Reel seats

I got hold of some nice reel seats for my current and future rod-building projects. Pictured on the left are Struble D-2 and D-8 models, with blued and bright nickel silver hardware. My original plan was to bronze-tone the bright D-8, using the bronzing solution, but I decided to use it as is, for my half-finished McFarland blank.

I have also recently made this all cork down-locking seat, pictured on the top. I used some leftover parts, including the stainless steel ring, as well as the combination of Copano burl cork and the regular cork. It will probably be used in the upcoming months, perhaps for some short, light line glass rod.

Waterloo in the Fall

Amy and I hit the Waterloo Creek on Saturday (10/13), on our way up from Decorah. The weather was perfect, with the very light wind. This was her first outing on this water, and we decided to fish the wild fish section of the stream.

We found two typical Fall hatches on the stream-very small olives (Plauditus punctiventris) and larger Baetis sp. hatching sporadically. Around 1:00 PM we found a bunch of rising fish, who took BWO imitations in sizes 16-20. Little Rabbit Foot emergers and duns got the job done and my Country Gentleman Variant dries took fish successfully. Amy stayed with the surface flies for the entire afternoon, while I fished Buggers upstream, throughout the quiet pools, where there would be no apparent activity on the surface. I managed one nice 15' brown on the hopper pattern. Bugger produced in the riffles, too. Grasshoppers were active on the banks and they can be productive on this stream well into November, depending on the weather.

We didn't get any giants, but enjoyed the steady action, finishing near the upstream bridge around 4:00 PM, tired and happy. I will try to make another trip (depending on the weather) in the next week or so. My plan is to test the new McFarland Dry Fly taper glass rod I am working on right now.

Another season winds down...

This last weekend of trout season 2007 in WI and MN wasn't particularly eventful, due to the stormy weather we had. Nevertheless, the fishing has been great for the past couple of weeks.

I made a trip to the Trout Run and although it survived some serious flooding, it was in a great shape. The fish took BWO emergers on the top, and small PT nymphs took care of the subsurface feeders. I wasn't able to locate some large fish in their usual spots, but there were plenty of trout around. The recent bank improvements were not damaged during the floods. I expected to find some hopper action in the lower stretches, but in spite of the fact that it was windy and grashoppers were plentiful, the fish did not respond to hopper imitations.

Rush River had some localized but intense BWO hatches and you had to walk to find a good action. I was able to find it each time I visited the river. I didn't get any giants but found some nice, hard fighting, but often tippet shy fish who would smash BWO imitations in sizes 18-20.

Pine Creek improvement in the lower section of the stream has been finished. They have built a nice parking lot with the inscription dedicated to Amy's grandparents (picture on the left.) I fished the creek several times during the past ten days and the fishing has always been exciting. I did not get many large brookies in comparison to the last September, but enjoyed the consistent action. The stream is becoming more popular and that is my only complaint. You can see the pictures of the same stretch of the creek taken last September (left, below) and several days ago (center, below). The bank improvement looks great and should increase both the numbers and the size of fish.

I finished the season with the side trip to the Kinnie, two days ago. The stream was slightly stained, but I found some fish on the top, feeding on small olive duns. Each time I fish this stream I remind myself that I really should fish it more often, since it takes only 30 minutes for me to get there. Here are a couple of pictures of the stretch I fished (below), taken in the late afternoon. (I decided not to take any fish pictures, anyway.)

I will be waiting for some warm days in October and November to visit streams in NE Iowa.

BWO

For the past several days I have been witnessing some exciting BWO hatches on the streams of the Driftless area. Here is the imitation I prefer to fish any time BWO's are hatching...

Hook: TMC 531 (size to match the naturals-this is 1X short hook)
Tail: olive angora/lite -brite blended dubbing (short) and wood-duck fibers (long)
Body: olive turkey biot
Thorax: opossum dubbing, slightly teased out
Wing: grey rabbit foot hair (or natural cream, for visibility)

Waterloo after floods

After several months I visited one of my favorite Midwestern spring creeks-Waterloo Creek near Dorchester, IA. The high water marks, flattened weeds and eroded banks were clear reminders that recent floods were devastating for many streams in SE MN and slightly less for the NE IA. Luckily, Waterloo looked and fished great yesterday afternoon. DNR bank improvements held out pretty well against the raging currents-only a single wall in the C & R section had some damage.

As it is always the case after the flood, the stream bed changed in certain locations. Certain holes were filled out, but the stream was in a nice shape. I fished mostly grasshoper imitations on my Lami 8' #5 and switched to brown leeches at the end of the day. The winds were gusting, but the sky eventually cleared and the fishing was just geting better by the time I had to head home.

Waterloo browns were willing, but slightly more finicky than usual. I landed nine fish-half a dozen on hoppers and three on leeches. I haven't hooked any giants, but all trout were in perfect shape and hard-fighting. I'll be visiting Waterloo soon again, once the season closes in MN and WI.

