We arrived at Harman’s cabins in WVA today so that I could fish the North Fork of the South Branch of the Potomac River.  This is a birthday present for both the wife and I as well as our anniversary present.  We arrvied around four and I couldnt wait to hit the stream.  For those that dont know, this is the place raved about by Curtis Fleming from Fly Rod Chronicles.  They have about two miles of private trout stream that the stock with browns, rainbows and brookies.  Now I cut my teeth on trout but as I was saying to a good friend of mine last night, there is something to be said for the way river fish smash top water bugs.  I would almost at times rather do some warmwater fly fishing than coldwater fly fishing.  Despite this line of thinking, I have been reallye excited about coming here and hooking into some decent sized trout.  I fished until dark and ended with 13 fish total.  I know, I know what a bad number.  I couldnt hook another one to save my life.  I did manage to hook at least 20 other fish that I lost.  So you are probably thinking not bad right?  I would usually agree with you, however, of the 13 fish I landed 7 were smallies, 4 were creek chubs, 1 was a red eyed rock bass and the other was your general run of the mill sunfish.  I really dont care what I catch but as my wife pointed out I could catch them at home.  I want some trout.  Tomorrow maybe we will try the wild trout stream that is 12 miles away that is on TU’s 100 best trout streams in the US.  Unitl tomorrow….

I have been so busy the past few nights fishing that I forgot to write anything. Starting on Sunday night through last night I managed to catch smallies, green-eared and red breasted sunfish, red eyed rock bass (google eyes to some) and some creek chubs on the Steroid Ant in black and green. In total I managed to reel in 124 fish. Not bad at all for a few nights of fishing. I was trying to squeeze in as much warm water fly fishing as I could before the winter sets in.

Spent yesterday tying up a new pattern. This the same pattern I tried at the local park pond the other night. I tied five up in two different colors. Now time to hit the river and give them a real work out. Hope they catch some nice smallies!

I needed to check a new pattern for an upcoming fly tying swap I am in. The swap is for Bluegills. I am tying a Steroid Ant for the swap. So I took the prototype to the pond at the park. After an hour I managed to only catch one largemouth, one crappie and seven bluegills. Over all not bad for a pond that is heavily fished by many.

I haven’t written anything in quite a while. School, work and family activities have kept me busy for some time. This of course carried over to my fly fishing and tying time. In an effort to get back into the swing of things, I decided to hit a local park tonight with the family. The kids got to play on the play equipment while I fished in the small pond. The pond is way over fished but I managed to catch a few in the hour we spent there. Sometimes it is just good to get back to your roots where it all began to find yourself again.

I spent the day tying stippled poppers today.  Some I was tying for a fly swap on another forum.  Some I was tying to give away.  Some, I hope, I was tying for me.  In the end, I think I will keep very little of them.  Just the way I am I guess.  Anyways, I was trying out a new way of doing the poppers.  I stippled the paint on them.  I started with 40 popper bodies but ended up with 38 due to one breaking and one having the paint smeared.  All and all they aren’t bad.  Not great but I have done worse.  This was a very time consuming pattern to do.  I learned the hard way not to do this many at one sitting.  My f%$#ing back is killing me now but they are done and ready for tails, legs, and some hackle.  Hopefully tomorrow……..

Spent some time today on the stream.  I was done with work early so I decided to try for some trout.  Fishing here in Maryland has been tough these past few weeks.  All of the snow and the current rains have led to high, muddy and very fast waters.  I have been working with a friend of mine who decided to try his hand at fly fishing.  He has been a spin fisherman all of his life and now decided to give the fly rod a whirl.  I asked him if he wanted to still go due to the rain off and on all day.  His reply was “YES”. 

We headed out to the same place I took the brown and rainbow trout from last week.  Upon arrival we scouted out the water as it had been raining off and on all day.  I took a look and realized that the water was moving very swiftly but it was still fishable.  I decided to stick with my 6’6″ 2 weight. I would soon learn that this was a big mistake.  With the water as high and as fast as it was, my fly simply could not reach the trout on the bottom of the stream.  I was beginning to get disappointed and frustrated with the fishing. 

