Still Playing

I havent been able to devote as much time to married wings as I would like, but here are a couple that I tried. I love the looks of guinnea fouwl, but finding matching pairs in my stash is virtually impossible. The other key thing I'm learning is having quality materials to work with can make the difference. The key factor with that being said is to know what to look for in quality materials. I hope to address this soon, since I'm still learning myself. The heads on these haven't been coated and look a bit rough...next time

A Good Friday It Was

With the unseasonably mild winter and little snowpack/runoff the spawn has started early and I've struggled to break free and get some time on the water. Well Good Friday allowed me to clear to clutter from my head, try out my new vehicle (to ensure it's fish trekking worthy), and get some swing time with two hands. The ride there was perfect since the new ride now has a working stereo and I was able to get my mojo grooving to a stellar version of Trane by Govt Mule 8-19-00 Allen Woodys last show before his untimely death. I had offered to fish with a New Englander new to the Salmon River, but never heard from him. A solo mission it would be.....perfect for mental clensing. As I pulled into the Pineville parking area and was stringing my rod when an older style compact motorhome from New Hampshire pulls in next to me and the driver asks if he can ask a few questions about the river. I said sure....is your name Russell?....a blank stare came across his face and said yes. Sure enough it was the guy and his buddy Lance that I was to meet up with originally. We chatted a bit and I gave them a rough breakdown of the area. They were more nymph drifting oriented and we parted ways with the plan to meet up later. I headed up stream and was fishing the tailout of a pool right before the spooky water. It was cool and crisp, the sun was peaking the tree tops and the swing was perfect when the purple winged Claypool connected with a rod wobbling dropback. Back she went, a bit on the smallish side, but exactly what I needed.

I fished down a bit further then trekked upstream to the meat of the pool. I started swinging Malinda's RBT spey tied on a shank. Before long the rod wobbled in chaos again and a decent surface roll showed the slab of a nice fish and the adrenaline flowed. I got the bright sided hen almost to the bank as I tried to get the camera out....she made a dash upstream and I went around a partially submerged log only to have her swim under an unseen log and the battle turned to panic as I watched the rod tip go under the log. I was certain the tip had broken and I was in recovery mode to salvage the pieces. I set the rod on the bank, said screw the fish and grabbed the line and started a hand retrieve and the fish broke off. Thankfully the fish was the only thing that broke. Rod still intact, I was adrealine doped and realized this is why steelheading is what it is.

Doing Battle with the second fish. I never got to meet back up with Russell and Lance, but they managed to get into a fish or two. We all agree the drift boats are a pain in the ass, especially in low flows (285 cfs).The rest of the day was spectacular but fishless and I appreciate every experience regardless of the outcome.

Russell with a sweet Salmon River Steelie

Mono Ball From Hell

The Claypool

As life would have it not everything has been smooth these past few weeks. It seems that nothing in real life will fit into my mental schedule. The real job is taking its toll on my psyche and things I use to brush away are now the things that aggravate me to no end. These things too shall pass, but I need my outlet. That thing that drives me when all else fails. Family is a huge help, but I often need that one thing that take me where I need to be and recharge. I tyed these flies back in the fall of 2011 to show a new influence, Les Claypool, my way of saying "thank you". I held off on showing many people, I guess waiting for a rainy day. That day is here. Les Claypool is a musician/artist and fly fisherman. His style of music is his own and he takes no prisoners as he beats is bass guitar into submission. Dancing on the edge of bizarro at times, Les and his current band Primus are out promoting their new album Green Naugahyde. They will be making their stop in Syracuse, NY on May 20, 2012. Les if you are out there, there are a few fly fisherman in the Upstate, NY area that want to take you fishing.
The flies influences come from Les's welder style glasses, a funky hat, a touch of green naugahyde, some purple onion, stubble of a goatee, and the passion for doing what you love. We salute you by chanting along with your legions of fans....Primus sucks!

Quill Wings

I have for some time now wanted to learn to tie quill wing flies.....e erything from upright wings on dries, to traditional wet flies, and spey style wings. There many ways and styles to set them and marry them. This should prove to be a learning process and a laughing process. More to come soon......just a couple that I've attempted recently

Putting Pen To Paper

I've been doing a fair amoint of writing lately. It seems to come and go in spurts for me. Subject matter varries for me and a lot of stuff lately is more personal experience rather than technical. For me reading magazine articles from the latest issue of Blah Blah Angler is almost painful. The majority of fly fishing / tying magazines are just full of pointless, emotionless dribble. If I read one more article about fishing this location, from this resort, this fly shop, this fly, I may pass out from bordem. If you are writing articles for a leading publication please make it interesting, and tell me a story. I am a reader wanting entertainment, not a high school English teacher looking to see if you followed all the guidelines in order to graduate. Don't sell me on a fishing trip, your magazine has plenty of advertising already. Then on to photography. I love beautiful images of flies stuck in a fishes maw, hero shots, clear fly photographs, and the like, but I swear there are only two photographers allowed to publish photos in the slew of magazines out there. Good for them, but I can recognize your photos a mile away. Show me something artistic and full of content that shares your passion with me. Hatches magazine typically does this and I feel honored that they find most my articles worthy of their online magazine. I write because I enjoy it and I'm not selling you on anything but experiences. Yes I plug products here and there because I believe in them. This industry is built on a passion, forget the publishers full of fluff in business to be in business.....go grass roots and show those who have the heart, to keep at it. Remeber this, I write to put pen to paper, not because I have to, but because I enjoy it. I'm attaching a link to some of my articles in Hatches.....read and enjoy them when you have time.


http://hatchesmagazine.com/blogs/Hatches/tag/vern-o/?utm_source=FTFEmail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=3-1