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Sunday, July 31, 2011

7-31-11..Smallies

Toaday was a great day on the water...Phil and I hit a spot we haven't fished since he tipped his yak there last year. IT started slow, but then gained momentum...We both boated about 8 fish...Some bangers in the mix for sure. I got to test out a new rod and break it all in the same day....Killer rod though...Cortland Diamond Back 10ft 7wt....I mixed it up by using my leader kit from Rio...A fast sink 15 foot section was added to a 350 grain line....I was able to chuck 8 inch streamers 70 feet like it was a dry fly. I started the day by using some small streamers and bouncing some Sili Craws....I was hitting decent fish but not the ones I wanted...






Out came the big flies..







8 inch, articulated bucktail streamers....Yup...second cast and slam....PIG in the boat...Lock and reload....Very next cast...Pig in the boat....BIG FLIES>>>BIG FISH...I sell these flies as well if anyone is interested....or any other color combo you might like....


Night Fishing

OK...I'm not a guy that is easily intimidated...period....but fishing at night freaks me out....Dustin and I came up with the idea of giving this a whirl the other day. I usually don't have much trouble targeting Walleye on the fly, early mornings seem to work out just fine....however...everything that I read suggests that the best bite is at night. When the big boys come out to hunt...as well as all the ground dwelling animals of the North East...bears, raccoons, fishers, martins, coyote, bob cats, the mountain lions that are spotted all over but DEC claims we don't have...etc....

I normally don't let these things get into my head...but turn off the lights, deplete me of the one sense that I cling to the most, the sense that makes my living and allows me to create the art and flies that I make. The most important sense in my life..MAYHEM in my brain....Every noise, EVERY NOISE sent me into a silent panic on the inside..what the hell was that...I know I heard something....Quick grab the maglite and do an eyeball scan...That's right an eyeball scan...Take the lite and scan the woods behind us to check for little beady glowing eyes...

We had a lantern, headlights and the mag...The first night we actually ran into a couple of other guys that were doing the same...not with fly rods, but Walleye hunting none the less...Now fly fishing at night comes with it's own set of difficulties...After slapping your back or head one or two times you learn the importance of a side cast...and crushing down barbs...

The animals aside...the thing at night that affected me the most were the insects. Spiders that could walk off with your child, Dobsons that sound like B-52s flying at your head. In fact, we had a run in with a Dobson...It bombed my head, I swatted at it furiously, then it flew over and landed on Dustin...We both hiked up out skirts and screamed like school girls...After regaining composure we went to the lantern for re-rigging to find this spider hanging out.


The pic does not do it justice...If I put this spider on my palm, it would have filled my hand...Anything with more or less legs then me is not ok....end of story...Once again skirt came up and off I went back to the water...

We hit another spot after a bit and finally had a hookup. Bent the rod over and got off....I cast again this time hooking solid into a jaw...A 24 inch Walleye came up...Fat, healthy and angry. Walleye seem to fight a bit different at night. Instead of heading straight back to the bottom like early morning or daylight hours, at night they tend to pull side to side and wherever they want...The take was a lot more aggressive then the daytime as well....


We tried Friday night and Saturday night....One fish brought in between the two of us...Saturday cost me the life of my Sage Large Mouth rod...It was a dear friend that will be sent back to the company...After a big double haul with a weighted fly, it exploded like a gunshot and broke it's butt....I will try this again in the near future...as soon as the the phantom spiders crawling on me and Dobson buzzing leave my thoughts....

First Carp on the Fly

I had the rare opportunity to fish with my Brother this weekend. It's always a pleasure to get to hang with him and spend a little quality fish time together. He had never caught a carp on the fly before...so the mission was set. I guaranteed him a fish to hand...I plat guide from time to time when out fishing with people...but seeing that is was my brother and I made promises of hookups...the pressure was on...At first there was nothing to see...The wind picked up a bit and the sand decided to hide behind the clouds. Not ideal for a first carp outing. Eventually as we made our way around the lake the conditions turned in out favor and we had some success. We spotted many tailing fish...I had him toss flies to most of them with no takes...Then he found one that would play. A nice fish of about 7 pounds...Surprisingly there was not a lot of fight in the little guy, but a first carp is a carp none the less....Congrats to Chris....A job well done...

Thursday, July 28, 2011

orders up

A Sili Craw order out the door....


Another Punk off to a new home....the H-Bone Punker...

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

7-25-11...The Rusty Spinner

We all have our home waters. The water in which no matter where else in the world we may find willing fish, stays sacred in our hearts. The water in which the passion of fish on the fly began and grew. One of the things that I love about being a fly angler is getting the chance to share my waters and see other angler's waters as well. Now this is not an honor that comes easy. We all measure up other anglers to determine whether or not they are worthy walking in our sacred rivers. I was given such honor this weekend by The Rusty Spinner.

I have fished parts of this river once before. Another good friend had shared it with me last year. Anyone that knows me, knows that I am the worst navigator known to man. If my life depended on it I would never be able to find my way back to the places that I fished over the weekend. I cannot share the name of this secret water under penalty of ostrasism from the elite group of angers in the know of this water. That makes it even more of an honor that I could walk it's banks and step foot on it's bottom.

The scenery is a bit different then what I am used to. It was reminiscent of a post apocalyptic city scape. I was half expecting zombies to appear from behind boulders to attempt to eat our brains and steal our carp.








Even with the falling buildings in the distance, the factories, treatment plants and whatever other urban development that surrounded this gem beauty was to be found.




As we entered the river the fish were there waiting. Pods of carp lay in the available pools waiting for our offerings. It appeared that they were going to play a bit of a different game then we had in mind. We had some follows, I even hooked into a pig of a carp...It ran me out, played it for a bit and was broken off by the treacherous rocks that lay everywhere. This river was some of the toughest wading that I have ever done. Trenches, holes, uneven surface, unsteady boulders..etc...This river will beat you up as we found out. Mr. Spinner took a step on a rock that was a bit unstable and sacrificed his leg to the river.


Not that long after I did the same. I misjudged the depth of a trench stepped a bit off and rolled my ankle over a rock. It instantly turned purple and looked like a golf ball...


Battered, bruised and swollen we pushed on to finish our quest to find willing fish. We caught all sizes of smallies along the way. The last fish of the day was by far the best bass that I got into.. It displayed some impressive acrobatics for us before being unhooked and released back to the waters in which it came.







The man, the myth, the legend...Rusty Spinner in action......Smallie hunting off of the boulders....




We did get into some carp as well...That being the ultimate goal of the day...For anyone out there that has not caught a carp on the fly....I feel for you...You are missing such an angling experience words can't even explain. Get out and give it a try...If you like seeing your backing, hearing your reel scream for mercy, your rod bent end to end, being frustrated out of your mind by their uncooperative behavior, and a genuine knee shake when you do land one....Then this is for you...and their ugly mugs do grow on you after a bit...As my lady exclaims..."They are adorable."



Many thanks to The Rusty Spinner for sharing his wonderful water with me. It is truly a special place. I look forward to more fishing adventures with my new friend...Until next time...Tight Lines and Screaming Reels.....

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Sili Craw

This fly has been responsible for more fish landed this year then any other in my box at the moment....They are for sale...email for details...




Satisfied customer photos and fooled fish





and more photos just came in the email tonight...Success with the craw...