Anyway, being the whiny bitch that I am, I also don’t like to have the anchor “kerplunked” in the water when approaching a pool that may hold fish. I suspect that from the fishes perspective you may as well just do a cannonball off the boat. It would probably end in the same result. So here’s the basics:

Anchor: Kersploosh!

Me (to Mike): Hey plunky. Splash that anchor again and I’m gonna hop over this brace and punch you in the face!

Mike (to me): I was trying to get you wet.

Me (to Mike, head shaking): Yeah? Well next time try rubbing the inside of my thigh.

We got skunked that day as we have every other day we have fished that river for steel.

Check back. This post could be added to in the future.

There is a bit of an explanation to go along with it. Its sort of an intro to what Randy and I’s relationship is all about. Call it what you want. “Bromance”…. whatever… I wouldn’t trade it for much of anything.

Several years ago, my buddy Randy who I grew up with moved to Dallas, TX. It was a great move for him and his wife. I can’t imagine how they could possibly be in a better position. They are blessed with a beautiful daughter and a pretty damned good life and I’m happy for them all for it. Initially I was afraid that the distance would do what it does to many friends and we would shortly part ways. Fortunately for me (and I say me because I can’t imagine what my life would be like without Randy in it) I managed to get him hooked on fly fishing either soon after he moved or right before. I can’t remember what the timing was on that but either way it was, or may have been, the greatest thing I have ever done because since then we have gotten to fish together every year. I’m not sure that if it wasn’t for the fly fishing we would still be close but the fact that it is makes it even better. It seems for what ever reason, guys need a thing. I can’t and won’t attempt to explain why. It just is. Randy and I have been pals since we were about 3 years old. We’ve been through a lot. We shared his trap line when we were in junior high which as far as I can remember was the first outdoors thing we did. His older brother was a big hunter so it was only natural for him to get involved and I was just along for the ride I guess. I’ve probably seen him thump more critters on the head for their fur than either of us would probably ever admit to but that’s what we did back than and well… you can’t change the past and it wasn’t all that bad. In hindsight, we probably saved more folks from having to clean up a tipped over garbage can than we’d ever have known and coons and muskrat aren’t exactly wild steelhead so… After that we started racing BMX and from there it was skate and snow. Sort of in the middle of all that it was competitive sailing. I think that without question the sailing was the real dope. If you have ever done it, you would get the bond. If not, I’m sorry and if the option is there, give it a shot. There really is no greater connection between self satisfaction and pure “if I fuck this up we could all be hurt” teamwork. Its a beautiful thing when its done right. When you win, when it all comes together for a team sailing together, even if its only two of you, its a high that I feel is almost unobtainable any other way. Its you and your team verses the wind and its many directions, verses a fleet of how ever many. I guess in the context of this blog, the closest thing that I could say to the feeling is “guiding” your newest fly fishing “student” to their first fish on a fly that they tied themselves. And honestly, that doesn’t even come close. I don’t do it any more because when you get close with a team and that team is forced to split, no other team is good enough. It just won’t ever scratch that itch. The self satisfaction aspect is why I tie flies. The teamwork aspect is why I love to fish from a drift boat.

I know this pic may be a bit tired on this site but it just happens to be a pic of Randy and I and it was a stellar trip that year so here it is again. It also speaks to the above mentioned and it may be in the new Hyde catalog so that makes it super cool and worth the re-post.

Randy has been gracious enough to make several trips up here to come fishing with us guys. I really owe him a trip south to see the places he has discovered since he has gotten in to fly fishing. He has been to some cool spots. For me when he comes up its is the trip of the year. Not to discount any other trip because whenever, with whoever, its a treat, but for me to get to fish with the person that is most like my brother (damn I wish my brother would put down the golf clubs for a weekend and come fish with me!) is always going to be a great time.

This year  (short the lack of catching from the last post) was no exception. Standard procedure is that Randy and I will spend about 5 days up North and whoever makes it, for however long is always welcome. We’ve pretty much slimmed it down to whoever commits first to a total of 6. This year’s group was just that. Six guys, beginer to experienced, all staying here at this nice little hand built log cabin that a friend owns.

