Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Crazy Cold
There was a high of 8 today and it was around -28 last night. A damn crazy fool called yesterday wanting to know about the happenings around Raynold's Pass. I told hime that -30 night temps were a bit porhibitive to quality fishing experiences. He said he didn't mind the cold! I thouhg to myself that's nice but you may run into a bit of slush ice and a bit of ice on the old guides. Oh well, I've been there and I suppose that there are worst things to be doing on a Wednesday in December than fishing the Madison...even if it is well below freezing!
Monday, December 05, 2005
Magazine Cover Photos
One of my pet peeves is that of giant "Montana" trout on magazine covers. Now don't get me wrong, we do have some huge fish but the size of the ones on magazine covers are often rare or once in a lifetime. The new American Angler cover shows one of these giant monsters.
Here's the skinny. If you see one of these pictures by Denver Bryan, chances are that they are from a small pond near Big Sky that is fed by a small spring creek. This same spring creek was the topic of a Fly Fishing America show several years ago. The creek was closed for the season and the guide was rightfully harrassed by Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks. Anyway, the owners feed these fish and that's why they grow so large. Sometimes the credit will be to the Gallatin River because the dam to the pond is just on the other side of the river, so they will get the fish from the pond and take it over to the Gallatin for a photo. There are a few of these escapees in the Gallatin, but they are hardly wild fighting fish! Anyway, take note of those photos and who and where they are credited.
Myself or someone I know will usually get a fish or two each year that will go 23-24 inches. There is always a few fish taken each year between 25-30 inches but these are rare in the wild fisheries. They are there and to be tresured when found, not put on the covers of magazines giving the impression that these are the norms!
Here's the skinny. If you see one of these pictures by Denver Bryan, chances are that they are from a small pond near Big Sky that is fed by a small spring creek. This same spring creek was the topic of a Fly Fishing America show several years ago. The creek was closed for the season and the guide was rightfully harrassed by Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks. Anyway, the owners feed these fish and that's why they grow so large. Sometimes the credit will be to the Gallatin River because the dam to the pond is just on the other side of the river, so they will get the fish from the pond and take it over to the Gallatin for a photo. There are a few of these escapees in the Gallatin, but they are hardly wild fighting fish! Anyway, take note of those photos and who and where they are credited.
Myself or someone I know will usually get a fish or two each year that will go 23-24 inches. There is always a few fish taken each year between 25-30 inches but these are rare in the wild fisheries. They are there and to be tresured when found, not put on the covers of magazines giving the impression that these are the norms!
Sunday, December 04, 2005
Organization Day
Ever wonder what a fishing guides' boat bag looks like at the end of the year! I'm not speaking for all guides as I know that some of them spend hours every night reorganizing their tackle bag, cleaning lines, hosing out the boat, cleaning the rig and so on. I'm usually on the water pretty early and stay on until near dark...thus I don't have a lot of free time to take care of this. So, I spend some time here and there just keeping everything manageable.
I took the time today to do the big bag clean while watching my Cowboys get spanked. By halftime, I had most of the loose flies free of tippet and sorted into useable and trash piles. By the end of the game, I had the flies sorted by type into compartnebts of a giant box and all the odds and end like tippet, leaders, indicators, etc. stuffed back into one central compartment. I have another half a day of work to complete the process. I wonder how many flies I actually have? When folks ask whihc tippet I use, I usually show them the one that is handiest (as long as it's fluorocarbon). I really like all the fluorocarbons that are out there today with Mirage, Fluoroflex, and Dounble X being my prefferred brands. I can always tell the season is nearing an end when I'm using Dai-Riki or Frog Hair!
I took the time today to do the big bag clean while watching my Cowboys get spanked. By halftime, I had most of the loose flies free of tippet and sorted into useable and trash piles. By the end of the game, I had the flies sorted by type into compartnebts of a giant box and all the odds and end like tippet, leaders, indicators, etc. stuffed back into one central compartment. I have another half a day of work to complete the process. I wonder how many flies I actually have? When folks ask whihc tippet I use, I usually show them the one that is handiest (as long as it's fluorocarbon). I really like all the fluorocarbons that are out there today with Mirage, Fluoroflex, and Dounble X being my prefferred brands. I can always tell the season is nearing an end when I'm using Dai-Riki or Frog Hair!
