8-29-10

My new obsession.....Carp on the fly....Thanks to my friend Alex from Hatches magazine, hooking me up on my first carp on the fly today...Oh my....I've never had my reel spin that out of control before....Had me into backing on the first run before it broke me off.....Sight fishing at it's best......Technical fishing, long casts, 50-70 feet with an 8 weight....A weighted fly.....little splash upon the fly hitting the water, small strips 3-6 inches....Perfect presentations...These are spooky fish that are not easy to catch...but well worth the effort...I only hooked up on one, didn't even land it and I can feel the obsession building...This was the first time ever that I was getting annoyed catching bass....Landed 9 of those....photos courtesy of Alex...

8-27-10

Blue bird skies didn't help the topwater bite this morning...Managed a couple though.....I have a new fly...The Slop Mop...A combo of things I like from different flies all in one....Very light, durable, doesn't water log, glides over the weed slop, wiggles if you want, throws a ton of water, good stuff.....

8-26-10

Slamming the slop this morning.....Weedy, nasty, slime filled, lilly pad infested, grassy, chunky, clumped up algae filled water....The kind of lake they make horror movies out of....Chasing after pickerel....If you have never experienced the excitement of watching a fish create a wake through the water chasing your fly....Then ravenously exploding the water around it....Shaking his head and then running.....The occasional jump and dive down to the weeds....Then you are missing out on some of the best top water action in your backyard....Chain pickerel are definetly an underrated game fish...Don't under estimate....I got bit off today four times, through 50 lb braid as a tippet...Big ass fish....Don't use your best flies as they will be torn up, shredded or sacrificed to the gods of fish with teeth....Good times....

8-19-10

this morning's therapy session.....

8-18-10

I haven't been fishing in a few days....Took some extra sleep time....Made some flies instead....These are big streamers with beads on the weed guards to make a little clink clink....here fishy fishy....

8-15-10

Went out with my step dad, Phil today....Had a great day...Fishing was a bit slow...The skies were clouy, a little rain, cooler 70 degree air temp....The fish were there but playing a different game.....I managed nine in the boat, losing the biggest smallie of the day, probably pushing 4 lbs, right at the boat as my thumb ground across his bottom teeth taking the fly out with it...Bye bye fishy....Phil caught his first walleye ever....Pushing 25 inches 6 lbs...He wasn't sure how to handle the toothy beast so I assisted in the landing and accidental early release...He seemed to have a little extra fight left in him as he suddenly shook his body and snapped down his teeth at my hands....Dropped in the water before I could get a photo....I have officially made a kayak fishing addict out of him....hahaha....Smallie fever...my favorite disease....

8-14-10

A bass a day keeps the doc away....Bass bugging in the morning sun...Only produced one....it's all I really needed though....

8-13-10

A man walks into the tattoo shop and says I hear someone here makes bass bugs...."Why yes I do".....and here is what I made for him.....

Dahlberg Diver video by me

The video quality kind of sucks....I've had a lot of emails about how I make these flies...So here is a rough explanation....I hope it helps...Any feedback as to make the video better would be appreciated....Thanks...Enjoy

8-9-10

A little sore from yesterday...My buddy Bran Muffin wanted to go do a little bucket and pickerel fishing today...I think we picked the worst lake in the state for summer time fishing.....The water is low, a little dingy, a little smelly....The weeds are so thick and high you can barely get a fly through....We managed some fish....but overall it was a day of casting practice for me....A few crappies, a very small bass, a small pickerel and some bluegills by me...My buddy caught one nice large mouth and a couple of pickerel.....Still beats a day at work.....

8-8-10

Killer day on the stream of streams.....My Pop and good friend John joined me today for a little smallmouth action....It was the first time for both of them to go smallmouth bass river kayak fly fishing....A good time was had by all.... My fly boxes are a little lighter after handing out flies so everyone could hook up...but that's ok...time for some new stuff anyway....A great trip, lots of fish....Start time was 7 am....A little chilly beginning....I'm thinking winter is getting a little too close....Finish time was about 5pm...4 1/2 river miles....A whole lot of walking with the yaks...The stream is a little low.....All in all, about 30 fish were boated...just as many lost....A good tired at the end of the day.....Here's some pics....As almost always...I'm the one with the green boat and dingy green grey pants...You must all know my legs pretty well by now....Purple shirt is John...The beard is my dad....