I just placed my order for a Rise Level 7 wt. If it doesn’t get to my house before April 1 that is just fine by me. I won’t fish it until after then anyway because I bought it for chucking big streamers at browns on the Au Sable. That season opens on the 1st of April this year on the Au Sable’s Big Water thanks to new regs. Hopefully I will be there the week after the opener and I will wait to string it up until then because there is just something about buying a rod for a purpose that says “no, just wait for the right time”. If I get to string it before then for a good reason I will surely post a review. In the mean time you can stop buy the Roughfisher and read this. Either way, I’m pretty excited to be adding this  7wt to the arsenal as I don’t own a rod of that weight and I like what Rise is doing. Visit the Rise site and read all about it. 

I have been pretty satisfied with the TFO TiCR 6wt that I have been using as a streamer rod. As the flies grow bigger the need for a heavier stick to throw them with has grown too hence the purchase. My 6wt. is a build from a friend and it is a slick rod. The black blank, black guides and anodized silver real seat make for a pretty stealthy looking rod. Its not anything super fancy or high dollar but it was built for me with the components that I chose so it will stay with me for a long time. The guy that built my rod is Doug Enslen. He is an old school streamer guru. He was my streamer fishing mentor (though I seem to need some more mentoring sessions!), he builds some of the sweetest rods you’ll ever see under the name of Au Sable Rod Co., and he wades like a goddamn heron on speed. I’m not exagerating, the guy moves down a river unlike anyone I have ever seen. There are times that I would’ve sworn that his wading boots were actually more like running shoes. His boots seem to never touch the bottom, he never splashes, and there is barely a wake behind him. He slides down the river quickly and gracefully only stopping when he sees a spot that looks like it’ll hold a big fish. Fishing with him is a solid lesson on how to cover a lot of water in a sort time and somehow avoid drowning in the process. I look forward to the day I get to row for him and watch him work a streamer from the boat. It’ll be a good lesson for sure. Doug doesn’t build rods commercially but he should because he does amazing work. Its sort of a friends only gig and I am lucky to have had the benefit. As I said before, I love that rod that he built for me and it will still see its fair share of time on the water but sometimes the 6 just isn’t cutting it for the really big stuff so it was time step up.  I’ve been shopping for a bit and I stumbled on Rise via Moldy Chum and took a look.

I think what Rise is doing as a start up is right on target with the kind of company that I would like to support. They are a guide based co. with a healthy portion of the profits going to conservation and they seem to be pretty grass roots and I like that sort of thing. Yeah, the rods are built overseas. So are a lot of them that are affordable these days. I guess that’s what we’ll have to get used to in a global economy. I work for a US auto maker and not buying an American made rod probably makes me a hypocrite but so be it. If I had the $600-700 to throw at one of those sticks I would surely do it but I don’t so I am happy to be supporting a new company that is doing the right thing.

The picture above is Hannah Belford, a Rise team member, via the Rise Blog. I added the red fish pic because a few of us are headed to FL in May to chase reds, baby tarpon, and snook in canoes and I can’t wait. Should be good fun!

In other news… its snowing again here in NW Ohio but I guess that’s to be expected for Feb. We’re on the up-swing for spring though and the second part of  steelhead season is coming fast!

You shouldn’t have…

Don’t get me wrong here, I can appreciate the fight of a catfish. They are strong fish and from what I’m told, they are pretty damn smart or at least high ranking on the sensory perception scale. (If you look at them on a purely scientific basis they’re actually pretty cool.) Listen to the podcast in that link. He talks about the mighty cat about half way through and speaks highly of the fish as a predator and a game fish. Yeah, they’re great fighters if you like to slog it out with a fat, lazy old bulldog, a log, or a size 17 sea boot full of mud.  Personally, I say you can keep the slimy creeps.

It seems like every year, once a year, I manage to find myself hooked up to at least one catfish. I think the first time it happened, and most every time after that, I was fishing the Maumee River for small mouth. The Maumee is a big river that averages about 2000 cfs. Its a major tributary to Lake Erie and just about every warm water fish under the sun will call it home for at least a portion of the year and a lot of those will be resident fish throughout the year. You never know what you’re going to hook when you fish this river. To date I have caught small mouth, large mouth, and white bass on the Maumee. Freshwater drum (sheephead), bluegill, crappie, and walleye have all eaten my flies there. One day I saw a huge carp run a buddy in to his backing and put him in water up to his shoulders as he chased it downstream and stepped off an underwater ledge. It was quite a sight and to my buddies credit, he still landed the fish despite the soaker he received. I also witnessed another pal slug it out with a buffalo on a Winston 4 weight (while fishing for whities) that would’ve made any dry fly purist cry like a girl while watching that poor little Winston flex to the power of what was to this day one of the biggest and ugliest fish I have ever seen landed on a 4 weight. I have a pic of that fish and once I get around to scanning it I plan to send it to the Winston rod company and chuckle while I imagine the horror in the eyes of the makers of such a fine rod. Lets face it, 4 weight Winstons should probably never be subjected to such a travesty.

Anyway, if I remember correctly, the first time I caught a cat I was fishing a clouser in a spot where I normally do pretty well with the smallies when I hooked something that was surely not what I had in mind. After a few minutes and a nice little fight I found myself faced with whiskers, lips, and spines. Shit. Now what? There I was without a net (nets are bad luck in my eyes) remembering the warnings from my dad from so many years ago when my brother and I used to fish with worms and bobbers for what ever would eat from the docks around my dad’s boat. My dad was pretty good with his fish ID’s and taught us what was “good eatin’” and what wasn’t. He also taught us about the spines of those fish with whiskers and how he would rather not have to deal with one or both of us getting stuck and being miserable for the rest of the weekend. Once the old man was comfortable with the fact that my bro and I had a pretty good idea what was what in the fish world he would turn us loose and we would catch all sorts of crap. We did catch some catfish and never got stuck thanks to those lessons. So there I was, a grown man, looking at that fish, cringing at the fact that I might get poked by one of those spines. I cut my leader and said sainara to my clouser and didn’t tie on another one for fear that I might hook another cat.

