Tag Archives: fishing blog

My Fly Fishing Vest…

After a lot of trial and error, I decided to go back to a fly fishing vest for the times when I am fly fishing. I know it probably “isn’t cool” in 2021 but I don’t care. It works better for me than anything else I have tried.

Speaking of trial and error…I tried a hip pack but got tired of dealing with the zipper. I tried a sling pack and the result was about the same. I also tried a chest pack and it was too awkward for me. Besides, I couldn’t see well enough when I needed to watch my foot placement when crossing a stream. So, I decided a fly vest was my best option.

I chose the Patagonia Convertible Fly Fishing Vest because A) it was minimalist (I don’t need 50 pockets) and B) was mesh fabric based. And since it hits the 100’s F every summer, I opted for something a little cooler than the other options I found.

In all honesty, I haven’t fished with it enough to give my thoughts or opinions on it yet. But so far I think it will fit the bill. Stayed tuned for an update on it…

Frustrated…

I was really looking forward to getting out this weekend but that didn’t happen. I had quite a few chores I needed to get done instead.

Besides, the weather crushed any plans I made. Saturday was partly sunny and in the 80’s F but it was the wind that killed it. It was blowing out of the south between 20 and 30mph. This morning, 55F with winds gusting from the northwest at 15-25mph.

It’s no fun staring out the window watching the trees rock back and forth. In fact, a friend of mine just bought a brand spanking new bass boat and he’s suffering the same problem. Wouldn’t be much fun getting blown all around a lake while trying to fish.

Oh well, it is Mother’s Day after all so we will just hang out and enjoy a rare leisurely day together. We have a trip that needs to be planned so we might as well get started.

2021 Clean Ups So Far…

Looking through my fishing journal for 2021, it shows we have made 13 outings so far. The picture is of all the discarded fishing line we have recovered so far in 2021.

Discarded/Lost Lures

The image above is all of the lures we have recovered so far.

According to my records, as of May 2nd, 2021, we have picked up 31 bags of trash so far and have no intention of stopping! BE A GOOD STEWARD…

Loop Evotec Cast 3wt…

The wife and I went to a local lake in-between rain showers this morning. I really wanted to try out the Loop Evotec Cast 9ft 3wt rod. The gusts of wind made it difficult at times so patience was the order of the day.

This rod has great action…

My casting stroke needs a lot of work, but it was fun using this rod. The Evotec casts far better than I do and I definitely have room to “grow” with it.

https://videopress.com/v/mHUQkH4U?preloadContent=metadata
I was surprised when I caught this Crappie…

I enjoy grabbing a fly rod and reel and a small selection of flies and hitting some local water. It’s a bonus when we have the entire lake to ourselves.

We each caught 2 fish and then the wind kicked up and the rain started moving in. We decided to pick up some trash before heading home. We do this every time we go out. I know it sounds like a broken record, but if word gets out and everyone leaves the waters cleaner than they found them…we’d have stellar fishing areas.

4 bags of trash!

I made it a point to pick up as much broken glass as I could. We fished bottles out of the water and beer cans out of the weeds. It really ticks me off since there is a trash can RIGHT THERE!

Welcoming a New Addition into the Family…

Melodramatic to be sure…but I’d like to introduce the Hardy Ultraclick 4000 reel and the Loop Evotec Cast 9ft 3wt Medium Fast fly rod.

But with any new addition…it deserves a fine cigar and a decent Whisky to welcome them into the family! And yes…that’s the first whisky bottle I’ve ever bought! And I couldn’t think of anything better than one made as a tribute to one of my heros… Ernest Shackleton.

My Dad and I have a thing for good cigars. We used to own a cigar shop together and had a blast with it. Every time I light one up, I think of him. The first COVID shot damn near killed him but he’s back to his normal self now. I can guarantee he’s probably smoking a cigar at this very moment!

