Southern Culture on the Fly

It's a new publication.  I haven't read it all yet but it looks promising.

http://southerncultureonthefly.com/scof_fall2011.html




Here is carp a video a friend put together from this issue.

http://www.southerncultureonthefly.com/carp_mp.html

Ross Flycast reel review

I recently purchased a Ross Flycast reel for a 4 weight Scott A3 rod.  I own a Ross Flyrise that I am pleased with, and mistakenly thought I was buying the same reel in a different size.  The Flycast retails for around $80 where the Flyrise retails for close to $100.

Ross Flyrise

Ross Flycast

The Flycast is no where near the quality of the Flyrise in my opinion.  It doesn't reel as smoothly, it's made of cheaper material, and it looks cheap.  It was advertised as a mid-arbor reel, but seems like a run of the mill small fly reel.  I have been pleased with my Flyrise, and Ross customer service was excellent on a repair caused from a fall on the river, however, the Flycast is probably more comparable to Ross' entry level Flystart reel than the Flyrise.  The Flycast does not pair well with my Scott A3.  It feels kind of like having hub caps on a BMW.  I am going to sell the Ross Flycast, and have already purchased a Lamson Konic that I have yet to hold (20% off, $99)

 I rarely pay full price for anything, and bought the Flyrise on sale for $80 a year ago, and the Flycast for $50 off of ebay.  Honestly, for fifty bucks, it's not a bad reel, but I don't think it is worth $80. I think I would buy the Okuma Sierra reel before the Ross Flycast, and you can pick them up for around $50.  I'll let you know what I think of the Lamson Konic when I get to fish and review it.

Lamson Konic

Best Catch Ever

Trophies

The fam went for a quick fall hike after church.  I squeezed in 30 minutes of delayed harvest (stocked, catch and release this time of year) fishing just off the parking lot that we hiked from. Blair and I picked up some nice pictures along the way.

We hiked past some wild water on the way to our destination. I didn't fish it today, but we took some photos.

toxic

Fresh Fall Fishing

I netted 2 hours on a little wild stream nearby Saturday.  It was 44 degrees in Shelby Saturday morning, but it was probably upper 50's in the mountains when my buddy Micah and I stepped in the water around 11:30am.  The stream was low and clear, the sky was a cloudless Carolina blue, and the leaves were already beginning to show their fall color.  As soon as my boot hit the river bed I stopped second guessing if this short time on the water would be worth the effort.  Just to stand in the stream, even without a fly rod, on this perfect fall day would have been worth it.

I spooked some fish walking too confidently in the first hole, before I realized just how low the water was. This hole has always been a numbers hole, but I have never caught a fish of note worthy size in it.  Today I saw two fish much bigger than I anticipated there. I still landed this nice bow and 2 others from the upper stretch of the hole despite my initial sloppy wading.

I fished a big stimulator with a red #16 bh copper john dropper.  I picked up 7 fish, and 2 of those were on the stimi.  The fish above was the first, and biggest fish of the day.  She took the bead head within my first 5 minutes on the water and was about 12 inches or more. Micah fished a double nymph rig, with a brown latex and natural cdc and wood duck soft hackled bh caddis larvae followed by a little #18 bh blue and silver pt.  I think he had more consistent action on the deeper runs with his set up, but it was hard to fish in the shallow runs due to its weight.

Good time on the agua.

An Essay: Redfishing

Raccoons swim out of a marsh near Charleston, SC

Wound in the Salt

The marsh takes two deep breaths a day, and as it slowly begins to exhale its water back to the ocean, my hopes of hooking my first redfish trickle away with the tide.  Two hours earlier, my head was on a swivel, turning to tailing fish on my left then to   violent slashes of water on my right, chasing sight and sound.  This Charleston area grass flat is the only place I’ve ever fly cast to a red, and in this, my 6^th attempt, the conditions are ripe.  As I wade in my first glimpse over the spartina grass reveals the shimmering orange, exposed body of a red fish rolling. 

