DIY dubbing block

Richard Strolis showed us earlier one of his nice bead head caddis pupae pattern.

This time Richard shows us how to make a dubbing block using very simple materials. He made his for less than $5. This video shows us that it doesn't have to look fancy to make your own dubbing rake. Thanks Richard!

Warming-up

It's cold outside. Not really weather condition to do anything concerning a fly rod. But it's time to tie some flies and dream about those warm sunny days with gin clear water running through your fingers...

Here's a nice video to warm up. Really fat cutthroats rising to dry flies in the Elk river valley in British Columbia , Canada. I've fished the Elk river in the past. Very pretty river! Those smaller streams like the Wigwam river is the one I'll be looking for next time. Those cutts are just gorgeous!



Better still, go to the Vimeo site and watch this video in stunning High Definition full screen. You won't regret it!

The last frontier?

I know, I know... These video clips are easy postings, but I just keep running into great videos!

Here's a new video coming up on trout fishing in Kamchatka Peninsula. These guys float and fish rivers which have never seen people, fishermen and fish that has never seen a fly. Virgin (big!) trout country. Probably the last part on earth.

Check out the scene (around 3:10) with the trout chasing the mouse on the surface. Man, we don't see that kind of behavior out here?!

Update 18 June 2011:
I watched the DVD.

Hmm... not exactly what I expected or hoped for. Lots of talking by the members of the group that made the journey together. Yes, Kamchatka is the what Alaska probably looked like 100 years ago: very remote and untouched.

What I hoped was to see how amazing the fishing is in Kamchatka, the diversity of the wild life, the amazing numbers of free flowing rivers and streams and just plain untouched wilderness. The DVD is in my humble opinion too much of a "We had a great time on the trip" movie. Sorry if I step on a few toes here.

We need ESPN here!

Too bad we can't watch ESPN here. There is a new series coming in January 2010. Here's a trailer about one of the shows coming up.

Caddis Pupa

I fish a lot with the basic bead head caddis pupa. This pattern is ultra easy to tie and is made out of very common materials.

I like to fish near dangerous spots: tight under under hanging tree branches, fallen logs, against the (undercut) banks, etc. Obviously I loose a couple of flies every day fishing this way so I need patterns that can be tied fast.

A twist of this pattern is this Magic Caddis by Richard Strolis. Here's a nice and very clear instruction video. I'm tying half a dozen of this nymph for next time.

Fishman

You've probably seen this documentary on BBC. It's about a fellow who lives in Montana and has an unusual hobby: swimming in the Yellowstone river wearing a wet suit and goggles. By the way, he's a sound specialist by profession.

But actually, it's about the vulnerable Yellowstone Cutthroat trout. Reminds me of years gone by when I fished the Yellowstone Park with Don and Scott.

Check out this interesting documentary here.

Kinda sad...

This huge aquarium (2nd largest in the world) is located in Japan, Motobu. It hosts a range of sub tropical fish including a couple of Whale sharks. I've also seen a few barracuda's swimming around. I wonder if they will take a bite of the wandering neighbor when hungry?

It's a beautiful view and yet again makes me a bit sad too. We aren't taking good care of our earth right now.

Tenkara - Fly fishing the ancient Japanese way

Recently I bumped into a site that introduces an ancient (at least 200 yeas old) method of fishing from Japan called Tenkara, which has many similarities to (modern) fly fishing. Tenkara is now introduced to the western world thanks to the founder of Tenkara USA, Daniel Galhardo.

The most intriguing part is the radical different equipment. No reel, just a long rod (11 to 13 ft!), a line of woven monofilament which is heavy enough to cast similar to fly casting and a leader system. Yet thanks to modern technology the rod is extremely portable as well as ultra light.

The rod looks at first sight a bit like a rod we use here in The Netherlands for fishing roaches and bream with a bobber and what we call a 'vaste hengel' (these rods are albeit much longer, 16 to 20 ft). The Tenkara rod has a cork grip at the end.

The length of the Tenkara rod makes controlling the line very easy. Casting is involved, but only in a very basic way. No need to understand the physics of casting. Since the length of the line and leader is fixed, long casts are not needed. A couple of short back and froward casts are needed to present the fly and basically reach for the spot using the length of the rod.

