First of 4

Here is the first of 4 rods I am restoring for a flyfisher who inherited the rods. I made a snap judgement when I first saw the rod due to the wrapping - I generally see this rainbow thread on low quality rods, but this is a very good taper and good bamboo.  The garnet thread blended in very nicely with the ferrules, a very attractive rod once redone.

 

South Bend Bamboo

Here's a basic rod I did for a client.  A entry-level model produced in the last years of bamboo rods.  It was splintered in the middle of the tip section and male ferrule of the tip was missing as well.  I was able to repair but it kept a slight set.  Luckily, it will just be for display.  I'm not sure why the before pictures went to portrait orientation, but you can see the difference.  I have always liked the color of South Bend's flamed (?) cane. 

Good Friday Fishing - Arrivaca

Wanted to make a quick return to Arrivaca, I was bit worried it would be too tough to launch if the water was any lower.  Luckily a channel had been cut by regular boats.  It was a very pleasant day and the period around sunset was gorgeous, no wind (which may have hurt fishing a bit since my finning and casts created the only ripples) but I didn't get the twilight bite from last year.  Still a very good day with a couple of bluegills thrown in.  Root-beer and Olive crystal buggers were the only producers, the fish were fatter than the previous trip.  Hope we get some rain soon.

Southern Arizona Bass on the Move

It is just starting at Arrivaca, but it is starting.  The water is a bit higher, but float tubers may need to launch from the shore instead of the ramp.  The lake picture is near the north shore close to the spillway area.  I didn't arrive until 2:30, but didn't catch my first bass until 5.  Just like last year, a root-beer colored crystal bugger was THE fly.  I was using a six-weight with an intermediate line (I have to confess, I used a plastic vs. a bamboo rod - it feels good to get that off my chest) casting tight to the banks and retrieving.  They are hugging the rocks and shade, but if you see one swirl, cast there as quickly as you can.  This one was a touch over 20", work them in fast once hooked, they love to jump off.

Beating the Groundhog Day Crowds

 The lake near my house is only a 30 minute drive but I wanted to see my little stream during our stretch of warm weather.  Just the perfect flow and I wanted to use my 7 1/2' Rapidan with my newly acquired Heddon Daisy 310.  The rod could so use a couple of more guides, but with Triangle Taper 5 it is perfect here.

 The snowmelt must make the water too cold to bring the fish into the usual pools, and nymphing the deeper runs produced nothing and didn't see a fish until I got to "Big Mel's" place.

This trout is easily spooked and I thought I had done it again when I kicked a rock after spending minutes easing my way down the bank.  The only saving grace was that Mel had risen to eat something at the same time.  I patiently waited about 5 minutes and saw him/her cruising again.  I flipped my Shop Vac in while Mel was facing downstream and lifted slowly.  Just as I wondering if the fly was in the right lane I had a take.  Luckily it was a good hookset and I was able to her in after a few runs under branches & rocks.  Of course my camera ran out of batteries just after this shot, but it's just as well (but I still regret that one butterfly picture).  Easily the largest hybrid I've ever taken here.  



A Winter Visit to Rose Canyon Lake

A beautiful sunny day in Tucson so I was hoping the road and path would be open to the lake. There was snow on the ground and the melt had water flowing in. Browns were stacked up at the inlet, but the shallow water made them very skittish. I wanted to try the 9 foot Granger with the DT6 Sylk line - a bit much of a rod for the small browns, but it came in handy when I moved to the small shoreline on the southwest side. Trout were rising but I caught them all on soft hackles and Zug Bugs. My 8 1/2 foot Heddon #13 just loves a Triangle Taper 5 wt. It's so nice to be able to slip away for some nearby fishing, but I have a hankering for smoked trout so I may try for the Rainbow stockers next.

Montague Fishkill in Progress

An elegant 9.5' rod that was part of a bundled buy. I wasn't able to cast it in its original state, but it is a light rod and I am thinking it will have power and delicacy with a 6 wt. line. The varnish was totally shot and I still have some polishing left to do on the fittings, but I really like the color of the cane. The yellow silk thread should pop when complete. I am about to give the butt a final clean with 0000 steel wool, then the alcohol wipe before I tackle those intermediate wraps. 

 Okay, got in the finished shots.  Really like the way it turned out, an elegant 6-7 wt. rod.  I will probably try to sell at the next OPTU swap meet.

Granger Favorite 9050

Okay, time to return to the confessional. This is one of the first rods I ever received in trade for a restoration job. I was living in Corpus Christi, TX at the time. It was 18-19 years ago (before my youngest was born. I restored a JC Higgins rod (it had heavy sentimental value) and got to keep the Granger. I was just starting out and didn't keep any notes or photos as I do now. I think it was in rough shape and I don't think the name stamp had survived. I used a (now) hideous combination of brown with tan trimming and I couldn't pull off the thin intermediates so they were twice the size. I used the hand-rubbed tung oil (the last time). I now know it is a 9050 by using a caliper on the ferrules, I also know it was made between 1935 and 1938 because the reel seat is marked "Pat. Pend". Luckily I more or less followed the intermediate pattern and I was able to use Michael Sinclair's marvelous book as a guide. The grip is new and I to trim a bit more, but wanted a slightly larger diameter, if I ever sell the rod, I will turn down to original specs. I totally respect these classic rods now and will change wrap colors only on the most generic rods or if I am replicating a sentimental repair job. I implore any of you just starting out, if you have to refinish/restore, stay true to original colors, save the decals/stamps even if only a trace remains. I took the rod to Yellowstone last year and appreciated the power while fishing the Lamar & Soda Butte on windy days. It was blind luck I stumbled into this rod - Grangers and Phillipsons have become my favorites, bar none.

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.