Whip finish vs half hitch?

Open question, which do you prefer? I was a huge fan of whip finishing but I've recently started to appreciate the half hitch for avoiding trapped hackle on small dry flies. Which do you prefer and why?

Oh and shout out to Owl Jones for hosting an awesome terrestrial fly swap! Can't wait to use these.

No bugs but still fun

I spent the last week tying about 50 dry flies and figured I'd test them out today.

When I pulled up to the stream I saw a bunch of fishermen sitting around and talking. That's never a good sign. Yep, no hatches were going on.

Even though there was no surface activity, I was still able to fool a handful of trout on top by smacking down a furry foam beetle along the edges of a typical feeding lane.

I'm glad I got my fishing in today. Looks like we're gonna get a much needed few inches of rain in the next 36 hours. That will hopefully ensure the stockies behind my house at least have a chance. Right now, it's looking bad for them!

Springtime photo dump

I realized today that I've had no time to really update this blog, and unless you're on Instagram or occasionally seeing my Twitter posts, it seems like I haven't been up to much of anything.
So yeah, here's a quick springtime recap and a massive photo dump of fishing and family stuff.


I knocked out about 40 bugs for two separate terrestrial swaps. I can't wait to get my flies back.



I hit one of the most epic midge hatches I've ever seen at the Little Lehigh and had a ton of fun with wild brown trout and small dry flies.




We took Michael to the Camden Aquarium for his birthday. That place is so badass.






My stepdad and I hit a local secret spot for some great March largemouth action. He slammed a nice one.



Easter with the kids was pretty damn fun.



And last but not least, the ride got the massive fly fishing bumper sticker treatment last weekend.


Happy Friday!

After two years, I finally got one!

I headed out Thursday night after the kids were finally asleep in the darkness to stalk some nighttime risers. I stopped at a few spots with street lights and noticed two things, extremely low clear water, and no fish. I guess the bait chuckers were really wiping them out.

I headed down to the old foot bridge were I was chasing carp over the winter and I saw a few rises. Perfect. As I walked to the stream I also noticed it was really muddy. I then saw a ton of monster carp mudding along the edges of the stream, digging for food. I opted for the bigger species :)

I tossed a small crayfish imitation named "Skip's Dad" that I got from the Instagram Fly Swap. I swung it in front of a big carp and a smallie came out of nowhere and smashed it. OK, not what I was looking for, but I didn't get skunked.


This wound up happening a few more times, with dink smallmouth taking the fly. After a few minutes I saw a window of opportunity with two big carp heading towards the same big rock. I dropped my fly perfect between then and saw a slight pull on my line as the small one inhaled it.

Once he was on, I realized that I had made the mistake of not really having the gear for this fight. I had a 4 weight and 6X tippet. Not something you want to realize when you're backing deep into an 8 lb carp.

I took my time, played him right, and safely landed him. I was so freaking excited. After two years, I finally got my first carp on a fly. I let out a giant "YES!!" even though I was standing in the middle of a dark park by myself with no one else around. This was a night I won't soon forget.


I watched him swim away with a giant smile on my face and noticed the trout starting to rise again just upstream. It didn't matter. No trout in this stream would repeat the fight I just had.

I'm a day late on this...

Three years ago my life drastically changed. The nights were spent awake, my fishing holes were deserted, but it was totally worth it. Happy birthday Michael. Enjoy being 3 and know that your daddy loves you more than anything in the world.

They grow up so fast. *tear*

Can you smell the powerbait?

Went for a run this morning and came across this. Poor fish.

I have two things to say

#1 Thank god there will be a sequel

#2 if you're trout almondine and looking for work, you are in luck.

Happy Friday.

Dubbing reviews: Performance Flies SLF and Hends UV blend

I got a package in the mail from Performance Flies the other day and I was curious to try out the Hend's dubbing for some Czech nymphs. I really like their shellback material and the dubbing impressed me as well. It's got a great blue flash to it, long fibers, and it dubs really well. Instead of a czech nymph, I opted for a modified psycho prince nymph I've been working on with a shaggier appearance and a double set of white wings. The mottled shellback on the top gives it a natural look, but the bright purple is still flashy on the sides and bottom. I tossed a few of these to my buddy who fished the Salmon River in NY over the weekend and he said he pulled two steelies on one of these out of Ellis Cove on Saturday. I think I have a winner.


