New Popper Color

Here is a new popper color I have been playing around with.  I bought some teal saddle hackle a while ago and couldnt figure out what to do with it.  The wife and I were finally able to find some teal paint at Michaels to match.  I like it.  Curious to see how it does as I havent even had a chance to use it yet.  Let me know what you all think.

Harman's North Fork Cottages Day 1

I had spent all of my free time tying flies the week before we left for Harman's North Fork Cottages in Cabins, WV.  This was not going to be our first time there.  Well for my wife and I at least.  We took another couple with us this trip.  Greg and his fiancee came along.  It was our wedding present to them.  This part is important so as you read this adventure please keep it in the back of your mind.  Anyways, I tied poppers for smallies in the area and nymphs and woolly buggers for the trout at Harman's.  As a side note, this is the Harman's from the show Fly Rod Chronicles hosted by Curtis Fleming.  Here is a photo of cabin 13 which is the cabin we stayed in:

So, Greg and his fiancee arrived around noon on Thursday at our house.  We had planned to take two cars so in case we wanted to go elsewhere to fish and the girls wanted to do something, everyone would have a vehicle.  We left around a quarter to 1 and headed out.  I can honestly say that the trip out was relaxed and easy.  Nothing eventful happened.  Everyone was so excited just to be on our way.  We had been planning this for months and with work being the way it was I, for one, couldn't wait to get away.

Around a quarter to four we arrived at Harman's.  Apparently three thunder storms had just past through so the water was up, a little stained and moving fairly well.  After checking in we proceeded to our cabin.  I have to admit that I do love this place.  Maybe even any place like this.  I want to own something in the future where I have a stream running through my yard/property which is nestled in the mountains.  Boy I can't wait for retirement.  Anyways, back to the story.  So Greg and I helped unload the vehicles, got dressed and raced down to the stream.  This is the sight we were greeted with:

Looks good right?  It actually has a lot of rocks and some deep runs.  We could see trout and smallies cruising all over the area.  We decided to fish from behind the cabin to up the bend.  I was switching between a black woolly bugger, the Batman as well as the Colorado Special.  All flies I tied.  I will try and post some photos of these later on.  We ended up getting into the trout.  I landed four tigers, three browns, and two rainbows.  I almost managed to land two smallies, two fall fish and two long eared sunfish.  I believe that Greg landed around 5 or 7 trout.  Before this trip, Greg had only caught two trout on the fly rod.  For those that remember, I have been teaching Greg how to fly fish and tie flies for the past year now.  On to the fish porn:

My best Tiger Trout:

Greg's big catch: a red eyed rock

After hitting the hole at the bend we decided to work our way up to the pool behind cabin 15.  We didn't have much luck there so we came back to the run behind our cabin.  This is probably where the turning point in our trip happened.  My wife, when she tells the story, insists that the turning point for our vacation was when she broke her favorite pair of flip flops.  I disagree.  I believe it was when we returned to the run behind our cabin and I was casting to a cruising trout only to have my 3wt Cortland rod snap in half.  Literally snap in half.  I have had this rod for 18 years.  It was the first rod I ever got when I started fly fishing.  I have caught thousands of fish on it.  I love it.  It is my go to trout rod.  I only have five rods anyways.  I own a 2wt, 3wt, (2) 5wts and an 8/9 that I hate.  My 2wt is for the brookies I chase.  It really isn't designed for chasing 15-18 inch trout.  Hence the problem.  I will say though that I brought the 2wt along with both 5wts with me.  The wife mocked me for bringing four rods but as the weekend progressed, it would turn out to be a god send and she would eventually apologize for it. 

The weekend was now off to a start with a rather loud snap.  I was pissed.  First day there and I was already down a rod.  If only I could see into the future, I would have been happy it was just a rod broken at that point in time.  One rod down and more adventures in the coming days so stay tuned.

Where I Have Been Lately

Sorry I haven't been around much lately.  I was busy getting ready for a trip I just got back from in WV.  We went to Harman's North Fork Cottages to chase smallies, red eyed rocks, rainbows, browns and tiger trout.  I was tying up a storm before we went.  We were supposed to have Internet access which we did but it was a joke.  It would not stay connected for very long.  So, in order to show what we did and to explain what happened, I thought I would do a series of posts for each day we were there.  We got there on Thursday 09/01 and left to come home on Monday 09/05.  So stay tuned for the adventure.  A lot happened and much of it wasn't pleasant.

Problems with Blogger

Is anyone else having issues with Blogger?  I can sign in and post new stuff but I cant seem to comment or respond to comments left for me on my blog.  I can comment on other people's blogs but not mine.  So, with that being said, I have tried to respond to the comments left regarding the bait fish pattern I have been working on.  Sorry guys as I don't know what is going on.  I also like number 2 the best.  It looks nice.  It seems like the red and the orange clash in number 3.  I had hoped it would have appeared as though the bait fish was bleeding but what you think is a good idea in your head doesn't always look good or work at the vise. 

New Baitfish Pattern I Have Been Working On

Well work and play came to a screeching halt this week as I was stricken with a bad case of gout in my left foot.  Man o man it sucks getting old.  The price I paid for eating like crap for the past few weeks and working like a dog.  Well after the pain subsided a bit and with nothing else to do (I am stuck in my game on the Xbox) I decided to tie a little. 

This is a small (size 10!) bait fish pattern I have been working on.  Most of the smallies I catch where I fish are in the 8 to 12 inch range.  That is not to say that there aren't some big boys and girls lurking as I have caught two over 17 inches in this particular river.  The river though is not known for being a smallmouth fishery.  In fact, quite the opposite.  So given the size of the smallies, I tend to make my flies in the 8, 10 or 12 size range.  Here are the photos showing how it has evolved since I started working on it a month or so ago.  The tail is Micro Pine Squirrel, the body is orange Cactus Chenille with so wool and the Micro Pine Squirrel is pulled over and tied off in front.  I did add some lead wire to it to make it sink a little.  Without it, I found out that the wool keeps it up and floating on the surface.  Please let me know what you think and remember it doesn't look pretty right now as I am still working on the pattern.

Here is the first prototype:

Here is number two:

And here is the current model:

Sorry for the crappy photo on the third guy.  We finally bought a new camera and I am still learning how to use it.  Anyways, I like both the second and third models.  I think on the third one though the red wool needs to be angled down more towards the bottom of the hook shank.  Overall though I like them.  They are had to do in such a small size.

Order Up and Shipped Out

Here is an order I just did for a customer.  A lot of foam this go around.  I can't wait to see what he catches with all the goodies here.

Mother Nature Hates Me

or so it would seem.  Every time I work the sun is out and there isn't a cloud in the sky.  Sometimes it maybe a little hot, read over 100 but at least there isn't any rain.  Every damn time lately that I have had one day off here and there, it has rained either that day or the day before.  This of course means the river will be running high, fast and stained.  Oh and I don't mean a little light rain either.  I mean a rain like when Noah had to collect the animals and run rain.  What this really all boils down to is that I haven't had much time to fish lately.  Either cause Mother Nature is mad at me for some reason or because I have been working like a dog as of late.  It has been a crazy Summer with the weather. 

I got an email from Jay over at the Naturalist's Angle.  He was a winner in the fly name contest.  He and Kelly were fishing with it and Kelly managed to land this with it:

What a beautiful fish.  Please do yourself a favor and check out Jay's blog.  If you want to read more about how this fish was caught, click here

I have been working on orders so I should have some photos up soon regarding those.  I also have a wool head streamer I would like to show everyone.   Remember people, I am not dead just busy with my full time job and cursing Mother Nature for raining on my fishing days.