The Stuff of Pipe Dreams

At left, some Dunhill from my cellar from 2007. Also, a lovely fly patch from Dette Flies that'd I'll never sew onto anything because I'm not a boy scout.

Badges !?! ... you know the rest.

Dunhill has gone out and there's some scrambling now a couple years later. Think Pearsall's for pipe guys. That tin -- aged as it is -- runs somewhere between $100 and $150 in the closet market. It was $8 or so new.

Not my brand but I had a couple tins put aide in case it became my brand. I also keep around some "guest" mixtures. 

I'm giving the tin to a guy this week who has invited me to fish water that I'd otherwise not be able to access. I feel odd about that. I'd like to go to his trout club and fish country-club fish and have a nice steak and scotch after dusk. Still feels a little off. 

I'm not much of a club guy. Don't want to be in any club that would let the likes of me on premise.  Means there might be more like me around those parts. (shudder).

Anyway, Dirk likes this brand as he's a "soft English mix" sort of fellow -- which is fine. He's not swallowed nearly as much gasoline as I have. His taste buds probably still work. Mine are moving right up into the "Haddo's Delight" range.

At left, a large tin of Frog Morton's Cellar from another defunct producer: McClelland's in Kansas City.

This one has whiskey barrel stave cubes packed in with the  tobacco. Im not a "topping" or "casing" guy but Frog Morton's is a bit of a treat.

It is aging until the doctor tells me it's okay to smoke it: it won't matter that much one way or another and you might as well die happy.



I had to buy some 12' tapered leaders this week. Gin clear water, slow glassy stream, wary trout. That's the norm where I am going so it'll be a lot of casting from my knees to sighted spooky fish. My 12' leader hand ties are not so good. My albright knots kink when they shouldn't on the light stuff. I'll have to work that out.

So, I bought the Hardy. These are nice leaders and I used them on the Gibbon last year.

I don't have any tweed for the club.

Dog ate a ham sandwich out of the jacket pocket when I'd worn the gillie jacket bird hunting. Hmm. I've lost more than one article of clothing to the combination of dog and forgotten ham sandwich. Must be a pattern. I wonder if anyone makes a dog-proof jacket? Hmm.

Also, the yard guys mowed a nearly new Korker's boot that was drying alongside the drive:

 Royal PIA. I wish I had the strength to split the toe of a wading boot.

















 Off to do some damage elsewhere myself.

We're in the golden age of fly fishing gear. This luxurious state of  every piece of gear we'd want in five different color varieties isn't going to last. They'll be a grand shortage of great gear here in a bit. We'll all have to go back to cruising garage sales.

Look what has happened to the pipe guys.

Prost.

Fish Not Pictured

Dward Tract fishing report, Manistee River, MI.

At left, a fine example of my recent fish photography. A lovely brookie was in this paw an instant before the shutter snapped. He's out of frame in this yet not quite in the water.

I went to the Au Sable / Manistee region for a trout dash camping trip this weekend. Gates had this as the sign: a classic.

I caught these. The big one - a lovely nine-to-ten incher - flipped out of my hand in the upper picture. Those I captured on the digital film roll looked more like this little guy. Lovely, though a little bleached. Only the large fish had a lot of heavy shading.

I can't tell if this fellow has nice color or not. Lost on me.

I fished using this nice little 7' 2/1 #4/5 by Chris Lantzy. It's a lovely mortised handled split cane rod here mounted with a Douglas Argus wearing Wulff TT in #4. The rod does fine with the #4 or the #5 Wulff line.

My Hardy Marquis is spooled with the #5 but that reel does not like grit at all. I fished it in the Wisconsin trip and it saw a little of the milkshake water. All cleaned-up now but I think it is about to be shelved for a Red Truck.

Chris' rod is a joy to cast and will roll cast the snot out of the Wulff lines. Perfect for the tight confines seasoning the Deward tract on the Manistee.

Beauty shot of a guide on the mortised rod with the Deward tract Manistee in the background at Stump Forest.

Above is "the hole" I worked on Saturday afternoon. It was a development exercise I set for myself.

