A Blast from the Past

Seeing lots of first carp of the year posts...I am jealous.  All I can do is look at old pictures and dream of warmer days.

 

I will be back in the game soon enough folks.

 

River City Flyshop

 A man without a fly shop is like...Well, I can't think of anything.  I suck at analogies.  But I can say that I would be lost without the boys at River City.  Don, Pete and the crew are great guys and I do my best to spend my fly fishing cash at his shop whenever possible.  Like all great shops, it is the kind of place you can pop into and talk fishing, tie some flies and tell some lies.  My kind of joint...and they put up with my carp fetish well.  Don cut me a sweet deal on some dumbell eyes in bulk this year.  A set of 100 will be winging to Wendy Berrell shortly, and the carp of lake MI should be quaking in their boots.  We intend to lay the smack down this spring and with Don's help we will be locked and loaded this time around. Dumbell eyes and rabbit strips...a deadly combination.

If you are in the area, you really need to go see River City Fly Shop.  When is the last time you had to argue with the guy behind the counter because he was not charging ENOUGH for what you were buying?  Happened to me today.  

Long live the local fly shop!

 

Yuck

 It might be a while before I get out fishing.  That is the Willamette Falls as of this morning...and the rivers have actually dropped in the past day.  Non stop rain outside now though, so expect another spike in levels.  I may have to talk myself into a run to the deschutes or crooked.  

Flies are done for the swap, in the mail tomorrow.  Can't wait to see the results.  

A solid start

Most of my flies fall in the "flies that catch fish, not fisherman" category...these included.  

 

 

Game time

Time to start knocking out some flies.  

 

 

 

Winter

Not much going on in terms of fishing right now.  I have been busy with work and life.  Elia turned 7 on Tuesday, but I was in Chicago and missed the celebratory dinner.  Party at jump sky high today, and I am glad to be home to celebrate.  My kids are amazing.  JJ is so much like me that I feel bad for him at times, I know what it is like to grow up with so much competitive fire you burn nonstop...at five, he struggles with that at times.  Elia is just like Kelly, and her first thought is always of others and how to make someone else happy.  They are so different, but so wonderful in their own way it is hard to describe.  I just love em, and figure everything else will fall into place.

 

The only fishing related topic going on currently is the staggeringly awesome fly swap that McTage is putting on right now.  Check out that list of tiers...I am secretly terrified to turn in one of my hair all hack jobs!  Awesome swap McTage, can't wait to see the results. 

0 for 2

My second ever winter steelhead trip is in the books, and i still haven't laid a finger on a steelhead.  I did catch a handful of tiny cut throat today, including this one.

Yes, that fish has my goofy green nymph AND a corky in its mouth.  Even stranger, I am pretty sure the fish ate my fly while stuck to the bottom of the river by the rig in its mouth.  Near as I can tell, someone snagged the bottom and broke off the corky rig.  Along came the cut, and ate the snagged up rig, hooking itself in the process.  I must have drifted right by the tethered fish, and he ate that nymph too.  When I hooked the fish I could see him down there, but I had to pull really hard to get the snag free.  Weird.  

Despite not catching a steelhead, it was a glorious day.  The Oregon coast is stunning, and I spent all day lost in the rainforest.  Everything is green, ,mossy, and wet...and it got wetter throughout the day.  I was reminded today that there is no substitute for good gear!  I fished in pouring rain and some heavy gusts of wind, but with the right gear it was simply a part of the experience.  I was never uncomfortable.

The river was still high and off color, but I don't think it was unfishable by any stretch.  I had two heart stopping moments when I set the hook, felt a head shake and then nothing.  One of those was a definite steelhead...big, heavy throbs on the end of my line.  The other might have been a cut, or it might have been a steelhead.  Who knows.  

Despite getting blanked (again) I am starting to get the fascination with winter steelhead.  I really, really want to catch one, but part of the allure is the environment.  Such a beautiful, wild, natural setting...when it comes together with a bright, hopefully wild fish I think it will be a special moment.  I will keep after them.