Here Fishy Fishy Fishy and AAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHH

It's the Annual International "Speak Like A Pirate" Day again - time flies huh?!? You still have a few hours by my clock to bellow out a hearty "AAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHH"!!!! And while we're on the topic of this entire blog - nautical/amphibious affairs, the blue pencil popper was tied up this very evening to entice the mermaids and other denizens of the deep to play tug-o-war. Or at least a decent sized bronze back aquatic football... Heck - I'll even take a bluegill at this point - I'm ready for the weekend - AAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH

Dog Days of Summer

Quick run to the lake to wet a line. Quick not so much because of time, but it was HOT!!! This has been a mild summer but the last few days would make you consider otherwise. I left the ultra light rig at home and brought along the Helios 5wt with a 150 grain intermediate sink line to cast some flies out. I had a floating line on the reel, but switched it out - this run was mainly to test out the line-rod combo to see if the line was too heavy for the rod. They are good to go. These small Large Mouth Bass would not leave me alone. I stopped counting after ten or so. With this weather, it might be time to go carping in the morning again - the weekend can't come fast enough...

Almost Skunked

I took the kids out of the house Friday afternoon and cast some bait and flies out in the lake. We only had a few minutes and the fish weren't really interested. I finally got this small large mouth to get rid of the ever-present skunk. I also landed a few bluegill as we moved back towards our original starting point. Hey - small fish is better than a skunk.

Carp'n Again

Saturday morning - secret spot (but completely in plain view) - mission to hook up a LARGE carp. I recent bought a Ranger 471RR net - with an expandable handle (~78" from the bottom of the handle to the top of the net) - so landing these guys was easy now. Everything was in place... In the pictures, you can see a lighter colored carp swimming around - that was my target. BUT at the last second, the smaller mirror carp pulled a blocking maneuver and then I was battling it instead of the ginormous one. Well - any fight is better no fight. This guy was 30 cm - not the biggest carp I've caught but it still brought a smile to my face!

Late Afternoon Catching

I asked the kiddoroosters if they wanted to go fishing this afternoon and they said 'no daddy - we want to play with Legos and stay clean'. So with that, I walked down to the pond/lake and cast two flies. The first was a Killer Bug in blue yarn (from www.tenkarabum.com) and the second was another tiny blue yarn spec (blue yarn superglued on to a minuscule tanago hook). I caught a few before the Sun went down - I actually caught a few more but setting the hook caused a few of those other fish I hooked to get airborne. Once in the air, the unweighting also served to unhook those little fish and with a small splash - off they swam. Glassy evening out on the lake(pond) and you could not pay for better weather than what we got today!

More Blue Flies for the Tenkara Bum Blue Fly Contest and Catching Bluegill Like a Cold

Here's a set of flies I tied up last night. They all have the blue yarn requisite for entry into the www.tenkarabum.com blue fly contest (go to Chris Stewart's site for more info). I'm saving the medium and large sized flies for Friday (fishing at Beaverdam Reservoir), but I tied the tiny 22 blue midge/sabiki onto the Daiwa Soyokaze and cast to some micro fish (I think they were mosquito fish) in the lake early evening. I got some of the small ones to chase, but even this size 22 hook may be too big. I am trying to get a competitive entry into the smallest fish category - it is going to have to be one of these tiny guys if I stand a chance. The fly does work (just not small enough for the micros). In fact I couldn't keep the small Bluegills off the fly - I got 7 of them in the short time I was out. I missed setting the hook on several others - the fly being too small to set every time. Funny how when you're not trying to catch something, that's all you get - that's fishing!

More Fishing Pictures from Today

I tied up this Blue Wooly Killer Bugger and got some takers - size 12 hook seemed to intimidate the normal takers... I usually use a size 14. Note the lip hook up on the bluegill - best endorsement if I may say so.