A year older and not much wiser

A couple friends and I hit the road for a three day fishing tour of the Wisconsin Driftless area. The more I fish, the more I consider it like a bag of skittles. I love all the colors. Red is like swinging a streamer for a big brown, orange is casting little BWO’s to small trout, and yellow is dragging the bottom for something nasty. I love it all, even the yellows. This trip had all of that and a ton of fish.

Below are a few highlights. Johnny will post better photos that he took. Thanks to Dan H and Tim from Riverblends for helping me forget about getting older.

-John, match this up with your photo and see if it was the same fish you caught.
Mouse fishing at night. -Kidding...
-

Not my photography here, this is all John.

Season Opener (of sorts)

Today is the opening day of the Wisconsin trout season. I am at home with the kids today and tomorrow. But yesterday, I fished in Minnesota. I treated it like it was the opener. Fish were really active, chasing midges on the surface and streamers below the surface. I fished a little creek that has two really deep holes and a bunch of pockets that hold big fish. The stream also has a ton of nice runs, but they all seem to be loaded with small fish. I caught a bunch of fish, but two stand out above the rest.

Frist, I landed a 20”, football of a brown trout (see photo). This was an absolute pig of a fish. I took it from the bottom of a deep and dark pool. I caught it on a burnt orange and brown samurai that Johnny Rotten tied me for Christmas. Merry Christmas eh John. The smuggler performed well on the big fish, flexing completely into the handle, yet maintaining a decent backbone to move the fish around.

The second fish gets overshadowed by the pig brown, but is more meaningful to me. The other fish pictured below came from a corner pocket, about 2 feet deep and with overhanging branches. To get a fly into that pocket, you of have to hit about a 6 inch spot and get your fly under the branches. Typically, I botch the first cast in this spot and watch fish spook downriver. Yesterday, I hit it on the first cast and nailed a nice 14 inch brown.

The trout season is officially open!

Photo Journal

 I use photos to help me time my Iowa fishing seasons. Browns in March. Carp on the small tributaries of the Cedar in April.  Big cats in June. Smallies May-Aug. Here's my calendar for the next 5 months.

I can't say I have a favorite species--I have favorite places. I like a wadable stream without a crowd. On my local warm water streams I rarely see another fisherman. 

March

April

May

I don't catch these brutes on the fly. The trick is 5"-7" live bullheads.

June

July

The box is getting there

I used to have a ton of fly boxes, one for nymphs, one for dries, one for large dries, a couple for streamers, etc... Now I just carry one, the same one all season. So while I probably won't be fishing hoppers on Saturday, they are in there, along with some flies that I probably will fish. Enjoy. And yes, that is the smuggler rod- all cleaned up and ready for action.

The Writer in Isolation

I've been writing a lot lately and searching for advice on it from one of the greats....

"Talk is a danger to writers. More than that, talk is a positive, ugly menace. Talk is so much easier than writing , its satisfactions are so immediate, that some of the need to write is all too easily lost in it. It may be true that no man will talk himself out of being a writer if he has it in him to write, and no doubt some men have capacity for both. But I think the frustration of enforced silence is good for most of us. Young writers who meet in groups to discuss their own work would be better at home writing more and talking not at all; and old writers who yield to the incessant demands of service clubs and other organizations are bleeding energy they need for the vastly more important business of writing. Even service club members can read if they would; and if they want a writer's words, the printed page is where to find them....

In the end, all writing is isolation. A man observes and absorbs readily enough among his friends. He may test ideas or sharpen argument or search for encouragement in talk. But he must mature his thought, develop and control his emotions, plan his work, alone. And he must write it alone."

Roderick Haig-Brown
The writer in isolation: A surprise exploration of a given subject (1959)

Supplies coming in for the 9' 3wt

 Cork reel seat. From Jann's Netcraft.

Practicing some guide wraps on a broken scrap rod before I tackle the real deal.

The jig and dryer.

SE Minnesota

Not much to report, some pretty small fish. I was expecting some biguns, didn't find any. Will be back.

Tree map of the budget

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/02/01/us/budget.html
The above link will take you to something called a squarified tree map. It is of the Presidents proposed budget. I love squarified tree maps. We have been using them at work to condense and display huge amounts of long-term data. As it is used in the link, it is a very nice way to show how much money would get spent and where.

It’s probably time to start hacking away at National Defense, Social Security and Medicare. Or maybe we should cut spending on Natural Resources, since it comprises a whopping 1/16th of the budget, and because clean air and water aren't really needed, nor wilderness, fish, wildlife, birds, etc...-Sarcasm.

Rod Wrapper

I finished building a rod wrapper / rod dryer this weekend. I bought the motor from Jann's Netcraft. http://www.jannsnetcraft.com/rod-wrapper-parts/028090500002.aspx . I picked up some bolts & nuts at the hardware store. The rest of the build was materials I had. I used an old lamp to power the motor. Used an empty mono line spool and hair tie timing belt to slow the factory 36 RPM to 17 RPM. Now my blank and components just need to arrive and I'm ready to build my first.

