Chubb Montague

I am not sure how close the placement of these wraps are to original, but I had to cover notches that someone had actually carved into the bamboo to mark wrap placements.
I guess I should be grateful that they had not varnished those red and blue wraps so cleanup was not bad. I took a bit of a leap on the red and black combination, but I really like the way it looked on this light bamboo - I am assuming Calcutta Cane. Those intermediate wraps were a bitch, I fully understand why many charge a dollar a wrap for each one. Luckily the vintage Champion thread I used wrapped wonderfully and I was pretty proficient after the first section. It is fortuitous because my next project is to finish a vintage 9 1/2 foot Montague Fishkill. If no other paying jobs show up, look for those pictures next.

Flies instead of Fising

I was going to get a late start and it is a 2 hour drive to fish for trout so I decided to finish a rod repair and tie some flies for my next Arrivaca trip (but only if it rains and brings up the water level). The brown Crystal Bugger on the left is what worked and has worked all year on the lake. The red foam fly is for the red dragonflies the bass were lunging for last week and in years past. The blue foam is for the damsel flies that have drawn up bluegills in the past. You gotta love the foam you can buy at Michael's for 89 cents, you get a ton of flies for less than the specialized foam bodies you buy at fly supply houses (sorry Eric). I hope the wings work and are easy to cast. If it doesn't rain this week, I will go to Grant's Creek next week.

ARRIVACA 10-19-2011

Still pretty warm for October, so the topwater action is probably happening later. The lake was pretty far down, I had a hell of a time finding enough water to float me in the ramp area. The water is a rich pea green. I had visions of topwater action and started with a chartreause foam hopper that did nothing even with I found a couple working on top. It seems the fish were chasing the reddish/brown dragonflys so I went with a color match - a root-beer crystal bugger. My second cast to disappating rings resulted in a healthy 15 inch bass. I caught a couple while swimming the bugger (I was using a floating line) but all others came when I targeted a fish that slashed on top. All in the shade, all in shallow water near the shore. I may have been able to dredge some up with sink tip, but the hydrilla is just too thick to work through. I would normally have stayed until dark, but I didn't relish the idea of fighting through the mud in the dark. The majority of my fish here this year have been on crystal buggers, bluegills have been in short supply. I may come back, but only if we get some rain.

Yellowstone 2011, The West Side

My last 3 nights were spent in West Yellowstone. I would have preferred to stay at the Old Faithful Inn (pictured on the left) but waited too long to make reservations. BUT, I am set for next year. I spent an afternoon on the Gallatin which has always been good for nymphing at this time of year and now and then some dries. I have brought some nice ones up on dries, but the hypnotic repetition of driting a Serendipity was too tempting. A Peeking Caddis did okay, but there seems to be something about that little tuft of white Zelon. Got my first Whitefish and 3 nice Rainbows. I left just as some rain clouds were rolling in. I didn't return because of construction on the highway - I'd rather fish for smaller fish than sit in my car reading the fishing regs. I've been coming to Park long enough to forget about how amazing this area really is. I made time to take a couple of shots of the thermals in the Black Sand Basin and made my traditional hands & knee approach to a feeder of the Firehole. I won't divulge the spot, but the locals all know - I was told about it by a Park employee back in the early 90's and if I am careful, I will take some bigger fish from here. This year I took a 13" Brown followed by 14 & 15" Rainbows. There is something about a good rainbow jumping in a small stream like this that reminds me to never pass up the feeder streams. Even though there was a very nice BWO hatch coming off, the fish all slammed a White Miller Soft Caddis. I had been reading about this Caddis activity and tied up about 5 before he trip. I lost all these fishing on the Firehole thanks to the weed clumps. I tied up a reasonable facsimile in the room even though I didn't have the proper dubbing or any Partridge feathers - anything close worked well. A couple of the guides at Blue Ribbon suggested trying the Sentinel Creek area - that small stream was good, but when the fish started slashing around the Ojo

Caliente area, I was ready and armed with the right fly. The fish weren't as large in this stretch, but they made up for it in numbers and enthusiasm. I would see some of the smaller fish jumping out of the water after the caddis, but a conventional or X2 caddis would be ignored most of the time. On the last day in the Fountain Flats area, I caught a few with a traditional green bodied soft hackle (green wire body), but they definitely preferred the White Miller. I did get some fish from the Gibbon (headwaters & junction area), saw a very nice brown landed in the confluence area. I also made an obligatory run to the Barns Hole, but it was too warm for many runners yet. My final afternoon on the Firehole was cold, wet & windy and I loved it even though my knots were crappy because of my numb fingers and shrinking hooks (yes, metal hooks shink as they/you age!). My last 2 attempts to travel had been thwarted and this trip was very theraputic. Apologies to all my fishing partners, but it was wonderful to spend some time alone to purge and reflect.

