Friday, April 26, 2013

My brother in law providing me with a nice home cooked meal and tons of feathers- aint family great.

Copy Cat and Rubber Legged Carp Candy flies are now at Schultz outfitters.  Mike is one of the best in the warm water game- support your local shops.



Monday, April 22, 2013

I took a break from tying for a few days to go fish for PA brookies.  Now I havent fished for trout for many years- most of my gear was covered in dust, my boxes empty and my idea of a light rod most days is a 6 weight.  But I was excited and my little 3 weight was happy to see the sun after some many years.  Brookies are more fun and far prettier than I remembered.  Maybe absence has caused my heart to grow fonder but I just think warm water fish are crafty and have pulled the wool over my eyes.  Because we all know no matter how hard they pull, how big they are or smart- carp are crazy ugly even their mothers dont think they are pretty.  We had sunshine, rain, snow, lots of fish, plenty of fun and I got reintroduced to a fish that I have been neglected for to many years.  These conditions are the prefect ushers for my new home in the UP right now- the Lake is frozen (that is Superior for those not in the know), inlands lakes frozen, rivers that are super high.  Now its back to the vice- on the list carp boxes, bass flies and sexy gaudy flies for AK





Monday, April 15, 2013

Deneki.com is a great resource for all things spey fishing and bonefishing from some of the best people in the business.  Applying flats style knowledge to carp fishing can really increase the numbers of fish that you land.  Carp are super smart with faces only a mother could love.  This is a great article from a while ago and I have been employing many of these tricks for years http://www.deneki.com/2011/06/rub-your-fly-in-the-sand/.  One more reason to rub sand on the fly is to help it sink faster- flies that use materials with bunny or marabou can actually float for a time until the materials are soaked through.  By the time this happens you might have missed your chance.

Many people focus on the cast with carp- more concentrated about 70 foot casts than the approach, fly selection among many factors.  I have caught more fish less than 10 feet away than 70 feet away.  I have spooked more fish with they are 50 plus feet away with a stumble or peeling the line off my reel or missed my chance because the fly didn't get down in time.

Preparation starts the day before with making sure you have everything to fish the next day and ends when you land the fish.  By blending a thorough understanding of different fishing styles and a dash of your own you are able to greatly increase your chances of landing more fish especially when fishing in new areas or different species of fish.  Carp on!!!

Sunday, April 14, 2013

For a long time now I have been trying to get a job in the UP.  The fishing is great, my Dad is a Yooper and I have been visiting it since I was a kid- it seemed like the natural place for me.  I am super excited to say I finally got the job that I wanted.  Starting next month I will be moving up...enjoying another winter and spring. Reports are that many of the inland lakes still have up to 3 feet of ice of them.  I am eager to complete my testing on a few patterns that I have been working now.  Species specific- bass, pike and musky.  There are few places where you can chase monster smallies, pike, carp, steelhead, salmon, lake run browns the list doesn't seem to end that are as exciting to live as the UP.

Packing, tying and a short trip to PA will be filling my time until I leave.  Thank you to all of you that have placed orders- I have locked myself to my tying desk to get all your flies shipped before I leave.  Any orders received after April 16th will not be started the second week of next month.

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

It is a busy time of the year- Michigan smallies open the end of the month, carp fishing is heating up and for the gear guys the walleye run on the Maumee River is doing well.  Right now I am buried in tying materials and misplaced hooks on the floor.  It is amazing how deep hooks can embed in your foot when you step on them haha.  Im hoping to have some fish porn posted soon.  Get out on the rivers they are fishing well.