A Little Bit of Recycling Can Go A Long Way

My new stream side tenkara pouch

In an effort to continually minimize the amount of tenkara gear I carry stream side and make use of some unused stuff.  I decided to work on this little project after seeing a post on Dispatches From The Middle River. Making lanyards from recycled old fly lines is a great idea an an inexpensive alternative to more expensive lanyards.  I figured with the FlyVine lanyard and some other items I had lying around I could make an inexpensive sports bag to carry a minimum of my tenkara gear.  To complete this sports pouch I also used an 3 1/2 " neoprene fly reel cover (I don't remember why I have one of these because I don't have a fly reel but I remember I picked it up for about $6), a couple of split rings used for keys (one of which has a break away feature), a sturdy pair of tweezers (instead of hemostats) with a small piece of fly line to tie it to one of the split rings, and a key-chain pill case like the one I described in an earlier post.  There's really not much to the construction..just punch two small holes in the side for the split rings and attach the lanyard and the pouch together.

The Velcro latch makes it easy to get access to the pouches contents but at the same time keep most of the items from jangling around the front of me.  Add a nipper to one of the rings and an extra moose antler line holder and I'm ready to go.  In the picture above the pill case/ fly holder is tucked inside the pouch but it could just as easily hang from the outside to accommodate a larger blue plastic tenkara line holder (currently I have one of the TenkaraBum smaller blue line holders in this pouch.

An inside view of the pouch

I have a BW Sports pouch (see below) that I have been using since the end of last year and I like it a lot and will continue to use it but there are a number of times that I find that for a few hours of fishing I really never use more than a single line, some tippet, and 2 or 3 fly patterns (a sakasa kebari and a killer bug cover most situations for me).  With this kit I can easily carry almost two dozen flies, in the pill case, and an extra line as a back up or different length for fishing.  This kit is essentially the same as my tenkara survival kit except that I can hang it from my neck and that I don't have to fumble around with a zipper while standing in the middle of a stream.  The best part is that the total cost was about $17...the cheapest price I could find for anything comparable. However, I really think I need to be careful...if I keep going like this I going to minimize myself right out of fishing gear altogether and will wind having to take up "noodling for catfish!"

This is now my "Cadillac" of tenkara fishing bags 

Just Another Spring Day & A Note of Thanks

Despite the overcast and drizzly morning, today was as good a day as any to get outside for an hour or two and get some fresh air and unwind from a busy and tiring week.  So I headed down to the pond for a chance at some bluegill and maybe an odd bass or two.  Sometimes the park surrounding the pond is so nice that I have think hard about whether to put down the rod and just take a load off and take it all in.  When spring arrives this is a great place to watch everything "burst" into bloom.

Dozens of flowers, native or otherwise, are erupting into various colors here and there.  The pond itself seems to explode with life.  Carp are making a ruckus with loud splashes all over the pond, turtles are crowding the floating logs, Great Blue Herons are patiently searching and waiting for a meal and the newly arrived Baltimore Orioles are are staking out territories and making their presence known.

Also making their presence known were the bluegills.  Today was one of those mornings when the fly barely has a chance to hit the water before one of them pounces on it. In less than an hour I had lost count after about two dozen.  At this point I decided to put something larger than a #12 C.S. Special on my line and went with a #10 olive woolly bugger to avoid so many of the little bluegills.  for a while I had a few largemouth bass (15-20" size) pursuing my bugger but the little bluegills were swarming in such numbers that the bigger bass would move away.  The bluegills acted as if they had never eaten before.

The one thing this place does for me besides helping me to "recharge" my battery is giving me some time to think a little.  Last night I received a very nice e-mail from someone who purchased some of my tenkara sakasa kebari style flies.  He included some pictures of some beautiful rainbow trout that he caught in the Smoky Mountains with flies I had tied.  This got me to thinking about all the places my flies have been fished in now by a number of other anglers.  I do not want the following to sound as if  I am "tooting my own horn" but I think what it means is pretty cool.  My flies have been used to catch fish in states as far as Utah, California and Colorado to New York, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania.  I will most likely never to get to fish in many of those places during my life.  But my flies have.  A little part of me has been there on all of those streams and river helping others to enjoy their own outdoor experiences and I think that is one of the coolest things.  I thoroughly enjoy tying  flies and do it many nights during the week but I will be completely honest, I make a few dollars on the sale of my flies.  Mind you, I will not become independently wealthy doing this but the money helps to offset the cost of fly tying materials and have a little extra left over for more fishing equipment and some play money for family vacations.  However, receiving compliments such as those from last night, make me happier than the money I actually receive from the sales of those flies.  I would just like to say "THANK YOU!"  to all of those anglers out there who may have purchased (from me personally or through Chris Stewart's site) or swapped flies with me in the past.  I very much appreciate your kind words regarding something that already gives me great pleasure to do.

