Feeling it again

I feel it again.

It is not the call of a river. Nor it is a call of a trout for me to come hunt him down. Both the nature and its inhabitants all do so very well without me.

So I assume that this call originates from inside of me.

I first thought that I would like to start the fly fishing again. I thought that I would tie a few February Red Stone-fly patterns as well as half dozen Woolly Buggers. You know, tie the Woolly Buggers with golden wolfram heads to sink them deep. And then hit a river this weekend... and hope for the best to be as happy as I have ever been while fishing.

That was my plan. To answer the call ringing inside my head.

Now it is Sunday afternoon, and I didn't do it. I even carried the fly tying gear back to garage just a moment ago, because - well - the kitchen table is not a good place to keep your fly tying gear for more than a week unless you are a trout bum with no real life with other people living inside the same house and affecting your decisions.

The real life. I think we are not getting in to this subject on this blog post. Too complicated. Too much going on in "the real life." Yeah right. Like there is something more real than a few moments of life fishing a trout.

All I am saying is that I feel it again. And that I might start over the fly fishing and this blog again. And that I would like to have you with me.

Because we make the world.

Pool 32 Mag

Check it out.

Kvarken International Pike Fly Tournament

News from the Hardcore Department:

700 teeth

If you are into pike fishing, check out 700teeth.com!

August Caddis

An August evening. It means a possibility of caddis hatch where you live. They are rhyacophila, one of the two caddis species you know by name. They hatch after sunset. Last time you were here it didn’t happen.



There was some good fishing soon after 6 pm. when you arrived, but then it has been quiet. You take a break, eat your egg-bacon-sandwich.

Start again, fish a small streamer with soft hackle dropper. You start catching small trout. Replace the streamer with a size 16 caddis pupa. It’s getting dark, and the trout are everywhere. The best fly is a dry fly, green bodied Deer Hair Sedge.


When it is too dark to see your fly, you switch back to pupa pattern and feel the trout taking it. And when they stop, you stop.

You lived again.

Jazz & Fly Fishing

Read more.

Nature lesson

"Mr Trout, that's sunset."

Art of Getting Skunked

[Insert a lame statement here]

Spreading the word: Dahlberg Diver

Over a year ago, Jay Lee sent me two flies, a Humpy and a Dahlberg Diver. Last night I tried my best to instruct how to tie the Dahlberg Diver at the local fishing club.



It takes some time until we reach the level of perfection Jay has, but the word is out there. We are going to catch pike soon.



Thanks Jay!

Again

Fishing season started again.



Maybe she is the same.

December Trout

Went fishing yesterday. See you in the spring.

(For the record: The length of the day is currently 5 hours.)

Trout Rigs & Methods by Dave Hughes

Dave Hughes has always had systematic approach in his books. In Trout Rigs & Methods (Stackpole Books, 2007) he divides trout fly fishing techniques into set of rigs and methods to fish these rigs. The result is an explanation of lots of ways to fish trout. Its downside is certain amount of repetition as different rigs and methods do have lot in common. To my eyes this book is a valuable source book for hardcore fly fisher--over 300 pages of rigs and methods is not for sissies (and I did read it all).


This is starting to sound like a review. I don't want to do that. I simply want to make a few comments about the book. I'll keep it simple: a) lots of fishing techniques in the book, b) some good history stuff but not very much, c) I'm sure I'll put some of these rigs and methods in good use, d) no really deep insight but there are other books for that purpose.

Well, maybe this is a review.

The Big Fish

The river is wide at the point where you’re fishing. The current surprisingly deep and strong. You remove split-shot and flies from your line, and tie on a size 14 pupa pattern and a streamer. Normally you use a smaller fly on the dropper and a streamer as the point fly, this time it is the other way around.

There is an underwater rock so you let your flies swing in front of it. A swirl of water, a big fish takes a fly. It runs about five or six meters towards the other bank and stops. Then it jumps. One lazy I’ll-let-you-see-me jump. It is a huge rainbow trout.

Judging by the distance of the tip of the fly line and the jumping fish you guess it has taken the point fly, the small pupa pattern. That would mean a 5X tippet. The trout swims upstream. There is no haste in the movement. Then it stops below another underwater rock. A moment later you began to suspect that the other fly is stuck.

Minutes later, after all tricks you know to get a fish moving, you pull the line until it breaks. Reel in to see that both flies are gone.

After a moment of thought you tie a new tippet and a dropper and identical patterns. Later you catch trout, but they are not like the big fish.

On the road

There aren't many things that can beat the rush of knowing that within two hours drive there is a great trout river. Some things that are valuable beyond any measure are left behind, but what lies ahead is imagination becoming reality.

Combat Fly-Fishing

I’m not the biggest fan of competition fly fishing. I feel that it is needed for the sport but it also represents some aspects that, to my view, are not in the essence of fly fishing. One obvious aspect is competition; others include targeting the small fish and overall haste of the whole activity.



However, I like to be able to catch more fish, and I like to catch fish when nobody is catching them. This is where some knowledge of competition fly fishing tactics become valuable. One article worth of reading is Combat Fly-Fishing by Charles Jardine. He was spying the Young Master Jedi Fly Fishers at the World Youth Fly Fishing championships. The tactics are far beyond standard short line Czech Nymphing.

