Some time at the Vise

I tied up 75 flies today.  50 of them were inchworms and 25 of them were black ants.  These were for a fly swap I am in on fly tying forum.  I also managed to tie up some woolly buggers as well.  I am posting photos of each.

Cold day at the Lake

Spent some time Friday hitting a local lake without much luck.  My friend and I took his boat out for 5 or so hours.  We froze our asses off.  The wind was whipping towards the end at between 20-25 miles per hour.  I got nervous on the boat ride back to the dock.  I brought both the fly rod as well as the spinning rod.  I did manage to get a sinking tip line for it.  I still though couldn't catch shit on the fly rod.  We had to pay 5 dollars a piece to use the lake.  I managed to catch 5 fish on the spinning rod.  One smallie, one crappie, one warmouth, and two bluegill.  Long afternoon but it was good to be out. 

Trash....WTF????

I am sorry but this shit really pisses me off.  Why do people do this???  I hate this!

Morgan's Run

This is a small trout stream in Maryland that I fish.  There is a hold over population of brown trout and it is stocked with rainbows throughout the year.  No bait is allowed and there are strict guidelines on artifical lures.  I enjoy fishing it but it can be tough.  These fish see a lot of flies thrown their way.  For me at least a good day maybe two or three fish. 

Spent some time in September here.  I managed to land two browns, one smallie and a bunch of sunfish.  What was nice about this trip was what happened.  I spoke briefly with a spin fisherman who was working some water I had by-passed.  We exchanged small talk about the stream and then went our different ways.  I started fishing a small pool and I heard him yelling to me.  I turned and listened as he yelled that there was a brown holding under the big rock.  I cast out and the fly landed just in front of the big rock.  I watched a smallie come over and start to take an interest in it.  I figured that this was the fish the spin fisherman was referring to.  Before the smallie could get it, a big brown came out from under the rock and inhaled the fly.  After landing the fish, I yelled a great big thank you to the spin fisherman who relied with a you are welcome.  As I walked back to the car, I thought about how wonderful it was for him to share that information with me.  Maybe the gap between fly fishermen and spin fishermen isn't that far off. 

Updated Display Cabinet

I decided to take some updated photos of my display cabinet.  I have a bunch of flies and boxes from the 1950's, the first vise I ever owned and used, a fly reel, a bobbin from 1941 with four extra spools and a lot more flies that I either made, had sent to me or that I bought when I first started fishing.  I do have a box of flies that says it is from Occupied Japan. 

Last go at some smallie fishing

It was a beautiful fall day here yesterday.  It was in the low 70s with a slight breeze.  I spent the morning trying to decide if I was going to go fishing or not.  Once I decided to go, I needed to decide on a place.  I finally settled on the river.  I went for two hours and managed to catch 16.  I was a bit sad that only one of those was a smallie.  I thought for sure they would have been up and moving given the warm weather.  After two hours and the last fish caught being a smallie, I thought it was a good time to stop.  This may have been the last time I fish the river.  The water was really cold as were the fish.  My friend and I won't be going to the private pond anymore this year either so I believe it will be time to turn my attention to the trout.  I am going to try some new places like the Gunpowder this year.  We shall see what the trout fishing holds.

Fall Pond Fishing

I woke up early on Thursday and headed out to a pond in a neighboring county to fish it with a friend of mine.  It took us about an hour and a half to get there but it was worth it.  We each managed to catch at least 10 largemouth throughout the day.  I landed what was probably the biggest largemouth I have ever caught.  It was around 18 inches and 2 pounds 6 oz.  Now I hate to admit it but most of these fish were on a spinning rod.  I know, I know....I cheated.  This is one of the ponds I have been writing about.  The over hang and ground cover make it near impossible to fish.  That coupled with my lack of a sinking line to reach the fish is the reason why I have been turning to the spinning rod.  I did manage to use the fly rod for a short bit. I landed a few bluegills and one largemouth.  I had hooked another one of decent size but with my 4x tippett I was afraid to really set the hook and after a short battle he spit the hook out.  Oh well.

Pond fishing today

Spent some time today doing some late season pond fishing for largemouth bass and bluegill.  The last couple of times I have been, I have cheated.  I hate to admit it.  I have been using a small 5 foot spinning rod and light line. It has been the first time in 10 years I have done any spin fishing.  I feel like a cheater.  In fact I wont even post the fish I catch on the spinning rod here on the blog.  I have only been spin fishing because the fish are holding along the bottom and I do not have a sinking tip line so I cant get down deep enough to find the fish.  That coupled with the fact that the pond my friend Greg and I have been fishing at is ringed with trees which makes casting a fly rod interesting to say the least.  I managed to land 6 gills today on my orange cone head woolly bugger with the legs.  I probably lost a good 20-25 fish.  The strikes were slow and I just kept missing them.  It was nice though to get out and do some fishing on a very beautiful fall day.

Addiction is in full swing

Hello world my name is Jeff and I am addicted to fly fishing.  I can't help myself.  I love it.  I had to take off work on Tuesday for a root canal.  After I was done, I decided to hit the river.  I figured why not right?  The weather was great and my mouth was still numb even after spending 2 and 1/2 hours in the chair.  The fishing is slowing down quite a bit now.  I did manage to catch one smallie, one red eyed rock and about 30 green eared sunfish in a little over 3 hours.  I was using my orange and brown cone head woolly bugger with legs that I tied up the other day. The guy works a like a charm.  I had managed to hook another decent sized smallie while working a seam but my fly line was caught in the current and I couldn't get a decent hook set on him so when he went airborne he spit the hook out.  Oh well.  Good times were had, it was nice to be out, I wasn't at work, and I managed to catch some fish to boot.

Fine day on the Monocacy River today

Spent the morning tying up some rubber legged cone head wooly buggers in green and orange.  Spent the afternoon trying them out.  They worked great.  They were the only thing I used all day and I landed largemouth, smallmouth, warmouth, red eyed rock bass, sunfish and fall fish on them.  The Monocacy River grand slam!  What a great day.

Another day on the Monocacy River

Spent a few hours at the river this afternoon.  I managed to catch a total of 43 but only three of them were smallies.  I lost one other smallie.  The fishing was hard but I got out and enjoyed myself.  That is what fly fishing is all about.  Its not always about what you catch.  I think at times we, as fly fishermen, forget that.  It really is about the quiet time and the journey.  Catching fish is just a bonus.  I managed more panfish then smallies but as stated it was all good.

Display case

To add to my addiction to flyfishing and tying, I have started to collect flies.  This is a small display case located in my living room.  I know my wife is thrilled to have this as well as my new found addiction.  When I try to talk to her about it, her eyes glase over and all she hears is "spending more money, spending more money." A large number of these flies are flies that I have either tied or been sent as part of a fly swap on fly tying forum.  I would also like to note that I have added a lot more stuff since these photos were taken.  Maybe I will take some more photos to put up at some point. 

Peacock Bass from the Monocacy River

This was a small peacock bass that was caught in the Monocacy River.  A friend of mine, his son and I were fishing the Monocacy in late September.  His son was using a small jig head with a 2 inch grub.  He managed to catch this peacock bass not once but twice.  We called MD DNR and let me know about it.  It certainly was a shock. 

Smallies from the River

These are some of the bigger smallies I have managed to catch this year.

Foam Bumble Bee

This is a foam bumble bee I created a month or so ago.  It has been killing the smallies and panfish this year.