Fish Selfie

As I was cleaning out some of my memory cards and viewing footage and pictures before deleting them. (I have quite a few memory cards for my cameras.) I came across a video that is short and sweet. I was attempting to take a selfie, but I clearly did not change the settings on my camera and I took this video. =)

Need some motivation

The start of a new job, adjusting to a new schedule, learning new things, and trying to remember all of it....exhausting! I've been nothing but a bum, when I get home from work.

When I'm at work I stare at my Yeti rambler and think about all of those smallmouth bass that are just waiting to say hi. Then I get home, and I cannot wait to say goodnight.

Winter, you're winning.

Carf Outdoors Decals

What do you think?

I think it's pretty awesome!!!!

Ryan of Dead Weight Fly created me this awesome logo of a smallmouth bass chasing a baitfish fly. If you are not familiar with his work, you should definitely take a minute to peruse his site. Your eyes will not be disappointed. He is incredibly talented! Check out his metal sculptures - one word - RIDICULOUS!

I ordered some stickers with my new logo design on them, and I just received an email that they will be shipped out tomorrow. If you're interested in purchasing a sticker please shoot me an email at - carfoutdoors@gmail.com. 

I will also, be having a holiday giveaway that will include some flies and a few decals, so, be on the look out for that post!

Stankx Bait Company

Here are the baits I used from Stankx Bait Company this year.

These tubes were irresistible to the smallies in the rivers up in the North Woods of Wisconsin. Hands down the best tubes you can get. Not one of the tubes in the package had an uncut skirt. Kudos for that! I will definitely be ordering more of these bad boys!

The "Mud Bugz" - I to use this as a trailer on my skirted jigs. I caught some tank largemouth bass utilizing this trailer. The color pattern is one of their custom colors - Gobi Wan. Being a star wars fan, I just had to go with it. (Sad to not see product not on their website anymore.)

POICHES

MIDNIGHT CHROME

RAD GILL

The NXT LVL Swimz - these were new to me this year, and they were a fish favorite. I would rig these up with either a weightless offset hook, or a weighted one to get deeper and farther. This became one of my go to search baits when I was out with my traditional gear. The bass loved these! I even caught a few pike on them, as well. The colors on these really pop, and grab your attention.

.40 Caliber Stix in Aurora

I didn't get to use these, because, of all of the success I had with all of the other baits, and my fly gear. However, I did give a few to my friends, and they were thoroughly impressed with how slow this bait fell when rigged wacky. I'm looking forward to giving these a shot next year. I was never really good with the wacky rig technique, but that's one of my goals next summer.

All in all, I must say, that Stankx Bait Company creates some high quality plastics. There is a definitive difference, and once you get your hands on one of their products, you will immediately feel it. While I do favor and prefer fishing with my fly rod, I do still use my baitcaster and spinning rod from time to time, but I don't have as much tackle as I used to 7 or 8 years ago. I gave all of my other plastics and some lures away, because, I didn't need them, and they were just taking up space. Once I run out of my current supply of plastics, I'll definitely be ordering from Stankx Bait Company.

**Note - I have no ties or have received anything free for writing this review. I am just simply letting you know my opinion. I'm all for supporting the smaller companies who make a high quality product.

***All photos were taken from the Stankx Bait Company website.***

Vedavoo Torchbearer Elites

I'm a huge fan of Vedavoo products and what they stand for! I probably wear a Vedavoo t-shirt 5 out of 7 days a week. I have quite a few Vedavoo products that I have yet to write a review for, but look for those in the coming weeks. (Hip pack, Leader Wallet, Bench Basin, and a recycled wallet.)

Recently, they came out with an online magazine, and I think you should definitely check it out - Vedavoo Torch. There's some pretty cool stuff in there. You will also, find my picture on page 25 under the Vedavoo Torchbearer Elites. Pretty awesome to have been recognized as an Elite. I'll try not to let it get to my head. =)

Musky Lures

Found some big 'ole lures!

This first one I will never use, but it it definitely cool. It's a hand made, hand painted, and designed musky lure from the Lake St. Clair Muskie Guides. An ex-girlfriend of mine bought it for me, as a gift. While I will never use this lure, it's still pretty cool, and I am sort of a tackle junkie. 

This top water lure on the hand, I want to use. I bought this at a local Musky Show last year. The only problem I currently have with this lure is, I don't have a rod & reel set up to handle the size. Maybe next year...or maybe it'll just stay a decorative piece.