Friday, December 02, 2005
Another Icy day
Today brought more snow and cold...we're at over 120% of normal snow pack for the drainages that I typically fish. Hope it makes it through to the Spring as next summer could be "normal" if the moisture keeps up. It would be nice to not have to worry for once!
I bought a Hardy Angel 905 last year after casting it at the industry show in Denver. I was at the show last year because a certain company was trying to screw me buy purchsing a struggling competitor an action which would have seriously limited my ability to business. Anyway, I cast the Angel out curiosity and brought it back to the Cortland booth knowing that was the next rod I would buy. It is simply an amazing rod that is light in the hand, loads quickly yet retains a sensitivity that is usually lost in other fast rods like the TCR, T3, or Winstones' Boron Junk thing. In addition to the unmatched performance, the rods itself is stunning on the old eyes.
I wanted to get the rod right away but they weren't available unitl Feb '06 which would be too late for my trip to New Zealand. So, the rep (a class act rep by the way) arranged for me to get a demo smuggler version of the rods for my trip. The smuggler has a slightly differnet feel to it than the 4-piece...but hey, the rods still pretty sweet so I decide that is to be my primary rod for NZ. Second day in NZ, after I lost the first fish of the trip...I stepped on the rod ON ACCIDENT and shattered the second and third sections. Oh well, I sent it back once I got home with a great big sorry and thank you and oh by the way, is MY rod ready yet. It was.
I fished this rod all season which didn't end up being much as one would expect as I was guiding most of the year. So, one day I'm making a silly long cast in the boat and I hear that dreadful sound that one doesn't like to hear when fishing a $1200 rod. It broke above the ferrule in the second section. Just got the rod back. Hardy built a new section in England shipped it to Cortland who in turn sent it back to me. The new piece sets about 1/2" to far down on the spigget of the butt section. I called Cortland, they said send it to them and they'll figure it out.
I see broken rods almost everyday and people , usually the guy that slams the rod in the door or steps on it, bitch to no end aboitu how long it takes to get their rod back. The rod that they spent $3-600 on. Stupid Supid Stupid! Rods break, that's just what happens when you wave an 8-10 foot hollow thing around with weights, hooks, boats, rocks, wind, with the purpose of making it bend in unnatural positions. Rods want to be straight - that's why they aren't bent to begin with! Rod makers were silly to do the whole warranty thing and it has given anglers a sense of entitlemnet instead of gratitude. So if you broke a rod and aren't happy about it..get over it. If you would have bought them at $25o with no warranty we wouldn't be buying rods for $600 today. Be thankful that your rod will be repaired or replaced, maybe help the guy that takes care of your issues by getting a new rod to use in the meantime.After working in a fly shop for a while...I've seen first hand the amount of time and money it takes to service these warranty claims to keep idiots that stomp on a $500 rod happy.
Anyway, I love my Angel rod, thank Hardy for making such an amazing fishing tool and more importantly thanks them for providing me with the expertise and labor to fix my rod that I broke! Those Brits are pretty nice guys, Tom at Cortland rod repair ain't too bad too!
I bought a Hardy Angel 905 last year after casting it at the industry show in Denver. I was at the show last year because a certain company was trying to screw me buy purchsing a struggling competitor an action which would have seriously limited my ability to business. Anyway, I cast the Angel out curiosity and brought it back to the Cortland booth knowing that was the next rod I would buy. It is simply an amazing rod that is light in the hand, loads quickly yet retains a sensitivity that is usually lost in other fast rods like the TCR, T3, or Winstones' Boron Junk thing. In addition to the unmatched performance, the rods itself is stunning on the old eyes.
I wanted to get the rod right away but they weren't available unitl Feb '06 which would be too late for my trip to New Zealand. So, the rep (a class act rep by the way) arranged for me to get a demo smuggler version of the rods for my trip. The smuggler has a slightly differnet feel to it than the 4-piece...but hey, the rods still pretty sweet so I decide that is to be my primary rod for NZ. Second day in NZ, after I lost the first fish of the trip...I stepped on the rod ON ACCIDENT and shattered the second and third sections. Oh well, I sent it back once I got home with a great big sorry and thank you and oh by the way, is MY rod ready yet. It was.
