"LET'S DO IT !!!!"

When my younger bro (Jonah) came over today and asked if I wanted to head out in search of trout for a few hours at 1:00 p.m. in the afternoon and after a long night of thunderstorms, the only thought that came to mind was,"Let's do it!"  We loaded up the gear and headed out for my nearby stream.  I stopped on a bridge further down on the stream and discovered it was quite brown and running muddy.  Oh well, I decided to head upstream and hoped for the best.  When we arrived at our destination I was happy to discover the water was not nearly as bad, but still stained enough to make it a lot easier to sneak around without being spotted.  We hopped out and headed for the first hole.  We only ended up fishing about five holes on this trip but they were so productive that it took up most of our time.  I stood on the bank and watched as my bro pulled some beauty Brookies and Browns from two dank holes.  It was a short trip, but man was it fun seeing all of those fish taking the fly at 2:00 in the afternoon.  The water was nice and cold and the fish were active.  Here are a few pics of our adventure. 

Caught this with his Conehead pattern trailed with a small nymph.  The fish loved it.

Brook Trout - The Magicians of Camouflage.

Nice healthy Brown

Healthy Little Brown

Underwater Net Shot :)

All sorts of things for the trout to hide in on this creek.

Little Drifting while waiting to move down stream.

Only a few minutes on the stream and the fish were more than cooperative.

I was super happy to see this fat female Brookie full of eggs.  Released to do its part during the spawning season coming up.

Really liked the Adipose fin on this healthy Brown.

Jonah caught this little Bluegill in the very same hole as the Brook Trout.  This is the only Bluegill I have ever seen in this stream.

Driftin Away.

My new set of wheels to get me to "My Local Stream". 

Until Next Time........Tight Lines to All  !!!!

TINY STREAMS - BIG DREAMS !!

Today I went to a new Brook Trout stream.  I only had a few hours to explore and unfortunately it was during a super sunny, hot time of the day.  I had no choice but use the time that was available to me.  The stream was tiny and the trout were skittish.  I ended up just checking to see what was swimming around in the open sunny holes.  There were some huge Brookies swimming around and a lot of them.  I concentrated on checking out the stream and making mental notes of where the best holes were.  I fished in the few shady spots that were available and even they were spooky at 4:00 p.m.  The stream was beautiful and ice cold, just the way I like it.  There was more open stream down below, but people were already on it so I skipped further ahead about 2 miles upstream.  Nice and tiny and no one in sight.  I also crossed another little stream that is said to hold Brookies and it was even smaller than the creek I was on.  I will be back to check on that creek too.  It was a great day of exploring and I can't wait to get back there at dusk or dawn, which ever comes first.  I hope to catch a few Tiger Trout out of this stream too.  I can't wait.  Here are a few pics of the creek.  I hope you enjoy.

Until Next Time .......... Tight Lines to All !!!

HOPPERS AND WHOPPERS !!

There once was a boy, who picked up a pole.

As soon as he held it, the story was told.

The hook it went deep and the barbs they were three.

For this is a thing that was just meant to be.

The bend of the rod, the rise of a trout.

The freedom to roam and to wonder about.

The sounds of the birds and the streams peaceful song.

The sound of leaping trout as the evening grows long.

The pools and riffles,"What's around the next bend?"

A time to enjoy with your family or a friend.

Somewhere to relax and reflect on the day.

A place to escape and to just get away.

The thrill of the chase, this can't be denied.

I will wonder these streams, even after I've died.

                                                                T.M.

Met this older gentleman while out exploring a new stream with my older bro.  Sat and talked fishing for about a half hour.  He was kind enough to tell me of a place he use to go and catch 25" Brook Trout.  I will be checking that out for sure :) 

Beautiful new water.  Crystal clear and the trout were scattering everywhere. 

A rooftop of St.Croix fly rods ready to bend.

Older bro bought some Hopper patterns from local fly shop.  Drifting them along the banks produced some fish.

