Ticks The Silent Insect

For all of us who have encounter the Tick weather on a stream fishing or just hiking outdoors, the bite can be punishing. This post is a follow up to the hiking trip my Grandson and I took the other day in Tennessee. We were hiking a trail near a stream when somewhere along the trail I got bite by a tick. I didn’t know it until the next day when I discovered some red spots on both hips and both legs below the knee. I have been bitten by ticks before and been able to find it on my body; this tick was nowhere to be seen. What puzzled me about this bite were the multiple reds spots that showed up the next day and the day after. Usually a tick will attach itself to your skin to suck blood and one can see the tick if they look closer enough, but this tick was something completely new to me.

I went to the doctor Wednesday evening and the doctor had blood work done and prescribed a powerful antibiotic with some medication for itching. He told me that some ticks can leave multiple red spots, beside the traditional one bite mark. He ruled out Lyme Disease, and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, because I didn’t have any symptoms related to either disease, which are: Fever, Joint Pain, vomiting, muscle aches, or severe headaches. I did go back to the doctor on Friday and he gave me a shot for further infection, which has helped I believe more than the medication I am taking. After five days of dealing with I can see signs of healing taking place, because the red spots are not as pronounced as they were Tuesday and Wednesday. I hope all you guys will take heed to this post and be extremely cautious when you are in the woods, whether you are fishing or just hiking as I was doing. I am including a link that I found extremely helpful in explaining the in results of tick bites.   

Fishing Trip Washed Out--So Concentrate On My Other Hobby

Thursday was my day to make it to the Sipsey Tailrace and try some wet flies for the recently stocked rainbow. Needless to say it rained all day Thursday and into the night. My wife and I left for Tennessee on Friday afternoon which has halted the fishing for me until next Tuesday. At the rate I am going my bluegill quest may be gone for this year.

So with my fishing on hold for a while I spent some time Friday morning tending to my other hobby, gardening, in the form of my cherry tomatoes, and peppers.

The wife’s discarded flower pots with one of my five cherry tomatoes plants. The blooms are just showing up on this plant. It will produce tomatoes into fall.

This plant is already producing, amazing what a 2.00 bag of top soil will produce when tomatoes are involved.

One of two sweet banana pepper plants that will produce into fall with an amazing amount of pepper yielded.

I thought I would try a couple of plants in this pot and see if I could double my yield. Both plants are producing pepper. There isn’t a lot of maintenance that goes into gardening on this scale, a little liquid miracle grow and water is the ticket. 

Muscadines are another food passion of mine in the fall so I planted a couple just to see if they would produce in the coming years.

Advertising My Favoritte Fishing Products

I am sure that all of you who follow my blog I have notice from time to time that I mention products that I used when I am out on the water fishing. I do this not to receive something free from the company which I do at times; but simply because I am so impressed with the performance of the fly, fly rod, or any other fly fishing accessory that I may be using at the time. Most of these products are sold through small companies and a few through large companies. The larger companies have many more avenues to promote their products as oppose to the smaller companies. A lot of the smaller companies use referrals, product reviews or their own website to help move their products.

Over the years while writing post in my Fishing Through Life blog I have featured many fishing products which have brought me great success on the water. So today I thought I would once again give a shout out to some of my favorite fishing products I am using.

 

Flies and Poppers----Boogle Bug Popper---BreamBugs—FlyDeals—Ultra Light Lures—Roostertails, Tiny Crank Baits, Small Grubs and Tiny Rapalas

 

Fly Rods----Redington Fly Rods—Greys Streamflex Fly Rods—St Croix Fly Rods---Ultralight Fly Rods—Dawai Spinmatic Spin Cast Rods—Micro Lite Spinning Rods

 

Fly Reels & Ultra Light Reels---Redington Drift Fly Reels—Venture 3 Gloomis Fly Reels—Orivs Battenkill Fly Reels---and how could I forget my Pelican Boat.



It is good to be back on the blog circuit, after my wife and I spent some time in South Carolina, and in and out of Tennessee checking on our daughter, who is expecting their 3^rd child. Somewhere near July 17^th. my wife and I will become Grandparents again, which we are looking forward to.

By the way I can't wait to get back on the water Thursday!!!!!