My grandfathers old sixty percent poly Dickies make excellent wading pants, and the thin head of surface film rests just below the permanently pleated knee. The sun is high and slightly to my back, allowing me to see otherwise stealthy fish cruising the eighteen inches of water, nearly wakeless and undetectable from any other angle.  As one swims by 10 feet in front of me, I cast five feet ahead of its path, and it swims right by my pulsing metallic fly like it was a perfectly camouflaged, odorless fiddler crab, safely buried in the mud.  Moments later I see a large fish, tailing well out of range.  Do I move? What if I spook a fish near me that I haven’t seen?  Then the surface of the water rips and breaks behind my back.  Is it a school of mullet, or is it a red fish?  A small wake pushes my way, and a well placed fly is ignored again.  Desperate, I put on a spoon fly. No feathers, no fur.  Just mylar, metal and epoxy.  The unmistakable wake of a redfish meanders my way, then changes directions and stays out of range.  I begin to blind cast, stripping the spoon, pushing past ideals, exercising moral flexibility, feeling like a spin fisherman disguised as a fly guy.  I glance to the left, and silently and suddenly like a ghost, a tail slips out of the water 6 feet from me.  I notice that I’m shaking again, and the fly drops a foot from the tailing fish.  No wake. No spook. No take. 

I’m baffled, and I’m reminded of my teenage and college years when I was dependent on fly shop conversations to gain knowledge to improve my fishing skills on the trout streams of North Carolina.  It makes for a slow learning curve when you have more fishing knowledge than your buddies, you can’t afford a guide, and its trial and error on the stream.  The marsh is no stream, and I begin to wonder if my fresh water fly fishing even holds an ounce of transferable experience for chasing reds in shallow water.

The spartina snails cling to their pale masts as the grass silently stirs, pushed by a slight breeze.  The only sounds are fiddler crabs searching for high ground, the soft trickle of the rising tide, and the muted whir of traffic crossing the drawbridge. The rotting odor of marsh mud hangs heavy, laced with sweetness.  Frustrated, intrigued, and yet hopeful, I begin to cruise through marsh grass like a red fish; alert, looking and listening, with a heightened anticipation.  It’s a slow, stalking hunt. Time passes and the only bend my rod has felt is from a loading line.  The fish elude me, seemingly safe under the now thigh deep water that covers tails and masks wakes.  I taste the salt on my lips.  Four raccoons appear swimming out of the vastness of the marsh towards land, looking at me, wondering why I’m dumb enough to linger. I sigh with the marsh.

This is not the story of a trophy or the makings of a film.  It is, however, a common story. The fruitless hunt, that shapes and hones our senses, drawing us that much closer to a hook up next time. It’s the suicide sprint in basketball practice, or the humbling defeat on the field that sends you home looking for answers. It’s the effort that will make my first redfish to hand all the more sweet, rewarding, and exhilarating. Maybe it will be tomorrow. Yes. It will be tomorrow.

Thanks Tropical Storm Lee

The Davidson water levels are up thanks to Lee.  Not up and muddy, but running a clear 100cfs as opposed to the 40cfs its been since late June.  I fished Friday with by buddy Ryan, and I failed to put him on a fish.  Sorry Ryan. Go back to your home in Colorado, and you will find it much easier to catch fish right now. So, I only feel a tinge of remorse since you'll be fishing the Arkansas river this time next week.  I managed about 10 fish during the morning session, but never found THE fly the fish were craving.  Regardless, it was nice to see more, and cooler,  water in the stream. I caught fish on h.e. birds nest, yellow split case midge, black fly larvae, red midge, a scrimp, and a brassie.

This was a fat 16 incher. I mean FAT.

We got some lunch and decided to leave the hatchery section and fish the lower D. It was fishing like a true wild stream on the mid 70's September afternoon.  I only caught 3 or 4 fish using a yellow sallie dry and a brassie dropper, but I missed a bunch.  Most of the fish were small, but I did have a nice brown break me off on the brassie.  I finished at this long slick tailout, with fish sipping midges all over the place.  I had to stealthily get out of the water, and try to cast ninja style through the brush from dry land to avoid putting the fish down from my wading waves.  I cast to a 16-18 inch rising brown a few times, but every time my delicately placed bow and arrow cast hit the water, he felt uncomfortable.  I want to go back to the magic hole in September at dusk, and land a wily big guy. Summer is over, and trout fishing we be getting better in the next few weeks. And I will not have to enjoy it.  Please!!! Go in my stead.