Tenkara seems to be an effective method for fishing small streams. My first impression after watching several nice videos at the Tenkara site is that the method looks a bit like dead drift high stick nymphing and wet fly swing. The take of the fish is detected by sight as well as the quiver of the fine tip of the rod.

The flies used looks very similar to what we use: dry flies, wet flies and bead head nymphs. A dry fly is 'dropped' on the water and guided through the current pretty much dead drift thanks to the long rod. Fishing with a nymph or a wet fly looks a bit similar to Czech nymphing which involves dapping into fishy spots and eddies.

Well, it sure looks like a fun way to fish small streams. I think it's also a very fun way to introduce absolute novices (fly) fishing in small streams since very little knowledge of casting, mending and controlling the fly line is needed.

Here's a nice little video which shows a nice insight to Tenkara. For more information check out the excellent executed site at Tenkara USA.

Bamboo broker's new adventure

In a previous posting I wrote about the tonkin cane which is used for making bamboo fly rods. The Bamboo Broker is one of the two the companies that imports high quality tonkin cane exclusively for bamboo fly rod makers. Check out the site for some very interesting facts about tonkin cane.

Andy Royer of Bamboo Broker used the same business model to create a new company called Picky Bastard Cork. This company imports the best quality cork rings from Portugal for the cork handles on fly rods and probably any rod for that matter.

Check out this video to see what makes a high quality cork ring and how the different gradings are hand selected by Andy.




Update Jan 4, 2014:
Andy Royer is diagnosed with colon cancer and is fighting for his life…
Hopefully he will recover from it.

Update March 2015:
Andy has been given up by the doctors…
Here is an interview at Bloomberg about Andy's situation.

Update September 9, 2015:
Andy passed away today. RIP

Less is more

Back from our trip to Austria! This trip was one of those I like best: discovering new rivers, having fun with friends and enjoying the solitude.

We planned this trip to fish three different rivers. Two of them being new to us. The river Alm was our main destination this time. The pictures we saw in preparation of the trip was nothing short of amazing. Pristine greenish clear waters flowing through the majestic lower Alps. Take a look at the pictures, you get the idea.

The stretch we fished was about 3 km's long. During the three days on the Alm we encountered one afternoon with light rain. The insect activity was remarkably low. Turning rocks showed some mayfly, caddis and stonefly population in low numbers. This probably answers the relatively small sized fish, considering the size of the river, we caught. The fish were generally around 8 to 14 inches. We have seen some larger fish in the river, probably in the 16-18 inch range.

This river showed us that fish here are really spooky as well as very well adapted to the environment. The browns and rainbows were pale whitish, making them virtually impossible to see against the white cobbly bottom. During our fishing, we never saw another fisherman. Definitely a river to admire the beauty of the surroundings as well as willing to work hard for small sized fish.

Our next destination is a little mountain stream in the hills near the town of Bad Ischl. This little stream turned out to be the highlight of the trip. The stream meanders through the woody hills, boulders scattered randomly giving little pockets for fish to hide.

The fish are not picky, so no need to match the hatch here. A high floating dry fly will certainly keep the fish and the fisherman happy. The weather gods were with us: clear blue sky and hot. Surely no condition for chest waders and such with all the rock hopping and stealth crawling. Extensive logging probably makes moving around a bit difficult too. Hippers are the ticket here, or even wet wading.

We caught very pretty spotted brown trouts as well as feisty rainbows. Everything from 6 inches to 14 inches. There is a supposed to be brook trouts as well as some graylings in the system. I think I remember catching a small brookie. But I guess most of these guys were on leave this day.

We did a lot of walking this day. We only managed to fish the upper half of the nearly 7 km stretch. Next time I'm sure we'll see much more of the amazing little beauty. Did I mention that the surroundings are just breathtaking? The solitude and peace of this area makes you believe that this stream was solely made for us... A really nice stream to fish high floating dry flies on a very light rod. I used a 4 weight rod but next time I'm bringing my 3 weight.

The final destination was the German part of the Traun river system. Wow, what an amazing river this is again. The temperature tumbled down the two final days from the low 30's celcius to the low 20's as well as the humidity went up. So we had a few visits from Rolf's buddies the mosquito's. The cloudy conditions also made spotting fish a lot more difficult than usual.

