Well, they weren't kidding about the snow...

Welcome Wind Knots and Troutrageous to my humble blagggh, er, blog. Still putting air in the tires to get this baby up and rolling. I'd rather be drowning worms, or out there practicing fly casting but I feel compelled to write a sentence or few.

It's snowing. Looks like we'll get maybe an entire inch (being generous), maybe more...just enough to guarantee that there'll be a lot of rear end collisions this morning as folks find out that their cars don't stop on a dime...and it will definitely come as a surprise to many...

First cuppa of Joe is going down really nice as I contemplate putting on some warm clothing and go out and scare up a few brown trout...it's been really tough so far. They're playing hard to get, and the warmer it gets the more difficult it is to find them...alas, it is a struggle I don't mind, and it gets me out of the house and away from that "Honey DO" list that always seems to be present when I want to go fishing. I think about that list often while I'm working my back and forward casts. There must be some inter-dimensional warp thing I can lose it in...

More later.

"They" say maybe significant amounts of snow tomorrow.

Well, I got caught up on a lot of reading today. My buds over at Fly Fishing Buddies notified me today that I was selected to receive some  Moeroe. Way to go dudes. That really makes my day. For those that don't know about Moeroe, it's for want of a better word, roe imitations. They have a large assortment of sizes, colors, frosted, clear, and gloroe - go over there and check them out at Fly Fishing Buddies.

It was a beautiful day out today. Hard to believe it might be snowing later. Well, that later and now is now.

I've just dived into my second bowl of Mac and Cheese... hmmm, curvy goodness.

Just thought I'd check in. I'll be fishing tomorrow.

well, the wind was a blowing and there were white caps on the lakes

Every winter thaw I go through this...waiting for the fish to wake up.
Actually, I think it's more like waiting for the water to warm up. Most of the waters inland are warm any way, so I usually know things are picking up when I see the panfish swimming around in the shallows. So far, they've been invisible to me.
Still a wee bit early, but I'll be heading out soon and see if the fishies are up for some hook and feather goodness.

...and i thought today would be the one...

The weather was stupendous, reached near 70 degrees F. However, the water temps were still like a 'frigerator glass of water and the fish just were not cooperating. I saw a couple of rises, but just couldn't figure the menu. There's no apparent bug life going on yet except for these microscopic white flies that come out of the wood bulk head when you kick it...

On the nice side tho' I really really worked the Loop rod out today and have most excellent control with it now.
Found out that I can really lean on it loading it from the butt and it performs quite nicely. Shame it got dark, I was really diggin' the loops I was throwing...

Well, tomorrow is another day without a dollar, but I'll be fishing. Maybe since I shaved, now the fish won't mind jumping on the hook.  We'll see. Sooner or later this dry spell has to break.

Finally got to work the Loop rod out.

Although it was a fantastically beautiful day, and I saw some rises on the Upper Yaphank, I couldn't get any takers. But they were getting 'beat up' pretty good by the rusties. I'll just have to get there tomorrow before they wake up. :)

I had a chance to spend three hours with the Loop rod, a 9 foot 4 weight Adventure rod. If I'm not mistaken,

I don't think Loop makes it themselves but has some other country do it.  The price was right. The first time I

practiced with it, I was unimpressed. It felt very mushy to me. That's my way of saying it was really a slow rod.

Today though i had the opportunity to really put it through some paces. 

I first started off with a very long tapered leader, but the wind was blowing pretty good, so i chopped the leader down to about six feet from about twelve. After that it was pretty nice.  Loop control was very nice on the short casts, and when I'd shoot line by really loading deep into the balls, it threw those crazy looking two-point loops. Angle on the bottom leg and the 'curve' was decidedly angular. The rod performed nicely on single-hand spey casts and I could really lean on it with the roll cast (not the traditional roll, more like what

Carl McNeil does in "Casts that Catch Fish") and do over sixty feet no problemo...I can see how a rod that was a little faster would be ideal for me...maybe. I've been using a TiCr and TiCr X, so everything else I have
is decidedly slower.

The finish on the rod is top notch and each section is labled with identifiers. The grip felt a little skinny in my

large hand, but it transmitted very nicely. Beyond 50' though in the wind, I just could not generate sufficient line

speed to go any further. However, with the wind at my back, 90' was no problem either. I was impressed with how smoothly the line left the rod tip, and how nicely it could set a fly down on the water. 

I was hoping to catch something on this rod as it still hasn't been baptised, while every other rod I have has been...so, I'll stick with it until something bites. All in all, the rod came with a free RIO line with several choices, nice velvet bag and hard tube case with the distinctive Loop logo and identifiers on the end cap of the case. 99.00 USD plus shipping equals excellent deal. Definitely recommend this rod for beginners because of the line feel while the

rod is loading and unloading. It's slow enough that you can coordinate your casts. I guess that's what they mean when they say it is a 'forgiving' rod... :)

Stay tuned for more reviews and stuff.

Started out wind and rain today...and the air had a bite.

By 2 pm it actually had the beginnings of a decent day but no fish.

between 5 and 8:30 pm the fish were out there but I wasn't hooking up.

Got three good bumps but missed. Started with a size 8 muddler minnow and no takers.

put on a size 10 black woolly bugger with a few strips of flash, and the fish were hitting

it on the fall and my timing was off. 

Casting was really fun today. I was using a 99 dollar rod reel combo made by Cortland in a 5 weight floating. I have to say that the reel is poorly formed allowing gaps where the line can hang up. The rod was surprisingly powerful. It didn't take very much effort to get 80 feet out of the rod tip. I was really 

concentrating on loop control by stopping the rod. (You can never practice this too much.)

With a 'big' muddler on i prefer a more

open loop, combine that with properly timed tuck cast and you get a nice 'plop' ... usually

when this technique is working, the muddler hits the water and gets smacked. It wasn't working

today...then I switched over to the bugger/leech imitation in black...it was getting some interest

but i was still working out the retrieve ... some days it's strip, strip, strip, pause, strip, pull, and some days

leave you feeling for the rhythm. 

But, it's still early on since the ice melted. The water's still feeling like refrigerator cold water, but it's warming up, I think today's high was like 53 degrees F. I noticed that one of the lakes was a lot lower than last week. 

I can't wait for tomorrow. I think I'll try the lakes early in the morning. See ya after.

Ghetto Fly Fishing: First Brown of 2011

Ghetto Fly Fishing: First Brown of 2011: "Actually, it's the second brown of 2011 The first one's picture didn't come out too well. A perfect day. Packed the rod up and went home..."

First Brown of 2011

Actually, it's the second brown of 2011 The first one's picture didn't come out too well.
A perfect day. Packed the rod up and went home. Now it's on.