I made the mistake of telling the stories of the other cats I have caught on flies at campfires to my fly fishing buds while on trips to northern Michigan chasing trout on the Au Sable. I have caught cats up to 30″ and these guys had even found a spot where they could target them and catch them on a regular basis. I thought maybe we were on to something good. I even tried to convince myself and the others after listening to the above mentioned podcast about the merits of catching this “prized” fish. But still I am left with nothing more than the memories of a slimy leader and fears of being stuck by those 3 awful, infection carrying spines that taunt me every time I bring one to hand. I should have known that it was the years of pissing and moaning about those slimy critters and how much I hate them that likely spawned the idea that I needed a hat that advertised that I am somehow a fan of the species. Now, thanks to Mike (aka “Phyllus”), I now own a fucking catfish hat that I will surely have to wear every time I fish a warm water stream where they may be present. Thanks for that “pal”. Fly fishing buddies are the greatest. Really.

I just can’t get in to them. I’m sorry. I’d sooner have to give the tongue to a dozen carp caught from a Wal Mart retention pond than have to handle another catfish. That said, I will wear my new lid with pride every time I get on the local warm water streams in hopes that it will protect me from the horrors of leader snot and a trip to the ER for a tetanus shot. You guys can catch them all you want. I’ll pass if I can. Not like I actually have a choice in the matter. Unfortunately for me I live in a warm water region and the little pricks are gonna be there whether I like it or not. I’m sure I’ll catch dozens of them now.

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.

What would I call a Grand Slam on my home water? What would a Hat Trick be on my home water? Then came the real question…

WTF is my home water?

What kind of flyfisher can I be with no home water?!?! I started searching through the pics of places I’ve been searching for a place to call home.

Unknown- PA

Mad River- OH

South Branch Au Sable- MI

The local whore pond- OH

Rocky River- OH

Au Sable Mainstream- MI

Unmentionable- OH

Unmentionable- OH

I started to find  myself in a bit of a panic as I realized that not one of these places is less than a half hour away from my house.

Then I remembered this:

and how the guy that took these photos, while he loves living on this nice little river, gets a little reminder from Mother Nature every once in a while that she is still the boss.

Then the  panic resided and I realized that it doesn’t matter where I live, I can call any body of water home. Being on the water has always been home for me. Ever since I was a kid I have always felt better when I am near water and I’m guessing that I always will. Sure, I would love to have my own personal lake/pond fishery to manage and call home but for now I’ll be very happy to have the Midwest’s waters, cold and warm, to call my home waters.

Now back to Hat Tricks and stuff…

What is a Hat Trick on your home water? What about a Grand Slam? No need to mention the name or place if you don’t want to. (Remember, a hat trick is three and a grand slam is four. That was the part the had Foul Hooked all pissed off so we better get it right here)

With the warm temp’s on Saturday, a calm Sunday seemed like a good day for my own personal “opening day” on my home waters.  For me, home waters are literally that… home.  A small warm-water river that actually runs behind my house and through the small rural town I call home.   These opening days are some of my favorite fishing experiences of the year.  I seem to spend as much time admiring flora and fauna as I do trying to poke some fish with a fly.  One of the joys of having home waters is being able to learn the intricate details.  Truely knowing your water inside and out.  A deadfall here, a hole there.  A narrow channel next to a log where you have caught a nice fish the last few years, etc.  The only way to know these is to have spent countless hours fishing these waters.  Spending that much time with anything, good or bad, creates a  bond.  This bond is what causes us to take pride in, and defend, our home waters.

This river in particular, has a long history of threatening the town around it every winter.  In recent years, countless floods have come and gone.  The power of such a small stream at it’s worst, can be unnerving to say the least.  But these floods do more than force us to put everything in our garage up on a tables and clear out our basements.  Floods are the classic sculptors of my home waters, and each opening day is like a new gallery opening for those of us who fish it.  Sometimes the changes are grand, sometimes subtle.  Some for the better, some not so good.  But different.  Altered.  The only constant is change.

Caught a few fish that I hadn’t expected to catch.  A nice, fat, early smallmouth was brought to hand, and a few LARGE carp were spotted in places I had never seen them before.  I’ll make the mental note to look for them later.  Found a few new holes the hard way (Lesson to be learned – always wear your waders with the straps up until you ‘re-learn’ your water).  Suckers moving onto the gravel – always good to fish behind them.  The season is here.  Months of sidewalk shoveling and windshield scraping have given way to flower planting and picnics.  The next few weeks will have me wiping grass from my waders.  A byproduct of a small river running through a small town.  The floatilla of grass clippings used to bother me.  Careless I thought, and lazy I assumed.  Now I just see an it as increase in organic content for the smaller inhabitants of the river.  They need to eat too.  Get up, get out, fish, find a wildflower.

Mad River tilt shift

So anyway that’s what we did the Mad is a seriously small stream, very clear and to Caufields  credit there were some bugs and some fish caught. Perhaps a first? Either way it was a beautiful day on a very nice stream. Thanks to some peeps at Madriver Men TU chapter for the location tips. Tight lines.