solopaddler

To answer your questions, no and once again no.

Normally I'd be up for a dare but this time I think I'll pass . Should be good out there Mon/Tues though.

BAH, there's always prime conditions to be found somewhere in the east. Monsoon or not. Just have to know where to look.

Not an indepth tale, it's more of a rundown of the days events. With both kids nipping at my heels today it'll have to suffice . Enjoy! Anticipation The chances of all 3 of us being able to take a week day off at the same time and on a day when the conditions are perfect, well they're pretty slim. Nevertheless amazingly enough it happened yesterday. Cliff showed up at my place with Doug in tow shortly before 5am. I'd been trying for awhile now to get Cliff to come out with me to no avail. Work, schedules and life in general always intervened. Same thing with Doug. Over the last year or so we've shared a great many lengthy phone conversations and his desire to fish for steelhead, his eagerness to learn, and his enthusiasm were all infectious. Today was the day we finally made it happen. As we piled our gear into my vehicle and hit the highway the anticipation was palpable... I can't see! Neither one of the boys were rigged up, both preferring to wait 'till we arrived so that I could lend a hand in the process. We pulled into a truck stop close to the river in the cold pre dawn hours to grab a coffee, and I figured why not get everyone ready here? There was a large streetlamp iluminating everything nicely for me as I went to work.. Was about halfway through the chore, moving quickly as my fintgertips were numb when suddenly the light went out. Arrrgh, "I can't see!". Fumbling and bumbling in front of the truck trying to use the headlights, Cliff came to the rescue with a halogen headlamp clipped to the brim of my cap. Sweeet . We quickly donned our waders and gear, hopped in the truck and sped down the nearby backroad heading towards the river. Even though I've been here many times the tiny rutted trail was hard to find in the murky darkness and I actually drove right past the thing and had to backtrack . Finally found it, parked the truck, grabbed our gear and we were off... Don't Take Me Down With You! The trail to the river was slick with mud. It was a far cry from my previous outing on Sunday when everything was frozen. Nice temps to start the day, but for those with felt soled boots (Doug) the walking was a bit....slippery . When we finally arrived at the river and began our hike upstream I knew it would be a good day. The river was still up and flowing well, but the clarity was perfect. About 2', with just a tinge of greenish sediment suspended in the flow. In order to reach our first pool the river must be forded three times. With the river still somewhat high, and deceptively powerful Douglas needed a hand. With little experience wading in larger flows that was to be expected, but when he latched onto my jacket with the grip of a demon and started pulling me backwards I had second thoughts. "For gawds sake man don't take me down with you!!" LOL! A minute or two of sidestepping, shuffling and angling downstream with the current (don't fight it, go with it) had us to the other side. Only 2 more to go! Finally we made it to my pool of choice. As mentioned the river was a quite a bit clearer, so we had to tweak the rigs a bit before starting. Stretched the float out, added a couple more split shot, lengthened the leader and we were good to go. My first priority was helping the guys, but after a bit of instruction I couldn't resist. I sidled downstream and placed my float along a particularly inviting seam. It righted itself, floated 10' downstream, paused then shot under. First fish of the day: Not long after Doug hit a small skipper. Perfect for the pan he quickly dispatched it with the skill of a butcher. (I thinks he's done that once or twice before ). He was ecstatic. He was even more ecstatic when moments later he hooked into this shiny chunk of chrome: http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=y5WY7rZoOuY Cliffy got in the game after assuming the pole position in the pool, and managed several including one that was particularly fat and chromy. Here's a pic of Doug taking a pic of one of Cliffs fish : There are more pic's of Cliff with fish, but they're on his camera. Hopefully he'll post 'em! The Chrome-A-Thon Commences As mentioned I'm not feeling overly inspired at the moment so pic's of yesterdays action will have to suffice. Some of the photos are spectacular. The lighting and water clarity were perfect... Most of these photos are of me...that wasn't planned. At one point Doug hooked and caught a gorgeous chrome buck that put up a fantastic fight in the current: Doug Breaks Into Song Around mid-day Doug managed a perfect drift 6" from a huge log jam in the river. I was watching his float expecting it to dip down and hang up on one of the branches. It shot down all right but it was another angry male steelhead he was attached to and not a branch. The fish zigged, then zagged, then exploded on the surface right in front of him before taking off on a sizzling run downstream. Doug, (with some prodding), broke into song : http://ca.youtube.com/user/solopaddler4 And here's a still pic of the beast: I've GOT to Pee! That was pretty much it......except for one thing. On the way home Doug started squirming and fidgeting. He was having a bit of a bladder control issue. Hmmm...perhaps it had something to do with the 2 litres of pop he had just swilled down LOL! "Stop!" he says. "Alright, there's a truck stop just up the...." "Stop now. Anywhere, I don't care where" he says. Alrighty then. I found a totally deserted country road and Doug hopped out. I don't know what compelled me to drive away leaving him exposed just as that pickup rounded the corner.... He said he, uh, waved at them when they drove by LOL! What a great day, thanks guys! (Already mentioned it guys, but let's see some more pic's of the two of you! I barely had any on my camera!) Cheers, Mike

