I knew it had been a while since I last posted. However, I didn't realize it was almost four months ago.
This blog was initially created as a place to keep track of my fishing. A journal of sorts, so that I could refer back to when needed. It served its purpose pretty well, however, I've discovered that there are better ways to record this information.
I'm now using Google maps for my journal. Hence the slowdown in posts here. I have one map for each river, and I place markers at various runs to keep track of access and where I caught fish. Each time I hook a fish, I record the water temp, clarity, fly type/size, tips used, etc, etc. I now have a pretty good visual database to keep track of these things.
For instance, I went to the Sandy last week and decided to try a new access point that I had never been to. I looked up notes from a couple of weeks ago in the surrounding areas and figured out what would be a reasonable setup. On this day, I chose 12 feet of T14, an unweighted blue/black marabou trailer fly. Fishing in about 8 feet of water on a soft shoulder, I hooked a fish that I estimated to be 11-14 lbs. (It ended up breaking my leader about a rods length away from me.)
Previous notes don't always work as well. I went to another (no names) river yesterday and took with me the same setup/fly I used on the Sandy. The water was low and clear. However, what worked on the Sandy was not working here. Because the water temps were almost 50 degrees, I decided to scale down. After putting on a size 4, I immediately got hits from smaller fish. That led to a few bumps from bigger fish. Then I got a really good pull that came out within a few seconds. Several casts later, I either hooked that same fish, or another of equal size.
It took the fly softly, then after trying to reel him in, he went on a mad tear. Jumping 2 or 3 feet out of the water two different times. Did I say he was BRIGHT? This fresh fish pulled some line out, then came towards me. I couldn't reel in fast enough, so I stripped line. Stripping, and more stripping, he now was upstream of me and pulled more line out. That punk fish found the only boulder between me and him and went right underneath it. Only being 5-8 feet away from me, I tried to move upstream to dislodge him. No luck. The knot broke (probably from rubbing on the rock) at the top of the leader! This was a big, bright, and feisty fish. I thought I had 'em. Ended up being outsmarted in the end.
I'm going back today to the same river for a few hours. Because of the water temps and water clarity. I'll probably switch over from my sinking skagit line to a Rage. Summer fish are in and they are willing to move to a fly. Let the fun begin!
Showing posts with label flies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label flies. Show all posts
May 1, 2013
May 9, 2011
Squidro
Haven't been fishing, nor have I tied a fly in eons. However, I did stop by Leland to pick up one of Scott Howell's "Squidro" flies. I wanted one to reverse engineer it- since it looked like a good idea.
The fly is basically an intruder. But, instead of using rhea or ostrich, it uses rubber legs! Easier to tie and more durable. I can't wait to give it a try (both in the river and on the vise). The below picture is from Leland's website and the version I picked up.
It was an expensive fly, $6.50 after tax! I'll mass produce it and variations for my own fly box, so I guess it will be money well spent. :)
The fly is basically an intruder. But, instead of using rhea or ostrich, it uses rubber legs! Easier to tie and more durable. I can't wait to give it a try (both in the river and on the vise). The below picture is from Leland's website and the version I picked up.
It was an expensive fly, $6.50 after tax! I'll mass produce it and variations for my own fly box, so I guess it will be money well spent. :)
Jan 22, 2010
Mums the Word
The rain and wind has been intense. Originally, the plan was to go fishing on Tuesday. However, since the forecast was for 35-40mph gusts, it was probably best to leave it alone. Thursday rolled around and while it was supposed to rain, the wind was to be light. I decided to put on the rain jacket and head out. Where did I go? Well, for once, I'm not going to say for reasons that may become obvious.
Arriving to location #1 at sun-up. There was no rain or wind. I sauntered down to the water and perched myself on a rock. I stayed here for about an hour trying various flies. Water visibility was approximately 3 feet. Nothing. Not even a hint of a fish was present. I did get a chance to try out some newly tied intruders. They looked great in the water.
