Happy Holidays

Bonito bunnies.

October Tunoids

Albie Time 2

North Fork Gamma Beta F990-4, just completed (and few more pics here.) #vladanmilenkovicflyrods

Albie Time

More Bonito Action

More shore bonito action yesterday! I used my Jigminnows exclusively... My friend Jason Zimmer (pic below) displays a nice bonito, earned the hard way.

 

Bucktail Jigminnows and Bonito

Bonito snacks! Responsible for two shore bonitos in one afternoon... The first version of this fly called Ghostly Jigminnow I tied back in 2009...see this post. I tie the current version on 30 degree bend hooks, which improves the action of the fly. #bonitominnows

Bonito Squid

Small squid imitation, size 1, Owner Gorilla hook.

This Year, So Far

So far, this year has been a year of 4wt to 7wt (yes, small) stripers, and also the year of the bonito. We'll have to wait for the fall to see the rest of it...

Serbia, Brown Trout 2019/2108

Floating / Slow Sinking Shrimp

General Practitioner for Striped Bass

Classic unweighted shrimp flies for sight-casting in skinny water.

Early Sightcast

Blind is fun, but the sightcast is mesmerizing... Early this year.

CDC & Elk Caddis

A quick dozen...with ginger, brown, olive, rust and black CDC.

Articulated Buggers

Full dress and sparse versions.

Short Glass Fly Rods

Recent builds...3, 4, and 5wts, 6' and 6'6", including Milenkovic Staggered Ferrule Hybrid Glass 604/595, the two tip staggered ferrule model, which can also be fished as a 5'9" 5wt. More pics: https://rodcatalog.blogspot.com/ #vladanmilenkovicflyrods

Walkers Mayfly Nymphs

Tying few classics...

Ecdyonurus Spinners Revisited

Wine red and couple od shades of pink, for fishing just before dark... I prefer extended body flies without the polypropylene wing throughout the day, unless tied for dusk fishing.

Mayfly Gnats Revisited

Mayfly Gnats revisited... Didn't have best of luck with Gamakatsu R10-B hooks, since they get opened by strong fish easy (and many weren't large, but 100% wild!) These are tied on Firehole Sticks 413 hooks.

 

Sisevac Caddis Revisited

Always fun to tie...and works in mysterious ways. I believe the success of this fly is tied to the light refraction through the emu feather barbules. They move almost like CDC, but do need a good bath in a quality desiccant powder prior to use (like Tiemco Shimazaki Fly Shake). The powder will make the fly ooze the "moth factor." It is a flat water fly, best fished dead drift, or with tiny twitches.

 

Pheasant Tail and Squirrel

Emerging nymphs and one flymph

Flat Water Sulphurs

Easy-tying pale yellow duns...with hot orange thorax and undersize "messy" hackle.

At the Show

The Bear's Den Fly Fishing Expo yesterday was a lot of fun... seeing old friends and meeting new ones, while talking about fly tying, fishing and fly rods. If you are reading this and were there yesterday, thanks for stopping by!

Orange S-glass 7'6" by V. Milenkovic

More pics: https://rodcatalog.blogspot.com/2019/02/orange-s-glass-76-45wt-3pc.html
#vladanmilenkovicflyrods

CDC Squirrel Caddis

Ultra-quick to tie, two materials only...size 12.

New "Antiquary Edition" Fiberglass Build

More pics: https://rodcatalog.blogspot.com/2019/02/milenkovic-antiquary-edition-cts-golden.html
#vladanmilenkovicflyrods

Feathertail Sand Eel and Sightcast Minnow

Feathertail Sand Eel (L): colored tubing, thin saddle feathers and UV resin.
Sightcast Minnow (R): worm hook, bucktail and faux bucktail, bleached peacock

Winter Fishing in Med

I just got back late last night from Samos, Greece. I had a great time, partly due to wonderful Greek family who were my hosts. The fishing was quite slow, the main culprit being very cold weather which rolled over during the second part of my stay and shut everything off. I fished through most days, skipping only the coldest/wettest mornings. Managed to catch only scad. First several mornings looked quite promising, with decent amount of surface activity. I did have one hit/miss from a bonito, since some were around during most mornings. Also threw at barracuda who lingered near the pier, without takes. I observed either large false albacore or baby bluefin in the middle of the bay, smashing through schools of finger mullet. Nothing close within fly range, though. The piers and jetties did harbor a good amount of bait. I am hoping to return for another round in the future... Best time to go would be September-November, which is not surprising.