Fun Busy Saturday, Part 4

Even La likes the surf mat!!! No better endorsement than that!

Fun Busy Saturday, Part 3 - Ridiculous Fun

Truth be known, mat riding and boogie boarding can be SO MUCH FUN!!!! When you let go of your inhibitions of being seen on sponges and non-sleek conventional short boards, you can pretty much catch and ride any wave out there. As I remember my pure distain for sponges when I lived in Hawaii, I now wonder how many more waves I could have caught there and everywhere I've been since. Well, I haven't been that shortboard snob for a while now and my wave count is way up there. I love my surf mat AND .......

Fun Busy Saturday, Part 2

I mentioned I sold the Big Tuna - yup - that certainly was a quick turnaround. We bought it in October last year, used it fairly often, modified it and now it's got a new home. I enjoyed the boat immensely. I really enjoyed modifying it so it fished well. I didn't ever make a connection with the kayak sitdown style of paddling. I never have - in fact 99% of the pictures I have been in on the Big Tuna was of me standing up and using a SUP paddle. And this boat did that well too, but the lure of being able to have an Aguera Hooked SUP was too much. That and I realized the kids are big enough to paddle themselves around on SUPs. So I put the kayak up on Craigslist, www.paddling.net, and the Stand Up Zone - and after a week, Rob the new owner called and asked a bunch of questions. Done deal! Our garage has changed significantly since this time last year - lots of board purging - but after the Hooked SUP comes in, things should be stable for a while. So the next leg in our short trip - hit the surf!!! Here Marlon and Noe get comfortable in the water (high tide and windy - not ideal according to Marlon). More in a second...

Fun Busy Saturday, Part 1

I finalized a deal to sell our Amphibious Assault Craft - the Jackson Kayak Big Tuna - which meant we had to drive down to Virginia Beach today (oh no - twist my arm). We certainly made the most of it! I had loaded the truck last night (in the dark) and miraculously managed to get all the kayak pieces/parts, fishing gear and beach supplies (boogie boards, rollie, fins, tent, etc) - and we were able to get an early start. So stop number 1 - breakfast. This place had to be the best breakfast spot I've ever been too - the pictures speak for themselves - captive audience, clean hook set, awesome fish on and subsequent fight, kids each get a turn, and just as I was going to try and land the big one, the tippet breaks. The barb was pinched down so I figure the fly (pitiful attempt at a bread fly - but ravenously taken) will fall off quickly. I haven't landed one yet, but at this rate, I should be able to cross "carp" off the list of summer targets very shortly. We're eating breakfast at this spot again (and I'll bring a net and stronger tippet next time)!!!

Small Mouth Action and Sexy Equipment

After an hour and a half or so of casting flies and catching, La and the kids pooped out and settled back into the camping chairs for snacks, book reading and relaxing. I kept at the catching. As I said in the previous post, I strung up my Orvis Helios 9'/4 piece 5wt rod, Hatch 4+ reel and Orvis Power Taper 5wt floating line - it has been rare that I fish a spot with tons of room to back cast - take advantage of the terrain. I went through a few different flies, but these small mouth bass fell for a killer bug. I saw the motion of the fish moving peripherally, cast the fly in front of the fish, made quick short strips and WHAM!!! The line went tight and the fight was on!!! A couple of jumps, a couple of runs and a couple of small mouths to hand for the pictures and released to fight another day. The peace and quiet mixed in with the sight fishing for target species reminded me of the days I was fishing for bonefish and trevally out in the Indian Ocean - only this was better because La, Marlon and Noe were there to share this with me! I threw in the gratuitous gear shot only as a recommendation to get gear that works - it doesn't have to be the most expensive stuff out there (I bought the rod and line on deep sales - 40 and 35% off retail - you just have to pounce on the sales when you see them), but man this gear gets me excited -

