Traveling Angler Tuesdays: Wishin'

Me, in Belize (Photo by Dylan Rose)

Things of Three VI

The sixth edition of three items/subjects/places/people worth checking out to make life as an angler and global citizen far more enjoyable.

Random, somewhat-out-of-context photo of me & my first bonefish. Yes, I'm proud of it.
(Photo by Dylan Rose of Fly Water Travel LLC)

1. SCOF Issue #5
Yes, I'm late to the party. It was released on Sunday. I even read it on Sunday. Things of Three comes out on Thursdays. It's the 'th- th- th-' thing: THings of THree on THursday. It's a principle THing.

Anywho, back to SCOF, aka Southern Culture on the Fly. I think it's their best issue yet. It's the one-year anniversary issue. The redfish footage from Louisiana is cool as hell. Definitely watch both videos, especially Captain Gregg Arnold discussing the strip-strike. Right to the end.

And note my pumping out a little promo/review of SCOF #5 has little to do with the editor rowing my girl & I around on a lake one fine Sunday afternoon a few months back in what turned out to be a guided trip. The issue stands on its own. If Grossman & Co. ever put out a shitty issue, me promoting it will be part of the payback for the fishing trip. Well, that & the case of PBR I left in the boat cooler.

Check out SCOF #5 by clicking here or the image below.

web: southerncultureonthefly.com

2. Clear Cure Goo Brushable
Clear Cure Goo's brushable UV-epoxy is an absolute joy to use: simple, clean, effective. I've yet to scratch the surface for its many uses, but I've used it on Clouser Deep Minnows for both fresh & salt, for stiffening up deer hair collars on a few different patterns, as well as on the Clear Cure Charlie (which happens to be the unseen fly stuck in that bonefish's mouth in the pic above).

Brian Carson of CCG is a cool dude; he's developed several different types of CCG UV-epoxy, plus the CCG eyes and bodies. From reading along on their website, they put the different formulas & products through the ringer to perfect them before making them available to fly tyers. I haven't tried any of the CCG epoxy besides the Brushable, but I will be real soon. And I'm looking forward to it.

Note: That's called foreshadowing in the literary biz...

CCG's pro staff features some of the rising stars in the fly tying world right now, too; guys like Thomas Harvey, Brad Bohen and Pat Cohen. It'll definitely be worth your while to be checking in on CCG's blog page in the very near-future to see what those guys and many other CCG's pro staff will be up to.

Note: That's also foreshadowing. Trust me on this. Let's just say the next time I write about CCG, I'll need to add in the standard disclaimer. But not yet. The Brushable was purchased on my dime. And worth every penny.

web: clearcuregoo.com

3. The Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer
Last Friday I threw out a request to the twitterverse for some new music to listen to.

I received a few replies featuring a lot of good bands.

But this one is my favourite.

Blues rocks. Especially blues that rocks.

H&AM has three albums. I now have all three. They're good. Check 'em out.

web: harpoonistaxemurderer.com

Things of Three IV

The fourth edition of three items/subjects/places/people worth checking out to make life as an angler and global citizen far more enjoyable.

1. Snook
They hit hard. They pull hard. And they look cool as hell.

Note: They're also quite tasty, but they're more fun to catch than to eat.

Photo by Dylan Rose of Fly Water Travel LLC

2. Idaho Angler
There's something to be said about walking into a shop and being recognized from a previous visit almost exactly a year ago to the day.

Friendly, helpful & knowledgeable, plus everything once could need for fishing in Idaho or anywhere else for that matter, including a huge tying section featuring materials for both fresh & salt.

If you're in the Boise area, a visit to Idaho Angler is a must.

Website: idahoangler.com
Social: facebook.com/IdahoAngler
Location: 1682 Vista Avenue  Boise, ID

3. Bonefish on the Brain
Dear Bjorn,

At first, I thought you were a little OCD about having a website dedicated to only one species of fish. Especially a fish living in waters far from your home address. A fish you have only one or maybe a couple of chances per year to go fishing for.

