This just in..

HOTD Trailer from RT on Vimeo.

Robert Thompson, known for other films such as  Zero to Hero, released this trailer for the soon to be released DVD Heart of the Driftless, A film about fishing the many spring fed streams of western Wisconsin and Eastern Iowa.

Speaking of new gear

Speaking of new gear, this little beauty showed up in the mail today. I am very excited to be the proud new owner (one of very few at the moment) of Flying Pig Fly Rod's Liquid Model 8wt.

 Flying Pig Rods are owned and operated by Larry Damore and his family right outside of Chicago Illinois. You may recognize his name from punk rock band "Pegboy" or his most recent claim to fame; Reverb the 17 minute short film within the film Heart of the Driftless. The trailer for Reverb can be seen right on this blog. HERE. The full version will be played at the 2012 Fly Fishing Film Tour.
 I want to say a few words about Larry. He is a real stand up guy. Honest, enthusiastic, friendly and eager to get his product in the hands of fisherman. He is proud of his product and his goals of creating the lightest, smoothest casting and finest quality rods at the best price he can offer.
Larry put this rod together for me, even though he didn't have to. His rods are currently on back order while he gets his inventory squared away. But because I am going fishing in Mexico in just 2 short weeks and need a fast action rod that will be up for the task, Larry came through.
Being a rod builder himself, he removed the rosewood insert that was on the rod and fitted this model with a Pac Bay reel seat for me.Which leads me to my next point, when speaking with Larry on the phone, he assured me, these aren't run of the mill factory blanks. Larry builds rods and worked extensively with distributors on developing the actions of these rods. These are not re-labeled kits, this is a genuine new product. Oh, and did I mention it comes with a full lifetime warranty?
I will give a detailed write up about the rods performance, and the fishing in Mexico upon my return. Until then you can read more about Larry HERE where Joe Cermele of Field and Stream Magazine, talks about his experiences with his Flying Pig 4wt and a pig of a Rainbow Trout he lands. There is also an interview with Larry himself.

My 4pc 8wt came in this sweet embroidered tube and printed rod sock. I can say first hand the quality of the rod is exceptional. Smooth high grade cork, tight wrappings coated with a clean, even layer of epoxy (not too much either!). I am a big fan of the glossy black finish. This rod might be one of the lightest I own, comparing in weight to my Sage 5wt. I haven't lined it yet, but I can tell this thing is going to be an absolute rocket!

Larry's website Flying Pig Fly Rods can also be found in the side bar of this blog.

In a box from England...

Well today came my new Ebay find which is a Forest of Kelso 4 1/4" wide drum salmon reel with a really cool mechanical drag system.   What would make this even cooler is if I was at home to play with it!  As I figured....the reel came the same day I left for Boston so I will not get to see this thing for another 9 days!  UGHHHHHH!

I had my better half open it for me and do the noise test....HOLY SHIT is it loud!  She stood on the other side of our apartment from the phone reeling this thing and I had to hold the phone from my ear and her only description for it was "I know you always say you want it loud but this is obnoxious".  She then did the same test with my Farlow Ambassador reel and it wasn't even a fraction of the sound.  I cannot wait to get this thing screaming on some chrome.

Cheers to dreaming about having the loudest reel on the river!

Wiener Dog Fly Fishing

A friend forwarded this video to me. I got a laugh out of it.

A few recent ties

Here's a few flies I recently tied.  The first one was an attempt at a classic salmon fly on a 3/0 Alec Jackson.  Trying to marry wings for the first time was a bit difficult but I think it turned out ok, especially for a first try.  Bonus points for me on this fly because I shot the black pheasant used on the body hackle and the goose used for the married wing.

The next two are some Dee variations I was messing around with.   Again they aren't great but the pink one was enough to get a pretty solid whack from some sort of fish...to bad it didn't hold on longer.