I played guide and put my friend in all of the good holes with the right flies.  Or so I thought.  Several hours went by without a bite.  Finally, as we were both watching his fly line I noticed that someone seemed to be nibbling on the fly.  The line shot forward a little and I yelled you have a fish.  At that point in time he wasn’t sure what to do.  What we did see was that he hooked at least a 17 or 18 inch carp.  The fish really looked like a football due to its girth.  A short fight later and the carp broke the tippet on a rock in an attempt to head down stream.  Oh well.  Both of us were disappointed as this would have been his first fish ever on a fly rod.

After a few more hours we headed up stream back to the bridge.  I would like to point out that by this time my friend had managed to snag every damn tree, stick, bush, log, rock and other assorted items with his rod.  We seemed to be plowing through a roll of 5X tippet and black bead head nymphs.  At fly number six I explained to him that we were now even for the lunch he had bought me before we hit the stream.

At the bridge and after fly number six was lost and replaced, he decided to try his luck with a olive bead head hares ear I thought to myself no chance that will work.  How wrong I was.  On the second cast a brown trout of about 8 or 9 inches slammed it.  After a short fight the little guy was landed by the proud angler.  A few photos and the brown was released to fight another day.

The look on his face was priceless.  I still, to this day, remember the first trout I caught on a fly rod.  It was at the very stream we were at as a matter of fact.  I guessed by the expression on his face that I had just created another fly fisherman.  He was excited and proud.  This is turn made me happy.  I was able to pass on my knowledge and experience to a fellow angler which led to him catching his first trout ever.

I had only caught two creek chubs when he landed that trout.  As I sat, smoking my cigar and watching him I pondered the thought that fly fishing isn’t about what you catch or how many but the journey to get there.  We, as fishermen, seem to lose sight of that occasionally.  For me, it’s not how much I catch or what type of fish I catch but simply being on the water with friends sharing a passion for a sport which I have come to really love.  It had been a great day on the water!

I was able to get released from the house for a bit yesterday by the wife.  I asked if I could possibly go fly fishing and as soon as the word “OK” sprang from her lips I was out the door and rounding up my gear.  With the car packed I headed off for a small trout stream near by.  I thought to myself “two hours, plenty of time.”  When one is fly fishing, time seems to speed up and slow down all at once.  It is hard to describe but a devoted fly fisherman knows what I mean.  With that being said, there is never enough time in the day for fly fishing.

I arrived at the stream and quickly got geared up.  With rod in hand I raced down the hill towards the first hole.  Patience I told myself, you have two hours.  Scoping out the run, I noticed a brown hanging back and under some branches.  The water was stained and fast due to recent rainfall.  No problem I told myself.  I got this!  After the third time I hooked a branch I decided to move on.  Clearly, I did not have this!  I was surprised to see that I didn’t lose a single fly and only managed to scare the brown to death.

The next hole is considered to be the big hole.  It is about 6 feet or so deep and tends to get a lot of fish in it.  Upon arrival I noticed immediately that there was a problem.  The huge amounts of snow this year coupled with the rain had changed the way the water came into and out of the pool.  Current was going to be a bitch.  Again, I said to myself “No problem, I got this.”  I cast out all the while telling myself “mend, mend, mend.” 

Thirty minutes later it all paid off.  I was watching my green floating line dance in the current when all of the sudden it shot out.  With the hook set, the fight was on.  I couldn’t believe it. I was so excited.  I prayed that I would land whatever had decided to eat my size 16 flashback pheasant tail nymph.  As I reeled in the line, I observed a golden brown color flash from the middle of the pool.  A brown I yelled….YES I thought!  I always forget just how exhilarating catching a fish on a fly rod can be.  The first fish of each season is always special.  A short time later I landed the brown, snapped a quick photo and released it.  The day was now complete.

After much thought I have decided to blog about my misadventures in fly fishing and tying.  Some will be funny, some painful to a few but all will be true.  I am a self taught fly fisherman and tier with a large number of bad habits.  So, let the fun begin…