I figured three catchable fish lived here in the bend (probably more like fifteen). I was determined to fish for them with dry, soft hackle wet, dry-dropper, weighted flymph under a wool tuft (indicator), and streamer.

You can see the cover, the current, and the dark turn of a hole which is a good six foot deep over there. The water in the foreground was about fourteen inches deep on my shin. I sat, thought, planned, and observed.

I slowed down and contrived to catch three fish.

Flies used.

I studied the hatch. It was largely mosquito as shown here for size.


Pictured is an old old ginger-caddis leftover from before I started tying cdc-DHC exclusively. Not a bad tie, though.

Maybe a little head heavy. Size 16 here.

My hook left less sting than this smashed fellow. He was not a practitioner of the barbless philosophy.

Girding my loins using the default Michigan mosquito repellent: heavy sleeves.













And "no joy."  I fished from a low angle slightly off and upstream so as to use the current to help me with the submerged obstructions.

I stayed low so as not to soil the hole. I got into position and sat for 20 minutes waiting for my bank-side footsteps to fade from memory.

No joy. Odd.

Otter? Osprey? Brown trout in the hole?

I failed the exam. There is something here I did not know or did not execute correctly.

Puzzle:

I took nine fish off this stream. Five I took wading downstream returning to my put-in. I "jigged" my soft-hackle in the drift downstream 50' in front of me (full line head + leader) loosing one and hooking five.

What? Why?

My upstream soft-hackle efforts full of concentration and stealth yielded worse results than "playing" a brown partridge-and-orange downstream in the main current drift. No hatch. No spinner fall. Partly cloudy day with a 10 - 12 mph irregularly gusting wind. I had waded up the stream long enough before to consider it fully rested.

Was I "chumming" the stream with my steps? I didn't think so but the results might say otherwise.

My delicate and dedicated fishing of "the hole"  pulled nothing. The fish I did catch from upstream presentations came from places unremarkable (not a visible seam off a sweeper or on/around a obstruction).

I  fished "water" and not fish. I used the "9 box" method of dividing the stream into three ranks (rows) and three files (columns) upstream but within my reach. I fished closest to me across the rank, then the next rank upstream. Then the next. Three or four steps and I repeated.

I have this nasty nagging feeling I'm too high in the water column for fish feeding close to the bottom while lying in the micro draws and troughs of the streambed.

I suspect. I suspect. I postulate. I guess.

I think I am fishing shallow. I will amend the effort next weekend on that trout dash upstate.

Beauty Shot of gear:

I love my Finn Utility side bag. It isn't perfect; but, neither am I.

It's lovely gear. It needs a little Lexol in this snap.

Spike Burger and waffle fries. Fished shallow or deep, these hook me every time. Forbidden food.

"Not for Bears."

The evening fire as I read and smoked the last of some Briar Fox from Cornell and Diehl. Sad to say, it hasn't become a favorite blend.

Next up is Sextant by G. L. Pease. Yes, it is slightly cased by rum -- as if that matters a damn bit.

I've nothing bad to say about a little rum casing in the tobacco from time to time.

Rum is a fine substitute for Irish Whiskey or a decent scotch  in a glass when you're pressed to it.

One must remain flexible, after all.

Prost.

Spring Fly Fishing Gear

At left, one of my resident jakes. Not strictly fly fishing gear but I do collect the odd feather from the local turkey activity.

It's snowing sideways. Not even the Thursday fly shop reports could do much this week to put "flurry" spin on the weather. The Mason Tract on the South Branch of the Au Sable is 200% over "drown the bear" stage for my wading.

My local water -- the Huron River which indeed does flow into mighty Lake Huron -- is right at flood stage.  My restoration creek Mill Creek set a new high flow measurement for this date today. It's got a foot to go before "flood" so there's that.

It's spring. High water won't last forever and when it recedes and clears there are some very reachable opportunities for the fly fisherman. The clearer slower water will be close to the banks.