But then I caught one. And I get it now. I really do.

I'm already scheming an escape to catch more.

Sincerely,

Mat

Website: bonefishonthebrain.com

*           *           *

As some of you might have seen on a recent Facebook post, I'm taking a break from Facebook. This US Presidential election thing is bringing out the worse in some people. These are people I consider friends, either in real life or in the online realm. I respect your right to your opinions but the outright negativity, from both left and right, is depressing as f**k. So yeah, I'm done on Facebook until November 8th or 9th or so (besides, Twitter is far more enjoyable than Facebook).

That being said, y'all should get out and vote. No matter what your political leaning is, exercise your right to vote. Canada had a federal election last year and the turnout was downright dismal. Don't be apathetic; apathy is more depressing than the negative shit. Go vote.

This link will not be shared on the ol' Crackbook by yours truly. If anyone wants to share it, it'd be appreciated, but it's not necessary.

Keep it real.

Mat

5 Things I Learned in Belize

Here are five things I learned on my trip to Belize last week:

1. Line speed is extremely important.
I knew line speed was important in the salt before leaving, but rarely gave it a second thought...until I was on a pancake flat with a super-spooky school of cruising bones in a very stiff breeze.

We didn't have very many shots in the first two-thirds of the week, and the few shots I did have were exactly as described: cruising fish, long-ish shots, stiff breeze.

Mark my words, bonefish: it'll be a different game the next time I'm around.

Louis and Kent over at Gink & Gasoline frequently post good stuff on this, e.g.:

2. I like eating seafood far more than I ever imagined.

I caught some snapper on a handline off the back of the boat one night with one of the guides. The kitchen staff cleaned them & dressed them up in beer-batter. I topped them with Marie Sharp's and it was heavenly.

And don't even get me started on snook. We had it one night & it was amazing, but they're just too fun to catch to make a habit of eating them. But man, they are delicious. Commence moral dilemma.

Related note: we had caught a couple snook and the guides wanted to keep them. Our boat kept one, and the other boat kept two. I was sort of ok with this. Then I caught a big snook, which they also wanted to keep. I wasn't ok with this. Dylan suggested a picture of it in the water, as I leaned over the gunnel. This photo op was convenient; I 'dropped' the snook, giving it a little shove into the current to help it along. 

3. There's a place for glass & slower action rods in the salt...

...and that place is short-shots, mangroves and docks. 

I brought my CGR 7/8wt with me to Belize, and it really shined for making short shots under branches & in between roots and dock pilings. 

Whether or not the CGR would have the backbone required to yank a decent-sized snook or baby tarpon out of structure remains to be seen: I didn't hook anything on it. But it reinforces my belief that super-fast action rods are not the cat's ass at all times, as I discovered this summer in Charleston.

Note: I would have gladly blown that rod up on a 20lb baby tarpon & replaced it with another. I consider that the price of admission, and better to blow up a $99 rod than a $450 custom-built glass rod, huh?

For more reinforcement on glass in the salt, check out the backcountry fun Dr. Aaron Adams had with glass here on The Fiberglass Manifesto.

Side note: Some day, possibly soon, or maybe next year, I will be actively searching for an 8'-8'6", 4pc 7/8wt glass rod for light salt duty. I believe it would be epic for reds, specs & bones in certain situations. And I want the reel seat to match my Tibor Backcountry, fyi...

4. I am very emotionally-invested in catching fish.

By day four I was getting bummed out.

The trip was awesome, food was delicious, bunks were comfortable, but I wasn't seeing many fish, and the shots I did have weren't easy by any stretch of the imagination. Frustrated would be an understatement.

Side note: I'll mention Dylan, aka the guy who does this for a living, hadn't hooked anything at this point either, so it wasn't totally my incompetent angling skills at play here. Things were friggin' tough.

Fortunately day five turned things around. If it didn't, Dylan would have woken up to the following on day six:

5. i) Loop knots are my favourite knots.
Simple. Elegant. Effective.

