Tying Materials I Love.

Giving Thanks.

This Thanksgiving I am actually at home with friends and family rather than fly fishing the Great Lakes tributaries several hours from home. However, the festivities are closing out and the Cowboys just lost. Soon I will be leaving my friends and families and heading to the aforementioned tributaries. I thought it would be a good time to talk about several products that I have been tying with over the past few months that have really added some great effects to my fly patterns. 

The first product is Bug Bond. This has taken the tying world by storm this past year and I have found it a very appealing alternative to the Loon products I was using. Bug Bond dries completely without any sticky residue with a quick few seconds of their UV Torch. It is also very useful for layering and building bodies on saltwater patterns. The torch is top notch and it cures Loon's UV products much better than the various Loon torches that I have used in the past. 

Bug Bond and a Bug Bond UV Torch.

Loon UV Products.

The second product is several fish eyes from Richard Johnson of Kustom Flyz and the Pike Flies Blog. Often when fishing streamers or baitfish imitations the targeted fish will follow your fly before inhaling it. Often, they turn away at the last moment leaving you heart broken. This is when it pays off to be using eyes on all your patterns. The eyes will be a triggering mechanism that elicits a predatory response from your targeted species. Richard's eyes are incredibly realistic especially his Realistic Flyz Eyez. 

Large Saltwater Eyes.

Rich's Bread and Butter and My Favorite Fish Eye.

Green and Purple Versions.

A Unique Eye.

An Awesome Tear Drop Eye.

More Unique Realistic Eyes from Kustom Flyz out of the UK.

The next few tying materials are the brainchild of Greg Senyo, an Orvis endorsed Guide and tier from Steelhead Alley Outfitters. They are Senyo's Laser Dub and Senyo's Shaggy Dub. Over the past year I have been incorporating UV and UV resistant materials into all of my flies. Research has shown, that UV materials are seen better by fish, especially in low light conditions. Senyo's Laser Dub works well tying nymphs and all manner of streamers and tube flies. I find it very useful in building heads on my streamers and tying Senyo's Ice Man Minnows. His Shaggy Dub is a rubber material that is UV resistant and will not breakdown or fade over time like most rubber currently out there. I have found it extremely useful on my articulated streamers. The rubber comes long which is perfect for tying because you can always trim it to your desired length. Left alone and long the material pulsates in the current and provides a larger profile for swung flies. 

An Articulated Streamer Incorporating Senyo's Shaggy & Laser Dub.

Realistic Eyes Seal the Deal.

Articulated Black Streamer With Shaggy Dub Body and Laser Dub Head.

Brown & Rust Version.

A Non-articulated Sculpin Pattern w/ Realistic Eyes.

Olive Version.

Olive Realistic Flyz Eyez.

Heavily Influenced By Kelly Galloup and Nick Granato.

Small and Large.

Standard Ice Dub Works Well Combined With Laser Dub.

My Stinger Missile With a Shaggy Dub Head.

Another Olive Version.

Bonefish Minnows With Bug Bond Body and Eyes From Kustom Flyz.

Bonefish Minnows With the Unique Plated Eyes From Richard Johnson.

A Different Angle.

A Mini Scott Sanchez Double Bunny Using Senyo's Laser Dub and Realistic Eyes.

Gray Over White.

Brown Over Yellow.

Four Inch Long Mullet Pattern With Large Eyes from Kustom Flyz.

Close Up.

Awaiting Further Testing.

Another great product comes from D's Flies. It is called UV Chewee Skin. It works well building bodies on caddis larva, stoneflies, and san juan worms.

Weighted Tungsten Caddis Larva With UV Chewee Skin and Senyo's Laser and Shaggy Dub.

Swimming Version and a Grub.

Side View.

Senyo's Ice Man Minnow w/ Kustom Flyz Realistic Fish Eyes and Bug Bond.

Orange and Rust Version.

The next few flies come from my partner in crime, Adam Hope. Adam and I are very different fly tiers. He is a perfectionist that is known to spend an hour or more on single patterns. He is also a fan of incorporating materials from the Bass fishing world. He likes to work in jig heads, rattles, and bass fishing skirts. He also has been known to fashion his own weighted heads. The following are a sampler of some of his streamers he used this past weekend to slay a few steelhead on the swing. 

This Bad Boy is Heavily Weighted With Spey Plumes For Added Action.

A Lot of Pheasant Butt in This One.

Articulated.

This Fly Kicked Butt.

Proven.

An Absolute Monstrosity. 

Upside Down.

Bass Skirt.

Custom Built Weight.

