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.

Fishing the Super Beadhead Nymph

In October I was fishing with what I will call a super nymph on Smith Lake; when I discovered it made the difference in the slow morning I was experiencing. The surface action had long gone after the sun consumed the banks, so my next option was to go down under. I had tried a number of nymph patterns with no success, when I decided right before I was ready to call it a day to give the super nymph a try. On the second cast it produced a nice bluegill, which gave me confidence to stay a while longer.

I like the Tungsten beadhead used on this nymph, because I can get a faster drop verses a traditional beadhead. This pattern continued to produce throughout the morning.

After having success with the olive pattern, I decided I would get David at the Trout Zone to tie me up some other colors. I wanted these to have a little more hackle at the neck and a different color tail to contrast with the body.  I haven't tried the other colors on the lake, but come spring I will have a report for you guys. As usual he did an excellent job in tying up the exact pattern for me. 

The cream grub is my favorite. I landed numerous rainbows on the tailrace some weeks back dead drifting this nymph in fast water. Sorry I don’t have any images of that trip because I forgot my memory card for my camera that day. I can see myself needing a lot of these cream grubs in my future, not only for the trout but for the monster gills on the lake. I don't know about you guys but I am ready for spring!!