Recent fishing

I have been out trout fishing over the weekend, on saturday and sunday. It has been pretty tough lately! 

I headed out on saturday optimistic about catching some fish but once I arrived Was surprised that they were not taking streamers or small soft hackles. I tried other things but nothing was the ticket, I was starting to scratch my head. I then met up with a buddy who regularly fishes there. I asked him what had been working and he said they were close in and would only take tiny stuff moving very slowly or not at all. 

So with that info I put on a Size 16 Ray charles( Not exactly tiny but hey who knows) under a Bobber (indicator). I walked on down the shore and immediately had a take. I set hook and landed the only dumb fish in the lake. That was the only fish I caught that day. The fish was small about 14". 

On sunday I went out again this time with a dry dropper set up. The dry a stimulator and the dropper a size 14 ray charles. I started walking around the lake to locate rising fish. Which I was seeing none of. And the only place they were rising was where some baitfishers were parked.( the baitfishers were not catching anything). 

Soo I waited around for the baitfishers to leave. Finally they left and me and my buddy richard took the spots. I hooked up with a fish almost immediately and brought it to hand. It was a nice fish with the exception of a sore right before its dorsal fin. my guess would be about 16". 

Then I missed a fish while i was "asleep at the fly". I was gazing at the scenery and then felt the strong tug of a fish pulling line. Yanked back into reality I tried to set the hook but missed the fish. Richard managed to land one fish as well. 

We then walked around the lake to find that someone had fed the fish and they were rising to pellets. We tried multiple dries and pheasant tails to mimic the pellets but they would not take anything. 

So recently we have been able to catch only one fish per day to avoid the dreaded skunk and that has been it. I might go out later today if all goes as planned. 

skunked

Last time out fishing, I got skunked. It was a crappy day And I could NOT figure out what they were eating. frustrating to say the least. 

Havn't been out for a few days though. School started again, no more winter break, and I hav been busy. 

Tomorrow we go oto the Monterey Bay Aquarium..Should be fun..Even though I went the other week. Can never get enough of the aquarium. 

crappy weather

Well lately the weather around here in cali has been very crappy. 60+mph winds, and 6+ inches of rain since friday. I guess we did need the rain but holy crap this is a lot of rain!

Anyway, I did go fishing on friday, In the rain. It was difficult because they have not planted the lake in a while, and one of the new workers keeps feeding the fish every day! Maybe if they had just planted fish it would be ok if he kept feeding them but this is frickin ridiculous. All the fish in the lake are stuffed to the gills( pun intended) and they are not readily taking flies to much.  I still did alright though. I took the new TFO 3wt and caught 2 on black buggers and brown buggers. 

On thursday though I did much better. I had once again taken out the TFO 3wt. I caught 8 fish that day. seven of them were on a black copper john and 1 other was on a peacock woolly bugger.  I was fishing the black copper john with a bobber( strike indicator) and was catching fish literally 10ft from the shore and nice fish to!

Maybe tomorrow if the wind and rain is not to bad, I will try to go fishing.  Am I crazy??............Probably! 

Until this rain clears and I have been stuck inside, I have been tying flies and organizing my fly gear. 

Built a rod tube

I recently built a rod tube for the new TFO.

Here are some pics... 

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: