American Angler

Happy late 4th of July to all! Now back to fly fishing...American Angler Magazine has a great article written by Driftless Area legend Len Harris. You can find this article on pg. 64 of the July/August 2010 edition. It's a great read if you haven't been able to get some time on the streams lately! Waters have finally cleared up and the Terrestrial action is beginning to pick up! Also, don't forget that with the dog days of summer comes great small mouth action on some of the area rivers. Here are a few neat pics I thought I would share! Here is a sequence of pictures beginning with the drag free float, the hook up, the fish, and the release! Enjoy.

New to fly fishing??

(Some fishy water!)

If you are new to fly fishing and you are fly fishing in the driftless area of Southwest Wisconsin, here are a few tips that I had to learn the hard way( and the long way) or just plain ol' tips that will help you catch a few trout.

1. Practice casting! Try to practice every day. Grab your rod, something to aim at, and cast away. The more you practice the better you become and the more confident you become. Try to also put yourself in different situations you might find on the river you fish. Obstacles, long casts, short casts, etc.

2. Knots-Learn some basic knots and practice them so you can become efficient at tying them quickly. I learned most of my knots online via youtube.com or fly fishing websites such as flyfisherman.com

3. Indicators: Indicators help you detect strikes. I just recently started using an indicator and I couldn't be more happy with the results of catching many more trout!

4. Mending your line: this is a very important aspect that you need to pay attention to. Mending your line correctly will decrease drag and increase your hook ups. Ex: This past weekend I went fly fishing w/ my girlfriend and she didn't know how to mend correctly. I showed her a few scenarios how/when to mend and within an hour she had caught a couple of fish due to mending her line and maintaining a drag free drift that she wouldn't have, had I not shown her how to mend correctly.

5. Fishing locations: Maps, maps, maps. Spend time online looking up areas to fly fish. Putting in the extra effort of finding new streams is beneficial. Check your state DNR website, trout phamplets, and also many trout fishing states have a book created just for the Trout fisherman/woman naming all of the good trout fishing areas, along with public access and directions.

Hopefully some of these tips will prove to be helpful. This past weekend the area streams were very murky, but one stream in particular was fishable. This particular stream fished well because of the water conditions causing the trout to "let down" their guard a bit.

On the downside, the section I fish on Big Spring holds no trout and all of the construction that was done on it is now washed down stream...bummer. A crystal clear stream, just way too shallow. Stay tuned for some more fishing pics soon!

On The Creek Fly Fishing Shop

After a long week of work and school, I decided to go visit On The Creek Fly Fishing Shop in Cross Plains, WI. This fly shop is located right along Black Earth Creek. Talked fishing, met some great people, and even caught a trout!!! The atmosphere in the shop is layed back and everyone is happy...the fishing is great right now and keep an eye out for the hex! Thanks for the flies Nick!

http://www.onthecreekflyshop.com

& a link to On the Creek's Facebook Page.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=211701383#!/pages/Cross-Plains-WI/ON-THE-CREEK/312443046146?ref=search

Get creative on the stream!!

When it comes to fly fishing, I don't tie my own flies but, if I did I would be pretty creative!! Here is a picture of this past weekend, getting creative on the go to catch some natural driftless area brown trout! By getting creative on the stream, this will lead to you learning new strategies and will have you increase your hookups, which is what most of us want! It just so happened to work out, and this brown/black eggy-wan-Knobi was grabbing the trouts attention, resulting in the fish then seeing an unweighted emerger pattern, and snatching it quickly before it past...

Here is a quick glance at some of the flies I carry in my small pouch for short fishing trips. What you don't see is my other box of hidden flies in the next compartment which consists of caddis(dry flies, emerger patterns, and nymph patterns), the same consists for Blue winged olives, crane flies, and many other patterns. Make sure when you are fly fishing, you have a very basic selection of flies, and also a wide variety doesn't hurt. I like to carry both, some days I feel I need alot to pick from, and other days I stay simple. I can recall one day already this year when I went to the river with mostly nymphs, forgot my dry fly box, and had to run back up the hill to get the correct Caddis dry fly to catch all the trout crazily rising to a tan caddis hatch. Morale of the story, before you go fishing make sure you have the correct flies for the area you plan to visit, or you may come up empty handed!

A Special Fly Rod

Here it is in action!

This past weekend my Thomas and Thomas Rod saw a ton of action. Just wanted to do a shout out to thank Mr. Marcus Stetson of Simple Pleasures Guide service in Western Massachusetts. He has guided me on the Deerfield River, taught me some great knots, and also given me helpful tips with how to read currents and place your fly!! I am addicted!!!! Tight Lines.

The "bear" necessities...

If you are a die-hard fly fisherman/woman you all know what happens with some of your equipment, especially when you first get to the stream and your excited and you have tunnel vision of rising trout, you LOSE things!!! Thats why I choose to wear Orvis Sunglasses, which are $50 and come in handy! These glasses will produce great results, are inexpensive, and you won't be too upset if you happen to break, scratch, or totally loose them. Just think, those lost glasses could be your $200 Oakleys...which happened to me!! These glasses will help you see fish rise to your hares ear, notice a trout you spooked, or last but not least for Guides who purchase alot of sunglasses to provide for their clients if they happen to forget, lose, or break their own glasses!

A half day in paradise!

Here are a few pictures of some trout I caught this weekend, I fished for a half a day and also played "guide". The day started at about 7:45 a.m. and we fished until noon. The stream conditions on this stream were just about perfect with the sky overcast and the temps. in the 70's. The Big Green was chocolate milk from the rain, but this particular stream does well when put up against a lot of rain and clears up quickly!