The place is about as much as you’d ever need on a fishing trip in the north woods. 80 acres to roam, a wood stove, a place to cook, a place to poop (and shower with hot water if you need to), and a few dry beds. It was built by Randy and his buddies several years ago and has been sold since then to another friend who, despite the empty gun casings, empty shotgun shells, and clay bird schrapnel from a few years back has agreed to let us in again. In our defense, we highly doubt that we were the culprits of the aforementioned but we don’t own the place so its not our place to say so much. That kind of thing isn’t really why we’re up there but whatever…

Randy and I got up there late on a Wed night and did the standard drink beer, shoot the shit, and go to bed for what we hoped would be an early day on the water. It wasn’t an early day but we did get up to clouds, fog, and a generally shitty forecast which we were pleased to hear. We hit the carry out for beer and Sparks then the fly shop for a spot and this for a weather report; “you guys be careful out there. They’re calling for rain.” Yeah… great… “like 2″ per hour hour rain.” Okay… We’ll believe it when we see it. An hour and a half later we beached the boat, hauled it up on shore as best we could due to the weight of the water, and bailed (with Sparks cans with the tops cut off) more water out of the boat than I would ever have thought possible for just a short burst of rain. I think if it weren’t for the “seemanship” (heheheh… he said seman…) we had learned from the sailing days we may have been in trouble. Really though, two world class sailors looking in a drift boat and saying, “hmmmmm… maybe we should stop and get this water out of the boat. I think its really effecting our performance.” Real pros… We probably should’ve stopped earlier but I had just moved the biggest fish I’ve ever seen in that stretch.  Or ever really so why stop? Nobody died or even came close so it was nothing more than a lesson in me getting a hand pump bailer which I have now so lesson learned. We didn’t catch much of anything but it was a good time.

“What the fuuuuuuuuuuckkkk…. Where are all the feeesh?!?!?”

The next day was breeze. BIG BREEZE! 40 mph gusts so we opted to fish the North Branch and go visit a buddy in Lewiston. The North Branch was great. We caught a handful of little brookies and a few decent browns.

We split up on some islands and in the process Randy caught a 16″ brookie (no pic of course) and I a 16″ brown (also no pic). Pretty good day on the North and a good visit with Scott in Lewiston. Scott has MS and a growers permit but got robbed of all his “meds” a few days earlier. They ripped the plants right out of the ground and made off with his entire stash. Normally I’d say that you had it coming for showing it to anyone. In this case, the guy truly could use it for his condition. Whoever did it should be more than kicked in the nuts.

The rest of the night… relax, eat some weird club sandwich pizza and wait for others to show.

And they did. With Four Locos in hand they came and kept our tired asses up on a count that they were fueled by crack infused alcohol disquised in a harmless looking can. I’m all for a Sparks in the morning but that Loco shit is outta hand. Whatever… again, nobody died and our livers did their job for another day.

The next day’s float went like this:

Big fish moved on one boat, big fish moved on the other boat, another big fish moved, big fish chased a streamer to the boat and then in figure eights at the boat, big fish chased and broke water over the fly……… not one ate. It is nice to see those guys but couldn’t at least one of them ate something? One other boat that was right behind us while we were having lunch did catch a 25″ fish and it was a guy we know so that’s good but…

Oh well. There is always this year. Which by the way opens April 1st and doesn’t close anymore! Thanks to all those that spoke up the new MI trout regs!

In closing I leave you with these last pics.

The above is an oddball pattern that saved the day on a few occasions. It needs a name and deserves one for its productivity. It was based on an old streamer pattern that I saw in Fly Tyer mag. All they had was a line drawing of the pattern so I made a visual note and when I sat down at the vise this is what happened. Saddles for the tail with white Puglisi in between, crystal chennile body, scruffy marabou sort of collar off of a pheasant cape, and a cone head. Biggest fish on it was only a 14″ bow but on a day when mostly what you’re getting is chases on other flies you take what you get and a 14″ trout is good enough for most of us anyway. Whatever the case, this fly caught a lot of fish when nothing else was working. It will be one of those that gets a “multiples” spot in my box this coming season.

Olive version of the Nutcracker. Zonker strip tail, palmered marabou over krystal flash, deer collar and spun deer hair head. Good sculpin pattern that gets some viscous strikes when fished from a boat and cast on the banks.