5. ii) My Tibor Backcountry is my favourite reel.
Simple. Elegant. Effective.

The Clear Cure Charlie

Disclaimer #1: I am not a professional fly tyer.
Disclaimer #2: I am not a professional bonefisherman.

Both of the bonefish eats I had on Friday were on this fly pattern I tied up before the trip.

During marathon tying sessions prior to departure, I quickly tired of wrapping both flashabou and v-rib on the hook shank. Enter the Clear Cure Goo (laziness breeds ingenuity, folks).

Using the Clear Cure Goo instead of v-rib probably saved three-quarters of a minute for each tie, and it was fun pretending it was becoming irradiated to give it superhero powers when I blasted it with the ultraviolet light (e.g., the Hulk, Spiderman, Radioactive Man, etc).

An additional bonus to using the CCG is it makes the fly nearly indestructible. Like it had...superhero powers!

Disclaimer #3: Yes, there's a zillion patterns and recipes that are derived from Crazy Charlies (no tail) and Gotchas (with tail). This could be called a Gotcha, because it has a tail. I don't really care what it's called, it seemed to work, so I'm sharing it.

• Hook: Tiemco 811S, size 8
• Thread: Fire Orange, size 6/0
• Eyes: small bead chain
• Tail: 8-12 strands of pearl Crystal Flash, ~1.5x length of hook shank
• Body: 4-5 strands of pearl Flashabou wrapped flat on shank, coated with a fine smear of Clear Cure Goo Brushable & irradiated with UV light
• Wing: clump of white calf tail
• Head: Fire Orange thread

Project Salt

What happens when you combine:

• a love of saltwater fly fishing; 
• a loving girlfriend who shares a love of traveling; 
• a loving girlfriend who shares a disdain for Canadian winters; 
• a hoarding mentality for Aeroplan miles; 
• a new fishing kayak; 
• a job as an independent contractor?

Project Salt* happens.

* - Project Salt because Project F**k This Canadian Winter Bullshit was far too long of a title. But we can initiate #FTCWBS on twitter, if people want...?

Campaign #1 - Belize (mid-September)

Campaign #2 - Florida (November - December)

Campaign #3 - Location X (early 2013)

It will be a journey of learning: new cultures, improving casting, new fly tying patterns, seeing different fish habitats, spotting fish, paddling, eating fish and more (including my lovely gf getting her PADI certification).

And you better believe there will a trip or two to Disney...

I'm so excited I could pee myself. But I won't, because that's just weird.

Screw you, winter!

The quest for the perfect 7wt

I somehow developed an infatuation with seven-weight fly rods this past winter.

Not actually owning a 7wt fly rod didn't prevent this infatuation from forming. That would make sense. As one would expect, logic cannot be allowed to step in the way when it comes to fishing gear. Thus the search for a worthy 7wt began.

Note: I will henceforth refer to it as 7wt Fever.

My research began with targeting smallmouth and was expanded to include Atlantic salmon and then light saltwater angling.

And it was based on this maxim:
Choosing the rod for the size of flies you wish to cast, not the size of fish you wish to catch.

I'll break this down into the various species:

Smallmouth Bass
For smallmouth, my Redington Predator 6wt was great for casting size 4-8 flies, including weighted flies like Clousers and crawfish patterns. But it was severely lacking the backbone necessary for big, wind-resistant deer hair poppers and beefy flies like Barr's Meat Whistle and larger, heavier Clousers. And, while I can easily cast these flies on my 8wt, the fun of 1-3lb smallies is slightly diminished on the  big stick.

And fun is what matters, right?

Enter Doug from Smallmouth Fly Box (with a quote from Tim Holschlag of smallmouthflyangler.com):

If you are going to pick out a favorite rod you have to start with the perfect overall line weight for the species you are after.  The type of water you fish, wind conditions, fly sizes etc. are all factors when choosing a line weight, but many agree that the ideal line weight for smallmouth bass is a 7wt. 

