boxes of bugs....

never really did much
on the yaBe until I got
back into all of this fishin'
stuff....

have always liked the vintage
stuff, picked up another old
box of flies. this one is another
1920's era Wheatley, w/ 'vintage'
flies. It's 16 compartments with
felt in the lid..pretty much all of
the flies were 'meh' and I doubt
I'll use any of them...but the box
is plenty serviceable.


then there's this find that just
arrived today. The Wheatley
32 compartment is often called
the 'Rolls Royce' of fly boxes,
and for good reason.

Have always wanted one, amazing
capacity, great style and they'll last
forever, see the above 80+yr old box.
Picked up these two for a song, less
than retail for a single new one.
Granted, one is missing 2 doors....no biggie.

And the dang thiings were filled
with flies. Filled. And not with
somebody's old junk, packed with
quality flies that I'll actually use.
Well, maybe not all of those marabou
jigs, but the other 150 or so flies will
probably find their way tied to end of
a leader at some point. Got a bit of
sorting and re-reorganizing to do.

I think I actually got a pretty
good deal this time 'round.


But first, I have a wknd date with
some brushes and a roller or two...

bugs

fur, feather and steel.
it's what I use to catch
those beautiful trouts.

there're always conversations
that pop up, 'if you had just
one fly....'

if I had just one fly, it would
be an ant. tied the standard
way, two lumps of dubbed fur
with a hackle 'round the waist.


black is the standard, but
I was having a lot of success
with an orange and grizzly
variation late in the summer.
ants are everywhere, and the
trouts know it. present 'em
on top, or drown 'em down
underneath. very versatile and
they work everywhere from
the Letort to trickling mtn brooks.


of course, until it warms up
and the ants become active,
I have a couple other favorites....

fishing underneath is never
my preference, but sometimes
it's the only game going. for
those times I've had the most
success with a simple shrimpy
scud pattern. dubb it, wrap it
w/ some fine copper and pick
it out to make it look buggy.
fooled plenty of Letort browns
with this little fly...


I don't fish many nymphs in
the mtns, when I do, it's
usually a generic buggy
pattern like a Hare's ear
or a Prince. Want to try out
some soft hackles this year,
so I tied up a handful of these
a week or so ago, gonna do
more in a darker color scheme.....


And thinking towards that
week i'm planning for chasing
hatches in late May, this was the
best sulphur pattern I used last
year. I have a box filled with all
kinds of sulphur patterns, cut
wings, parachutes, extended
bodies, classic Catskills and this
simple thing worked the best for
me last year, go figure. need to tie
up a bunch more of these too.


so those are what I found
to work the best for me last
year. if only it was that simple,
right? Variety is the spice, and
it's good to have choices....cuz
you just never know what you'll
find out along the stream. These
are my two take anywhere boxes,
one for the spring creeks, one for
the hemlock brookies.


Those trouts sure can be a
finicky bunch, back to the vise.

just around the bend..

Wellllll, looking at forecasts
along with the calender...sensing
the vibe that Winter might be
wrapping up pretty directly. A
shift in the pattern is coming,
a lasting shot of warm air is on
the way and we'll be into March
soon enough.

I guess that's good and bad,
depending on whether or not
you managed to top off your
powder fix for the year...I think
I have. Definitely keeping an
eye open for one last shot of
March snow...but the 40deg
sunshine on Sunday found me
cruising over to a local trout
stream instead of the lift
serve circus.

I imagine there was spring snow
to play on, but I had a new rod
that needed to be fished and
some freshly tied patterns to
try out. Missed a few hookups,
then found a pod of brookies to
harass. Can't think of a better
way to break in a new rod, nice
way to start the new season...

Man I love those colors, my favorite fish.

four oh.

I'm forty, and have just
started to purposely
huck off of shit on skis
in the past year.

My form sux, but
gotta start some
where's.

Wheeeeee!


thnx for the pic Abe.

pow houndin'

Bought a lift ticket Saturday.
Spent the morning gettin'
rowdy over at CVR w/ Abe.
I think we skied one 'groomer'
all morn, Maching down gravity,
who says big skis can't carve?
Lots of fun turns picking the
pockets of that little mountain,
plenty of fun lines if you have
an eye and look for 'em.



Then raised funds for TCT
at Hellbenders...beverage
proceeds went to the club,
I did my best to help out.




And so had a slowwww
start on a foggy Sunday
morn...much like everybody
else it seems. Lots of the
unmotivated milling about
until the Sun finally popped
out from behind grey shrouds.

