CARF Outdoors

Wednesday, December 27, 2017

WINTER FISHING WITH DANK

During the Christmas weekend, I was back home in Chicago. I had some free time, so, I hit up my homie DANK to see if he wanted to get out and fish. There were a few issues with that...It was freezing cold, I didn't have any of my fishing gear, and I didn't have a car. DANK replied to my text "I got you dude."

We both were just excited to be out casting a line, but our hopes to catch any fish were not very high. I borrowed one of DANK's spin setups and I tied on a small weighted paddle tail minnow. On my 5th cast the rod bent and I was hooked up. A little Larry came out to play, and I was oh so thankful to him. Quick shot, and release.

Stoked!

DANK and I proceeded to catch more than a few fish each, and it made for a excellent morning/afternoon winter fishing session.

Beauty.

If you know the spot, do the right thing and just keep it to yourself. :)

DANK hooked up with some very healthy looking Illinois bass, and it made for an excellent day out there with my homie. Thank you, for picking me up and letting me play with your rod!

Action Shot.

Them IKE's are on point DANK.

Say ahhh

This was without a doubt my last outing in the calendar year that is 2017, and it was a great one. Fish were caught, and I got to hang out with one of my bestest friends. I hope one day he reads my blog :)

DANK with the biggest bass of the day.

MY GEAR

My Camera - http://amzn.to/2hnMwkD

My Favorite Lens - http://amzn.to/2hhdHJS

My Other Favorite Lens - http://amzn.to/2BYop4M

My Sunglasses - http://amzn.to/2Cd3Aj6

My Hoodie - http://amzn.to/2CcbqvF

My Boots - http://amzn.to/2Cc4PPl

**The above links are Amazon Associate links**

Friday, December 22, 2017

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2018

"Ain't that somethin'? She falls down a well, her eyes go cross. She gets kicked by a mule. They go back. I don't know." - Cousin Eddie

What a fun time of year to see all of the creative and fun flies around on social media for all of the Christmas fly tying contests. I've just entered one with my homies at the Fish Porn podcast who recently invited me to be a guest on their show. Check out episode 9 to hear the guys and myself bullshit, tell bad jokes, and drink beer.

My entry for the contest is a mop fly Christmas tree. This is a fun fly to tie. It's super simple and according to +Mel Moore of The Bluegill Bug on Facebook, it's super effective. I could also see trout eating these, because, it sort of resembles a big cased caddis, too.

What do you think??

To all of you out there that read this, I would like to wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas, and I hope you all get some time off of work.

Side note: I posted this with the year 2018 in the title and was called out by the man, the myth, John Sherlock. I will not update the title of this post, I sincerely hope you all have a very Merry Christmas in 2018. :)

MY GEAR

Camera - http://amzn.to/2hnMwkD

Lens - http://amzn.to/2hhdHJS

Scissors - http://amzn.to/2BQdXZX

My Vise - http://amzn.to/2DxaVdu

Mop Fly Material - http://amzn.to/2DyX8TW

Beads - http://amzn.to/2BQeL0V

Bench Basin - http://amzn.to/2BSCHAL

**The above links are Amazon Associate links**

Wednesday, December 20, 2017

THE PINK TUTU

PART ONE

Text from GRANT: Jim and I are heading South. Leaving from BMFS at 6:30.

12 Hours later....

Reply text from ME: I'm in.

The day was looking promising. The weather was fantastic (for winter) and we were the first ones to arrive, and had the waters to ourselves. Grant and I started out chucking streamers, and Jim went with the trusted nymph rig. This was new water for the 3 of us, and I can tell you that it had some extremely fishy runs.

Grant and I both had a handful of bumps, but couldn't get any of the fish to commit. No worries, because, here comes Jim to show us how it's done. Drifting a fly he dubbed The Pink TuTu he hooked up with a nice brown trout. No surprise to any of us. Jim is just one fishy dude.

Jim doing what he does...catch fish.

Buttuh.

Jim's Pink TuTu

We continued to fish with no luck. Jim's brown was still the lone fish on the board, but that was alright with me. It was a pleasure to be out on the water fishing with my homies, and not freezing.

Grant working a streamer dropper rig in one of the many nice runs.

After some time with zero action for all of us, we took to the streets. We were on the hunt for more access points to the river through the old time feel main street in this small Southern Minnesota town.

On the hunt for more river access.

On the way, we came across a pay phone and decided to contact the 1-800-BEATDOWN article that we have all read in The Flyfish Journal hoping that it wasn't only for steelhead fishermen. None of the option really applied to us, so, I think Grant hit the # symbol for phone sex, and to hear that he looked good in his waders, but I'm not entirely sure.