Saturday, July 17, 2010

A Little Fishing & Some More Time at the Vise

Unfortunately I haven't had many opportunities to fish lately. I did get a chance to go fishing on the Swift today, as always, the river was beautiful, but crowded. But unfortunately, I remembered the camera, but not the battery that I'd left charging on the wall the night before. I was kicking myself for that since I missed some dramatic shots of a foggy, steaming river in the early morning sun. It really was a beautiful morning on the water.

I didn't fish all that hard, and spent a lot of time watching fish from the bank. I observed some very active sub-surface feeding by the big rainbows, it was fun just watching them flicking around in the current snatching tiny morsels. As far as fishing went, I didn't get any interest on the sakasa kebari, but had a few strikes that should have hooked up on a size 18 CDC biot comparadun when I borrowed my friends 3-weight fly rod for some casting practice. I was happy to find that my form is still there! Although I do have to consciously think about mending and line control.

Thanks to the generosity of a friend, I've been experimenting with some different hackles this past week. Mostly I've been tying with partridge, which I'm finding is great stuff. Here are a few examples of what I've been tying lately:



















5 comments:

  1. Very nice flies. Can I ask what hook you are using?

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  2. Certainly! It's a Mustad Signature Series C49S, these flies are tied in sizes 12 & 14. They call it a "caddis curved" hook. I like the curve in the shank, it's a purely aesthetic choice though. I chose it because it's a little like the curved-shank, wide gap hooks seen with some traditional tenkara flies.

    the Mustad C67S is very similar to the C49S, but has a shorter shank; I like it a lot too. However, the longer shank on the C49S makes tying a little easier, and I think the results are a little more graceful and better proportioned than with the C67S.

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  3. You're putting together quite the different variations on the sakasa kebari. Would make for a very nice catalog spread if you were to photo them all in one place.

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  4. Thanks! I have been using a TMC 2487 for my Sakasa Kebari, but I like the looks of these Mustads more.

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  5. Terry, no problem, glad you like the Mustads. I think you'll find they're a little cheaper than the TMCs, which is nice too.

    troutrageous1, might have to try, I'll see what I can come up with ;)

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