One of those days...

Have you ever had one of those days, where it seems nothing wants to go your way?

The Subaru all loaded up for it's first of many trips.

Well, I had one of those on a recent trip to the Northwoods of Wisconsin.

The target species - Musky with a side of smallmouth bass.

I enticed 2 follows from the same musky in the first 20 minutes with a fly I tied, but couldn't get the shiny green beauty to commit. As the day went on, I had another musky follow, and then I was able to get one to commit, but me being over excited about the take, I lost focus and didn't strip set the hook, and went with a hook set I would normally do for bass. I realized the second I lifted my rod. The fight lasted about 3 seconds after that, and then my line went slack. D'oh!

Orange Crush - 8/0 single with an articulated shank.

I was able to hook up with multiple smallies, but just couldn't bring them to hand. I had a 4 +lber smash one of my flies, and then swim behind me, back around, between my legs, back around me, back out, and back through my legs before coming unbuttoned. All of the others came unhooked when they went airborne. After 9 hours of wading we went back to the car to grab some lunch, and I switched to my baitcaster and an inline spinner. New set up - Same story. Hooked up with multiple smallies, but they just didn't want to stay on. It became quite comical.

I know what you're thinking...you use barbless hooks - Correct - But on the flies that I recently tied for this trip, I completely forgot to smash the barbs on them.

Oh, well...there's always next time!

At least my buddy The Fat Gordo was able to hook up with a bunch of those beautiful Northwoods smallies, and I was able to take some pictures of them. 

Flexin'

I love my GoPro camera!

All in all it was a great trip, and it definitely won't be my last. Unfortunately, I will be sending in my rod to Redington for repair. 2 of the pieces came apart while casting and the male ferrule on one of the pieces snapped at the tip. Thank goodness for their warranty.

End of an 10.5 hour wade. - Exhausted.

Step by Step - CARF Crappie

Here's a step by step of how to tie a small but big crappie pattern I've been tying up lately for bass, pike, and possibly musky.

Step One - Self explanatory.

Step Two - Tie in nice size hunk of white craft fur to use as a tail.

Step Three - Silver crystal flash.

Step Four - Black holographic Flashabou.

Step Five - 2 natural grizzly hackle feathers. One on each side.

Step Six - Reverse tie in some black buck tail.

Step Seven - Add more silver crystal flash.

Step Eight - Reverse tie in another small hunk of black buck tail

Step Nine - Tie in some white craft fur. Make 2 wraps and work it around the hook shank with your fingers before making more secure wraps. (I ran out of black thread....Oops!)

Step Ten - Dumbbell eyes towards the front.

Step Eleven - Palmer some silver polar chenille up to the back of the dumbbell eyes.

Step Twelve - Tie in some black Senyo laser dub to make the head.

Step Thirteen - Whip finish.

Step Fourteen - Beer yourself or go fishing....or both at the same damn time!

Material list

1. 5/0 aberdeen hook
2. White craft fur
3. Crystal Flash - Silver
4. Flashabou - Black
5. Natural grizzly hackle feathers
6. Black buck tail
7. Hareline Polar Chenille - Silver
8. 6.3mm dumbbell eyes
9. Hareline Senyo laser dub - Black

Exploring the Northwoods

So, I took a 4 day trip to the Northwoods of Wisconsin with my buddy Fat Gordo. We drove around in search of any water we could find to fish. We fished some rivers, and we fished some lakes...pretty much just stopping when we saw something fishable. I'll let the pictures do the talking. It was a great trip!

The top water bite was on. The smallies were loving the fire tiger Todd's wiggle worm I was tossing.

I love these Northwoods smallies. They all fought way bigger than they were.

An underwater release shot I got of this smallie with his war paint on, all ready for battle, again.

When I'm in Wisconsin, I just cannot pass up picking up a 6 pack or 2 of some of Wisconsin's finest beer. New Glarus Brewing Co. This was my first time having Moon Man, and it did not disappoint.

