Goodbye Driftless

 

 

 

Gurglers in the Rain

White Bass Madness

I've just had an incredible day of fishing: approximately 30 white bass landed, a few smallies and a crappie. Receding water levels, stable weather window and plentiful baitfish turned the gamefish on!

Pocketrod

A quick and easy build: pack rod!

Homemade Micarta Reel Seat

I have just finished this uplocking reel seat and turned the grip for the new 7pc pack rod. The completed rod pics will be coming soon...

Today's Mini Slam

The closest thing to SWFF in the Upper Midwest would be lake fishing for warmwater predators. While packing for a morning of fishing, I took a photo of this little swift resting on the tree near my place.

I was on the lake jetty at 9AM today, throwing 185 grain med-sink head/Slickshooter combo with my Ultralight SW 4wt... This combo makes effortless casts even in gentle to moderate breeze.

This has been a strange year, with lots of rain. The jetty was covered with 2-3ft of water, and I had to wade out there to reach the end. I had slight hopes for white bass, but didn't find any. Instead, I landed a crappie and a nice sized sauger, even though it shook the DNA Clouser while I was fumbling with the camera in a thigh-high water. The fishing was slow!

Little later, I stopped by the nearby trout stream, to add a trout to the list of species. The water was high and murky, but I was able to land a little tiger trout on the swung leech. Ultralight SW proved to be a fun rod on a trout stream with WF4F line-a true dual purpose stick.

Softicity

Thread: pale olive; Body: palmered ginger CDC ; Wing: pale dun CDC; Soft hackle: snipe

Striper, Spigola, Suzuki

Black & Blue

Bluewater Glass/Graphite 8'6" 12wt

Bluewater/offshore fly rod, built on Lamiglas composite 12wt blank, featuring EVA grip, and EVA/Syncork fighting butt. I used Fuji K's for strippers and Minima 4's for the running guides.

Another Norie Early Spring

I have just completed another Norie Early Spring 7' 2/3wt fiberglass fly rod...

Clockwork Orange 7' #2/3

An ultralight fiberglass 7' 2/3wt fly rod, built on Norie "Early Spring" taper blank.

Pompadour Hendrickson Emerger

Hook: curved, size 16

Thread: light olive

Shuck: golden-brown ice dub

Body: pink DNA Frosty Fiber

Thorax and legs: Simi-Seal "bloody leech" dub, picked

Wing: dun rabbit foot

Mochi

Mochi Baitfish, tied on 30 degree jig hook, lightly weighted. Materials used: pearl emulator flash, bucktail (body), slinky blend (topping/back).

Ultralight Saltwater 4wt

An ultralight saltwater 9' 4wt fly rod...for bream, mullet, mackerel, surf perch, and many other small saltwater gamefish. Trout and panfish apply, too.

Cameron's Rod

I have just completed a rod for a friend of mine, Cameron Mortenson of The Fiberglass Manifesto. Cameron picked a very high quality S-glass blank from Mark Steffen, an 8 foot 8/9wt in a 3 piece configuration. We decided on a reddish color scheme and a combination of contemporary and retro aesthetics.

GliderSlider

Glue a short foam cylinder on the 2/0 SS popper hook, and leave some space between the foam and the hook eye. Palmer pearl Mega Baitfish Emulator Flash first, and add some Hula Wrap turns in contrasting color. Brush some Liquid Fusion over fibers and foam, while pulling the fibers back. Let dry! Add eyes along with the second coat. Taper the tail at the end and draw some markings with the felt tip pen. GliderSlider is ready to roll!

Miss Piggy

Flatwing Piggy

A hybrid between Flatwing and Bush Pig, this is a big fish fly with sinuous action and water-pushing 3D profile.

More Clousers...

... featuring 30 degree jig hook, pearl Mega Baitfish Emulator flash and fishair. You can use the taperizer scissors to adjust the length on the water to match the local baitfish.