Bushkill

Hit the Bushkill today with Brett and Tyler. 

I was fly fishing all day and got most fish on beadhead hares ear and stoneflies.

It was a nice day.  Cloudy and spotty rain. 

Most fish were little smallies and pan fish. 

Brett got the only trout of the day. 

All in all another awesome day on the water. 

 

Yeti

Had enough Cabelas points to get myself a Yeti Tundra 45.  I have to said it is built extremely well.  Everything they advertise is true. Walls are extremely thick and heavy.  Got it home and decorated it up with fishing stickers. 

Took it on a trip last weekend.  Filled it with beer and breakfast food. Two bags of ice.  

The ice lasted all weekend.  Was really impressed how it lasted and didn't need to be refilled with ice at all over 4 days with 2 day sitting in a hot truck. 

Down side of it is of course the price.  But since i got it with points, I'm not complaining.  The only other thing would be the weight of it.  Empty it was around 20lbs.  When filled it was heavy but still could be carried by one person if you have to. 

Over all I recommend it and cant wait to use it more.  

Bradford

My sister invited my brother, me and our girlfriends, to her husband's hunting cabin in Bradford County. It just so happens to be right across the street from a trout stream.

We got up there a little late. Got everything unpacked and started to play drinking games.  Holy crap that was not a good idea.   Fun but hurt!

Woke up the next morning. Had breakfast, got the fishing equipment together, and walked across the street with my brother-in-law and brother. We got to the steam and it was low and slow. Seemed more like pond fishing then stream fishing.  I was fly fishing and used the time to practice casting and enjoy being outside.  While the other two were spinner fishing and catching some smallies and chubs.  We did see what looked like a 24 inch palomino swimming in a deep hole. But he just kept swimming around ignoring us. 

The trek out was bad.  Filled with 7ft thistles, wolf and garden spiders, and  5ft ditches.  A walk that should have taken 5mins turned into 20. 

Got back and met up with the girls.  They were heading to a local swimming hole while we tried on more spot. 

This was under a bridge and still same luck.  I was still fly fishing but the other two were using bait. My brother did catch a decent smallie. And after a while we left to meet the girls at the swimming hole. 

The swimming hole was BEAUTIFUL!  A spring fed creek with little swimming holes in between the rocks. The clearest water i have swam in. 

My girlfriend explored and came back with a pic of a nice stonefly casing. 

Hung out for a couple hours then headed back to the cabin. Made dinner on the fire and sat around it afterwards. 

An awesome weekend.  Thanks to Tyler and Stacey for inviting us up! Had a great time!

Jersey

Camping at Sea Pirates Campground on the Jersey shore. Set up camp last night and had some hot dogs over the open fire.  Got up today and had some eggs and bacon.

Then headed off to the back bay for fishing.  My goal was to catching a fish on a fly rod.   I made a couple Clouser Minnows while in Canada for just this occasion. But the tides were not in our favor and i had absolutely no luck with the fly rod.  Bait was the only thing i could catch a thing with. All in all it was a nice   day catching blue snappers, flounder, eel, and crab. 

Kayak Fishing

A little trip to the Poconos for a family get together I had some time to go out and get some fishing in.   I decided try and fly fish from a kayak.  So I threw one in the back of my truck and took it over to the dock.  Paddled across the lake to where I know some bass hide from time to time and started casting. 

Now, I am by no means a great caster and found being so close to the water my fly would slap the surface a lot.  After a while I got the hang of it and all of a sudden my line tightened up.  After a small fight ended up with a decent pickerel.   A couple more casts and while I was stripping saw another pickerel come up and take my fly.  But this time he just bit right through my leader and swam off with the fly.  After cursing him and putting on a leech pattern. I got no action for a while.

Then all of a sudden line goes tight again.  This time it feels heavy and I am being pulled to a downed tree.  My line goes under the tree and then a bass jumps on the other side.  By now the bass has me wrapped up and the wind is taking me away from the tree.  I decide to try and paddle up or i am going to lose everything.  So i get back to the tree and tighten back up.   He is still there but only for a couple seconds.  Then gone...  Still a good rush and a lot of fun...

Remembering my first rod build

This is a post I wrote on a forum about the experience building my first rod.

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After much research, i decided to go for it and ordered a MHX 3wt 7'6" kit. Decided on the kit because it came with all parts and i knew they would fit with each other. Also ordered a beginner supply kit that came with some tools and epoxy.

While waiting for the kit looked into rod building stations. Can't believe they want $75 for one. Luckily for me my old man has a wood shop in his basement. So i headed over there and spent an evening building one with him. While talking with him he also gave me a rat tail file that use to belong to my grandfather (pretty cool imo)


So after a couple days the kit showed up and i got right to work. Fiting the reel seat and handle to the blank. After it all fit epoxied the reel seat.



After a couple hours epoxied the handle on.



Once that cured it was time to space out the guides. The kit came with a spacing chart so you just have to measure and tape them on.



Now comes the difficult part (for me atleast) of wrapping the guides. After talking with people they all said "take your time and be patient". I can't agree with them more. It took me a while to get the hang of it but finally got the guides on.



Now it was time to test the guide spacing. I placed a reel on the rod and strung the line through the guides. Pulling the line gently it bent the rod and could see that no adjustment was needed.

After that it was time for decorative wraps. Now once again i recommend taking your time and getting them right. I had almost all the guide wraps unravel while trying to get the decorative ones on it got me pretty frustrated. But i stuck with it and got it done.



Now once again i could not see spending $80 on a rod turner. So i went to Lowes and picked up a grill rotisserie some pvc and a couple thumb bolts. Built a home made one for around $25.



So with the rod turner. I put on two coats of color preservator. I must say, my next rod will get another coat.



Now comes the part that scared me the most. Epoxing the wraps. After much more research i went for it and must say it was easier then i thought. After doing it, it definately build my confidence up.



So now it has cured and i am pretty happy with it. There are some default in it but i was expecting that for my first rod.
My mistake came with applying the color preservator. Didn't realize it didn't put enough on and in some spots it dried with bubbles.
But it was a good experience and i can't wait to get it on the water.





Well i ordered a Redington Rise reel for the new rod and it came. Finally got to get the rod out on the water. I have to say the MHX blank is very nice and casts very well. Will definately use them again. Was out on the Lil Lehigh and got this guy on the new rod. It was an awesome feeling landing a fish with a rod i built and a fly i made.

Canada

My yearly adventure to Canada.  Spent a week camping at Twin Oaks Campground on Bob's Lake, Ontario.  It was a awesome to get away from the TV, cellphone, internet.  Spent all day out on the boat fishing or tying flies when it was raining to much.  The fishing was ok.  Got the fly rod out on the boat once and was able to get a nice crappie and some pan fish. But mostly it was spin fishing. I did manage to catch my personal best freshwater fish.  It was a walleye at 6lbs and 27in.