.............

So, the last vid has been reworked. As previously mentioned, this is a hobby for me. In this case, I've redone the titles, made some sound corrections, and a couple of other tweaks. I'm very much enjoying my foray into editing at this point. Lots of ideas are floating about my head.

........getting what you can.

I don't ever particularly fish where I'd like. Most often it's dictated by whats most local. Which is pretty much the story behind the spate of LM Bass outings. One thing that can have me writhing in agony from back pain is any car ride longer than 20 mins. It's killer. Most fisheries are more of a trip than just 20 mins for me. So, I take what I can get.

It doesn't provide a lot of trophy opportunities. The warm water fishery I frequent sees heavy pressure. A large number of those anglers are members of the 'bucket brigade'. All fish caught be these souls see the bucket. A large number of fish are culled. They must not realize just how damned polluted the water is. Oh well.

.....fish on.....

So, I did try something other than a GFC tonight. Tried a Yellow Rabbit Strip Zonker. Had high hopes for that pattern. It produced nada. Best laid plans and all that. A silver GFC produced well once I changed back.

The 420 part. A Kush cone.

So yeah.....more video. Again, not a piece that will be winning any awards for cinematography. It is an enjoyable hobby for me though. I like having a sort of video diary I can look back at when things get colder and whiter. I'm going to continue to work on it...........to get more of a polished look and feel to it. Of course.....trying to do it all solo has great limitations. We'll see what happens when ( if ) I get some talent to put in front of the camera.

GFC

.............

Just a repost of the previous video, though with some titling this time around.

.........a bit more topwater Bass.

......open wide....

Since the only way I can fish comfortably is out of a pontoon boat, that's about the only type of fishing I have done of late. Not complaining really. It does limit potential venues and species, but it is a far sight better than no fishing at all. Can't manage any real time on the water........but again, better than nothing.

another GFC victim.

The GFC is still producing well for me. Really well on large mouth. Not sure that when I do try to change it up if I'm doing myself any favours. The night I shot the following video I started with a Wooly Bugger, but went to the GFC after the bugger proved fruitless in the early goings.

Between sick, sore, and weather, not a lot of water seen lately.

Did try this morning for a bit. With temperatures dropped from a cold front, I kinda figured the morning might not be prime. I was right. Not sure it was worth the pain on this day. I did manage fish, but I had to work for them. The lake was packed, shore and surface. Not my idea of fun.

Had to switch from a GFC today. Wasn't a lot of activity early and I figured to go deep to get at any fish. So, just threw a black  bugger at them. It produced, but still not at a rate I could content myself with. I get spoiled.

........green fishing again.

Some footage from the other night. With trout water in the high temps, there's no reason to be putting those fish at risk, so it's sticking with the warm water species. I'm loving the 'toon. It's alot easier on my back than wading. Still on the same negligible fishery, fishing the GFC. Probably was out for an hour and a half.



 

...........more of the same.

Puttered around for a bit again this evening. Tried a different section of the lake than previous. Found some promising and somewhat productive water. Did a bit of filming. Unfortunately, the manufacturers of the camera have a sense of humor. While the camera maybe able to record for over 2 1/2 hrs continuously, the battery cannot. The best fish of the night where not recorded because of this. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Again, fished only a GFC. Was very sad to have finally lost the original one I had been using. I got a lot of miles out of that one fly.

More GFC'ing.

I was out for an hour and a half this evening. Puttering around in the tube and throwing the Green Fish Critter. When I start playing with new patterns I generally throw them alot. Not just checking for efficacy, but also will work out any design flaws, or find some improvements.

So far, I've only used the same fly on all outings. Haven't lost it yet, and haven't had to change up for lack of production. Nor have I thought of any tweaks for the pattern.

On the evening, it produced very well. Eschewing the crappie for the most part, I did really well on Large Mouth. I did more leg ( flipper ) work than usual and found a nice shallow spot in the centre of the lake that had some nice drop offs. Working the edge of the structure kept me into fish for the night.

GFC

With the temperatures high on the trout rivers, my sporadic outings have been for bass and panfish. I'm lovin' the pontoon on the hot evenings. Previously I had a tube...............finding the pontoon much more enjoyable.

With the fluctuating temps, I've had some days better than others. Even on the slower days there's usually enough playful fish to keep me happy.

The fly pictured is something that just popped into my head on night. Very easy to tie, and effective. It pops nicely, or can be made to slowly swim. This one has a mono weed guard. Interesting to note this fly can literally be tied from scraps. Being familiar with food fare of Bass, you could probably guess what I was aiming for.

