Bring Back the Fall Bite

The early cold of winter is quickly coming as the sharp biting wind blew across my exposed face and wet hands.  Thoughts of my wool gloves that I used last winter flashed into my mind as I stood on the banks of the Little Miami River.

The 5 weight fly line chaffed my fingers as I pulled inch by inch to hopefully entice a lethargic fish to grab my presentation, a green and white clouser minnow.  The crsytal clear water was cold and the sounds of a crow broke the otherwise silent air.  The fish were not where they were during the autumn smallmouth bass season.  The thoughts of violent smallmouth straining against the line warmed my current situation.

Standing in the cold water, I was after white bass and hybrids.  The white bass and hybrids were following the shad migration along the river.  Weeks earlier one could see the schools and a fishing net could easily scoop them up for use as garden hackle (live bait).  The fish were inhaling these shad to fatten up and prepare for the cold winter months ahead.

 

Needless to say, the finny denizens of the river were not interested in my feather and fur offers so I ended up looking for nice spots in the future and getting a better understanding of river structure and habitats.  There were some areas that looked great but my waders were not sufficient and thoughts of a nice watercraft like a pontoon entertained my thoughts.

Hopefully I can make it up to the northern parts to go after some chrome (huge rainbow trout after their lake/sea migration aka steel head).  That would make a nice end to an otherwise great fishing season.  Till next time, tight lines.

Glimpses of an Obsessed Fisherman

A couple of weeks ago, I went to an area called Bass Island.  Interesting park name since a recent water survey conducted by the local utility company revealed no bass.  Anyway, I am just starting to head out to a nice looking spot when some guy notices I am carrying a fly rod.  He attempts to talk to me about all the fishing he has done with a fly rod and other adventures.  After concluding this guy is a "one upper", I cordially say farewell.  I finally reach my spot and lay my rod down on the ground so I can use my net to see what aquatic life is in the water.  Out of the corner of my eye I see the "one upper" moving towards my location but I focus back on the task at hand.  After a minute, I happen to look up again and I hear myself yelling

 "Stop"!!!!

**CRACK !!!! ** 

I hear the words, "Oh crap!" escape from the mouth of the "one upper".  The "one upper" has stepped on my favorite fiberglass fly rod.  A 4/5 weight Steffen Brothers fly rod.

He attempted some apology but the words seemed to go over my head.  The "one upper" was remorseful enough to reimburse me for repairing the rod so that was at least one redeeming quality.  So the rod has been sent to the rod maker to replace the broken section.  In a sense it was my fault as I broke one of the rules regarding fishing rods and the placement of rods.

1)  Never lay them down on the ground
2)  Never have them hanging out or around your car trunk
3)  Avoid rooms with ceiling fans.
4)  Never place them on top of a car

So while my favorite fly rod is getting repaired, I have resorted to hitting some smaller water using a 2/3 weight fiberglass pack fly rod. It is nice to put into the car and use when you find that sweet looking body of water as you are driving into work and you have about an hour before the work day begins.

So one such morning after I dropped my wife off at work, I spotted a nature preserve and thought to myself that such a place should have a creek or something.  So I pull in and as I surmised I spot a small creek.  This creek has a few pockets of water that one could easily hop across but that did not deter me from taking out my yellow pack rod and lining her up.  Did I tell you that I have rubber boots in the car too?  Yeah, I pull a Mr. Rogers and change out of my office work shoes and into the boots to go fishing in the early morning hours. 

Surprisingly, I get a bluegill and then a couple of real whales.  I pull in a few creek chubs.  These small "minnows" are actually pretty voracious feeders and the small insect imitating fly I was using were taken by these sharks quite well.

Needless to say, it was time to head off to work.  What an awesome way to start the work day.  I think others may think I need some serious intervention.  Regardless, it was a blast.

Late March Madness

After a previous week of crappie craziness over at the East Fork Lake, I decided to try it again after work since the ODNR reduced the lake water levels by at least 5 feet.  The water was a light brown like the color of a Yoohoo chocolate drink, and the weather was a sunny, breezy evening.  The lower water level really exposed the rocks and other snags within the water, and the loss of four to five nice flies were lost to the murky depths.  I really need to get a fly tying kit, the cost of losing a fly is painful at 3-5 dollars a pop.