Back in Boston

My trip to Boston (and Bethel, ME) was truly memorable, even though my fishing time was pretty restricted. Each time I return to Boston it feels like going home to me-too many happy memories of old friends and fun times... As soon as we arrived, I drove around Winthrop, checking out our old place and my favorite fishing locations. I had two evenings reserved for fishing, and I fished only an hour or two each evening-that was all I could squeeze between visits to familiar places (including my favorite library in the USA and coffee shops I used to play in), errands and time spent with friends...

I fished various locations around Winthrop and Revere both evenings. Spring tides and strong SE winds brought plenty of debris along the beaches, and I found plenty of juvenile bunker each night. Unfortunately, there were no stripers or blues crashing the bait. I can only imagine how the fishing in the harbor will be in a couple of weeks, with the fall migration under way...

I have brought along my latest creation, a travel saltwater glass fly rod built on a vintage Lamiglas blank. Even though the catching was not great, I had a great time testing the new rod. The old Lami blank is unsanded and much faster in action than the contemporary Lami Honey blanks. I suspect it is an older S-glass model ( I actually have another in dark brown color), and it reminds me of a graphite, but it is heavier and little smoother.

The rod throws ST10 head effortlessly! Its shorter length worked reasonably well while wading shallow coves and flats, but it is too short for serious surf work. However, it is a great boat rod, and being shorter, it has lower swing weight and it is not too tiring to cast for longer periods. It would also be a great tool for fishing smaller pelagic species, where vertical lifting becomes crucial. I paired it with the Ross Big Game 4 reel, and it balances perfectly.

I must admit I was disappointed I haven't had a chance to properly 'baptize' the new rod. However, I will make sure I visit the Beantown every summer from now on... You can view the pictures of the rod below.

Brook Trout and Lamiglas 7' 3wt

I have just finished another glass rod-Lami 7' 3wt 4pc, built on older blank from Clemens Tackle. I've been using the two piece version of the same model for the second season now, and both rods have pretty much identical actions and flex-profiles. The four piece version has just so slightly more stable tip, which I prefer.

Amy joined me for an afternoon trip to the favorite brookie stream to try the new rod. It was a beautiful summer day, perfect for wet wading. Consistent breeze proved to be a good test for the soft rod. Brookies vere active despite the hot weather, but I didn't connect with larger fish. I ended up with at least a dozen fish-most of them in the 7-8' range. Majority of the fish took a foam hopper and I got a few on the beetle imitation. Unfortunately, I forgot to charge the camera battery and Amy ended up with the single photo (see above) before it went dead.

On our way back, we discovered an excellent, newly opened cafe and enjoyed our macchiato and biscotti.

You can see the close-ups of the new rod below...

Flatwings

I am slowly getting ready for my Boston trip in August and tying some flies for stripers. Most of my recent flies have been flatwing-type, inspired by writings of Ken Abrames and fishing methods described in Jock Scott's " Greased Line Fishing for Salmon." Two flies pictured are my (slightly tweaked) version of Abrames' Squidazzle (above) and the classsic Antlantic salmon fly, General Practitioner-a great shrimp/prawn imitation (below).

Baptism of the 8' 5wt Lami

I went to the local spring creek yesterday, to try the new rod. It’s been a pretty windy year around here and the 5wt rod was a good choice. I usually fish 7’ 6” 4wt or 7’ 3wt Lamis on this stream, but the 8-footer performed admirably. It felt comfortable and fairly precise in close. The casting stroke needs to be relaxed and the smooth loop would follow-I used a WF5. What surprised me the most was the power this rod has in comparison with his shorter ‘brothers.’ Just for the fun, I shot some longer casts in the shallows, into the archways of the slab bridge. With the haul, the rod was able to produce pointy loops into the wind. I closely observed the loop shapes… The rod is capable of producing nice loops without little wave-like formations in the bottom leg of the loop. They are fairly common on most fiberglass rods, since the tip-wobble is so typical for glass. This would be a nice rod to fish in lower sections of some trout streams around here, where you can expect a mixed bag of trout and smallmouth bass.

I managed to hook six browns, and landed five of them. There was no hatch going on and the fish would not take beetles nor ants, but went for soft hackles fished on the greased line and CDC Loopwing Caddis Emergers. Below is a picture of the first brownie caught on the rod. The rod handled 6X and 7X tippets with absolutely no problem. The little extra length proved really handy in turning trout when they would rush into the thick weeds. I can't wait to try it with grasshoper imitations in the upcoming months.

Lamiglas Honey Glass 8' 5wt

I have just finished this rod, built on a Lamiglas E glass blank. It is currently very hot and windy-not the greatest fishing weather, but I am hoping to test it on the water sometime during the next week. It is soft actioned and I am hoping to use it for nymphs, wets, and hoppers. I shot some close-up photos of the rod which you can see as a collage below. The main wraps are tan, with rust and chestnut trims. Notice how tan becomes translucent on the yellow blank. The reel seat insert is burled walnut, and I used single foot Ti guides and H&H stripper.

Stalking beetle-eaters

Hot and windy days are the best for terrestrial fishing. During the past week I gave my glass and graphite rods a good workout, stalking wild browns on the nearby spring creek. You need to fish far and fine to get good results. I usually carry a pair of small binoculars to spot good sized fish. Tuesday was really windy with gusts up to 30 mph. This made precision casting a bit challenging, but I had the whole river for myself. Fish were turned on and I enjoyed one of the best days this year.