Mine either, his blog is gay.

You're so lucky to live up there Jay, just beautiful!

Patience lad, these things take time .

Putz .

HA CHA CHA CHA . Wasn't the nose Eddie Shack? Remember the "Pop Shop" commercials with him? "I've got a nose for value!" LOL!

Is that you mom? C'mon it's gotta be!

Spiel already answered your question perfectly, but just to add... There's tons of creative applications possible with blanks. Don't look at the label, figure out exactly what length/action you desire, find a blank and build it to your spec's. Example: A few years back I struggled to find the right fly rod blank for my great lakes steelheading. I was looking for a rod that could duplicate the kinds of things I was doing with my long float rod and light tippets. There's more available these days, but back then a fly blank like that didn't exist. I took a 2pc. 11 1/2' IMX spinning rod blank and built it into the sweetest high stick nymphing rod you've ever seen. It thew a 7wt fly line beautifully (if you slowed your casting stroke down) and because it had that parabolic action, it handled light tippets with ease. Think outside the box and you'll have a one of a kind rod.

As a Leaf fan it's tough to endure the losing and the ridicule. What makes it even worse I'm a huge Ticat fan too LOL!

Definitely not the Big Manistee, it's much larger .

Why in Gods green earth would you be worried about kids being brainwashed into become ANTS of all things? I mean c'mon what are the odds that your kids will gather together, start a colony , and build a nest in the backyard? Just doesn't seem like something to worry about you know what I mean? WHAT? You said anti's? Nevermind

That sounds incredible, thanks for the recipe.

My favourite soft water jig for lakers, they're deadly! Stellar pic's as usual Justin and some very nice fish.

Nice fish! Is that a jig in the chinnies mouth or a strip leech? Regardless, that's pretty cool.

Nice job buddy! Remember Richard's miracle hen from a few years back? I think you've got him beat .

Excellent Carole! Nice save landing on your knees. Knowing where you were yesterday I've gotta laugh though, that muck is deadly. I've seen tons of guys get stuck in it (myself included ). Good call on the lure choice, Kwikfish and Flatfish are lethal down there..

Honestly?, catch them yourself. Back in the day when I used them for pike under a float half the fun was heading down to the creek and catching them a day or two before . I'd freeze a bunch of smallish 4-5"'ers as well to tip my spinnerbaits with. Large esox have an affinity for an oversized spinnerbait tipped with a sucker minnow slow rolled across the tops of shoals and weedbeds.

As mentioned don't store them folded. For the definitive answer Simms recommends either hanging them up (my choice) or laying them flat under your bed. http://www.simmsfishing.com/site/about_repairs.html

Nice post, but OUCH! Way to bounce back from the mishap . (I feel your pain, it happened to me last year in one of my back lakes. Hook was embedded in the top of my hand. I just ripped 'er out )

"German lunker?" LOL! Loved the shot of you stirring your vittles with the screwdriver! A comic genious with a message, you're my new hero .

You just answered the question yourself bud. It'll happen from time to time when running longish tippets with little or no shot on them. Especially if you're also using lighter baits. It'll wave around in the air and wrap around itself on a long cast. There's also has a tendency to wrap around the mainline above the float. A more progressive shot pattern and slightly shorter lead will usually eliminate the problem. If it becomes an annoying tendency when I'm running a longer shot free tippet I'll bite the bullet and pinch a couple of dust shot onto the leader. That usually fixes the problem.

I always hang mine for storage, never fold. If you want them to last longer (and breath) keep them clean by washing with mild soap.