No reason to dredge the horrendous mid-channel flows which make contact nymphing especially tough at "roaring" velocity. Yes, there are fish under those flows in depressions. No, you will not be able to detect a strike unless the fish hooks himself.

Let me correct myself. If you can detect a strike while nymphing mid-stream at three times customary high-water flow, then you are at or near the level of commercial fisherman. You are an adept in the league of the fellows who catch the "usual" trout. I'm excited about any trout and that makes me an aspiring "occasional" angler. I'd like to reliably catch the occasional trout.

I still catch the "infrequent" trout.

Anyway: high water. The edges will harbor fish in surprisingly shallow water where you wouldn't otherwise find them. They'll be a little more spooky and you'll need to fish to habitat instead of fish. However, they'll be more fish in less water than is usual for early season and concentrated fish can be catchable fish.

I'm going to the stream next week early in the mornings. I'll be at the water at first light before the behavioral drift has fully stopped. I'll be fishing bank lines, breaks, and anyplace the current slows to a slow walk or clears to less than milkshake.

I haven't been out enough. Morning before the day gig allows that to happen.

I'll sleep when I'm dead.

New gear. 

A year's supply of barbless hooks. Using the Tiemco this year. I liked the Hends but my local does business with Umpqua and Tiemco so I give them the business. Fine hooks.

They come packaged in paper slips just like unmounted diamonds. Yes, I've spent a lot of time looking at diamonds. I have a jeweler friend who is a rock hound and I've a thing for women I cannot afford. I know diamonds.

The size 13 TMC103BL are especially nice mid-season wet fly hooks. The wire is extra-fine so a dubbed spider can go from sub-surface to dry fly with a slight drop of floatant. That's a nice trick. It works, too.

Also, the hooks while small have an extra-wide gap that really help the hook-ups when your on-river habits involve "screwing with your gear."  When I'm comfortable and in-stride in mid-season, my attention can wander: the pipe; the odd bird on the sweeper branch; that odd looking nymph in the drift, a pattern in my box I should swap out for what is down on the dangle even now ...

UV dubbing in pink because I'm going to the Driftless and, well: Pink Squirrel.

I know I know. Look: pink squirrel. That's all I'm going to say. You can look it up.

Drink the wine. Drink the wine.

I use the Spirit River for this because it says "Pink" in large print right on the package so I know what the color is when tying. You try sorting this stuff when you cannot see color. Labels are selling points.

Tippet. 

A replacement  field watch . My Bertucci from last year had a problem with the second hand and they replaced it and gave me a new band. Great service.

A replacement Swiss Army pocket knife. This one is the "gardener" to replace my "picnicker" of a few years ago. This is a large heavy knife with sheers -- not scissors. I use a Solo bush stove for camp cooking so spend a lot of time processing sticks and such into small bits of wood. The sheers will make that more pleasant than breaking bits by hand for an hour. I tend to process a whole weekend's worth of wood on the first night.

Anvil pruners would work as well but they'd be a single purpose and I despise single purpose tools when I have to pack them in.

A Missouri Meersham pipe for on-the-water use. Mark Twain smoked one. It's a great pipe for a very little folding money. It's a lot more reasonable to carry on the water than a lovely Peterson piece of brier let alone the more expensive Savinelli or Dunhill models. Save those for staged pictures and the campsite. I too shall return.

Scotch. Yes, scotch is indeed classic fly fishing gear. Make your own list.

 A Cuban cigar in a tube. A trout buddy brought that back for me after his three week outing to the island here in March.

A fly box filled with my own spring ties (but for the drakes ... mine aren't very good and so I was given a half-dozen by a better tier than myself here last Christmas.)  This is my early spring resource box. I'll carry it in a high pocket and use it as fallback. I like to carry a very small day box. Sometimes in spring I can be caught short if the day changes.

How about your day? Are you ready for the change? It can go from soup to sun in an afternoon here this time of year.

The most important fly fishing supplies for early spring? A full tank of gas and a spouse who won't mind if you miss a few meals.

An understanding boss helps, too.

Prost.

Laundry Day

 Photos from laundry day -- washing the lines.

