tippet

I also tried out some new tippet material while I was out with the new rod. I bought some cortland precision in 3x 4x and 6x. I tried the 4and6X and am pleased with both, The 6x especially. I landed a 3.5-4lb bow' on it with the three weight and was happy that it absorbed the head shakes and everything. 

It ties nicely and is overall a nice tippet, Not the best and you wouldn't expect it to be for the low price, but it does its job and does it well. If your in a pinch or on a budget I recommend buying it. 

tight lines.

New Toy

I ordered an 8'6" 3 weight as a birthday present to myself a while ago. It is a TFO Professional series. I have fished it once so far. 

First impressions:

My first impression when I received the rod was that it was very nice looking, I like the matte black finish a lot and the gold tipping on the guide wraps. The cork is high quality like it should be and feels good in my hand. The reel seat is woven graphite, matte finish;and is pleasing to the eye. It is a 4-piece, My first one, all I have ever owned and liked were 2's. Yet this 4 piece I liked. It packs down very small and definately would pack along easily if I were to ever want to take it on a flight or something. 

First Fishing Impressions: 

I took it out to my local lake to do some rainbow trout fishing. The best way to christen the new rod is with a trout right?? I think so. Anyways I lined up the rod and peeled some line from the reel. I started making my first casts and my very first thought was noticing how easily it was loading at 15-20feet. Shit I thought to myself, as I was starting to think it was much slower than that of what I was hoping for. (That is why you cast before you buy). I started trying to get used to the stroke of the rod, But shortly I was casting 50+ ft with ease. This rod has some great backbone that comes into play when casting longer distances!

I now moved to a different spot at the lake and there were some trout rising. I thought it was a perfect time to test how the rod would react with light tippets and small flies in a delicacy situation. I was using 6X and a size 14 Hares ear soft hackle. I started casting and the rod was laying down the fly very very gently. I was pleased. I missed a fish after a minute, Then I hooked up! sweet. The fish was a nice size and started to run and peel some line off the reel. The rod handled the head shakes with the light tippet perfectly. I was surprised how light the tip was yet how nicely the backbone came into play when it was time to stop a run. I caught 6 more fish using that technique. 

I then decided it was time to see how the rod would throw a size 6 bead head woolly bugger, Itied one on and started double hauling. Before I knew it I was casting 50+ feet with that big woolly bugger, It surprised me once again. I caught about 6-7 fish strippin' a woolly and then decided it was time to head home and call it a day. 

Overall rating 1-10: 8.5 

I would recommend the rod to anyone, its a nice stick for the cash, and a great one in its price range. 

tight lines

fun morning

Went out the other day and had a great time catching bows with my 3wt on 7x!

The fish were very finicky and I could only take them on small soft hackles.

I caught one fish that was about 22-23 inches and fat, I guesstimated it at about 3.5-4lbs.
He gave up a great fight, and gave so many head shakes that I wonder how I landed him. Also he gave me 3 good drag pulling runs.
Here is a Pic of that fish:

Lost and Found

This happened to me last week.
I went to the local lake and was enjoying good fishing, when I went to change a tippet, I left the front pouch of my chest pack open so I could grab a fly to put on. I then dropped a piece of tippet and leaned forward to grab it when my fly boxes in the front pouch fell out. I got down and picked them up, muttering some choice words, and put them back in my chest pack. getting back up on the stump, I tied on my tippet and fly and went back to fishing. I caught a few more fish and called it a day.

Later that night, I was home and setting up my fly gear for the next day...When I realized I had 3 fly boxes in the front pouch when I got to the lake and I now had 2 in the front pouch! Shit, I thought to myself as I realized that when those boxes fell out of my chest pack, one had fallen in the bushes and in my wanting to get back to fishing I had forgotten to pick the one up that was in the bushes!

There was still some people at the lake when I got there, And I started to think that one of them probably moved into my spot because I was catching fish and probably found and kept my box.

This box had about 150 flies in it, all nymphs, and the box itself was a Scientific Anglers System X. So I really did not want to lose it.

So I told my mom about it, and we resolved to the decision that we would go to the lake as soon as they opened, before school, and see if it was still in that bush...