I hadn't even considered a name till now, so for lack of anything better, lets call this the

Green Fish Critter
Hook: 4 -6
Tail: Marabou
Body: Olive Mono
Thorax: Olive Saddle Hackle.......sort of. It was yellow till I took an indelible marker to it.
Head: Closed cell foam. Was yellow, olive marker.

With any pattern I pull out of my head, it goes through a number of variations. If I have used marabou, the tail is often shorter.

This pattern floats well, is easy to tie, and uses cheap, readily available materials. All good things. It catches fish, even better. If your looking for a new addition, give this a try.

So, did some more green fish'n this morning. Really wasn't my day.


Not long into the morning I snapped my rod just above the ferrule, leaving me with a 4' stick to fish with. Long casts were out. SMH.

After a painful while of crippled casting, I hunted down and hooked a big pig of a carp. Drag was not set at all and and in short order my reel was bird nested and the carp gone and laughing. Oh well. Par for the course at that point.

I did briefly get to play around chucking some plastics. Works as good as they always have, and accounted for the largest bass of the day.

This was only my second broken fly rod in several decades, and is a prime example of the dangers of buying a rod used. There is no way it should have broke under the conditions that it did. There was a flaw in the blank. I read awhile ago, that the number one cause of broken rods is due to damage from bead heads. 'Dingers' are not too much different than shooting your rod with a BB. I highly suspect this was behind the demise of this rod.

Low budget, High fun.

So I had picked up a pontoon boat used and real cheap a couple of years ago. At $75 it was a steal. Then never used it.  I can be real stupid like that. Also had a 5-6wt Daiwa Sensor rod I picked up for $35, and a reel for $10. Hadn't used them either. So, figured I should.

Now the cool part is, if you do the math, the gear for this outing is cheap. Really cheap. Less than is often spent on  a reel. The rod, probably originally came from Canadian Tire. In fact, I'm sure Canadian Tire carries higher end rods. Despite a couple of interesting 'design' decisions, it has proven to be more than functional. The reel holds line...........and can be palmed for drag.......the nicest things I can say about it.

I decided to continue with the 'low budget' theme. I found a beat up old line to use. I tied a slightly tapered leader out of several different test mono. The fly I tied on ( and only fly I used today ) was a black Wooly Bugger I found on the ground at a popular Grand River access point. No waders of course, flippers instead of oars, hell even the pants and shirt I was wearing had come to me as gifts. I'd say the entire output of cost for gear was roughly $150.00 inclusive.

I headed to the closest warm water fishery. A negligible piece of water that should normally be passed over for more productive venues. The shore was lined with anglers, the water chocked with watercraft. I slid my toon into the water and puttered out to troll the edge of some weed beds.

The panfish were plentiful and playful. The Large Mouth I had been hoping to encounter were scarce. Not really a problem though. My main goal for the outing was to ascertain whether any repairs were going to be needed for the toon. Fortunately, it survived storage nicely. The crappie were in good supply, including a good number of slabs. I also caught a real nifty big Sunny that took me back to my summers as a kid fishing up north.

One thing that was a pretty big deal for me, but probably no one else, was how well my back held up to the task. Apparently fishing from a toon is FAR less taxing than wading. I still can't believe how much I don't hurt. It verges on miraculous.

Bassn'it

Really? Seriously? Selective BASS? on Trico's? FML. SMH.

I managed to head to the lower Grand for morning fun. Arriving just after 7 found what appeared to be almost every fish in the river on sipping rises. Good I suppose, but it was long enough since my last outing I really didn't have much of a clue as to what they were taking.

 A quick look in the drink, and I'll I could see were some tiny snot flies. I really didn't bother to ascertain whether they were Caenis or Trico. I went with the larger Trike's and hoped it would suffice. It did.....and loads of fish were caught........though mostly of the smaller variety.

Once the hatch ended, I got into the larger fish of the day on Crayfish patterns, and weighted Wooly Worms/Buggers.

Guessing at numbers of fish would be stupid. It was pretty much non stop action. A lot of smaller fish, but the handful of decent fish made sure that the outing could not be labeled anything other than a success. Was happy to be catching instead of fishing.

Update.

Yeah, so my backs been that bad. No fishing to report. Other than a twenty minute rest stop on the Moira. Happily I did manage a feisty enough Smallmouth in the few casts I made. Really painful to be in that neck of the woods and not fish. Oh well.