The Alien Bug showed it's versatility again. I've caught several very nice fish on this high riding hopper imitation which also doubles as a strike indicator. Nymphs used most were either an olive bead head caddis pupa or a bead head Shop-Vac. A brown pheasant tail with a gray fur thorax or a bead head Prince were effective too.

The six days we spent in this area reminds me of how varied the river systems in this area are. I can't imagine how many rivers and streams there are in this area. I'm sure more than enough to spend one's whole life fishing.

Ah, I forgot about the nice 'apres fish'! We 'enjoyed' some nutritious Austrian gourmet as well as excellent Italian dishes at our favorite ristorante. This time we were surprised with some tasty grilled fish, prawns and lobsters together with the musical italian lyrics from a live performer. What more does one need to enjoy a nice week of fishing with friends?

Again life shows: less is more...





Here's a video I made of our trip:

Where is the sun?

It's still about three weeks away, yet I'm getting a bit nervous again... The past weeks were very wet in the central Alp region. Massive raining for days on end in Southern German, Austria and Northern Italy caused lots of rivers flooding and even causalities. Funny thing is the weather here has been very sunny and warm.

Check out this last week's picture of the town of Steyr, which is not far away from our destination in central Austria. I wonder how many trouts and graylings are flushed away in this picture!

Not sure how long it takes to get the water levels to an acceptable (can't ask for normal levels I'm afraid) fishable condition, but we'll be watching the weather forecasts and water levels of several rivers in the area of our destination.





Update 23 july 2009:
It has not been the most stable summer so far. A week ago again a lot of rain fell in central Europe. However it's looking good now. The past 3-4 days have been sunny and (very) warm causing water levels to drop fast to near ideal conditions. The forecast for next week looks good as well. Can't wait to see the blue sky and clear streams!

Nervous May - part II

What's the best part of fishing in May? Hungry trouts? The increasing warmth of the sun? Nature getting ready for a new season? For me it's the end of a long period of waiting. Getting the rod out of the rod sock, gearing up and the anticipation of the first cast to a trout.

The final week of waiting prior to the trip was nerve wrecking as we saw the weather predictions showing more and more rainy clouds as our fishing week approached. The memory of the rained out trip of the Isar was glooming around the corner... Fortunately the weather gods made a small U-turn during the final few days before heading for southern Germany. Heck, we had some superb sunny days.

Eventually one morning with a slight drizzle and a night with several short showers were all the rain we saw. The water level was a bit higher than usual. My guess is that the river condition was as good as we could hope for considering the situation. Probably 80% of the ideal level.

My friends Rolf and Martin joined me this time. My Germany buddy Andreas couldn't make it this week. Make sure you join us next time!

I promised Martin that the rivers we were going to fish would be a dry fly fisherman's dream: crystal clear and nice stretches of slow runs between the riffles. Well, the river was pretty clear all right, but some how no insect activity worth mentioning to trigger the fish to rise. Fishing with weighted nymphs was as usual the ticket. The end of the week we saw a massive hatch of yellow sallys. But that's what we call 'mustard after the meal'.

We fished several stretches of the Traun as well as a sweet little creek. It's amazing how strong these fish are. My buddies were laughing about me playing the fish too long, but they were soon to explore the strong trouts themselves. 4-5 runs were more rule than exception. These fish look like they're on steroids!

What's the best way to end a nice day of fishing? A nice long meal at my favorite Italian restaurant! Just have a look at the wonderful dish our Italian friends made for our final evening of the trip.

Rolf's favorite dish, the grilled squid, was pretty amazing indeed. The revelation for my friends was the simple but tasty starter called Bruchette de Pomodoro. A piece of toasted bread with a dressing of olive oil, lots of garlic and pieces of tomato. So basic, yet so tasteful!


Well, enjoy the remaining pictures!

Next stop: end of July.
Destination: Northern Austria!

Nervous May - part I

Just back form our May trip.

The weather prior to this week wasn't looking fabulous. Pretty much a rainy week with a dry period in between. It turned out to be much better than expected. However the river condition was only about 80% of the usual level. We still managed to have a great week with some nice fish.

I'll be back with a more detailed report as well as more nice pictures.
In the mean time enjoy these two pictures.
By the way, the tasty looking dish is Rolf's new love: the grilled Tinten fisch (German for squid).