  


 

 

Stolen Fly Rods and Fly Reels Recovered

The detective that was handling my thief case concerning my fly fishing equipment called me Thursday morning. He wanted me to come down to the police station Friday and identify some fly fishing rods and reels he had recovered from a house in a county north of the county I live in. Naturally I was at the station at 8 AM Friday, ready to take a look at the equipment. I was thrilled and kind of disappointed at the same time because what I found was two of my Redington fly rods and two fly reels those being my Redington 2/3 wt. and one of my prized Gloomis fly reels 3/4 wt. What I was hoping I would find was my Greys Streamflex 3 wt. with the Gloomis 3/4 fly reel, but I was still happy they recovered the two I took back home with me.

There was an article in our local paper a couple of weeks ago concerning an elderly couple who lived in downtown Jasper that had their house burglarized. This happened when they were at a friend’s house one weekday morning two weeks ago. The thieves stole over 15,000.00 dollars of antique glassware. The police in Jasper working with the Winston county police department discovered that this burglary and others that were occurring in the area was a huge theft ring operating in three counties in around the walker county where we live.

There was a search warrant issued to search a house in a neighboring county, who they believed belong to one of the thieves. Upon entering the house they found most of the glassware, and numerous other items that had be stolen the past couple of months. The individual who lived in the house was not there. My fly fishing equipment was found in that house with all the other stolen items. The police are still investigating the case and hopefully some more of my equipment will be recovered soon.

The handle on my 7 ½ ft. fly rod looks like a mouse had nibbled on the cork. The fly rod was found in a closet in this run down house out in a wooded area some miles away from town.

I was especially pleased to get my 8 ½ 3 wt with my Gloomis 3/4 reel. These reels are hard to find and when one goes up for auction on Ebay it is gone in a matter of days. I am very lucky to have recovered any of my fishing equipment and I hope my Greys is the fly rod they find.

 

 

 

 

Memories, Ponds and Graveyards

This past week I spent a couple of days with my brother and his wife in Mississippi. Sorry to say it was not a fishing trip. The purpose of the visit was to clean up an old Trussell cemetery that was located in the back woods of Choctaw County in the Northeastern part of the state. We spent the better part of the morning moving small trees and brush from the 15 ft. by 30 ft. area. The cemetery is actually where my Great Great Grandpa is buried with his wife, one of their sons, and three other unknown individuals. Their graves only had rock markers with no names. During that day and time, the cemetery was usually located near the home.

We used marker tape to fence off the perimeters of the area so the timber company wouldn’t destroy the place later this summer. We will go back in a few weeks to place a permanent enclosure around the area. The graves date back to the 1840s.

This is a long inscription here on my Grandpa’s grave describing what he expected in the here after.

While we were in the area we decided to ride by our old home place about 10 miles from the cemetery. The house was located on this hill. We were both raised up here as boys and had fond memories of fishing in the pond that was located down below our house.

It had been over 40 years since my brother and I had seen this pond. A lot had changed as far as the area itself, but the memories remained where we went swimming, caught some of those large bass and super size bluegills. This pond is where Dad taught my brothers and me to fish.

I can still see my Mom landing huge bluegills using green grasshoppers that my younger brother and I would catch for her to bait the hook. We would bait the hook for her and she would let us land the fish. We were no more than 5 years old. A long cane pole taught me the art of playing a fish then.

The spring that feeds cold clear water into the pond was still pumping. We drink a lot of water from this spring over the years while fishing on those hot summer days. I know one can never go back in time, but if I could this would be one place I would surely visit.

The Leader Loop a Handy Little Gadget

Over the years I have used various ways to connect my leader to the fly line; my first method was using a simple clinch knot to connect both lines. This was years ago when I was using a heavy 5 weight fly rod with a cumbersome South Bend automatic fly reel. One could get quite a workout when paired with this combo all day. The knot was satisfactory as long as I kept it clear of the tip guide, where it would usually hang up.

 

My next method was the fly line pin, which was a booger bear to insert into the end of the fly line. My Dad wouldn’t use anything but the pin. He liked the pin because it would run through the guides with ease; I would always get him to pin my fly line.

 

I eventually moved from the line pin to what I would call a combo connector, that Scientific Angler introduced which included the connector and the leader in one package. Scientific Angler had all the leader sizes from 7X to 3X. My only complaint was the hang up that resulted with the connector and tip guide. This leader connector combo has been discontented. I finally moved on to my next connector.