I'm going to have to find something where I can barely move and still hope to at  least bend the rod.

XBC

Extended Body Caddis

Video: XBC - Extended Body Caddis

So, I made this video mostly as a test as I try to figure out someway of getting a half decent filming setup with the gear I have. By no means is this great, but its not horrible either. It will give you the general idea.

Extended Body Caddis.
Hook: #20 Curved Shank Emerger
Thread: Olive. I used a black marker on the thread at the head.
Body: Micro Chenille. Use a light to singe the butt. This stops it from unravelling.
Underwing: Med. Dun CDC. This is for colour on this pattern.
Overwing: Elk hair.
The underwing is what will show for colour to the fish. It allows you to use natural coloured elk, which is more visible to the angler than a full Med. Dun coloured wing. Obviously, you don't have to go the route of an underwing, and used dyed elk, CDC, Deer hair etc, but I can assure you this method will not put the fish off, and make your fly much easier to track on the water.

I'm not really sure on the name or origin of this fly. I came to it by way of Pete Pettoes.

This is a fly I have supreme confidence in. I have caught a lot of fish, and a lot of good fish with this pattern. It's an easy tie, utilizing cheap materials, which are common in most tiers already accumulated collections.

Easy pickings.

There are 3 dry flies I'd consider must have's on a day to day basis for the Grand these days.............and for a good while to come. Each season they account for a lot of my fish.

Caddis #18-20 Olive/Blue Dun ( body/wing )

Cranefly #18 - 20

Micro Caddis  # 20 - 22 Tan/Tan

The first two especially. They have both afforded not only prolific numbers, but most of my larger fish. My entomological knowledge is far from staggering and as incomplete as it gets, but these are Hydropsyches/Spotted Sedge as far as I know. The best imitator I have for this is an extended body pattern incorporating micro chenille. However, a simple Deer/Elk Hair pattern will suffice. On both patterns, I use an underwing of Blue Dun CDC. This shows the fish the proper shading from his view. It also allows you to a lighter hair wing than usual to make them easier to see.

As best as I know, my cranefly pattern is a Pennsylvania Tailwater Crane. Pale yellow body, light blue dun wings tied in V shape and extending back past the hook, with a LB dun hackle. There is a staggering difference when this pattern is viewed alongside other Crane patterns I see in others box. Both in size and design. I can't speak to there success, but I never have to worry about having an adequate imitation. This thing is for serious business.

The Micro Caddis. I've covered this fly before on this blog. This is a prolonged hatch that makes fish stupid. Really stupid. Which puts them on my level and subsequently I do well with this hatch. Really not much more to be said I haven't before. They aren't here just yet, but I highly suspect they are just around the corner. They are some 20's flying about but are likely the smaller end of another hatch. You do not want to be without the MC's when they do hit. Unless your a fan of supreme frustration I suppose.

Nature has been kind to us this year. The earlier warm weather accelerated hatches and they have been timed so nicely that I've only watched dead water for limited periods. If I get ever get in any real hours it would be paradise.


VIDEO: River Walk.

..........so, yeah.

Not even going to bother with my usual whining about my back. The zero updates bit speaks for itself.

Indeed, the caddis have arrived and the fish are happy to oblige. Fish that would occasionally splash would take a foam post caddis emerger. I was on the river for a little under 2hrs, and was certainly better in the later parts of the outing.

The river has got it's 'stain' from the algae much earlier this season. Not a bad thing...............doesn't bother fish as much as it does some anglers. Even then it bothers the latter more than it rightfully should.

........this week.

So, I did briefly look at some water Wednesday evening. Lots more bugs, lots more rising fish.

I saw bugger all Hendricksons myself ( arriving around 4:30'ish, below Elora ), though a guy I talked with said he had caught a couple of smaller fish on them in the morning. Personally, I'd say they're done down there.

Definitely Foxes about, not sure how the fish are reacting to them. Managed a fish on an emerger. Fish were far happier with Cranes, even more so with BWO's. I left the water covered in black caddis....................so, whatever that tells you.

.........meh.

I literally spend more time getting ready to fish these days than I do wetting line.

I had planned to fish today ( Tuesday ). With days in advance, I tied some flies, clean and dressed my line, tied a new leader, etc. All to ease the process for the day of. If I tried to do that that on the same day? I'd be in agony before  I hit the car. Waders and boots? Thats always taxing regardless. And the fishing part? Well, water watching takes up the majority of my time. If I can't find fish rising, I can't be bothered. Very much an effort verse reward sorta thing. If my backs gonna ache, so is some fishes lip. I'm a bastard like that.

