The Adventures Of Gabriella (Part Eight)

Hey there! I just made it back to where I was hoping to be yesterday, so I only lost a day. It took a long time, but I just arrived and found a place to sleep. There are definitely other flies here, but I think I'm just going to camp out for tonight. I'll find a fly in the morning who can point me in the right direction. For now, it's time to rest. I'm hoping I can find a similar fly, like a Bitch Creek, who will be able to know where the Girdle Bug Town Is. We'll talk tomorrow!

Just A Random Fly Picture... Or is it?

Runoff Blues!

Runoff blues, runoff blues. Go bass fishing! Take a boat, fish from shore. Topwater, sub-surface. The possibilities are endless. The flies are big, the takes are cool, and the fish fight hard. What more could you ask for? Ya I know, a small flowing stream. But no dice, not for another couple weeks. So go out and fish the bass. My best luck has been at Sawhill Ponds and Pella Crossing, but mostly Pella. Get out there early with some topwater poppers, hitting the shores with them from a belly boat if you can. Once the heat starts building and the fish stop hitting, take out a nice big fly (my favorite is the Meat Whistle), tie it on, and catch some more! Take away those runoff blues!

MY NEW BOAT!!!! Thanks Troutrageous

Thanks Troutrageous. Like I didn't have enough to do already. No, really. Thanks! I had nothing to do, and with runoff this high the fishing looks bleak. When I saw your post about building a duct tape kayak, my first thought was, "No one would ever do this". Then it went to, "How does this work?" And then finally to, "Mom, I need to go to the hardware store". Yes, I'm actually building the duct tape kayak. As JGR might say, I'm being "That guy". So I have no idea if this will work. Do I have a drill? I do now. Do I have a bone saw? I do now. Do I have a welding torch? My parents were crazy enough to get me one. And now, I have the top of my kayak complete. The first piece of welding PVC took a little effort, but the electrician taught me well. I added an extra T-Bar piece for support, And Made some oar posts to stick on at the last minute. I have to wait until my next order of PVC comes in before I can start working more. The only thing I didn't like about the project is the materials list. It doesn't include a welding torch in the list, and says you need 50 feet of PVC instead of 70. I just made lots of mistakes that needed an extra 20 feet of fixing. So again, thanks for the great idea. For anyone who trusts my welding and building skills enough (65 final in Wood Working), feel free to come and test it out when I'm finished. I'll keep you updated on my progress.

The Adventures Of Gabriella, Part Seven

Oh no! When I went to bed last night, I paid no attention to which way I fell asleep! What a HUGE mistake that was. This morning, there was a thick cloud of fog covering the whole area, and I couldn't see where I was! Since I wasn't sure which direction the town I saw was, I just started walking. Another big mistake. I did eventually find something, but it took me hours of walking in circles. Even worse, the place I reached wasn't where I had hoped. I somehow ended up at the bead shelf, nowhere near the other flies or anything else. The fog is just now starting to clear, and I'm beginning to make out some places in the distance. I can't see what they are, but if the fog keeps clearing I should be able to soon. I hope I haven't gotten too far off course! For now, I need to rest. See you tomorrow!

How'd I Get Here?



Hot Shots

Where did Gabriella go off to? Did she get eaten by a giant fish? Lost forever? Taken once again by the giant? No, she'll be back tobnight. I was just out gathering some pictures last night and didn't get the chance to tell about her day. In the mean time, here's this weeks Hot Shots.



New And Improved

That's A Lotta Worms And Girdle Bugs

You can't even walk around the shop anymore without bumping into some amazing new item! RMA is completely set with new gear, a whole new shipment of tying materials, and NEW flies! Yesterday was all the materials, and there were tons. New wire, thread, marabou, chenille, tools, hooks, beads, and everything else fly tying came in a giant box. Luckily one of my little home-dogs, Alan, came into to help us out. Alan has a knack for perfection and organization that is completely beyond me. I can't do anywhere near what he does. Not to mention he is a very good fisherman to boot. So Alan set up all the wire and thread, and then worked on other materials with me. So today I came back to the shop, ready to get shit done. Randy was already working on setting up flies. I jumped in and helped, and we managed to get all the flies set up. So now, you can't even walk through the shop without walking into something awesome!

Tie Whatever Color You Want!

