Justin, my new vise, and the experience at Bass Pro

Ok, so I'm super stoked.

Yesterday after work, I went and picked up the munchkins and went to Bass Pro. My sister gave me a $50 gift card for my graduation and said to buy something "big, that you normally wouldn't be able to buy."

I went straight to the fly fishing section, with visions of poppers, rattle frogs, nippers and a whole lot of little stuff I otherwise wouldn't be able to buy dancing through my mind.

Then I stopped.

In the display case was a bunch of fly tying vises. Had my eyes deceived me? $14.97 for a vise? No way!

A little ways up and to the right from that vise was the same vise, but sitting in a box with a bunch of tools I recognized. Ok, seriously, $19.97.

I quickly switched gears and went around the corner, baby on my back and 4 yr. old in tow. I needed help finding materials, and an opinion on the $20 kit.

I found Justin:

Justin with Bass Pro Shops, Fly Fishing Department, Council Bluffs

More on Justin later. What I found, though, was that he looked very familiar.

He began to explain his experience with the kit, which he owns and uses as a travel kit. I must have started foaming at the mouth or something. Not that he said anything, I just... felt like doing so.

I whipped out my smartphone and showed him the pattern for the Dirty Rat . We both kind of mumbled about how we didn't know what 'chickabou' was before deciding to go with good old maribou. He helped me compile the ingredients, with pointers about different adhesive and eyes.




The goods.

As we were discussing thread or something, I realized where I recognized Justin from.

"Did you teach the fly casting classes at some point?"

"Yes I did."

Turns out, Justin was our instructor when my wife and I first took casting lessons about 18 months ago! She was pregnant with our youngest at the time, and needless to say I was impressed then with his helpfulness and courtesy then. He hit another home run last night.

I will be forwarding a link to this post to his manager with top marks for his helpfulness. If anyone needs help in the Omaha/CB area, head to Bass Pro on Tuesdays and ask for Justin. (He mentioned that he ties a LOT of flies, and was using them in Colorado just last week.)

After awkwardly informing him that I had a blog, and asking to snap the above picture to give him credit, I took the babies to see the fish tanks.


Ruth diggin' the fish tank.

 Ruth (eldest) was such a good girl. She listened very well and held my hand and/or stayed close the entire time.

And, ladies and gentlemen, I now own a vise and all ingredients and tools I need to tie the Dirty Rat. Expect fly reviews, pictures and product reviews on the kit in the future.

Hopefully, I can get a picture of my flies in the mouth of something this size.

In Weight Watchers, they would call this the "before" picture.

On my "must tie" list: The Dirty Rat

Poor, recently-graduated-from-college, enthusiastic fly fishermen dream of the day when they can begin to tie their own flies.

I am no exception.

So, I have herein decided to begin a "must tie" list, which I will refer to personally when I forget all about the amazing patterns I see online. I figure it may also be useful to those of you who read this.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you:

The Dirty Rat

 

Many thanks to Jackie Treehorn of Hatches magazine for turning the morbid observation of rodent immersion into an amazing looking pattern.   

Fly fishing for bass with a mouse pattern is definitely a lot of fun! I plan on trying it with Northerns this year sometime, too.

Tie away, my good friends. Tight lines!

P.S. The only other fly I've seen fish take as or more aggressively on top of the water is the Chugger. Check that one out while you're here!

White River Fly Shop® Hobbs Creek® Fly Line

About a year ago, a fly-fishing enthusiast passed me in the hall at church. 

Having noticed my  Facebook posts about recent investment into the hobby of fly fishing, he stopped, smiled and commented on my recent purchases. I had bought 10 lb. monofilament, some flies, and a nail knot tool.

We chatted, but I was dying to find out his preferences on something specific. Fly line, of course!

So, I asked him:

"Hey, what kind of fly line do you buy?"

"Oh," he said, "I throw the cheap, $20 stuff. I figure if I can cast with that, I can cast awesome with the good stuff."

Amen, brutha. Amen.

White River Fly Shop® Hobbs Creek® Fly Line 

 

I LOVE THIS LINE. 

It's yellow, it's cheap, and it has more memory than your iPad. It stretches, it catches, and, with love, it shoots like an arrow.

Pros: 

1. Cost: 
• It's only twenty dollars.
2. Castability: 
• See my friend's comment above. It is smooth!
3.  Durability: 
• Given the cost, I bought it two years ago, and it's still going great! Great return on not a lot of investment.

Cons:

1. Opportunity cost:
• I don't have any idea what I'm missing in a more expensive fly line.
2. Memory:
• No, seriously. More than your iPad.
3. Memory: 
• Can't stress it enough. A massive coil at your feet is hard to deal with, and I have it every time during my 40 ft. casts.

Anyone else have similar experiences with it?

Let me conclude by saying, again, I LOVE THIS FLY LINE. I really do. As a beginner doing my best to get by on a limited budget, I could not have wished for a better line.


*NOTE: I am blogging about this because of how I really feel about it. However, if you do decide to try this line out, try ordering using the link attached to the above picture. I admit without any shame that doing so would contribute to my love of the sport monetarily, as I am an Amazon affiliate for this stuff.

By the way, when I say the line needs a good stretch, I mean go catch a ton of fish on it.

Cheers.

Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing

Thanks to my new Outdoor Blogger Network friend, Mel, for posting about this organization.

As an appreciative United States citizen, my hat goes off to every man and woman who fights for their country, and especially those that sacrifice their lives or limbs in the line of duty.

To quote the introduction on their website:

"Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, Inc. is dedicated to the physical and emotional rehabilitation of disabled active military service personnel and veterans through fly fishing and fly tying education and outings."

Website: Project Healing Waters

Like them on Facebook to support.

Once again, thank you to all servicemen and women, from the bottom of my heart, and may fly fishing help you through whatever pain you face.

Early morning fog, and a putz (Updated)

I rolled into my favorite fishing hole bright and early, about 5:30. Leader was too short, so had to tie a double surgeon's and add a couple feet. It was about 39 or 40 degrees out, but the water was warmer from the day before.

Heavy, amazing looking fog. I have to admit, I felt a little freaked out as I crested a bluff and only saw about a hundred yards.

Dropped my black topwater by some familiar structure just at the beginning of the pond, had a bass pop it on the second cast. Too dark for a picture. A nice porker, about 13 inches. They obviously have been feeding very heavily, because I have been catching them with fat bellies.

Fog cleared up down the bank, so I pocketed my fears of mist-born killer pumas and walked to my cove down the shoreline. Started dropping my popper around structure, had some big green sunfish hit it. Nothing else.

Second bass was caught at the end of the morning off of a point. Dropped the popper six feet from shore, and wham!

 

About 13 more inches. Once again, very chunky. I suppose they could be females about ready to spawn.

Headed back to my car to end my day, and caught site of some amazing wildlife:

the elusive putz,  Muchus idiottus. 

It was male, and it locked it's keys in the car. 

Again. 

For the second time in a week. 

I was able to grab a picture before he broke down into tears.

 

Wife came to the rescue, and I learned how to break into my own car using a shim and a coat hanger. What a day!

Early Morning Fly Fishing Report 4/18

Light rain and scattered thunderstorms were in the forecast when I looked at it last night. I woke up at about 10 minutes to 5, listening to a steady spattering on the roof. I saw one or two lightning flashes while in bed, but no thunder.

Perfect for an outing, in my opinion.

I got up quietly - if you want to call the horrible, horrible creaking of my floated, 50 year old wood floor quiet - and hurried downstairs. I grabbed a poncho out of the basement, threw my smartphone in a plastic baggy and left.

Without my LED light, I made sure to tie this morning's fly on while at the car. Shown below. I call it my "black foam chugger." My brother gave it to me.

 

Almost immediately, my practice and visualization with the Double Haul paid off, because it finally clicked! I found myself feeling the load of the pole and being able to shoot line effectively this morning. I dropped the chugger over a few well-known parts of the pond without results, before heading to my favorite cove. 

 There, I began depositing it on the backside of some lightly submerged cover. I waited with held breath, listening for the gurgle that meant a fish had taken it. It surprised me when it happened!

The fist got caught in the branches of the cover, so I had to take a bit of a swim, but I got it out. Probably about a foot long. About 2 lbs. or so.

 

After my swim, I tossed further into the cove, and hit some big green sunfish that took the chugger off of the top.

 

Finally, as I told one of the other bloggers I met on Fly Anglers Online, his blog found here, I tied on a Royal Coachman and tried for more sunfish. I landed one more green sunfish, shown below, and two bluegill a little further up the shore. They are definitely starting to spawn.

 

Can't wait to continue my adventure on that pond. I just need to get my wife out to walk with me!

A short visit and a short fuse.

This past Saturday, I had the opportunity to lose my temper. It is with great shame that I admit that I took it.

My twelve and 8 year old nieces (twin 8 year-olds) came to visit from Friday to Saturday. They stayed the night, and we all hung out at our house. It was great fun, and we had a good time playing instruments and chatting.

Saturday morning saw the opportunity to go fishing. My nieces talked about it a lot during their stay. They were very avid about getting out on the water. I was really excited to show them a fun time fishing as well, thinking that it would be as simple as getting a hook on their pole, showing them where to cast, then letting them go. You know, self-sufficient. Independent. Powerful.

Then the tangles happened. And the stuck reels. And the lures wrapped around poles because of failed casts, and the inexperienced logic of, "Well, maybe if I keep flailing it frantically, the lure will magically fly away from me and light upon the water."

I remember those days as a kid, but I seemed to have forgotten them as an adult.

My wonderful 12 year-old niece loves to fly fish. Who could have asked for a more wonderful opportunity? All personal temper tantrums associated with that particular day aside, I am amazingly blessed to be part of a family of people that dig it. We practiced on our front lawn for a little while.

 She flexed her skills on the water and landed the first green sunfish of the day.

The other two started kicking butt after a couple mishaps with reels and lures. 

Below is a chunky green sunfish.

A beautiful purple bream.

An even bigger, beautiful purple bream.

All three girls caught more fish than these pictures depict. I caught a fingerling large-mouth on a red-head Black Ghost.

It was a great day on the lake. The only whitecaps were the ones on my infantile patience. But, they were forgiving. I'll do better next time. The most wonderful nugget of the day, though?

My wife standing near me and saying, "Oh, this makes me want to go fishing so bad."