Musky on my mind, again....

I have been in hot pursuit of landing my first musky this year, so, I took another trip to the Northwoods with my best friend The Fat Gordo.

I was standing on some rocks working a pool, and I heard something thrash on the shoreline behind me under an overhanging tree. My first cast was wide, and didn't stir anything up. My second cast landed under the tree inches away from the shoreline. MONEY. After 2 short strips of the line, my fly was replaced with the head of a musky. After I strip set and felt all of the weight, I yelled out to the Fat Gordo, "I've got a Musky!" 

The fight was short, and as I was stepping off of the rock I was standing on, my fly popped loose, and I watched my unicorn swim away.

I casted back to the same spot to show The Fat Gordo where I hooked up, and as I was telling him about the eat, that same musky came out of nowhere and took a swipe at the back of my fly. We were both in surprised. After more than a few casts into that same general area we moved on. We estimated both estimated that musky to be about 30 inches.

The smallies are my favorite. Every single one I have caught up there has been an absolute brute.

BASS-UKA!

As we waded up river, we came across this area that had a ton of cover with weed mats and lily pads. I worked the outsides of the pads and didn't see any action. Then I turned and looked at the weed mat next to me. I casted past it, and worked my fly back, and as it was about 12 yards in front of me, mass chaos began....

A huge musky shot out from underneath that pad, and engulfed my fly with all of it's rage. A double strip set, and I had a musky on, and it was pissed!! I have never seen more violence in the water from a fish in my life, and I'm not going to lie, my knees shook. I cannot even explain what happened next, but as the fish was thrashing like a manic my line shot back towards me. I dropped a major F bomb. The musky must have caught my line past the leader when it was rolling.

Somewhere in the Northwoods, there's a big 35-40 inch musky with a 6/0 cotton candy looking fly in it's mouth. =(

The Fat Gordo working an area he had a mid 30's musky follow.

Always ready for battle.

Catch & Release

Camp food

Just going over some itinerary with Dave (Urban Assault Fly Fishing) for our upcoming Musky Country trip. Got me thinking about food...

I'm always jealous of the meals that Jeff (High Plains Fly Fisher) has cooked up on his trips. I'm curious what everyone else enjoys cooking out there.

What are some of your favorite campfire grilled meals?

Some chicken I cooked up on a Missouri float trip.

Time is flying!

After reading and entering in The Fiberglass Manifesto's weekend contest, it got me thinking. Wow, time really is flying by. There are quite a things that I had planned in my head to do this summer, but just haven't found the time to do so.

Some of the things that I haven't been able to do this summer, yet.

• I haven't fished or even thought of quite a few of my local lakes.
• Canoe, camp, and fish on the Wisconsin River.
• Camping at Lake Shelbyville.
• Canoe, camp, and fish on the Current River in Missouri.
• Trout fishing in the Driftless Area of Wisconsin.

I set out this year to explore new water, and I have done so. That's the reason I haven't been able to do some of the things I've been so used to doing the past few years. The change in trips has me missing those other places I once fished. Maybe, just maybe, I will find some time to make a day trip to the Driftless area before the season closes.

Love the streams of Southwest Wisconsin.

I guess if I'm in dire need of trip that will bring trout to hand, I can always explore new water in Iowa or Michigan.

Anyone else have some plans that just didn't happen?

I already know that Mark at Northern California Trout is bummed about not being able to make Half Moon Bay State Beach. Hope you're able to make the best of not going, Mark!

Ohio Smallie

While visiting my best friend who lives just outside of Toledo, Ohio, I was able to fished the Maumee River one day for about 45 minutes. The river is huge! The section I fished was wide. It had a mix of deep pools and shallow sections.

I was being a rebel, and did not purchase a fishing license, so, it was going to be a very short outing. I was tossing a black spinnerbait with a Colorado blade. In my short time I was able to hook up with a beautiful smallmouth bass. I hooked up with 2 of the biggest white bass I have ever seen, but I was unable to bring them to hand, and they self released after going airborne. I also, snagged a line that had a live gar the end of it, but I wasn't able to get the line close enough to grab, so, I could help set the fish free. Bummed about that one.

Looking forward to returning out there for an extended trip, and getting a fishing license, so, I'm not looking over my shoulder after every cast.

