Mr. Robinson & The Root.

Received a note from Lee that I need to get back to Root River quickly, that this run isn’t going to last long – along with photos of his recent finds there. I might have to cut this trip short and head back to the Midwest. We look forward to more of Lee’s thoughts & fish here. Nice fish Lee, thanks for sharing.

Anna's first Tiger Trout

My angling buddy Anna and I hit the south branch of Big Flatbrook today. Exact spot where I caught tigers yesterday. Since this is Anna's first fishing outing for the year, I decided to be her guide for the day. We stopped by Van Campens Brook in the morning for quick admiration of its beauty and went straight for the tigers.

We struggled a little in the beginning but Anna got her groove and able to hook two beautiful tigers. She also endured some tough hiking in search of trout.

Good job Anna and congrat on your first tiger!

Spring Snow in Korea

South Korea has seen an exceptional amount of snow this year (record setting within 103 years). The good friends at Rainbow Shop went out to meet some early Cherry Trout in what they hope is the last of the snow for this year. I love the creeks in Korea, they look so old and it looks like there will be some story behind each valley. Very fitting with the fish that live in them.

Spring in the Midwest

Spring is definitely here and I am enjoying it just fine. Tried out my new reel today, I didn’t like it as much as I thought I would. It was nice thinking that my friend was to the east of me, catching some fish himself – all under the same sunlight. I had a couple of small but pretty brooks but lost them before I could get my camera out. I'll see them again next time.

New Jersey Tigers

I went out to South Branch of Big Flatbrook and Van Campens Brook today. Water level was high due to continuing snow melt and recent rain which made difficulat to wade. I was able to catch 4 tiger trouts at the Flatbrook and a wild brook trout at the Van Campen Brook.

Van Campens Brook is located a stone throw away from the Flatbrook and is designated as a wild trout water.

NJ waters never cease to amaze me.

Letter from Portland John.

I’m sitting here in Incheon waiting for my flight, and I see an email from a good friend. I am always happy to hear from Portland John. He found this “Deschutes beauty with a lighting bug behind a stonefly nymph on a cool morning”. John is one of those anglers who write as elegantly as the fish he encounters. Hope all is well John, good hearing that spring has arrived in Portland!

Hometown creek

Last weekend,
I went to my hometown.
There is a creek just in front of my home.
I have seen that creek since I was a little kid,
but I never got a chance to fish there.
Actually, last time when I came back, I brought all my fishing stuff with me,
but the whether is really sucks...
it was raining badly.
This time, I already check the whether forecast,
it will be a sunny day, great!!!
So I got up very early,
drove by myself, and got the spot before the sunrise come out.
This creek is covered by lot's plant,
some even can cut your skin.
So it is really difficult to walk on the river side.
But the plant also gives the river fish a great refuge,
I saw lot's fish swum under the plant when they got spook by me.
Therefore, the fishery is wonderful here,
even you still can see people use net to catch fish here,
but the fish can find refuge easily!!
The net dose not work at all!!!
In my one day fishing trip,
I got more than 100 Taiwanese kurri with soft hackle fly.
The biggest one 17CM male kurri.
I really have to tell you guys,
the fishing is HOT in this season!!!!

new reel = happiness

I just bought the classic Danielsson reel from Prince Tackle and I’m pretty happy about it. Danielsson is the original inventor of the large arbor reel and the styling and function is very unique. I can’t wait to put this to use on some Wisconsin brown trout. Check out more at: http://www.danielsson-flyreels.se/index.php

Faster thanks to fly fishing.

Or at least I think I so… I travel a lot for business and last week I found myself standing in mind numbing lines & working my way through massive crowds each day of the week. It’s a pretty stressful doing so, trying to get where you’re going on time, keeping an eye on your stuff, and simply putting up with people on all four sides of you, all trying to do the same. About the 2nd day into it, I started to imagine that these waves of people were like water flowing through rocky creeks. There’s the points where the flow narrows down, pillars that trap you in position for longer than you want, and turns that you must stay on the inside track or 50 people will cut in front of you. I thought of myself as a mayfly gently riding the current, trying to avoid the eddies so that I don’t get stuck, and surfing the current to be on the fast track... trying not to get eaten by a trout. I actually think I was able to get through most places faster because I was thinking this way. In any case, it beats the hell out of just standing there thinking how I just wanted to get to the next place.

Shining Fly

These days one of my friends had an idea that if the shinning fly can attract fishes in Taiwan.
He used mayfly tail, kind of synthetic material, to be the tail part, using flash in the body part. Then the hook is covered by the transparent thread.

I used to use this similar fly to catch Zacco here. But, the result is if I use it in a bit dirty water, the fishes attract it quite often. If I use it in clean water, the fishes just see nothing there. Probably it is not matching the nature insect.

Warm spring, good fishes

Spring is coming in Taiwan. Weather is getting stable and temperature is growing slowly. But, if you are a fly fisher, you can definitely understand spring is a wonderful time for fishing. Last week were full sunny, some of my friends went to Keelong for fishing Taiwanese Kuuly. They use soft hackle fly to catch some good size kuuly. One of the kuuly is pregnent, looking really like a small bass.

From the result, it can imagine that the year is full with good-size fishes. Last year typhoon did not hit northern Taiwan, which helped fishes growth for this year. Plus, it had rainned a lot and keep the water level more stable. This is also making fishes growing.

Dunnfield Creek

Dunnfield Creek is a beautiful stream along the Appalachian Trail located in Delaware Water Gap Area. To many anglers, it is known as one of the wild trout creeks of NJ, with a self-sustaining population of native trouts which I have no idea what they look like because I got skunked today.

neglected.

I find myself almost exclusively fly fishing these days but I look across the room and see a bunch of spin tackle. I have neglected these gear for so long… I started out fishing with lures and spin gear and so I bought a lot of that gear before I started fly fishing. They are not fancy gear but I still love my spin gear and there are times when only it will catch fish, or at least be more productive at it. As my fly fishing skills slowly improve, I find that I almost never takes these guys out. I don’t know if there are people who go back and forth at it and become really good at both… I’ll probably go back and forth and not be good at either. Next time I go out, I am going to catch fish on spin gear.

last of…

Even the countryside of Korea is going through transformations into modern world. My friend Shin took some photos of the few places that still have a little bit of 60-70s left of them. Seeing old towns like this is one of the best part of fishing in Korea. He took these photos on his way to TaekBaek mountain. Thank you Shin.