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.

Soft Hackle Dries, Emu & Pheasant, Fly Sketching

Pollock, Night Floating Fly, Tutti Frutti

Three new flies with common characteristics: reverse tied polafibre, "painted" with angel hair and Hard as Hull cement. The pollock/coalfish imitation is weighted for fishing around structure, and features flashy kinky fibre/fishair mix along with emu feathers. Floating Night Fly has a triangular piece of foam (a hidden crease fly concept) in the head, and floats perfectly. The Tutti Frutti colored fly is a four feather flatwing, with some polafibre and firefly flash mixed between feathers.

From Fly Archives

Nothing really new in this post, only photos and old scans of flies tied in the early 2000s. Top to bottom: KT Squids, Kinky Minnow, Gurgler & Bass, Circle Hook FPF & Surf Candy, ALF.

Classic

Wet Daddy's

Just Worms

Baitfish/Crayfish

A combination of styles...baitfish shape, prawn or crayfish colors.

Big Baitfish

These large baitfish imitations are tied using the big fly fiber for the tail, craft fur/polarfibre for the head, and shredded mylar (such as angel hair, wings 'n' flash, etc.) for the veiling. I used Hard as Hull head cement to bond the flash material to the polarfibre, which gave the fly its final shape.

Tying sequence (given for the middle fly, since that one has a magnum bass rattle inside, which adds extra step):

-tie the heavy duty rattle on the bottom of the shank , so the hook rides correctly;

-tie the big fly fiber over and around the rattle, along with some polarflash for the flashtail. Fold the material over so it doesn't pull. If you don't want the rattle, add the twiston strip to keel the hook before tying. Omit this if you are using regular hook;

-reverse tie (hollow style) four clumps of polarfibre for the head: three white for belly/sides and one for the back in contrasting color. You can also use craft fur, or both. Polarfibre will give you smoother texture of the finished fly, though. For bunker fly (top), add another bunch od polarfibre to create wider profile. Comb the fur before folding;

-add a bunch of shredded mylar to veil the fly, fold and tied down. You can vary the colors, or add red under to simulate the bleeding gills. Comb the mylar to create a shroud around the fly;

-coat the fly liberaly with acrylic cement (I used Hard as Hull.) It dries quickly and it is easy to shape the fly to give it more round or oval cross profile. The cement will bond mylar fibers to the fur. Adjust the shape (leave it round or squeeze for flatter profile). Goop the eyes and you are done!

Oliver Kite

A rare footage of Oliver Kite from his TV series Kite's Country is available on Youtube... It is fascinating to watch this legendary master fisherman and naturalist uncover the hidden world of chalkstreams through beautiful narratives, while taking trout on Mibro glass rod with his Bare Hook nymphs (and refusing to wear the polarizer glasses, considering them an unfair advantage!) Kite was a true gentleman and a true pioneer!