That morning we woke up earlier than usual and drove to the lake. We were in fact the first people there. I walked out to the spot where I had dropped it and low and behold, It was still there!!

Needless to say I was extremely happy! We then realized we had a lot of time to kill before it was time for school, and I had brought my 3weight and chest pack. So I went to the car and grabbed my gear. I then walked back out and fish were rising. I started casting and immediately hooked and landed a very nice 2lb bow!

How cool is that? Finding my fly box, and catching fish before school even started, What a way to start the day.

That made my whole week.

Tight Lines!

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Thanksgiving Day Fishing

Went fishing today, later than I wanted to go but hey, fishing is fishing.

When I got to the lake I saw a couple fish rising but nothing major. Tried for a while with my sinking line and a woolly bugger.....Nada! So I Walked around to another side of the lake and saw some fish rising closer, I busted out my 3wt and started casting a little wet fly at them. Had one take, a very large fish and in one head shake snapped my 5x tippet like it wasn't even there.

Then it was time to go home, the owner wanted to close the lake, it being a holiday and all, early.
So I went home with only a strike and a large fish lost.

Oh well, At least I know that big fish took my fly!

Tight lines!

Tippet time

Starting to run low on my spools of tippet.

They are all Rio powerflex,5x-2x. And I like the stuff very much,

But am still thinking about trying another brand.

Seaguar, Frog hair, Orvis, more Rio, Rio flourocarbon, So many choices!!

I think I will end up buying mostly Rio powerflex again, because it has not let me down, and I have high trust in it....getting trust in a tippet takes a long time.

We'll see, I'll post what I do end up buying.

Been A while...

Since I last posted, Sorry about that.

I went fishing this past weekend and had a great time. Caught 15 bows on saturday and 2 on sunday. They were taking midges and the like, But they weren't taking what I was throwing, so I put a streamer out there and it did the trick.

I'm going fishing tomorrow in the AM before it is time to eat the turkey! Hopefully I can have a nice morning out on the lake and catch some fish, although it will still be nice even if I don't catch a fish.

I'll post my results of my trip tomorrow. Hopefully I'll remember to take some pics!!

Happy Turkey day!!!!!
Tight lines!!

Busy bee...

Been very busy lately, as any readers have noticed I have not posted in a while.

School has been getting the better of my time, leaving little for fishing...:(

Anyways, Today was my birthday! I'm Finally 15. Went out and had a nice celebration with the family.

And lately I have been toying around with this little RC Helicopter that is for in the house use. It's pretty cool and entertaining even if it is meant for an 8 year old. It hovers extremely well and I'm surprised at it's handling capabilities. You can find it here:http://www.airhogs.com/

Anyways, Might get to go fishing tomorrow,,,If time allows.

Organization

Organization is a great thing.
It started with my fly tying materials as I got more and more of them, I had to organize them better. Now I have came up with a system and it's easy to keep them organized if you don't slip up.
The organization then went to my fly rods, Reels and lines. My rods are now organized in their own corner, Reels in bags that are labeled with what line they have on them, spare lines all in their own boxes they came in, In a bigger box.
It then went to My fly backstock, which consists of multiple plano boxes of dries, nymphs and streamers.

It has now gone throughout, and my room is all organized, and everything is in it's place.

It's a Nice feeling when stuff is organized, like your life is in order and where it should be.

Maybe you might want to start getting organized? It seems endless but before you know it you will see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Tight lines!

Line to leader connection

I used to use the Nail-knot for my line to leader connection, But after having three fail on me when getting stuck in trees, I decided it was time for a change.

I looked around for a possibility and found high marks for a knot called the Castwell knot.
I decided I would try it and it has not failed yet! Seems like a success so far.
Hopefully it will continue to be a success.
http://www.flyanglersonline.com/begin/knots/castwell.html
There is where you will find instructions to tie the knot as well as a little history on it.

Fly fishing Life list...

Do you keep a fly fishing life list?
Maybe you should?
It is fun to keep track!

