REACHING THAT 100 FOLLOWERS MARK!!!!

A couple of days ago I reached the number 100 fisherman who joined up with Fishing Through Life. It just seemed like yesterday I started playing around with the blogging scene. I really never thought that I would get anyone to respond to any of my nonsense, and was really surprised when I got a few replies after my first couple of posts. I started blogging responding to other posts.  I continued that pattern for at least a month before I created my own blog. I can remember how cool I thought it was when I actually got someone to leave a comment on my first post. That first post got me hooked. This has become my way to communicate with some of the best fishermen in the world. I have learned so much from all you guys about fly fishing since I started that first post. I would like to thank all of you who have responded to my post over the past couple of years and most important all those who joined up with Fishing Through Life. I considered all of you my fishing buddies and know I can count on all of you for great fishing information anytime. I actually feel like I know all of you personally because we all have that one thing in common FISHING!!!  

Thanksgiving And All That Food

I thought I would give everyone a chance to digest and absorb all those calories before I did this piece. You know where I am going here, that day we all love to stuff our faces with as much fats and carbohydrates, as we can. Thanksgiving is probably the one day throughout the year we throw out the rule book when it comes to eating. I can remember growing up as a child my Mom would always cook up an astonishing Thanksgiving meal each year. She always looks forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas, because that was her chance to show all of us how much she loved us, and that was through food, where she always proved her point. Thanksgiving and of course Christmas is a time for family and friends to come together and reminisce, and yes enjoy good food. Our family did that very thing on Thanksgiving, only with a different twist this time. My wife decided she wanted to enjoy the day without having to prepare all the fixings, so we all had our dinner at the Cracker Barrel. The meal was a feast to say least. For 9.00 the meal consisted of sliced turkey, and ham, with the dressing, cranberry sauce, green beans, sweet potatoes, and hot biscuits, rolls, or cornbread. The sweet tea came with the meal as did a huge slice of pumpkin pie with a whip cream topping. You just can’t beat a meal like that even if you are sitting there thinking, how many pounds am I adding to the waistline here? Now I will spend the next two weeks in the gym trying to work off those fat calories I stuffed in on Thursday. On well it’s the holidays enjoy!!  

Sipping Trout Below the Dam at Smith Lake

I have been waiting for two weeks to get to fish the tailrace below the dam at Smith Lake. The constant flow below the dam has been off for much of the month. The engineers at the dam are installing a new pump system that will produce a constant flow 24/7 instead of the off and on again flow that has been occurring for the past 6 months. My son, son-in-law and I all made a short trip to the tailrace Saturday evening and found the engineers had solve the problem and the water was moving perfect for some mountain like trout stream fishing. The water temperature was around 55 and there was not much of a rise. We landed one each for the afternoon, using the size 18 dry gnat and a 22 midge. The trout were feeding at the surface, but it was not the aggressive takes one would see this time of year. It was more like a sipping motion. I have seen this before and have never been able to figure out how and what to use to get the take, when this is happening. I can't tell you how frustrating it is to see the trout and not be able to get any takes. We tried a number of patterns but none seen to produce on a consistent basics. True we all landed one trout each, but it seems in this particular case the trout know when the pattern is fake and the action is over. I do know that fish turn on and off as far as feeding cycles is concerned so I guess this was one of those off cycles. Thanks for stopping by today and I hope everyone has a save and hearty Thanksgiving. 

  

Nice bow on the 3 wt. This trout had some width to it. After the picture it swim off to fight another day

My son off in the distance right after he landed his trout for the evening

This little guy was helping us get our gear together, of course he let us know it was not fair he didn't get to go.

Ancestry Research Mixed With Fishing

Well for the past three days I have been in Mississippi trying to catch some crappie with my brother. The first day we battled high winds and only got a couple of nips and that was it for an afternoon outing. We decided to change lakes on the second day and moved to the upper smaller lake only to find the wind was gusting above 20, so we didn’t even bother to launch the boat. So both days as far as fishing was concerned was a complete washout -----but not quite as far as one of my objectives were concerned.

That objective was my work on our family tree. I have been working on this project for the past year and have really got into the Ancestry thing. I suggested to my brother we travel back to our old home place.  Choctaw County Mississippi was where both of us were born. I wanted to try to complete some of the information I was missing to finish my research. We spent the better part of the day at three different cemeteries locating individuals dating back to the early 1800s. I have traced and have photos of tombstones of our Great Great Grandfather and Grandmother. Beyond that, I am using Ancestry.com to find the other generations. This has been one of the most interesting things I have ever worked on and I've learned a lot about our heritage. For those of you who have never attempted this, I suggest you give it a try, you might be amazed at what you find out about your heritage.

