Hop(per) on The Carp Train

This morning, I had a long phone conversation with Howard. We talked Dream Stream, float fishing, and lots of other things. But something he said reminded me of an idea. Howard was talking about how he loved to throw hoppers at big browns on the Arkansas. Browns? Brown trout. But what else is brown? Carp! So this afternoon, I went out to my favorite spots with a question in my head. Was it possible to catch carp using dry techniques? Fishing hoppers on the skate, the twitch, the dead drift? Basically, was it possible to catch carp as if they were trout? From the second I pulled up to the pond, I knew I had picked the right day. You could see the rings and hear the "bloops" of carp feeding all around the pond. I tied on a Grand Hopper, hopped into position, and took a cast. My first three shots brought total rejection. My forth shot, however, fell short and landed literally 4 inches in front of the fish's face. But the fish didn't spook. He looked up, moved towards the surface, and slowly inhaled my fly. He turned, felt the hook, and shot away, snapping the 3x tippet as he went. I watched my last Grand Hopper swim away feeling pretty stupid. I re-rigged with a PMX, moved to a new area, and tried again. One fished came up and nosed my fly, then turned away. Next I had another slow eat, but my set was too early and I missed the fish. Finally, I moved to a nice sunny patch of water between two trees. After watching for a minute, I saw a big shadow moving along the bank. I cast out and in front of the fish, twitched it three times and let it sit. A giant golden head rose up, sucked in, and thrashed at the feel of sharp metal. Ten minutes later, I had the answer to my question:

Shown Here Displaying Jordan Shoes And Gucci's "Carp Selection"

Mug Shot

Burglar Step By Step: Something Different

Rather than do a demo of the original Burglar, I thought I would do something a little different. So here is another cool streamer that need the same materials. I didn't add pictures for the first few steps, as they are pretty self explanatory.

Step One: Tie in the dumbbell eyes, making sure to leave some room for the dubbing head. Don't forget to use some head cement to keep the eyes really secure.

Step Two: tie in three or four pieces of marabou about an inch behind the eyes. Cover up all sides of the hook, so you can't see the straight part of the shank or your previous wraps. When you tie in the last piece of marabou, don't cut the tag end! You'll need it for the next step!

Step Three: Take that tag end of marabou that you (hopefully) didn't cut off, and wrap it up to the eyes. Don't make it to thick, or the wraps will slip over the dumbbell eyes. Also, secure the marabou with quite a few wraps of thread, otherwise the marabou will slip as soon as you cut the excess.

Step Four: Figure eight some dubbing around the eyes to cover up your thread. This step is pretty easy and self explanatory.

Step Five: Take a big piece of dubbing, pinch it in the center with one hand, and pull on each end with the other. Now tie in the dubbing at the center, push it back, and tie in the piece that is pointing forward. Do this on the bottom of the hook as well, and the result should look like this:

Congrats, just whip finish and you're done!

Tying The Burglar And The End Of The Contest

First off, I would like to congratulate Howard on winning the Fill a Box contest! And a huge thank you as well to Mark, Alton, and everyone who voted on the poll over the last week. Howard, shoot me an email of whether you would like the book or the flies for your prize. Nice Job!

Marabou has always been a favorite material of mine, since it moves so much in the water. It wiggles side to side, up and down, and most importantly, it breathes in the water. So while playing around with some marabou the other day, I created the Burglar. How did this big ole streamer get its name? Well, it hops up onto your tying desk and steals ALL of your marabou. So be prepared for a demo within the next couple days, and bring a full pack of the good stuff. In more detail, you'll need: Size 2 Bass Hook, Tan Marabou, Purple Ice Dub, and Stick on eyes. All that fancy 'bou let's the fly move between pictures one and two as you strip the fly. Until then, good luck out there!

Fill A Box Contest: Let The Voting Begin!

After quite the delay, I am happy to announce that the voting for the winner of the Fill A Box Contest has begun! For those of you who don't remember, the idea of the contest was to tie a really cool box of flies and see who's box takes the cake. Well, now it is time for you to decide! Here are pictures of each  box to give you another look. For a more detailed look at each box, just search "Fill A Box Contest" at the top left. And to Howard, Alton, and Mark: Good luck! And feel free to vote for yourself or someone else (And don't feel bad, I would choose myself too).

Howard's Box, Side 1

Howard's Box, Side 2

Alton's Bass Box

Mark's Box, Side 1

Mark's Box, Side 2

The Blue And Gore Creek

When my friend gave me a call after my second day of Drivers Ed and asked if I had some time for a spare fishing trip, I actually wasn't sure. After moving a couple things around, checking with my mom, and other assorted boringness, I gave him the OK. So with the bags packed, we got a late (7:00 am) start up to the Blue. As usual, the fishing in the upper section was tough. Once we hit my favorite area, the fishing took a turn for the better. All in all I landed some fish, lost a couple more, and broke off once.

After awhile, we head out to our final destination. Wait, not the Blue? No, we were here to fish Gore Creek and its surrounding beaver ponds. We biked for a little while and found ourselves at a nice pond with some rising brookies. I started off with a Slump Buster, but quickly changed up to a yellow Adams. Sight casting to these fish was a great time, and it reminded me of Small Stream Reflections. Speaking of which, SSR is one of my favorite blogs. I wish I could tie flies half as good as what I see on there. If you don't already read it, hit the link and check it out.

