.a the SE PA blogger fishing jam)

So, Mike from Troutrageous is heading south to Florida for his job (and hopefully changing his blog name to Snookerdoodle). He threw out the invitation to take a few of us for a "guided" tour of Valley Creek before he heads off to get a year-round tan.

Valley Creek is somewhat of an oddity to me. It's located only 20 minutes outside of Philadelphia and is in the middle of Valley Forge State Park, which is just dripping with history. There are literally no other wild trout streams around this far south, yet this spring fed little stream is home to a population of wild brown trout that have somehow beaten the odds and fought off some horrible pollution a few decades back to thrive in this little stream. It's kinda weird to think that you're fishing in a stream that George Washington took a piss in (and most likely drank from.)

I had to take my kids to swim class so I couldn't get there first thing in the AM, but my car was fully loaded and ready for the day.

I showed up a little late to the party, and Mike, Matt from the Functioning Fishaholics, and Steve from The Fly Fishing Bowhunter were already on the boards with a handful of fish. Matt and I opted for dries, while Mike and Steve waved around the weird Tenkara thingies. WIth all the rain, I was expecting a muddy shit show, but it was quite the opposite. The water was only slightly off color and wound up almost clearing by the end of the day. We wound up having a very successful day, with probably 20-30 fish landed between the 4 of us. Mike was an amazing guide and knew exactly where to go to put us on fish.

In poor blogger form, I didn't capture many pictures, except for a few of the prettiest browns I caught. These fish were beautiful with bright yellow bellies. It was a beautiful day, and I loved the fact that I didn't have to tie on a subsurface fly all day.

After fishing, we head off to the Tilted Kilt for some dinner and beers. The view on the creek was beautiful, but nothing compared to the view at this place. It was hard to focus on the food.

Overall, it was an awesome day of fishing with some cool peeps. Good luck in FL Mike, and hopefully we can get out one more time before you head off to gator country.