7-17-11...Smallies

I wanted to share one of my favorite places with you all...This is the creek that sparked my passion for fly fishing and my deep rooted love for Small Mouth Bass...This is a special place...often overlooked, misunderstood and abused. Years of farm waste, pesticides, silt and debris including garbage and other human waste products have pushed the ecosystem to it's max.

The fishing can be extraordinary..The scenery is breathtaking...

The banks and surrounding area are filled with wildlife..Eagles, Hawks, Green Herons, Wood Ducks, Mallards, Deer, Black Bear, Snapping Turtles..etc...

The aquatic life is abundant as well.. Smallies, Carp, Rock Bass, Fall Fish, Walleye, Suckers and assorted other species that accidently make their way into the flow...

Todays score....

Over the last year the fishing has suffered. This year nothing seems to be the way it was...The silt build up is becoming so great that there is no longer the abundance of forage that there once was. When you took a step, it seemed as though the river bottom was alive, it moved...The crayfish scurried everywhere to avoid being stepped on. That is no more...The rocks are brown and slimy...Crayfish are scarce...Bait fish seem to be minimal...Don't get me wrong...There is still life...but something is a miss...A 30-40 fish day was common...now you're lucky if you hit 10...I can only hope that nature will prevail, the river will cycle and life will overcome...Time will tell...Take care of our waters...They are precious gems...

Punk away

another Punk Rocker off to a new home to reek havoc on a mantle somewhere....damn punks...must be the mohawks

7-15-11...Carp

Yup...more carp today....Hitting them with the old Heddon 8 ft glass 7wt with an early Pfleuger brass reel...fun times

My first mirror carp....it ate a new fly, the maggot cluster..I will post pics of that later this week..

A nice common....devoured a red SJW cluster...

Order up

Sex Dungeons and Zoo Cougars were on the order for today...Custom colors, weed guards and a switch from marabou to rabbit on the backs...out the door to an eager bass enthusiast...Oh yes Mr. Galloup....they catch the green trout as well

7-14-11...Fall Fish

When I speak of these fish...everyone seems to know what I am referencing...but with 50 different names for the species. I call them Fall Fish...They are listed on DEC'c website as such, that's what I'm going with...To the point...If you have not targeted them, you are missing out. Mix the fight of a carp with the bull dogging of a smallie...you have the fight of a fall fish....They get big..Last year I caught one that was pushing 23 inches...they are a beautiful chrome color...they smell a little funky...they croak when you have them out of water...by croak I don't mean die...just a noise...They eat the Sili Craw with ferocity....Go catch one and let me know what you think...You will not be disappointed....

7-13-11...Carping

So a little carping was in order this morning....Dustin landed two...a little on the small side but no one's judging...

I hooked into the biggest carp I have ever caught on the fly...only to have the hook snap at the bend...Just as I set it....I hooked into two more only to have both of those hooks bent straight on the first run...No fish landed for me...These were flies that were not tied by me....My hooks don't do this....Oh well...lesson learned...That's why I tie my own....

7-8-11..Smallie

I took a bit of time from my vice this morning, although I sit next to it at the moment writing this post. I decided to skip all of the nice days this week and tie orders..choosing today to make my way to the stream. I pull up, skies are a bit grey...unload, paddle up to where I want to be...fighting the high murky water remnant from the random thunderstorms of a few days past. The rumbling began..at first I though it was a bike, or a car with a leaky exhaust...but no, it became louder..I finally gave in and looked to the sky...what a mess of grey and black swirls...I let my drift carry me downstream heading back to my Jeep...the lightning started...still fairly distant...one more cast...hit a pig of a smallie...

The excitement took over and I needed to make a few more last minute casts...I drifted past my car...the blackness closed in and the lightning got closer...I through in the towel just in the knick of time...The last strap was tightened, lightning came so close to me it appeared to have hit my vehicle. The thunder crackling was instantaneous, as if the ground was going to open and swallow me whole...As I closed the door, the clouds dropped dime sized rain at the ground...chasing me from the river back to the vice...