Being prepared...Fly-Fishing or at home

As you may have noticed, I'm a big fan of great gear.  I like to try new stuff out, but I appreciate items that are quality, and will last a long time.

Recently, a bad storm hit my house.  When I arrived home to inspect the damage, I found several inches of hail covering the yard and house, and plenty of debris and damage.  I needed to figure out what needed to be done quickly, and I grabbed a flashlight that I had just received to help me see in the darkness.  This light worked perfectly in the wet weather.  It's something that I didn't have to think about when using it...I just expected it to work well, and it did.  One of the nice things about the light is the adjustable hood near the bulb.  You can easily change the beam of the bulb.  It truly is an intense light that reaches quite a distance.  I was lucky, my house can be repaired, but it was a good reminder that you never know when trouble can strike.

The light is called the Logi Flashlight, and I received it from my long time good friend David.  Dave is a dedicated fly-fisher, and also appreciates solid, compact equipment that works.  He recently started a website that specializes in equipment that can be used in preparing your emergency response supplies.  The company is called BETTERCERTSUPPLIES.com, and I would encourage you to check it out.  Being prepared is something that we sometimes forget to do!  At the very least, you can add a flashlight to your fly fishing gear bag like I have.  I can see using this light for a long time.

Check out the site at  http://www.bettercertsupplies.com/

Here is a photo of my light.

Steelhead on a 5 weight rod

I learned to Fly-Fish when I lived in Michigan.  We spent alot of time up on the fabled AuSable and Muskegon river fishing for trout.   I've got great memories of trips to those waters, and we caught a lot of wild trout.

There is a saying in my industry that you are only an expert if you travel 100 miles from your home city...and that phrase was relevant to when I lived in Michigan, since I lived on the banks of a great steelheading river, the St. Joe.  At the time, we were just interested in glorious little trout, and mostly ignored the river right in front of my nose as we drove to the other rivers.  Over the past few years I wonder what I could have caught if I had spent some time on the mighty St. Joe.

Well, I don't have to wonder any more.  One of my long time friends still lives in that area.  Marty has been an avid outdoorsman for years, but only recently became truly obsessed with flyfishing.  I enjoy getting reports from his latest fishing success.  Unlike what I failed to do, Marty is spending a lot of time fishing the Steelhead that swim in the local river.  He sent me a couple of photos from the last few days which make me realized what I missed...but I'm truly glad that he is taking full advantage of the opportunity!  He has quickly developed into a world class fly-fisherman!

Yesterday, Marty landed a 34 inch Steelhead as seen in this photo.  Amazingly, he caught the fish on a 5 weight fiberglass rod!  Marty said that the fish took him into the end of his backing at least twice, but that he finally won the battle and landed the massive trout.

I'm truly impressed, and glad Marty has been fishing those waters.  The next time I head back, I'll make sure I stick a rod in the suitcase!

Big dry flies in the rain

Last week I took a few hours to check out a new section of my favorite local river.  The weather forecast called for rain, so I was able to properly prepare by bringing along some of my Filson foul weather gear.  I'm glad I did, since it poured just about the whole time I was on the stream.  I was fine with that however, since there was no lightning, and the mountains need the moisture.

I tied on a big Cicadia pattern that the folks at St. Pete's sold me, and found that it was of great interest to the drenched trout.   I also had luck with a ABU midge that I used as a dropper from that big dry.

It had been awhile since I fished this river, and I really felt like it was a return home.  I hiked into a stretch that I had not fished before, and really enjoyed the solitude I found. Even though it is the middle of summer, the day felt like a fall day.  The temperature was in the 50's, and the skies were grey and full of rain.  Fall is one of my favorite seasons, but I'm glad there is still plenty of summer left.  Hopefully you are able to hit your favorite stretch of river soon with your favorite dry fly pattern!