Sunday, July 31, 2016

Trip Report: Darn Good Fishin'

I wasn't planning to fish much this weekend but after purchasing a new car yesterday I had to celebrate. Every time the wife and I have to spend a lot of money I usually have pretty good luck on the stream. When we had to pay north of a grand to fix up our puppy I landed two 20+ inch trout. Last night proved similar.
After landing a few smaller trout this skinny trout hit! He put up a solid fight but didn't spook the pool.
Next I hooked and briefly landed this 20+ inch beast! I didn't bring the net so I scooped him up with one hand while I reached for my camera with the other. I held him out of the water for a split second before he slipped out of my hand and flopped into the water, snapping my line. I snapped a few pics like the one above before he swam off.
This finally, this guy took the fly and put up a great fight. I'd guess he measured around 18 inches. After landing a few more dinks I decided to call it a night. All fish came on a size 14 Pink Squirrel of Prey fished on the bottom. When I got home I check my schedule and found no plans for today. What else would I do but go fishing!
 I texted my buddy Jesse whose a spin fisherman and he was down to fish. We decided on a death march deep into trout territory.
Before long I landed this nice brownie from an unsuspecting lie. He put up a great little fight and because I had the net he was easy to land. This fish, along with all of the trout I caught today, came on a pink San Juan Worm.
This decent little guy came out of the water pictured behind me. It was interesting to see the water levels drop and the water clear throughout the day. We had a great stain on the water which definitely helped conceal us from the fishes view.
We put in a few miles of hiking and fishing. A decent number of fish came to hand but it was not as fast and furious as I hoped it would be. I will be unable to fish for the next week but hopefully I'll build a rod or two and restock my fly box!

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Two New Builds and A Couple Trouts

It's been a busy few weeks yet between work, family, building rods, and tying flies I managed to get out a few precious times. Weather has been rough on the trout recently with air temps in the 90's and flash flood conditions on a few local streams.
This rod is one of the few that kept me off the streams. It's available now at Whitewater Valley Flies. It's a 9ft 4wt built on a fast tip blank. I took it out in the yard and again I really want to keep it! Only $175.00! I also found a great deal on a kit so I purchased it and scratch the hell out of the blank while working on it. Rather than sell it I decided I'd keep it as a streamer/big hopper rod. It's a 9ft 6wt built on a medium/fast blank. I took that one out last night and although I only had 5 wt line it cast pretty darn well!
After fishing with this rod I purchased another of the same setup which should be available within a few weeks. If anyone has any interest in having a custom rod built hit me up!
 Unfortunately the last couple times I've fished it's been shortly after some strong rains. On this day the stream was running high and muddy. I fished a small streamer and landed a number of averaged sized browns.
 I spotted a few rings in a wide, deep pool and cast a cream colored comparadun mayfly pattern at it. The fly disappeared and I set the hook. At first it seemed like I hooked a log. A few seconds after the hook set I could tell that I had something, not a fish though. As I pulled it near this is what I saw!
A dinner sized snapping turtle breached the surface a few times before I snapped the line. My first snapper on the fly! It was my first time fishing this stream this year and I hoped to have much better luck. Yesterday I found much better conditions. We had a full day of heavy rains on Saturday and the stream appeared to benefit significantly from the flush. Silt was washed out leaving exposed rock on the previously mucky bottom. Weeds were thinned out and areas with log jams were washed out.
I started with the streamer and landed a good number of fish. Soon after losing my streamer I settled on the pink squirrel of prey.
A brookie!
This guy and another decent trout came from the same deep pool. They both put up a great fight on the new 6wt and I am satisfied with how it handled. I spotted a quick hatch of some type of light colored mayfly around size 18 but couldn't capture one to ID. Hoppers are beginning to hop and a few fish took 'em off the water as I walked through. Within a week or two the locust sized hopper patterns should start to take the bigguns! Stay tuned...

Sunday, July 10, 2016

New Build

Check it out over at Whitewater Valley Flies!
And coming soon...
They're just waiting for a finish coat on the thread wraps!

Sunday, July 3, 2016

Custom Fly Rod Build

Check it out!
If interested in having a custom fly rod built drop me message or email and we can make it happen. This rod is a 9 foot 8 weight with a fast action. The buyer will be using this rod to lay the smack down on some strong Icelandic trout and char!
Check out Whitewater Valley Flies to see fly rods that are currently available.

Trip Report: Lessons Learned

Yesterday and this morning I got out fishing with my buddy Sean. As we neared the end of yesterdays trip Sean hooked into a nice trout. He was standing over an undercut bank and the fish, a well educated trout no doubt, pulled Sean directly into the undercut snapping his line. Sean asked me how to fight a fish in that circumstance and I responded with something like, "well sometimes the fishes gonna win." A few short casts later and I found myself in the same situation.
To the left side of the stream there is a plunge pool (just upstream out of sight) and a deep undercut. Weeds choke the stream but there are a few good lanes to drift a fly through. I landed a few dinks before hooking into something substantial. This fish pulled my line deep under the bank. I could do very little to slow his progress so I leaned over the stream, placed my rod tip in the water, and tried to turn him. I kept my line from catching the rock and wood on the undercut. Eventually I was able to steer him out and Sean took the first opportunity he saw to net the beast!
 While we didn't lay a tape on this guy he must've been at least 18 inches. I'd venture to say he may have been the biggest fish in this section of stream. I was shaking with excitement and after a few shots he was returned to the drink.
Sean and I watched him recover for a minute or so before he disappeared into a clump of weeds. At this point Sean said, "so that's how you do it." He headed upstream to the next undercut and last spot of the day. He made a few fruitless casts before his indicator dipped beneath the surface. Sean set the hook and a decent trout swam directly into the undercut. Sean played that fish perfectly and I plunged the net under the slimy bastard before he could thwart our efforts. Sean's a quick study! That fish became his personal best brownie.
Today things were a little slower. We got out a little late, put in a little less footwork, but still landed well over a dozen between the two of us. Parsnip was everywhere and conditions were tough on this small spring creek. Sean landed a decent trout from this pool after threading the needle with a perfect cast. As we approached I spotted a trout of at least 16 or 17 inches chasing smaller trout from his spot under the crescent shaped clump of watercress pictured in the middle right of this photo.

It may be a bit before I get out fishing again due to work, family, and fly tying/rod building obligations, but stay tuned-you never know!