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.)

You'll Always Remember your First

Your first car. Your first kiss. Your first job. The first time you fucked (Hey this is a family blog!) 

Maybe not you're first fish (depending on age) but the first one that mattered. The one that made you realize that there just might be something in trying to slip a piece of steel through a fishes jawbone and showing your mastery of it.

The first time that you realized that this was not the most important thing in fishing.

There is something about your first that's magical. You're first wild trout or your first steelhead. The first never seems to be the biggest fish, the hardest fight or the world class trophy. But it is the most endearing.

Fly of the Week: Texas Rose Muddler

The Fly of the Week this week is the Texas Rose Muddler, a Muddler Minnow variant. This is a very nice variant that I can see working great for warm water fish, but I really wanted to include this video because of the way that he does his half-hitches.  I was taught a way that wraps the thread around your finger but his way, with a little practice, seems to be worlds simpler.

Fly of the Week: Golden Crane Caddis

Use the Crane. There is no defense against it.

This caddis emerger pattern is smooth, silky, and oh so buggy in the water. Fish this one right in the film or just under the surface.

Golden Crane Caddis

Hook: Size 10 (this is a nymph hook but an emerger hook is best. Sorry, I was fresh out.)
Body: Tan Spectrablend
Rib: Copper Wire
Wing: Gold Mallard Flank
Hackle: Partridge

Care to Tanago? The Devolution of Fishing

Fishermen and women go through stages in their lifetime; an evolution map charting their delving into the sport. Most are very similar.

You work at catching any fish you can. Then you target specific fish. Trout. Bass. Tarpon. Carp. Then the biggest versions of said chosen fish you can get your greedy little hooks into.

Some will then deviate via the gear. Ultralight. Only fiberglass. Only Dry flies. Shall I shudder and say tandem rigs? Like monkeys into man we walk the span that most fly fishers already have and will tomorrow. It's evolution.

But it looks like there's a growing number of anglers that are devolving.

I've heard whispers around the Internet and read forbidden texts about a style of fishing where it's not the biggest and the baddest but the smallest and humblest that are the quarry.

Tanago.

I first heard of it on a blog post talking about a Daiwa rod that, to my naivety, I thought was a new Tenkara rod. In a way I was right. But then again I couldn't have been more wrong.

This post linked to one by Tenkarabum(TB). After reading that one I was both shocked and befuddled. Did someone really land a blacknosed dace?? 

TB referred to them as minnow rods and I think that is a very apt description. Very soft rods to feel the power of very small fish.

I can see the appeal. Sort of.

The appeal is that these rods open up those waters small enough to step over; with an environment that is just barely friendlier to life than the surface of Mars. Or those waters that you know get stocker trout but have been overfished and only the fingerlings are left.

Waters you wouldn't have given the time of day to you could now court, romance, maybe even love.

But I would worry about getting that one fish on that is to powerful for these petite rods. A fish that can't be controlled could easily be played to the point of a fatality. And I feel that would be the irresponsibility of the fisherman.

But on waters you know couldn't support fish over the certified size of a dink: oh, the fun to be had!

I don't know if I personally am read to dive into this subspecies of Tenkara quite yet. And as for the bait casting version of this; all I can ask is what kind of bait do you use to catch slightly bigger bait?

But I do look forward to seeing if this mentality of fishing works its way out of the shadows and more anglers embrace devolving.

Billy Bass and my Charlton Heston Impressions

As many of you know, I've been working at putting Tenkara and my 2wt through their paces to determine with one comes out to be the Ultimate in Lightweight Fly Fishing.

This isn't about that. Sort of.

Gee, Scobby, don't look like
fish are in there!

I was out on my local stream last night hitting it with the 2wt. I was here the other week with the Tenkara and figured that the 2wt should have a shot at these waters too. Fair is fair.

I'm not getting into what I did, where I did it and who it was with. That would ruin the surprise. This story starts on the way back from the testing.

Fly of the Week: Tenkara Fly by Davie McPhail

If you fish Tenkara, you know instantly what I'm talking about. And if you don't I'm sure you've seen them; the funny lil dry flies with the hackle the wrong way.

Well, here's a video from Davie McPhail that shows you how to tie one of those funny lil buggers, and he takes it to the next level with a couple of nice details that I think will work great. Enjoy!

Getting hassled by the Man

At least that's what's happening to OJ(Owl Jones, not the other one. Although he seems to have the same problems too...... must be all that white girl killing thing.) Anyway, if you somehow missed it, read the latest episode  here.

To respond, he's created some newfangled what's-it called Communists Conservative Outdoors. We're supposed to stay tuned, so, umm.... stay tuned.

Tenkara, Browns, and a setup for the UL Championship

I really didn't intent to go fishing today. And when the impromptu urge hit me, storm clouds where heavy in the air and the first few patters of rain were hitting my windshield. I had errands to run at the Big W store and I had to pick up a few things from my old house, so I figured that the evening was a wash. (Get it? Raining....wash...... ba dum bum.)

But when I walked out of the old house, the skies were a bright blue, the sun was shining and the storm clouds were almost completely over the horizon. I took it as a sign and decided that the stream at my old honey spot would be just what I need to wash out the bittersweetness I get every time I move more of my things out.