Beads, Beads, The Magical Pain In The Ass

Cruel, cruel world! How could you? All my work was ruined in mere seconds! I just finished fixing it! How could this of happened? What stars aligned in a way to make my life hell at that moment? All my beads fell. Every single one of them. Silver, gold, black, red, white, orange, green, and all the rest. The all fell into my carpet. I managed to collect most of them, but I'm sure there are at least a dozen that will forever live in the depths of the carpet. I just finished organizing all my fly tying stuff, and the desk is en-route. Now I have to go through and sort the silver from the gold. The 2.0 mm beads from the 2.4 ones, and the glass from the brass to the tungsten. WONDERFUL. How can I tie my next batch of 200 worms next weekend when I have to spend hours picking the right bead for each hook? Oh that's right, worms don't have beads! Well, it's still going to be tough. There's only one thing that can get me out of the tense state I'm now in. Trout! But oh no, the streams are blown out! Well, I guess I'm heading back to Lily lake. Hopefully I don't get blown out of there.... literally.

FUCK!

The Adventures Of Gabriella (Part Six)

Hmm. I'm completely lost. What I thought would be the beggining of the fly shelf that I call home is actually the fly lines! How did I get here? There are definitely some fly shelves near by, but not mine. This is a smaller shelf, and is open instead of having boxes, like mine. My next move is definitely to those flies, to see if anyone can point me in the right direction, but for now I gotta rest. I got really sidetracked looking at all the hooks this morning, so I didn't leave until 4:00! Luckily it was a short hike, so I got here with time to spare. This place near me looks familiar, but I'm not sure why. Well, hopefully there will at least be a nice place to stay, because these lines do not work for sleeping. Oh well, I guess tonight I'll just be sleeping opossum style.

44 Wind Knots And Tangled Lines

Whitecaps On Lily

44. 44 Wind Knots and Tangled Lines . No, not 44 Howard's from Wind Knots And Tangled Lines. That would be the end of the world. This wasn't quite so bad, but it was close. 44 wind knots. That's how many I had to untangle. I got to Lily lake at around 1 in the afternoon, and there were over 100 people there. There was a wedding at one end of the lake which accounted for about 80 people, but the other twenty were all fishermen. 15 were spin fishermen, all catching nothing. The other five were fly fishermen, all around the lake casting dry droppers. Well, I wouldn't call it casting. The 40 mile per hour winds were preventing that, so it was more like waving a stick. That 7 weight carp rod I left at home seemed really nice right about then. But I was there, I had taken the drive, and I was ready to fish. I stood down near some rocky structure and false casted for a minute before the wind calmed down. I laid in my cast with Erin's Lily Bugger, started stripping, and repeated. I managed to sneak a few casts in, with no luck. Then the wind kicked up once again. What kept running through my head was, "You can't catch fish here unless you see cruisers." Dang. That thought kept running through my mind as I snuck casts in through the wind. It went through my head right as a red flash went off behind my fly. Wait, what? Another flash. Wow. Then a second later, whack! Fish on! I fought the big pretty fish for a minute, brought him to the net, quickly took a picture, and let him go.

Little did I know this was the only fish I would catch all day Little did I know this was the only fish anyone caught all day. Of course, until I went around and asked. Nope, no one else had caught a fish. So a couple hours later, once I had enough of fighting the wind, we headed home. As we drove by, a line of cars appeared on the road. From staying a week in Wyoming, I knew what that meant. But I had never seen one in Colorado before! Bear! Yes, that's right, bear! And not a usual Black Bear, either. It was a BIG Brown Bear. I went on down the road, leaving my parents and all their worrying behind. Sadly, the zoom on my camera was jammed. Good thing I got close enough to take this shot :)

The Adventures Of Gabriella (Part Five)

The Nursery

I finally know where I am! I have no idea where this place is in relation to home, but I've definitely seen this place before! It's the nursery! This is where all the flies are before they get turned into actual flies! Let me tell you, they are just SO adorable! Those little eyes, barbs just starting to grow, and hook shanks just starting to form. This isn't all good, though. We don't care for the young as carefully as you humans do, so there isn't anyone watching over the little guys. This means I won't have anyone to point me toward home! I'll just have to make my own decision. Luckily, I woke up early and ended up arriving early, so I had time to plan. It looks like there is structure out in the distance, so I'll work my way out there.'Till tomorrow!

Gabriella at The Nursery