Into Battle

See ja in two weeks.

New Visitors

I set the camera out again at the same place where the recent boar photos were taken.  To my surprise the boar stayed away but a fox and a Roe Deer came through.

Territorial Behavior

Spawning Bream

The last few days the bream have started spawning.  After several hours of trying I finally got one in front of the underwater camera.

Easter Asp

Went to "the Pond" again and although a strong SW wind in my face I did manage to catch 7 (out of 10) Asp, again 30-40cm.  My general midge emerger (shown in an earlier Asp post) has been my go to fly for the past two years when the Buzzers are hatching.  The one in the picture was the first caught and you see my ferret Diablo making a mad dash for it as I slid it on the shore.  I don't need a net when he's around.  What's funny is that the fish sees him coming!

Asp, Bats, and Owls

Went to "the Pond" a few days ago with my daughter and Diablo for the evening rise of Buzzers.

I ended up catching three small Asp between 30 and 40 cm.  As usual missed or lost twice as many some bigger. 

At dusk the bats began diving at my fly more than the naturals so it was time to quit.  In the video there is one of the bats taking a dive right at us.  If you listen close you can hear an owl hooting in the background.

Another Marten

The Martens are keeping me busy these days.  This one jumped and landed right in front of the camera.  Maybe I'll have time in the morning to finally tie something.

Not far from the Pond..... 2

Another glimpse of nature adapting to our habits.  A Stone Marten living in an attic in the inner city.

Hollow Emu Flatwing

Emu feathers are very mobile and have a strong stem allowing them various applications to flies.  Before dying some I tried a neutral (natural?) colour scheme.

Tail - grey bucktail, two emu feathers, and a black saddle hackle tied in flat.
Body - series of sparse grey and black (on top) bucktail with UV Angelina.
Gill collar - small red ostrich hackle.
Eyes - 3D epoxy.

Ass Backwards.....

Trying a few new things here.

Attach a Fly Lipp to an empty shank.

Tie in XL Craft Fur for a tail, and collar.

Pull it back and whip finish.

Tie on a loop of flat mono.

Attach to the front hook (with tungsten bead)

Begin a hollow fleye method with the XL Craft Fur, repeat two or three times.

Finished?  Not yet!

I added a nice pastel tone with a Copic Airbrush (the photo doesn't show it so good).

The ass end shakes back and forth, the front bobs up and down.  Damn!

Another, thanks Mr. P.

These flies are so easy!  It takes me longer to get out the materials than to tie one.  I like these flies more and more.  After reading Mr. P.'s "The Chocolate Cherry and Small Boobs" the thought stuck in my head.  The simple flowing features along with the action are beautiful.

I have to recommend Mr P.'s Blog not only for top fly fishing info, but his entertaining experiences.  "My Farting: An Outside Expert's Opinion" is a classic!

Thanks again Mr. P.

Bulkhead Deceiver

Lefty's Deceiver has gone through many changes over the years.  This version, from Bob Popovics combines a flatwing and hollow fleye style using the normally 2nd rate (upper) part of a bucktail.  I hope I did it justice with my version.  I wanted to try it out with the "warm" 7 degree weather today (-14 last Sunday) but there is still 10 cm of ice on the pond.

Suspender and Topwater Flies

Shake, Rattle, and no Rolling. Fly Lipps.

A Femme Fatale from Fly Lipp originator Greg Saunders.

A Topwater Deceiver.

A Topwater Clouser with Rattle Eyes

A Slider.

Stocking up for Perch and Zander

Went out for pike on Sunday and did nothing but break my 8 weight Redington on a snag,  The good news wass at sunset the Perch and Zander were chasing small bait fish along the gravel at sunset,  I'll give them a try on the weekend.

QC

A "Quick Crayfish"!

Again, more Asp!

I went again tonight for an hour and a half and stopped counting after 20 or so! All were as yesterday 45-50 cm, with the exception of one 15 cm monster.

Asp on the 4 weight!

Large midges have been hatching every night for the last week and the water has "cooked" with fish. I finally got an hour free last night and gave it a try. I made a few neutral emergers and got 5 Asp between 45-50 cm. They were extremely fast and aggressive so needless to say I missed more than I caught. Not bad for an hour!

Hungry Fox

With the help of some frozen sardines and a wind change after two nights I got this guy for the camera.

Not far from the Pond .....

From 100 meters away I took a short video of a Peregrine Falcon. It's perched upon an 85 meter high church tower.

Hunger

I had hoped I could tempt a Polecat in front of the camera with a handful of Ferret food but got the next best thing, a Marten! Since the snow storms the animals are pressed for food.