Yellowstone Park, September 2011

The trip finally came off as planned and the only "bad" news was that the weather was too pretty and warm the first 3 days I was there. I enjoyed the drive, a long stretch the first day and arrived early enough on Saturday to fish that afternoon. As usual, I spent the first 4 nights in Mammoth in the cabins. The word was that the hatches weren't really on yet, most people were fishing terrestrials. Soda Butte was packed as usual so I waited until 4 or so before hitting the river proper. Most of the rising fish I found were in the glides . . . and luckily I had read that small brown spinners were working. My first evening I landed 3 typical fall Cuts/Cutbows and missed several in the low light. The confluence pool of the Lamar & SB was not as deep as in years past, but I my second morning I took a couple by running a Green Drake emerger through some faster pools on the Lamar.
I made a point of hitting the smaller streams in the area where parking was plentiful and the pools were open. I always make a trip to Blacktail Deer Creek to play with the Brookies. A parachute Adams/Cinnamon Ant was

Good for all the Brookies, as long as I could see it. I also fished Slough Creek for the first time in years and once again found them in the slower glides. When I timed the rise, a brown spinner (Mahogany Brown dubbing, moose mane tail and white/grey zelon wings) worked again. There was one nice (16-17") rainbow that refused the spinner and after positioning, fighting the wind and timing, took with a #16 cinnamon foam ant. Very satisfying and I had to tie up some more spinners in my cabin at night to replace some lost flies. I had fun on Lava Creek & Tower Creek was great. On my last evening on SB, I saw some BWO hatching along with a couple of Drakes. Sure enough, the reports after I returned showed the hatches were coming off. Funny, everyone was talking hoppers, but I only had a couple of flashed on them. I'm sure the Drake hatch will change things a bit, but those SB Cutts are much warier than the fish I chased in the 90's. Next time: White Millers SH & the Firehole.

Tying Flies for Yellowstone

I never realized how many flies I had to replace or how many I lost in last year's flood! I'm now into filling in spinners and checking every day to see what is working in the park, from indications I may get to use more terrestrials than I did in the past. This new box is almost full since the picture was taken and I am going to tie a few more BWO Thorax flies. Since I'm driving i will get to take a full tying assortment so I can whip up whatever I need. I went ahead and made reservations for next year already! Okay, next posts should be of the park!

Yellowstone 2011

Well, I hope I don't jinx myself as I did last year (the flood of July 30, 2010), but it looks as if I will be making the drive to Yellowstone this fall. I have a ton of flies to replace - I had all my boxes out and open when the flood hit my house so I lost 90% of my flies but I know which ones to tie up. I have to finish restoring my Granger Favorite, but only have a small repair job besides that. I have the materials, hooks and just need to make the time. I'm re-reading my books on hatches and the area, plus I am getting weekly updates from Blue Ribbon Flies. It promises to be a good year for fishing and I will enjoy the solitude. If the late evening hatches happen, I will be able to stay on the river. I recall ant patterns working so well in 2008, but I doubt that will happen again. Let's hope last night's rain was the only scare we'll get this year.

Bamboo Pack Rod

This is the first time I've run across one of these "Nickle Silver Rods with bamboo spacers" (as described by John Gierach). Some of the sections were delaminated along with having some mean sets. I was able to straighten quite a bit after gluing everything back together, but didn't push the straightening in a couple of areas - I wasn't sure how much the bamboo could take. This was a "trade" job for Bob, a gent I met at a local antique fair - I got a couple of project rods, some parts & tubes in exchange. As always the intermediates were hell, but made the next job (see below) feel like a wrapping breeze. There is an existing rod sleeve, pretty cool to have a rod you can put in your pocket. Bob & I were pleased with the results, I think it will make a neat display rod.

Unknown South Bend Bamboo Rod

Okay, a "work in progress" post. Here's a South Bend (no markings on rod, but the reel seat is stamped) I'm restoring. The gent had been given my name by the folks at Dry Creek, but the phone number was wrong. I happened to catch his post on The Classic Fly Rod Forum. The rod is rough, missing the ferrule & tip top on the tip - the tip also had a pretty severe set.

Found a ferrule, got the tip straightened up. I added a bit of cork putty to fill a couple of divots in the grip and found that the thread was a dark green with orange tipping - at first glance it looked like dark blue & rust. As usual, the cane is several shades lighter. I began wrapping this morning. Stay tuned.