Needless to say I did not get any crappies.  The only one catching crappies was the man that was trying to race past me at the start of my evening angling endeavor to get to some apparently sweet spot.  The embankment of large and small rocks prevented him from getting there before me, and I knew where he was trying to go.  I simply let him have the spot.  Actually, I felt bad for him with all of his buckets, over sized tackle box and rods sticking out like antennae from everywhere like a model from Bass Pro Shop or something.  A darkened silhouette would make one think a Battle Mech had come to engage the watery denizens of the East Fork outpost.

Aside from watching Mr BPS catch a few Pomoxis nigromaculatus, I did end up with two nice large mouth bass at the final leg of my evening and a couple of small blue gill on the fiberglass Steffen 4/5 weight rod.  The clouser minnow is still one of the best flies that I use that has consistently caught not only crappie but other assortment of aqua finned critters.  All and all, a nice time out on the water waving the fly rod and making others wonder what is up with the asian cowboy doing aerobic exercises with a stick.

February Morning Fotos

Been awhile since the last post but hopefully will do more this year.  The rather warm weather this winter has allowed me the chance to get out and enjoy the water and show off some fiberglass fly rods. 

The yellow rod is a 3 weight from bears den.  It's a nice seven piece pack rod with a die cast click and pawl reel.  Lined with a 2 weight double taper line, it is perfect for trips when you can't carry all your gear or want to just sneak off to check out that creek behind the hotel.

The second rod is my Steffen 4/5 weight or what I call the Switch.  The 2.5 inch fighting butt allows spey type cast although motions need to be slowed down due to the fiberglass nature of the rod.  It is uplined for shooting and has been a nice rod.  If you are into fiberglass fly rods, then Steffen rods are hard to beat at multiple price points.  The reel is a Martin LM 4/5 with a 5 wt forward weight line.  The reel is a little light for the rod but this click and pawl reel is a nice reel.  Some have equated this reel to the more expensive Orvis CFO and as a results has been label by some as the Poor Man's CFO.  Regardless of price, this is a great light weight reel.

Satisfaction in the Little Things

 

The sun was beating down on me as perspiration beaded from my face.  Occasional moments of refreshment occurred while wading through pools of water as I made my way upstream.  Having a chance to go enjoy the outdoors the day after everyone went back to work after the Memorial holiday, this was a holiday for me.  Taking my fly rod and reel, I explored a local creek and was kept entertained by the small fish going after my insect imitations.  While I have fished bigger bodies of water this year, there was something about catching these small fish from a small pool with the sound of babbling water in the background that took me back to earlier years when I would explore creeks with my cousin.  It was just simple fun without the complications of the "grownup" world.  No facades, politics, electronics or any of the other things that burden us once we cross over from Never Neverland into the adult world.  It was just me, the fish and an occasional small snake slithering to get away from an intruder.  And to emphasize the point, slipping on a rock during the excursion and taking some water into the waders was initially annoying but then it dawned on me that it was actually fun and refreshing.   I also ruined the cell phone that I had with me but that again just seemed to expose the layers of stuff that I have accumulated in this age of material and quite frankly really unimportant busy body-ness.  I rediscovered that I was a person who enjoyed the simple things in life and I was where I belonged.  It just took a dunking to help wash away some of the complexities.

My Rocket is Bigger Than Yours

On my way to work one morning and I pulled off from the major highway to take a photo of downtown Cincinnati's latest addition.  Yes, I am talking about the Great American Tower or the building that looks like a rocket or perhaps a thing of lipstick. For the longest time, I thought construction of the building was not yet complete but then learned the steel dome on top is supposed to represent the tiara worn by the late Princess Diana from Wales.  The architect, Gyo Obata did this in reference to the city of Cincinnati also being known as the Queen City.  It is an odd building and viewing this rocket building between the two P&G towers from I-71 can be viewed as being complementary to the surrounding architecture or a salute to Cincinnati's German heritage and weinersnitchel.  So for the time being, this is the tallest building in downtown Cincinnati with 41 floors and a height of 665 feet.

Me and My Shadow

We come in peace.