Step One: find a delightful amber liquid. This is a dull process and you need the entertainment.

Step Two: get your tools. Nippers, at least. You'll find bits of old leaders and tippet from your last hasty departure from the stream. Throw them away.  New season, new leaders.

Step Three: mindless entertainment. In my case, re-runs of Top Gear. Parts of the hosts' personalities occasionally resemble the Amber Liquid guys. Never all at once; but, we can have May and Clarkson moments with very little provocation.

Step Four: Suds bath. Strip line into lukewarm suds water. Resist the desire to swirl the line. Strip and submerge gently. Give it a good five minute submerged soak.

The line goes into the soap with the part closest to the fly on the bottom. The tip into the suds first.

Step Five: Rinse water. Take the line from the soap and run it through a damp microfiber towel. The wiped line goes into the fresh clean water.

The line will be in the clear water butt end first. The tip is the last bit into the water. Don't drop it.

Step Six: Our of the rinse and into the dry bowl. Wipe the line one last time. The tip of the fly line goes into the bowl first.

Spool the line back onto the reel.

Inventory the reels and line. It helps when you pack for an excursion.













There it is. Laundry day. Riveting entertainment.

Prost.

Wash, Rinse, Repeat

At left, public domain image hosted on wikicommons today provided courtesy the Louvre. Hey, we're nothing if not classy.

Two lady anglers are engaging in the seasonal duty of washing their fly lines on an amphora from 460 B.C. They were probably members of Fly Girls. The one on the right looks familiar.

Time for the annual washing of the fly lines.

What?  You don't wash your line?

You spend $80 on a fly line. You want it in tip-top condition.Or, maybe you're just "made of fly lines" as my father would say.

That's it -- you've got money coming out the wazzoo and can't be bothered to maintain gear? Maybe you're a filthy scum wallowing pig? [ Little of the mother bleeding over there. It's a family blog.]

Didn't think so.

Duct tape can't fix this one. March 1st is Amber Angler Line Care and Cleaning Day.

Why March 1st?

Beargirl is gone and I can wash my lines in the kitchen, heh heh. A trio of big silver bowls. Some dish soap. A microfiber towel. Brewski. No bending over, even.

So - wash your line. Mind the wife's cat when you do it. Cats. String. Fly line. Do the maths.

Oh, and buy your license.

Lastly, check for that sweatshirt soaked in smoked oyster juice from last fall, too. It's probably in that big gear bag.

March 1. The water is warming up nicely. Time for trout.

Prost.

Drunken Chimpanzees and Trout

Public domain image at left from the New York Zoological Society, 1906 as hosted on wikicommons.

How spoiled are we? I send into the ether a request for a public domain image of a monkey at a typewriter and I am overwhelmed in replies. Truly, I lead a charmed life in this age.  I can buy a bag of turnips with only walkaround money any time I want.

We're at the river's edge today. 

We're suited up and we've exchanged the usual bullshit parking-lot conversation with our fishing buddies. Nobody tries to solve the world's problems when we're anticipating trout.

Then comes the question: "What are you gonna use?"

A few days ago I wrote of my limited flybox this year. I'm a presentationist.

Your buddies however are not. They need that thing that's hard to acquire with just three flies in a wallet: confidence.

I'm convinced that confidence by an angler is a directly related to the skills mastery they'll demonstrate and thus proportional to the trout they'll hook. Anglers -- infrequent and occasional anglers alike -- need confidence.

There's a fly shop out there trying to help: Red's.

Let me just back-up a half step here. There are three stages to any angling we pursue:

• At the stream;
• On the water;
• The period before-and-after the stream.

At the stream we are observing. We're looking for clues like Columbo on a Sunday night.

On the water we're practicing our avocation and demonstrating our competencies to the trout all the while updating our mental model of the conditions influencing our catching.

Before-and-after the stream is where we improve our skills, knowledge, and transition the "can almost do it consistently" to a core competency in our arsenal. It's also where we earn confidence.

Now, we're back at the water's edge and the question arises. 

