Bolivia

I was contacted by a recent customer to work out some special fly selections for him. He's going on a trip to Bolivia to chuck fluff at Golden Dorado and Pacu...He needed me to whip up some flies for him. I have to say, I have never fished for either of these species..or been to Bolivia for that matter...So I did what any good destination fly tyer would do...hit the web in search for all of the info that I could find...Here are the results of my tying research...

8 Doz.

8 dozen Great Lakes Deceivers heading off to Streamside Custom Rod and Guide Service..Michigan..
They use them to chase trophy Browns on the Ausable, plus Pike and Smallies...and anything else that eats smaller fish...

New Rod

So I added a new fly rod to my collection of old glass...A Wright and McGill Trailmaster 7 1/2 ft 7 wt...This rod is a ton of fun to use..Casts great, has great action and was in really great shape...Here's a few fish caught on it's first day in my hands...Nothing huge...but fun just the same...

The Toad Fly

a new logo design that I just completed for Tim Bull...He is opening a fly shop in Arkansas called the Toad Fly...Get there, check them out...

Pans...

I'm not a huge fan of chasing big buckets of of their spawning beds...The schools of large pan fish lurking in the weeds next to the nests are just waiting for the opportunity to clean them out. This is what I ran into today. The bass are on their beds..the spawn is on...The pan fish are everywhere...so I took advantage of it and had a great day testing some new fly prototypes and playing with the new 40lb thrust motor I have rigged to my yak. I was able to explore the lake in it's entirety...which I have never been able to do before..you can only paddle so far...I've been searching for carp feeding grounds for a year, and think I may have finally discovered it...here's the photos...lot's of pan fish...blue gills, crappie, perch, rock bass...of course there is a mix of smallies and a few buckets in there as well....enjoy...more on the new flies when I finalize the designs...

I also had the opportunity to watch some snapping turtles getting ready to make some little snapping turtles...talk about a violent interaction.....at one point he had her whole neck in his mouth...

There were about 15 of these red eared sliders on this fallen tree...under the tree were schools of crappie...

This little guy accidently got hooked in the leg and brought into my boat for a safe release...first time I have ever caught a red eared slider with a fly..