Fishing with Sydney

Hey Everyone,

Well even with all the guide trips I've been doing and work keeping me pretty busy. I did take the time to get up on the water and do a little fishing for myself. I was also lucky enough to be accompanied by a friend of mine Sydney Jenkins and her husband. We met at a familiar spot for me. It was a great day to be fishing. The only issue we had was our shadows were on the water for a half an hour or so. I told Sydney to get as low as possible and showed her where to be and how she needed to present the fly so that her line didn't spook the fish. I have to say that she was an excellent student and did exactly as instructed. It wasn't long before she hooked a fish and started to do so frequently. I had moved up stream and was fishing a tighter hole that I had seen some brookies holding in. That's when it happened. I actually saw the take and also saw the enormous shadow under the waters surface that took her dropper. I told her to be gentle, since we were running 7x tippet. She did really well and just held enough pressure on the fish and didn't try and horse it in. When I netted the fish I cant describe the relief I felt and excitement for Sydney at the same time. I forgot my measuring tape in my rod tote but I'm guessing that her rainbow was anywhere between eighteen and twenty inches. We took a few photos and revived the fish and it swam nice and calmly away. We fished for a few more hours together and landed a bunch more fish. I have to say that it was an epic day to be on the water. I had a great time and look forward to the next time that I get to fish with Sydney although I'm not sure how we can top a twenty incher.

Wet Nets,
Lance

Great Cigars and the One That Got Away

Hey Everyone,

I have had some great guided trips and met some really great people as well. One recent trip was booked by Micheal Ayers and a long time friend of his Gene McMasters. The weather could not have been nicer. We were on the river by about nine o-clock. The water was really clear and I could tell the fish could see just about everything. It tool me few minutes to find some schooled up fish but when I located them, I found them all. In fact I believe the comment was "I've never seen this many trout in one place" They were in a spot that I had not seen many fish prior to this trip. It was a beautiful day to be on the water and the smell of well rolled cigars were in the air...lol. It was a little slow going but they both ended up hooking up and landing fish as well as Gene's epic long distance release of what I'm almost certain was a twenty plus inch fish. I think I was more heart broken than he was. I think that both Michael and Gene had a lot of fun and enjoyed just being out there. I know that I had a great time just watching them. Oh OK I did get to make a couple casts and landed a couple fish of my own but I had to see what fly the wanted right...lol.

Wet Nets, Lance

Leaky Waders

Hey Everyone,

I thought I would write a post about repairing waders. I know that at one time or another we have all sprung a leak or two. The bad part about finding out that you have a leak is that it almost always happens while you are fishing. The only hope then is that you are not wet enough or it is not cold enough to ruin the rest of your day. I have a great fix that some of you may already know about, Seam Grip by McNett. I have been using this product for a few years on backpacking equipment and even work with this company for my backpacking events. I was on the river just recently when I waded out to my waste and found that I apparently had a small leak somewhere in the crotch of my waders. Thankfully it was not bad enough that it was much of an issue. I was careful not to wade out that deep for the rest of the day. When I got home that evening I laid my waders out and dried them. I then went and grabbed my seam grip. I looked and located a very small pin prick in the seam of my waders probably from a thorn or something similar. I very carefully spread out the seam grip over the hole and figured I would do the seams for a little ways down the legs (cant hurt right). I have used the waders since and guess what, not a single leak. As I was going through my equipment I also found some patches of tenacious tape that McNett also puts makes. I put some in my wader bag. I haven't had to use it yet but I figure it may be the answer to fixing a leak and salvaging the rest of a day on the water. I have attached some photos so you can see what I did.


(Tenacious tape comes in a roll. that is a demo patch of it in the picture)
Wet Nets,Lance

Fishing with George

Hey Everyone,

This fall fly fishing season has been quite interesting. It did not start off with a bang as one might suspect. My fall season started with a booked guide trip by my now friend George Kerr. It was not an ideal day to be on the water. It had been raining frequently leading up to that Tuesday. Needless to say the river looked like chocolate milk and was running a bit high. I was at least happy to know that we weren't the only ones not catching any fish. After a tiring six hours of casting, tangling, tying and casting some more we called it a day. I felt really bad and invited George along on a fishing trip that I was going to take on my next day off. We arrived at the river and I was excited to see the water was perfect. I began scanning the bottom looking for shadows and movement. Seeing nothing I started blind casting into pools hoping for a strike. It didn't take long and I had located my first fish. I was stoked. I called George over to my spot and told him were the fish were holding. Soon enough he had hooked a nice little brookie. I'm not sure how many fish we caught but I'm happy to say that we had a very good day even compared to the other anglers on the river that day. I think the fact that we did so well and were the only Tenkara anglers as well may have sparked some interest in the other fly fisherman that watched us that day.











Wet Nets,Lance