The next day, we fished Gore Creek all the way through the Golf Course property. After catching a bunch of brookies, two browns, and a rainbow, I joked to my friend that we should try for a Grand Slam. Not even 30 minutes later, a nice Colorado Cutt found his way into my net. I admired his beauty, held him up for my friend, and let him go. Then I tried to drown myself for a good ten minutes because  I forgot to take a picture. Sorry guys.

Keep checking back in, there's going to be something really cool up within the next few days.

Fill A Box Contest: Almost Over

With only a few days left until the  Fill A Box Contest entry final, I felt like I was forgetting something. Not just reminding everyone, but something really important. So Mark, I apologize that this took so long. Between fishing, fishing, and even some fishing, I completely forgot tot put your entry up. Finally, here it is! Find Mark over at Tie And Fly.

Not only did Mark fill a double sided box, but also a double slotted one. I have no idea how many flies this is, but I think it will be enough to last him awhile. I don't think I need to say much about the flies, other than the look like the quality of a 10 year old chinese girl (believe it or not, that is a compliment). Awesome box Mark, and good luck to everyone in the contest!

There is still time to put in your entry! Fill a box, shoot me the picture, and get in the race! June 30th is the deadline, so get to work.

Fill A Box Contest, Mid Way Update

My inspiration for creating the Fill A Box Contest came from Howard and all of his posts about tying. With that said, I was happy to see that he did indeed put up an entry (as well as give me a shout out) within a few days of starting the contest. So when I saw an email from someone named Alton (who doesn't have a blog, I checked) with the subject "Fill A Box Contest," I was pretty excited. That's right folks, at this point, we at least have enough entries for a finals round. So to everyone else reading this post, did I miss your entry or not see your email? Are you working on your entry? Not quite started? Skipping this one? Feedback isn't required, I just thought I'd give you all some brain food. And before I can blab any longer, I'm going to put up a picture of Alton's Box:

Now, there are two things that I really like about this box. First, it's filled with bass bugs and poppers, which are some of my favorite warm water flies. Also, Alton hand made the box, and after the Duct Tape Kayak I like anything hand made. Not to mention the fact that it looks freakin' sick!

For all of you who didn't see his post, here is Howard's entry from Windknots And Tangled Lines:

First off, filing a double sided box is a true effort. By my count, Howard has over 100 flies in there! Also, I was with him when he picked up hopper bodies from the Hopper Juan, so it makes me happy to see that they turned out so well. 

That's all for today folks! Get working on those boxes so they're done before the contest is (June 30th)!

We Drove HOW MANY Hours?!?!

With nothing to do for a couple days, it seemed like a good time for a little overnighter. So after a few hours of getting ready, we hopped in the car and started the grueling 5 hour drive that takes us to the Taylor River. And I apologize in advance for all the blurry pictures, but it's tough to hold a camera steady when you're ass deep in fast water!

Have you ever had something so well planned out, so prepared, that it just doesn't work out? Well day one went kind of like that. Don't get me wrong, we caught a couple fish. The only issue was that we were at the Taylor searching for that elusive 10 pound rainbow. And they just didn't seem to be around. I spent the day catching nice browns in the 16-20 inch range, but didn't even see a fish you could call a Taylor River Hawg. Was day one a bust? No, it just wasn't quite what I was looking for. Not that it wasn't fun, just not what I expected.

Day two brought us fishing on the lower Taylor and Gunnison Rivers. It was a big change of pace from the previous day, with much more active fish. More active meaning they would eat a size 2 Golden Stone on the skate. Now, if you've never had the chance to fish a good stonefly hatch, put it on the list. You cast  up onto the bank, twitch it and skate it into the water, and let it get hammered by that 17 inch rainbow who's been waiting all day for the next big meal.

Day three took us on another long drive (4 hours) across the Kebler Pass and into the town of Basalt. For this last full day, we were going to hit the Frying Pan from top to bottom. Starting at the infamous Toilet Bowl, we worked our way through the Flats, Bend Pool, and weaved around private water all the way to Basalt.

Day four brought a 4:30am wake up and a quick morning of fishing at the upper Pan, and finished off with brekfast burritos and yet another 4 and a half hour drive home. Awesome trip!

Gone For Awhile

I'll be gone until this weekend, out on a trip. Until then, have a good week and wish me luck at landing a big one.

Fill A Box Contest!

Its been awhile, but it's finally time to have another contest! For all you fly tiers out there, this is a great contest to practice on. Get going on some of your favorite flies, and fill up a box with sweet patterns. Once you're finished, post a picture of it on your blog or shoot me an email. We'll put up a poll and let the crazy internet people decide who tied the coolest box. And the winner? His (or her) choice of a dozen flies for whatever you fish for, or "Tight Lines; Ten Years of the Yale Anglers' Journal". So what are you waiting for? Start tying some flies!

Rules:
Since some people take longer than others to tie, you can enter your box anytime before June 30th. After that, we'll start the voting. Please title your entry as something along the lines of "Fill A Box Contest Entry". The winner will need to email their address for shipping.