Starting Young... And Happy Christmas / New Years to all!

Last weekend, after doing some grocery shopping we were about to do some final Christmas shopping, but the boy really wanted to go home... We had to go by home to do the rest of the errands, so he and I stayed home and the girls kept shopping.

We started out playing catch with a football.  Then tag.  Then Will wanted to see how the circular saw worked.  So I hacked up a 2 X 4 real well... Then he saw the chain saw.  We had to do some pruning on a spruce that blocked a walking path around the house, so I gassed up and let Will hold the blade cover and wear the big hearing protection (and stand well back) while I trimmed some limbs.

After all that fun, He leads me back in the garage and see's my 6wt BVK.  I don't know how many of you have cast one of TFO's BVK series... But wholly smokes - they cast like an 800+ dollar rod and cost about 225.  Great rods.  Any way... Will remembered trying to cast it once before, and asked if we could go cast...  So we did.

First we went all Lefty Kreh and I stripped out about 20 feet of line (meaning 20 feet beyond the tip of the rod) and he just had fun making it move horizontal to the ground - swinging the rod left and right.  Then he started sort of roll casting on his own.  He liked the "loop" so he started just trying to make the line swing round all silly.  In the pic, you can see the line is caught up a bit in the apple tree in our front yard...

He'd have me make loops and then he'd make some.  Then he realized that if he tied the leader to the apple tree, he could jump over the line when I held the rod.  That lasted a few minutes until I lifted the line before he could jump, and thus he "missed".  Now we had a new game and we'd go back and forth taking turns lifting the rod so that the other couldn't jump the line.

All in all, it was about 20' of the 4 year old playing with fly casting.  It was awesome :).  Maybe some day he will find satisfaction in this activity just like I have...  Up to him.

Not sure if everyone who may see this celebrates Christmas, so if you don't, happy holidays!  But if you do, enjoy Christmas eve and day.  And happy New Year to all!

Be well

Will

Happy Thanksgiving.

I hope everyone is having a great Thanksgiving Holiday!  The list of things to be thankful for is amazingly long, and I'm just super glad our family gets to spend the holiday together.

I'm excited to be about a week and a half out from my winter break from school.  The fall term's have been good, but man... put grad school, work, and family on a plate... and things are busy.  I'm looking forward to going to bed before 10 a few times :)

That said, I have managed to get out to bowhunt a few times before work.  I filled my doe tag, and the family is going to have awesome, free range and truly "organic" meat for the year ahead.  Very happy about that.

Prior to getting down to track the doe, another group came through and I snapped a pic of the "leader".  I've never snapped a pic of a deer while on stand before, so this was really fun.  Nice to see these amazing creatures just doing their thing.  They are really, really, awesome animals.

Last Friday (I think) I shot out to a local wild brookie and brown trout stream near home.  I never changed flies, and just drifted a sort of modified picket pin.  I forget the name, but it's similar to a fly Don Bastian ties - rust hackle tail, silver tinsel body, squirrel tail wing and peacock herl wrapped for the head.  Simple, and that's what I was after.  Simplicity.

I managed to catch a couple little chubs.  While some folks poo poo species like these, they are really amazing.  They are also really pretty.  Look at that chrome and steel!

I managed one lone little brookie.  Several hook ups, but only one came all the way to hand.  Amazingly, I'd fished a number of good holes with good takes and misses in many... And in this one little spot, that is about the size of a laundry basket, often cut off from the stream by a gravel bar and at most 12" deep that I caught this little guy.  I was absolutely amazed he was there - I've never had a take or caught a fish in that hole despite dropping a fly in it almost every time I'm on this stream.

Keep enjoying the outdoors - it's an amazing time of year to be out!

And, keep enjoying life - it's a gift to be thankful for, for certain!

Will

Regal History Video

Growing up in Petersham MA, I was only 10-12 miles from the early home of the Regal Vice Company.   After getting into tying as a kid, with a basic starting kit, I remember my parents bringing me to the Regal factory when I was in grade school, around Christmas.  We looked at the cork drag reel's they were also making at that time (mid-late 80's), and then at the vices.  My dad let me pick out a medallion with the brass base as my Christmas gift.  My parents were not fishermen, but always felt that you could do more with good tools, and thus, were not against what, looking back, seems like an extravagant purchase for a kid!

Any way, I tied on that regal for years, and only a few years ago was given another, newer regal with stainless jaws and a pocket base as a gift.  Lucky guy!

So, you can probably tell I'm Regal Vice focused :)

When I bumped into this video, I thought it was great, and figured it was worth a share - it's a bit of history on Regal vices.  I had no idea for example the first ones had an Oak head!  enjoy:

It's been a good few weeks overall since my last post.  No more salmon fishing due to falling water, work, school and family - as well as hitting the deer woods.  Managed a nice little buck with the bow and now will be more focused on when I get into the woods - looking for a big mature buck and letting everything else pass.

Good times!

I hope all of you are well - Enjoy the midst of fall!
Will

Hi-Lite of the day..