Helpful rod building links:
http://www.rodbuildingforum.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/FlyrodFanatic#p/u

Climate Wisconsin

http://climatewisconsin.org/

From warming trout streams to decreasing ice cover, lower lake levels to extreme heat, Climate Wisconsin tells stories from a rapidly changing state. While this collection of stories and research is a starting point, there are many more stories of change waiting to be told. Have you noticed changes in your community? Maybe you know someone who is changing the way they live because of climate change.

Iowa

We're approaching a heat wave in Iowa. Next week would be a good time to fish. Goodbye backyard snowman.

New 'to me' bamboo

I came into an unknown bamboo rod a while back. It had a few guides missing, and the ferrules were loose. It was a modified rod. You could tell that it was originally a 3 piece, 9 foot rod, but someone had cut the but section, took the ferrule from it, drilled a hole in the handle of the rod and then sunk the ferrule into it. This made it a 6'10" rod. Folks call these 'banty' rods. I took all the guides off, sanded the blank, put the guides back on, glued the ferrules on, and varnished it. It casts a 4wt line pretty well. A little investigation on the handle and the reel seat indicate that this was no doubt a South Bend model #59 ca. 1950.The South Bend Company put a patent on this handle, calling it 'comefficient' a combo of comfortable and efficient. -It is comfortable.
Added the writting so if I loose this thing, someone will know it was a South Bend, modfied to a banty rod.
Its a pretty straight stick, which says alot for a 60 year old rod.

The ONLY flies you need

I'm kidding, these aren't the only flies you need. Maybe you only need one of them, maybe you need more. I'm not you, you aren't me. These are just my favorites.
"
Terrestrials: I learned early on that terrestrials are huge portion of a trouts diet and for a major portion of the year. You can fish this fly from June through November. Last year Sam and I landed some nice browns that were preping for spawn with this fly. It doesn't look like much, just some black foam and rubber legs, with yellow foam on top for visibility.
Hoppers: That first fly is my go-to terrestrial, but hoppers are good to. This one is real easy to tie, dub a body, lay some foam over it, tie in some legs and top it with a turkey feather. I will also fish some ants, but hoppers and the cricket-like fly above will do the job when fish are hiding in bunkers and looking up.
Black Caddis: I hit the black caddis hatch last year and it was really good, not great, but good. This year I'll know what I'm in for, and this fly will get abused.
Blue-winged olive: The most consistent hatches in the driftless ares the BWO's and the Hendricksons in the spring. This fly will work for both. This is the best BWO (and all around mayfly) pattern I have found. Mallard flank for a tail, dub a body and lay a clump of deer hair on top. I trim the butts of the deer hair long for a wing pad, it helps the fly float better. -This is a sweet pattern.
Midges: I'm a terrible midge fisherman, but it isn't because of my flies, its becasue of my presentation. This fly is really all you need, the griffith's gnat. If I can get this fly to float well, and I can see it, I usually will get fish during a midge hatch.

When the fish are feeding on the surface, the above flies should do the trick, the 98% of the time that they aren't looking up, go with these:

Streamers: Big flies=big fish. This is a mini-clouser tied with rabbit strips. One on top and one on bottom, tie in a bit of flash and hit the water.
scuds: Otherwise known as amphipods, these critters eat aquatic vegetation. A big rain event will flush them down river and they will get the attention of big fish.
Hare's ear nymph: You can fish all sorts of nymphs and do well, but this one is really all you need, I think.
Thread midges: Trial your nymph with one of these...Simple pattern, consistent results.

The one thing that my favorite flies have in common is that they are all really easy to tie and don't have a lot of materials. I like to sit down and crank them out in a hurry, they don't need to look pretty, just proportioned well.

What are your favorites? If you could have just one of the above, which would it be? What would you add to the list?

First trouting of 2011

I scratched the winter trout itch yesterday. As I headed over to MN, the temperature dropped from 30 degrees at my house to 23 on the stream. I kept my camera in my backpack where it apparently got too cold and wouldn't work. I snoeshoed a good 2 miles of stream and didn't even see a fish. Not the best outing the world, but good to be back on the streams. Next time I'll visit some more reliable water, take better care of my camera, and get ya'll some trout pics.

In the meantime its back to the ice.

Streamers: some big, some small

Gierach Quotes

A nice feature of reading books on kindle or iphone is the ability to highlight and bookmark. Easy to go back and read some good stuff that short term memory loses. Some of my highlights from John Gierach's – Death, Taxes, and Leaky Waders.

Not long ago I spent three-hundred dollars on a fly rod, but an extra seventy-five cents for a pound of coffee still rubs me the wrong way. Once established, priorities must be maintained.

