Claret & Ginger....And Brown.

With an hour left of an 85 degree day, I was less optimistic than normal.  Expecting less activity due to the abnormal heat we were experiencing. I began the night with a dual nymph rig. Tying on a Squirrels Nest Drake as my bottom fly and a C2C on a dropper 12" up.

The Fish were there, but slowly to the take.  They were taking both flies equally with the largest bow choosing the SND. 

I worked the run pretty hard and pulled a few fish for my efforts.  Fairly slow as I had expected, but still a great night to be on the water.  As I worked my way down to the main pool, I began to notice a number of fish working.  The shadows were getting long with only about 30 minutes of prime light remaining.  I drifted the nymphs through the slot where the fish were feeding with no luck.  Not able to see what they were feeding on I decided to try a wet fly that I figured just may split the difference.  

Claret and Ginger

Hook:  #12 Standard Nymph

Thread:  Claret Danville 

Tail:  Dark Barred Ginger fibers (Hen Neck)

Abdomen:  Claret tying thread

Palmer:  Dark Barred Ginger (Gape Length)

Rib: Small Copper Wire

Hackle: Dark Barred Ginger (Gape Length x2)

Removing the indicator and clipping off the nymphs, I tied on a Claret and Ginger Wet.  It is a staple in my box wherever there is a steady March Brown hatch. I fish it as a classic wet, swinging it just below the surface. My first cast produced a roll, but I was too anxious and pulled it away.  My mind raced...I knew it!  Taking another step downstream I cast again and was rewarded with a large roll and take. Setting the hook to 3-4 heavy head shakes and an immediate run downstream, I was along for the ride. It took the remaining light to land it, putting the finishing touch on a great night. 

 

It was a joy setting the hook on a brown of this size on a classic wet fly swing.  A refreshing change of pace in the current world of Euro-Nymphs and lobbing heavy rigs.

See you on the water!

EASTER 2023

 

My Grand-Daughter Lillian's Easter artwork captures the hatch of the day.  I'm thinking a Green Weenie and Wooly-Worm should match it adequately. :)

While only 2 of my daughters were on hand this year, along with their fiances and the Grandson, we were able to have a very enjoyable holiday.

The Grandson with Pop Pop, watching the Hatches

We did get some fishing in. A beautiful rainbow on a clown egg rig Sunday morning, while under the direct supervision of Brook

Benjamin and Aunt Becky on their first meeting

A fat Bow on the Little Crappie Fly 

It's still unclear who stole the first scoop of the apple-crisp?

Brook probably knows the guilty party, but she's sworn to secrecy.

All-n-All, a Great holiday.  Family and a little fishing.  Hoping to have the whole crew for 2024.

See you on the water! 

PA Opening Day 2023

 

Opening Day 2023

The morning began with questionable weather.  Fortunately however, I stayed on the water throughout the rain.  Despite being slow early on with most of my time spent re-rigging, fumbling with numb fingers and donating more than my fair share of flies and fluorocarbon to the tree and rock gods.  Immediately following the last downpour, the skies brightened and the fish turned  on.

I opened the season with the Livingston Glass rod, expecting nymphing throughout the day.

 First fish of the day was a brown that I only glimpsed briefly before 3 to 4 heavy head shakes and slow reactions allowed him to snap off my fly. Then shortly after I fumbled and grumbled at myself for not reacting fast enough while tying on a new fly, I was rewarded with a fat 18" brown.  I felt a little better. 

Spotting the tell-tale orange glow of a Palomino, I opted to throw something at it and after a short while was able to bump it in the nose with a C2C nymph and it took it. Pali's are either the highlight or the scourge of PA fishermen, but I will say, at 21" and ample girth, it was like playing a Steelhead.  It was a blast, and I thank the glass rod for protecting my 5x tippet all the way to the net.

They are pretty, even if they are crowd magnets. But it's still swimming so somebody else can have fun as well.

The morning gave up another fat brown before my bones said it was time to get out of the waders.  Which was good timing because my crossing had increased  in flow and if it weren't for my wading staff waiting for me I would have arrived back wet for sure. 

Some observations.  The water was clear, and even after the rains it only slightly colored up.  I saw no hatch activity until just after lunch. The Early Brown Stones (Willow Fly), easily copied with a #14 2x long pattern, was more abundant than I have noticed in recent years. Which would explain why they took so well to the Squirrels Nest Drake. 

See you on the water

Spring Flybox Refills

Refilling the Spring Boxes

With opening day coming fast, it was time to add the winters tying to the boxes, and finish any tying needed for the beginning of the season.  Restocking is a reminder as well, of that patterns earned their keep last season, and which patterns are simply squatters in your box.

Starting with the LTD. Bins were empty.  Had a few in BWO, but none in Sulfur or March Browns left at all.

  The Briar Creek bin was empty.  As were a number of wet flies.  Last year was a great year for swinging tandem wets.

Partridge and Yellow

 Partridge and Burgundy

Olive Woody

On the Streamer side of the house, both the Little Crappie Fly and the Guinness Trout were empty. With several others down to  a few ragged soldiers remaining.

 Little Crappie Fly

Guinness Trout

Mohair Leech

Olive Little Pine

Golden Retriever

The nymph box took a hit as well.  A number of patterns were dry.  And many were down to a few left from winter fishing.

Olive Emerger

Sexy Walts

Amber Perdigon

Black Perdigon

Rainbow Warrior

Tan Caddis

Most of all is caught up, with a few new patterns I want to try yet to be tied. A few days remaining. :)  The Blog should remain active moving forward, and still working on my tying video setup.  It should be soon.  

See you on the water!

St Croix MOJO BASS 7wt Flyrod 1-year Review

 

St Croix MOJO BASS 7wt 1 Year Review

I picked up the Mojo Bass fly rod during Covid2 winters ago, mostly out of curiosity after seeing the commercials.  It looked like it could be a decent backup to my current glass rod I favor for my tube.  The surprise was, I am still fishing it a year later.

 While 80% of my warmwater fishing is from a float tube, I was concerned that maybe the shorter 7'11" length would be an issue.  It was not.  This rod proved to be one of the easiest to cast that I own. And I own a few. Even with lily pads in the backcast.  The length did not hamper elevation at all.

From #8 thru #4 foam Wogs

To average-sized #4 thru #2 Deer hair poppers, this rod handled them flawlessly.

It was able to load easily for short pick-up-and-drop shots to tiny holes among lily pads

And with a single back-cast, able to toss bassbugs accurately at a distance on open water.

Yet it still had the finesse for pond-hopping after crappie 

The Mojo Bass turned out to be everything the commercials and St Croix videos said it was. And then some. An oddity these days in marketing.  I found no flaws in the build out-of-the-box, and a year of hard use later the only thing that is not like-new is the floatant and algae-stained cork. The finish is extremely durable, the guides are still tight and the cork has no gaps, voids or cracking. The 7wt proved not to be finicky with lines either. It threw a Bass Pro Shop BASS taper, an Orvis Warmwater and an SA Bassbug line, all WF7F equally as well.  The rod balances well in hand, is extremely accurate and very durable. It has the backbone to horse largemouths out of algae mats, yet it is soft enough to still put a nice bend on a fat bluegill. Add to that, if you pick up the rod, look it over and fish it, you would not place the price-point where it is. A great value.

It has become my go-to rod

Coast-To-Coast and 30 Years

 

30 years ago in a land "Far, Far Away Donkey", there were two friends who began their float-tube history on the Chambers Creek Pothole chain, in Washington State chasing wild cutthroat on flies.  

The ugly mug in the pic chewing 'baccy would be me.  The blue Cherokee in the background would be mine.  

This fine looking specimen of a fly fisherman is Troy.  The black Bronco in the first pic would be his.  If memory serves me, he's laughing because of a beaver slapping next to him?  But I could be wrong.

Troy fishing the mouth of the feeder stream.  We fished those potholes all year round and never once saw another car aside from ours.  It was our honey hole, and we were spoiled.  Little did we know at the time, we would remain lifelong friends.

And 30yrs later I would again be getting ready for the spring thaw, tying us up boxes of warmwater bugs. Only now he's in the Great Lakes potholes and cedar bogs of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and I'm in Pennsylvania.

Hopefully, these bugs can help put another smile on his face like they did 30 yrs ago.  I know revisiting these pics did for me. 

Good luck Troy!

See you on the water!