12-20-10 Another Steel chasing day

My co-worker and friend Dustin the Muffin, his friend Mark and I went for a steelhead chase session today. The day began as usual...the 5am wakeup....5:30 peddle to the metal...on our way...We were greeted in Altmar by a flock of turkeys running down the main drag...I of course blocked traffic to snap a pic...

There are several fly shops to choose from when in need of supplies when you hit the river. The guys opted for the more elite shop today. I have to say....If you are going to work in customer service, retail, selling things to fly fisherman who plan on using them to catch fish on the stream that supports your business...you should have more personality then a door knob....Unfriendly, unhelpful, unwelcoming... This is my last time giving this particular shop my hard earned money....Oh well...

Arriving at the water...Mark somehow pulled a superman and geared up in the backseat of my jeep while I drove...He of course has a fish on by the time Dustin and I get to the water...We all fished like crazy....Every pattern in the boxes...Nymphs, stones, eggs, swinging some speys....Tough day...We all did get on some fish though.

"AHAHAHAHA...I fart in your general direction""


"Don't cry Dustin...There will be fish soon"




Dustin and Mark did the show me the fishy dance....


Mark's epic battle, ice cubes pouring off his brow...

His prize....

Mark totaled out at three fish landed...not bad at all

Dustin hooks up.....Big fish...real big fish..Leaps in the air..slams down and buries itself in a fallen tree...Mark and I tried to assist...It was of no use...The fish won...The line fell slack....This is his battle photo...


I finally hook up....My first fish was not so impressive...What she lacked in size she made up for in personality...


Immediately after this fish was released...I think it was on my third cast after...Another fish hooked up....
My battle over the rocks, trying to keep the fish from the current...


My prize...safely released after the photo


These were the patterns I tied for the trip....Both of my fish were caught on the same fly....Cloudy skies, low flows, cold water....Guess which one and I'll send you one....Good luck


Fun times....Tight Lines and Screaming Reels....

The Fly that caught the Steel

This is the fly that graced me over the weekend with great performance. It is simple, but deadly...Size 8 nymph hook...5/32 brass multi color bead....pink midge braid body...white wing and flash belly....grande estaz collar...I was swinging and dead drifting this fly on current seams with great success...Give it a try...

12-12-10

A solo trip to the Salmon took place today...The weather was, according to the Meteorologists, going to be in the low 40's....It must be nice having their jobs, because you never really have to be right...Could you imagine...me...being a tattoo artist, almost being right part of the time.."Well sir...This tattoo should come out like this, but there is a chance of this, with a side of that and by Tuesday it may look like this"....WTF....Well anyway...

It rained on and off, as it was supposed to, sleet mixed in for good measure....plus the 20mph winds no one mentioned...Changing the 40 to a 20 for the "feels like" temp...A little chilly today...

However...

I did get a solid 8 fish hookup count...I landed 2 on the bank...Where the fish briskly decided that on my way down to them they were going to flop back and forth, breaking my line and re-entering their watery home...I can't say that I blame them really...From a photographic perspective it was a little disappointing...I had a total of 4 break offs and 3 that just shook me free...All fish were on the the line and played for at least a few seconds...So some satisfaction was had...My first fish of the day promptly took me into my backing on the first run...

I have to admit once again...I'm not a winter fan...At one point today I thought I was going to have to chop my Korkers off of my boots, and my boots off of my feet. My toes went from cold, to tingly, to numb, to some other feeling in which they were no longer single entities, but more like one giant club stuck to the bottom of my leg...I am totally addicted to the pull of these fish and will continue chasing the chrome beauties until I sustain permanent nerve damage or lose a toe...I can always buy more socks to....

I have a pattern that I came up with for this trip...It was an idea I had looking at info on Lake Ontario's crustacean dwellers....I will post it as soon as I make more as I lost them all today....

Here's the photo of the landed fish....

Tight Lines and Screaming Reels....

Hott Butt Toad

One of my most successful bucket catchers....The Hott Butt Toad...This thing shakes it's booty like no other.....an order for a friend of mine....

a few streamers and such

Been playing around with some styling for next spring's lip ripping action....I think I stumbled upon something accidentally while working on these that I will share in a few weeks once it's all worked out...I think it will change the shape of my subsurface bass flies forever....I'll give you a hint...it involves wool and the techniques I use for making deer hair bugs....For now...here's these....

Hatches Booth at the Symposium

All photos were shot by Alex Cerveniak....A very talented fly angler, fly tyer, photographer and writer....These were photos taken at the Symposium of the Hatches Magazine booth, the flies were made by yours truly...Enjoy....

a fly I tied at somerset

this is a fly I tied for a man named Max Birnkammer... www.stillwaterangler.com Max makes some beautiful hand painted hard bodied poppers. check his work out...we did a little swap at the end of the show..these are photos he took....

12-05-10

With much deliberation we decided to rock out a day trip to the Salmon. The weather and the high water were the possible stopping points. This was a trip for my Dad's birthday with my younger brother....Discussing the pro's and con's of this first time adventure for the two of them...we decide to carry on after all....

The day began at the crack of 6am...21 degrees...snowing..darkness...Now at this point some people..."rational" people as they like to refer to themselves..would have gone back inside to a warm bed....these are the people that have never experienced a tug from a winter caught fish....A bend in the rod that extends through you to your feet....The screaming of a reel is an addictive sound indeed....The song of steel....

To Whitaker's...rent some gear....on our way....to the first area to get our groove on...


We fished several areas...I have to admit...it was cold...and it snowed the entire day....the river was close to empty of people...only the insane or obsessed were riding this ride...a few breaks were taken for those "I can't feel my toes moments"...Now when the upper fly zone is open and in swing with people...you don't get out of the spot you're in, if you are lucky enough to find a spot...because there are vultures circling ready to swoop down and grab your hold of the river...Thoughts enter your head like...well I do have ten toes, I can live with a few less....I hear they make good prostetics these days...anything to not leave "your" water...Luckily for us, the UFZ is closed, and we could warm our piggley wigglies...




Chris there are no steel head in the trees....


All three of us had hook ups....We all battled the elements bravely...Like angling warriors....



We feasted....


We fished some more.....
The drift....

The fight....

The reward...

...and yes...those are icicles hanging from my hand....

A great day on the water....A great Father and Sons outing....