It's rarely all that direct. It's usually more like "Whatcha think?" or the famous indirect approach: "Hmmm, Humpies?"

Whatever the consensus might be, it sends us digging into our box. 

"Damn, I don't have any Lemon Gimlets with marachino."

Confidence ebbs. You were late to the water or hurried there directly from the other world without a chance to stop at The Local and find that special cocktail the trout desire this week. The bar business is fickle like that.

Here's the deal. It isn't as much the fly as it is you. How can you know you're all lined up with the regional favorites for an outing? 

Use your "before and after the stream" time and ask the folks at Red's.  (Fly order: deadly dozen ).

They've made it idiot-simple and we can all use that help!

Red's will assemble a twelve-count fly selection for your region and your season all from a web page.

Yes, I trust these guys to know there's a chance the Au Sable has a Hex on a June evening or that brookies on the North Branch are stupid for scarlet wet flies.

Now, the local shop is where you ought to go: your local shop. They sell gear but they're in the service and advice business. If you want the best price on gear, you'll be an idiot and go to ebay. If you want to be a better angler, you'll have a relationship with the local shop proprietors and give them your business. Award business based on service and support: not price.

If not your local, then use the river's local shop.

Service varies, however. A crowded shop can be a hard place to get help on Saturday morning and angling time is precious. Maybe -- like me -- you just don't like to talk to strangers especially to ask a question (it's a bear thing).

Red's has on-line ( here  ) a selector to build a fly collection for you and your water and your outing. 

You won't feel like you don't have a clue standing on the stream's edge when a Sidecar is the fly of the day for your buddies. You'll know that Borcher's Special from Red's will do the job.

You'll also be making use of that all-important before-and-after the stream time to make yourself better. This is how it works: do something to help your catching BEFORE and AFTER you are on the outing. I know. It is exactly what its label says. Surprise!

You'll fish with confidence and the trout will know the difference.

Give it a try. It helps.

Red's (whole shop here).

I'm at the keyboard today typing like the chimp of our picture.

I'm working on finishing a survey of the Driftless of Vernon County for my local anglers and on finishing a solid annotated outline of another non-fiction work. It's a big weekend for pounding keys and scotch.

Lou and I are on our own but for the two local does standing outside my library window. They look in wondering if I'm as beguiling as I seem.

I'm not; but, there is work to do. Have at the hostas, ladies.

Type, monkey. Type.

Prost.

Fly Fishing Dollars, and Sense

Frederic Halford at left tying flies.

Public domain image hosted on wikicommons. Some sort of attribution ought to go to Mike Cline who is listed as the author. I'm not sure Mr. Cline is the original photographer but I'm happy to have the public domain image to use.

It's the season of shopping. 

They'll no doubt be plenty of chances to acquire fine tackle and other gear during the next six weeks. I have no less then five "fantastic blow out deals" in my email bin now.

Careful, anglers. Careful.

There's a lot of money to be spent in this pursuit. Unfortunately, damn little of your money actually does that much from the trout's perspective.

Yes, that's coming from a man who has bought a couple rods a year for the last half-dozen years.

I've a nice stout 4/5 piece of split cane that Chris Lantzy sold me out of his "ready bin" this spring. I'll post the review here but I've spent more on a dinner this year than I gave Chris for the rod and the rod is a charmer. The point being is that great gear -- meaning gear we can effectively use on the stream -- isn't necessarily expensive gear.

I like SA System One click-and-pawl reels. You can find them for less than fifty bucks with a spare spool (Got a whole collection of spare spools. Easier just buy a whole new reel than fumble with a bunch of spools.) I like my Galvan Brookie too and a I gave a lot more than fifty bucks for it.

To the trout, which is better? The Brookie reel holds a three weight Wulff TT line that can roll cast the skin off a cat. (Catgut reference. No actual cats skinned in the writing of this bog entry). My usual SA has a five weight Wulff TT line.

Now, both reels throw the same class of line just fine. I could carefully buy a half-dozen SA Ones for what I gave for the Brookie and that I bought on a brother-in-law deal from my fly shop owner. Dirk is a soft touch about reels. Don't let that get around.