It's an article of faith among fisherman that any body of healthy water holds some monsters, fish that no one ever catches but that are, nonetheless, there.

These are established personal favorites, not so much fly patterns as articles of faith generating much magic.

Remember, fairness is a human idea largely unknown to nature.

The occasional peaceful bender in a solitary fishing camp is therapeutic, and I won't apologize for it.

in that part of Wyoming where daily life goes on just a peg or two above sensory deprivation

The point he's making is valid, though: Isn't it interesting that the logic you apply to the opposition is abrupt and unforgiving, while the reasoning for your own position is fluid, creative and finds infinite subtleties?

Restocking the box

I'm in the process of restocking my fly boxes. I'm starting with winterish flies and working toward warmwater stuff. Thread midges (upper photo) and scuds (lower photo) were on the menu today. Not the most glamorous flies, but you'd better have them on spring creeks-any season, but especially winter. The white square is 1.25 X1.5 inches for scale.

7 and counting.

Between my neighbor and I, we are up to seven pike through the ice over the last couple of weekends. The action isn't exactly fast, but we are getting some fish and it has been a great way to get out of the house for a few hours. Almost all of them have been the same size, about two feet long, respectable.

Dinner!

Sam riding a downed tree. He likes to kick snow in the holes, little bugger.

The Smuggler

Down here in the Driftless, slower rod tapers are becoming popular, especially in fiberglass or bamboo. I’ve been thinking about both of these materials for some time now. I’ve also been looking for a vintage glass rod to use for spin-casting. There is a river really close to my house that gets stocked with brown trout every year, but is completely choked with alders. It is impossible to get a fly on the water. But I’ve thought that an ultalight-spinning rod might be a nice way to catch a few fish and put dinner on the table.

I communicated this to someone I know who collects fiberglass rods, both spinning and fly. Yesterday he dropped something interesting off at my office. A rod likely made in the 1960’s for Ambercrombie and Fitch, called the “smuggler 3 in 1”.

This is a neat rod with the following features: Completely set up, it comes as an 8 foot fly rod, probably casts a 6 or 7 wt line. It is a noodle. But it comes with a second handle (as you can see in the photo). This reduces the rod down to 6’10” and it casts a 4 wt line ok. It is probably better with a 5wt line, but I don’t currently have one. This configuration can also be used as a spinning rod. But wait, there is more. Pull the last section of rod off and you have a 4’9’’ ultralight-spinning rod, perfect for a small alder choked trout stream.



I recieved the following from a very knowledgeable glass rod expert:

"I have not seen this outfit before. That is kind of cool. The reelseat on the spinning rod grip appears to be a Phillipson design. The rest of the rod looks much more like Silaflex. My guess is this rod was built for A&F by a small shop with parts they felt were the best available. From the components used, I think your rod is about 45-50 years old. Those ferrules were used in the early 60s, as were the reelseats. While it has a spinning rod reelseat, the tip section is set up as a fly rod. The 8 foot length indicates that it was originally designed as a fly rod too.

The primary value of this outfit is as a fishing rod (I don't think it will get much notice on eBay). Rods get in this condition because the owner loved fishing with it. A lot. The outfit is in fair, used condition, complete with the original rod bag and tube (in the background). The grips are dirty, gouged, and dented. The tip section is missing a guide. There are paint scuffs and label chips. Noble battle scars one and all. However, the ferrules look good, the majority of the wraps and guide look good, and the rod looks usable. I think you are best off cleaning it up and taking it to the water. The rod obviously has been there before.

Joint it up as a fly rod and try it with a 6 or 7 weight line. Then try it with some light spinning lures and light mono line. You may be surprised at how it casts and fishes."

Here is a link to the history of Silaflex rods:
http://fiberglass-fly-rods.pbworks.com/w/page/5183007/Silaflex

Weekend on the Ice

I started the year out hitting the ice below the house pretty hard. I had some success and learned a few things.

Stats: Had total 10 tipups. 1 fish ran into a log-jam and got hung up. Two fish were actually pulled through the ice (~18-21 inch Pike). The rest got off as soon as I/we set the hook. Both fish that were pulled through the ice were by my neighbors. –We had a little party down there, sipping Tom and Jerry’s and staring at tipups.

I did some hiking upriver of the side channel and found a spring. It appears as though the spring is running directly into the side channel (which I now consider more of a slough). I was pretty exicted to find the spring because that means fresh water with some oxygen getting into the main portion of the side channel. –Also important for finding Pike in the spring when they are looking for weeds and warmer water to spawn in. Here are some photos:


Cmon, spin...
The spring, fresh water, life...
-cool tree formation
One of the primary reasons why floodplains are among the most productive and diverse ecosystems on the planet-organic matter deposited from overbank flooding.