My next adventure with the connector was the loop that is manufactured by numerous companies. I have two complaints with this connector; one is the sinking of the loop after it becomes water logged. The other is the loop itself not being flexible enough to close. This connector can be very difficult to connect to your fly line. I tried this connector less than a year. The loop has a tendency to disconnect from the fly line.

My present connector is the fused leader loop into the fly line, which I consider the best I have found for me. I will never buy another fly line unless it has the loop built in the fly line. The loop is found in most fly lines priced above 40.00. Cabela has some line in the 30.00 range with the loop, if you don’t mind the bright orange color. The only color fly line I use is olive or green. What is you connector preference and why?

 

 

 



 

 

Check Out These Awesome Links Concerning Fly Fishing

As most of you know I like anything dealing with fly fishing. I recently came across the following sites that has a world of information dealing with fly fishing for trout and super size bluegill. I think you might want to bookmark some of the following sites for future use:

I was drawn to site because I was looking for some decals to place on my Pelican boat. I was surprised to find an assortment of items here dealing with fishing.

If you love bluegill fishing with the fly rod, then this is the site for you. If you want to see some super size bluegills, check this site out!!

Flyfisher is a site similar to the bluegill site but much more detail when it comes to fly fishing for trout. This place has an insane amount of information for the avid fly fisherman.

Eastern Fly Fishing is a subscription magazine published six times a year with some fantastic articles on fishing the eastern part of the United States. They are presently running a 90 day free trial.

Perfect Fly Fishing Journal is actually a free publication that I get free, even more information concerning fly fishing.

 Hope everyone finds something useful scanning through these sites that will be beneficial for you come spring.

What's Your Time Limit For a Day's Fishing

You know we all learn something every time we venture out to one of our favorite streams or lakes. The learning curve has really increased for me over the last few of years; especially when it deals with the length of time I spend on the water. When I was younger it was a given for me to stay on the water all day regardless of the conditions, but as I get older that is not in my game plan anymore. A half day on the water is usually my trip. Research has shown that the most active feeding periods for most warm water species are early in the morning and late in the afternoon. Anything in between is an added bonus. The feeding periods for cold water species such as trout, can be somewhat different. A hatch on a given stream or tailrace could cause a feeding frenzy anytime of the day. I have seen trout feeding on mayflies at a frantic pace at 1 PM on our Sipsey Tailrace. This is why I love trout fishing so much, because I can make a two or three hour trip into something special anytime of the day. Being retired has afforded me the opportunity to tailor my fishing trips during the most active time of the day. When I was working five days a week I was only able to fish on weekends, with an occasional trip during the afternoon, holidays or summer months. Now if the barometer is high, with cloudless skies, wrong wind direction and extreme heat or cold I stay home. One thing I have learned about fishing over the years, one can’t make a fish hit if it’s not feeding. I know we all have different variables that determine how much time we spend on the water during a day’s fishing trip; is it the bite, weather conditions, time of day, or just the enjoyment of being outdoors?

Burglaries Can Happen Anytime of the Day!!

I was debating on whether or not to publish today’s post, but after some thought, I realized it might help some of you guys avoid the tragedy that happened to me Monday. To make a long story short I lost all my fly fishing equipment along with all my warm water flies and accessories, including a tackle box of ultralight lures as a result of a burglary. The thieves simply walked into my garage and helped themselves to four fly fishing combos and a couple of tackle boxes that were located in the storage compartments of my boat. The boat is parked in the garage stall next to my wife’s car. This happened in broad daylight sometime after lunch, I was at home all day. I was either in my basement or on the phone when it happened. My wife was in and out all day and left the garage door open at times, which gave the thieves an opportunity. We live in what I would say is a very safe neighborhood and never have any burglaries at all here, but there is always a first. The police and I surmised that the thieves knew the fly rods and fishing equipment was there and probably had been watching the house for a chance to steal the equipment. One can always go back and say I could have done this or that and things would have been different, but I can’t dwell on what I should have done, but simply use this as a lesson in what to do to keep it from happening again starting with;