New Toy

Received some awards points from my employer to use towards a prize/gift/small bonus.

I cannot wait to start using this for my fly tying. I have a lot of foam and balsa wood that needs shaping.

Exciting things are on the horizon at my fly tying desk.

Frogger

In a recent post, I mentioned that I have never caught a bass using a frog lure with my bait caster. I have tried countless times only to come up empty. I am the only person to blame for missing over a billion hook ups with a frog. I just get so damn excited seeing that explosion underneath the frog, I tend to set the hook way too early, and pull it away from the fish.

I finally thought that it was time to put line on my old bait caster once I started seeing the spool show after a long cast. It's been paired up with the same 30 lb test braid that I put on when I bought it...say 8.5 years ago. Not bad, huh!

So, 2 days after I had it relined my reel, I ventured out to my honey hole, because, I really wanted to work on my frog techniques, and I knew that the bass there would cooperate, and help me out. I ended the day going 2 for 12. I can honestly say that 8 of those missed bass were due in part to my drag getting changed in the relining process at Dicks Sporting Goods. I had some monster hook sets, because, the frog was so far out, but failed to hook up, because, my spool just let out line, in turn, letting the bass spit the frog, and get away.

I should also give a shout out to my homie DANK for inspiring me to use a frog lure, again, and give another shout out to my other homie Fat Gordo who told me some key advice when fishing the frog. He said, "When you see the bass hit, just keep telling yourself - "don't f#@king do it! don't f#@king do it!" and just wait until you feel some weight on the other end before setting that hook."

Pre-workout bass fishing - Got this one at 5 AM at sunrise. Missed at first, but came back.

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.

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.

Shhh...it's a secret!!

It's rumored that 80% of the Great Lakes are covered with ice (Heard that from a guy, who heard it from another guy, that knows a guy). So, when Dave from Urban Assault Fly Fishing invite me out to a portion of the 20% that wasn't, I just couldn't say no.

The location was extremely hard to find, and that's all I will say about that. Gotta keep it secret, right!

Can't get enough of that scenery!

When we arrived, there were 2 other fly fishermen out there. Turns out we knew 'em! There was probably a secret to the fishing, too, because, I couldn't hook a thing. I was the only one that didn't accidentally foul hook a smelly gizzard shad...lucky or unlucky...it would have been nice to feel something on the hook end of my line....even if it was stinky.

Can you smell 'em?

None the less, it was just great being out, and shaking the rust and ice off of my cast.

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!

D'oh!!!

So, as I plan and prepare what I will be bringing with me on my trip to the Current River in Southern Missouri. I cannot help but laugh at myself for the bone head mistake I made 2 years ago....I forgot my reel. Yep, I had every but my reel. Fly rod, flies, tools, camping gear, food, etc...all packed. We had just gotten dropped off by our canoe outfitter and started loading the canoe. I was putting my rod together when all I needed was the last peice...I couldn't believe I made such a mistake.

This is how I felt, except, I didn't say "D'oh!"

The trip was great, but my fishing was less than spectacular. I ended up tying on a long piece of tippet to the tip top and fishing tenkara style (Way before I even knew that was an actual way of fishing.)

Don't make the same mistake I made. Create a checklist or double check your gear before you leave.

Do you have any similar stories?

Soon to be favorite?

I revisited Poplar Creek this past weekend, and it turned out to be an even better outing than the first. There were 3 of this time - HH, Danny, and myself. HH and I decided that we should check out another stretch, so, we went to a stretch closer to the Fox with hope of finding bigger fish. I was not a fan of this stretch at all. The water was slow moving, no riffles, very merky, and just frustrating. HH and Danny were using light gear with some inline spinners, and managed to catch a few decent smallies, and 1 largemouth. I had my new 3 wt with me, but I wasn't able to hook up with anything on the first stretch...hence my frustration.

So, we picked up and left. Driving to the stretch HH and I fished last week. We didn't even bother taking our waders off...It was quite comical.

We arrived to the first spot, and were immediatly greeted on our first cast. I hooked up with a bluegill, and HH found a nice smallie. The rest of the day was simply, awesome. HH and Danny were hooking up with some decent sized smallies. All of the smallies that I caught & released were small, and definitly not like the one I caught last week. Although, I wasn't able to find bigger smallies, I was rewarded with 19 small ones. What a day!

I love this creek! It's quickly becoming one of my favorite places to fish.