The wraps are done, 2 coats of lacquer. I will put some spar varnish on the wraps and dip this weekend - I would do it tomorrow but we have a gig at Heritage Highlands. Not sure if I should continue my Granger Favorite or knock out another one to post for sale - all those taxes paid and now I have to enteratain the in-laws the next 2 weeks.

Things turned out nicely and the colors were muted by the varnish. I'm going to rotate the female ferrule on the mid for Bob as it angles just a bit. Time to complete the Granger Favorite.

The Mystery of the Montague Flash

I wish I had the full story on this rod. I bought it in a group with a Wright & McGill Waterseal and 2 tubes. My main desire was the tubes, nice burgandy with gold trim aluminum. The Waterseal was a combo rod and the pictures of this rod were fuzzy, but I could see the paper band on the grip. I honestly doubt this rod was ever fished but I assume it was crushed at some time. The stripping guide was bent, someone had glued a separation in the butt section and wrapped with heavy thread. Inexplicably every male ferrule has a crack - the bane of Montague ferrules, but there are no scratches on the reel seat and the decal is pristine. All I did was bend the stripper back into shape, re-wrap it with vintage Gudebrod Champion nylon thread and dip the butt from the wrap above the decal. The rod casts well, I am fairly certain it would stand up well if fished, but think it should be displayed - it is as clean and straight as any vintage bamboo rod I had have ever seen. I'll probably post it on eBay later today, I don't think any of the collectors on the Classic Fly Rod Forum would have any interest in it.

South Bend 323 8.5' HDH

It's been almost 1 year (July 30) that my house was flooded. Ironically, the only rod that was totally ruined was an HEH version of this same model. This one was in a PVC tube that was used for shipping, water had crept in, soaked the sleeve and after months in storage, smelled like a bloated carp that had spend a week in the sun. Every section had de-laminated, but luckily the wraps held so I was able to reglue everything. I lost the decals, the bottom knob on the reel seat was corroded, but I was able to take it apart, clean and oil it so it does work. I was pretty pleased with the look of the cane considering that I was worried all the power fibers had wasted away. I don't think I will ever be able to sell this so it will be part of the 10 rods I will eventually keep. It does cast a 6 wt Sylk line nicely - it will serve as a reminder of living through adversity.

Arrivaca May 25, 2011

Not the best shot in the world, but I only had my phone since I was using my daughter's truck. I could have taken a shot on the lake, but I envision the phone slipping out of my hand and slipping into the murky waters. Funny, the water seems murkier - I distinctly remember being able to see fish on the nests in years past - but I am sure that is just a flawed memory. It was before the big fish kill years ago. Anyway, the fish seem happy enough - I didn't arrive until 2. I saw few fish working on top, but neither foam hoppers nor deer hair frogs did any good. Around 5 I finally relented and tied on a chartreause crystal bugger on my 6 wt with the sink tip and hooked a very healthy 21" bass. It jumped twice, but luckily was well hooked. Working back I landed a nice sunfish, lost the fly and my root-beer crystal bugger took one out from some overhanging branches. This bass was "only" 18", but just as healthy. One more bluegill and I was off the water around 6:45 BUT I could hear fish working on top in the distance. I won't have a chance for topwater action unless I break down and go on a weekend. It will probably be busy here this weekend since I heard that Parker Canyon is closed.

H-I Governor, ready to fish

Okay, I was in a hurry and I had 3 jobs piled up but I still should have taken a "before" shot of this rod. A nice little H-I Governor, 8 1/2 foot, 3 piece with 2 good tips. It was in very bad shape, in fact I had to replace every guide as they pretty much rusted away. I see plenty of 9 footers in this model. It was nice to bring this one back, the maroon wraps popped nicely on the lighter colored cane.

Montague Ausable, H-I Pocono Restored

A couple of rods I recently finished. I found the Pocono in an Antique Mall, a 7.5 footer with a single short tip. The reel seat is red, I swear it's a Montegue, identical to one on a Flash (as well as the Ausable pictured) that I have and I've only seen these rods with black reel seats. The tip was horribly scarfed, but the glue was not to be undone. Unbelieveably, it still casts well - a very thin taper that will throw a 3 WF, but seems to prefer a 4 DT. I went ahead and used red wraps and added guides (matched an Orvis Battenkill pattern). I was going to trade this to a buddy, but he has health issues right now. I can't wait to try it on a small stream and will probably sell it at the next club swap meet.

The Ausable was in terrible shape, with horrendous sets. I switched cameras so "before" pictures are evident. As you can see, I replaced the first 2 cork rings, and I went with red thread instead of the red/yellow combination. This rod only had 2 guides per section, I redid it with 3. Oh, the tip was delaminated so I reglued that. My intent is to sell it as a display, but it casts surprisingly well. I don't doubt it would fish just fine. I'm not sure if I will post on eBay or wait for the swap meet.