First off, a 7wt is a nice weight to lug around all day, avoiding arm fatigue is always a good thing.  I can toss a large popper as well as a beefy streamer with this weight rod.  If paired with the right line a 7 weight can punch through wind, but if cast correctly it can quietly lay out a bug without a splash.  The 7 weight is the perfect balance between brute force and finesse....and it give you options to toss top water poppers or streamers. 

Smallmouth legend Tim Holschlag had this to say about the 7 weight: 

"What if a person wants to fish different types of water, but can only afford one good rod?  That's simple--get a 7-weight, 9 1/2', medium-stiff, medium-fast action good quality rod.  7-weights may be out of style right now, but they're still the best all-purpose smallmouth rods available.  Over the course of a year, I probably use a 7-weight more than any other type of rod." 

I agree with Tim completely, but I tend to deviate from his recommendation for medium-stiff and medium-fast action rods.  Who am I to contradict Tim Holschlag, a guy that fishes more in one year than I have fished in my lifetime.  Good thing all of this is personal preference! 

So mark one up for 7wt Fever for smallies.

Note - As mentioned in numerous previous posts, my go-to bass rig is now the Cabela's 7/8wt CGR, perfectly paired with Sage's 230gr Performance Bass (Bluegill) line spooled on a Hardy Ultralite 7000DD reel. If I do say so myself, it is the best combination of rod-reel-line I have ever pieced together. And it does support 7wt Fever, as it is officially listed as a 7/8-weight.

Atlantic salmon
Ask any number of New Brunswick fly anglers what rod weight to use for Atlantic salmon and the majority will swear up and down you need an eight or nine weight fly rod.

But applying my rod-for-fly-size maxim above, I decided an 8wt might be too much rod, and a 9wt could definitely be considered overkill* - especially with the cast-cast-step-cast-cast-step methodology used for fishing salmon pools. It's a lot of damn casting.

* - Two contrasting points here: One, the Main Southwest Miramichi is a big river, and the wind can definitely howl. So an 8wt could definitely be beneficial in those situations. Conversely, the typical salmon angler on the Miramichi is almost as old as the river itself, so one would think they would appreciate casting a lighter rod. Just something else to think about.

The fly-size factor was a non-issue: no Atlantic salmon fly is as heavy nor as wind-resistant as a smallmouth fly. For one, current New Brunswick salmon fishing regulations do not permit weighted flies. And the biggest salmon bomber is nowhere near the size of a deer hair popper.

Salmon flies, for the majority of patterns, can be easily cast with rods as light as 5wt.

As for fighting and landing the fish, the rod weight, should be a non-issue. Though a number of 15-20lb salmon are caught each week during the fishing season (except, of course, by me), the majority of salmon hooked are in fact 3-7lb juveniles called grilse.

And that doesn't take into consideration the conventional thinking for leader/tippet test used on the Miramichi is 8lb test, quite often used as a straight piece of 8lb-Maxima tied to the fly line (only us "fancy city boys" or "know-nuthin' youngsters" would ever use a knotless tapered leader...).

So I came to an extremely profound observation in my 7wt Fever study:
Eight-pound test is still eight-pound test, no matter what rod weight you are fishing.

Chalk another point for 7wt Fever.

Light Saltwater
The species (sea trout, snook, redfish, baby tarpon, bonefish) included in this portion of the study were more difficult to justify for 7wt Fever. For me, that is.

For one, as much as I love it, I don't saltwater fish enough to call myself a 'saltwater fly angler'....yet*. So I have to pay attention to guys like Austin Orr, Bjorn Stromness, Davin Ebanks, Captain Gordon & others for a lot of their knowledge and opinions.

* - More on this in the near-future. Some of you (Cameron, Dave, Dean, Scotty D, Tara...if you guys actually read this shit) already know what I'm talking about :)

Secondly, the oft-present sea breezes an angler encounters on the flats can definitely warrant the ubiquitous 8wt saltwater rod. As does the heavier, more wind-resistant fly patterns the angler might be throwing at any given time.

