Fly rod "Mlava", built for an aquaintance in Serbia. It was named after the famous spring-creek in eastern Serbia, known for large, wild brown trout. The picture of the river is not very recent, since I haven't visited it for the past ten years... It shows the fairly open spring section. Further down the valley, the river becomes overgrown with trees, and its deep, emerald pools used to hold trophy browns, years ago...
Translated to English, the name Mlava would mean the Crushing River-due to the fact that after the snowmelt, it often becomes quite temperamental. It is a magical place, which holds many happy memories from my youth!
More jetty madness and more fish activity! Fish boiling, bait spraying, sometimes a vicious strike on each cast...and suddenly, everything would be quiet again. Most white bass caught were between sizes of the fish pictured. A couple of saugers were a nice bonus...
We visited a nice jetty on Lake Pepin today, and fished from it for a few hours. I was hoping to run into some white bass action, and even though I found some fish, the fishing was slow... I rigged my bass rod with slow sinking "hover" head and fished with small shad imitations-jig hook clousers, and craft fur minnows.
While I was fishing, Amy took a bike ride around the park. These cool looking blue bikes are available for everyone to use for free!
I saw several boils-whites were chasing baitfish, but very sporadically. This little guy came to my fly about 30 minutes upon my arrival. It was the only white bass for the day...
These guys were more common, bumping my fly often.
Just when I was getting ready to leave, this sauger attacked the fly in the rocky shallows... a pretty little fish!
On our way back, we watched a pair of cranes in the valley. We have been observing them already earlier this spring. They have been nesting in the valley for the past six seasons. Amazing birds, indeed! I took several pictures from the car, and even though not great (they were pretty far from the road), this one turned out the best. We'll be back on the lake soon!
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!
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!
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!
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.
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!