Finally had some good rain, bringing the local salmon river up from a trickle to about 13.5cfs, which is a solid little flow but not "high" on this river.  Thankfully, it was high enough to get a few fish to start coming up from the reservoir below.  A few follows... and landed one about 20".

Lucky for me, a nice guy named John was working his way down stream and we were chatting just as this fish took.  He got a nice view of the fight - which included 4 solid leaps well into the air - and took a pic for me from the other side of the river.  If you ever see this - thanks John!

The fly of the day, and one I really love for this (or bass fishing, or trout fishing...) is Steve Culton's Hi-Liter.  You can see my version below.  I dont use a bead, I just wrap the underbody with some .20 non lead weight.  Rides great in the water, and with a loop knot, it dances seductively - especially when swung through the current and given the wet fly wiggle so to speak...

Here's my version of Steves great fly...  You can see his step by step, and a bit of his story regarding this fly's development here: http://currentseams.com/2015/09/22/the-hi-liter-soft-hackled-streamer/

I've been in the woods some with bow in hand... but thus far, the deer have evaded my attempts at bringing them home for super :).  On opening day a gorgeous, probably 3.5 year old buck came by only 10 steps out, but was, surprisingly given the 19th of October is early for rut action, totally trolling for does and would not stop - just kept trotting on nose to ground.  Since, I've seen a few does with no shots and had one deer of unknown gender come by in the dark prior to shooting light.  Enjoying some relaxation in the trees though... it's good for me!

That's where I thought I'd have a shot, two runs intersect there dead center (above pic) and though hard to see there are three scrapes.  Another week and this spot should produce a sighting or two.

This is the little swamp coming off the edge of a pond.  Often they come from over there, after bedding for the day behind some homes.

There are some white oaks behind me dropping like crazy - so good eats for the deer in this area.  The open spaces are this weird (and currently dry) canal that goes around a shruby blueberry covered island at the edge of a pond.  Deer often bed on this impenetrable tangle.

Some times I call that stand site the "Engine Block Stand", because, blocked by trees in the above pic, is an old truck's front end - I'm talking 30's or 40's truck.  It's all rusted out, and never will be useful again, but its cool to see in the woods, and makes you wonder what was going on and why it was left there...

Hope you all are enjoying some of the amazing sights, sounds, smells and adventures fall offers!

Will

Little fishing, little riding, lots of beauty...

This past weekend we did a little charity ride to help raise $ for a local family who's child is going through treatment for cancer.  You don't have to twist my arm to raise funds for such a cause.  After we were on the receiving end of such work, I can safely say it's a gift that is hugely helpful.  That said, this ride was made sweeter by including the trails I first started to ride.

When I was a kid, I'd fish constantly.  My dad likes to say he put the first 5k on his subaru wagon (about 30 years ago) by driving me to fishing spots - over one season!  So, as mountain bikes became more common, they decided it was cheaper to get me one for a birthday gift than it was to keep driving me around...

They bought me a bike, and at first, I rode every where to fish.  My good friend started to too.  And then we started riding to ride, then racing... and a second lifelong curiosity was born for me: preparation for and performance in endurance sports.  That lead to reading college sports science texts for fun in high school, and having been involved with endurance sports for over 25 years with about 20 of those as coach professionally.

It's been an amazing part of my life, but, over the last 10-15 years, I've been so busy professionally and then family wise, that I've had time to really train and enjoy sport myself as much.  I get to ride some or run some or hike or lift or whatever, but rare is a consistent patch of actual training or the chance to do a solid all day ride through the woods.  All fun things I enjoy... and hope to gradually get back to.

But, short term... What a day Saturday was.  2 river valleys, both containing wild fish, both that I've loved to fish pretty much my whole life.  Plus lots and lots of great ridges to climb and descend, awesome single track along rivers... Just great on all levels.  Do that on a perfect fall day - 60 degrees, nice breeze, great color... Ahhhhhh!

There is a bridge which no longer is passable by car over this river.  The trail goes up stream to the bridge, crosses the bridge/river and goes up stream on the other side.  This pic is looking south west, down stream with the river 30' below.  Had a day with a friend where we must have been fishing a few hours after the stocking truck, because we must have caught 30-40 rainbow's below this bridge each that night!

A locally famous trail that we call "the river trail" which was made by fishermen over the years, and maybe by native people's before hand.  I'm standing on the right side, but the trail is just left of that little tree left center and goes a bit diagonally from left to right to the center of the pic then straight away.  It's a trail with some technical points, but it's beauty next to the river is worth it!

Sitting on a rock jutting out into the river eating a cliff bar and enjoying a little break.  I've caught a lot of fish in this run...

Then today, I took lunch stream side.  Quick shot to a local wild trout water, and it was great.  Cooler still in the shade of the forest - the brightening leaves still offering shade.  The water temp was low, but the flow on the light side for this largely spring fed water.  And, the result was that, although I saw several fish, I only had 2 takes and both were missed on my part.  Not sure if they were brookies, browns or fall fish.  Regardless, it was really enjoyable to walk the stream and take in the sights.