The point is this: good gear isn't expensive. There is fine inexpensive gear that will catch trout all season long. Trout gear isn't scotch.

Cheap scotch is seldom any good. Once you get old enough tmmo like a decent scotch, there's no such thing as a cheap bottle.

What can you spend money on here in "sale" season?

Decent boots. If they're on sale, buy a good pair. Pinched feet and hammer toes scrunched into a neoprene vise ruin a day faster than anything. I like the old "Centurion" style for cobble bottoms but for hiking-in they're just brutal. We've little cobble here in Michigan and I'm looking hard at something lighter. Once upon a time I used Chuck Taylor high tops with felt I cut and epoxied. Those days are gone.

Lighter boots make the day easier. Consider it.

A new line. Yes, I make fun of Airflo Super-Dri Bandit lines. No, I won't use one. However, finding a line you like at a discount to new is probably a good deal. Haven't bought a line in three years? Haven't washed your line in that time? Might consider a new line. Your old line sucks (water). The finish on your line breaks down with age and use.  The line becomes less a precision instrument. If you're throwing water on the backcast, you are seriously in need of a new floating line.

A Tackle Buddy spinner holder. Yes, this comes from the walleye world where old guys fish with pre-spliced and tied spinner rigs of 30", 45" or even 60" lengths. These hard plastic and rubber devices are little more than waterproof paper towel rolls that prove incredibly convenient to hold pre-tied dropper rigs.(Look here ). When the sun goes down and you need to re-tie, having one of these pre-spun with half a dozen dropper rigs you can splice-in with a surgeon's knot is the difference between catching and swearing for half-an-hour. It'll fit in your bag and for sawbuck, it's a bargain.

There's no fun in packing out because you can't see to tie a knot.

A flask. Look, you've got your priorities. I've got mine.

A decent whiskey. My priorities are working overtime.

That flask needs something more than Jack Daniels. Ditch that domestic bourbon and get some decent Irish Whiskey (which means Bushmills -- the oldest continuously operating distillery in the world, thank you very much). If you grow-up and discover some actual taste buds, a scotch old enough to vote is a nice treat but we're talking bargains here ... and that scotch won't be.

If you're an occasional angler on the water a half-dozen times a year, don't be cheap with your beverage. A nice whiskey travels well and goes down fine after that trophy trout you'll land. Trout have taste and class. They've no proven affinity for Old Milwaukee Light.

New Tippet. I know half of you out there in Troutland are using three year old tippet. I know it. That stuff gets brittle. Don't hoard tippet. Buy it as you need it, seasonally. Now counts as "next season."

A pipe. Now, I'm a cigar man and have been since before I could buy a drink. I had a locker on Fifth Avenue for over twenty years (my tobacconist moved and thus no more locker). I have a weakness for women I cannot afford, scotch whiskey I shouldn't afford, and cigars I shouldn't be allowed to to afford. I still love them all.

However, that cigar will ruin a line or leader if the two should meet. Yes, that's the same advice I give to friends seeing the other woman: let the two meet and it'll ruin your day. My close friends are old enough to be past the stage of infidelity. They cannot afford any other ex-wives.

You'll be sitting on the bank watching the river at some point next year. Hopefully, you'll be doing that a great deal. A pipe is a safer alternative to the cigar. I save cigars for around the campfire or on my deck. The pipe is the field implement of choice. Peterson makes a nice product that won't break the bank.

A Decent Set of Compact Field Glasses. Now, I know there's always too much stuff in the sidebag or the vest. I know it. However, you'll be better served  "glassing" the water than your present "squint and search" method allows. The fish you miss could be because you aren't looking before fishing or you aren't looking well enough at the water you intend to cover.

There's also the utility of looking at all the lovely birdies. (Obscure Missouri Breaks reference but I've a weakness for killers and Brando plays a good one). Seriously, a pair of waterproof compact binoculars good enough for glassing the water will run under $40. More seeing = more catching.

Never take anything on the water whose loss will pain you something sore.

