Building an Affordable Fly Rod Rack

How many of you guys tube your fly rods when you are not using them? I am guessing here but I would say the majority of all fly fishermen and women tube their fly rods when they are not fishing with them. I feel I am in the minority, because I never tube my fly rods, unless I know I am not going to use it for at least a season; or I know I am traveling some distance to fish. So where do I keep my 5 fly rods when they are idle? Well the 6 wt. is safe in its tube until next spring, the other four, which includes my two 3 weights, 4 wt. and the 5 wt. are all neatly placed in my newly constructed fly rod rack. 

This rack is inexpensive and easy to build and consists of the following materials:

One piece of ½” plywood 22” tall by 20” wide
One piece ½” plywood 7 ½” wide by 22 tall both plywood pieces have all the edges rounded
Four 2x2 pieces holding the rods in place are 7 ½” long with a concave cut out for the rod to rest against
The other 4 short 2x2 pieces are 2 ¾” long with the same concave cut for the base of the rod to rest on
A 4 ft. 2x4 can be used for all 8 rods rest

The tools you will need to complete this project would be a router with a concave bit and a skilsaw or hand saw to rip the 2x4 in half. Be sure to use the router to cut the concave in the 2x4 before you rip it in half. It is much easier to route a wide 2x4 as opposed to routing a narrow half 2x2. All the pieces are assembled with glue and screws, with the screws being driven in from the back.

Your materials for this project can be scraps of wood you may find laying around your house, or your neighbor’s house. If you don’t have a router you might borrow one from a friend or neighbor. I built the entire rack in a couple of hours and painted it to blend with the garage walls.

Notice the blind over the window, it is not only used to screen out sunlight, but I also use it to hook my flies in the fabric loops on the blinds. The blind loops not only pins the fly but it helps to keep the leader/tippet straight until my next trip. I don’t like to fish with a leader or tippet that is not straight.

When I am traveling to the lake or tailrace which is a short distance, I simply break the fly rod down in two pieces and tie with two short pipe cleaners. The pipe cleaners works perfect because they are so durable and bend well to hold the fly rod together until I get to my destination.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Using the Boggle Bug Popper for Some Fall Fly Fishing

My fishing buddy Charles and I made a fall fishing trip Tuesday to Smith Lake for some Boggle Bug top water action. The weather was excellent with no humidity at all and the water temperature was a cool 78. Both of us love fly fishing and it made for a great morning outing. We pretty much had the lake to ourselves and the smooth water surface was excellent to work the Boggle popper.

I scored early with the yellow popper fishing it with a slight jerk motion. I missed two fish before this spot finally inhaled the popper in water 30 ft. deep. The water this time of the year on Smith is crystal clear so the bass had no trouble seeing the yellow color. This bass put forth a solid test for the 5 wt. 9 ft. Redington. After numerous runs in depths of 50 ft. or more I finally got to touch this beauty.

After a lengthy fight, I finally landed this 2 lb. spot in what was an awesome start for the morning. For sheer power and fight the Spotted Bass has to be considered in the league with the smallmouth and a large brown trout.

I could have landed this bass in a matter of seconds using a 7 ft. fast action rod and baitcasting reel; but I would have missed the challenge of landing a superior fish verses a 5 wt. fly rod. I feel it takes a great amount of skill and finance to land any fish 2 lbs. and over using a 5 wt. fly rod and below. It seems in the fishing environment of today individuals are obsessed with landing a big fish and getting it to hand in a matter of seconds. I have to admit when I was younger and doing the bass fishing tournaments I was that guy. One doesn’t have to land a huge fish to experience the thrill of fishing, especially if you are using the fly rod. I can get just as excited landing an 8 inch rainbow with my 3 wt. as I can landing this spot today with my 5 wt. I realize now years later what I have been missing back in the day, when I gave up the fly rod at an early age. I hope to spend the rest of my fishing days enjoying landing many more fish using my fly rods.                                   

                                                                     

After the top action slowed I changed fly rods and starting casting my trusted Black Gant using my 4 wt. There was a slight breeze which hampered the top action so the Gnat proved effective just under the surface connecting with this nice bull bluegill. I would have counted this beauty but my quest is over for this year.

As the sun got higher overhead the fish move deeper, so I tie on an olive beadhead nymph which produced this nice gill.

Charles and I landed numerous bluegills using this pattern. I am no fly tier, but it looks fairly simply to tie. It proved to be a winner when all else failed. Working it slowly and letting it drop with a slow retrieve made for some savage hits. I haven’t tried this fly for trout but you can bet they will see it on my next trip to the tailrace.

One can really see lots of drift wood and structure this time of year on the lake. I have carried numerous drift wood pieces and stumps home this time of year along with a few bluegills for some great table fare. I am so lucky to have this body of water to fish, as all of would say about your home waters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Determined to Make The Trout Take What I Know They Should Hit???

Just when you think you have this trout fishing solved, it throws you a curve ball. My trip last Thursday proved that I have some more work to do in learning water reads, and matching fly patterns, with a particular hatch. The hatch was a few tiny flies, which I haven’t a clue as to the name, flying around most of the morning.  When I say tiny I am referring to a fly pattern in size 22 range; I know the following phase is a familiar theme with you guys “nothing was happening on top”, with the exception of an occasional sip at the surface once every 20 to 30 minutes. I tried to match the hatch with a tiny Gnat, Renegade, and a tiny PMD; knowing I was convinced that these series of flies were what the trout should be eating. These trout this day was going to show me that they had no interest in anything dry and wanted me to offer them something a bit more appetizing. So the process of elimination begin.

This area is moss covered and always has trout early and late in the day. I decided to give the run a try because I had landed a couple of trout here 3 weeks ago. So with the Zebra Midge tied on and using an indicator to stay just above the moss I begin casting. After some missed fish and problems with moss I decided to move onto another likely run.

I am so impressed with the breaks and small pockets here. This area is the closest I can get to western and eastern fishing.

The Zebra Midge got this trout's attention in one of the small pockets in this run. I missed numbers of trout in this segment of the tailrace, because it was really difficult for me to detect a take in some of the fast seams. This is the type water one needs to master using an indicator to be successful fishing tiny nymphs; I discovered today I need some work in this department.

I so enthralled with dry fly fishing today I even brought my little 7.6 ft. Redington with the matching Redington Drift reel. This little reel is only 3.5 oz. and is 2 1/2" in dia. The rod/reel combo weights in at 5.2 oz. and is a breeze to cast, and land this size trout here. I prefer my 9 ft. 3 wt. if I am fishing nymphs, but today I improvised with this little setup.

The bees were out today stocking up on the sweet nectar.

 

Howard over at Windknots and Tangled Lines ask me the other day how I fared with this years bluegill quest; CHECK OUT THE YEAR OF THE BLUEGILL