My version of the SHF (shit house fly. aka, McCunes sculpin). Mine is a bit beefier than the original. Zonker strip tail tied off and palmered up the body, fox tail collar with red yarn gill plates (not visible in the pic) under the deer hair collar, spun deer hair head. Same as above for strikes etc…

Murdich minnow. Originally tied as a small mouth pattern. Mine is a Puglisi fiber tail under krystal flash, I used polar fiber butts for the skirt, crystal chennile body top half colored with a marker and big holo eyes. This is one of those flies that I swore was too flashy for trout and was proven wrong that it isn’t. I poo-pooed it for a few years before I tried it. It is a great smallie pattern but trout seem to love it too. I think that because of it, I will start tying some of my trout streamers with more flash. I had fish come out of the water to pounce on it. Loads of fun and can be tied in a variety of colors.

I have a few other patterns that I am working on and have tried on trout last season. One of which is a combo of a Todd’s Wiggle Minnow and a Murdich Minnow. Its almost too fuggly to post but when I tie a few more I will. Its one of those patterns that I’ll tie for bass too. It is super erratic in the water, moves a ton of water, and gets the aggressive fish to jump on it. So far I haven’t moved anything major with it but it has caught some trout. If you have ever fished the “wiggle minnow” you know how much fun it is to fish and this one is just as fun but dives deeper.

You can read the rest of this story right here at The Drake Online with its fresh new look. Its an older story from last year or the year before but well worth the re-post here for the obvious reasons.

I sympathize with “The Junkie”. I know the pain of his addiction. Literally, I can still feel it in my elbow on my stripping arm from the last two trips up north. Tennis elbow has a partner in the world of fly fishing and it doesn’t come from casting. It comes from the answer to questions like this one:

“Dude, how is it that we are using the same fly and the same rig and you’re getting twice the hook ups on the same amount of follows?” He said.

“Strip faster.” I said.

Now I’m paying for it everytime I get the milk from the fridge. Streamer fishing for a few days from a boat can be tough on an old guy like me.

I am usually the first one to bash  ‘big box store brand’ products.  Just too many bad experiences in the past.  But I also have to give praise where praise is due.  I went into just such a ‘big box’ outdoor store in search of a new pair of wading boots.  Where we live in northwest ohio there are no local fly/gear shops to support (at least not any that would have waders/boots) so options are limited.

My intentions going in was to buy a pair of Chota STL’s ($135), but when I tried to get them on and off…. I wasn’t very impressed.  They had gotten good reviews from a lot of publications, but for me, getting those damn things on in below freezing temps, with frozen waders, in December, in Ohio or Michigan, wasn’t going to work.  I’ve had Chota’s before, and like them, but I couldnt get over this issue.  So on with the search….

After some conversation with the salesman, and the Hatchless Admin, I decided to roll the dice and try the store brand.  Cabela’s Guidewear Pro Boots. On the surface, they look VERY simialr to the Chotas.  Closer inspection of the soles, and stud system, really makes me think they may be made by the same manufacturer (but I’ve been wrong before).  The large opening makes them, by far, the easiest ‘on-off’ boots I’ve ever worn.  After 5 or 6 events, they are comfortable, provide good traction (these are felt soles—I know, shame on me), and seem to be defect free.  Did I mention they really go on easy???  Looking forward to trying out the removable studs for steelhead season, but I haven’t done it yet as the floor of the Hyde wouldn’t like it. 

Overall…. good boots, good price.  The real test for me?  How will they hold up to the abuse.  I’ll do a follow-up……..

Photo courtesy of Fishbeer.com. Too many to choose from but Fat Tire in cans (its boat friendly!), acid reducer,  and a 10″ pepperoni log had to be it.

Thanks to “Little Timmy” for asking “which blog is for him”?. I say that knowing that his question could have been in jest which I will attempt to qualify later… or not.