Now back to the rod and reel. I enjoy using 3wt rods for contact fishing and opted for the Hardy Ultraclick reel because it’s one of the lightest reels made today. Standing in a stream with your arm outstretched as you’re nymphing through a run all day can take a toll on your arm. Lighter is better. Long leaders (16-22ft) are the norm as is 6X tippet. This reel fits my needs to a “T”. I don’t really need a high-tech disc drag so a simple click check reel works just fine. I’m using RIO Trout WF3F fly line and I can add a RIO Shorty and a long leader, I can connect a regular 9-12ft leader for dry flies, or I can run a Mono Rig if I so choose. Pretty versatile in my book.

Did I mention that this reel is LIGHT? On my scale it weighs 63 grams empty! Anyway, thank you for reading. I must get back to my Scotch and good cigar, and make plans for using this combo…Stay Safe Out There!

How Many?

I routinely catch “flack” about my fishing tackle from family and friends. Comments like “how many rods and reels do you really need?” or “why can’t you pick one and call it good?” And my favorite…”I can’t believe you have a “fishing room” in your house!”

I usually shrug it off or try to explain, but it never makes sense to them. The reality is that as a person gets older, other hobbies fall by the wayside. After a major back surgery and three shoulder surgeries…it’s not a good idea to continue rock climbing and mountaineering! Even kayaking and canoeing takes a toll. So I’ve essentially been left with camping, fishing and amateur radio. I only have one teenager left at home, but soon he will move on to start his life. And I have plans for my retirement that involve a lot of fishing.

I have loved fishing for decades and have no plans to stop until my body gives up. So how many rods DO I REALLY NEED? There is not an obvious answer to that! If all you do is sit on a bank and bobber fish with worms then you can get by with only one or two rods and reels. But you can’t effectively use a trout rod to catch bass or pike. Big catfish and stripers mean bigger rods and stouter tackle.

Fly rods come in an assortment of lengths and weights for a reason. The 5wt is the all-rounder that almost everyone buys as their first setup. But what if it’s windy…which is all too common in Oklahoma? You need a heavier rod in 6wt-7wt as well. And if you want to try tight-line nymphing then you’ll need a slightly different outfit.

I think tackle of any sort needs to suit the application and therefore I purchase accordingly. Certain streams need certain rods, certain styles of fishing require something completely different. And that’s what I do! THERE IS NO SINGLE MAGIC WAND.

Truth be told, I’m leery and skeptical of a fisherman with only one rod. Unless of course its a young angler just starting out.

If you like fishing as much as I do, in all of it’s vagaries, then you’ll need several rods and reels whether you like it or not…just sayin.

My Wife’s TenRyu Rayz Super Yamame Rod

This is a picture of my wife’s stream fishing rod. It is the 2020 TenRyu Rayz Super Yamame RZ6102S-LML spinning rod. As denoted on the blank, it’s a 6 foot 10 inch Light-Medium Light action spinning rod. Max Lure Weight is 12 grams and Max Line Weight is 6 pound Mono or 0.6 #PE.

Fit and finish on this rod is excellent with minimal filler in the cork handle. It is paired with the 2020 Shimano TwinPower C2000S reel and balances perfectly. I think it is a beautiful rod and I jokingly refer to it as “her Yoda rod” since it has some quirky inscriptions on the blank.

-“A Thing Good Commonly”

-“Learn A Lesson From The Past”

That being said, the action is amazing and it fishes very well…

What I Carry in my Tackle Bag…

Today I thought I’d share what I carry in my bag when I go fishing. Everything in the picture should be self-explanatory other than perhaps the Meiho Versus clamshell tackle boxes on the top left. I have a blog post covering those.

But yah, that’s all the gear I carry. Nothing too fancy, just the time-tested items I rely on. The 2 yellow things in the top right, next to the yellow Magpul DAKA pouch, are plastic bags I carry to haul out trash we run across when fishing.

I prefer a modular approach so if I change bags/packs, I can pick and choose what goes inside easily. Obviously colors change with the seasons or species we are after or even what type of fishing we are doing.

