A family reunion brought us back to the Columbus, OH area for the weekend. Part of our plan included a family picnic at one of the local Preservation Parks.

While checking out the web site for the Preservation Park that we would be visiting, I found a newsletter listing the upcoming events for the summer.

As luck would have it, the Hogback Ridge Preserve was holding a fishing clinic for kids Saturday morning on one of the park’s ponds.  My daughter was interested, so we registered for the program.

Saturday morning we drove up to Delaware County, about 40 minutes from where we were staying.  We wandered through backroads and farmland until we found the sign for the park.

Park employees Chris and Kyle greeted us and gave us some background on the parks. Then they gathered the kids and led them through the basics of spin fishing: how to tie a knot, attach a split shot, choose a bobber and put on a worm. Doesn’t get much simpler than that.

After showing us a bass and bream they had taken from the pond earlier that morning, they gave us a container of night crawlers and led us to the park pond.

The pond was small but the grass around the bank had been recently mowed to make access easier. My daughter and I went to the far side and began casting.

Almost immediately she had a bream on the line.  This pattern continued for the next hour, catching bream of all sizes and colors.

We caught more fish than I was able to count, and my daughter had a great time. It started getting warm and my daughter was ready to go, so we thanked Chris and Kyle and headed back.

What a great way to start the day. I got a chance to spend some time with my daughter, the fishing was great, and as an added bonus the kids got to keep the rods and reels that that they used, compliments of the Ohio Division of  Wildlife.

Unfortunately fishing in these parks is prohibited except for events such as this. That said, If you get a chance to visit one of the Preservation Parks I would recommend giving them a try.

So did I see any fish this weekend? Well yes, but only at the Columbus Zoo Enjoy!

I am a faithful listener of the podcast Ask About Fly Fishing. Hosted by Roger Maves, it’s a great show that makes my weekly trips between CT and NJ seem to go quicker.

The format is simple:  Roger interviews a guest from the world of fly fishing, and also takes questions from the live listeners. Interview topics cover all types of fishing styles, locations and personalities.

Roger recently sent this email to me. It covers some of his most popular interviews on the topic of nymphing. If you’re interested in improving your nymphing skill, have a listen.

Enjoy!

If you missed any of these Ask About Fly Fishing shows you can now  listen to them. They have all been published and can be found in the Archive or by using the links below.

Dynamic Nymphing

George Daniel, a competitive fly fisher has effectively used just about every nymphing technique there is. He’s been to Europe and competed against some of the best European fly fishers in the game. He’s observed, learned and applied the best techniques to his craft. Listen in to learn George’s nymphing techniques and you’ll be a
better fly fisher for it.
A Systematic Approach to Nymphing

Duane Redford developed a systematic approach to nymphing so that as a guide he could hook his clients up with fish even in the most harsh and competitive environments. Learn his step-by-step methods for getting the most out of nymphing.
The Evolution of Nymphing

Aaaron Jasper goes where the fish are and most of the time it’s under the surface. He’s spent the last few years studying, researching and testing old and new nymphing methods. On this show we explore many of those methods including the latest in European nymphing techniques.

Nymphs for Streams & Stillwaters

Dave Hughes shares the secrets he’s learned over a lifetime of fishing nymphs in both streams and stillwaters. Listen in to hear how he makes fishing with nymphs simple, direct and effective.

Enjoy!

D. Roger Maves
www.AskAboutFlyFishing.com

Follow me on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/AskAboutFlyFish

Headed out to the Musconetong River today for a little trout fishing. And that’s exactly what I got.

While any fish is better than no fish, I was expecting to catch a few trout, especially  in a river that is stocked with them on a weekly basis.

I literally fished for hours before catching my first rainbow. But I wasn’t fishless. I had already landed 7 redears, 1 chub and 1 (very) smallmouth.

Things changed when I spotted a large pool with a few rises just a few yards downstream.

For today I had the Wind River reel on my most recent build, a 9′ 4wt. I was using a double nymph rig with a green caddis pupa and a bloody mari, so I kept it on and caught my first rainbow, which measured around 10″.

As luck would have it, I ended up wrapping the nymph rig around a log, so I used the opportunity to change to a Hornberg dry.

My next cast brought in an 11″ rainbow that pulled hard and performed some acrobatics before being netted and released. (As a side note, you know you have on a good fish when the baitcasters are cheering you on.)

I would’ve been happy going troutless. Not overjoyed, but happy. After all, it was a sunny day in the low 60′s and I had caught some fish.  But the world makes more sense when you catch trout in a trout stream.  Enjoy!

Owljones.com is one of my favorite blogs, so when Jeff asked me about posting a review on the Cabelas Wind River reel I was happy to oblige. To see my review on his site, click here.

