Fishing with Keaton

Keaton and I hit the local pond today to try some fishing.

Success!
And Another!

Two fish in a few casts...not bad.

The fisherman in action.

When the fishing got slow we threw rocks...

When we ran out of rocks we took a hike...

...finally we chased a few dragon flies before heading for home.

Finally the Potting Bench is in it's Final Resting Spot

The yard has been getting alot of work this summer. I have enjoyed it. Here is a picture of the potting bench in its proper place and a few more pics around the yard.

Experimental Tying

Well back at the vise today. I am finding out I have a very unpredictable pattern going. I am not sure if it is good or bad yet but when I sit down to tie a pattern the next time I do it instead of trying to perfect the exact same pattern I just did, I tweak it in a few new ways so I really end up doing a whole new pattern. If I sit down to tie a half dozen of a certain pattern I usually end up with 6 different looking flies all based off the original but with their own little tweak added in. I guess we will see how the fish like them.

All four of these flies started out on the same premise but they all have something I changed on them. The closest one is the last one I did and the one I like the best. I think these will be a pretty good hopper pattern.

Here is the original inspiration for the final product in the previous picture. A hopper pattern called Hopper Juan from another blogger. Here is a link to a tutorial on tying it. Mine don't look as good as his but I really like the pattern, now I need to get out and fish it.

Finally here is my first stab at an articulated streamer. I wanted to get in a little practice as I plan on tying up a few articulated streamers to target big browns on the South Fork of the Snake. This fly is basically just a bunch of maribou wrapped around a couple hooks and a malard flank feather wrapped around at the collar with a bead head. Oh and I threw in a couple rubber legs at the head of the trailing hook. Pretty simple and we will see how it behaves in the water.

Experimenting is fun, now I just need to get down to the lab, aka river, and try them out.

The Trout Lie - Information at Your Fingertips

As I spend the summer patiently waiting for the birth of my newest fishing buddy (can't wait) I have spent a lot more time fishing for good quality information to further my knowledge of fly fishing on the interwebs rather than actually fishing on the water. In lieu of time on the water, which is irreplaceable, there are some good sources of info out there. However there is also a lot of bad or just plain regurgitated info as well. So I thought I would share a site that I feel is absolutely the best especially if you are living and fishing anywhere in the Boise, Idaho area. Say hello to the Trout Lie.

If you are ever thinking of fishing in this area (Southern Idaho, Eastern Oregon) I would suggest that at the very least you visit their site for first hand, in depth fishing reports (no recycled info there) that are updated weekly. If you live and fish in the area they are on top of the strategies and flies that work on our local rivers. If you can spare some change they have a members section that for the price of a low level monthly netflix subscription gets you access to great fly tying video tutorials for very relevant bugs on our waters, tutorials and classes specific to local waters down to the season, video journals, informational articles, and much more. Not to mention 30% off their quality stock of flies available in the online store.

Although much of their articles and tutorials are geared towards our local waters the advice can easily be applied to waters all over the west and most likely beyond. In an Internet world loaded with information it can be tough to sift through the good and the bad so it is nice to find a place with information you can trust and that is useful. It is especially nice that, for me, the resource has a local base. First hand knowledge from those who truly fish the waters they talk about is priceless.

Now it's back to tying some flies and waiting for the catch of the year to arrive!

Something Fun to Follow this Summer

A father/son team is making their way around the US fishing 50 trophy waters in 50 States in 50 days. Pretty cool adventure I would say. Take a look at their website and keep up with their daily adventures by checking out their youtube channel. Good stuff!