Lucid Fishing Grips helping me handle the toothy pike. Check out them eyes!

I didn't take a measurement, but this pike is way bigger than my personal best 25" northern pike.

The Fat Gordo hooking up with some chunky smallface bass. 

Replacing the studs on my wading boots, and eating dinner. Turkey and Dorito's sandwich.

The nicest fish I caught all trip. What a freakin' beauty!!!!!! My face doesn't show it, but I am beyond psyched! (I've got a good poker face.) This one took a swim jig with a Stankx Bait Co. mudbugz trailer in the Gobi Wan color pattern. Killer!

Just another shot of the beauty with me holding back my excitement -  I really don't know why I wasn't smiling in those pictures, Haha. I was really pumped up, that's for sure.

Pulling over on the shoulder to cast a frog in some of the best lilly pads I've ever seen while my buddy watched. I went 1 for 2. I got too excited for the 2nd fish and set the hook well before it had it.

3 days of turkey Dorito sandwiches will make you want a whole pizza to yourself.

My favorite shot of the trip.

The smallies up there are something else. They fight they put up is second to none. I absolutely cannot wait to return up there. There's a ridiculous amount of water up there just waiting for me to explore it some more. Big thanks to the fishing gods, we were able to catch a few!

Short visit to the big pond

My second visit to the big pond (Lake Michigan) this year.

Had an appointment to be somewhere at 09:30, so, I decided to leave extra early to beat the morning traffic, and to fish 31st harbor. It's a new harbor that has fishing piers, and was nearby where I was supposed to be.

What a beautiful harbor. I was a huge fan of the fishing piers. I didn't need a long net, because, I was practically on the water. I was the only one there, and that kind of threw me off, because, the lake is a popular place to fish....at the other harbors. I didn't mind though. I rather enjoyed the solitude, because, I really don't know what I'm doing when it comes to Lake Michigan. No one can witness my follies ha

I started out casting a small berkley swim bait on a small jig, then a small shad colored flicker shad. I was able to hook up with a few small smallmouth bass, and a few small rainbow trout.

Then I decided that I wanted to cover more water, and tied on a silver and blue spoon. After a few casts I had a follow from a HUGE brown trout, I twitched the spoon and he was aggressivley swimming toward it every twitch, but just wouldn't commit. After another cast, he followed, again, but just wouldn't commit. The next few casts and he was no where to be found.

Beautiful day out there. Cannot wait to return to the Lake, because, the perch have started moving in, and I love perch fishing in late May early June.

Change of mind

I had all the materials out on the desk ready to tie a bunch of size 14 / 16 flies. Before opening up any of the materials, I stared at my vise for a few moments, and a certain fish that has eluded me crossed my mind.

Musky.

The big hooks in my hook storage were just calling to me it seemed. So, I packed up all of the materials I had already placed neatly on my desk, and begun to pull out some 5/0 hooks, foam, buck tail, flash, and grizzly hackle.

The end result.

This should attract some bass, pike, and hopefully, musky.

This is the year.

An Icy Wade

I went fishing.

Checked out my favorite creek in search of some early season smallies, but the outing didn't last long. Much of the creek was still covered in about 3 inches of ice. I spent 1/3 of my time pretending to be an ice breaker. That stopped when I couldn't break any more ice to wade through, and when I got bored of watching the mini icebergs float down stream. (Also, because, I realized that I probably looked like a clown out there.)

No fish were caught.

No fish were seen.

Went home and took a nap.

Yawn.

Hooks Galore!

I have been very busy at the vise this winter. Here's a bunch of pictures of some of the flies I have been tying.

About 188 B10S's Gamakatsu hooks just waiting for beautification. (I have since used 10 of these hooks.)

Some variations of bait fish I've been tying using...