I recently decided it is time to make one.
And..here it is.
Life list

• Rainbow trout
• Brown trout
• Brook trout
• Largemouth bass
• Black bass
• Spotted bass
• Carp
• Bluegill
• Pumpkinseeds
• Red ear sunfish
• Rock Bass
• Crappie
• Catfish
  

Species I would like to catch soon:

• Cutthroat trout
• Smallmouth Bass
• Steelhead
• Striped bass

There you have it, Fun and easy. Thought provoking and reminder of good memories as well.

Wax those Ferrules!

Your rod tip may fly off during casting if you don't!

I have had this happen to me twice before I read about waxing ferrules.
Reasons to wax the ferrules:

• Tip may fly off and get lost in the water depending on fly size on end of tippet!
• Rod pieces may get stuck together (requiring gorilla strength pulling to get apart)

• Loose ferrules can cause the tip over butt sleeve to break and crack. Because if the ferrule loosens and slides up the rod there is now a gap which when casting clicks and can snap or crack the ferrule!

Waxes that work for this are numerous, and range from candle wax to commercial ferrule wax, to a product I have heard good things about which is U-40 ferrule lube.

Note: If you have a bamboo rod and are currently wiping nose oil on the ferrules...don't do it anymore. I read that it causes corrosion!

So there you have it, Please save yourself some grief and wax your ferrules!

Minimalist approach: Take two

Lanyards...
I have tried the next step along in minimalism, building a lanyard with clips and putting only bare nessecities on it along with a small fly box with a few dries, nymphs, and streamers.
I felt insecure at my local lakes, even though there was no reason to be...I had this secret feeling of running out of flies...

Here is a picture of the lanyard:


I have tried the lanyard minimalist approach and it just wasn't for me.

I like my double chest pack with 4 fly boxes and the ability to carry along a PB&J sandwhich and drink a little to much to not have.

( I usually fish for hours at a time, the lanyard does not really cut it if you need to have a snack or more than a handful of flies with you. It's a special purpose thing to me.)

Note: I know lanyards are supposed to have a break away link to keep from killing yourself if you fall and get hung up...This one is made out of rexlace craft lace which does not have a high breaking strength and as added insurance the knot used to finish the lanyard would pull apart if I was to fall and get hung up on a tree.

Tight lines!

Hackless bugger err a leech...

This is the fly I have been using to catch alot of trout lately. It works very well and is practically bulletproof. I had issues with the trout chomping off my hackle and these fish don't like buggers without hackle. So this is my solution, Basically a leech but I prefer to call it a hackle-less woolly bugger A.k.a HWB.
RECIPE:
Hook: Mustad #8
Thread: black uni 6/0
Tail: black marabou(flash optional)
Body: Fiery brown angora Goat dubbing. (used with a dubbing loop for durability and buggyness.)

Anyways I went out yesterday and had another fantastic day! I caught around 30+ fish!
I actually caught some fish on a #6 salmonfly dry fly! how amazing,, these fish never take dries of any size.
Most fish though, were taken on streamers on floating and sinking lines. I caught a few really nice fish of about 21-22" that were around 4 pounds.
I also LOST! a BIG rainbow which was probably pushing 7 pounds! Damnit! oh well maybe next time.

Tight lines!

G.Loomis

On a Bulletin board I frequent I read a topic about G.loomis' GL2 rods where a man picked them up and they had epoxy oozing over in places where it shouldn't have been and all.
I hope this is not the case with Loomis. They are a great company and I would hate to see the company go to crap from Shimano purchasing it...
I do not have a GL2,,,However I own one of their GL3's and it's a fantastic fast rod. I hope the quality standards do not go down in Loomis.

There was also comments of Loomis' breaking to easily....That to me is Bull! I have had my GL3 for just over a year now and it has taken 6 pound rainbows, 5 pound bass, a 18 pound catfish all without breaking...My buddy has 2 GL3's that he has had for 7 years and he has taken them to montana and landed many big fish with them. He has broken exactly ONE,,,Because of his own fault...
These guys saying they break to easily must have hit the rod with a bead-head a couple times, dropped their rod, whacked the tip, jammed the rod into the ground when they were walking, whacked a tree, or high stick and fight fish wrong, or when they are bringing the fish to hand they put the rod high behind them causing all the pressure to be in the tip and making it snap....Probably other reasons that come to my head that would make them say the break to easily....In my opinion no rod "breaks" to easy...Its what you are doing with it to make it snap, that makes you think it is easy to break.

