Fly Rotation

I switched out the "All Powerful" G Gnat for an orange scud with a longer tail. I just let it sit on the surface and played the waiting game - waiting for the bluegill that were staring at the fly to take, and waiting for the right time to lift the rod - oh the anticipation!!! The minutes seemed like nano-seconds... Needless to say, I had the stronger will (or the less hungry stomach). Fish ON!!!

Catch of the Day (22 Jul 2012)

I cast a G Gnat to this guy (not the one I tied - one of it's neighbors took that away from me - good fight that ended in it breaking off - no better endorsement than that if you ask me; the only thing I'll change when I tie more is to use better hackle so the fly keeps it's shape better). I saw this one rise, look at the fly then moved in to suck it up - then set the hook and held on (I didn't want to lose this guy in addition to the other one previously lost). I've said it before and I'll say it again because it is the truth - enjoy the fish you have and you'll stay stoked!

My First Freshwater Flies

My tools and other materials come in on Thursday, but I am running out of Griffin's Gnats and I don't want to buy any more. Noe helped me before she went to bed - we tied a G Gnat and a quick fly I made up to practice whip finishing - it looks like a maggot so it's a maggot fly. I'll try these in the morning. I got the feathers at Michaels today - one of their flower arrangements - Peacock tail feathers and some others. Hopefully the fish like them as much as I enjoyed tying them.

Welcome Back Home Fishing

So we're back home - no more surf for a month or so (next time we'll hit the Outer Banks). I asked the kids if they wanted to go fishing and they said no - so I went solo. I started with a G Gnat, but I was experimenting with terminal knots and after I saw a large bluegill pig come up for the gnat, and then after setting the hook I saw it mouthing a fly realizing it wasn't food - I figured out that the knot slipped ($#*%). I put on a green scud and kept on fishing. I pulled in a bunch of small bluegill and these two smallmouth bass. Now that I am fishing for the fish that are here where I live, I am happy to get it all dialed in and go catching - it now doesn't matter that the fish I'm catching aren't 20 pound Trevally or thigh bone sized Albula - 1 or 2 ounce young Bluegills are fun when you can sight fish them. Another good day of fishing (tenkara style with a lightweight Soyokaze - awesome!!!!)

Griffin's Gnat and Some Other Bait

Here's a picture of the fishing fun culprit - Griffin's Gnat. This thing generates as much fun as the Bonefish Bitters I used to use - so simple yet so effective. Anyways - later in the afternoon, we hiked back our fishing spot at the Potomac River at the south end of Riverbend Park. It rained pretty heavily on the way in and the water had a little more speed to it than last time. I didn't see any perch today (shucks), but I did catch a bunch (next post). The kids had a great time walking across a section of the river (pretty shallow and low flow) which somewhat spooked the fish, but I like a challenge anyways (and heck the kiddoroosters were having fun). Along the way, we found earthworms and young toads - and we all considered using them as bait, but none of the kids wanted to be the one to spear the toad. Fun hike!

Monday Fishing Part 1

I went to the lake this morning without the kids - figured they needed a break from the non-stop fishing so the magic of it all doesn't get diluted. Anyways - without them, I didn't have to compete against hot dogs (flies don't smell like food no matter how good they look). I tied on a Griffith's Gnat fly and from that point on, I had nothing but unadulterated fun! I paid $0.73 for that fly and I lost count of how many fish (all bluegill) that I caught with it - and most of the takes were rises to surface strikes (still the most awesome thing about flyfishing). I caught at least seven of these big piggie bluegills (top picture). The coloring on the fish in the middle photo was pretty neat. And I threw in the last picture to show that it's fun to catch the little ones too. The Daiwa Soyokaze 27SR continues to produce tremendous results - great little rod that can handle way more than you think it could (if you haven't fished tenkara before).