Trout are heartbreakers. Don't give 'em extra chances by overspending on gear.

Prost.

Early Season Trout

It is spring. Almost.

At left,  a Partridge and Yellow Spider ( I think it is yellow and not orange ...label fell off thread) soft hackle.

I can't see color so I have to depend on the labels and when they fall off, I'm lost.

Anyway, spring flies. Too early for them here, but I've tied some. I tied the ones I want to fish most in my last sessions this year.

There's a dedicated group of fly tiers who meet on Monday nights at the Beer Grotto through the winter. They start in November and tie through until about now when it is time to work on the grounds and go fishing. It's been great to get together and think of spring trout all through the winter.

We probably won't get together again until fall.

This weekend: bluegill warm-up. There's a small warm water pond downstream from me where the crew teams practice. The river and my local trout stream are high and unpleasant.

Bluegill it is.

The Christmas beagle has appeared at my house - actually it is Lou the foxhound as I rummaged in a particular household cabinet. He's fairly tolerant about wearing a Christmas hat. Has never made it far enough to be the Christmas card, though.

He's tolerant here because I'm holding Tillamook cheese. He howled about five seconds after I took this picture.

I'll howl for cheddar, too.

New field watch I'm trying. Could be a keeper. This is a Bertucci in titanium.

No complications. Quartz. Five year battery. Analogue.

Turns out, it is a little hard to find a basic field watch for a price you might want to pay. There are "cheap" field watches out there; but, they fail. There are overpriced watches with solid outdoor vendors' names that pack plastic watchworks. Be careful of those.

There are some great field-grade watches out there too; but, I'd rather a custom piece of cane for the price.

Omega. Rolex. Breitling. Hamilton. Sinn. Seiko.

Various styles make it or almost make it. Lower end manufacturers push you to the diver's watch for the durability a field watch ought to have. Higher end manufacturers make you choose: trout car or field watch you'd trust.

Bertucci is a little bit of a crap shoot as they're newer to the market but if they hold up: bargain.

The crown won't fall out on this watch - hopefully - as it did in my last Timex stopgap. Even $32 is a lot for something that fails in a month. You go broke on "cheap" that way.

Watches fail at the worst time and this Bertucci has the potential to make it past "the worst time."

The dial is big enough to read without glasses. It tells the time. Screw crown. Solid lugs (no little pins to fall out allowing the band to part). Screw case. Sapphire crystal.

I could use a phone to tell time but then I'd be handling the phone on the stream and that is inherently a bad idea.

I've dropped sandwiches on the stream. If food can slip my paw, a phone surely will.

I wore a 007 Seiko diver's watch for some years. Massive thing. Unbreakable unless I died in the process of its failure. I put it on another guy's wrist who needed it more than I did. Good watches are transient that way, just like good fly rods.

I'm happy with a field watch that costs less than a decent snow tire. 

If I get a few years out of it, I'll be very happy. My outfitter wears one of these and he'll put it through more abuse in a season than I will in a decade. Works for him, should work for me.


I'll take my snow tires off in a couple weeks.

It looks like spring out there but let's not get carried away. I drove through flurries to fish the Au Sable two years ago on the weekend before Memorial Day.

Spring is like the Soviets: trust, but verify.

Prost.

North Country and March Brown

At left, the view out of my library window this morning.

It's April but this is a Michigan March scene.

March and most of April are winter months here. We've been spoiled by a mild March and the hint of spring; but, yesterday it let us know: we're still in winter.

I expect the North Country has a little of this now as well. I'll find out one day. I might have to spend a year or two in that part of the world.

Steelheaders have no idea what I'm talking about with this winter/spring thing. The ice is off and so they're out. The Alaska bound crew should take note. 

I'm working on spring. Maybe if I spend some time getting ready, it'll come sooner.

Here I am fitting a huge Medalist 1498 CJ to my Echo Glass 3wt 10'6" switch.

