Lady Caroline

I've been both enamored and intimidated by this pattern since the first time I saw it. Unlike most things, I didn't jump right into it. I've been trying out the different elements of this fly over the last year or so. Here's my first attempt. Lots of mistakes, but rather than strip the materials off and start over, I think I'll use this for Smallmouth Bass.

Beauly Snow Fly

Long Winter, Long Shadows

Fall Steel

This rocket ship of a hen crushed my Aquatic Nuisance style Bad Hair Day. Nice hook set and then she took off. Some lighting fast runs and amazing classic acrobatics. After putting a little pressure on her, trying turn her back towards me, she burst into the shallow water and amazingly beached herself right where I normally try to land bigger fish in this run. Snapped a few photos and a got her back into the current. She was pretty exhausted. It was really neat to watch her for a little while under water as I was reviving her in the current. Such amazing looking fish. In the future I think I'm just going to try to tail fish in the current and snap a few photos rather than walking them towards a shallow bank. It's so much better for the fish and just looks neater, plus the photos that I take at the bank usually suck anyways.

First Day of Fall Coho

My buddy Jason stayed over, we fished and scouted the Rouge the day before. Up at 5am on Sunday, grabbed the best run we found special-opps style. Fish were stirring, but nothing consistent until a little after first light. I tried swinging a black and blue bad hair day, and then some comets with no luck. After seeing a couple fish breaking the surface, I tied on a moose hair muddler. This hen took it on the hang down.

Shortly after Jason tied on a strange double fly/spawn bag rig he had pulled out of snag. We were pretty sure this is what the father and son were using that we'd watched fish this run yesterday. A spawn bag, two small simple old school looking streamers with mallard wings and the remnants of wax worms on the hooks. I handed him a Thing-a-ma-bobber that I randomly happen to have in my pocket. This was more of a joke than anything, but amazing he landed a real nice little Rouge brown on it.

End of Summer (run)

I was swinging a black and blue Bad Hair Day streamer through my favorite run at first light this morning and this guy smashed it mid swing. Great hook set and a fairly quick, but heart pounding, battle on my 6wt switch rod. After a few runs and some crazy Chinook style, stiff as a board acrobatics, I got him in the net. Snapped a few pictures, broke the tip off my rod in the process and got him back in the water. This was the biggest steelhead I've ever caught (~30 inches), and likely the biggest freshwater fish I'd ever brought to hand, except for a couple foul hooked, half-dead Chinooks that were incidentals while stripping streamers for fall browns.

After he took off, I walked back to the bank, sat down and took it all in. I've been consumed with trying to make this happen for weeks (maybe more like months or years). This was the best end result I could have hoped for. All the countless hours of fishing, my efforts with fly tying, rigging, researching and reading stuff online. Living and breathing swung flies, spey rods and steelhead...all for exactly this.

"Steel" Your Face from anadromy.com

These came in the mail today from the folks at anadromy.com!

Two-Handed Skagit for Smallies

I lined my 11foot 6wt Cabelas Tlr switch rod with a 19foot 390 grain Airflo Skagit Switch using a 5'float x 5'sink light MOW Tip.  I tried this out last night and thought it was horrible.  Although, I was still managing from time to time to cast 50+ feet with nice loops. I couldn't believe how heavy and out of control the line felt  I came home watched a bunch of Ed Ward and Tom Larimer casting videos, had strange dreams all night about being at a casting clinic in the Pacific Northwest with Ed Ward.  When I woke up in the morning I hit the river for about an hour.  After a few casts I realized I was too stretched out with my casting stroke.  I pulled things in tighter and closer and things really came together.  I was hitting 60-70 foot casts with a big nasty streamer.  And it was all rolling out in a  nice looking loop.

This let me swing through some parts of the Flat River that I can't normally get to.  I hooked and landed a few nice fish as a result.

Feenstra's
Black and Blue Baitfish

My smallmouth bass interpretation of  Senyo's Artificial Intelligence