ONE STEP AT A TIME !!

When it comes to trout fishing most people think about fly rod's, flies, leaders etc.  Although all of these items are an important part of fly fishing, there are some things that make a huge difference when out hiking around.  One such thing for me is footwear.  I have tried quite a few types of footwear out and they all seem to have their pro's and con's.  The classic chest waders were great for getting deep into the water and never having to worry about being soaking wet at the end of the journey.  The chest waders seemed to be a little overkill for me and the places I choose to fish.  I found the only time I actually got into the water was to sit down in a shallow run to watch the water flow by.  Plus they were sometimes way to warm for the summer months.

Picture courtesy of Cabella's

  I have also had the hip waders and although they were easy to get on and covered most of my wading needs, they seemed to always spring a leak and sometimes made my feet ache by the end of the day.

 

  Then there are the water shoes that some companies are coming out with.  These seem like a great idea, right until the point where a piece of grass shoots through one of the holes on the side and punctures your foot.  I also found that the holes on the side of the shoes allowed sand to come into the shoe underneath my foot.  Talk about horrible to walk in with the sand wearing on your feet.

    So then I saw a pair of "wet socks" at Wal-Mart one day and decided to spend the $7.oo on them.  They were super comfortable and easy to put on.  They kept the sand out for the most part and even kept your feet warm while walking in the stream.  The only problem I had with them is that they basically fell apart by the end of my fishing trip. 

  There I was, at point A once again.  Hot days and the only thing left to try were the good ole fashion sneakers or sport hikers. 

I found that the lighter the shoe the quicker they dry.  Now I am stuck with a bunch of dried out shoes as my main source of footwear for the streams.  Plus now I have no decent shoes left to wear to the grocery store :) 

When Christmas came this year and I was asked what sort of things I would want for gifts, there was only one thing that came to mind.  The   SPERRY   TOP-SIDER.  I saw these one day while surfing the web and knew that I had to have them.  They are made of neoprene and reinforced with some sort of durable rubber.  They are by far the lightest shoe I have tried yet.  One of my favorite things about them is that they are high tops with a strap to keep out sand and debris.  Another great feature is the flexibility of this shoe.  It feels like your feet are extra padded and that you are wearing nothing at all.  I usually go bare foot with sneakers on and end up with grass catching me between my shoe and pant leg.  These have a thick rubber guard that should keep my legs from getting scratched up and itchy.  I am super excited to take these out to the stream and really put them to the test.  I am hoping that it was the best $50.oo ever spent :)  What do you prefer to wear while out fishing small streams ?  Has anyone else ever owned a pair of these, and if so what do you think of them ? 

SPERRY TOP-SIDER   $50.00

Finally My Camera is Fixed :)

My Nikon D5000 recently took a crap and would not turn on.  After some waiting and messaging I finally got it back and fixed for free thanks to Nikon.  It had a bad power switch which was preventing it from turning on.  Since the weather has been quite nice for January I decided to head out with the kids and test out the camera.  It ended up being a great hike and the weather was as beautiful as the stream was.  Hope you enjoy the pics.

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

FINALLY SOME FISH !!

Well I finally got a chance to get out and do some fishing.  This trip was a long time coming since trout season has now been closed for over 2 months.  I went to a new place in secret location and decided to do some hiking. What would today bring??  I couldn't wait to find out!

Just as soon as the sun started coming up, so did the trout :)  I caught this brown in the very first hole and very first cast in.  So far so good :)  Man was the grass green for this time of year.

Soon the sun was out in full effect and things really started to look green.  The holes were starting to become visibly see through and the fish could be seen swimming effortlessly through the current.  Occasionally one would rise to the surface to sip on the leave particles passing by.

After watching them rise for about a half hour I decided the only thing to do was to tie on a Bomber and proceed from 10 to 2 and let the fly do it's thing.  SMASH goes the bomber and a beauty Brown comes to hand.  Love those Bombers :)

A few more Brown's were brought to hand and I was really excited about how well these trout were thriving in this beautiful stream.  Around the next bend things seemed to change and looked even better than water I had just fished.  The creek seem to be a bit smaller but looked like maybe it could be holding some wild Brookies to boot.  Onward and upward I went.  Each hole seemed to be plucked right out of my dreams and placed before me.  Challenging me to hit the mark and see what happens.

What happened next surprised me and brought a huge smile to my face.  Just as I had suspected,  BROOK TROUT!!!!!!!
 

When I finally reached what looked to be the end of the stream, I came across a sort of waterfall spilling from above off of a limestone bluff.  Could there be a spring that high up ???  Well the only way to find out was to climb up and see if my curiosity was going to pay off.  So up I went.  Luckily I was wearing hiking shoes and this made gripping a hold of the rocks a lot easier.

I made it to the top and to my disbelief the trickle of water was coming from what seemed to be a sweet looking, tiny, trout stream.  More limestone and beautiful gin clear water.  It looked good enough to drink, but of course I know what can happen from drinking dirty water and I decided to hit the Camelbak up full of ice cold Capri Sun instead.  Things were looking UP.  Literally :)

First hole looked like a winner so in went the Bomber and out came a Brookie.  What a great equation. :)

The Brookie was released and I continued on towards what looked like another small hill top.  The stream seemed to becoming directly from the bottom of it.  Maybe the spring was somewhere on that hill and I was determined to find out.

Fishing along the way, wildlife seemed to be out and not afraid to get their picture taken.  The Brook Trout were everywhere and I even managed to get a pic of a baby fawn that was doing it's best to hide out.  This place just seemed to keep getting better as the day went on.  I wasn't sure if I would ever be able to pull myself away and get back to reality again.

The day grew longer and soon the misty dusk sky started to set in.  I continued to catch Brookie after Brookie and there didn't seem to be any presence of Brown Trout in this stretch of stream.  My hand's were starting to get cold after releasing the fish into the ice cold water.  But I still hadn't made it to that hilltop so I just kept going. 

I was hoping to maybe come across a lunker of a Brookie so I switched my flies up and tied on a Castle Rock Killer trailed by  a Mud Honey .  Maybe this would attract the monster of stream and I may set a new record :)

I never did get any monster Brookie, but I was happy with all of the willing healthy ones that were so kind and took my fly.  I busted out the Binoculars and looked towards the hill top to see if I could see where this water was coming from.  Still no sign, so had to keep going until I could get close enough to see.  Where in the heck was I.  It seemed so far away and unfamiliar, but yet it seemed like I had been there before.  Huh.

The flowers were in full Bloom and the Butterflies were everywhere?????  Is that possible this time of year.  This was definitely a first. 

More Brookies came to hand and the stream meandered for an eternity.  Now matter how far I hiked the hill just seemed to keep getting farther away.  The bumble bee's were out buzzin and the grass was super green and extra lush. 

I gave up on trying to get to the hill and concentrated on catching some more fish.  I just kept casting and the fish just kept biting.  It was just Brookie after Brookie after Brookie after Brookie after healthy Brookie.  This is the best place in the world.  I can't wait to take some one here and show them this.  I was ecstatic.  I could hardly contain my excitement.  I just wanted to yell through the valley. " I love this place!!!!!"   Then................................................................................................................................

I WOKE UP !!!!!!!!  :(

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