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

Storing Fly Lines

Hey Everyone,

I recently acquired a few new fly fishing items. Three rods and four reels to be exact. I took the fly line off of each reel not only because the line was on backwards, for me anyway. I also wanted to inspect, clean, and lube each of the reels. I thought about backing and relining them but decided that storing the line off of the reels might be a better choice. They were showing signs of very slight memory and I wasn't sure when I might use them again. The only problem was how did I want to store the lines. Well, I think I have found a solution. Salt water wrist spools. They are sold for people to wind their own leaders on to. Well they seemed perfect for storing fly line as well. For one they are 6 1/2" which is much larger than any reel or spool that the line comes on for that matter. Second they have holes and notches cut into the spool to hold the line. The price wont break the bank either at just $1.99 a piece. I have three lines like that now but I am thinking of storing all my lines that I don't use that often in this way. The spools I have accommodate my eight weight lines just fine though that may be as big as you can fit. With some masking tape you can label each spool or just wright on the plastic with a sharpie. If you put a Bimini twist or other similar loop in the end of you backing and then put a loop in the back end of your fly line you can reattach them as you need to. I hope this helps a few people out, I know I already like it. 



Wet Nets,
Lance

TU Presentations

Hey Everyone,

Well Tuesday night I did my second presentation about Tenkara. If you noticed had recent post about being scheduled to give two of these talks. I talked about how and why I got into Tenkara. I was quite surprised on the turn out and interest at both meetings. I do have to say that one thing that is apparent to many of the anglers is that an eleven foot rod is not a common choice here in the east. With our tight covered mountain streams a main focus most of the questions were in reference to techniques that I use to fish those streams. I explained that I view Tenkara as a tool not the end all be all of fly fishing. What Tenkara is made to do it does perfectly but its not so good doing things it was never intended to. For example you cannot lay a dry fly on the water any more gently than letting it fall by itself which I can do with Tenkara but don't expect to see me landing thirty inch steel head on one any time soon. And as far as a rod for backpacking, why take any thing else. and on the other hand if you know the stream you intend to fish is overgrown with rhododendron, you may want to grab your six foot three weight.  I am happy to see people show interest in the sport and was very honored to be viewed as enough of an expert on the subject to be asked to come talk about it twice! I look forward to teaching more people about it and really cant wait to get some people on the water and let them experience it for themselves.





Wet Nets,Lance

Some Great Fishing

Hey everyone,

I though I would put up some links to some past fishing adventures that Ive had. These are already posted on my blog "The Trailmarker" so some of you may have already seen them. For those of you who are visiting for the first time here you go.

Fish, Fish, and more Fish
Big Brown
Steal head
18 and 18


There are a few more posts than this with pictures of some beautiful fish if you want to take a look around. I hope that I get the chance to see some of you catch quality fish and have great adventures like these.

Wet Nets,
Lance

Talking Tenkara

Hey Everyone,

Ive been invited to be the guest speaker at two Trout Unlimited chapter monthly meetings. I will be discussing how my passion for ultralight backpacking and fly fishing lead me to Tenkara. I will also be talking about how I view the sport and where I plan to take it. If you're in either of the areas feel free to drop by and say hey. You may already be a TU member or might even decide to join after being around all of us trout bums.

August 27th 7:00pm - triangle fly fishers

September 11th 7:00pm - nat green fly fishers

Wet Nets,
Lance