Goose Creek Fishing

We went fishing today at Kephart Bridge Landing park (also known as Goose Creek). The friendly folks at Orvis Tysons Corner told me about this place a couple of weeks ago - we scouted it out yesterday and came back this morning around 1000. We all had a blast! The kids caught some of these catfish (blues???) with the dip net. The sunfish were more than happy to hit the flies we chucked at them, and La even had a good time sight fishing (she exclaimed "I'm coming back!" and even took her own fish off the hook). If you have been intimidated by flyfishing, go to www.tenkarabum.com and pick up a starter kit from Chris - tenkara style fishing has become my preferred method of angling here on the lakes and waterways of Northern Virginia - you will not regret opening up a new way of fishing that oh by the way helps you immensely with then casting conventional fly fishing gear. Since the tenkara rods I brought were all spoken for (we all had lines in the water - unbelievable!!!) I strung up my Helios 5wt - I had sunfish up the wazoo, but notably caught one large mouth and two small mouth bass - but more on that in the next post. Marlon got his first crappie to hand!!! What a wonderful Sunday!

Lock 7 Carping

I went to Lock 7 along the C&O Trail this morning. I got two carp to take my flies - the first was one of my pink sabiki flies, the second was a pink squirmy wormy - but both broke off. I did catch four bluegill - I'll be back to this place - this year I wanted to catch a snakehead, a gar and a carp - this is the place I'll catch the carp (target rich environment).

Fishing and Paddling Friday at Beaverdam Reservoir Part 2

I learned something today - I prefer SUPs to kayaks. The wind kicked my arse - I didn't stand a chance without a rudder (and I didn't have one). We did get back in one piece and I cast the fly to the fish around the floating dock - I really got to thinking on the drive back: why did I get the kayak? I got it because I could take the kids out with me if La needed to do other things. I got it because it seemed to be very compatible with the local/region waterways. I got it because it was another way to enjoy the water and way something new. Don't get me wrong - I have enjoyed using the heck out of it, but after today's episode in the wind, I realized I am a way better SUP paddler than I will ever be a kayak paddler - so I will be putting the Big Tuna up for sale. We'll replace it with a couple of SUPs (one for the kids, one for me) for non-surf paddling. More to follow. Back to the pictures and today's outing - I ended up catching more bluegill at the dock. Eight ended up in the tank - and there were several more that took the hook. There were also other types of fish - smaller, more aggressive against the fly than the bluegills - that I couldn't hook - next time. When we got back to the house, I started on another project I've had in my head for a while - widening the board rack. I'll post more on this tomorrow.

Friday Fishing and Paddling at Beaverdam Reservoir

We dropped off the van for maintenance and headed on over to paddle (La) and catch some fish (me and the kids). La paddled the whole lake (seemed like it) and the kids and I saw a good number of various types of fish. I pulled in three sunnies using my Helios 5wt/Hatch 4+/Orvis Power Taper 5wt (real nice setup - makes me feel like I know what I'm doing and can put the fly wherever I want to - it was worth the money - especially since I got most of the components on sale). Marlon had a striper on the line and was hauling it in - until it got off the hook close to the boat (dang it!!!). I had a few legitimate shots at some grazing carp - with the water a bit cloudly, I couldn't get them interested in the worm fly I was pitching. La was lonely so she hijacked the kayak, took both kids out on her paddleboard then had them jump off the board to swim around in the middle of the lake (they loved it - not to mention she bribed them with the promise to pay for half the cost of another iguana - that's another story). That's about the time the wind picked up...

Loaded for Friday Water Time

Big Tuna Kayak to carry two kids, snacks, drinks and fishing gear - check. La's SUP so she can buzz around the reservoir while we are waiting for the van maintenance to get done - check. Good weather to go paddling in - check. Sweet truck to haul our butts and gear to the inland beach - check. Hopefully we'll catch something tomorrow in the dam reservoir... I'm not coming home skunked a third time from that lake... We'll paddle straight for the actual dam and start casting everything we have at those fish. This is make it or break it time - and I'm not leaving until we are victorious, or La says so, or the van's maintenance is done. Or if it gets too hot - but those fish better watch out!

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!