The Carp Trip That Wasn't

Back in July, I took a trip to Beaver Island, Michigan in search of monster carp and smallmouth. Among others, I traveled to the promised land of carp nirvana with Cameron from The Fiberglass Manifesto.  We spent four nights and three days on that magical island.  It has been a month since I returned and it is time to blog about my trip.  I wanted to take some time and think about what I was going to say.  The reason being is that there is so much to talk about when one speaks of Beaver Island and the amazing guides at Indigo Guide Service.  As a side note you can also find them at Third Coast Fly or for Austin at Grab Your Fly Charters.  Because I will be covering a lot and the post will be photo heavy, I decided to break it up into two posts.  The first will cover Day 1 and 2 while the second will cover Day 3 and 4 as well as some lessons learned.  For this blog post Day 1 will start with the beginning of the trip for me which was the travel day on Sunday.


Gear
Day 1

Since this trip was being hosted by Cameron from The Fiberglass Manifesto, I knew I needed to bring some glass to throw.  I decided on a Steffen Brothers 8'6" 8/9 3 piece rod for the heavy stuff built by them. I also went with a Blue Halo limited edition black 7/8 built by Shane Gray of Graywolf Products and Services.  For reels I went with the Waterworks-Lamson Konic II.  I loaded one with Rio Redfish line in 9wt, one with Rio Carp in 8wt and one with SA 7/8 Bass line.

Day 1 had me leaving my house at zero dark thirty.  Two things about this before I go on (1) I should have planned better and not shopped for clothing 12 hours prior to leaving which pissed Melissa off and (2) airports provide fantastic people watching.  OK, on with the show.  I flew out to Detroit and then to Traverse City, Michigan.  In TC, Cameron was kind enough to pick me up and drive me up to Charlevoix so we could hop on the plane to Beaver Island.  Despite that I have been talking with Cameron for the past year and a half now, this was our first meeting.  Great guy.  All in all it took me three plane rides to get there.

Once there, we were able to meet up with Austin, who was waiting for us.  Austin is a super nice dude and a terrific guide.  Do yourself a favor and check him out.  Anyways, Austin dropped us off at the house we would be staying at.  It was a nice place and it would become our base of operations for the next few days.  It was also a block away from the market and a block or so away from the deli which is where we would meet every morning for breakfast. It was also close to the guides and the boat ramp.  Two very important things to be near!

While we waited for the rest of the guys to show, Cameron and I hit the deli and then the market.  It wasn't long before the others showed up and greetings were exchanged.  I was able to meet Adam, Ken and Chris who were also on the trip.  All of them are fantastic guys with great personalities.  Chris traveled all the way from Sweden to take this trip.  He certainly made the longest commute for these monster carp and smallmouth.

Well as evening rolled around, I decided to hit the docks and chase the smallmouth for a bit.  I was using my 5/6 cranberry Blue Halo.  For me, I was dying to use one of those sculpin patterns I had tied up so I figured why not.  With an orange/black one tied on, I started slinging the bug.  In the end I landed my first 6 smallies of the trip.  I was off to a rocking start!  The rest of the evening was spent making new memories over beer and cigars with my new found friends.

Day 2

The day dawned gloomy and wet.  A storm had rolled in and everything was put on hold.  We had to wait for the waves/wind to settle a bit before we could head out.  It wasn't looking good for carp either.  Carp fishing requires sun in order to see the fish.  Unfortunately, there wasn't any.  So what were we to do?  Well fish for monster smallmouth of course!  What's a little competition between friends right?  Cameron had secured prizes from several companies.  The first full day of fishing we would be competing for a $100 gift certificate to TrueFlies.  After a few hours, we were finally able to head out.  The weather wasn't great (rain!!) but it's only water right?  Some photos from the ride out:

My guide for the day would be Steve Martinez.  Steve is an outgoing, jovial sort of fellow.  He is very knowledgeable and he put me on some great fish.  This fishing was truly incredible.  I mean I am used to catching smallies in the 8-13 inch range.  Now, at the island I was landing them in the 16-18 inch range.  Huge difference.  Huge!!  Fish like these tend to spoil a man.  The only fish under 16 inches was the first fish I landed of the day.  Other than that one, they were all 16 or better. Cookie cutter fish.  Its funny though just how soon one can get spoiled.  After like the 3rd or 4th fish over 16 inches, I stopped taking photos.  Steve asked me "You want a photo of this one?" to which my reply became "No I want one bigger!"  I have never caught a smallie over 18 inches.  In fact I have only caught two over 17 inches.  We just don't have them that big on a regular basis here in Maryland.  Soon I landed one that went 17 and 1/2 inches and 4 pounds.  I was over the moon with this fish.  However, he was not the biggest.  Steve gave me a small crab pattern to try.  It worked like a charm.  I managed to land a smallie that went 18 and 1/2 inches and 4 pounds.  It was my biggest smallie ever and the biggest one of the trip for me.  It was also the second largest smallie caught that day among us anglers on the trip.  Chris managed to land one that went 20 inches.  So Chris got 1st place for the day and I took second.  Nothing wrong with a $100 dollar gift card right?  By the way, that fly now sits in my display case.  Steve was more than generous to allow me to keep it.  For that and the awesome guiding I say thank you my friend.  My total for the day was 16 smallies boated.  I probably lost just as many. No matter how many times I landed one, they still amazed me.  These fish are strong.  I mean S.T.R.O.N.G.  Every time I hooked up I would be hooting and hollering during the fight.  I was constantly telling Steve how freaking strong they were.  It was mind boggling. 

