Catch and Release

Over the past few months I have caught and released this fish on four seperate occasions.  She has always been caught in the same spot despite the fact that she has been released several pools down stream from where she is originally hooked.  She always does the same thing, a few quick bursts up stream than an about face and a mad rush down stream that requires you to beat feet after her or she's gone baby gone!  The fish has a damaged mandible from a former battle and and a very recognizable spot pattern on the cheek.  The picture above is from our most recent encounter this weekend, when she took a big golden stone nymph (more on that in a future post).

The first time we met it was late winter and it was far too cold to be messing around with a camera so she was quickly sent on her way but I made a note of the water she was in and that damaged jaw.  On that occasion she was tricked by a green rockworm imitation.

Our next meeting took place right before the season opener.  This time a pink san juan worm with a gold bead did the trick.  I saw this take as she rose up from her spot in front of a log and picked off the fly mid current.

Our third encounter took place a few weeks ago during a high water event.  She was in the same spot as always.  She is never visable but you just know she is down there somewhere.  This time a heavy cased caddis imitation fooled her.

I am going to bid her farewell for the rest of the season and leave her be.  Four times in one season is more than enough...

Cabela's 11' Czech Nymph Rod

I recently purchased a 4wt  11' CZN fly rod from Cabela's.  I had to wait a while for it since it was on back order, but its in my hands now and its time to give it a quick review.  First off I should mention the price point.  At $200.00 it is probably one of the cheaper fly rods on the market today.  The rod is manufactured in Korea and the fit and finish on the rod is just as good as rods costing 3 times as much.

I have fished this rod since the begining of the season and have been thrilled with it.  The extra foot of reach over my ten foot rods has allowed me a little extra stand off distance for some of the more tricky spots on the river.  On some smaller streams I can cover the water bank to bank without even getting my feet wet.  This is a special purpose nymhing rod, ideally suited for Euro nymphing techniques.

The rod has a supple tip and a bit of power in the butt section.  It presents a cast of nymphs well and the light tip protects fine tippets but the rod's more powerful butt section allows you to quickly bring fish to hand.  I won't comment on the castability of this rod because quite frankly there is no traditional casting involved with many of these techniques.  Recently I had the opportunity to fish the rod with traditional indicator techiques and it is well suited for that purpose as well.  The added length makes mending a breeze but more importantly eleven feet of rod often allows you to keep the line of the water entirely making mending unnecessary.

If your looking for a reasonably prized Czech Nymphing rod you may want to check this one out.  The rod is available in 3-5wt and lengths from 9'-6" to 11'.

Fishing in the Rain...

This spring has been a very cool wet one for us here in the northeast.  Great for the trout, not so great for those of us that chase them with a fly rod.  I am not adverse to fishing in the rain, but all this rain has kept our streams at or near flood stage for long periods of time.  When water levels and clarity drop down to fishable levels its time to drop what your doing and head to the water regardless what the weather is.  In between all of this rain we have had some breaks with a beautiful day or two but usually the rivers are blown out or running with the consistency of chocolate milk.  I have been glued to the computer, studying water stream gauges on my local waters and dashing out when there looks like there is an opportunity to fish.  On days when the streams are just not an option I've been able to slip my kayak into a local pond and chase warm-water species.

This Monday there looked like there was going to be a opportunity to hit the trout streams.  Water levels were dropping to fishable levels and hopefully there would be enough clarity to fish.  After work I slipped out for a few hours and was not disappointed.  There were plenty of fish in the margins and the softer water along the banks.  The low light and off colored water made some of the stream's larger browns a little more approachable but landing these fish in high water was next to impossible.  Once they headed off down stream chasing them was not an option, so your only option was to snub up on the reel and bid them farewell.

The positive side to this spring's tough conditions will be that there should be plenty of water and fishable temperatures well into June.  It was also good to see that the bugs don't seem to have any issues with the high flows.  Our sulfurs are coming off like crazy and are getting a break from the fish as they ride rapids unmolested, at least on the surface.  So there was no delicate presentation of light colored mayflies to these fish.  It was big heavy nymphs, the kind that will put your eye out with an errant cast.

Longing for soft warm evenings presenting delicate dry flies to rising fish...

A Piece of Fly Fishing History

A few months back I picked up a Thompson Wet Fly Wing Forming Tool. This tool was popular back in the days when wet fly fishing was the standard method of presenting a fly to a trout.  When I purchased the tool it came with only three combs  I was fortunate to find three additional combs of different sizes on eBay a few days back. I have not used it yet since up to a few days ago I did not have the appropriate sized comb for the size flies I was looking to tie. I'll put up another post with the finished product and the steps taken to get there.

 

'Gill Time...

nuff said...

Backwater Paddle Company Piranha Paddle

Last year I picked up a Piranha Paddle from the Backwater Paddle Company.  This multipurpose hand paddle has changed the way I fish from a kayak. It is designed to be used in one hand.  This small paddle does not replace your standard kayak paddle but  supplements it instead.

This is how it works for me.  Once I get in the boat, I use my 7' kayak paddle to navigate to my fishing area.  Once I am in place and ready to start casting the Piranha paddle comes into play.  With one hand I can correct the orientation of the boat for the optimum casting position. Once the fishing begins, I can slowly quietly and effortlessly work my way down the shoreline casting away and making minor course adjustments with the Piranha Paddle.  Simply put it works like a charm.