Getting some fresh air

The river Kyll always has been the first introduction to fly fishing for trout for many Dutch fly fishermen. I think I spent 10 years fishing the several stretches of this river before heading for more exotic places.

My friend John and I decided to do a one-day-trip to get some fresh air. The river Kyll was the logical choice since it's only a 3.5 hours drive.

We got a day ticket and headed for this 1 km long private stretch near the town of Mürlenbach, just below the town of Birresborn. The Kyll stretch near Birresborn is probably the most visited stretch of the Kyll. At weekends this stretch can be really crowded.

I had to recall when I fished the Kyll for the last time. It must be around 12 years ago. I heard about the near extinction of the once so abundant grayling. I remember those trips where we caught around 100 fish a day on the stretch above Birresborn, most of them being grayling.

Well, no grayling to be found today... In fact, the river looked pretty deserted. Just a dozen of tiny brown trouts were all we saw. The rain of several days before kept the water a bit murky. Ah well.... we got a smell of fresh air under a bright sunny sky!



So this trip marks the start of a new season.
Next stop: mid May.
Destination: southern Germany!

Spring casting

What a nice and warm easter spring day it was today.

Martin Hengelsport, a local fly shop organized a demo day where one could try out a nice selection of rods made by Guideline. Guideline is a Swedish manufacturer of fly rods, reels and lines. Similar to Loop and Vision.

It wasn't a big happening and that's probably why I liked it so much. We got to talk to our fly fishing friends, cast a rod or two and basically enjoy the warmth of the spring sun. They even made a little water basin to demonstrate the various spey-casting techniques.

I'm not into two handed atlantic salmon fishing, Skagit-style casting or even switch rods, but the experts say Guideline's two handed fly rods are among the best, if not the best. Can't comment on that, but their one handed fly rods appear to me as nothing special, if not a bit stiff and kinda 'lifeless' if you ask me... The price range is just below the premium brands like Sage and Winston.

It's remarkable how these Scandinavian brands have been working their way up the fly fishing industry the past 10 years. I remember Loop started the large abor reel craze with their Traditional reels in the mid 1980's. In the early 1990's Sage had their 700 reel-series made by Loop, which in turn commissioned Danielsson to build the reels under the Loop brand.

Nowadays the original large arbor reels from Loop are built and marketed by Danielsson as an independent reel manufacturer. It took a while these large abor reels really took off. I think it was Jon Bauer with his award winning MacKenzie reel series in the late 1990's really kick started the large abor hype as we know today.

I think these Scandinavian brands are giving the premium brands a run for their money in terms of value-for-money, no-questions-asked service as well as innovation on fishing for sea run brown trouts and atlantic salmons. The Scandinavian fly fishermen are considered the true experts on the sea run brown trout fishing along the endless coastal shores of Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

Our first trip to the trout streams is just about a month away. However, I managed to squeeze a one-day-trip with my friend John within 2 weeks from now to the river Kyll in the German Eifel region, just over the southern Dutch border.

Ah...memories! My first steps in the trout streams were made on this river, now some 20 years ago. Stay tuned for a little trip report on this one-day event!

Reminiscing - part IV

This is a picture of the mighty Missouri river in Montana, near the town of Craig, I took in the fall of 2005. The Missouri river, below the Holter dam, is considered the largest spring creek on earth. This is because of the steady water flow and water temperature released from the Holter lake.

I first visited the Missouri river in the summer of 1992. The sheer size and charisma of the Missouri just blew me away.

Powerfibers II

Here are two interesting pictures of bamboo culms. The left culm is the bamboo which rod makers use, the so called Tonkin bamboo. The other (right culm) is a regular bamboo, probably used for making fences and/or as decoration in gardens etc.

As you can see, the Tonkin has a much higher density of the so called power fibers at the outer part near the surface. Tonkin is one of the many spieces of bamboo and only grows in a small area in the Guangdong province of China. It seems that LESS than 1% of the Tonkin harvested is suitable for rod making. Check out this posting for more information on Tonkin.

The two most well known companies specialized in importing Tonkin cane for rod building are probably Charles H. Demarest (since the 1930's!) and more recently Andy Royer.