Also, if you are looking for a new rod or gift for the holidays be sure to check out the latest and greatest from Sage: The Sage TXL-F. These are perfect for the small stream waters in the Mid-Atlantic area. Here is the press release:

"November 22, 2010 (San Francisco, CA): Since 1985, Sage has endeavored on perfecting performance by handcrafting fly rods in Bainbridge Island, Washington. This year, Sage’s master rod builder, Jerry Siem, has developed a new series of dedicated small stream fly rods named TXL-F. This latest rod offering provides big rod performance in a small package.

Celebrate small stream fishing: Ultra-light rods in general have a reputation for being "noodly". Not so with the TXL-F, which responds to the same casting stroke that efficiently loads and unloads Sage's high-performing, fast- action rods. Now an angler can play “small ball” on tight trout streams without sacrificing performance.

Bottom Line on TXL-F: The ultimate small-stream performance fly rod. Adds a new level of enjoyment when fishing creeks and tighter streams. Makes every cast fun and small fish feel big."

New Sage TXL-F Fly Rods

The Last Carp of the Year?

Over a month ago, I did a post entitled, "Late Season Carping". I guess that was a little premature. On a recent outing to our carping locale, Adam struck gold and proclaimed, "It's not over until this place freezes over"! The lucky guy was able to entice an average slab of ghost that meandered into the shallows looking for an easy meal. After a short fight and some cold feet, Adam released what will most likely be, the last carp of 2010. I will probably eat those words in the coming weeks.

A Lone Ranger Sent To Investigate.

Making Sweet Music.

Eruption.

The End is Near.

Shimmering Delight.

The Scoop.

It Isn't Over Yet.

Golden Ghosts.

Is She The Last of 2010?

Action

This past month I've landed almost 10 bonefish. If you're keeping score at home, thats 9 more than I'd landed in ALL OF THE ENTIRETY OF LAST YEAR. Through endless, sun-scorched hours of trial and error on the flats, discussions with more experienced fly fishermen, tons of research, boxes of experimental flies, encouragement from Mark and Adam and an understanding girlfriend, the hope of landing a bone was kept alive. Finally, knock on wood, the fish are cooperating.

Driving home from a kayak excursion last weekend, I noticed a flock of pelicans bombarding the sea a few meters from a sandy shoreline. Sandy shore + bait = bonefish. I turned off and broke out the 8wt permanently kept in the back of the truck.

In a few minutes, I was in knee deep water thick with bait. I saw my first bone in a moment, and then noticed a big boy cruising away from me, between my position and the shore. I bombed a cast beyond him and popped the fly through the water column. I smiled as he turned 270 degrees to attack my offering, and I was into my backing before I knew it.

I beached him and only then realized it was my personal best bonefish. I grabbed a self-portrait with the setting sun over my shoulder and my Movember 'stache capping it off. The fish was not very long, but it was a real hog. No doubt growing thick on the easy pickings of bewildered baitfish.

Movember Bonefish

I called my fishing buddy Zach, the other Science teacher at the school we both work at, and inadvertently rubbed in the fact that I have been hauling them in lately. Realizing he has yet to land a bonefish, I solemnly swore to put him on some fish before I hooked another one...

Out of State Angler.

Take Me Home Country Roads.

Born and raised in eastern Pennsylvania, I grew up in one of the best states in America to fly fish for trout. Wild trout. I honed my skills a few hundred yards down the street from my house on a small freestone stream that harbored a sparse population of wild brown trout. Each spring, the small browns, were hounded by stocked fish and fishermen who kept their limits all season long. It was a miracle I was able to catch them throughout much of my teenage years. Heading to college, I chose the University of Delaware. Lost in the decision process was my desire to fly fish. Instead, athletics and an education were my top priorities at the time period. If I hopped in a DeLorean, I would probably choose guide school and a life of fly fishing over a life spent bound to a job and the man. Graduating college, I took my one and only job offer, and happily am now a Delawarean. I went from a state known for wild trout to a state that has zero wild trout streams. 

Leaf Clutter.

My Escape.

Add Cataracts to Stockpedia. 

When I am tied down in Delaware, I will routinely hit one of the only streams in the state of Delaware that is stocked: White Clay Creek. Even then, I tend to travel an extra ten minutes across the PA line to fish the upper reaches of the creek in Pennsylvania. My local waters now only hold stocked trout as opposed to the stream born fish that intoxicated my mind during my early days. They only satiate a small portion of my appetite for fly fishing. As a result, I am now a traveling out of state angler. A weekend warrior, traveling back home to PA, in search of the wildness of my youth. 

