Ill Trout Bum

Just got back from our latest trip to the Current this past week. Spent most of our time fishing from Baptist and working our way downstream. The water levels were a little higher than normal and the flow was quite strong. In addition, it was slightly off color, which allowed us to use a little heavier tippet than normal. We were successful in catching a variety of both browns and rainbows, including this photo of my friend's healthy brown. This was his first trip to Baptist and definitely not the last. We fished a heavy nymph rig with lots of weight at what my friend described as " crazy deep" levels. Most of the time we were 10 to 12 feet below the indicator. In some spots, I'm not sure we were still deep enough. Top flies were flashback GRHE, olive woolies, pine squirrel nymph and cracklebacks fished wet and deep. Huge caddis hatches coming off in early morning and evening, but nothing rising to them much to our dismay.

I'll be there as I have for the last 27 years. I must admit, that opening day is not my ideal fishing situation. The crowds can be horrendous. Sometimes, you never know as with last year when the weather took a turn for the worse. A lot of potential opening dayers chose to stay home or were prevented from getting there by road conditions. For our group, it is more about the fellowship. This is the only time I see some of our guys all year long. We enjoy the company, fixing the meals, fly tying and the occasional stories that always seem to surface about past opening days. I look forward to this every year and would not trade the experience for anything. I guess it's like someone once said. "If I have to explain it to you, you wouldn't understand." For those of you venturing out next month, have a great opener!!

Gotta be my Orvis T3. I love the casting action and delicate presentation. I also love playing big fish on this rod. It's like fishing with a switch!

Thanks for a great report. Sounds like a well deserved "mental health" day was in order. The only trouble is they are too few and far between.

I have had great luck with Aquasela over the years. Turn the waders inside out and apply. Allow the affected area to cure for 24 hours before you use it again. You can repair them quicker if you use a product called Cotol with the Aquaseal. Cotol helps speed the curing process and also is an excellent prep for Aquaseal. Done properly, the repair is permanent and leakproof. Good luck!!!

I received the same answer when I inquired about this subject years ago. The only stipulation is the hooks need to be a minimum of 6 inches apart to be considered a separate fly. If you follow this rule, you should be ok.

Congrats on a great year!!!! My fishing suffered a little last year due to work obligations and buying the new house. I resolve to do better this year and have already made good on that by starting the new year with a trip to Montauk. I hope to follow with several more, including a trip in February, time permitting. Let me know if you are interested in getting together and tying again.

I just wanted to give a short report on last weeks trip. Friday morning I was greeted with a balmy 15 degrees when the whistle sounded. Very few anglers in the park today. Fishing was a little slow at first, but they finally kicked into gear arond 9AM. Caught several fish over the course of Friday. One of them being a nice fat football of a fish in Hudson's. Saturday morning the temp dropped to 5 above. Fishing started off at a faster pace than the day before. Hooked several large fish during the morning. I managed to land 2 of them. One from under the fallen tree at the top of Blue Hole and another from the spring hole. The cold weather issues with line freezing in guides and numerous reel malfunctions made it extremely tough to land any more large fish. Saturday afternoon, the temp climbed to the low 20's. We noticed earlier in the morning that despite the cold, several fish were rising. We opted for dry flies during the afternoon and had a blast catching several fish on a size 16 Griffith's gnat. Most of the action occurred where fish were holding within a foot or so of the bank. I never would have imagined we would have done as well as we did fishing dry that day. Sunday morning greeted us with slightly warmer temps than the previous day. I was especially surprised to see that we were alone on the stream when the whistle sounded. Started again at the spring hole and worked our way downstream to the rock hole. Never saw another angler until we quit at 11AM. All in all, it was a very satisfying trip and a great way to spend the New Year.

Thanks for sharing the pics and stories. Gotta love winter fishing!!!!

I started using Loon Dust last year. It is applied to the finished product as you mentioned. It is considerably neater than the liquid floatants and as far as I can tell works just as well.

Will be happy to! I hope to have some good photos to accompany the report.

I'm headed to Montauk to ring in the New Year with some friends. We will be there from the 31st through Jan.3rd. Looks like it will slightly on the cool side this weekend!! (LOL) I told my buddy that the Under Armor and layered fleece will definitely be in order. If there are any other brave souls out this weekend, be sure to give us a shout. I'll be driving a red Explorer with Illinois plates. Hope to see some other hardcore brethren on the stream as well. P. S. The attached photo is from opening day this year.

