Weak Willed Part Two

So on Tuesday 09/25/2012 I told myself the following: no fishing, absolutely not, none, no way, you will not go fishing, you have to work on Wednesday and need to finish orders and stuff around the house, no fishing for you my friend.  Yea...right!  Again, I stepped outside and knew I had to head to the river.  I decided to try a different area this outing.  Same place which is Pinecliff Park but a different area of the river.  I usually only fish around the bridge section maybe once or twice a year.  Given that I had only hit it once so far this year, I figured why not.  So off I went.

Again, the Clouser rained supreme.  Thankfully I didn't catch as many rock fish as I did the previous day and I managed to keep my cigar away from my leader/tippet so all was good with the world.  Catching the fish was an added bonus.  I landed 15 long ears, 5 smallies and 1 fall fish.  I only spent two hours on the river so it was a great outing for sure.  Much like the previous day, the time to go seems to be between noon and say fourish.  The previous outing, I noticed that as soon as the sun went below the trees, the fish stopped biting.  Must be that time of year.  I am hoping to still get out another couple of time before the weather will force me to chase the trout.  Here is the fish porn

Say this guy on the way out 

Weak Willed Part One

On Monday 09/24/2012 I decided to head out to the Monocacy for a quick fishing trip.  I hadn't planned to fish at all that day.  Melissa kept telling me to go but I didn't think I should.  I have orders to fill and crap to do around the house.  Finally I broke down.  I had walked outside and it was absolutely gorgoues out.  The temp was 70 degrees, the sun was out and shining, the sky was that color blue that reminds one of a painting and there was a slight breeze.  Normally by this time of year, I have turned my attention to the trout but something told me to head to the river and chase the smallies.  I am glad I listened to my inner voice.  Still fishing with the 6wt, I managed to land 19 long ears, 5 smallies, 1 bluegill, 1 red eyed rock and 1 fall fish.  All of them were on the Clouser in size 10 but all in various color combos.  The two most popular color combos seemed to be white/gray and chartreuse/yellow though.  Great times for sure.

A couple of quick thoughts from the outing though:
while low and clear, the water was fast
smoking a cigar while fishing is great...getting the cigar and your leader/tippet together isn't
rock fish bit hard, put up a hard fight and often refuse to surrender your fly
you need to tie up more Clousers as they were the bomb

Mossy Creek Fishing

While on vacation, I decided that I wanted to take a trip to the famous Mossy Creek.  One can't go to the area and not fish the creek.  Besides, I wanted to throw some glass on the creek while wearing my T.F.M. shirt so off we headed.

I decided to hit the creek on Thursday 09/13/2012.  Before hitting the creek, I decided to stop off at the Mossy Creek Fly Shop.  Much like the creek, one can't come to the area and not stop by the fly shop.  The gentleman behind the counter was very friendly and helpful.  He provided me some directions to the creek itself since I had no idea where I was going.  I did manage to pick up a few things (read I spent like 100 bucks) much to Melissa's dismay as usual.  So after checking out the fly shop as well as some neighboring stores, we headed off.

Unfortunately for me, we got a late start.  Really it was my fault as I wasn't feeling too hot.  By the time we left the fly shop it was already after 5.  That coupled with the early sunset given the time of year and taking a wrong turn on the way there, I knew I wasn't going to have much time on the water.  Amazingly enough, that was fine with me.  I just wanted to fish this legendary creek with my 3wt Eagle Claw just so I could say that I have fished it.  Truth be told though I was really hoping for one of those monster browns!

Mossy Creek was not what I expected.  Really I am not sure what I expected.  I think I had in my mind a small creek in a meadow or pasture.  Maybe it is somewhere along the way but not where we were.  Honestly it is hard for me to really comment on the creek.  I only spent a total of 45 minutes there.  Don't get my wrong, I am happy I went and now I can say I have been.  I would love to come back at some point.  The water seems off color and swift.  I am not sure if it rained or if that is the natural color of the water.  I didn't see any trout holding because of the color of the creek.  I did watch one brown swipe at my fly and that is only because it was near the surface and I could see that golden brown flash.  Other than that....nothing.  Not saying they aren't in there cause I know they are.  I think I just arrived at a bad time.  Of course if that is the natural color of the stream than I need to learn to fish it differently.  I will say that while I love throwing glass now, I was under gunned at the stream.  Using the Eagle Claw Featherlight 3wt did not allow me the reach I needed to hit the middle of the stream or the weight I needed to get the fly down.  If you are going to fish this stream, much like Beaver Creek, you need a longer rod say something between 9 and 10 feet.  There are a ton of trees and bushes along the stream so you really don't do a lot of casting....more like dropping.  Again, it is hard for me to comment or give a review of the stream since I only spent 45 minutes on it and in one location.  I did mange to land one fish and just one fish.  One fall fish was all that came to hand on those short 45 minutes but hey at least I didn't get skunked.  I will certainly be back at some point in the future to explore this famous creek and its world class population of browns.

Outside the fly shop

Nathaniel helping Daddy 

Hauling in my big catch 

My big catch of the trip 

Nathaniel and I heading to the creek 

Nathaniel ready with the net 

What to pick, what to pick 

Bug Reference for Fly Tyers

While we were on vacation, we came across some great looking bugs.  We saw bees, hoppers, beetles, moths and a walking stick.  I haven't seen a walking stick in a long time.  I know moths and bees aren't really fly tyer material for some but I thought they were pretty cool.  So, I wanted to share these photos with everyone.  The hopper was probably the biggest damn hopper I have ever seen.  Maybe a size 2?  Pretty freaking big if you ask me.  We don't see them that big in Maryland.  Anyways, here are the photos.