Sneak Peek

I am wrapping up two new saltwater builds... Here's the picture of reel seats. More photos to follow next week, once they are done!

Mummichog/Striped Killifish

A common baitfish in estuaries and salt marshes... Rabbit strip for the tail, white/tan/olive craft fur, and angel hair for the body.

Candy Baitfish

Ingredients: craft fur for the tail, polarfibre and angel hair. The body is reverse tied polarfibre, veiled with angel hair and sealed with Hard as hull cement.

Toad Time

Toad flies are so cool, since they resemble many things at once: crustaceans, baitfish, squid, worms... I like flies you can fish confidently, letting the fish decide what they look like. I tied these for stripers. Even though originally designed as a tarpon fly, toad flies are becoming popular for many other species of marine gamefish.

Tidal

L/R (T/B): Saltwater Sculpin, Long Legged Shrimp, Easy Jig Crab

Little Shrimps and Sand Fleas

Surf perch flies: Shrimpalicious (top) and the sand flea (mole crab) imitation...

Bon Appétit

Top/bottom: Bon Appetit (small generic shrimp/crab imitation), the natural, Pudgy Bait, Hen Pheasant Flounder (a version of D. Skok's fly, tied entirely with hen pheasant feathers.)

Continuation

Silent Night (top), Exacto Clupeid (mid), Ghostly Jigminnow (bottom)

Season's Greetings!

Top/bottom: Ray's Fly; Small Brown Seaworm; Rusty Furtail Worm; Fireworm; Jighook Silversides; Techno Herring; Snake, Rattle & Jig Eel

Recent Ties

The winter arrived to Minnesota on the big door... Now's the time to sip a favorite scotch or a Belgian-style brew, and tie some new flies!



Ephemera Emerger (above left), Ginger Caddis Emerger (center, right), Soft Hackle Hula Flatwing (below)

Soft Hackle Hula Streamer

This version is tied on a 60 degree jig hook, and features a Hula Wrap underbody.

Mullet

Saltwater baitfish, a swimming mullet imitation.

Bass Rod

I just finished this short bass/warmwater/lite saltwater rod. It is an 8 footer, for lines #7 or 8. Being a fan of graphite Fuji reel seats and screw-lock fighting butt configuration, I used similar components for many saltwater flyrods I built in the past. This rod looks very utilitarian in its appearance, but it feels like it will be a fun casting and (hopefully) fish-catching tool.

Solo

Fly fishing can certainly inspire you to write, compose, create... My recent Boston trip was a breath of fresh air I needed desperately. I wrote several pieces upon my return and you can hear them here...

Musica Solitaria by VLAD

Rainy Boston Weekend

I just got back from Boston. The trip was alot of fun-meeting old friends, catching up, fishing with new and old rods, re-visiting old spots, trying new flies... I enjoyed the fishing, even though the weather was not cooperating at all, and the catching was poor. An old fisherman I met at one of the regular spots said to me: "You can't catch them when they are not here." He continued to talk about the spiraling down depletion of striper stocks on the East Coast. Perhaps there is a lot of truth in that, since I saw no bait, even in areas where you could scrounge a schoolie on the slowest of days some years ago. However, moments I spent fishing were precious to me, since they revoked memories of the past days when I fished the harbor with extreme intensity. I live half a country away right now, and fish much less often, especially for stripers.

The Batson switch for #8 line is a fine rod, perhaps more suited for freshwater situations. I would say it is a bit on the slow side, comparing it to what I like for ocean fishing. Rio Outbound #8 is a good match for my taste with this rod, since I like to feel the loop. Outbound #9 would be a better compromise for both overhead and spey casting. For windy surf I opted for stronger single handed #9, which punches through the wind better. I do think that a dedicated surf double handed rod with fast action/quick recovery (Beulah rods come to mind) is the key for surf conditions. However, most switch rods are designed for steelhead fishing: passable but sometimes not the best option for coastal environment.

Even though the water felt deserted, I had some great bird watching moments: a flock of Manx Shearwaters off the Revere Beach, two Wilson's Storm petrels off the Point of Pines, and observing the colony of Least Terns on the Winthrop beach was a special treat.