That being said, I am of the opinion there are times where a 7wt would be an ideal choice for light saltwater fly fishing. Especially if the angler can cast. Which I can't, sometimes...

I'll give a half-point for 7wt Fever in light saltwater.

*          *          *

As the winter months waned, one, shortly followed by a second, 7wt rod fell off the rack at the shop and into the back of my truck (somehow).

However much I stumble through life trying to use critical thinking and not being susceptible to marketing propaganda, the lack of fishing and extreme cold of winter can really throw a wrench into the works. This is breakdown in sanity is often magnified by my addiction to appreciation of fly fishing gear, and a generous staff discount at the local fly shop.

The first rod was a Loop XACT 907-4. It had a medium-fast action and a really comfortable cork-mix handle. In fact, I think I may have bought the rod solely for the handle. I liked the feel of the handle. I mean, I really liked the feel of the handle. Enough to buy the damn rod without casting it.

But it turns out, I didn't like casting the rod. In my quiver post, I had this to say about the XACT:

I have a little twinge of buyer's remorse over this, as I don't necessarily love the medium-fast action on this rod & sometimes wish I would have went with a TFO TiCr, TiCrX or Axiom. But it is what it is, so I'll cope (for now).

Another minor issue was the stripping guide was of an extremely small diameter. I don't know why, but it bothered me...but it doesn't bother me on the CGR. Go figure.

Needless to say, I didn't end up coping for long, as the shop received an order of TFO's Axioms at the end of March. And the XACT was eventually sold to my uber-friendly British Smallmouth Fishing Client (more on that in a future post).

Once the Axiom came along, it was all over. Comfortable grip. Lightweight. Fast action. Big stripping guides. Heck, even the components matched up with my new Tibor Backcountry. On Instagram, I called the Axiom & Tibor Backcountry combo my "one rig to rule them all."

Matched up with an Airflo Ridgeline freshwater fly line, I felt I could cast this setup until the end of time. Salmon flies, weighted bass flies or deer hair poppers, it didn't matter. It truly was one rig to rule them all.

(Cue happy, running-through-flowery-meadow music...like Ray Stevens's 'Everything is Beautiful')

Until I had to make a shot at a tailing carp, less than thirty feet away.

(Cue 'Everything is Beautiful' suddenly stopping to that record-scratching noise)

Fifteen feet of fly line did not, would not, and could not load the Axiom. It was the only shot at a carp that day.

*          *          *

A few days later I was in the Charleston area on a flats skiff with a new 8wt Airflo saltwater line for the Axiom-Backcountry rig. I figure over-lining the rod would solve the rod-loading problem. I was wrong.

Now, if I was a smart man, I would have spent some time practicing short shots in the days leading up to this fishing trip. But nobody ever said I was a smart man.

I did manage to make some shots as the afternoon progressed. But even with the Axiom over-lined with the 8wt, making short shots was extremely difficult. The rod just didn't load...or, at least I couldn't find the sweet-spot of it loading with so little fly line out of the tip.

Perhaps this wasn't the one rig to rule them all.

Note: I am not absolving myself of the blame. I'll be the first to admit I am not a great caster, and I don't practice my casting enough. Especially short, quick shots typical of sight casting. And that day in particular, this rule was made abundantly clear to me.

*          *          *

The next night I went out for a quick fish with Captain Gordon outside of Morehead City, NC. The fish were not biting, and we each only took a few casts (it was a fun detour to make, and totally worth it, fish or not).

That night I decided to use the Backcountry on my Redington CPX 8wt. My lightsaber. I truly love this rod. It's fast, but not uber-fast like the Axiom. I could feel the line load the road. My casts were going where I wanted them. I felt my casting mojo return slightly.

I hoped the Axiom was jealous.

*          *          * 

Yesterday morning I clicked over to my Google Reader feeds for the first time in almost three weeks. Amongst the 150 unread posts, I discovered this gem written by Davin Ebanks as a guest post on Bjorn's blog.