• Never leave anything of value in your garage that can be seen by anyone period!!
•   Take note of individuals who come to your house to perform work; you never know if that individual is looking for something that can be sold at a pawn shop in exchange for money to buys drugs. By the way, Walker County, where we live, has more drug traffic than any county in Alabama.
• Keep any storage room in your garage locked.
• Always keep your garage door closed even when you are at home, not only at night but during the day. The door can be left open if you are on the outside in the front, but never leave the door open if you are in the backyard for a short period of time. The police told me that 95% of burglaries occur during daylight hours.
• If possible leave your security system on during the day if you are away from your house even for 15 minutes. We have an ADT system with a camera, and it was not on for those brief periods during Monday—costly mistake!!!
• Purchase insurance for your fishing equipment. I have insurance on my boat but no insurance on all fishing tackle. Lesson learned; I purchased insurance on Tuesday.
• Take photos of all your fishing equipment, including tackle, so you will have proof of what you own.
• And last, always be aware of suspicious vehicles or individuals in your neighborhood
• I lost everything to the point I can’t fish anymore until I purchase reels, rods, flies, and fly fishing accessories. I will have to replace all my crappie fishing lures as well. The sad part for me is I can’t actually replace some of my reels because Gloomis doesn't manufacture the free spool Venture reels anymore. I am not an extremely high dollar fly fisherman, neither am I a low-end fisherman, but I fish with quality equipment and some are irreplaceable. I hope by publishing this report today I have helped some of you guys avoid the tragedy that happened to me on Monday.

Organizing Skills for Fly Fishing

Today’s post parallels my last entry of trying to be better prepared before you get on the water. As I told you in my last post I kind of pride myself in being prepared and ready to fish the minute I make it to the water.

For me, forgetting fishing items for a particular outing falls under the category of not being prepared; so I decided after last weeks fiasco I thought I needed something to bundle all my fly fishing equipment into one place; enter the Game Winner Bag from Academy Sports. 

I am not going to make the predication I will never forget something I need on a fishing trip again, but I will say this Game Bag should make it easier for me to keep my fly fishing equipment in one place.

-

    Notice the shoe horn, which is extremely handy to get your boots on much faster. I also like to use a folding stool to sit on when I am lacing up my boots and removing my waders. I am always looking for a way to make my trips easier and adding the stool and shoe horn certainly helps. This will be my last post until after the first of the year, so let me wish all you guys a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

 

 

 

 

Numerous Trout Landed on Friday’s Trip

I was on the tailrace Friday and was having one of my better days, where I brought 6 to hand and lost that many in a couple of hours. I was taking pictures of all the trout I landed and the surroundings, when I noticed, after numerous shots I got this message saying no memory card. I am sure the message was popping up on every image I took, but I was so caught up in the moment of landing trout, until I didn’t noticed the message until I shot my last image. Upon arriving home I discovered the card was still in my computer, where I had downloaded some images earlier in the day----talk about a bomber.

This incident reminded me of the half hearted trip I made last year when I arrived at the tailrace with the intentions of fishing the lower section the tailrace, only to discover I had left my fly rod at home. I left as fast as I arrived and didn’t return for the day. I felt I needed the punishment of missing this trip, because again of not being organized. I like to think I am a fairly organize fisherman, when it comes to getting things together for a fishing trip, but Fridays ordeal reminded me I still have some work to do in that department.

                                                                  

Sorry I don’t have any images of the trip, but I promise to make amends on my next outing. I know none of you guys have ever done anything like this.

Christmas Come Early

I just received my Fly Fishing Lanyard from Nature Boy. It is made from 550 USA paracord. You can specify your core lump color and then select an outer color, in other words it is constructed to your specifications. Keith who owns Nature Boy makes all the merchandise on the site. As an added bonus, he threw in a Hat Patch with a couple of flies attached to the patch. I am really impressed with the quality of both of these products, and best of all they are made in the USA. I can’t wait to use both items soon on the tailrace.

Guys I have gone from a vest to a chest pack, and even lighter to a lanyard

Another Successful Trout Fest in the Books

A beautiful cool fall Saturday welcomed in this years Trout Fest which was held at the RiversideFly Shop, located on the banks of the Sipsey River. The event was sponsored by the Sipsey Trout Unlimited Chapter 639. This years Festival was loaded with activities, such as dry fly casting, door prizes, raffles, guest speakers, casting tutorials, children’s activities, casting competition, exhibits, fly tying, and striper-on-fly-forum. It was a fun event for the young and old, male and female and most of all a way to meet and greet avid fly fishermen and women. The event was to raise money for the big trout project that the Sipsey Trout Unlimited Chapter 639 has sponsored for the past couple of years. Last year’s goal was to raise 1500.00 which was met and this year’s goal reached that number and more. It is so rewarding to see so many fly fisherman turn out to support this cause.