I hopped in my car and headed upstream to location #2. Found my parking spot and made it to the water. Started casting with no sign of any fish. I was disappointed, by not surprised. Up until this point, my confidence in this area was slim at best. That was about to change.
As I was walking upstream alongside some very fast water. Not exactly the place I'd expect steelhead to hold. A large fish jumped clear out of the water. Someone is home! I made short 10' casts with various flies with no results. At least I knew they were around.
Went downstream to some water that was running a little slow. I sent out a new fly design of mine to see what it would drum up. As I'm hoping for something to happen, I noticed a large fish jumping multiple times out of the pool. This was the second large steelhead I've seen to this point. More confidence. These guys were very active today. This guy in particular came completely out of the water 4 to 6 times in about a four second period of time. What was he doing? I'm not sure. But, I did get a good look at him. He was big!
I couldn't reach him with my casts, so I continued stepping downstream. Not long after, I got a good sized bump. After backing up and trying again. Nothing. Switched flies and stepped through. Nothing. Backed up again with the original fly. Bumped again! Kept trying in that same spot with no results. Time to move on.
After more stepping. Another bump! These fish were very aggressive today. If only I could get one to hold on.
Five or ten minutes later, after several more bumps, I felt this slight pressure on my rod. I set the hook and then there was a tremendous yank as the fish realized what had happened. The line went tight and the rod started throbbing violently. It was the biggest fish I've felt in a very long time, if not ever.
Then it happened, the fish jumped out of the water 3 or 4 times in about 2 seconds time. He was pissed! Even more impressive was his size. I'm guessing he was 35" and very thick. On one of his jumps, something went wrong. The line went limp and after reeling it in, realized he broke my 12lb tippet. Not at a knot mind you, just a clean break about a foot down from the T10 sink tip.
I was both disappointed and excited at the same time. I lost an incredibly large fish by my standards. However, at the same time, I had the pleasure of hooking an incredibly large fish. It was great while it lasted.
Too bad he stole my new fly that was working so well. Of course, I only had one and had to compromise with something similar. I got a few more good bumps with other flies, but nothing was as impressive as the one probably still attached to Mr. Steelhead.
Throughout the day, I had hooked, but not landed, around 5 fish. Most of them felt pretty large, as far as I could tell, only one of them was a half pounder.
Near the end, as I was standing in thigh deep water, I saw a flash out the corner of my eye. Either my friend was back, saying goodbye, or one of his brothers made an appearance. The fish surfaced two or three times within 5 feet of my legs. He was either chasing something or playing. Whatever the case, the fish in this pool were active, and obviously fear less of this wading fisherman.
Weather wise, the wind was quiet. The rain stayed away until around 2pm, where it was steady until Sunset. I'll be back! Possibly as early as Monday.
| Access | Undisclosed | |
| Air Temp | Low 43, High 52 | |
| Water Temp/Visibility | ~? F / 3 feet | |
| Weather | Cloudy / Rain | |
| Flow | ~? cfs | |
| Time in/out | 6:45am, 5:30pm | |
| Leaders/Lines | Compact Skagit/Scandi | |
| 11ft of T10 | Morning | |
| 7.0 ips Poly | Mid Afternoon | |
| 12 lb FC tippet | ||
| Flies | Generic Steelhead | 0 |
| Various intruders | 0 | |
| Top Secret Steelhead | 0 | |
Arriving to location #1 at sun-up. There was no rain or wind. I sauntered down to the water and perched myself on a rock. I stayed here for about an hour trying various flies. Water visibility was approximately 3 feet. Nothing. Not even a hint of a fish was present. I did get a chance to try out some newly tied intruders. They looked great in the water.
I hopped in my car and headed upstream to location #2. Found my parking spot and made it to the water. Started casting with no sign of any fish. I was disappointed, by not surprised. Up until this point, my confidence in this area was slim at best. That was about to change.
As I was walking upstream alongside some very fast water. Not exactly the place I'd expect steelhead to hold. A large fish jumped clear out of the water. Someone is home! I made short 10' casts with various flies with no results. At least I knew they were around.
