Every time I’m on the
tailrace I keep reminding myself I need to share my latest find with you guys.
I know some of you may already know about using your chest pack as a rod
holder; when you are standing in waist or knee-deep water trying to change
flies or even changing out tippets. I have been fishing in knee-deep water many
times wanting to change flies but didn’t want to move and disturb the water I
was fishing. I discovered last year the chest pack I was using was much more
than an accessory pack.
The fly rod will rest in a
perfect horizontal position when it is positioned behind the neck strap connected
to the pack and pushed down behind the pack touching your chest.
I changed from the fly
fishing vest to the chest pack a few years ago. I found that I really didn’t
need to carry the store in the vest with me to fish for three or four hours. I
wanted something lighter and compact so the chest pack became my go-to storage
bag.
One can fork out quite a
bit of money for chest packs and vests. The pack I am using is the White River brand on sale now for 18.00 bucks for the large size
and 15.00 bucks for the small size.
Big rains here today will continue to keep me
off the tailrace for weeks.
Rain, rain and more rain for the past couple of days has
pushed the water level on SmithLake
up 5 feet. Trout fishing will be put on whole and crappie fishing will have to
take its place if the weather cooperators for next week. In the meantime I will
continue to do a few yard chores, gym time, blogging with you guys and watching
fly fishing videos. Some time ago I did a post that featured one of Jonathan
Barnes videos, at that time I told you guys that I had become a huge fan of his
fly fishing videos. I don’ want you all to think I am getting free fly fishing
merchandise from his website for plugging his video's I am not. I just want to
share his expertise in fly fishing with you, mainly because he conveys a lot of
information in each segment. If you are interested in hearing background music
in his videos you will probably have to look elsewhere. Nature and water sounds
along with him adding his take about the segment his wife is what
you will get.
I’m going to give the Ledasink leader sinkant a try that Jonathan
was using in this segment to sink his tippet tip while fishing the CDC pattern; anything to
improve one’s catch ratio is worth trying. Hope you enjoy In The Ring of The Fire
This video below shows how to fish pocket water where fish whole behind small boulders. The Sipsey and the Canery have this same cover as many of the waters you guys fish.
Finally, I get to fish the
Sipsey again; December the 15th.2015 was my last trip. We had 2” of rain in Jasper Monday and I figured
that the generators would be running full blast all week. Wow, was I surprised
when I checked the generating schedule Wednesday. Thursday and Friday would be free
of generation. I picked Friday, 70 degrees a little overcast and a slight wind
would hopefully trigger some activity for me. Apparently everyone else
thought Friday was the day too; didn’t make me no never mind, I was going to
fish!!
I was anxious to try out
my new Prestige Plus fly line from Cabelas. I also want to see how effective
the furled leader works fishing it on a downstream retrieve. I’ve never fished
this type of leader, and understand from information I’ve read it really enhances
a dry flies drift. I was ready to accept the fact that I would be changing
leaders to fish the nymph and dry throughout the afternoon. I won’t complain if
it improves my catch ratio.
Nymphs are my go-to
pattern on the Sip, so the nymph was tied on and I was off to access 5. All the
heavy rains had changed the color of the water to aqua green.
Numerous stockers were
brought to hand this afternoon using my 9 ft. 3 weight StreamFlex which made me
think at times I was landing 12” trout. I talk to one guy who was landing the
stockers using a 6 weight----way OVERKILL!!
A guide trip in progress
right below me, four fly fishermen above me and more on up the gorge; plenty of
company.
This fatty put up quite a
fight before I finally netted it. I thought I was going to lose this fish, because
I kept thinking my 6X was going to break with each hard run it would make.
Unusual markings on this
little guy---I am wondering if this is a rainbow, what do you guys think??
The only downer for this
trip were the coils I kept experiencing all afternoon forming at my feet; I am
going to assume I spooled the line on wrong. I kept hoping I would get a chance
to try out my new furled leader but no surface activity was present the entire
afternoon. I was told by one guy that the hatch occurred early morning, so
guess when I will be back? --------as if I needed a reason to come back!!!
I know many of you save your
favorite sites especially those that deal with fishing. I have numerous fishing
sites that I have saved over the years. Every so often usually once a year I
update the sites and discard the ones I don’t visit anymore and revisit a few that
catches my attention. While organizing yesterday, I found my old bluegill site
that I created back in 2010 on Big Bluegill Website. I
noticed while visiting the site they had given it a new look but still keep the
same format. The site now shows the number of individuals who are visiting
while you are logged in which I like.
I decided I would reacquaint
myself with the group so I did a short post on my Pelican Boat I purchased in
2014. I also updated all of my images. The website is similar to a fishing forum
and the closest I will ever get to a Face book type page. One can just post an
image with a comment similar to Face book and get a quick comment.
I hope to post a few of my bluegill outings there this season which begins
in a few weeks.