I would also like to thank Alex from 40 Rivers for including us in his 20 blogs to read. I like Alex’s blog. Its kind of right in line with what/why we started Hatchless. He seems like a regular guy with a regular life that takes time to do the thing that he loves to do when he can and writes about it when he can. Fortunately he writes often and we get to share his experiences. I guess that makes him lucky but that’s what the whole blog thing is about isn’t it? Sort of…

There are a shit ton of fly fishing related blogs and a lot of them are a really good read. Some have become a way to advertise and you can travel the world of fly fishing through them if that’s what you’re after. If you want to find a hip guide you can probably find it through a blog. If you want to read a story about a lifestyle you wish you had, you can read it in a blog. If you’re looking for a quick story from an amateur writer that just wants to talk about a special time they had in a special place, you can probably find it through a blog. Its all there if you want to take the time to read it and the big bonus is that its free and the people that write them are human too and if you want to contact them, you probably can.

Where do you start? Looking for options, just go to Buster’s site and look at the side bar. Tons o’ blogs and stuff there. Or go to the infamous “Chum” and look at the links. Tons again. (Be sure to check back every friday on the Chum for the Friday Pin Up. Even though this week is sub-par, its usauly pretty good.) Most of the blogs you’ll find will link you to another one. The bottom line is that the shit is out there. You just gotta go find what’s right for you.

For me its a mood thing, If I”m feeling a little “fuck the man” I might read Buster.  If I need a quick fix I usually go to the Chum because you just never know what you’ll find. Could be some killer photos linked to a post there that I may not have found otherwise or art or a conservation topic or… etc. The Chum is all over the place. Call it what you want. I know that some of us here at Hatchlss have opinions on it but we still wear the stickers on our trucks and boats regardless. Midcurrent… its the CNN of fly fishing. What more can you say. They say it and its not a bad thing. Its just their thing and its what they do and they do it well.

So what about the rest of us? Already mentioned 40 Rivers. Enough said about Alex. Anything more might breach the line into ass kissing. What about Fish Beer? He is probably a whole hell of a lot better writer than I’ll ever be. Just read his latest post: “She looked absent mindedly at the concrete wall and exhaled cigarette smoke like a thick streaming liquid into continental August humidity and it slowly expanded to fill the truck’s cab despite the open windows.” Its probably a run-on sentence but who fucking cares? None of the other fly fishing blogs are writing stuff like that! What about Josh Greenberg from Gates Lodge? Granted, this week’s report is not up to snuff and it might not even be a “blog” but who cares? Josh is a good writer and I look forward to every one of his new reports. Again, its there. There are so many more. Just read the stuff and find your favorites.  When you do find something you love or hate, leave a comment. We appreciate it either way.

When we started Hatchless we had intentions of reaching out to the masses. We still have intentions of reaching out to the masses. If you had a good time with a fly rod in your hand and want to write about it but don’t have a place to do it, share it with us and we’ll probably post it. Its part of why we’re here.

As for the fishing… eh… not so great but with a few high moments. Like I said we only managed to catch a few fish at night and missed a few more but there is always the one that makes standing in a river at midnight worth the trip. I went out alone one night for about an hour and a half and got myself in position to cast to what sounded like a few good fish. After several drifts with a hex and no takers I switched to an iso and started throwing parachute casts downstream to a fish I heard slurping. Less than a half dozen casts and my line went tight. It was of one of those moments that I have heard about so many times in the past. You hear the slurp and then in less than a second you’re on to a fish that in my case I wasn’t expecting. Unfortunately for me, as fast as it happened was about as fast as it ended. It was a good fish and I know this because it bent my 5wt. to the butt without much effort from me, i.e… my dumb ass didn’t set the hook, and it sounded like a toilet flushing when it rolled and then, BINK, it was gone. Maybe the hook set itself because the fish broke me off which made me feel a little less like a dipshit. In hindsight getting broke off is probably better than getting a fly thrown at me in the dark. Did I mention how dark? I’m pretty sure it was a new moon and where we were there isn’t exactly a lot of city lights to brighten the sky.

As far as this hatch, the hex, goes. I have made several attempts to connect with it and have basically decided that if you’re not there for a week you are wasting your time. This is not to say that a trip up North is not worth it, it always is. Its just that in my experience with this hatch, limited as it may be, its tough to be in the right place at the right time if you don’t “know” the water. Probably well worth shelling out the coin to hire a guide for the night and take notes for next year. Or, the next several days. Whichever the case. Hopefully next year it’ll be the latter. Hard part about the whole thing is anteing up when you own your own drift boat. Even harder is when your “crew” owns two and a jon boat that would do the job just, well… nearly as well. What the hell. Its just fishing after all. Nobody died and everyone has a good time regardless.