Next to that log on the right, about 3/4 up, I caught a 13" brown earlier this year - giant on this stream.  I thought that the changing colors today were pretty and that this pic of the spot from late may or early June this year showed some neat changes - same spot... Greener and more water below.

The fall picture above this one was taken standing pretty much on that little rock pile.  

One of my favorite runs, today was quite still due to low flow.  That giant hemlock on the left, about half of that tree is undercut by the water and what a cavern it creates for the trout to hide.

I also saw something that could save this sport we all love.  A rare site today regrettably, and something that made me really feel good.  As I pulled in, I saw to creatures leaving the stream with rod's jammed into back packs - those creatures were kids of the 12-14 year old variety, pedaling away on their bikes.  I could see sneaker tracks working the edges of some pools as I fished, and it made me feel great.  I don't know if those kids caught anything.  I dont know if they were using bait or spinners.  But I know they looked like they had fun, and they were fishing in the outdoors.  Exploring the world on their terms and learning.  AWESOME!

Keep well
Will

As is often the case for a parent of little kids... Life's been busy.  But, grad school's going well, kids, wife and family are good, and it's fall in New England - AWESOME!

Today I shot out to prospect.  We had some rain last week, and I hoped that perhaps a few salmon had shot up a local river that gets a great run of landlocked salmon and big browns in the fall.  Big meaning, it's not uncommon to see a fish in the upper 20's and low 30's go by (inches)... They are not easy to catch, but it's fun to try given the river is only about 10-15 yards wide in most areas!

It's a little early, and things had been so dry, that I wondered if any fish had come in... but at least from what I could see, there were no salmon in.  Lot's of young pickerel hiding in the shallows in the lower sections, but no big fish yet... A little more cool, and a good rain event and we should be in business.  Usually it's the last 2 weeks of October and first 2 of November, sometimes even as late as early December... So I'm on the early edge.

That said, it was really nice to be out and enjoying a gorgeous fall day.  Now I'm settling in to some good work projects and school projects and figured I'd pop up a quick post as a "warm up" to work :)!

I've had a few trail cam's out as well.  I'm not getting to many buck pic's this year - well, mature bucks.  But lots of does and 1.5 year old bucks.  The big surprise after last winters epic snow, is the number of does with fawns I've had on cam.  Pretty cool to see.

Also cool, was getting a shot of this old bruiser for the 3rd year in a row.  I'm going to call him 5.5 or 6.5 years old based on the racks the last 3 years.  Actually seems to be starting to get smaller now.  His rack is cool.  It does not have a ton of tines, but, it's really neat the way his right is only a 3 point side and seems to reach out to the side more.  Given he lives in a public land area, and an area that gets pretty stout pressure during gun season, it's really cool to see him still going - perhaps the fact I've only seen him on cam at night is part of his success.  Regardless, on a few ideal day's in November Ill see if I can see him during the day with bow in hand... 

Have an awesome week!
Will

Relaxing and Bassin

After dinner last night I managed to get out for an hour of bass fishing. It's fun when you open the box arriving at the pond and there is lots of big, fluffy and ugly staring back!  It's been to long fluffy flies... it's been to long!

The pond of choice was a local one about 10' from home.  We run or walk the rail trail that passes the pond often.  It actually splits it.  The trail literally forms an isthmus between two parts of the same body of water.  the west side is weedier and shallower, and the east side is deeper and rockier.  

It's not super easy to fly fish given there is not much room for casting, so it feels sort of like fishing the salt - a quick double haul and let the line fly, or a fairly powerful roll cast are your only options. You are not allowed to wade or swim, either of which would make it a lot easier to fly fish... Of if I had a kayak instead of a float tube - the former is legal and the latter would not be on this pond, so... the shore it is.

The fishing was slow at first.  Had I grabbed some smaller flies and opted to pop for blue gill's / crappies etc I'd likely have caught a ton.  I'd often see the fly get pulled under by a panfish grabbing the bunny strip tail on my deer hair diver.

Shortly after it occurred on one cast, a bass of perhaps 3 pounds went air borne for the fly - tossing itself, the small blue gill that had been grabbing the tail and my fly air borne.  A guy who was dragging his kayak through the canal connecting the ponds halves saw it and we both got a good kick out of it.  About 10' later I got my first of the night, a spunky little 10 incher who managed to get the whole fly in his mouth. 

 The sun set was awesome.  Totally beautiful.  You can see ripples from about 5 kayaks that came from the other half of the pond to get over here and see the sun go down on the right edge of the pic.  Amazingly, there were no mosquito's.  Not sure if it was the dry weather we have had or what... But Ill take it :)!

The sun starting to go down, and needing to get home, I started to walk back to the truck, but stopped to fish the other side of the pond for a few minutes.  I missed a good one on the first cast.  He took mid strip and held for only a minute before tossing the fly.  About 5 casts later on the other side of the little point this little bass took the popper.  After this, I shot a few more casts to a downed tree to my north, and then headed home.

Very pleasant way to spend a warm evening for sure!
Will