A Freshly Stocked Fall Bow.

The Distinctive Stocking Color.

Chubawamba. 

A Nemo Bow.

Veiled Green Caddis.

An Appetizer. 

Storm Damage

This hurricane season has been an active one. Hurricane Earl, a category IV storm, blasted past within 15 miles of our shores, scouring a few of the smaller islands in it's path. Taking shelter from the 90mph winds (15 miles from the eye and our winds were only in the cat. 1 level), we hunkered down at a friend's house with cases of water and beer, having ourselves a short-lived hurricane party.

We returned to our apartment to find the sea had made it to our front porch, but thankfully no further. Our apartment and belongings were safe. Some other people were not so fortunate. Dozens of boats were wrecked in the storm and millions of dollars of damage were done do docks, roads, marinas and buildings.

Earl struck two days into the new school year. After setting up our classrooms and having students for two days, we had to pack everything back up, wrap it in plastic and batten the hatches incase of water damage. Earl was good for two days off of school.

As the weeks went by, we dodged bullet after bullet as other storms whizzed by to the north or south of us. A few unnamed tropical depressions did their worst and caused some of the most destructive flooding here since records have been kept.

Then, in 36 hours we received more than 22 inches of rain. School was canceled for a few days due to that one, as well. In the midst of it, my girlfriend and I were suffering through Dengue Fever. Good timing.

When you couple absolutely no enforcement of environmental regulations with any amount of precipitation, not to mention the rains we've been having lately, stuff like this happens:

Anyone who wants to can build a house ANYWHERE they want. And if there isn't a road taking you to your plot of land, cut one through the forest, forget about engineering adequate drainage or setting up silt fences, and sit back as the slightest rain leeches tons and tons of mud into the ocean, smothering the reefs around this island.

I have only been here for roughly 16 months, but in that short amount of time I have witnessed a large-scale decline in the health of the reefs surrounding this island. Makes you wonder about how amazing this place probably was even 10 or 20 years ago.

The Tragedy of the Commons is playing itself out on a million stages throughout this world, our front yard is only one of them.

Last Chance.

Over a few beers late one night, my brother and I hatched a plan to hit up a local flat early the next morning. The goal was to catch a bonefish and exact revenge on the hundred or so fish that wanted nothing to do with every pattern I had, the last and only other time, I fished there. It would be my last chance to fish a flat for a bonefish on our annual summer sojourn. 

The next morning, I awoke in a pool of my own sweat with a fresh round of mosquito bites, I realized that I had slept through our alarm. Our early morning plan was looking more like a mid-afternoon siesta. It didn't really matter. We had been operating on island time for two weeks, being late was part of the game. We loaded up the SUV with a kayak, checked that she was held down nice and tight and hit the road. Our destination was only ten miles away, yet it would take us forty five minutes to get there. Parking, we unloaded the kayak, geared up, and hit the ocean for a forty five minute paddle across deep seas. 

Getting on the Flat.

About to Go For a Swim.

Beaching the kayaks on the only strip of sand in the immediate vicinity, my brother and I waded across a deeper channel to get up onto the large flat. My brother headed left, and I went right, splitting the flat in half. No more than ten minutes after I took my first step, I spotted a pod of slow moving bones about fifty deep. Their grayish backs unmistakable against the bed of sea grass. I stripped off the necessary amount of line, took two false casts and shot the rest of my line out and into the middle of the pack. One strip was all it took to ignite the competitive spirit amongst the bones and soon I was latched on to a decent fish. The street gang followed the hooked bonefish around before realizing something was wrong and bolting off the flat. This left my fish with one decent run before gently being cradled for a victory shot.

Loggerhead.

Spotted Eagle Ray.

Brown Booby.

My Last Bone of the Trip.

Size 8 Kwabbit For the Win.

Thanks.

The hook and landing of the first bone of the day, spooked that days group of bonefish. After the first hour, there were sporadic sightings of single and paired bones across the flat, none of them interested in our flies. I turned my attention to permit. On ten separate occasions, I spotted tail around the edge of the flat along the     coral. On half of those occasions, I was able to get a cast off. Each and every time the perms spooked and blasted off the flat. Permit are so smart, fast, and powerful. They are awe inspiring. Even though I was able to catch my first one, I was still trembling at the knees. The sight of their tail breaking the surface of the water and shaking side to side, is an image you will never forget. It will haunt you in your dreams at night, beckoning you in for another go around. Just thinking about it, makes me want to book a flight and settle the score. 

Class is in Session.

I Want To Go Back.

NOW.