An Experiment Ended Early and A New Beginning

Sorry for not posting as frequently lately. The bad weather and lack of time fishing has had me down and stir crazy.

I was able to get out twice last week with little success and some expense…

The weather was warmer and I wanted to try out some of my wild freestone streams nearby in hopes of getting some native brookie action. Not so much. I think I am still going to early in the day before the water warms up. All my fault as I am an early riser and usually try and get my fishing done earlier in the day.

A very fine strategy in the summer and perhaps not so much on a freestone creek in February.

It was really beautiful.

The two days results were: 2 wild rainbows and one broken fly rod

Long time readers shouldn’t be surprised to learn that I fell…on my new Helios fly rod.

Broke the tip and had to do the walk of shame back to the truck to get my back up rod. The good news is that the Orvis repair warranty is top notch and my new tip section will be in my hands within 3 days.

The really sad part was that I was trying out an experiment using a mono rig leader on the Helios and it was going decently well.

I love fishing with tenkara rods on high gradient mountain streams. The simplicity of rod and line with no reel makes for a very different aesthetic experience that, while not as versatile, is a deeper and more intense feeling. It is also really effective.

That being said, I am a relentless explorer and wanted to see how much overlap would occur in said experience with a mono rig on a 8’6” fly rod. I would say that it captured about 60% of the experience of using a high end tenkara rod…which was surprisingly better than I expected and I was pleased.

The experiment was cut short and will have to be revisited in the future.

New beginnings: fly tying

I attended the Fly Fishing 101 class at my local Orvis shop hosted by the store manager Brett Winchell (a good friend and trusted knowledge base). I had messed around with fly tying at an event a few years ago and felt completely overwhelmed and useless.

After the last few weeks of no fishing because of high water…and the resulting mania…I decided that I would finally take the plunge on tying.

The workshop was at a great time, 10am to noon on a Saturday, and it was really great.

I highly recommend the class to anyone interested in learning fly tying as watching videos on YouTube didn’t serve to build the confidence I needed to get started.

I will be working on tying some Walt’s Worm flies today instead of zoning out watching tv…or maybe in addition to :).

I am really excited about getting into tying tenkara flies and my beloved nymphs. Got a vice that will serve in the beginning and then will upgrade as we go.

I hope you are all staying sane as we wait for warmer days on the water.

All the best and tight lines,

Mike