My blog. I get to whine.

So, my gear sits by the door, rigged and ready. Last look I had showed me enough Foxes flopping about the surface that by now the hatch should be interesting some fish. I'm often wrong though. I'll cross my fingers and see if tomorrow allows me a kick at the cat.

Hatch Charts.

I've noticed a fair amount of traffic comes this way via searches for hatch charts for both the Grand and Upper Credit Rivers. Lets talk about charts for a second.

First off, for those new to the sport, charts can only be so accurate. Bugs don't use a calendar. Probably the most accurate method would be phenology. Years like this, where spring weather conditions were accelerated, the bugs were too. Some years they get pushed back. What they are good for is giving you a general idea what should or could be on the water, and what should be coming up. The internet is also a good resource. Many shops have river reports online and will clue you in to the currently producing hatches. Blogs such as this one can also tell you what others are finding successful.............though, buyer beware..........anyone can write a blog. Some are excellent anglers. Others are not, like the hack who writes this blog. The well known fly fishing author John Gierach once said something along the lines of 'there are good anglers, and there are good writers. Seldom are they one in the same.'

Of course, the easiest way to find out what the fish and the bugs are doing is to get out there and look.

Grand River.
http://420flyfishing.blogspot.ca/2012/05/grand-river-hatch-chart.html

Upper Credit River.
http://420flyfishing.blogspot.ca/2012/04/credit-river-hatch-chart.html

No fishing.

For me at least. Sucks to have all the time in the world, and not being able to use it.

My mother fished a little last week, and managed to find some smaller fish that were eager to rise to BWO's and ( especially ) Cranes. I like this news.....................Cranes account for a good deal of fish for me. Much less Hendriksons..............so I wonder if that's about done.

I see Grandriver Troutfitters has a revamped site up. Always good to have a look at their site to see what bugs their seeing, as well as checking river flow. The river reports seem to be updated frequently.
http://www.grandrivertroutfitters.com/

Hopefully after this protracted period of recuperation I can coax something out of my back this coming week.

Water Watching.

Today I managed to go sit by the side of the Grand for a few hours today. The flow rate had been raised to over double its normal flow rate, so I wasn't to surprised by the lack of rising fishes. The number of Hendricksons that came off was far less than a couple of nights earlier. The only fish we saw move on them were the recent additions to the river by way of the FOGR. Cranes and Caddis were more abundant today, and I may have spotted a fox or two, but couldn't get one in my mitts to get a good visual. Really wish they would stop screwing with the flow rates.

From the sidelines..........................

So, a look at the Grand today revealed a much different scenario than my last outing. More bugs. Numbers and variety.

I didn't fish. I watched. My back is f@#k'd and I couldn't muster the effort. Watched Mom fish for the most part.

Surface activity was limited to a short period in the later afternoon when the Hendriksons came of thickest. My mother managed a fish in the higher teens, her biggest fish to date, and later busted of a quality fish that would have dwarfed her new record.

Before the Hendriksons showed up en masse, both Crane flies and Tan Caddis could be spotted. The fish only concerned themselves with the Hendricksons though. Would have like to have seen the spinner fall, but patience is hardly my long suit when my back is screaming torture.

Would love to be out every day of the week. Not feasible though. Hopefully I'll be able to squeeze in some time before the weekend.....................not gonna hold my breath though. 

Grand River.

You'll want to check the flow rates before you head out this weekend. It was at 55(!!!!) around 4pm today. I hear they may keep it up over the weekend. Make sure to check before you head up for sure.

GRCA Flow Summary


It was running around 18 when these pics were taken.

Grand River Hatch Chart.

Yeah, so I'm starting to work on a hatch chart for the Grand. If anyone has any corrections, or additions, such as Grasshoppers which I see I missed, or hook sizes like on the Isopod's and Ant's ), lemme know via email and I'll try to incorporate the changes a.s.a.p. So, buyer beware. I don't see any horrible inaccuracies, but there's bound to be something somewhere at this point. Thanks! :)

First outing of the season.

So, today was the first time I could get out this season.........bad back, yadda yadda. The weather forecast looked decent enough, so I figured I'd give it a go. Apparently, I had spent the first month of last year fishing crappie, and as a result had to do some quick ties to prepare.

