Back To Reality

I just returned from a few days of bird hunting in around Plentywood, Mt. It has been a down year for birds and that was the case for up there too. It's usually pheasant topia, but the hard winter and spring took its toll on the bird populations even up that direction. We still managed to find some rooties, just had to work it pretty hard. So, after 3 days of long hunting, our dogs were sore and bloody so we kind of wussed out and came home a couple days early. Still, it was a great time and nice to get away for a few days.

My wife left for Antarctica today. She'll be gone until Christmas this year whihc isn't nearly as long as she used to go for. Still, I always miss her when she goes away for so long and so far. I have my 2 1/2 year old son, Matty, to keep me company and probably busier than I think I'll be. Between him and getting caught up in the shop, I think I'll have plenty to do for awhile. I doubt I'll get the chance to fish much in the meantime, but that's what the other 3 months are for anyway!

Orvis Hydros

I fished a 906 Tip Flex Orvis Hydros on Saturday and was impressed with the rod. At $495, it's basically a scaled down Helios, which if you know me at all...you know that these are the best rods I've ever fished with. When I say its basically a helios, that's because it's the same blank as the Helios. The difference lies in the hardware, rod tube, and finish. The Hydros has standard chrome snake guides, a regular cordura covered rod tube and a cheaper reel seat.

The rod fished very well, but is slightly heavier than the Helios. I really like the recoil guides on the Helios, especially when ice on the guides is an issue. The recoil guides make it possible to just run your hands down the blank for easy ice removal. Not a huge deal, but really nice when you need it.

As far as the Hydros goes though, it's a helluva stick for the money. If $755 is too much, $495 gets you very similar performance for $250 less. I realize $495 ain't cheap...but compare this rod to Winstones Boron or the Sarge Zero Axis and this rod wins for less. The Hydros, much like the Helios, loads very easily resulting in an "intuitive" casting stroke. This isn't BS...I've seen dozens and dozens of anglers fish the Helios and they simply enable you to cast more accurately and efficiently!

I was fishing a heavy nymph rig in a big hole on the Madison and found the rod to handle the rig really well from 10-50 ft (I didn't fish any more line than that). It was a joy to mend with even with 30-40 feet of line out in heavy current. I fished it pretty hard fro a few hours and really enjoyed it, I would highly recommend these rods as a primary or second rod! I did catch a few fish too!

Lake Erie Steelhead and What Nots

It's been awhile! I was still fishing hoppers and caking on sunscreen the last time I updated this! Will honestly try to do much better.

Finished up guiding around mid-October after a couple weeks of unusually cold weather. We went from fishing hoppers one day to methodically dredging the bottom of every hole in the river for a few fish the next. We never had a fall much like we missed the spring as well.

I was in Ohio for 9 days visiting my wife's family, got back Nov 1. So, it's that time of year when I work on orders for next year and am generally stressing out about things a fishing guide shouldn't stress out about. Oh how I miss the summer already!

I did fish for some Great Lakes Steelhead for a day on Ohio that was pretty fun. We kind of got hosed by some heavy rains and ended up in PA on the only clear water that morning. The fall colors were amazing, the company was great, and the fish were all very nice. My only neg. comment would be that crowded has a little different meaning back there than it does here!

Anyhow, I'm off to demo the new Orvis Hydros rod in the am for a few hours on the Madison. I've cast the rods a few times and they seem pretty nice in the parking lot.