Welcome

Just wanted to say welcome to Adam (as soon as he accepts) with this photo of him I took when he wasn't looking (creepy I know). But the way the light was cutting through the trees had a cool effect on the water, and kinda looks like beams of light from the fishing gods shining down upon us.
Cheers! I am looking forward to you posting on this blog.

Fly Fishing Film Tour 2012

2012 Fly Fishing Film Tour is up and running. Check the outlined dates and trailers for some of the selected films. I see some Wisconsin dates in there, maybe I will see you there.


Fly Fishing Film Tour 2012 | thef3t.com from The Fly Fishing Film Tour on Vimeo.

As Promised....

As promised, here is some eye candy from Dec 17th. My buddy and I worked slowly through this run, he cashed in about 20 yards ahead of me with this fiesty hen brown. She absolutely crushed his pink intruder. Congrats dude!

Merry Christmas Steelhead

My good friend Chris was fortunate enough to wet a line Christmas day. I was glad to see he got out and landed this bright winter Steelhead.

I will be taking advantage of this non typical weather we are having until the bitter end. Keep swinging, low and slow. The fish are there and the water is still flowing.
Happy Holidays, and New Year everyone, more stories and pics to come for 2012.

Breathe

Breathe. Presented by Imago Fly Fishing. from Imago Fly Fishing on Vimeo.

What month is it again?

With temps reaching the 40's, rain, snow, sleet, and fog, you would think we lived in the PNW or something. If it keeps up like this in Wisconsin, we might not have much of an ice fishing season.

This weekend was a great one. With such rare weather for December, quality fishing has continued in the Tribs. When I got to the bank of the river, flows were looking perfect. The water color/clarity was stunning, not too clear, good stain, and a beautiful green hue. I began swinging my first run with high hopes. One solid tug right off the bat lead me to believe this day was going to be phenomenal. Apparently not so. Not for me anyways, I worked through the rest of the run with nothing to show but these photos, and a shoe floating in a back flow. ( I hope the shoe's rightful owner isn't in the river somewhere...yikes!) 

But that is not all I found along the river that day. Turns out my river finds aren't limited to garbage, and odd rarities of the world. This day, I was fortunate enough to strike a conversation with none other than Author and Abu Garcia reel builder, Mr. Ambassadeur himself, Simon Shimomura.  Now, I don't have the time or energy to go into depth on the iconic Ambassadeur reel from Abu Garcia. If you don't know, look it up. But I do want to say that it was an honor to meet Mr. Shimumura. Simon was an extremely pleasant man, humble, polite and enthusiastic about sharing his hand made, one of a kind, 24karat gold plated Ambassadeur reel. What a beaut! I have never seen one in person. I have only read about these things. This reel was an amazing piece of true workmanship and quality. Mr. Shimomura was also so kind as to show me his hand wrapped Sage fly rod, hand wrapped river rod, and this sweet little gem I managed to snap a photo of.

This reel is a "Record Standard" made by Abu Garcia. This classic has no drag system, just a click and pawl. Simon told me these were not made available in the United States. They made a ported version later in the products life, but this reel is in mint condition. Stamped "Made in Sweden" with the factory hammered sea-foam green finish shining beautifully I found myself lusting over this classic reel.
Like I said, it was an absolute honor to meet Mr. Shimomura. Check out his books, fishing tackle and photos at his website here.

Back to fishing. I worked my way to another favorite run of mine. A run which is usually a great producer. Well, another guy swinging flies politely jumped in behind me and picked my pocket. Fun to see, but a little frustrating.
After working through the run once, I met up with my good friend Adam, who's determination to hook a fish led me to stepping in at the top of the run again. This time luck was on his side. Adam was maybe 30 yards ahead of me, when mid swing his fly was crushed. I quickly reeled in my rig and made my way down for the assist and some photos. We thought for sure it was a Steelhead as she tore line off his Farlow click pawl and thrashed the surface. After a long battle, with a huge bend in his rod, Adam successfully landed a bright, fat, Brown trout hen. (pics to come)
Even though I went without a fish that day, it is almost just as fun when your buddy reels one in and you are there to lend a hand and take some photos. On top of meeting great people, it makes the whole day that much better, and totally worth it.