Merry Christmas to all. May each one enjoy God's rich blessings in the year to come.

Been a while, but still here.

Thanks for the info. I'll definitely give that model a look. I really like the idea of the magnetic closures.

Hi All, I am looking at purchasing a chest pack this summer. I am particularly interested in the William Joseph line, including their Watermark brand. I am considering a couple of different models. The first is the Watermark midge pack. The other model up for consideration is the Watermark Fly Fishing Guide Lite Chest Pack. Has anyone had any experience with either model? I am interested in hearing both likes and dislikes for both models. Some things to comment on are, fit, adjustability, comfort, storage capacity, etc. Also, I am interested to know if there is a D-ring or other means of attachment for a landing net on the back. Also, if you know of a comparable pack that has the same features for the money, please chime in. I look forward to hearing from as many of you as possible. Thanks!

Thanks for the report. I love the Current this time of year!

We were at Montauk when the storm blew through on May 8th. As we were leaving, I noted several large trees in the water in the area of the campground. We attempted to drive over the hill toward the spring, but the entire road was blocked by fallen trees. Someone told me there were several trres down in the water at Jetty Hole and through the Blue Hole. Does anyone know if this is correct? If so, have any of them been removed? I know that in the past when large trees have fallen, they tend to leave them there for long periods of time. Sometimes the only way they get removed is when the next flood comes. Thanks. Here are some pics of the damage we witnessed.

I've always had a lot of luck using scuds in the C&R area. Also, small dries are great at times. Keep in mind these fish see a lot of flies as they are confined to a relatively small area. Good Luck.

We were actually in the campground Friday when the storm hit. Large trees and limbs falling all around, not a good place to be in high winds!!! I think it was extremely fortunate there were no injuries friday morning. If these winds had occurred Saturday when the campground was at capacity it surely would have been a different story. As we left Friday afternoon, we were told they were closing the park because there was no power. This also means no water and the showerhouses had already been closed. Park officials we spoke to said that it normally takes 2 weeks or more to restore power to the Montauk area. In addition to the power loss, numerous large trees fell at several locations in and around the cabins. When we were finally able to leave, we were astounded to see the damage outside the park all the way to Salem and beyond. Several areas of the highway had a single lane that had been chain-sawed through the downed trees. When we left, the lodge still had phone service. If you are planning on heading down, I would definitely call first.

Most of these small sized lead heads are produced by small business operations. I have sold these for years and my supplier is a retired gentleman that produces and markets his product all over the US. I inquired last year about the possibility of buying jigs that are cast from something other than lead. He told me that at that time there was no other material available to him that would allow him to produce an affordable product. Lead alternatives such as bismuth and tungsten are high priced commodities. If he should be forced to use such items, you can expect the cost of your jigs to at least double.

Yes, it is true the lodge has wi-fi. However, it only works part time at best. I hope you will be more successful in your emailing and posting ventures than we were opening day.

I've been using braided leaders for several years now. Orvis makes a very good one for around $10. They usually will last for a couple of seasons under the right conditions. I also like that they are made in both a floating and sinking model. Just be sure to check them occasionally to make sure there are no signifigant nicks or fraying of the material.

I wanted to let evryone know that we will again be holding another installment of our fly tying clinic on Saturday, April 4th. We meet at the Vine Community Church at 1435 S. Wall street in Carbondale. We will start at 9AM and wrap up around noon. This clinic is for tiers of all levels and abilities. The majority of our participants are true beginners, so don't let having little or no experience hold you back. Right now we are concentrating on teaching basic tying principles and techniques as well as tying flies. If you have your own tools and tying materials, please bring them with you. We will have extra tools and materials available. If you need materials, we ask for a $5 donation per participant to cover material costs. I have already heard from several of you in the Southern Illinois area and look forward to putting a face with a name. Hope to see as many of you there as can attend.

Here's a link to an interesting article about indicators. http://www.flyfisherman.com/skills/jmnymphing/index.html I was skeptical when I first read this, but after trying what the author suggested, I was surprised. I truly believe I caught more fish using this technique than I ever did using an indicator. The proof for me was measured in the increased number of takes I was able to detect in shallow riffles. These areas are usually trouble spots for indicators requiring constant depth adjustment to be effective. I also liked the way going "floatless" allowed my fly to drift. It just seemed more natural and required a lot less line mending. I challenge everyone to try this at least once and see how you fare. You can always go back to using the indicator if you wish.