Winter Sticking - 2

I did a little winter sticking myself today...or should I say winter dipping.  Dipping the fly in the paid trout pond that is.  It was freezing cold but there were more than a few people out.  Yoojung pond has been aggressively marketing themselves lately, stocking fresh fish almost weekly.  I did good today, hooked more than 10 fish...that's good for me since I tend to do bad at these places.  I saw one guy pull up a fish that looked easily over 20"...they call these the super jumbos or something like that.  They stock a few of these big boys each year.  Towards the end I even took out the lure rod to throw a few micro spoons and they worked just as I imagined.  My head hurt from the cold and hands still feel tingly but it was nice way to spend the last morning of the year.

Happy New Years guys.

Winter Sticking

First of all, hope everyone enjoy their Christmas and wish you happy new year.

Ever since I've got into small creek fishing, I have been neglecting larger body of water.  Ken Lock Gorge is one of the finest winter season fishing spot I used to fish during the winter season. So I took my 11' nymphing rod and decided to do some high-sticking yesterday.

 I fished the river slowly working every possible resting spots since the water level is a lot higher than usual.

 Solitude is why I enjoy this particular water.  Only handful of anglers were trying their luck on this day.

 This particular brown went after my fly a several times before I was able to set the hook.  Golden flash it displayed while it was chasing my fly was good enough for me to freeze my toe in one spot for almost 10 minutes...

 A healthy looking stocker who took my fly without any reservation.

Most likely, this will be my last trip of the year. On the way back home,  I've thought about all the things that happened to me this year (mostly bad memories) and how being out on water such as what I've just fished gave me some sort of comforting feeling and clarity.
Hope all of you can find more time to fish in new year as I am certain will.

Dawn Patrol

Likely my favorite blog on fly fishing. Concise, designy, and elegant. It goes....

"i started fly fishing very early... basically at conception. my mother said i came out double hauling my umbilical cord. my first word was thingamabobber. I dreamt about it all the time and always told people that i wanted to be a cowboy, silly little me, I thought the fly line in my dreams was a lasso. I spey cast my way through kindergarten and i've never looked back. it's been a life of leaky waders and tangled tippet ever since."

check it out:  http://dawnpatrolflyfishing.com/

Last days of December

Stop: smoking, using cold as excuse to not fish, buying fancy sketch books, making flies that look good in pictures.

 

Continue: drinking, fishing with my kids, taking new people fishing,  keep an open mind about things.

 

Start: making more camp fires, writing/ drawing more, finishing projects that I started, being honest about how much I also love lure fishing.

 

Happy New Year Friends.  I miss you.

 

 

Calm after the storm...

Nothing seemed the same since the Sandy bitch slapped us and left us with hopeless feeling of how small we are as human being...

Over two weeks of no power and on going recovery efforts completely drained me to the point where I couldn't function at work nor at home. Finally, I feel like I can get back into the routine since the most of the damage have been addressed.

Took this picture from my kayak.

Lived like this for a few weeks...piles of garbage that were once our prized possessions; flooded cars being towed, sounds of dreaded generators, freezing and dark nights, cold showers and long gas station lines are impossible to forget...

I was able to escape from the bad memories when I reached my favorite creek today.

 Familiar coloring of brook trout put me on ease...

Today's trip felt so special as I feel like I have my life back!

Patagonia Wader Testing Procedure in Busan

Rainbow FFC ... 2012 fall gathering.

I joined up with the Rainbow Fly Fishing Club's fall gathering in the R5 creek in Kangwondo.  I joined for a couple of days of this 3 day party.  It was really nice to see the familiar faces and some new ones.  The club has gone through some tough times in the past couple of years but it's now back in full swing and I am happy to be a part of it.  A deep sense of gratitude for Dr. Shin for organizing the entire thing and Prof Huh's generous cooking that fed everyone there. 

For me personally, it was kind of nice to find myself in the middle timer's rank, welcoming new club members.  And since this was a creek I am very familiar with, giving people tips on flies and sweet spots was an extra nice...it made me feel like I knew what I was talking about (I don't, especially after all that soju).  What I enjoy most about Rainbow Fly Fishing Club's gathering is that there is a really nice mix of people in age, occupation, and even loudness. (especially after all that soju).

We gathered, we got drunk, we fished, and this time we even kept some of the larger rainbows to take home.  We only took a tiny portion of the fish we stocked so people who know this creek will be pleasantly surprised to find some big rainbows (some in the 40cm+)  in the small creek.  I look forward to the sping gathering again.  (* we did our homework on local/ native species, geography, agreements with towns people, and fish stocking permits). 

Take care Charles

I got this message from Charles this morning....  I know he will take care of his wife and himself no matter what, but it was still nerve rattling to see this message. 

Charles, I know you will but be careful and let's talk when you can.

Fall fly fishing in Korea 2

So we went. Although the trip was planned a couple of weeks ahead, we were not ready for it - physically at least. GF, who happened to visit the sacred place many times before, suggested me to go for dry flies while he was covertly preparing for nymph fishing (sly). Narrow creeks under barren tree branches allowed us some decent castings, but water was too cold and yesternight's rain fall somehow changed the habitat (at least that's what we think). Humble lunch we had at our day's destination wasn't humble at all. It was because of the grandeur of water fall. Or maybe because of GF's ostentation resulted from misleading and false competition... (sucker!) The cherries and rainbows we caught were nice, too.

Carving Fisherman Stan

Yesterday, my neighbor Mitch took me to his friend Stan's house to show me his fish carving work. Stan has been doing this for 8 years as a hobby and he sure had a talent. I was really surprised how detail he was getting into. He makes the head separately in-order for him to carve inside of the mouth. I am looking forward to purchase one for myself one day.

 

Reinvention of the flyrod? You guys are all designers. Thoughts?

Fall fly fishing in Korea

It was a classic autumn day in the KangWon mountains in Korea. Soboro and I took a drive to the creek to see the last of the changing leaves and to fool some trout.  We found some rainbows and cherries in the creek and although the fishing was somewhat slow, being outdoors and feeling the cool fall breeze was easy.  Soboro packed us some delicious sandwiches and we even opened a bottle of wine to chillax after a long climb up to the waterfall.  You can sense winter approaching in the wind and hear the quietness to come.  A perfect fall day to spend fishing with a friend and to miss the friends that we wished were here with us.