A trouts breakfast scared onto the water by the very thing that was in search of it.  Me.

One of my bros Browns taken on a simple Hopper pattern.

We would end up spooking more fish than we caught, due to the crystal clear water and fishing at high noon like a bunch of Goof Balls.  We ended up fishing during the absolute hottest time of the day and ended up pretty tired out from the boiling hot sun.  The stream is wonderful and I look forward to fishing it on a more ideal day.  Preferably not from noon to 4:30p.m. :)




The next day I had a few hours and decided to take the kids out since the sun was starting to retreat.  They were both excited and so was I.  My son chose to use a hopper pattern and was happy just watching it float down through the rapids.  I fished a hopper for a little while, but couldn't resist a new Bomber pattern I came up with.  It was tail, hackle, peacock, hackle and then the Calf hair.( I hope that makes sense)  As soon as I tied it on, I started getting hits.  Thank you Bombers!!  Here are some pics of our adventure, I hope you enjoy!

This hopper was made from a broken Nerf foam sword.  The legs are made from old fly line.  It floated well.

Tied up this "Thunder Thighs" pattern using foam from the Nerf sword and silencers from my bow string.  It ended up being pretty easy pattern to tie.  Not the exact colors I was looking for but considering the circumstances not too bad. 

They were having a blast looking for rising fish.

The first rainbow caught was a healthy little fellow.  This is the farthest down on the stream I have seen them.

The next fish was another colorful Rainbow.  Love seeing all the Bows this far down.

Same fish as above.  These guys seem to be growing quite well each year. 

Top view of the last fish of the night.

Side view of the Rainbow. 

I have caught this beast once before.  It put up a great fight and I released it to swim another day.  I always make sure that the bigger fish that I release make a full recovery before I leave their side.  I always worry that after I leave for some reason they will go belly up.  I was super happy to see this fish again, and was just like hanging out with an old friend. :)

I am pretty sure in the pic I took with it the first time, I had about an equally goofy expression on my face.  Sorry about that :)

I caught this Rainbow on a size 14 Bomber pattern trailed about ten inches with a little gray nymph pattern.  The kids were ready to head home and it was about 9:00 p.m.  I had just lost a 13" Brown so I said to them, " Just One MOre Cast"  I tossed it in and said "Ssshhhhhhh, I have to hear if a fish takes the fly."  At this point the visibility was nill.  Then I heard something and raised my rod and sure enough this is what waited at the end of the line.  Of course I didn't have my net, and landing this thing in the dark was a little tricky.  The fish was caught, photographed and then safely released and I watched over it until it was full strength and back up stream he went.  A wonderful day with the kids.  They really are my good luck charms. 

Can you spot the 6" Crayfish deep down?

Until Next Time....Tight Lines to all !!!!!!

JUST CALL ME BASS MAGEE !!

Took a trip over to the sweet little pond today.  I brought the canoe and I was deep into the scum.I tried fishing with the fly rod and a couple poppers, but no luck.  Just way to many weeds to deal with when I would retrieve my line.  Plus don't want to ruin it since it's fairly new.  Decided to switch to the spin pole and fished a wacky worm like it was a scum frog.  The entire pond was covered with algae when I arrived. I was almost thinking about leaving due to the weeds and scum being out of control, but boy I'm glad I stayed.  It's been so long since I fished for Bass that I darn near forgot how much fun in it is.  I fished from about 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.  I ended up with about 25 Bass to hand, with some small ones and a few nice sized ones.  The biggest being somewhere between 15"-17".  I missed two huge Bass that leaped out after the worm.  Bummer.  Next time my friends, next time.  Tomorrow morning I will be heading out for some trout on my local stream.  My older brother Taj will be joining me.  I think I will have to introduce him to the Bomber :)  Here are a few pics from my son's point and shoot Kodak camera.  I couldn't risk bringing out the SLR.  Luckily it survived the float session.  Hope you enjoy!!

 

Until Next time.......Tight Lines to all!!!!!!