-Craft fur

-Shimmer Minnow flash

-Grizzly hackle feathers (some patterns)

-Polar Chenille

-Zonker strips

-Laser Dubbing

Rusty Toad

Chicago

Formal

Any interest in purchasing some some of these flies, please feel free to contact me! ---Click Here---

Chi-Tie -- January

FINALLY, I was able to make it downtown Chicago to Galaway Bay (A dive bar), to tie flies, and share a beer or two with some fellow Chicago area fly fishermen at a monthly event deemed CHI-TIE.

On this Monday night of Chi-Tie, Tim of Critical Angling, was demonstrating how to tie a "Scooby Snack" with Orvis Chicago provided us with materials needed to tie this pattern. Tim, was extremely helpful, and provided excellent step-by-step instruction of this pattern. I look forward to fishing this pattern for bass, and possibly carp when winter leaves.

Material list...(If I can remember correctly. I know I am forgetting something....)
1. Hook (I forgot...haha)
2. Dumbbell Eyes
3. Crystal Flash
4. Zonker Strip
5. Barred Marabou
6. Rubber Legs
7. Elk Hair

Fur, feathers, hooks, and beer!

Finished product. Everyone trimmed their Elk Hair differently. This was mine.

Here's a fly I tied after the demonstration for, Dave at Urban Assault Fly Fishing.

A very dapper bass killer.

It was a fun night full of laughs and great conversation. Looking forward to the next one!

Just the beginning...

Over the Summer, I learned that one of the guys at my place of employment just started fly fishing. So, whenever we see each other in the halls (Which is like 2 times a day) we talk about fly fishing...well I talk, and he listens and asks questions.

Well, my enthusiasm and love for the sport of fly fishing and fly tying has rubbed off on him, and over Christmas he purchased his first vise. Got himself a Peak Rotary vise, same as me. I recommend some YouTube videos and even showed him a few things one day.

Just last week he returned a small LL Bean box that I had given him filled with a few flies that I tied. My eyes popped when I opened the box. He had tied some beautiful damsels, and mating damsels (Referred to some as "The Double D"). I was thorouly impressed and told him, but he played it off like it was a simple tie. Sure there are simple ties, but you still have to make them look good, and these looked outstanding!

Share your passions!

I will be sharing all feedback/compliments about his flies with him.

It's safe to say - this is only the beginning of his fly fishing addiction.

Fly Tying Zone!

I am in the fly tying zone, as of late.

Recently, finished a few orders for some flies. Really cool to have someone reach out and offer to buy something that you've created. Even cooler to think that the flies that I tied will end up in some fish faces not from my neck of the woods. These are my first flies using Hareline Dubbin Senyo Laser Dub...excellent material, and super easy to use! I might be addicted to it.

Some clousers and San Juan worms. (The tips have since been burned.)

New patters!

Really cool to see that Clear Cure Goo used one of my flies for their cover picture on Facebook.

Articulated and Sassy!! - Check out those eyes. They say "Bite Me"

Keep your eye on the look out for some great deals. Found this one at Target on one of the end caps. It's too bad there wasn't anymore or other colors. Definitely, a steal! 

These are going to be awesome for panfish, and small creek smallies.

Vise Season

With the cooler temps, and the sun going down at 6 PM. There is not much time for me to get out and fish during the week. This allows me to sit at my desk and tie an abundance of flies that will never get used. Haha. I also have a goal of using up most of the material that I already have, before I purchase some different material, so, I can tie up some new patterns. (Doubt that will happen. I've been itching to get to my local fly shop for some new material.)

If anyone is interested in purchasing any of the flies that I have posted in this post or past posts, please feel free to contact me. =)

Size 2 - Rainbow Trout and Shad with CCG eyes and head.

Size 2 - Large Mouth Bass with CCG eyes and head.

Foam Slider for Pan fish. (Fly Fish Food pattern - Foam Dragon.)

Pink Eggs - Size 8

Learned this pattern at the 2013 Early Show. Unfortunately, I forgot the tiers name. I added heavier dumbbell eyes rather than the chain bead eyes. Swims with the hook point up. Wooley Bugger 2.0?

Gettin' weird! - I was really bored. Haha