TROUT TAILS - JUNE 19, 2011

NUMBER: 2011-027-028

DATE:  06-11-12-2011

LOCATION:  CLARKS CREEK

Saturday was the DFTU’s ( www.dftu.org ) 3^rd annual Home Waters Veteran Fly-Fishing day and Sunday was the first annual Women’s Fly-Fishing day. The weather was less than cooperative to say the least.  Heavy rain Friday night blew out the creek and just about the time it had cleared on Sunday morning, another huge thunderstorm rolled in and dumped another couple inches of water.  Thankfully, the pond on Ed’s property fished well all weekend.  There were quite a few Vets and women who were trying their hand at fly fishing for the first time and really picked it up quick.   Everyone had a really great time and I expect to see many familiar faces again next year.

 

Casting Instruction from Tom Brtalik

  First fish on a fly

NUMBER: 2011-029

DATE:  06-17-2011

LOCATION:  FISHING CREEK

Brad and I hit up Fishing Creek for the day on Friday.   Fishing was slow for most of the day, managed a few nymphing with caddis and stone patterns and a couple on dries.  Caught a nice Tiger Trout about midday, been about 2 years since my last one!  Towards evening, the hatch activity started to pick up, and by dusk, there were stones and caddis everywhere!  The trout finally started to get active and we caught a good number on stimi’s and caddis nymphs, including a pretty good fish just at dark.  There was also a good amount of spinner activity, but by dark they were still well above the water surface.

TROUT TAILS - MAY 28, 2011

NUMBER: 2011-024-026

DATE:  05-19-21-2011

LOCATION:  FORNEY CREEK, SNP

Brad and I left Harrisburg Wednesday around 330 and drove to the Smokies.  Arrived Thursday around 430am and camped in the parking lot until day break.  At daybreak, we loaded up our 50+lb packs and hiked the four miles to our campsite.  After a brutal hike, we set up camp and hit the creek.  A TON of midges were coming off and a decent number of yellow stones, caddis, and some large yellow drakes.  We fished for three days, mainly hitting the pocket water with dry attractor patterns and caught a lot of fish, mostly 8-10 inch rainbows with a few browns mixed in.   Check out some of the photos below and there is even a little video, just starting to play with the editing software, so hopefully they will get better as time goes on.  It appears this site compresses the video quality, as it was HD when I uploaded it.

TROUT TAILS - MAY 15, 2011

NUMBER: 2011-023

DATE:  05-08-13-2011

LOCATION:  SPRING CREEK

Not much to report as of late with all the high water, but last week was finally decent weather for the most part.  Hit Spring several days, sulfurs are just starting and the action has been very good nymphing in the late afternoon and dries in the evenings into dark.  Stop by the shop, pick up some flies, and get out there! 

All packed up and ready for the Smokies this week, should be a good few days in the backcountry!!!

 

Click here to donate

 Still a few days left to try and get this project off the ground, but time is running out………..a friend of mine (Ryan Davey, of AEG Trout Bum Diaries fame) is trying to secure funding to make a film the headwaters of Alaska’s Bristol Bay.  The film will capture the experience of flying in bush planes, jet boating, rafting remote rivers, and exploring the Alaskan wilderness in an area that would be directly  affected if the proposed Pebble Mine Project were to be allowed to move forward.  Check out the site he has set up describing the project and where you can make a donation to get it rolling.   Any amount will help greatly. 

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1959691070/bushlife-documenting-life-in-the-alaskan-bush 

TROUT TAILS - MAY 1, 2011

NUMBER: 2011-022

DATE:  04-30-2011

LOCATION:  CLARKS CREEK

Drove down to Harrisburg to spend the day on Clarks Saturday.  The first two hours of the day myself and several other members of my TU Chapter (Doc Fritchey TU) cleaned up the highway along the two mile Special Regulation section that we adopted last year.  It always amazes me how big of slobs people can be.  We cleaned this stretch only 6 months ago, and while “it wasn’t as bad” as last year, we still managed to completely fill the bed of my truck with trash….and this is just 2 miles of road!  Unbelievable!!!  

After the clean up, Dennis, Archie and I hit the creek.  While the water was up, it was only slightly off color.  Fishing was somewhat slow, but we did manage a good number of fish swinging buggers.  Most were stockies, but a few nice native brookies and 2 small wild browns.  Not a bad day all in all, especially considering the high water conditions everywhere.  

On another note, a friend of mine (Ryan Davey, of AEG Trout Bum Diaries fame) is trying to secure funding to make a film the headwaters of Alaska’s Bristol Bay.  The film will capture the experience of flying in bush planes, jet boating, rafting remote rivers, and exploring the Alaskan wilderness in an area that would be directly  affected if the proposed Pebble Mine Project were to be allowed to move forward.  Check out the site he has set up describing the project and where you can make a donation to get it rolling.   Any amount will help greatly. 

Click here to view the site