Retrograph Rod: Graphite Hunter, Glass Heart

My latests build...a longer, light-line graphite rod with fiberglass soul :-)

Last Week's Fly

Caribou & Elk Caddis

• Body: Caribou hair (with under-fur)
• Wing: Elk
• Egg sack/hot butt: Green dubbing (optional)

As an afterthough, here 's another one, tied with caribou ...

Woodcock & Caribou Soft Hackle

• Tail: Wood duck
• Body: Caribou hair with under-fur
• Hackle: Woodcock

Scenes from the Caddis Blanket Hatch

Fishy Kid Writing Contest

Check out the Fishy Kid Writing Contest, with some great prizes for finalists! Grand Prize for the contest is a 10' or 12' NuCanoe worth over $900.

The River's Call

Windy, rainy, with thunderstorms-that's was today's forecast. We were ready for the river's call and by noon, the fishing gods were smiling. The rain stopped and the caddis hatch was on. Fish were lined up along the rocky bank.

The wind was blowing in strong gusts, and the greatest challenge was to get a perfect drift...

Little browns and one lonely brookie fell for caddis dries. We enjoyed our tea on the bridge after the fishing, while watching sporadic risers. The spring is finally here!

Orange-nose Minnow

A modern classic... Sculpted slinky fiber/flash blend, jig hook.

Easy Day Fly

I stumbled upon some of new Owner Wacky hooks in stealthy camo-green finish, and thought they would be perfect for slim sand eel imitations. I tied a few today, utilizing Liquid Fusion glue as a coating over the e-z body tubing... Nice and easy flies for Saturday afternoon!

This Morning...

I was getting ready...

To feed some hungry mouths! I found a typical spring scenario on the nearby spring creek: a smorgasboard of Early Stoneflies, BWO's, and some midges. Most fish took nymphs, but I had a couple of dry-fly takes. The weather turned blustery within a short time, but that is Wisconsin in the early spring!

Casting Fun

Lake water was still too cold and high, but I had alot of fun casting the bass rod from the wooden dock. Waves and wind made my casting platform oscillate and shake wildly! I was throwing Crystal Schminnows and small Jig-hook Clousers, without much happening. With nice temperatures we've been having, it shouldn't take much longer... On a side note, trout fishing has been good-I had some nice action on both dries and nymphs a couple of days ago on a local spring creek.

Sanibel: Birding and Flyfishing

Sanibel: Birding and Flyfishing from Vladan Milenkovic on Vimeo.

We spent a couple of days birding and fishing around Sanibel Island, FL. While the weather and water temperatures were much cooler than usual, we had a great time. The fishing was slow, but we were able to catch some fish and take many bird photos in Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge.

I fished the Refuge a bit, trying to cover most accessible spots, timing my back casts between groups of bird watchers. The spring snook season is closed this year, due to the fish kills caused by the cold weather. While I had not much luck in the back country, it was a lot of fun throwing the fly around overhanging mangroves, and letting it drift through the deep holes in the channels.

Sanibel Causeway proved to be the best bet, since the surf was up, the wind was howling, and our second morning was drenched in rain. I had to scout the best casting spots, while avoiding the sheepshead fishing crowd around bridge pilings. In the afternoon, I concentrated my efforts under the Causeway, throwing long casts around schools of bait, which were swept with the outgoing tide. Amy was patiently reading her novel, and snapping pictures. After a missed strike from a Spanish mackerel, I switched to a wire leader. Spanish mackerel are fast swimmers, and often strike your fly while running towards you… Several casts later, I had a solid hookup, and landed a nice mack. I continued fishing, but with the ebbing tide, the show was pretty much over.

The variety of water around Sanibel is mind boggling, and I can only imagine how incredible the fishing can be later in the season. I am already planning a trip for beach snook next year!

Saltwater Rods

My latest builds: Pac Bay Rainforest 8wt and Graphite USA 11wt.

Long Fly

A non-floating variation on the theme, with long , flowing hackles...

Weekend

I've been finishing up my two new saltwater builds this weekend. While I was waiting for the finish to cure, the mailman delivered a package from Japan. Hitoshi Takemura sent me some wonderful teas from his homeland. I am already brewing some as I am writing this blog entry and getting ready to apply another coat of finish... Thank you Hitoshi!!

If you like fiberglass fly rods and vintage flyfishing gear, check out Hitoshi's blog.

Red Foam Gills

More floating baitfish... These have floating foam pads made of red foam-they represent gills perfectly!

More Floating Flies: Firetiger

Floating Pinfish and Bunker

Floating baby bunker (top) and a floating pinfish imitation, with a piece of foam concealed in the head. Vary the size of foam for different effects (floating vs. suspended fly.)

Mustad vs. TFS Jig Hook Comparison and Bill's Foamberg

Yesterday I got a nice surprise in the mail... I received a beautifully tied foam diver and some samples of Mustad 32786BLN jig hooks from Bill Ninke (aka wildwilly on Stripers Online forum.) Foamberg, as the fly is called, is a foam version of the classic Dahlberg Diver, and it looks like a perfect fly for many predatory fish species.


I took some pictures of various hooks. All of my jig-hook flies are tied on either The Fly Shop TFS 5444 hooks or Gamakatsu 60 degree models. I have never tried Mustads, though. As you can see from the photo above, Mustad 32786BLN hooks are shorter in length and have wider gap than comparably sized TFS 5444 hooks. The finish, sharpness and consistency between TFS and Mustad hooks are very similar.

On the bottom photo you can see how TFS hooks compare size-wise to the more popular saltwater fly hooks.