Trip Report: Hoedown Showdown

Early last week my buddy Jesse pointed out that we've been fishing the Sunday morning after he attends the Houston Hoedown for the last two years. Jesse wanted to make it 3. Additionally he challenged me to a race to land a brook, brown, and rainbow trout. We arrived on stream by around 830am and the Hoedown Showdown began.

I started off real strong! I landed a few on the San Juan worm but quickly hit my stride fishing with a gray size 18 tungsten beaded zebra midge. At one point I turned a nice 17-18 incher but didn't land the hook.

This water was really cool and springs were noted throughout the stretch of water we fished. After landing this buttery brown I hooked into a few larger than average trout.

At this point Jesse and I each landed a brookie and a brown. His brookie was around 13"! Fishing stayed really hot for me on the midge. Fish ate it dead drifted and drifted slowly with a twitch. Eventually I approached the most perfect little run with a few branches hanging in. I made a somewhat errant cast which landed on the inside seam. As soon as my fly began to drag in the current I spotted a nice fish dart out from some overhanging grass and the fight was on!

This was my big fish of the day. I appreciated that Jesse ran up to snap a pic. It didn't take long for me to return the favor. This dude can fish!

 Jesse fished with a combination of Rapala's, spinners, and worms. I know a lot of fly fishers tend to be put off by people fishing with worms but I watched this dude hook every worm caught trout perfectly in the lip. He also carried a cooler and planned to keep any gut hooked fish.

 After pulling in at least a few dozen between the two of us we called it a day around 330pm. It was a great Showdown. I landed the biggest brown at approximately 16". No super big ones today but our average sized trout was probably around 12 or 13 inches.

New Rod for Sale

 I started building this one between orders but got caught up and hurried to finish it so I could move on to others.

It is a Whitewater Valley Flies 9 ft five weight built on a H&H Ftx blank. I like the look of silver thread wraps over the bluish hue of the blank. Cost is $200.00. If intersted in this or any other rod send me an email at cgrie750 at hotmail dot com.

Trip Report: Fishin' With a Special Delivery

I met up with a friend this morning and fished before and after delivering a new fly rod to a special customer. More on that in a minute. We arrived on stream around 845am to find crystal clear water and sunny conditions.

This picture was washed out so I edited it up a little bit. I may have to incorporate it into a new business card. Shortly after I took this picture Tim missed a couple hook sets in a row, amateur hour;)

We landed a high average and yes, Tim did redeem himself. This fish ate a beetle off a perfectly placed cast around 30 feet upstream. He stayed low, used a long leader, and made his first couple casts to the run count. It's always fun to watch how others approach a stream. I always leave our fishing trips feeling like I've learned something.

After walking back to the car we headed into town to meet up with Jim Holden, a great fly fisher, and author of a new book, titled "Heron Thieves, A Bat Out of Hell, and Other Fly Fishing Stories, Essays and Poems". 

 If anyone is interested in a copy message me on here or leave a comment and I can get a hold of one for you for a steal of a deal at $10.00 ea. Here is the fly rod I handed off.

I enjoyed building this rod and I hope if serves it's purpose well. After chatting with Jim for a while Tim and I returned to the stream. This stream held fish but it was not fast and furious. We took a number of approaches and settled on the trusty San Juan worm. We did fish streamers for a while and despite landing a couple here and there none broke the scale.

It's kind of hard to see but Tim's line is looking funky in this shot! Although the fishing left something to be desired the scenery was second to none.

 This was Tim's view while he tied on a new fly. At this point we had failed on the stimi with a pheasant tail dropper.

This fish came from behind a rock to nip the worm fly. I set the hook as he was retreating back to his lair and the battle ensued. He came to hand in short order.

Unfortunately Tim busted his rod (or maybe fortunately since now I've got one to build for him:). We probably landed 2 dozen or so between the two of us before calling it a day at 430pm. I always enjoy fishing with Tim and hope he gets back this way soon.

Trip Report: Before Work

I got up early to take a few seasoned fly anglers to chase trout but after receiving word they would need to reschedule I decided to head out solo. I planned to chase brookies locally and set out by 7ish.

 After landing a few brownies on the San Juan worm I switched between a number of flies. One fly that landed a good number of fish was a size 24 thread bodied zebra midge. 

 Numerous good sized brookies came to hand on those little buggers. The streamer landed a few although after the sun hit the water hard the streamer bite died. I switched around a lot today but easily landed the most trout on a size 16 quill bodied mayfly emerger. Fished dead drifted, skated downstream, and twitched sunken worked really well. I landed quite a few decent brookies and browns before tying into this beast!

This picture does not do him justice. The jaw was kyped out real good! As I shifted from this shot to take one of him by the grip of my fly rod he squirmed a little and rather than give him the death grip I released him to the drink. I'd guess he's around 13". I fished on and by the time I headed off the stream around 11am I must've unhooked at least a few dozen trout.

On two occasions I hooked into some really nice fish and after violent splashes on the surface the hooks came loose. Those fish will bring me back before too long.

Trip Report: Kentucky George

Last Friday night I received a text from a good fishin' buddy, George saying he planned to squeeze in a day of Driftless trout fishing on Sunday. We picked a stream and met there around 730am. He's fished the MN Driftless a decent amount but I wanted to introduce him to one of my favorite little streams. He's a high stickin' son of a bitch, which to fly fishermen means he fishes close to the stream with his line tight to heavier flies fished deep. It's fun to watch him fish and observing his technique always ups my nymphing game. I'm always trying to sell him the virtues of nymphing froggy water.

 Fish are very spooky in this stream and on this day the river ran crystal clear with the sun high in the sky. I landed some fish but George killed it!