Next up is Performance Flies SLF dubbing. I also really like this. Long fibers, dubs easy, it's pretty thick so it's easy to taper and build up a body fast. I tried out Craven's Caddistrophic with the SLF and I like how it turned out. Now I just need to fish this pattern.I also wanna try this stuff for some underbody on some big elk hair caddis.


You can pick this stuff up over at Performance Flies for pretty cheap. Also don't overlook the great hooks, and Jan Siman dubbing as well.

Product Review: Chill Toque Hat by Sauce Headwear

First a Bugslinger package from TFM, then a Tenkara net, and now a free hat! I'm on a roll. I was chosen at random by the Outdoor Blogger Network to review this hat.

It's called a Chill Toque hat by Sauce Headwear. We've had a warm winter, but luckily I got it in time to test it out during a cold spell on one of the last days of February. I was kinda surprised when I got the hat because it had this spiral hole in the top of it. After wearing it and hiking along a stream for 15 minutes I quickly realized that the hole is awesome. It lets moisture escape, and this hat is really warm, so the hole really does let enough heat out so you don't start sweating. It really is a nice feature.




The only downside I found with this hat was the size. I ordered the largest one they had, but it was still a little snug on me. Although in defense of Sauce, I have a gigantic skull. I wear a size 7 and 7/8th fitted baseball hat, which means I usually have to order my hats online. It still fit, but I felt more like Michael Phelps in one of his little swimming bonnets than I wanted to.

(By the way, sorry Sauce. I'm sure you were hoping for a cute 20-something girl modeling your hat and you get a fat 36 year old dad with glasses)


These hats retail for $30, and if you spend any amount of time outdoors in the winter, I highly suggest picking one up (unless your head is the size of Utah, like mine).

Thanks to OBN and Sauce for the hat. I'll definitely wear it again, even if it does make me look like a swimmer.

The smartest fish in the stream

You all know what I'm talking about. There's your favorite local stream, and you know it inside and out. You know the hatches, the feeding lanes, and even certain fish that live in certain stretches. But no matter how smart you get, how beautiful your flies are, and how perfectly you cast, this one fish will not fall for your tricks. He may not be the biggest, or prettiest, but he's educated, and it haunts you every time he refuses your offering.


There has been a rainbow trout that I've started to consider the smartest fish I've ever faced. In the last 4 weeks, I've went up against him and lost every weekend. He loves to hold behind the same slate rock, and has a way of darting around the far side of it, sipping two bugs, and then running back to cover. He has this same approach to feeding every time I see him. He's not huge, probably a little over a foot long, but he is so damn smart.

I got to the stream today and he was the first fish I saw rise. I figured I would just take my time and work on him until I got him. It was a free for all with hatches and the fish were rising to everything from BWOs to midges, to caddis, to black stones, and even a few cahills or sulphurs (not sure what they were but today was the first time I've seen them this year). I started with olives. Size 18, not even a look. 20, nothing. Ok, let's try a 22. He rises, inspects, backs down. I cast again, he comes up again, stops fighting the current, and drifts downstream with the fly about an inch from his nose, examining it for a good 5 seconds before backing away.

This game continued with every fly I threw at him. As soon as my cast went over his head, he'd run out, take two naturals, and head back to his spot. It was driving me crazy. After about 200 casts, I was about to give up. I tossed out a size 20 Griffith's Gnat, and then was distracted by a young college girl jogging past in yoga pants. DAMN, missed a hit. Maybe he's not so smart. Tried the same fly again, nothing.

I walked a little upstream and sat down at a bench, just watching this fish continue to rise. An older gentlemen walked right into the spot and started to work the fish. He couldn't even get a look and went on his way. I decided to tie on the smallest fly I had and make one more cast before heading home. Out came the 8x with a size 24 Griffith's gnat. I got a look, but no follow. One more cast. Nothing. DAMN this fish is smart. I then noticed a brown feeding pretty fast and moving right into the same feeding lane. One more cast.

It landed perfectly, drag free drift, right in the zone. It was like slow motion. The bow had noticed the brown in his space and wanted to beat him to the fly. I watched him shoot at the fly like a rocket, I saw white as he opened his mouth. SET. GOT HIM.

I finally outsmarted him, and it felt better bringing this fish to hand than any fish I've caught in a long time. I think the most amazing thing about this fish was that he was rising again in the same spot a few minutes after I released him.

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