I have to commend the guys in charge of smoking the pork and spare rids for lunch, it had to be some of the best pull pork I have tasted in a long time. Everyone else present agreed the meal was outstanding. The big smoker was smoking long before the crowd showed up.

Everyone attending could sign up here for a 10.00 ticket that was good for lunch and a chance to win the 10 ft. Nucanoe Frontier Hybird Kayak, worth 1,049.00. Notice the round plastic containers on the table, the lids were labeled with the name of each item to be raffled off.  One could buy 5.00 tickets for a chance to win any of the raffled items which was given away after lunch.

A lot of 10.00 tickets were sold to win this item. The individual who won the Nucanoe told me that his present canoe was on its last run, so winning the Nucanoe was a welcome addition for him.

The Bristol Bay Retreat in King Salmon, Alaska was another fantastic prize for the right ticket holder. A 10.00 raffle ticket would get you a chance to win this trip for two valued at 6500.00. A lot of tickets were sold for this trip of a lifetime.  

This was another item that got a lot of attention and sold a lot of 10.00 tickets; the Kamado Joe Ceramic Grill and Smoker, valued at 849.99. Other items that were raffled off were: Measure nets with rubber bag in three different sizes, pair of Korkers guide boots, Echo Edge fly rod, dry, nymph, and streamer fly boxes, 2 spools of Air-Flo fly line, Guideline Sunglasses, Guided Drift Boat Trip down the Sipsey Fork, and a Wading Guide trip for two from Riverside Fly Shop.

A number of fly tiers were available tying patterns used on and beyond the Sipsey. Joe Tremblay from Huntsville Alabama demonstrated some really nice dry and nymph patterns. He is a member of the Tennessevalleyflyfisher.org organization. Another excellent fly tier was Ted Crona who was from Scottsboro, Alabama. He demonstrated some really nice streamer patterns. His email address is tedcrona@yahoo.com

An array of streamers, dries, and nymphs were on display.

Local fly tier Steve Fletcher owner of Fletcher’s Flies was on hand to tie some of the popular patterns used on the Sipsey. Visit his website to see a variety of flies he ties and fishes with.

There were a number of kids participating in the casting competition.

This lady told me that she and her husband both fly fish and have been on a number of guided float trips in Tennessee. She was competing in the distance cast. The winner of this competition hit 72 ft.

 
Lunch begin with a line waiting for some of the pull pork, cole slaw, pork and beans, bread, and choice of drink. As stated earlier, the food for this years Fest was awesome!!!

Lifetime fly angler and author Bob Shanks was on hand to share with everyone his unconventional fly fishing techniques part II. He was at the Trout Derby back in the spring to present techniques I. Bob has fished in Idaho, Colorado, and Montana for years casting for rainbow and brown trout. He has spent the last 20 years during the summer months in Montana fishing all of the well known streams and rivers. The information he shared with everyone was priceless.

Around the Next Bend is a collection of stories and techniques that Bob has written to help one become a better fly fisherman. The book sold out at Trout Fest Saturday. A lot of Bob’s 70 years of fly fishing has gone into this book. He will be 84 in a couple of months and still fishing astounding!!

 

Legionary fly rod/reel, magazine contributor and fly casting expert Ted Calvert gave a demonstration on “Striper-on-the-Fly.” The casting skills he demonstrated were amazing. He guides on Smith Lake chasing the big stripers using his 8/9 wt. fly rod. He fishes streamers in the 4 to 6” lengths, using the big heavy bass bug line. 30 lb. stripers are not unusual for him to land using the fly rod. 

A tremendous amount of work went into this year’s festival, which produced a great turnout from the locals and many from outside the county and state. The money raised will ensure the stocking of many 20” rainbow and above for the coming year. Congratulations are in order to The Sipsey Trout Unlimited Chapter 639 and Randy and Brandon owners of Riverside for another successful year with Trout Fest. Hope to see everyone back for next years event.