A Good Day and Comments On The "One-Fly"

First brookie of the day

Today was a good day.  It began with a quick trip to White's Pool on the Nissequogue River to do a little bit of  fishing before breakfast. The trip was worth it as I picked up a pair of brook trout to get off to a good start.  However, as the morning progressed, I hooked a few other "surprises."  Using a #14 Killer Bug (the same used to catch the brookies) I caught a handful of shad (alewife).

Largest shad (alewife) of the morning

Shad (alewife) are a nice change of pace from some of the other fish I usually catch.  The best part is they are great fighters.  The one pictured above put on a nice aerial display.  It was a good start to the day.  At this point, I want to make a comment about the "one-fly" approach used by many tenkara anglers.  For those readers who are not familiar with traditional tenkara, the one-fly approach is a method of fishing in which the angler uses only one type of fly for all of their fishing.  The type of water fished or the hatch that may be coming off are not important.  The philosophy being that the anglers skills and presentation are perfected to a point where fly choice becomes irrelevant.  I love the concept and have been trying to work my ways towards it by reducing the choices available (I'm an average angler for the most part).  However, I think if you are going to carry one fly box with one type of fly, why not carry just a few extra of some other type just in case?  I have fished White's Pool a number of times this year and have found the "one-fly" approach to work like a charm.  However, each time I have fished the "one-fly" has been a different fly!  I have used the same three flies in each trip...a #12 bead-head Royal Sakasa Kebari, a #14 Killer Bug, and a #10 olive woolly bugger. Each time only one particular fly catches all my fish for the day and only one.  Today it was the Killer Bug that did the trick.  The last trip was the woolly bugger.

I may be working towards a "one-fly" approach but I'm glad I haven't gotten there yet.  Having a little selection has proved to be the difference between a number of successful trips and one out of three trips being successful.  It's just my opinion but I think many anglers could benefit from a reduced selection in the old fly box.  Less time tying and choosing flies means more time with a hook in the water.

Stream side flower

Pool just up ahead

But I digress.....I was saying it was a good day. After fishing what more could a dad ask for but to spend a beautiful day outside with his family.  The kids and I started a little garden project today.
After visiting a local nursery we brought home a variety of seeds and seedlings to start our garden.  It was a little chaotic but in the end the plants were planted and watered.  We even had time to mark one of my favorite phenological events of the season...the first Baltimore Oriole.  Their appearance, like a clock tells me it's the last week of April every year.  I think it's important to do such things with kids to get them outside and give them a better appreciation of Nature and the work that goes into getting food onto the table and marking the changes of the seasons.  Hopefully, it will lay a foundation for some valuable lessons or at least bring back fond memories when they reach adulthood.  Like I said....It was a good day.

My garden buddies

The Fly That Started It All

The Orange Partridge

If you are a frequent visitor to my blog or just happened to stumble upon it, one thing becomes abundantly clear...I have "a thing" for sakasa kebari.  As one peruses through these pages, they will find this site littered with sakasa kebari of all sorts (and contrary to popular belief I can tie all manner of flies).  The truth is, they were not my first love...that is strictly speaking fishing flies of course.  The flies I first became enamored with were the North Country Spiders and soft-hackled flies.  When I began fly fishing three years ago I began my search for the flies I would use before I even purchased a rod.  After reading several books (specifically, Sylvester Neme's books) and searching the net I found some flies that would fit the bill for being a cinch to tie for a beginner, not cost an arm and a leg to make, and be effective.  North Country soft-hackles, such as the Partridge & Orange (or Orange Partridge, as listed in T.E. Pritt's 1886 book North Country Flies) met all of those criteria.  I also have a "thing" for the rich tradition of fly fishing literature and history.  The P&O goes back a long long way ( another reason to use it...how can you argue with such longevity?).  The P&O is a simple yet elegant fly.  It is a versatile fly and can be used to represent a number of aquatic insects from hatching nymphs to emergers to caddis pupa.  There are a number of variations that are tied with or without a gold rib and/or  hare's ear dubbing for a thorax (the one pictured above is tied as described in Pritt's book).  Which ever way it's tied...it works.  The only drawback I could find to these flies was that they needed to be fished in relatively fast water to give life to the hackle and that sometimes the hackle would collapse along the hook shank, negating the advantage some of the advantages. That is when I discovered the sakasa kebari, a fly with the versatility, effectiveness and a history as long as the P&O.  The main advantage of a SK over a P&O lies in the direction of hackle.  A forward facing hackle allows the fly to be manipulated by the angler in various ways to impart the illusion of life and not have to rely solely on the current.  And they are just as easy to tie as any classic North country Spider.  Now, SK's make up the majority of my fly box and flies that I fish.  I really love SK's but deep down there will always be a soft spot in my heart for for the P&O and it's brethren.

