Shoot the Breeze!

Today's wind was more than a mere breeze. It was brutal! Amy and I stopped by the Trout Run in Decorah and snapped some pictures (see below.) What a sweet looking spring creek!

On our way up north, I had to stop by my favorite spring creek for an hour and throw some flies at persnickety browns. I found fish working below the foamy riffle, taking emergers with the lightning speed. Soggy duns which worked so well for the past several weeks were ignored by fish. I switched to drowned soft hackles and the same thing happened. Finally, the PT nymph went on the tippet-I was exploring the hatch backwards. The first trout slammed the nymph immediately, and than the second, larger one... The wind was so strong, it almost made impossible for duns to escape the water meniscus. The fish were taking nymphs right under the surface.

I must say it wasn't a pleasurable fishing due to the terrible wind which made casting almost impossible. However, my glass rod worked just fine, shooting into the breezy gusts.

Mauve Soggy Dun

Another variation on the similar theme... This Soggy Dun with mauve colored body should work especially well for greyling. It has brown super hair body over white UTC thread, microfibetts tails, badger support hackle (clipped), and reverse wound snipe soft hackle in the front.

Fast vs. Slow

Just got back from NE Iowa again... Today was cold, damp and more windy than the weather guy said it would be. For the entire day I saw only one fisherman in the distance and had the stream pretty much to myself.

The trout were cooperative but less aggressive in comparison to the previous week. I had only two half hearted takes on leeches, but there was some good surface activity. I fished half damp duns, then switched to emergers, and at the very and of the day got several strikes on soft hackled drowned dun/emerger.

I fished Lami 5wt/Milward Flycraft combo until the lunch, and switched to the recently built Lamiglas 7'6" 6/7wt on the brown vintage blank. I liked the new rod with 6DT the best, even though it is a bit powerful for this stream. I am surprised how great caster this rod is... It has absolutely nothing in common with contemporary Lamiglas Honey rods/blanks. It is quick and shoots line like crazy. I actually had great fun with the rod, shooting little flies into openings among branches and exposed roots on the opposite bank. I missed several fish on the greased line presentation with it-the soft Honey Lamiglas is a better rod for wet fly work. I just can not imagine better rod for streamers, and large western dries/grasshoppers. For now it is going to be my dedicated smallmouth bass rod, too.

Tuna Tube

Bluewater tube fly with slinky fibre, conehead, and lots of flash.

November Days

It turned out to be not as cold as I expected today. However, it was overcast and foggy in the morning, with light south-west breeze. The fish were active, and Olives did show up, as they often do on gloomy early November days. I spent the entire day fishing pretty much two flies: black and brown leeches, and Olive dun imitations I tied yesterday. I brought and used only one rod-McFarland with Edgar Sealey (J.W. Young) reel. It worked like a charm...

Snipe Feathers & Soggy Duns

Getting ready for tomorrow's fishing...

Windy Day Rod Testing

I took advantage of the seasonal time change and arrived to NE Iowa early. I strung up the new McFarland for its maiden voyage. The day turned out to be quite nice, but it was really windy, with the bright blue sky and plenty of sunshine. The water was cold and trout were lethargic at first. Early on I missed several fish on a leech, since they would only touch the fly and run away. As it was getting warmer, the fish were becoming more aggressive. I used small Waterloo Leeches in vine, black and brown and all of them worked well.

The rod performed admirably. I loved the way it handled the wind and the weighted flies. It wasn't until noon that first sporadic risers started to appear in the riffles. I switched to the Baetis dun imitation and thoroughly enjoyed the rod, casting pile casts on the swift riffle, and fighting the feisty browns (second photo). The blank has all characteristics of a first rate glass blank-a fine tip calibrations and superb dampening, with tip wobble brought to the bare minimum, and plenty of power at the bottom for long casts and fish fighting. I haven't had a chance to try other McFarland blanks, but this one feels like a fine precision tool. Presentation casts are easily executed with this rod-it almost casts itself.

After the tea break (Earl Grey White Tip), I spent another hour on the stream with my Lamiglas 8' 5wt and Milward's Flycraft reel. This is the first time I fished the reel and absolutely loved it! I hooked and landed a nice brown on 7X and size 18 fly, and several smaller ones from the same riffle (third photo). Milward has the sweetest click . The wind was coming in powerful gusts, and Lami would roll and switch cast with slow ease. I caught a lot of fish on it this Summer and Fall and became quite fond of it. However, I consider it somewhat of a specialty tool.

New Rods

I have just finished a couple of new rods.

The first one is another vintage Lamiglas (dark brown usanded blank). It is a strong, 7'6" 5 piece rod, which works best with lines 6, 7 or 8. I built this rod mostly for warmwater fishing. It is a bit too powerful for trout fishing around here.

I turned a Ritz grip, and used a Pac Bay (Powell style) metal seat, partially inleted. The short 1/2" fighting butt is made of decorative cork, as well as the first ring of the grip. For the stripper, I used the vintage agatine guide in red/orange color.

The second rod is built on McFarland Dry Fly Taper E-glass blank. It is a 7'10" #4 in a 4 piece version. The blank color is dark amber brown ("flamed cane"), with white spigots. I used the Struble D-8 seat with myrtle insert, and I turned the straight Garrison grip. The vintage agate guide has a plum stone, and I used the Snake brand snake guides on this rod. I also experimented with ferrule plugs of wood and cork I turned on my hobby lathe-they work just fine! Pictured below is the rod with Edgar Sealey Flylyte reel (by J.W. Young) from 1965.