Thursday, June 27, 2019

Crappie Night for the WOG


Crappie Night


Tonight Glenloch gave up no bass. Instead it offered up Crappie.  About a dozen of them, all nice slabs.  And all to the Gurgling Wog.





A dozen or so slabs later, I was still saying I should have kept the 1st one. They were chasing the Wog all over the lily pads.






The Wog, doing what it does best 




This.....is a pig of a Gill!!



Tuesday, June 18, 2019

MORNING BASS


There is something calming about a small pond in the early morning, just before direct sunlight changes the reflection and thermals begin to ripple the surface. The yellow of the lilies stand out in isolation as if painted by Picasso himself on a glass canvas. Watching for a few moments in order to take it all in, you begin to see small rises among the lily pad clusters. Than a run-and-chase on a bluegill bed by marauding pickerels catches your eye. Yet no sound aside from the songbirds scattered about and the gobble of a roosted turkey in the timber behind you.  As you begin to strip and extend line with false casts, the sound of the click-pawl reel feels both foreign and yet oddly perfect in the moment. Watching as the rings from your fly dissipate your mind is telling you to move the fly when suddenly it is gone in a boil.…...morning Bass.


Saturday, June 15, 2019

Friday Networking


Fishing Creek PA


Not often does a full weekday to fish, perfect water conditions & perfect weather coincide with a good friend being free for the day.  Rare though it may be....yesterday, it happened.





Jim High-sticking

It wasn't planned, but given the day we took advantage of the opportunity.  Nymphing was the order of the day & the fish cooperated. March Brown patterns proved the most productive.




The Far-and-Fine reminded me of just why it has remained my favorite rod.


My most productive pattern was the RP Starling









The best kind of network




The best fish on the day went to Jim.  

This Bow won for the best run of the day when hooked as well. A 50 yard rocket downstream.




There are times when everything just comes together.  Yesterday was one of those times. 


Great fish & even better company.






Tuesday, June 11, 2019

Hunting the Clusters

Hunting the Clusters


Not a single gill this afternoon. 

All the bass were staged in the clusters and feeding aggressively.  Get the fly within 6" of a cluster and things would happen.  A foot away brought nothing.





The two flies on the day were the Blonde FBC.

The Blonde FBC is tied identical to the original below, with the substitution of Olive Centipede legs and Barred Ginger hackle. 











And the Gurgling Wog


Monday, June 10, 2019

Tying the Firecracker Popper

The Firecracker Popper / Diver

The Firecracker Popper has been in my box since early 1990's in this form or with similar materials.  It produces on every piece of warmwater haunt I have wet a line on. I refer to it as a "popper" due the fact that whether trimmed as a popper, slider or diver, the tying process remains the same. The original version was a popper.




Wednesday, June 5, 2019

A Short Pond Walk

The CGR and X-Gurgler


With the evening landing me 5 minutes from a favorite pond, it only seemed right to take a walk around with the CGR and a few bugs.  


Tying on a #6 Black & White X-Gurgler, a 1/2 dozen fish were caught looking up around the lily clusters. Same fly all night. 




Saturday, June 1, 2019

Valley Creek Jewels 2019

The 1st Valley Creek Jewel of 2019

With 24hrs since the last thunderstorm, I thought the water in Valley Creek should be lower and hopefully clear.  It was settled down when I arrived at 7am but a tad bit off color. SO, the decision was to go with nymphs.  




The stream held to its reputation as being a fickle piece of water, causing me to repeatedly go back to my boxes.  In the end, a #16 Squirrels Nest is what brought all of my fish to hand.


Tying the Squirrels Nest Nymph




Upstream I was able to pull a matched pair on 2 consecutive casts just before the pool was attacked by a a pair of labs and a retrieval dummy.  I was hidden behind the near-side support wall, but they were fun to watch.




They both had nice color




I always enjoy visits to Valley




The wild browns are beautiful




Four fish on the morning isn't bad for water that can leave you wanting for a single fish on any given day.