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.

spring rainbow

The first catch of the year by a friend of mine.

pity

Winter's no quitter - we just had a half foot of snow this morning. It's been more than two full months since I went out fishing (I mean a real fishing on streams). And considering my work load before me, it won't be any sooner that I have the luxury of outing in the nature. I have a 4# rod hanging in my office and have to quench my everlasting thirst just by looking at it... Pity.

appreciating Wisconsin

Different places boast different sceneries but I am telling you, I am finally seeing the calming beauty of Wisconsin creek fishing. Sure there are lots of more scenic creeks and streams in different parts of Wisconsin but for me, nothing represents the heart of the land than landscapes like this. Farmland creeks, the wide stretching horizon, and winding creeks that hold surprisingly prize fish. Views like this keeps people down to earth in more than one way. I am looking forward to seeing the land change with the seasons.

humbled by a small creek.

My friend Lee from Orvis downtown hooked me up with a few spots last week. I fished Paradise Spring Creek over the weekend. The place is better known for the spring pond, which is a wonder in itself. It’s one of those pieces of land that makes you want to own it, sort of magical in its own small way. The spring (water) rises out of this old stone shack, probably a town well at some point. It’s pretty amazing because you walk into the stoned building and see the shallow bottom of the well – where pretty fair amount of cold water rises and flows into the pond next to it. The pond is small in size, just enough space for couple of anglers to feel comfortable. This pond is the watering hole that keeps fishermen sane throughout the long winters. There’s a lot of trout in this pond, but they are not gullible – they are shy and educated. Most people fish the pond, so I spent my afternoon on the other side of the road… the creek.
















The pond water trickles into a curved maze of a small creek that runs through a expansive field. The creek is a trickle… just enough to hold itself to be called a creek. It’s the smallest creek I’ve ever fished, literally a light hop over to the other bank side. Most people don’t fish the creek side because the pond is more attractive, there’s no chance there’s big fish in there, and because casting is awkward in the winding maze. I’m sure that as summer grows deeper, so does the bushes and bush lines – providing cover, however for the moment it is a naked field that is unforgiving to a clumsy guy like me. Fish spook so far away you only get a glimpse of it dashing away. I spent a lot of time crawling, trying to get close enough to actually make a cast into a narrow strip of water that runs through the field, with wind on my back. Even if I successfully make the cast, some portion of my line is touching the bank on one side, so I have a very short drift – just inches longer than the fish that I’m trying to catch. You can see that there’s been extensive restoration work done here (town + TU chapters), a nice sight to see & appreciate.

This little creek humbled me today. I spent the whole afternoon and only was able to catch one small fish. The small creek had me on my hands and knees most of the time. Each bend only provided me with one cast – most which I fumbled the opportunity away. Fortunately, the fish I caught was so pretty that it made the whole thing worthwhile – I drove home feeling pretty good.

Thanks for the info Lee.

Checklist

I really didn't want to post this incident which happened to me a day before the previous posted fishing trip to KLG but I guess I have to.... just to remind myself not to do it again.

I don't know about you guys but I never had a checklist to go fishing. Maybe because I get too excited and prepare myself way ahead of the time so I guess I never had a need to have the checklist. But something awful happened this Friday.

I knew I had to take the Friday off since the temperature will be up around 50 degree. I get to fish in one layer of fleece instead of 5 and other good things about fishing came to my mind so I decided to play hooky to go fishing at KLG.

After reading a few years old articles about what might be hatching, I've been tying some early stone fly, midges, and a few other for this trip, organized it, and placed it on my tying desk for me to take in the morning.

It was a beautiful morning with the sun shining ever so bright. Picked up some 김밥, and coffee and off I went. Usually takes about an hour to get to KLG but decided to drive a little slower just to savor spring like air.

Once I pulled in to the parking lot at KLG. My heart dropped to right around where my butt is located. "Oh Shit, my flies". Yes I left my fly box on top of my tying desk.

I never thought that my brain was capable of thinking the following things within 1/10th of second:
1. Is there a fly shop near by?
2. No, It's a farmland?
3. Maybe I can buy some fly from other anglers
4. so take the wallet with you
5. Should I go home and get it?
6. Wait a minute, what about the soft hackle and prince nymph you had placed in vest fly patch?

Yes!!!! I found the prince nymph but not the soft hackle off of my vest patch. I was confident that I will run into some other anglers to borrow or purchase some flies as it wasn't unusual for me to run into at least 3 or 4 anglers even on Fridays.

But, just in case, took my sweet time inspecting all by leaders and tippets are in perfect condition as I couldn't afford to loose this one and only fly for the trip.

I only found the spot with no overcast of any tree branches and when I did get snags on submerged objects or occasional tree branches, I GOT MY FLY BACK! I just couldn't believe that no one I mean no one came out to fish that Friday.

I did enjoy serenity but never missed someone this badly before. Didn't take that long before the river claimed my one and only fly. (Been fishing 2 1/2 hours). Waited an hour for other anglers to show up but had to leave.

Yes, I did manage to get a couple of rainbow but lesson learned! Have your checklist and have an emergency fishing kit in your car.

Pressure is on!

Went out to KLG yesterday. I was looking forward to this trip as the temperature reached 50 degrees. Pulled into the parking lot around 10 am only to see around 10 anglers gearing up. As I walked along the bank, every good fishing spots were occupied by fishermen. Took me a while to find a good spot just to wet my line. I noticed other anglers were rush to get next fishing holes so by the time I finished with my current spot, it took me even longer for me to get to the next spot. (They were 쑤셔잉 to max)



Basically all the anglers who were suffering with the winter fever came out to fish. Came out with every possible fly patterns and spook to hell out of the fish with it. I been very lucky to fish KLG during the winter. I will come back next winter since I need to find myself less crowded water...

Rockin

Shimoyama of Dolly Varden (http://www.dorllyvarden.com/) is rockin in Hokkaido. We have to get back there soon, it's too awesome.

liar like me.

Exaggerating & story telling is such a fun part of the sport. I found this poem and I like it.

We ask a simple question
And that is all we wish:
Are fishermen all liars?
Or do only liars fish?

William Sherwood Fox

translator

just in case you are fishing in different parts of the world and need to show this to a local farmer to find trout. I used an on-line translator to find these so some may be wrong ...