I could go around and say "Oh yeah I don't fish Sage,,,They break to easy..."
I would obviously be doing something wrong to make them break... I think that is the case with these guys saying they break to easy.

Anyways just opinions and nothing more...
Tight lines!

It's Official!!!

Trout catching time is here for me at my local lakes!!! I'm very excited for it to finally be here.
I have been to my local lake 2 days in a row, the yesterday I only took my 3weight with me. The wind was howling, but the trout had been planted and I was determined. I casted #12 buggers and woolly worms the whole time I was there and caught just over 30 fish!! The biggest being around 4 pounds! Thats what I'm talking about! My smallest fish was about 14" and my largest was JUST shy of 20".These are FAT(Phat) rainbows though, not your typical skinny fish.

Today I went out again, But this time I took my 6 weight with a type 2 sinking line and my 3 weight. I was sure glad I took the 6weight with the sinking line because it was the only rod I used. The fish were a bit deeper and they wanted the streamers stripped fast! Perfect use for my sinking line(which was a virgin fish-wise until today!) The wind was up and blowing strong, I had to throw tight loops the whole time and at times it was a little sketchy(read that having to duck!) All In all though today I caught around 25-30 fish! The biggest one being about 21-22"!

My technique for today was as soon as the fly hit the water to start stripping and the sinking line would carry it down in between strips,,,worked fantastically!
And of course if I saw a rise form I would cast to it...Hitting the ring and that resulted in a bulge and smash of my streamer!NICE!
Most of the fish were out a distance and I was FREQUENTLY having to cast 70'.
A few times when I had just shot the line for a 70' cast I would strip once and get a take!
Those have got to be the some of most difficult strip sets!

I can really tell I have been catching fish when I look at my thumb that I use to lip trout and it looks like this!(note the scratches and cuts)

Heres some pictures From yesterday:




A 21-22" BOW from today!

Skunked!

Well as the title implies,I got skunked last time I went out to my local lake. I still had fun though.

That is a shot of the lake I went to.
I was shore bound with my 3weight and it was a bit windy, not bad though.
I showed up at around 1pm and the bluegill were not rising and there was no visible action. I was late for the morning bite and to early for the late bite....Darn!
So to sum it up I spent 2 hours without a strike whatsoever,,,But it was still fun!

Well anyways I'm going fishing later today!
Report will follow!

I leave you with a picture of me double hauling my 3weight.

Tight lines!

Cool newly aquired material...

Got this cool Flourescent shell pink chenille given to me today. Think I will tie up some nice pink bugs aka egg sucking leeches or some All pink buggers!
Tight lines.

Minimalist?

Are you a minimalist? Can a fly fisher be a minimalist? is this even possible?

I have found it to be possible for me.
Lately I have decided to hell with all this 5-6 fly box to carry in a double chest pack crap! screw it.
I have only been bluegill and bass fishing lately, So all I have been carrying is my William Joseph mini 1 chest pack.

Here is a link to a picture of it: http://www.fishwest.net/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/WJ80MINI1.jpg

The contents of it are as follows:

• Scientific Anglers system X fly box(medium) with nymphs, a couple poppers/gurglers, and a small bunch of streamers.
• 2 spools of Rio Powerflex tippet, 5X and 4X.
• Frogs Fanny floatant
• Nippers
• forceps
• Spair Furled leader.

That chest pack with gear only weighs 1lb 5ounces! perfectly light.

The chest pack and my little 7' 3weight are all that goes with me now. I still catch plenty of bluegill and bass this way.
And I'm much happier at the end of the day because I don't carry around a bitch of a double chest pack with so many flies to choose from that it takes you way longer to choose because you see all those other flies and start to question your decision.

Anyways there is my thoughts on being a minimalist,,,I could go even lighter but then I would feel insecure when at my local lake. Even though I only use about 3-6 different patterns at the local lakes that I know like the back of my hand....It's a confidence thing I suppose.

So have you tried the minimalist approach? maybe it is time?
I think you will be pleasantly suprised with how much you will like it.