Streamside Idyll

Each year when water buttercups (Rannunculus sp.) blossom in the stream bed, I think of one of the best definitions of the chalkstream by Ron Wilton, a river keeper on the Itchen. According to Wilton, the chalkstream is "a flood under control." At this time of the year the fishing is shifting from the full force dry fly action to the more technical fishing among the weedy channels. While the weeds provide food and protection for trout, they represent a challenging obstacle as well. For the past couple of weeks I lost several nice fish deep in the weeds. One particularly large trout managed to straighten the hook after I patiently tried every trick to get it out. Amy fished with me several times and caught fish each time!

I savoured each day on the stream during the past several weeks. Light Hendrickson/Pale Afternoon Dun hatches were incredible, and the caddis are still very active during the day. Other mayflies I encountered sporadically were E. needhami and Baetis spp. During the best hatches the fish would switch from one species to the next, even though soft hackled imitations proved to be the most consistent producers during the day. With the abundance of caddis flies, it's no wonder. I haven't had a chance to fish any spinner falls in the evenings, but a wide variety of caddis and mayfly emergers were productive during the day: Rabbit Foot emergers, CDC cripples, Soft-hackled pupae, Parachute caddis and Klinks, CDC Loopwings a la Urban, plain PT nymphs, etc. On the left (bottom) is a picture of myself with the nice fish taken a couple of weeks ago

Today's weather was almost perfect, with considerable cloudiness, so unlike many of the recent bright and sunny days. Above the weed-choked stretch, I found a flat in the meadow section of the stream with active fish (see the pic). They would not take dries, but went for a tiny size 20 soft hackle fished on the greased line just under the surface. Each time the fly would tighten before the swing, the fish would take it gently. They took it dead-drifted upstream just as well. Every time the sun would peek through the clouds, the fish activity would suddenly die.

I have also been working on several glass rods during the past month. Today I have just received a very interesting vintage glass blank-7'6" dark brown Lamiglas 5 piece travel model. According to the seller it was made in the late 1970's-early 1980's. It is much stiffer than the honey E glass blanks, and Lamiglas made plenty of S glass fly rod blanks at the time, so it might be one of those. I will write about my progress with the latest rods in one of the upcoming blogs. I need to finish them soon and take them fishing!

Caddis Time

Multiple hatches sometimes require a simple solution. That was the case yesterday on a charming SE Minnesota spring creek, where you could observe small BWO's, sporadic Light Hendricksons, small yellow craneflies and plentiful caddis flies .

The weather was quite sunny and bright, and spring caddis were the most active under the trees. There were occasional surface risers, but the major feeding activity occurred under the surface. Trout were darting and fleshing in the riffles, intercepting emerging pupae.

I tried several pupa patterns, but settled for the very simple one, which trout found irresistible. For some reason, they preferred the fly with pretty thin body instead of the typical bulbous one. I fished mostly shallow riffles and shaded areas. The pattern designed to sink easily and weighted only with its copper wire rib is a perfect match for these conditions. It sinks just deep enough, it is not overdressed, and has plenty of action built in.

The fish took the emerging pupa fished upstream on the dead drift or twitched, and across or downstream on the swing. I got some fish on Light Hendrickson emerger as well, but it was still a bit early for this hatch on this particular stream-LH action should really start next week.

The trout pictured is slightly above average size for this stretch of water. I released seven trout in a couple of hours of fishing during the mid-day.

I suspect the evening would bring out some spectacular dry fly action.

Guiding Amy...

A couple of days ago Amy and I decided to explore Whitewater River complex in SE Minnesota. None of us have ever been there, so it was a true exploratory trip. Also, this was Amy's first FF trip this year, so I had to play the guide (something I actually really enjoy doing.) The fishing reports weren't the greatest, since the rivers are fairly low, and the weather conditions were not very spring-like. We decided to go anyways, since any day of fishing is way better than a day spent in the city.

We arrived to the river valley and decided to hit the South Branch first. The water was fairly warm for May, and apart from plentiful cream midges and solitary Light Hendricksons there was not much going on. We concentrated on sporadic riffles and Amy missed a couple of strikes on the small nymph. After walking upstream for a while, without much luck, we decided to change the location.

A short drive away is a beautiful little spring creek, Trout Run Creek-located in the middle of the Whitewater State Park. It was a lunch time, and the strong wind started to blow. It felt more like mid-summer than spring, and the fish were acting accordingly. I did not fish much earlier in the day and after a series of rapid casts with a BH nymph, I finally hooked a nice brown in a shaded riffle. It shot towards the shore and then straight upstream, throwing the hook. We continued upstream, exploring the wooded stretches. On the way back to the car, we located a bunch of smaller fish feeding on the surface, under the rocky wall. Amy deceived a couple of fish with tan coloured Rabbit Foot Emerger. Those were Amy's first trout of the year.

The fishing was just getting better in the afternoon hours, but it was time to go. The area holds some incredible trout water and there will be plenty of chances to get acquainted with it later this year.