This fish took some skill to land. The chunker dove for undercuts and submerged rocks to no avail. After fishing a good section of this stream we headed to another really technical stream to chase brookies. We landed a good number brookies and browns on this little stream. We were surprised at how fish ate such a variety of flies. We caught fish on various nymphs, midges, dry flies, streamers, and sj worms. I'd guess our combined effort saw 40+ fish to hand by the time we headed back to town. It was great to get out and fun to watch George cast into the weeds;)

Trip Report: Post Storm Trout

This morning I headed out after finishing up some chores around the house and working on a few fly rods. This stream was clear despite receiving around 2 inches of rain over the last two days. I cycled through a few small midge patterns before settling on a San Juan worm. That was the ticket!

This little hog put put up a monumental fight on my 7' 9" three weight. Shortly after landing this fish I decided to head home to continue working on rods and tie a few flies. In around three hours of fishing I landed at least 20 trout. At one point around 11am I tied on a quill bodied mayfly emerger in size 16 and landed six or seven fish within only five minutes! After taking care of business at home my buddy Jesse and I hatched a plan to fish another nearby small stream in the later afternoon. We arrived on stream around 415pm, he with his spinner and me with the trusty San Juan worm.

 The San Juan worm strikes again. I called Jesse over to net this one because I hooked up with it off a heroic cast down stream and the refraction magnified it. I thought I had a beast!

Then I landed this really nice one. The worm was pulling in weight and all with the new rod I built for myself. Every time one rolls off the drying rack I feel a strong urge to break it in:)

 The fish in this stream are always so vibrant. I've landed a few brookies out of here in the past and they tend to be vibrant as well. The heat as you decent from the car through the vegetation and to the stream gets more hot and humid. At one point I fished in a little shaded plunge pool, knowing full well that a good trout lied in wait. After a good cast the fight was on.

This picture does not do this trout justice. Look at that big ol' fan of a tail! He put up a great battle in a tricky little piece of water! Jesse landed a few good ones as the afternoon turned to evening. By around 7pm we called it a day.

Trip Report: Back to Wisconsin

Yesterday I went fishing in Wisconsin with Eric. He talked up some private land, family land, and eased sections of streams and was gracious enough to share them with me. We arrived in our fishy environs before 8am and immediately landed trout on the skittered mayfly emerger. With storms in the forecast and popping up throughout the day I stayed conscious of how far we strayed from the car and at one point we got back a minute or two before lightening and thunder enveloped the area.

We fished some of he most picturesque little streams in Wisconsin! After landing a bunch of fish (nothing large), spot hopping, sweating our asses off, and getting eaten by gnats Eric keyed me in on a sweet little stretch of private water that he'd gained permission to fish.

I had a great time but returned home more exhausted than I've been in a while. Today I planned to hit some streams and work on a few rods. Remember to check out Whitewater Valley Flies for flies and fly rods!

Trip Report: New Fly Rod and Some Fishin'

 

Yesterday I went on a death march with a friend and my brand new rod! I planned to sell this one but I've made good progress over the last few builds I've done and figured I need to represent my rods better on stream (I've been using a nice little 7' 9" three weight but it doesn't have the same attraction). The sun was bright, temperatures warm, and water still pretty cloudy. San Juan worms on the menu.

This brownie gave a great accounting of itself but came to hand after a short battle. We went hard in tough conditions and after a dozen or so smaller trout each we headed home. We probably hiked 5 miles total and were happy to see the car.

Tonight I headed out to test out a few fly patterns. I wasn't out long but managed to turn a few decent fish. I didn't connect on any of the larger fish. One size smaller on the dry fly would have been ideal.

 This was the average size caught today. After an hour or so of fishing and 7 or 8 to hand I headed home, but not before admiring the new rod for a little bit! This blank roll casts like a dream but in a 9' 5 weight it's a little bulkier than I'm used to. This time a year I usually start to tie into some larger fish so hopefully the larger rod will be put to good use.

Stay tuned, I got an order for a 3 weight that I'll be working on over the next week. It's gonna be sweet!

Trip Report: Trout of All Shades

Yesterday I caught trout of all shades. After finding my first option muddied I assumed my other ideas may be blown out. I headed to a nearby small stream expecting a little stain but found conditions clear. With bright skies my 945am arrival was not ideal. I tied on two feet of 4x tippet and one and a half feet of 5x on the end of my 7.5 foot leader. Using a very small Lightening Strike brand indicator I dragged various small tungsten beaded midge patterns around two and a half to three feet deep. Fish responded well.

Great trout came from thin, often overlooked water. This guy took a size 18 red brassie tied with a black nickle tungsten bead. I fished my way up a little before camping at a ways upstream on a good chunk of water. Fishing has been lights out for me since focusing more on my midge game. My 7' 9" three weight worked ok but with the taller grass I'm finding a 9" three or four weight would be ideal.

This beautiful brookie and brownie took a size 18 gray zebra midge tied with a tungsten bead. As the sun grew higher and higher I had to make more and more impossibly long casts but with each well presented fly it seemed like a fish came to hand.

I wish we had more good brookie streams around here. Out in Montana I had a few spots that were packed with 10-14 inch brookies. This stream is actually pretty similar to that one in a lot of ways, although smaller.

I'm working on my left hand trout photography! This one turned out pretty good. I tied into almost an equal number of browns and brookies, although I did hook more brown trout. At a few points I rolled some really nice fish in the 15-17 inch range including one that looked like a brookie.

 After landing around 40 trout by 2pm I headed back to the car. Before calling it a day I leaned over the bridge though and hooked an aggressive little tiger trout!

This handsome little tiger shot up from the bottom to snatch a gray zebra midge as I pulled it out of the water! Always happy to sight a tiger. Today I'm on call so I'll be tying up a storm and finishing off a 9' four weight. Stay tuned!