Amawalk Browns

First Amawalk Brown of the day

Sometimes you just need to be spontaneous.  After a rather long week at work and the fact there is finally a weekend on the family calendar without any major obligations, I decided at the last minute to head up to Westchester to fish a favorite stream of mine...Amawalk Outlet.  This stream is part of  New York City's water supply system and is regulated under "artificial only" rules.  To get there required getting up at 5am and driving an hour and a half from Long Island.  But it was worth it.  I managed to have large stretches of the stream to myself for several hours, not something I would often enjoy on Long Island.

Amawalk Outlet downstream of Woods Street Bridge

Caught a couple of browns right near this rock

In a "nutshell".... it was a pretty nice morning.  I managed to bring a half dozen healthy looking brown trout to hand and had a few LDR's.  All of them were taken on a size 14 Killer Bug.  On this stream, as well as a number of other streams in Westchester and Putnam counties, a Killer Bug is just about all you will ever need.    I did fish a couple of sakasa kebari, with a few bites and hook-ups here and there but the Killer Bug was the hands down winner.

      

In addition to the browns, there were a number of other stream-side residents present.  There was an abundance of midges and mayflies hatching, especially in the sunny patches.  Spring peepers could be heard in many areas along the stream.  Mallard ducks were swimming in several places and evidence of others that passed during the night could be seen everywhere.

Deer tracks

 In my opinion, a few hours stream-side is all I need to recharge my "batteries."  What better tonic could there be for stress relief than being able to stand knee deep in a cool mountain stream and hold such a beautiful work of Nature?

Strike One, Strike Two, Strike Three...You're Trout!

Brookie number one.

I figured the title for today's post was appropriate for several reasons.  The beginning of April is the start of trout season as well as baseball season.  Admittedly, I am more excited about trout than baseball......I'm a Met  fan....that should say it all (yes, I will still admit to being a Met fan even after the last few years).  Another reason for the title is that my first three strikes at White's Pool were all brookies.  They were all around 12" and I suspect, like last spring, that they are stocked trout that made their way downstream on the Nissequogue River from Caleb Smith State Park.  But that doesn't matter they were still fun to catch.

Number two.

A few more small yellow perch rounded out my morning.  All fish were caught on my Yamame rod and a  small bead-head olive woolly bugger.  I drastically reduced my fly selection for fishing this year and after going through most of what was in my fly box the bugger was what did the trick.  I plan on working towards a "one-fly" approach but it's a day like today that keeps me from getting there.  In the end it doesn't matter how I fish (as long as it's legal) just as long as I get a chance to get out and enjoy myself.

And number three.

Reminders

April 1st.....Opening day of trout season in New York and another year on the calendar has passed.  I had planned on writing a post describing how I plucked a number of beautiful little brookies from an idyllic mountain stream.  However, the "angling gods" decided that was not to be my fate today.  I could have gone to any number of stocked streams looking for rainbows and browns but I wanted a small stream to myself pursuing my favorite quarry.

The day began grey and kind of raw.  The water was running clear but low, which may have had something to do with my luck (or lack of it).  Not a single bite on the day, in fact I only saw one brookie the whole morning.  So I decided to give up and explore a little.  The way I figure, just getting to spend some time outdoors I win anyway despite the lack of trout.  The little cascade pictured above actually drew me away from the trail for a photo opportunity.  I find the concept of serendipity fascinating and moments like this are exactly why.

While I was taking a few photos I couldn't help but notice the item pictured above at my feet.  Here was a deer scapula just sitting there and it got me thinking. The scapula was all that was left from a deer that had once roamed these woods.  I could not help but think that here amidst all of the signs of spring and rebirth and  renewal, signs of death and the end of various cycles were still present.

New spring buds

A dead hemlock means life for insects and in turn the woodpeckers who feed on them.

Newly emerging Canada Mayflowers

I may not have found what I was looking for on this first day of trout season but I was reminded or the continual cycles going on around us at all times and the wonder it inspires.  For that, I will always be grateful and never disappointed.....but a few trout will never hurt.