Midnight Creeper

Things that go "PLOMP" in the night…

Damn it, winter…. go away…

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First WNY Steelhead

Photos By: Nick Pionessa

www.oakorchardflies.com

Popped my WNY steelhead cherry. Good times. 

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Notre Dame Bass Fishes Better Than You Too...

I'm gonna let you all in on a little secret. Just across the state line from Michigan in South Bend, Indiana lies not only the finest university in all of the land, Notre Dame. But also there lies a myriad of fly fishing options that are so commonly overlooked it's criminal. I've already opined on the great fall smallmouth action on the St Joseph river here. Today I am going to let you in on a little 140 acre secret called Cranberry Lake. This is a place, where according to Josh Lantz (one of the two guides on the lake, along with Jay Anglin), "You can reasonably catch 20 to 50 bass a day," he insisted. "And some will weigh up to eight pounds." 

Normally, that type of bass fishing is reserved for lakes in Texas, Florida or even Mexico. But Northern Indiana is home to one of these prized lakes. Being a private lake, it sees little pressure and pretty much all methods work here. Lucky for us fly dudes/dudettes, Jay and Josh are both fly fishing guides that target them specifically with poppers, streamers and crayfish patterns. 

Next time you are in South Bend for a game or in Chicago for business, look up Jay or Josh for a day of unreal bass fishing. You can reach them at:www.thecranberrylake.com

oh yeah.... GO IRISH!

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Oh my... I Cannot Wait....

Matt Dunn over at Fishbeer  is working with Croff Craft Custom Boats to put together a new flick about cedar drift boats and mousing for big brown trout in Michigan. Two of my favorite things encompassed in one. Like Bacon flavored beer.

Here is a short trailer. This thing is going to be tight....

Bazinga...

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People Are Strange When You're a Stranger

When you're strange 

Faces come out of the rain 

When you're strange 

No one remembers your name 

When you're strange....

Photo #2 By: Dave McCoy

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Muskyness

My buddies Matt and Mark Grajewski took care of business recently (Mark with the fish, Matt with the lens work). They have to be the fishiest group of brothers on the planet. Matt in particular has been innovating some of the baddest flies around, like the Nut Butter and the Fur Trader. I feel like every time I look, one of these dudes are holding a monster trout, or in this case, a big musky. Thanks fellas, because with my current residency, I have to live vicariously through your pics for real muskies. Hopefully we can get out on the water this September for some streamer fishing. 

Photography by: Matt Grajewski

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Capr Revisited

Ran across this video today of a short filmed on Beaver Island in northern Lake Michigan. I've posted on Beaver Island before, but I cant get enough of the place. It's carp and smallie fishing how it's intended to be. With big flies on beautiful flats.

12 Months of Awesomeness: April

Twelve Months of Awesomeness continues with another item that I have been meaning to do for years, but simply put off until tomorrow. Well, today is that tomorrow. I have always wanted to learn how to grow my own food. This month, I will be building a large elevated planter and growing my own fruits and vegetables. I have always considered myself a friend to the plant world (hehe), so now I will actually learn how to grow them. Now don't get me wrong, I have planted flowers and trees before, but just never actually produced food for my table through a garden. This may not seem like as big of a goal, but this is something that is important to me as I try to live a more sustainable life. Maybe I will even try eating only things not purchased at a grocery store or restaurant for at least a week.

In fact, I am going to do just that... this will be a dual goal. Once my garden is up, I will also try eating only food from my own creation for a week a month... We'll see how that goes.

I will start building the bed first, because we are getting 6 inches of snow today and my morning looked like this:

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Word on The Street

Musky Country: Zero 2 Hero Trailer from RT on Vimeo.


Word on the street is that the ice on my local Musky haunt is clearing. But that's just the word on the street.

If yours isn't then pick up Musky Country: Zero 2 Hero from Rob Thompson at thirdyearflyfisher.com.

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Success

It's great when a plan comes together. After tying ridiculous amount of pike flies, driving 7 hours, and freezing my ass off, we found some pike willing to chase. Congrats to my homie Andy, he caught this New Mexico pike on his third cast of the day. It was a kick ass time.

PS - Wear your pfd in New Mexico, I got a ticket for it on my trip. I had mine in the boat, but I didn't have it on.  They are trying to tell me that I have to drive down to Aztec, NM to appear in court because of it. Stay tuned.
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Let's Get This Party Started

Fly Nation Season 2 Trailer - Lake St. Joseph Gators from Fly Max Films on Vimeo.

I use to do a yearly trip to Northwest Ontario for pike fishing every year. We always caught a lot of fish and I miss going on it dearly. Since moving to Colorado, I dont fish for pike or musky nearly enough. Not that we don't have them, in fact, we have pretty decent fishing for them here. It just never has been the same for me though.

This weekend... that all changes. The clip above, compliments of Fly Max Films, got me pumped for this weekend's festivities. I'm off to the vise... because pike flies don't tie themselves.
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Quit Staring At Me, Mrs Winter...

Quit staring at me, Mrs. Winter...

I am not ready for you. Last week, I stayed up late tying big streamers. You have already taken away my opportunities to fish big, bushy dry flies. So why do you have to take away my streamer fishing with your winds and ice? Give me this one thing. Give me just one more weekend to fish like a gentleman before resorting to nymphs, shot and bobbers....

You can be a cruel woman, Mrs. Winter...

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Streamer Punk: By Will Rice

He is guilty.

He did it.

He confesses.

He comes clean.

He is a streamer punk.

Simple ideas turn to thoughts: Streamers in the fall—there are few things he enjoys more. 5X? No. 4X? Nope. 3X? Maybe... if the water is clear. 2X? These fish aren't leader shy and matching the hatch is not exactly scientific. 

His thoughts turn to aspiration: It is time to head north, plane tickets are purchased, rigs are gassed up, boats are hitched and dragged across state lines. The gang is committed.

Aspiration turns to action: He throws them at the bank, fishes them in the middle, crashes them down on currents, drifts them through deep holes. He strips them fast, strips them slow. He doesn’t care. He is guilty as charged.   

Action leads to reaction: some of the fish fire off the bank like rockets, chasing the fly like they want to crush it to bits. He invaded the trout’s sacred solitude and his bug was to pay the price. Nothing in life is free. Other takes were less revealing, all he saw was the hydraulic swirl just under the vanilla gorilla—it looked like a toilet bowl just flushed under the Russian Olive tree. These moments occur out of nowhere and he loves it. He eats it up.   

Interaction: The jury looks on in amusement.

Connection: Sometimes he doesn’t see anything at all. The strip-set burns the finger and the trout goes airborne like a tarpon. Other times the bug just stops dead deep under the water.

Altercation.

Destruction.

And sometimes, successful perpetration.  

Guilty, guilty, guilty.

My boy Will Rice wrote this piece for his blog at It Ain't Pretty for drakemag.com. As a streamer punk myself, it spoke to me. 

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I'll Never Leave Montana, Brother

The Bighorn in November... A wet/cold version of Heaven on Earth.