Game Day

Couple from our spring steelhead trip

Not sure what the current conditions are but with all the rain and cooler temps I'm thinking there will be a lot of fish in the rivers and they may be sticking around for a little while.

Although these fish were taken on the doorstep of our calendar spring we still faced winter-like conditions.

Dear Winter

You're being very selfish. Spring has been patiently waiting for playtime and you keep hogging it. Old man winter, I beg of you, hang it up until next year my friend. There is lots of fishing to be done and we need every warm day we can get!

Tell Reactor Watches to Stop Supporting PTTS

Saw this over at Moldy Chum. If you fish for Tarpon or would like to preserve your opportunity to fish for Tarpon in the future, then tell Reactor Watches to stop supporting PTTS. Watch the video to understand why. Follow this link to voice your opinion: http://www.reactorwatch.com/contact.html

BOYCOTT REACTOR WATCHES from Save the Tarpon on Vimeo.

MI update

On Sunday Dad got a grab on the swing moments after I walked up to him to call it a morning and a minute after he said let me take a couple more casts (wedding planning trumped fishing this weekend).

Modified ESL got the bite. Unfortunately, shortly after the grab the fish started to buck at the surface and the hook pulled. Probably nothing he could have done. Looked like a healthy winter fish and was enough to rekindle the fire. Dad has been beating me up on the swing this winter. He has a good feel for the drift.

Betsie

Checking out wedding venues in northern Michigan. Got to do some fishing this morning. Water was cold but fishy looking. Got two pulls which was promising. Spawn guy came in behind me and got one.

All in all promising. Maybe we can get some this afternoon or tomorrow morning.

Lone Wolf Weekend

My better half was out of town last weekend and here in the Midwest it was bitter cold. The local rivers were iced up and its tough to ice fish with a fly rod, so what is a lone wolf to do? Set up the kitchen table in front of the tv, grab a bunch of random fly tying materials and fly fishin' DVDs, a 12 pack, some bourbon and go to work. Having my neighbor and fellow fly fishing/fly tying enthusiast come over for a night to talk fishing and flies was an added bonus. A number of flies were churned out and the following was one I'm particularly excited to try.

Recipe
Two 2461s sz 2 with beadalon 7 strand holding them together. Four hackles hanging off the back. Marabou palmered up both hooks. Ostrich lashed on the top of each hook for color contrast. 3D eyes up front add a nice baitfish touch. I think eyes can really enhance a streamers effectiveness.

It is basically a galloup T n' A with the ostrich topper and the eyes.

It's 4 inches + and between the the bou and ostrich it will have a bunch of shake and wiggle. I'm a little worried about durability with such soft materials but that is to be determined.

Bass, pike, salmon and trout are all on the list of targets and color options are pretty close to endless.

Tight lines!