Gradually, I slipped from an envious glance to a more analytical view and began to see what the fly fisher was doing.

Good morning

My cousin and I were fishing this morning. Just at a local river, just for about four hours. There were reasonably good number of fish feeding on surface, grayling and brown trout.



I had fair luck with grayling, but demonstrated some poor judgment on the leader department. When I rigged up, I noticed that the leader was full of small nicks, but lazy me just replaced the tippet section and started fishing. Two trout broke it easily before I replaced the leader with a new one.



Then I hooked a decent trout, around 50 cm or 20 inches, and it fought hard. I was just about to show him the net when it turned and threw the hook. Just like that. No mistakes were made but it got away. It happens, I know, it has happened before and will happen again. I took a moment; there was a rock to sit on and a cigar to smoke.

Life is good, or as Mike puts it: “Sometimes in fishing you realise that life doesn't really get any better.”

The 12th Hour

You close your eyes. It’s about 6 am in the morning and you’ve been fishing since 7 pm previous day. At some point you were too tired to fish so you sat eyes blanked at campfire, ate a few sausages with mustard, and drank two beers. Then, while the others went sleeping or left, you continued fishing. And you landed trout. A good one, too.



The river is located between lakes, as most rivers of the region, and has only two sections that are fishable without boat. Runs are short, wide, and extremely strong. But so are its trout: short, stout, and extremely strong. In here, where you live, they are legendary. A lot of fishermen come after these trout but only a few catch them.

You’ve been awake for almost 24 hours. You have been fishing for about 11 hours with only a few small breaks. You have a tent but no sleeping bag. Somehow the idea of driving home to sleep lured its way to your mind and you actually took off your leaking waders, sat behind the wheel and started driving. Driving at this mental stage is not a wise decision; it’s an act of insanity. Your mind paid no attention to such introspection. But, instead of driving home, you drove to the other river section.

You’ve somehow managed to dodge the crowd. First, in the evening, you selected different river section than most of other fishermen, and now in the morning, you were just about to drive home but decided to check the crowded section before you leave and found out that there was only one car left. So, instead of leaving, you sit behind the wheel with your eyes closed. You try to recall all the moments of last hours but memories are fussy. After a minute or two you hear engine starting and the car drives away. You are alone in a great trout stream.

A moment later you are gazing the river from bridge. A pocket water section looks tempting. You tie on John Goddard’s famous caddis dry fly and Lennart Berqvist’s pupa pattern. You figure that the English pattern will be a very attractive indicator and the Swedish pattern would be the choice of a picky trout.

When you get into the water and start casting you notice that you can’t see your indicator fly from roughness of the surface. Sleep deprivation isn’t helping either. But this is what you love so you keep on fishing.

Mind and body become separated. Body is fishing; mind is dreaming and enjoying the ride.

Suddenly you see a flash of light below the surface.

“Hey! That looked like a fish!” your concussions mind says with astonishment.

“No kidding.” subconscious mind would reply if it could talk. While conscious mind is speaking, subconscious mind is acting: right hand raises the rod and left hand pulls the line.

“I’m getting good at this!” says the conscious mind.

“You are getting good at this?” would be the answer.



You get back into the car and start driving home. An hour later you stop the car, close your eyes and fall to sleep.

Priorities: Setting things straight

It was every bit as good as I told you it would be.

The Proof

It's a small stream, so the pool is a miniature version of the ideal pool. It has all the characteristics however: strong current feeds it from upstream run, its bottom drops deep slowing the current and trapping drifting insects into the turbulence. The current gathers again at the tailout where the trout lie.

The pool must be approached carefully, taking cover from bank and trees, and finally casting a streamer to the current. The streamer mimics the dying minnow perfectly, swimming slowly, flashing its side, slowly but surely dying as an easy prey. The animated death sequence becomes prolonged, yet the fly is left untouched.

Same pattern in a different color, the motions repeated but the results remain. Give the pool a rest.

* * *

Later the line is rigged with two nymph patterns and a spilt shot. One of the flies is a flashback caddis larva pattern and the other is more natural and subtle nymph pattern.

The take is so subtle that it is almost unnoticeable. Tighten the line and a trout is on. It is hard to judge its size, and then it splashes water throwing the hook. There is only one person near the pool so it is clear who should be blamed.

New cast and eyes fixed to the end of line drifting through the pool. The motion stops just before it should speed up.

Just before landing the trout it becomes evident which fly has been accepted. And that is the best part.



A fly tied and designed by The Mad Fishicist.

Small streams (I am in love)

Saturday morning I decided to take a look at some small streams no more than an hour drive from my home. Small streams are true treasures, best of them usually hidden and hard to find.

A road less travelled - From Small Streams

I found the stream.

From Small Streams

And finally had time for my precious little girl.

From Small Streams

She is even more amazing than I thought. She casts like an angel, and none of the fishes - ranging from 35 cm to 42 cm or about 14" to 16.5" - were match to her.

From Small Streams

New fishing season is beginning.

From Small Streams

I am in love, and alive again.