Got back on the leathers and
had a blast on the packed in
and fassssst singletrack up high.
Out solo so worked a nice tempo
seeing how qwikly I could cruise
along....yeah, man that's a lot fun.
Those local HASH's they do must be
a blst, and there is one at WG on Sunday...

what I said....

in response to a thread on a fishing forum about
folks packing heat while out fishing for trouts.

yes, you do have the right to carry, a permit, whatever...I don't get it.

Since there's a chance this'll be deleted by the MODS, figured I'd preserve it here...yeah, I'm one of those dirty fucking hippys who just doesn't get why people live in such fear of each other that they think carrying a sidearm is appropriate or necessary behavior.

Man, this place is so fucked up.

linky to thread if you're bored: hotlink clicky

------

''Suburbia', cute retort.

The reason I ask is that, yes, I too have had numerous 'wildlife encounters.' Momma bear w/ cubs, coyotes day and night (spooky as hell when you're out XC skiing thru the woods in the dark), rattling snakes and yes, even a rabid varmint or two....and never once have I wished to myself, "if only I had a gun."

So, I'm really just curious about how often it happens that a weapon needs to pulled while out on the stream? I'm pretty sure I could fend off a rabid coon with a few swift kicks and evasive actions....pretty easy to tell the innocent childrens to 'run back to camp/safe place' and defend them against that rabid 15lb beast.

And as far as the human factor...glad you felt like a big tough guy once those fellas got a glance of your piece.

But, really? Seriously?

[rant on]
Don't lecture me, or anybody else for that matter, about the risks of being 'out there', The dangers of hillbilly methheads, wtf? Suburbia? yeah, whatever. You have no idea about my travels or experiences, just as I know nothing about yours, beyond your persona here.

Personally, I like to believe in the good in people, and bank a bit on the laziness of your common thief. I'm more concerned about somebody breaking into my car at the trailhead, than an encounter a half hour's walk from said trailhead. I'm banking on the fact, that when I'm out there, anybody else out there is there for similar reasons...enjoying the marvels of this big blue marble we live on.

When I do run across somebody packing heat, open carry or concealed, I will cut a wide berth. Because I figure that that fella & I have totally different approaches to living, and if he thinks he needs to carry that, around here...well, who knows how he's wired? sorry, just don't get it. just don't get that fearful approach to living. best defense is a good offense? or something, yeah, whatever, it's still a defensive position...not very welcoming in my mind.

here's a little scenario to ponder...say two fellas decide they wanna try out this flyfishing thing, cuz you know, bassin' on the river kinda sucks right now, and maybe this flyfishing can cover this slump. So they get their new outfits from Bass Pro, combo discount!, and the salesdude there in the flyfishing department tells them about this great hole on such & such creek. It's stocked, ez fishin for bucketed in trout, and these guys had just hit it up last wknd, caught some fish and had a blast. So they come back this wknd. They know there're trout there, so that's where they go...straight there, straight from their truck to that hole, making a fast splashy beeline to their newly found hotspot. Stealth, respect? They're green, clueless, used to flinging jigs and plugs from a boat.

But, dang it, there stands some dude fishing their new favorite spot. He's see's them coming and immediately glares at them. They pick up on the evil eye and they're like, WTF? They pull up and observe this guy, feeling this weird vibe that that grump is putting off. They don't know of any other places to fish, they don't know any better, so they just hang out, maybe hope to learn something by watching this guy fish. And they watch, and they watch and watch. But see, this fella ain't catching anything. hmmmm....so, maybe they figure he'll move on since he ain't catching much, and let them have a crack it. So they camp out, waiting.

But this guy keeps giving 'em the evil eye, and then they realize thru a flash of sunlight into a fold of the vest, that that grumpy weird dude is packing heat....


"Well, eff that, like we're gonna learn anything from him, we're out of here..."



Or, maybe they were really there to jump you and take all of your gear...but I doubt it.
[/end rant]


perspectives, personal choice...call it whatchya want it's all good. But I just don't get the overly fearful mindset that drives folks to feel the to need to carry in situations where it's simply not called for.

Out west, packing heat for grizzlies, yeah, I can understand that I guess...but the old dude packing heat that I met on the Letort last spring? W.T.F.?



and hopefully that's all I'll ever say about that...Mods delete if you feel the need.

good times in dem dar hillz..

January Sunshine and Snow from WVski on Vimeo.