Also, if you haven’t seen them yet, please check out his new site for bass poppers, www.zazzypop.com.  You’ll be glad you did.

Enjoy!

Not too long ago, my friend Fredy and I used to fish the rivers of NJ on a regular basis.  My new job in another state, along with both of our family responsibilities, have limited our opportunities to fish together.

Today we both had the afternoon open and I’m happy to say we found successful fishing.  Fredy brought in a beautiful wild brown, as well as a nice brookie. I pulled in a nice rainbow and a couple of redears.  Here are a few pics from the day. Enjoy!

The latest issue of  This Is Fly in now out on the street.

The Apr/May 2012  issue contains stories on Pike Hysteria, how to tie the Boulder Hopper, Jack Charlton reels, fly fishing for bonefish in the Grand Bahamas and the always popular mixtape.

Enjoy!

On the train ride to and from NYC I pass a number of different ponds, streams and rivers. Many are found behind barbed wire and close to the railroad tracks, often just feet away from a warehouse, parking lot or abandoned building.

They range in color from clear to to milky brown to emerald green. And at various times of the year I see kingfishers, otters, turtles and mysterious rises.

While I entertain thoughts of jumping off the train and fishing them for a few hours, the lure of home always seems stronger.

Who knows, maybe the next sunny day or when the the trains are running slow I’ll decide to hop off and try a few.

Until then, they remain mysteries.

Enjoy!

When it comes to flyfishing, Jeff Currier has done quite a bit. He is a sought after speaker, talented artist , noted author and experienced guide.

He has written several books, including Currier’s Quick and Easy Guide to Warmwater Fishing. In addition to his web site, www.jeffcurrier.com he also has a blog flyfishingbum.blogspot.com

I recently attended Jeff’s lecture on warmwater fly fishing at the Fly Fishing Show in Somerset, NJ. I greatly enjoyed his talk, and thought his presentation was one of the best. I had the opportunity to ask him a few questions.  His answers appear below.

1.     How did you get started in fly fishing?

My dad was a big fly fisherman.  In fact one of my grandfathers was too (ironically not my dad’s father).  Starting at about age 3 dad set me up with a worm and bobber.  Like any kid I loved watching that bobber bounce and had a lot of success with the local sunfish and the occasional bass.  However, I couldn’t help but notice dad’s interesting method of fishing.  It looked even more fun than mine.

When I was five dad and I hit opening day of trout season on the Ipswich River in Topsfield, Massachusetts.  I was drifting worms in the current and he was stripping various wet flies.  Let’s just say dad smoked me that day.  Seriously, I remember it well.  I caught one rainbow trout and he caught about 20.  Sure, like any good dad he let me reel them in, but I was ticked and he knew it.

That Christmas I got a telescoping fly rod with reel and line.  I struggled that next summer like any six year old would learning to cast while losing flies.  It was so frustrating at timesthat I even went as far as to fish worms on my fly rod.  Luckily our neighborhood was loaded with pumpkinseed sunfish.  Those little fellas are so forgiving that I managed to catch them. They kept my interest and by the time I was seven I was fly fishing whenever I could.

2.     What led you to start writing about warmwater fly fishing?

Not enough fly fishers take advantage of opportunities to warmwater fly fish.  For almost all of us some sort of warmwater fly fishing is right down the street.  It aggravates me that there’s such little interest.  And I’ve kind of made it a personal campaign to educate and try and get folks more interested.

The lack of interest in warmwater fly fishing became apparent during more than 20 years while working in a fly shop.  I helped folks catch trout around the waters of Yellowstone during those years.  Many of our customers expressed their disappointment when they left our area to return home.  “We have no fly fishing where we come from”, they would whine.  I’d challenge them on such statements only to find out they had a bass pond in their backyard or a lake full of pike a mile from home.  And if that wasn’t the case I’d suggest finding some carp to catch.  Most of us know carp live about everywhere. They’d be horrified at my advice.

It became obvious we live amongst a world of boring fly fishers.  It was time to do my part to change this way of thinking.  I began writing about warmwater fly fishing and doing seminars about warmwater fly fishing at fly fishing clubs and sport shows all over. It was time to educate.

3.     What is your favorite type of fishing?

That’s the million dollar question.  I get asked that all the time. I like to answer, “Fly fishing”.  I like it all types of fly fishing.  But what fish species I’m into at that given moment always changes.  If I’ve been trout fishing all summer then I get a chance to muskie fish in Wisconsin for a week.  I’ll guarantee you that when you ask me what my favorite fishing is I’d say fly fishing for muskie.  It had been a while since I muskiefished.  It was fresh.  Exciting. Different.  And that’s why I loved it at that moment.