I fished this rod all season which didn't end up being much as one would expect as I was guiding most of the year. So, one day I'm making a silly long cast in the boat and I hear that dreadful sound that one doesn't like to hear when fishing a $1200 rod. It broke above the ferrule in the second section. Just got the rod back. Hardy built a new section in England shipped it to Cortland who in turn sent it back to me. The new piece sets about 1/2" to far down on the spigget of the butt section. I called Cortland, they said send it to them and they'll figure it out.
I see broken rods almost everyday and people , usually the guy that slams the rod in the door or steps on it, bitch to no end aboitu how long it takes to get their rod back. The rod that they spent $3-600 on. Stupid Supid Stupid! Rods break, that's just what happens when you wave an 8-10 foot hollow thing around with weights, hooks, boats, rocks, wind, with the purpose of making it bend in unnatural positions. Rods want to be straight - that's why they aren't bent to begin with! Rod makers were silly to do the whole warranty thing and it has given anglers a sense of entitlemnet instead of gratitude. So if you broke a rod and aren't happy about it..get over it. If you would have bought them at $25o with no warranty we wouldn't be buying rods for $600 today. Be thankful that your rod will be repaired or replaced, maybe help the guy that takes care of your issues by getting a new rod to use in the meantime.After working in a fly shop for a while...I've seen first hand the amount of time and money it takes to service these warranty claims to keep idiots that stomp on a $500 rod happy.
Anyway, I love my Angel rod, thank Hardy for making such an amazing fishing tool and more importantly thanks them for providing me with the expertise and labor to fix my rod that I broke! Those Brits are pretty nice guys, Tom at Cortland rod repair ain't too bad too!
Thursday, December 01, 2005
A cold winter's night!
This time of year is usually crazy for me, but right now everything is kind of up in the air. I'm working on plans for the coming year, taking a look at maps, having "power meetings" with the players, diversifying this and strategizing for that. I own a couple of small fly shops in Bozeman and this is the time of year that makes me think about next year. In early October, I couldn't wiat to get off the water...now I just want back on! It's too damn cold though, too much snow to shoot birds in so I'm forced with impossible task of being a responsible business guy.
This is the time of year that I lie awake at night wondering about all the what if's that happened this year. Would Henry's Sinket or Xink made the difference on that Leviathon of a Brown Trout on that windy little oxbow in New Zealand? Should I really start using water balloons for indicators? Why would those fish eat a size 18 lightning bug and not a size 18 flashback pheasant tail? Why did I catch exactly one fish every time I switched flies that day? Is ciabatta better than rye? Where the hell did all the piggies go in August?
The only certainty right now is that it is too damn cold to fish right now. A few years ago I may have considered an outing 25f, but know I'm more rational and don't even thingk about it until 30f! I've fought the ice on the guides too many times and found that nothing..wd40, ice paste, and armor all just doesn't make a difference. So, when it gets up above 30 again and I have a day off and there's a bit of cloud cover...then I'll fish again.
Unitl then, I guess I''ll tie some thread midges that I used to fish with success all the time. The last few years, I've been into the Hurricanes, Miracles, Discos, JuJu this and Wired that. I was thinking tonihgt that those red uni bodies, silver ribs, with a peacock thorax were more effective than any of these other fandangled patterns. Maybe I just get a better dead drift with a junk fly?
This is the time of year that I lie awake at night wondering about all the what if's that happened this year. Would Henry's Sinket or Xink made the difference on that Leviathon of a Brown Trout on that windy little oxbow in New Zealand? Should I really start using water balloons for indicators? Why would those fish eat a size 18 lightning bug and not a size 18 flashback pheasant tail? Why did I catch exactly one fish every time I switched flies that day? Is ciabatta better than rye? Where the hell did all the piggies go in August?
The only certainty right now is that it is too damn cold to fish right now. A few years ago I may have considered an outing 25f, but know I'm more rational and don't even thingk about it until 30f! I've fought the ice on the guides too many times and found that nothing..wd40, ice paste, and armor all just doesn't make a difference. So, when it gets up above 30 again and I have a day off and there's a bit of cloud cover...then I'll fish again.
Unitl then, I guess I''ll tie some thread midges that I used to fish with success all the time. The last few years, I've been into the Hurricanes, Miracles, Discos, JuJu this and Wired that. I was thinking tonihgt that those red uni bodies, silver ribs, with a peacock thorax were more effective than any of these other fandangled patterns. Maybe I just get a better dead drift with a junk fly?