As stated previously, we are trying to streamline our gear and eliminate the complexities. Simple is better; lighter weight is the goal…

Outing 25 April 2021…

The wife and I took a quick trip to one of our local lakes this morning. We counted 6 boats on the lake with more arriving when we left. All told, we fished for 2 hours before the wind kicked up and it got kind of crowded. We walked to the opposite end of the lake and in no time we had 5 boats up on us. Guess that happens when you’re catching fish. There was no ill will amongst anyone and I think everyone was just glad to be out fishing and trying to get out of the wind.

Today was the first time I was able to use my Major Craft Finetail Area Stage FAX-B642UL baitcast rod. I LIKED IT! It was a little more limber than I was expecting but worked very well. I ended up catching 6 largemouth bass. Conditions weren’t great due to all of the recent rainfall. The lake was about 4ft high and stained. It was a day of catching “salad” as we call it. Almost every cast forced you to pick grass, weeds or algae off of your lure. But like I tell the wife, “if you aren’t fishing in the weeds then you aren’t where the bass are.”

I took the GoPro this time and tried to shoot some video for the blog. The wind made it tough due to where we were positioned on the lake (facing into the sun)

https://videopress.com/v/kiXrUwMR?preloadContent=metadata
https://videopress.com/v/mehkDeKM?preloadContent=metadata

I managed to catch 2 of the 6 fish on video. Because of the wind, the GoPro wasn’t able to pick up my voice commands very well. The sun felt great and we had a blast just getting out there and relaxing and catching fish…

My Current Quiver of Fly Rods…

I was tempted to do a group photo but just couldn’t get a good enough picture to really show the level of detail I wanted to convey. So, we’ll just show them one at a time…

Moonshine Drifter 9ft 5wt with Sage Trout 4/5/6 reel.
Fenwick Aetos 9ft 5wt with Nautilus XM 4/5 reel
Loop Xact 9ft 5wt with Loop Opti Dryfly reel
Fenwick Fenlite 9ft 5wt with Danielsson LW 4seven reel
Echo Ion XL 9ft 6wt with Galvan Rush LT reel
Loop Q 9ft 8wt with Danielsson L5W 6nine reel

Yes, I do actually use all of these. The 6wt is for throwing streamers or when its windy. The 8wt is for bass or pike. The 5wt’s are for general use and I just pick one that I’d like to fish with for the day.

That being said…I am not getting on with 2 of the rods. The Moonshine Drifter and the Fenwick Fenlite. They just don’t suit my casting style so I may move them on down the line. I have an old 2-piece Okuma Magnitude 9ft 5wt I bought years ago just to have a practice rod and it casts better than the Drifter or Fenlite. The others I really like. I just wish we had a decent fly shop locally. Everything is 2 hours away or more.

Also, and I’m probably going to anger some folks, but I don’t see what all the fuss is about when it comes to the Loop Opti reels. In my humble opinion, the Danielsson reels are better made at a cheaper price. Fit and finish is of a higher quality too.

I have a couple of other reels that I didn’t show because I don’t have rods for them. They are a Hardy Marquis LWT 4wt reel, Danielsson Dryfly 5wt reel, a Loop Q 5wt reel and a Danielsson F3W 2six 4wt reel.

I am chomping at the bit to hit some streams soon and am really wanting to fly fish them. Hopefully the weather stabilizes soon…

LOOP OPTI DRYFLY REEL…

For as long as I can remember, I have wanted a Loop Opti Dryfly reel. I’m sure it was because “all the cool kids” had them, but still, it’s a good looking reel and I just wanted one. So the other day I was surfing the web and ran across one on http://www.us.looptackle.com and decided to get it.

I like large arbor reels and especially ones with a full cage. This reel is lighter than I expected, but still seems beefy. I definitely like this style of reel pouch as opposed to the plain Jane neoprene cases almost every other manufacturer uses.

I am currently waiting for the fly line to arrive. I opted for a WF5F line which is what this reel was designed for.

On a side note…it did indeed snow this past Tuesday followed by rain and thunderstorms last night. The weather is definitely not doing my fishing any favors. We are waiting for things to dry out a bit and for the water levels to drop before heading out for more fishing. It’s frustrating to say the least, but here in Oklahoma, we’re always at the mercy of the weather. Take care…