The rest of the trip also brought a few surprise fish though I’m not entirely sure why I found these guys surprising.

That’s a happy Thomas J with a couple of good Au Sable smallies.

As I said, I’m not sure why I was surprised because I have caught warmwater fish on this stretch before even further up stream. It souldn’t have been a surprise but for whatever reason it was. Tom was hitting the “scum lines” hard in search of who knows what and these guys were the result. Not worth complaining about in the least.

I’ll finish with a few more pics from the trip.

This is Kwakerz learning why “trolling” with a sink tip and drinking whiskey might be a bad idea. He wanted to save that fly.

Side channels are a great place to escape the canoe traffic in the main flow.

Hands down. One of my favorite runs in the Trophy Water.

I’ll keep the boat story short but remember I said it has been four long years. Most everyone I know has been tired of hearing about it for at least 3.5 of those years or less so I’ll try to keep it short. Basically, my mother-in-law married a guy (a fly fisher) about 5 years ago with a real knack for buying all the gear he could get his hands on and enough of it so that he would always have someone to fish with even if it meant loaning gear. Well, he passed away about 4 years ago and one of his f(r)iends was storing a few boats for him. That “storage” quickly turned into hiding them from their rightful owners/conversion after the funeral. The boat in the post below was one of the boats. There are two more. After four years of chasing this slippery douchebag I got that one back. Thanks to those of you that helped with that. We’ll see what happens with the others. They could require time in court and I don’t know if that’s worth it.

So anyway, on to the trip. It was a good time despite the fact that the fish were being dickheads. Two of us managed to get up there early enough on Friday to get a quick float in. Mio to Comins in about 3.5 hrs. I said quick didn’t I? Probably a good thing since my dumb ass fell in pretty early in the float. Thank you Mr. Down coat for keeping me warm!

Mental note, when the water is high and a little off color, its better to pee off the boat rather than hop off and go to shore.

Mike moved a bunch of fish that day but only one was of any size. The rest were the standard stockers that never fully committed to the fly.

It was a beautiful evening for a float and when we got off the water we were looking at this. Looks like a potential storm but its just a normal Northern MI sky in May.

I would have suggested we hang around at anchor just before the ramp and have a few more beers but my toes were feeling the 50 deg water temp and with air temps dipping in to the 40′s we shored up and headed to camp.

Shortly after we got to camp and got set up, the others arrived. We quickly lost one to the warm comfort of his tent and after several beers and some of Kentucky and Iowa’s finest we all hit the sack. We had big plans for the morning that were fortunately not coming until 9 a.m.

Huron Pines and ASBWPA sponsored stream banks restoration project at USFS 4841. This type of project was a first for me. I have been to numerous clean ups but never a project like this so I was looking forward to getting started as it seemed at first like it would consume a better part of the day. I was amazed at how fast we got it done. We split up into two groups and banged out two erosion walls including the demo of an old one in about two hours.

No, its not through his finger, just his glove but he did it twice so I thought I’d put two pics of it up.

Here is the completed project. Big thanks to all that were involved. I look forward to the next one!

We managed to get on the water by about 1 p.m. Put in at Mio again and had trucks spotted to Mckinley. Figured/hoped we’d get off the water after dark but with the help of a big breeze and the flow being up we made it to Mckinley before sunset. Thankfully the breeze let up in the afternoon. I was starting to get tired of fighting it and teaching someone to row in that shit just isn’t fair. We did actually land a few fish even if they were just stockers and most of which were caught near the stocking points. I think I got the only brown of the weekend. A whopping 8″ fish that ate a 4″ fly that he hit twice. I love it when that happens. Makes you realize that in most cases, going big on streamers is the right decision. The fly was a 2/0 olive version of the SHF. I’m pretty sure that fly should go in to a museum somewhere if it isn’t already. Thank you Mr. McCune. I’m pretty sure that someone put on his stripe for Saturday but I won’t mention who.

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