This is the headstone of my Great Great Grandfather--this grave was in the family plot by their old home place

My Great Grandfather's gravesite in a local cemetery in Mississippi

I hope I didn't bore you guys with this post.

Great Bargains on Fly Fishing Equipment Check it Out!!

Who doesn’t like great fishing deals? Here are some fantastic deals on fly fishing equipment that one would pay double or even triple in most outlets. From time to time I am going to start posting what I think are some great deals concerning fishing? I hope some of these items will make it into your fly fishing arsenal.

On sale at Cabela's for 5.99

Great beginner combo on sale at Cabela's for 29.99

Great price at Leland Fly Fishing

26.00--2.50 off as a Trout Club Member

Temple Fork Professional Series on sale

104.90

From Cabela's on sale 7.88

G-loomis 3 from Amazon 100.00--this reel will be discontinued after this year.

Extremely light with the free spool action

Fish Caught Using the Fantastic Road Kill Flies

I just had to get out Tuesday and try some of my new flies I got from J & M the other day. I recently did a post on how impressed I was with the detail work on these flies. When you are fishing this time of year one can expect extreme weather from one end of the spectrum to the other. Tuesday was no different, warm in low 70’s with the rest of this week in the low 60’s. In fact a couple of nights this week are below freezing. I was fishing a small lake about 20 minutes from our house. The water temperature was 62, and most all the fish was 6 to 8ft. deep. I was using the Road Kills in three different colors red, orange and white. I caught fish on all three colors but the winner turned out to be the white. These flies have a slow sink rate and most of the hits came as I moved it slowly back to the boat. I did try other flies but the Road Kill produced the most hits. I think the detail on these flies is the reason it gets the attention of the bluegills and bass. If this fly produces now just think what I can do with it in the spring and summer.      

                                           Sorry about some of the images the sun was in my
                                           eyes when I taking some the of pictures. Also the sun
                                           was shining on the screen of the camera at times.

                                                                                                                  

                                           Even the bass got in on the action. A lot of fun on

                                           4 wt.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

                                           A nice Shellcracker which put up a good fight.   

Fast, Medium, Slow Action Fly Rods Which do You Choose???

I can remember back when I first started fly fishing. I wasn’t concerned with rod action, fly presentation, casting distance or the lightness of the rod. It didn’t make any difference how the popper touched down on the water or the speed at which the rod propelled the popper to its target. Notice I said popper not fly here, because back then I only fish poppers in warm water areas. All I wanted to do was get the bug to a point on the water and hopefully land a fish, in other words I was not interested in the mechanics of the sport. Well after getting into trout fishing four years ago I have learned that all the above factors play a big part in being successful on the water, especially trout fishing. I think for me the most important factor when it comes to fly fishing is the rod action. The most common rod action and the most used is the medium action rod. This type fly rod can be purchase at your local Wal-Mart or any other discount outlet. If you are looking for diversity such as fast action, medium fast action or a slower action rod you will have to go to your local fly shop or purchase on line at your bigger fly rod outlets across the U.S. All these action rods have their places on the water. I know for me I use my fast action rod for heavier nymphs or bigger poppers. I use my medium action rod for med size flies or nymphs. I don’t own a slower action rod, because I really haven’t found a need for it as of yet. I guess in time I may need to look at this type rod if I keep landing those stocker trout below the dam. Temple Fork has a great definition for the action of the fly rod on their website.

The action of a rod is determined by where it bends with a given amount of weight. Fast action rods bend nearer the tip area and medium action rods bend down nearer the middle of the rod. Slower action rods bend all the way down into the butt section and look parabolic when bent with that same given amount of weight. All you really need to know is that faster action rods are stiff in the butt and flexible in the tip, because you will use a great range of weight when you cast varying distances or when using larger/heavier flies.

I am curious as to how you let the action of the fly rod determine the way you fly fish?

Exceptional Flies in my Latest Fly Order

I just got my fly order from J & M at Fly Fishing and Tying Obsessed. The detail is unreal on these flies. He got the color combos I told him I liked perfect. The Road Kills, which is what these bugs are called, should be the perfect fit for the spots on Smith next year. They should entice some monster hits from those large bluegills on the lake as well. I also ordered a couple of poppers in the smoke and black/white combo that I think will get the top water action going really well. I like to order different fly patterns from great fly tiers and J & M are some of the best on the net. Ordering from my fellow bloggers is a great way to support small business and to follow one of my favorite blogs. I really enjoy his post especially the ones where he is using his Road Kills and Poppers. Can’t wait for spring to get here to try these bugs out.

I can't say enough about the detail tying on these flies, really exceptioanl. Show me a fish that would not break the water for one of these kills.