It is a heavy reel but the effect of the counter-balance keeps me using my lower hand for the power around the lowered c.g of the rod and thus, I don't get excited and "throw" my top hand. I can get away with throwing my top hand on my salmon rod -- which I almost never use -- but this little 3wt is more sensitive to solid technique.

I could use the two-handed tune-up. I never was "good" but merely "okay." I'll settle for "competent" and no blown casts over an entire day on the water. This rod will help me get there.

I've spooled with with a 7wt TT floating line from Wulff and this hits 190 grains right on the button.  It also seems perfect for the 10'6" rod.

The Echo glass will throw a much much heavier line but the recovery is poor in the tip. Echo gives me a solid grain window and this TT 7wt is right in the wheelhouse. I'll be able to cover the waters I want and get better day-by-day for a big fall spey steelhead season.

I got pro advice on the line. Thanks, Steve. I went with the TT over a DT but endgame is nearly the same. I'll be able to cast AND mend all the way to the fly with this line over the previous Ambush head I used for swinging fall streamers.

There's a pile of gear in the corner of the library needing a solid field test. I replaced a Frostline kit-made sleeping bag (goose down) I made years ago then left in a rental cabin last fall. Hey, 30 years and several pieces of duct tape means it is time for a replacement, anyway.

I went synthetic from Marmot. I'm more likely to need the insulating power of a synthetic in wet conditions these days. Shoulder seasons are damp.

I can stand the savings over down, too. I don't have enough days left in me to get "the goody" out of a $350 bag. REI points I've carried forever bought the bag.

New daypack there too (I haven't had one suitable for fly fishing) and a new heavy pack as well. Cookstuff  (Banks fry-bake pan) and new stove (Solo Titan model ... no more dealing with white gas).

I'm old and have more money than brains thus better gear. I've also seen the north country tinder dry and so I'm less inclined to cook over a free-form open fire than I was back in the day. In a dozen years of Ontario fly-ins, I had one dry year. Several trips saw me all but sleeping in rain gear.

It can get dry here in Michigan. The stove is a reasonable provision.

I'm tying. 

I have the excellent volume The North Country Fly: Yorkshire's Soft Hackle Tradition by Robert L. Smith. I purchased the volume here this spring from an independent bookseller. I encourage you to do the same.

AT left, my North Country Spider inspired May Brownie. 

The pattern books are full of some wonderful March Brown versions. However, in reading and studying Mr. Smith's wonderfully comprehensive survey, the herl collar stood out as a prominent feature I have not incorporated into my tying. I tie a herl thorax, but not a collar.  This, this new beast.

March Brown based patterns are solid here in April and May into early June. I'm extending them a little while with a slightly heavier dubbing to cover Hare's Ear flymph territory and will probably tie a dozen with grey-to-black transitional dubbing patterns mixing the two across the wraps and also add a darker hackle - probably black hen - for more work in the summer season. I'm listing my pattern here for the use in spring.

Warning: I tied this beast but haven't proven it's worth through the season. I'm just happy to be doing something so be aware of that lingering winter madness in my reasoning. April in the library is not May on the stream!

May Brownie:

Hook: standard 12, any make. Pinch the barb, please.

Thread: Peasall's silk in orange.

Tail: pheasant hen. This makes a wonderful tail material for soft hackles. I like it better than cock pheasant tail on wet flies.

Abdomen and Thorax: Wotton SLF mixed synthetic hare's ear on a dubbing loop. This fly carries no wire wrapping so the dubbing loop is essential for durability on those occasion where you use it all afternoon.

Hackle: Ginger Hen. (I have a new ginger hen saddle that is butter soft. Thanks to Lauren at the Painted Trout !). Two wraps. My saddle has a nice iridescent quality when wrapped.

Collar: two peacock herl mixed with dubbing loop strand for durability. Small collars are illustrated in the old flies preserved today. Follow their lead: small.

I'm ready to swing.

I'm ready to fish upstream to current seams an arm's length away from my right leg.

I'm ready to find a half-warm PBR in my side bag late in the afternoon.

I'm ready to laugh on the water at jokes I've heard before.

I'm ready. I'm certain you are, too.

Prost.