In addition the paddle has multiple specialized surfaces that come in handy while fishing.  The angled serrated forward edge of the paddle is useful for pushing off objects and assists me while launching the craft allowing to push off a shallow bottom until I reach a suitable depth for my regular paddle. It also sees a lot of use pushing off shoreline cover that I happen to get to close to. The hooked portion of the paddle comes in handy for grabbing branches that are holding that inevitable fly that a errant cast caused it to land in a shoreline tree.  The hook also comes in handy for grabbing items that inadvertently fall overboard as well as grabbing on to a piece of shore line cover for exiting the boat or holding the boat fast to another boat or floating object.

Now for the best part...it cost me twenty bucks.  It is by far the best twenty dollars I have ever spent on a piece of fishing or boating equipment!

Trifecta Plus One....

Although it's not a rare occurance, pulling off a trifecta on my local river doesn't happen too often.  It is predominantly a brown trout fishery with a healthy number of rainbows sprinkled in for good measure.  Brook trout are not as common and what is even less common, at least in the area of river I fish, are smallmouth bass.  Over the weekend I pulled off the quadfecta...brown trout, rainbow trout, brook trout and the elusive smallmmouth bass.

First at the gate was this fellow.  As I said previously we don't see many catchable size smallies on this section of stream.

The Elusive Smallmouth Bass

Second up is the rainbow trout, fairly common in faster sections of the stream and they do quite well in this river.

Next up is my favorite, the brown trout.  My best fish from this stream was a brown that stretched the tape past the 28" mark.  In the early season, once the chill comes off the day the browns start to feed pretty regularly but they definately show a preference for overcast days.

Some big...

Some not so big...

Finally the brook trout...most of what you catch will look like this.

Typical brook trout

But once in a blue moon you'll be lucky enough to find one that looks like this...

Not so typical brook trout

I don't know where this fella came from but he was in prime shape.  Perfect fins and a lean muscular body that has spent a season or two in the river.  My personal best for this stream.  All and all it was a great season opener!

One final note...
As I was gearing up for the day someone made the comment that I would not be sneaking up on any fish that day wearing my new yellow Fiberglass Manifesto t-shirt.  I guess the fish were color blind that day or they loved the new design!  Thanks Cameron!

Getting Down Deep - The Cased Caddis Anchor

Cased Caddis Anchor

Faced with the prospect of high water flows on the season opener this weekend, I spent a few hours working on a few anchor fly patterns.  I was inspired to tie this particular pattern by my three year old son.  He was walking around the house with a piece of chartruese colored nylon twine around his neck.  Not wanting him to string himself up I took it away from him.  As I was getting ready to throw it away, I realized it would make a perfect larva head for a peeking caddis pattern.  A jig hook, large facetted/slotted tungsten bead, a lead underbody, grouse hackle for legs and a spiky hares ear body complete the package.  A basic peeking caddis pattern but this one has some serious weight behind it!

This is Fly Magazine

The April/May edition is out!

Simms G4 Pro Waders

Last week my trusty old Simms G3 waders finally gave up the ghost.  I have gotten more use out of these waders than any other pair I've owned, so I was sad to see them go.  They are going back to Simms to see if there is any chance of resuscitation, but I am not hopeful.  Not wanting to fish the season opener swimming in a leaky pair of waders, I took the plunge and ordered a new pair of Simms  G4 Pro Waders.  A few months back I was fortunate to win one of Feathercraft's monthly giveaways and walked away with a $100.00 gift certificate.  That took the sting out of upgrading to the G4's.  Though to be honest it still hurt a bit!  The good folks at Feathercraft had my size in stock and I had the new waders in my hands in a matter of days.

Simms products are pricey but they seem to last the longest for me so in the end I guess it works out the same as buying several cheaper pairs of waders over the same time period.  I'm  pretty rough on waders,  so I'm very intrested to see how well these G4's hold up.  I have seen them reviewed on several sites as "bombproof"...we'll see.

My initial impressions are good so far.  They definately feel a lot heavier as there is more square inches of the wader covered in the 5 layer gortex.  My main reason for upgrading is extra protection in certain areas.  Many of the leaks that developed on my old G3's were in the 3 layer areas that are now covered by 5 layers of material in the G4's.  I think I have to give the nod to my trusty G3's in regards to comfort, but I'm sure that's due to more surface area of 5 layer gortex.  That being said, I would not say the G4's are uncomfortable, they just feel like waders, instead of a pair of well worn pants.  One change I do like is the moving of the seams away from the inside of the pant legs to the tops.  This should eliminate wear problems on the seams caused by walking.

While they may be heavier and not as comfortable as the G3's they should hold up a lot better busting through brush, kneeling, sitting etc.  One thing I do love about the waders is the pocket set up.  The waterproof zippered handwarmer pockets will come in handy for early and late season fishing. There is enough storage on board to eliminate a vest completely on those short trips to local waters.  In addition, the handy flip out tippet pocket I had on my G3's is still there.  On top of that there is a docking station for an additional zinger, a fly patch and a tab to hold a pair of forceps,  features that will certainly be useful.  Finally, the wader has belt loops and comes with a wading belt to round out the package.

The real test will begin next weekened and hopefully continue for a few seasons!  I'll give a full report once they get a little stream time under their belt.