Okuma sierra and a sinking line

Well I Bought a new sinking line recently for my local lakes,,,Because sometimes the trout and bass don't want to cooperate with me and go deeper than my floating line and leader will take me.
So anyways I bought a type 2 in a 5weight because of the sinking line being heavy and all,,,I figured it will load my 6 weight just right at the long distances that laking requires.

I also had ordered an Okuma sierra reel and some flourescent orange backing to go with it from hook and hackle.

The reel got here in only about 5-6 days, Not bad. I tore open the box and only the reel was there, and No mention of my backing. So I proceded to take out the reel, which did not come with a reel bag. I was a little disappointed about that, But no big deal. I checked the reel all out and decided to just put some left over white dacron backing on the reel. I did this and then tied a nice improved albright knot to my sinking line. I then wound on the sinking line and strung up my 6 weight for some impending fun at the local lake.

The reel felt a little small on the 6 weight because the size was a 4/5. I got the smaller size because I wanted a lighter reel.
Anyhow I took it out and the line casted like a dream with my G.loomis 9' 6Weight! It was accurate at short distances and I shot the whole line with backing to boot easily when a couple double hauls were added to the cast. It is a fantastic line, I was worried the line would belly like crazy...it didn't do it hardly at all though! It amazed me.

As for a little review of the reel, it is silent on the retrieve which is nice! The drag is smooth with a good clicking adjustment knob. The spool pops off easily and the handle is of good quality. Very solid reel in my opinion.
The only con of the reel I could find for me was the loud outgoing click when you pulled line off or were fighting a fish. I don't like noisy reels. So when I got home that day I checked out the reel innards to see if I could remove the clicker. I found the clicker upon first glance and with one little screw it came out easily! I installed the other pieces and now the reel is silent on the retrieve and silent on the outgoing! Its awesome. I would recommend this reel to anyone looking for a cheap, but good quality reel.

However the reel felt strange on my 6weight, by strange I mean to small. so what I did was take a large arbor reel which was oversized and was on my three weight, ( a cabelas CSR I love those reels to!) and take the DT line off it and exchange the sinking line onto the large arbor and the DT onto the small arbored Okuma. All is well now as the Okuma balances my 3weight perfectly and is the perfect size for it.

As for that damn backing,,,3 weeks later after the order for the reel was done,,,the backing showed up...

All is well with the reel and backing dilemma now.
Tight lines.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

New blog and sunday fishing fun

Hello all and to whom it may concern, this is my new blog and I'm excited to have finally decided to make one.
I'm a high school student who really enjoys fly fishing.

I went out yesterday, Sunday to have some fun with the bluegills at the local lake. Have fun I did,,,I took my three weight with me as the wind was not blowing much and bluegill are so much funner when they are on the three weight. Anyways I arrived at the lake to find no wind and some bluegill surfacing. I immediately unstrung my 3weight which was already adorned with a GHRE.

I stripped off about 20' of line and started to haul for my first cast of the day. The cast settled out perfectly and as my GRHE was happily sinking,,,TWITCH went the line and I had a gill on. A nice gill at that! At around 7-8 inches.

This kept on for a good while and I ended up catching around 18 'gills from this same spot. I also caught some dink bass of around 4-5 inches. They still put a bend in the three weight and were fun to catch.
Then I had a larger tug that started pulling the line before I realized what was happening...I set the hook and I could tell by the way the fish was fighting that it was a nice bass. It gave me a good fight and I got a glimpse of him/her once before the bass went near a brush pile and threw my size 12 GRHE. Darn!

On a side note: I was given some furled leaders the other week and have been trying them out at my local lake when I go. I used them yesterday and they really are fantastic. They turn over very nicely and can even turn over 4' of tippet. I'm very impressed with them. And with yesterdays conditions, Where the fish wanted it on the drop,,,A furled leader not coated with floatant so it will sink Worked perfectly!

Meanwhile mom caught 2 bass on the spin rod and had fun herself.

Then The action slowed and we decided to call it a day.

Anyways it was a good day and I was happy to get out.
Sorry, No pictures this time.
Gotta do some homework...
Tight lines.