The Ultralight Championship

(Insert Eye of the Tiger here....)

Well, here it is at last. (Long last, I know....) Tenkara pitted against a 2wt. They go blow for blow to finally put to rest the speculation on which is the Ultimate in Fly Fishing. Can Western Fly Fishing stay on top, or will it be trumped by this millenia-old new comer?

The Tenkara rod used for this is the Fountainhead 11' Caddis rod with a furled thread leader. I will admit now that I really like this rod. So much that I haven't yet felt the need to "upgrade" to a TenkaraUSA rod. Sorry Daniel-san (I wonder how often he hears that one....?) If you want a bit of a comparison between the Caddis and the TenkaraUSA Iwana, Troutrageous! did a great one here.

Fly of the Week: Shad Fly

Do to a hectic schedule, a laptop that was down all last week (hence no FotW last week) and being a bit under the weather this week, things have been a bit quiet around here. I have to apologize for that, things will pick up again, promise!

Here's a neat little warm water baitfish fly: the Shad.

Fly of the Week: the Lite Brite Buzzer

It seems that every time I'm on Youtube looking for a fly video for here, the one I find is made by Davie McPhail. Either this guy makes some cool looking bugs or it's a damn conspiracy.

Anyway, here is (yet another....) fly by Davie, the Lite Brite Buzzer. This fly is real simple to tie but yet the end product looks like it wouldn't be.

Fly of the Week: the Fluffy Minnow

Since it appears that iMovie needs more than 40 minutes to upload a 5 minute video to Youtube and work seems to think that I should show up on time, this is a bit later than I wanted to post this. But rather late than never, I guess.

So without further ado, the Fluffy Minnow.

Fluffy Minnow

Hook: Streamer Hook - size 4

Tail: Pearl Krystal Flash

Underbody: Bill's Wooly Bugger Maribou Chenille Olive

Overbody/Tail: Olive Rabbit strip

Head: Pale Pink Lazerlights

Product Review - Bill's Wooly Bugger Maribou Chenille

Bill's Crazy Chenille! 

I got this stuff from the local fly shop probably around 2 years ago. I vaguely remember tying one fly with it to try it out. I then threw it in with my other chenille/yarns and promptly forgot about it.

Tonight I was tying some streamer patterns and buggers and stumble on it. I have Bill's Wooly Bugger Maribou Chenille in olive, but it comes in about 2 dozen colors. Anything from Oyster to red.

My new "catch" - some vintage fly gear

Was at the auction the other week (silent auction to be specific) and bid on some old fly gear. Among it was what appeared to be an old Medalist and (what I really had my eye on) a Wright and Mcgill Featherlight fly rod.

The Featherlight was a bust but I did get the Medalist paired with some no name fiberglass rod. The rods most telling feature is that it's brown....The Medalist is a 1494 AK.

Quick research shows that the oldest this will be is 1979. Still, it's in very good shape for being potentially over 30 years old. More research is forthcoming.

What really has my interest is the rod. As mysterious as it is, I would love to learn more about, if only what kind of blank was used. Anyone have any ideas where to start?

New York Trip 2012

I have to say that my trip to Lake Ontario this year was a giant success. The kids got there time in at the beach and we got to relax and get some fishing in. Even broke in a brand new rod (literally.) Big shout out to Fat Nancy's Bait Shop. Very helpful with info and if you need to return a rod 2 hours after you bought it. They didn't laugh once(while I was there.)

The Misses (almost) caught her largest fish to date; a smallie in the harbor that the knot to the hook snapped on just as I was reaching to bring him in. Don't know what jackass tied that knot..............

This trip was especially sweet as I got to fish with my Grandfather, which I haven't done in longer than I can remember.

Enough blather; here's a quick recap.

Me and my fish spine shots....

In the winter this is teeming with salmon. Now, some smallies. (Second rod-notice the UPC still attached. Ha!) 

Fat Nancy. 

Harbor smallie - Schwing!

The Harbor.

Salmon River, near where it empties into Lake Ontario.

The only Sheepshead of the trip- landed by Pop Pop. 

Mr. Stonelfy was checking out of the hotel the same time we did. 

View of the Lake from my Uncles. 

A New York summary and an early Happy 4th

The trip to New York has been great! Lots of relaxing, a bit of fishing, and the calming effect that both bring was much needed. The only bad part is that it was much to short.This is our last night here.
Since we're heading back tomorrow I wanted to wish everyone a Happy 4th of July. Stay cool and stay safe. Internet and phone reception suck, so a more though recounting will come soon, alone with the just almost finished Ultralightweight Championship. But to summarize this trip, all I would say is this:

Great things in the Works

Just  a quick update: I haven't forgotten about the Ultralight Championship posting, pitting a 2wt western rod against a Tenkara rod. Things are just going a little slower than expected.

Having to finish (start) a project that I started (should have started) a month ago and this week I was contacted about a possible new job, so things have been a little faster paced than I expected. Not to mention that I'm going up to my uncles cabin in NY next week, to max relax and hopefully wet a line or two.

So in the meantime hold your horses and watch this. Christmas in July, anyone? (Disclaimer: foul language abounds. But that is offset by the fact that it's a Christmas tree covered in friggin bacon!)

Fly of the Week: the Jungle Beetle

Terrestrials are in full swing right now, so it only makes sense to present one as the FotW. And this is one of the sweetest beetle patterns I've seen in a very long time. If you have some Jungle Cock and a UV torch lying around, you're going to have a lot of fun with this (and if not, just watch anyway. This fly is damn good.)