Figured to hope for some Hendrikson action, but was a little fearful the water might still be to cold. When I first go t to the river, this seemed to be the case. There was a lot of Hendriksons coming off the water, but no fish were moving on them. Oh well. Eventually two fish started to make sporadic attempts at surface fair, and I managed a decent enough fish after a dozen casts or so on a Hendrikson Dun. After a couple of hours of watching water devoid of action, we decided to split.

As we started home, we happened by a stretch were fish were moving in steady rythyms on the duns blanketing the surface. I had already removed my waders, but figured I'd brave the slightly less then optimal water temperatures for a few casts. This was probably a good move.

So, I waded into the frigid waters, questioning my sanity, and started to work on a fish. I shortly hooked into what turned out to be another decent fish.

...........................and back it goes.

Alright! So at least there was a point to freezing off my balls! I probably could have been content with the days efforts at this point................but.............there was still some risers. I picked off a fish that was in the 13" inch or so range. Cool. I was done. A few fish were enough to make a decent day of it. I pulled my chilled ass out of the water and started to make my to the car. As I was doing this, I spotted another fish rising, and figured to make a couple of casts on the way by. Again, probably another good decision. The  fish sucked up my Dun on the first drift. Set the hook, and realized I had hooked into a very decent fish.

I had a problem with this fish, in that I had an obstruction immediately below, and I could not let the fish run that way or it was game over. I was using 5X, so I could put a decent enough pressure to keep it somewhat controlled with finesse. The reality of  situation though, was I was apt to bust of the fish at anytime. 

Stopping a good fish that wants to run is not how I generally want to handle things. A number of times during the 5 or so minute scrap I knew I was on the verge of hearing my tippet snap. However, I learned a long time ago, you can't be afraid of losing a big fish and you have to fight it as hard as possible. 

The 'knee squeeze' in the pic is not from the strain of fighting the fish.........I've got me net clamped in there. ;) The pic is snapped while I am putting the breaks on the fish. My reel hand is clamped on the reel and I'm playing a very tenuous game of give and take in an effort to keep the fish out of obstruction. Again, not the preferred way of handling a good fish.

.........incoming.

God was smiling on me today though, and I eventually got the rather irritated fish to net.

The fish was released so fresh that it broke my hold as soon as I started to revive it, swimming back to the depths from whence it came.

All in all, a pretty good few hours to start the season. Was also fortunate enough to have someone with a camera to capture some shots. This is almost never the case.

All the fish were caught on a #12 Hendrickson Parachute Dun cast with 3wt using 5x tippet.

Credit River Hatch Chart.

Just reposting the hatch chart for the Credit. Never a bad thing to have handy for those new to the watershed.

The Wall

So, another season is upon us. A good thing. Time to get my gear together, flies tied, lines cleaned...........etc. I never bother to do those chores off season. Never have any guarantees to see the opener and wouldn't want  to waste the time on a doomed endeavor. However, I keep seeming to survive till the next time. Maybe I'll learn for the next time, though likely not.

I find myself once again hastily getting my gear in order. Fortunately, one thing I have learned is to keep my rigs and tackle in a rather constant state of readiness. Regardless of the day, time of year. what have you, I take a certain pride in being able to head out the door on a moments notice with relatively little worries of missing a necessary or needed accouterments. Most of my pre-season prep is more along the lines of cleaning lines, replacing leaders, and tying up a couple of flies I'm short of. Even that has me hitting the "wall".

The Wall. All I really need to do is think of fishing and I hit it. Head on at full speed. I'll start looking towards a task, whether it be tying flies, cleaning gear, heading to the water, and it will all come to a grinding halt at the wall. My brain shuts down. Its smarter than I am. It knows that proceeding forward is just going to be plain painful. Thats my head. My heart, well, thats always on the water, swimming with the fishes. My heart would have me out the door, on the water, and never coming back. My head knows better. It knows that by the time I get there, and put on my waders, I'm going to be hurting. By the time I finish? Sheer fricking agony. Let me tell you, bad backs are no fun.

So, I'm at the wall. Smart money would say not to bother. Just not worth the price in pain. However, I've never been known to be to smart. I'm sure, that once again, I'll get over the wall. Fall down, pick myself up, note the bruises, and worry about  the next wall when I come to it. Then rinse and repeat.






On another note, I copy and pasted an article on stream etiquette on Hipwader.com a few years back. It generally gets bumped up on the forums around this time, and is always a good read.
Fly Fishing Etiquette

**Pictured is a #12 Hen Wing Rusty Spinner.