Better late than never

I never got the chance to write or comment on the 2010 Dutch Fly Fair I attended in May, to busy with the family, work, or whatever. This year as usual super support from the organization, good programs (an exceptionally good one on Irish Sea Trout by Chris McCully), fantastic tying, simply a good time.
When I drove to the fair I had a small infected wound on my hand and didn't think too much of it and kept it covered and clean. I woke up at 05:30 Saturday morning with severe pain in my arm and saw a red line from the wound going up my arm. Great! Blood poisoning on the first day of the fair! I went to the reception desk and asked for some information and they kindly gave me the telephone number of a local Dutch clinic. I called and got an appointment for 09:00 (the fair begins at 10:00) and went to breakfast. I saw Chris there and told him of the situation and he offered to go with me and help with translations if needed. We arrived early and as usual the receptionist spoke neither english or german. Chris quickly assisted and I went in and saw the doctor. After a quick discussion and examination with broken english I came out with a prescription for antibiotics and pain killer. We arrived at the fair grounds around 09:45 with just enough time to get started! What I want to say here is THANK YOU CHRIS! That you took your time help me meant a lot! And then to compliment me in your article, people like you are seldom today. When you are finally finished with your world travels let me know so we can spend a day or two fishing, Thanks for being a friend.

Michael

12/07/10 Fox

I set the camera on the edge of the lake parking lot with a handfull of pet food.

Scuds

This year on the lake I'm seeing scuds everywhere. And they're huge! I made these on #6 hooks with again, ideas from Roughfisher. This is a variation of his "Krystal Chenille Scud".

Body - Grey pearl Krystal Chenille*.
Legs - grizzly hen.
Rib - fine wire.

Back - Grey transparent Thin Skin*.

* Tinted with a grey marker.

Moving on up

Slowly getting bored with Boar showing up on my camera, I set the camera on the entrance road to my fishing lake and captured a young Fox wandering about. Finally something new! I have seen Martens and Polecats (wild ferrets) there, maybe next time?

Night of the Asp

Went Pike fishing a few days ago and I noticed a few Asp chasing very small minnows (1-1.5 cm) under the surface. It soon turned into a feeding frenzy in an area the size of a football field. It went on for almost two hours. And of course I had no flies that small with me! They totally ignored bigger ones. As selective as an old trout!

More Boar

Another try with the Game Spy at the same place only this time a little lower to the ground. The sow was very careful and curious about the camera. You'll see in the video she stops dead at first and then comes around for a closer look. I'm just glad she didn't destroy the camera!

New Toy

Last night my daughter had a belated birthday party and invited a few of her friends to stay over. I had the job of keeping them busy and decided to take them on a hike through the local forest. I tried to show them enough about the forest (including a Glass Snake and Ticks!) that would rival the best Biology teacher. A week ago I bought a "Game Spy" camera and took it along and set it out for the first time. The results are shown in the video. By the way, after the camera was set we got a thunderstorm. After the 5 kilometer walk home in the dark the rain stopped!

Distressed Damsels

Again thinking along the line of Carp on a fly I got a few ideas from "Roughfisher". He's one very inovative fly tyer in the field of "Rough" fly fishing. I wanted a familiar carp food that would remain relatively weed free in the flats I plan to fish this year, these should do it. Here are my first two trials.

Hook - Ken Sawada Bartleet Sedge #8.

Tail - olive rabbit.

Rib - gold wire.

Body - olive hare's ear.

Legs - pumpkin barred silicon.

Eyes - gold bead chain.

Thorax - olive Estaz Petite.

Combining Methods and Materials

Two tone rabbit, bucktail, sheep, and Crystal Flash. A Bunny, Hollow Fleye, Deceiver? Whatever!

Crayfish ?

From the top and side, a variation of a Dahlberg Crayfish on a jig hook. This pattern is hard to find and I don't know if it really comes from Larry Dahlberg himself or not. I'll have the chance to ask him at the Dutch Fly Fair in May. Out of curiousity I asked my wife if this looked like a swimming crayfish to her, she said she couldn't see it. What does she know anyways!

Crazy Charlies

I'm thinking seriously about trying for carp with flies. I hear a lot about it and all positive! I saw a lot of fish on the flats in June last year, we'll see what happens this year.

Swim Jig Hooks

I found some interesting hooks called "Swim Jig", I ordered them in 2/0 and tried to see what I could come up with.

Crayfish

Body - belly, copper, and mother of pearl Gummi Body.

Legs - crayfish silicon skirt tabs.

Collar - natural brown hare.

Wing - natural brown bucktail mixed with copper olive Angel Hair.

Baitfish

Body - belly and mother of pearl Gummi Body.

Collar - fl. red rabbit

Wing - white bucktail, pearl and red pearl Crystal Flash and fl. red bucktail.

Flash Fly

Wing - pearl gold, pearl yellow, chartreuse ice, olive, brown olive, and baitfish Angel Hair.

Collar - olive bucktail.

Throat - crayfish orange Angel Hair.

The hook point rides upward making them "snag resistant".

The Perfect Spring Day

Nutria and Muskrats




Coots and Mallards (very important as this is "The Year of the Duck")

Spawning Pike (not shown, this site is without parental guidance!).

Perch things.

If I can find some open water I want to give it a try for perch and zander. After playing around with a barred golden olive rabbit strip I came up with these variants. They are very simple "minute flies".

The first is a long shank #6 hook with a gold tungsten bead head, and a peach crystal egg. The rabbit strip is tied in as a tail, then wound forward as a hackle.

The second has a #2 saltwater hook and gold bead chain eyes tied in on top. On the reverse side a rabbit strip is pierced on the hook and a body of orange Estaz Petite is wound in. The remaining strip is pulled over the body and tied in at the eyes. A "muddler head" of olive ram's wool finishes off th fly.

Quiet German Water