Cathey and I stopped by the new Cabela’s in Huntsville Friday on our way to
see our daughter’s family in Tennessee. This store is
larger than the one we visited back in the summer in Nebraska. I was really
impressed with all the merchandise I saw in the store especially in the fly
fishing department where I spent the majority of my time. The main reason for
the stop was to purchase some new fly line and some waist waders. I haven’t
replaced my 3 weight fly line in four years and wouldn’t replace it now but the
loop broke and I didn’t want to use a knot to connect leader and fly line. I
clean all my fly lines at least 4 or five times a year and I assume that is why
it lasted as long as it has. The price of the fly line is ridiculously high so I
was looking for a quality line, at a reasonable price
I feel my chest waders with the seams wearing
are nearing their last wade and will need to be replaced for this season. I’ve
wanted to try some waist waders for some time not only for the comfort in the
summer months but for the depth of water I wade in now. I never wade in water
nowadays above my knees.
As always when I visit the
big box sporting goods stores, I find something that I think I just can’t do
without. Well, today was no exception; after touching the surface and
feeling the flex of Cabela’s Prime fly rod I was impressed big time!! The 7’ 1”
---4 weight was awesome, but a number of anglers looking at the fly rod in the store as well as me all agreed that Cabela needs to add a 3 weight in the 7 ft. series. I have fished with numerous fiberglass fly rods over the years, but the Prime is in another class, simply put; it is the best fiberglass fly rod I have ever touch!!!
*********Check out the reviews on this fly rod*********
I have been watching birds
feed on our back porch for years.I’ve
never bothered to find out the name of some of the species, I was just content
watching them fly in and out through the day. It’s not that I am clueless as to
the names of some of the more common birds that visit the feeders; such as the
Cardinal, House Wren, and Morning Doves, but others I didn’t recognize.
I decided a couple of
weeks ago I would make an effort to try and identify the other colorful birds
that frequent my feeders; so my first stop on this bird journey was Barnes and
Noble. The big-box book stores can be overwhelming with the volume of books. I
spent some time sorting through numerous books that dealt with everything about
birds. I finally found a small handbook titled “Birds of Alabama” which had everything I wanted to know about the bird
species in Alabama.
This little book is loaded
with information about each species of birds. ----according to size, color
images of male and female, types of nests, number of eggs, incubation period,
type of food and much more. For someone getting into bird watching at a
beginner's level; this book really got my attention.
The book states the types
of bird seeds that will attract different species to your feeders.
I’ve been using the Black
Oil Sunflower Seeds for years to attract numerous species of bird. It is
probably the most popular of all bird seeds.
I just started using the Pennington Ultra Premium Nut and Fruit Blend Bird Seed. I read in the book where this seed will attract even more species of Sparrows and Wrens. I may add another feed later such as the tiny White Sunflower Seed, but for now I feel this is a good seed start.
I’ve had this feeder in
use for years and over time had to add a tray on its bottom to collect all the
sunflower hulls. The birds will crack the outer shell to
get to the soft seed inside. I am cleaning the tray out daily. Notice the cast iron tray bird feeder; prime for another type of bird seed in the future.
This copper feeder has the
nut and fruit blend seeds. I am seeing more Sparrows and Wren species since I
started using this feed.
Adding the piece of round
metal below the feeders made it squirrel proof.
Guys, I'm sorry for the blur on this video, but it was shot from my den filming through the window. I wanted you guys to see the activity around the feeders. I believe most of these birds are Goldfinch. Let me know if you think they are a different species. I believe I have found a new hobby!
This is the time of year I
get to thinking of landing beautiful rainbow and browns on the Sipsey and Caney Fork. As stated in my last report it will be some time
before that happens, because of high water on both tailraces. So all I have to
satisfy the urge to cast to a live trout or bluegill are viewing some of the trips I made in 2015. This past year was my best on the Sipsey when it comes to
landing quality rainbow. I think as each year passes I get more use to the
tailrace and which patterns work at a particular time of the day and season. One
of my best trips of 2015 was a trip where I felt I landed
most all the quality trout I had lost the day before. I felt I really learned
some things on this outing about position casting, patience, and how to really
concentrate on the movement of the indicator, which in this case was a dry and a stick
on indicator.
Back in early April of
2015 right before the spawn begin was one of my favorite trips going after some
super size gills. The reason this trip really stands out in my mind was how
hard I had to work to land some monster bluegills that were extremely wary of
any boating activity anywhere near the super clear water where they were located. The numbers of huge
bluegills I lost from break-offs in brush and not getting a solid hook set was
another reminder of this outing.
Bass fishing was somewhat
limited for me in 2015, because I was so busy going after the big bluegill on Smith and
the rainbow on the Sipsey. Of all the bass outings I had this past year one was
really memorable because I was breaking in a new bass bug line and using some
really big poppers to attract big spots on Smith.
Looking for too 2016 for more fly fishing action!!!!
I thought I would
share this fly rod find I discovered the other day while searching the
net.Troutlet is selling their Feather
Light Eagle Claw Fly rod for 32.00 bucks in lengths of 6 ½ ft., 7 ft. and 8 ft.
All these rods are fiberglass and have the stainless guides and taper fit
fiberglass ferrules. I am probably going to order the 8 ft. one as if I needed
another fly rod.
No fishing for me on the Sipsey heavy rains here has shut
down the tailrace for weeks. Both generators are running every day with muddy
water being released below the dam. The water at the tailrace outlet is higher
than I have ever seen it. My first fishing trip will be sometime in
February. So in the meantime, I will enjoy conversing with all my blog buddies.