Went downstream to some water that was running a little slow. I sent out a new fly design of mine to see what it would drum up. As I'm hoping for something to happen, I noticed a large fish jumping multiple times out of the pool. This was the second large steelhead I've seen to this point. More confidence. These guys were very active today. This guy in particular came completely out of the water 4 to 6 times in about a four second period of time. What was he doing? I'm not sure. But, I did get a good look at him. He was big!
I couldn't reach him with my casts, so I continued stepping downstream. Not long after, I got a good sized bump. After backing up and trying again. Nothing. Switched flies and stepped through. Nothing. Backed up again with the original fly. Bumped again! Kept trying in that same spot with no results. Time to move on.
After more stepping. Another bump! These fish were very aggressive today. If only I could get one to hold on.
Five or ten minutes later, after several more bumps, I felt this slight pressure on my rod. I set the hook and then there was a tremendous yank as the fish realized what had happened. The line went tight and the rod started throbbing violently. It was the biggest fish I've felt in a very long time, if not ever.
Then it happened, the fish jumped out of the water 3 or 4 times in about 2 seconds time. He was pissed! Even more impressive was his size. I'm guessing he was 35" and very thick. On one of his jumps, something went wrong. The line went limp and after reeling it in, realized he broke my 12lb tippet. Not at a knot mind you, just a clean break about a foot down from the T10 sink tip.
I was both disappointed and excited at the same time. I lost an incredibly large fish by my standards. However, at the same time, I had the pleasure of hooking an incredibly large fish. It was great while it lasted.
Too bad he stole my new fly that was working so well. Of course, I only had one and had to compromise with something similar. I got a few more good bumps with other flies, but nothing was as impressive as the one probably still attached to Mr. Steelhead.
Throughout the day, I had hooked, but not landed, around 5 fish. Most of them felt pretty large, as far as I could tell, only one of them was a half pounder.
Near the end, as I was standing in thigh deep water, I saw a flash out the corner of my eye. Either my friend was back, saying goodbye, or one of his brothers made an appearance. The fish surfaced two or three times within 5 feet of my legs. He was either chasing something or playing. Whatever the case, the fish in this pool were active, and obviously fear less of this wading fisherman.
Weather wise, the wind was quiet. The rain stayed away until around 2pm, where it was steady until Sunset. I'll be back! Possibly as early as Monday.
Jan 1, 2010
Losing Intruders
Normally I don't blink when I lose a fly. However, when it takes 45 minutes or more to tie one, it can be disappointing. Especially after only 10 minutes of using it.
This was the first "true" Intruder that I tied. Put on a shank with the mono loop at the back end so you can string the tippet through. Ala a tube fly. The way that Ed Ward originally tied them (if Skagit Master is any indication, he uses tubes these days).
The 5 inch fly looked awesome in the water with its flowing ostrich plumes. I made the mistake of using a lighter tippet than I should of for its weight. On one of my casts I blew the anchor and it blasted the knot. Off she went into the depths.
I'll tie another soon. This time I'll take a picture of it.
This was the first "true" Intruder that I tied. Put on a shank with the mono loop at the back end so you can string the tippet through. Ala a tube fly. The way that Ed Ward originally tied them (if Skagit Master is any indication, he uses tubes these days).
The 5 inch fly looked awesome in the water with its flowing ostrich plumes. I made the mistake of using a lighter tippet than I should of for its weight. On one of my casts I blew the anchor and it blasted the knot. Off she went into the depths.
I'll tie another soon. This time I'll take a picture of it.
May 7, 2009
Steelhead "Summer" Box #1
Just for grins, I took a picture of my go-to steelhead fly box. These are all the low-water and summer flies. You can see several that I've posted pictures of on the blog and a few that haven't made an appearance.
Summer Steel (Click for a larger picture)
At a later time, I'll post my winter box. The big ugly and heavy ones.
Summer Steel (Click for a larger picture)At a later time, I'll post my winter box. The big ugly and heavy ones.
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