My current project is a South Bend 323 that barely survived my flood. Then I will redo my 9 foot Granger - unknown model but a 9053 taper that I will wrap as a Favorite.

Arrivaca, Southern Arizona - April 2011

Okay, I will post now that the action has cooled slightly. I made 3 trips over the last 2 weeks to my favorite bass lake. In reviewing my past journal entries I saw that there were definite windows where action was hot. I figured it was still early for any topwater. I was surprised by how high the lake is despite the dry winter. My first trip yielded 4 bass after 1 pm, the largest 16" but very healthy. I used a sink tip line, casting tight to the shore and stripping back immediately. I christned my Phillipson 9' Power Pakt rod - it did well with the bass taper line, but a full day of casting did the cork grip no favors. I got it out of my system and went to plastic for the next 2 trips. Oh, I did get one on topwater - a brown Baby-doll cast deep into a mess of tree branches where one was noodling. The second trip was epic. Went with my buddy Rod who had been a week earlier also. We caught several in the morning up to 18", but killed in the late afternoon. Rod was using smaller flies, 12-14 Prince nymphs and the like, I had continued luck with the crystal buggers (black plastic bead-chain eyes) pictured above. Chartreuse/black the first day, the brown was magic the second day. Working the shoreline in the afternoon, we'd cast to any shadowed area (rocky areas produced best). An intermediate sinking line did better than the sink tip. I scored 3 over 20" and most were very fat & healthy. We also caught a couple of chunky bluegills (10-12"!). The just seemed to migrate to the shorelines as the sun was setting. There was a stretch where every second cast yielded a fish. I was borrowing Rods plastic 8 weight (some Sage RP-something and it took me longer to working in the larger fish as I didn't know if it would explode) - I have to admit it cast well and let me punch my casts out quickly. I also didn't experience "Popeye arm" at the end of the day. My trip this week was more consistent throughout the day, a larger range in size (10 to 18") but no spurt at the end of the day. Color changes seemed to be in order - chartreuse then olive then brown and back to olive. I only got into bass once last year and they seem much healthier this year. I could tell the plant growth was coming up, I pulled in clusters several times where I was weed free last week. I did see a little top water activity. It will be a couple of weeks before I have a chance to return, but I'm hoping I'll find them on top or chasing the fry in the shallows then.

Thin Water & Trout in Southern Arizona

I am amazed whenever I found trout in my part of the world, moreso when they are not stockers. But, these tough little fish don't have much longer (look at the 3rd photo) if we don't get some rain in Southern Arizona soon. I'm told the water was higher in just the past week and I could see evidence where the rocks had been underwater very recently. These were smaller fish (with one notable exception) in very clear water. They were tough to sneak up on (I forgot my knee pads) and the casts had to be pinpoint but it was well worth the drive - a little more than 2 hours from my front door. I started with a 2 piece Heddon 8' bamboo (equivilent to a model 20 or higher) that I will restore soon, but it was too long for the tight spots. Things really started singing when I strung up my Orvis 7 1/2' Impregnated Bamboo. I did best with dries, a size 16 X-Caddis did the best, but I missed several takes on a Royal Trude - just love those old-school patterns. I took one from the last fishable pool upstream (pic #1) and ended the day with a surprise fish close to picnic tables - I was so surprised I got my camera wet while struggling with the fish and it broke me off while I debated a beach shot. Perfectly fitting, that fish deserved anonimity I pray some of the showers I hit on the way home made it up to the peaks and refilled the banks. A perfect tonic to take my mind off taxes.

Christening the Heddon President & Granger Victory

I forgot to take the camera on my short hike to Rose Canyon Lake, so I took these rod shots when I got back to the vehicle. I have been working on a couple of restoration jobs and slowly replacing the flies I lost in the flood - the urge was too strong to resist a trip up the mountain before the gates to the lake open. A cool sunny day on the moutain, a bit of a breeze, but never enough to force me off the water. I bought the W&M Victory (8642) last year, the President the year before, but had not fished with them. Time to remedy that problem. I started with a Hare's Ear, then a PTN, but finally (around noon) started hooking small Browns when I tied on a PTN soft hackle with a clear glass bead. I hooked about 10, landed 5, all around 6-8". As I understand, these browns were stocked as fingerlings and they were a bit larger on average than last year. It is so nice to get something besides a stocked rainbow up here. I've got a Heddon Bill Stanley's favorite and HI Governor coming out of the drying cabinet this week, I will try to post the pictures next week. A couple more in the production line before I get to work on some of mine. More later!