Will Ferrell in MILWAUKEE!!!

I want to personally thank Mr. Will Ferrell. I don't care if he is mocking the brew or actually enjoys it. I think his message is a good one. Made in America! Nothing wrong with enjoying simple American pastimes in great American cities. I think Pabst Brewery is going to see a definite increase in production in the coming months. Way to go Milwaukee, way to go USA.

Opportunity knocks...

So I made the decision to leave work early yesterday to do some fishing. It turned out to be a good decision. It was around 2pm when I finally got in the water. Air temps were in the low 20's and the water temp was, well, freezing. 

Getting bumped by ice flows while I side step down the river, I see another fisherman starting a small campfire. Did I mention it was cold out? As I move my way down the run, I get my first good bump...hmmm, there's fish in here. I repeat the cast, savor the dangle, nothing. I take two steps, cast my fly down and across, swing the fly across the current. I wait and wait some more. Nothing. This process repeats itself as I grow weary of my chances at catching a fish today. I can feel my legs and feet going numb. I forgot my gloves in the truck. Damn, why did I do this?

Towards the bottom of the run, I finally hook up. An explosive strike to my fly is followed by violent thrashing on the surface of the water. My rod comes alive and the fight is on. As I reel her in, my heart races and I forget the cold for those few  moments. That is of course, until my fly line stops and I cannot reel any further. My guides were iced so heavily that I could not bring the fish to hand! As I struggle to break off whatever ice I can, I feel the line go limp while I struggle to free it. My heart sinks, I ready myself for disappointment. As I begin to reel in the now freed slack line I feel tension, she's still there! The fight is back on. As I pull her towards the bank, I reach into the frigid water and wrap my hand around the base of her tail. I remove her from the water momentarily to snap a photo and say thanks, before releasing her back into the river. She wasn't very photogenic, I was rushing to get a shot and release her in a timely manner, but she was a beauty of a brown trout. Her skin glowed with a purple, and green iridescence over a silver speckled body. She had already dropped all of her eggs, and was on the prowl, looking for a meal. Bright with color and full of life, I watched her as she swam away. I remembered why I had endured these freezing temperatures and ridiculous conditions in the first place.

But, there is a greater lesson within this story. 

Rule number 1: You wont catch fish sitting on your couch. 

Rule number 2: Respect the dangle.

Part of building confidence is success, with more success we gain confidence. Now I know darn well there are fish in the run I am swinging my fly across. (Not only because I have fished it a thousand times or so, but just ahead of me I see a gear chucker, huck a glob of spawn into this runs vicinity, hook, land and release a Steelhead within 3 casts.) So what do I do? KEEP FISHING. I work my fly through the run, allowing each swing to finish, settling directly below me. I let it dangle. Then, I let it dangle some more. With my success on the river, I have learned a few things. (See rule number 2) So many of my fish have come when my fly is directly below me and I am just about to strip my line in, lift my fly out of the water and start the whole process over. 

When the temps are as cold as they are now, and were yesterday, you have to control your fly, fish it deep and move it slowly across the current. Two handed rods are an extremely effective tool for this.

Remember, you can swing flies in the cold and you can catch fish doing so. Persistence pays off. Don't let the cold numb you so badly you forget your fundamentals and go home with a zero. Trust me, I was preparing myself for it, scolding myself for leaving work early to get skunked, but then I referred to rule number 1.

"Reverb" fly fishing trailer (Close to heart, and home, just watch)

Small Windows

Well it is official, on my drive up to work this morning, I observed one of the slower parts of the river iced completely over. It is sad, but inevitable.

BUT!!!! There is hope. This coming week has a promising forecast, with favorable temps for grabby fish trying to pack in those extra calories before the river really locks up. 

 Originator: Bill McMillan, Fly: Stu Farnham, Photograph: Hans Weilenmann