Gear envy

18,000 laying around and this dream beavertail micro plus motor could be a reality. Not to be I guess, but as always, it's fun to think about.  Happy Friday.

What is going on here?

So Dad got a nice new skeeter (game changer purchase) and takes it out fishing for snook and reds or whatever inshore gamefish are milling about. Apparently, he starts blind casting an EP pinfish and catches a ... MULLET! What!? I have heard of doing this with bread crum "flies" but a pinfish streamer, I don't know what to say. I guess he broke his rod in the process. Looking forward to this story!

Game Changer - Sculpin (Goby)

Excuse the messy bench and grainy picture, this is the game changer - sculpin edition. 

I saw the Flymen fish spine and, like most tyers out there, I was intrigued. In short order, images of creative fish-spine masterpieces were flying around the web and blogosphere.  

However,  although there were an array of patterns, very few were modeled after the sculpin or goby that is so common here in the Great Lakes region.

So, imaged is my initial stab at a game changer sculpin. I use body fur in typical game-changer fashion. I use a couple of marabou as pectoral fins. To bulk the head, I use several turns of .30 lead free wire. All secured to a Sz 2 B10s. 

It looks very fishy. After doing a couple of these I came across one key - brushing a lot before you trim. The more brushing the better. 

If you have any questions let me know.

Tight lines.

A Day of Firsts on the Kankakee

Lets start with Seth - that fishy looking dude above. Seth came out of the gate swinging by catching his first smallie on the fly (above) on a crayfish pattern (below).  Oh, and that first fish was the biggest of the trip (Seth kicked my butt in the quality department!).

He followed up with a handful of others, all solid fish, in fact each one of his was noticeably larger than any of mine. Better yet, he ended the day with a nice fish on a popper - another first. 

From my perspective, it was the first time I saw Seth really cast with distance, control and accuracy. There were some growing pains for sure, but Seth was casting and even more importantly fishing with confidence at the end which was great to see. I could sense that he was starting to feel the cast as opposed to having to think about it which is really the first major hurdle in this sport. Proud of you Seth.

As for me, it was my first float of the Kankakee, first time fishing with Austin Adduci of Grab Your Fly Charters. Austin is a great guide, he knows the river is good with the sticks, and knows how to keep everyone engaged.  I would recommend the trip to anyone.  As for the Kankakee, I was impressed. It's a scenic river with plenty of eager smallmouth.  Although the smallmouth aren't huge on average they are aggressive, tough and take flies throughout the water column.

Great company, great times, great trip.

What's next? (I'm talking to you Seth)

Fishing Update

The last four weeks have been a whirlwind of life experiences including weddings of others, wedding planning projects of our own, engagements with loved ones, and bachelor/bachelorette activities.  Thankfully, I was able to keep my fly rod near by through it all.  Here's a little taste of what we've been up to.  The video is of my buddy Kelley Deneen and I exploring northern California with GoPros (the first videos of many hopefully).

 

Tight lines.

Local Ponds on Sunday

Fished another local pond on Sunday. I had to take full advantage of the summer-like conditions. Kat was a trooper and tagged along to catch some rays.

This particular pond is no secret, I seemed to be the last to the party and the fishing reports weren't great. Nevertheless, I had done some scouting on the topo maps before hand and had some ideas on where to try - spots which could be easily overlooked. Sure enough, the areas were looking as good in person as they looked on the map and the bass were out in force.

A chartreuse and white murdich minnow twitched overtop the weeds was the ticket. Fished an hour or so and caught 6 bass and a crappie and missed/lost a few others. None of the bass were very large and a couple were quite small. That being said, they hit hard and fought a good fight. Most were stocky 12-14 inchers.

All in all it was a great way to spend the afternoon. The lesson to take away from this is that a little homework can go a long way even on small water.

Some pix to come.

Tightlines.

T n A Bunker

This is a version of Galloup's T n' A bunker. I used and Allen egg hook trailer hook size 4 and a 8089 size 6. Don't worry, the 8089 size 6 is a big hook.

My twist is to use laser dub for the head to add a little sparkle and some bulk. Note that I "made" the yellow laser dub by chopping up sections of sculpin wool and ice wing. Then I placed the sections on two dog brushes and rubbed them together until the wool and flash looked clean and fully blended. I can tell you my blend looks and acts just as the store bought stuff.

The original pattern has a much thinner head but I see nothing wrong with a fly that pushes some water.

If you have any questions let me know.

Oh and yellow and white is simply because I had it on the table. I've never used this combo before but I guess it could work.

One last note, since the tape started at 1 this is in fact a 4" not 5" fly.

Tightlines.