Before I knew it, the weather started to turn against us and it was time to head out.  I'm not going to lie, I didn't want to.  I didn't want the day to end as I was having way to much fun.  This is a short video I shot while we were heading back to the island.

Days one and two ended with no carp...  Will days three and four be better to me?

An Outing With the Chesapeake Women Anglers

This past Saturday, Melissa and I were invited to attend a picnic/fishing outing hosted by the Chesapeake Women Anglers group.  They were having their get together at Pine Cliff Park along the banks of the Monocacy River.  For me, this would be my home water and the location I fish the most.  So naturally I could not resist.  Besides, its always great to get out and meet other like minded anglers.

So Melissa and I geared up for Saturday's outing.  I decided to take my family of Lamson Konics and some select fiberglass rods for anglers to try.  I was hoping to get some more people converted to glass.  Melissa and I also put together a nice display of our flies.

Not really knowing what to expect we showed up on Saturday with some apprehension.  That, however, was all in our heads.  We were welcomed by one and all.  We had a great time talking flies and fly fishing with the members who were there.  We got a very warm welcome from Maria who has been following us on Facebook.  Maria took some time to speak with us but the highlight of the evening was the time she took to work with our son on casting a fly rod.  Nathaniel has been making his own poppers as of late and has been bugging me to take him fishing.  Maria gave him a rod and showed him how to cast.  She was even kind enough to take him in the water with her.  Nathaniel was using one of his poppers in hopes of landing the big one but he managed to create such a mess of the reel that he had to stop fishing.  Not surprised.

Overall we had a terrific time with the group.  For our female angler friends, fans, and followers you can find them on Facebook at Chesapeake Women Anglers.  A very special thank you to Maria for the invite, the warm welcome and especially her patience with Nathaniel.  He now loves fly fishing and wants to practice casting all the time.  Of course the problem is he is driving me nuts!

Redoing My Display Case

I have done a few posts in the past regarding my display case.  A few years back I got a small display case from Ikea.  My goal was to fill it with small flies, boxes, reels, and other fly fishing related things that either caught my eye or meant something to me.  I picked up some drift wood while I was out and about on the water at some point.  Using that drift wood, I broke it into thirds and drilled some small holes into it.  These holes allowed me to place the flies neatly in them without damaging the hook point.  All my flies on the drift wood mean something to me.  Some are tied by famous people in the industry, some by me, some by friends, a few have landed big fish, a few are older poppers and still a few were tied by Melissa.  I have a soft spot for poppers.  It is what we specialize in and therefore I like to collect them.  I managed to pick up most of the older style poppers from eBay.  I would like to get more but it could be a slippery slope.  Besides as you can see I might be out of room.  I placed some reels on the bottom shelf.  These are reels I have used since I started fly fishing.  Most of them are Cortland with a few Cabelas mixed in.  I know they aren't what some might call "good" or even "great" reels but they are mine.  I have often wondered just how many fish I have caught on some of them.  I also have a bobbin from the early 1940's and a few extra spools for thread.  Nothing extraordinary but certainly a conversation piece.  Interesting to see the difference between the then and now bobbins.  So who else has a display case?  If you don't have one, what do you do with your keepsakes?  How do you display them?

300th Post

Well folks this is my 300th post.  Hard to believe.  I started this blog as a way to document my misadventures in fly fishing and tying as they were.  I have had a great time doing it.  In the past few years J&M Flies has grown more than we could have ever imagined.  We have branched out to Facebook and Instagram.  We have been busy nonstop since January with orders.  It is pure craziness.  I am finding it hard to squeeze fishing in now.  As such, I also find it hard to keep up with this blog.  Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining nor is this a bad thing.  We are truly humbled and blown away by the response our flies have gotten.  I feel honored that so many people would like to have some of them.  We have shipped flies to Japan, South Africa, Canada and all over the United States.  Melissa and I both enjoy seeing what people catch with them.  For us, these flies are a labor of love.  We take a long time making them.  We put a lot of care and effort into each popper we make.  I will not sell anything I would not use myself.  My standards are very high.  Each popper is painted by hand using small brushes, brass rods and sewing needles.  Yes you have to wait a while for your order but we think it is worth it.  These flies are hand made in the United States and are designed to last.

We felt that as our 300th post it would be a great time to share some more photos of our customers having success with our flies.  So here are some photos of our flies in action:

Andrew E. with his first fish on the fly.  Landed the bass using a Road Kill

Christopher K. spent a day with a Road Kill

Marty K. swinging the Road Kill and loving it! 

Zach R. with an awesome smallie that could not resist a Sunrise Slammer 

Mike D. celebrated Year of the Bluegill like this

Ken F. killed 'em with the Roadkill