I read it twice. Lightbulb moment. Especially this part:

Here’s the straight skinny: ultra-fast rods are the worst rods for bonefishing. I say this for both the expensive and inexpensive sticks. If you can’t feel a rod with less than 30 feet of line out the tip, you’ll miss most bonefish. Bonefishing happens between 30-50 feet. That’s pretty close, and they’re usually moving toward you. You have very little time to get the fly out and feed the fish. If you’ve got to make half-dozen false casts just to load the rod, that fish will be inside 30 feet by then and you’re done. Game over. Redo from start. What you really need is a rod that allows you to cast to that sweet spot in 1-2 false casts. You should not be struggling to feel the rod, and you should be able to accurately present the fly inside 30 feet.

That's a decent summation of what happened in Charleston, except I didn't make a half-dozen false casts. I just tried to force the line. And failed miserably.

Davin's post definitely shed new light into my quest for the perfect 7wt.

*          *          *

But it's a quest that is now on hold.

I'm in one of those "be happy with what I have" states of mind. The CGR is my go-to bass rig, which I love casting & fighting fish on. I have the Airflo 7wt freshwater lines for the Axiom once I make my return to Atlantic salmon fishing next year. The CPX 8wt and the Backcountry pair up nicely, which will be my go-to rod in Belize next month.

So I guess my case of 7wt Fever has subsided....for now. There is a Redington CPX 7wt back at the shop, after all...

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Is it too early?

Good stuff found trolling around on the Costa website.

I know I have almost an entire fishing season at home to look forward to before I set off on this trip, but I'm already getting excited. Belize is gonna be friggin' awesome.

I've already gotten into tying some patterns for tarpon. I figure if I do 6-8 flies for tarpon, bones & permit per week between now & the trip, I'll have 'er beat & pretty much be set for life.

Tarpon Bunnies are the easiest pattern of life to tie, so I will have my quota of those tied up by next week before moving onto some Whistlers, Cockroaches, Seaducers, and whatever else people might recommend to me.

*********

Some technical updates: Instagram for Android came out! As such, my tumblr page, The Angler's Android & iPod, has now become shortened to The Angler's Android.

Lots of random pics of gear coming through the fly shop's doors, flies & other odds & ends are being posted to the tumblr page via Instagram, so check it out if you're so inclined.

********

I haven't really put much thought into if/where I'll be fishing on opening day on April 15th.  had thought I'd be away for work for most of April, including the first week or two of the season, but that hasn't happened yet.

Last year, the first two weeks were fairly unproductive, with rivers blown out due to spring runoff. This year: who knows? That stretch of insane 25°C temperatures for a week in mid-March took care of snowpack, and rivers are already subsiding from flood stage; by next Sunday, they could be quite clear & wadable. 

Sea-run trout were being caught in the Nashwaak during the first week of the season of 2010 due to low runoff, perhaps we'll have a repeat of that.

Here's some music:

On vacation

Time/Date: 2045, 06-Nov-11

Location: soon to be elsewhere...

My field season is done, and my beautiful girlfriend & I are going to a friend's wedding down south for a week.

It's been a long (LONG!) field season, but its provided me with a lot of opportunities to travel & fish (and make a little bit of money). But now I'm on the shelf until after New Years', so I'm looking forward to being around home for two months.

(Not including the trip tomorrow and that trip to Guatemala for sailfish in December)

But yeah. Excited to be at home for a bit!

(BTW, not taking my laptop on this trip)

********

I did some tying for the trip, because this won't be a week-long, lay on the beach trip for me. I've never done an all-inclusive when I was in my booze-swilling prime (that ended in 2010) and I'm not a lay on the beach person (I get fidgety after 20 minutes), so there might be some fly rod wanderings taking place.

Gotchas!

I'll be back in 9-10 days...hopefully with some additions to my Species Journal to share.

Here's the new track from the Black Keys. Enjoy.