In the late 80’s and early 90’s I spent a good portion of my winters in Belize hosting my trout clients from summer in Yellowstone.  As much as I love the flats, by the end of myBelize season I was desperate to fly fish for a trout. Ask me today and I’ll tell you I’m craving my next tigerfish in Africa.  It’s been awhile.  Like I say, I love it all.

4.     Where is your favorite place to fish?

Ah, the million and one dollar question.  My answer changes here too depending on how much I’ve had of that certain great place.  However, I most often answer with the Harriman Ranch on the Henry’s Fork. That’s why I live in Idaho.

5.     What can we expect to see from you and your company in 2012?

I plan to focus on my artwork and writing more this year.  Sure I’ll fish and travel like I always do.  That’s what makes me tick.  But I quit my day job at the fly shop several years ago to do more artwork, writing and speaking.  Instead it’s been more of a fishing frenzy.  I’ve definitely taken the speaking part of the plan to a high level but I’ve neglected my art and writing.  This will be the year when I paint fish that are swimming and hopefully start writing my next book.

We want to thank Jeff for taking the time to  interview with  us.  All the best in 2012!

Just watched a great video on artist Derek DeYoung courtesy of Travis Lowe at Spring Creek Films.  According to Travis, “It’s hard to tell what came first for Derek DeYoung angling or art? At the age of 6, Derek was declaring to friends and family that he wanted to be a famous artist. Enamoured with angling from an early young age DeYoung’s favourite subject has always been fish.

But by the time he left art school at the age of 23, DeYoung realized he needed to push his artwork in a new direction. In order to achieve his goal, he began to experiment with composition, taking the fish’s form away and removing the actually shape of the fish. By zooming in extremely close on his subject, DeYoung’s objective was to portray trout in colour and pattern only.

The result was the “Abstract Trout Face” series paintings. Derek’s contemporary vision and vibrant use of colour challenged the traditional, classic style of angling artwork and eventually received critical acclaim and success. That success would lead to corporate collaborations with Abel and Simms that would make the DeYoung name into a brand. A consequence that he struggles with as he attempts to build a life around his love of painting and his passion for fly fishing.

Canvasfish is intimate portrait of an artist and his work. It celebrates a small part of the culture of fly fishing while not attempting to document the pursuit of it. Filmed at DeYoung’s Livingston, Montana studio, Canvasfish chronicles DeYoung’s career as he paints his way through life, a fly rod in one hand and paint brush in the other.”

To watch the video, click here.

Enjoy!

Shortly before Christmas I built a 9′ 4 wt rod based on  a J Stockard Forecast fly rod kit.  It has a blue 4-piece Batson IM6 blank, a gunsmoke reel seat with rosewood insert, and a quality cork grip.  Including shipping it was $90.  Add in a $5 rod bag from BassPro and a rod tube from LL Bean for $8.50, and you have a nice custom outfit for right around $100.

It was the first time that I had built a fly rod from a kit, and I would recommend the Forecast package. I fished this rod almost exclusively for the past month, and have really enjoyed it.  J Stockard’s customer service is also outstanding.  See my recent post on J Stockard’s customer service here.

As luck would have it, a couple of weeks after this build I had a chance to pick up another 4-piece 9 ‘ 4 wt for $25. This one came with 2 tips.  I placed a call to J Stockard and purchased their TFO Rod Component Kit, TiCr Series, along with enough parts to complete the second tip.  Parts and shipping totaled $36, but discounts and earned credits from prior purchases brought the total down to $25.  It came with a rod bag, so I called LL Bean for another rod tube.

Here are some highlights from this most recent build:

Below is a pic of the reel seat and grip. The TFO kit came with a graphite reel seat and metal frame.  I think it looks nice, and the cork used in the grip is good quality.

 This is usually one of the first items that I epoxy to the rod blank after finding the spine for each of the rod segments.

Next it was time to wrap the ferrules, guides, hook keeper and glue on the tip tops. I epoxied the tip tops and reel seat at the same time.

This pic shows most of the tools that I use to wrap. I have tried using rod wrapping tools and tensioners  before, but I prefer to run the thread through a large book to provide resistance. I use a razor to cut off the thread at the end of a wrap, and a lighter to remove or shrink any fuzz or tags.  The nail file is to smoothe any rough spots after the first coat of epoxy is applied to the wraps.

Here is a pic of the two middle sections in the rod turner. Both have  color preservative applied and the first coat of epoxy.  They turned for around 8 hours, and I let them dry for another day before applying a second coat.

This morning I took it out for a lawn casting session. It is a mid-flex rod with medium action. It is well balanced with my Okuma Sierra reel and casts easily.

So for $60, I now have another 4 wt with two tips.  This will be a perfect rod to throw in the back of the car for last minute trips or when I’m driving and come upon a stream that looks interesting.

Here’s to an early spring and plenty of fish. Enjoy!