Thas a Wrap!

Thus it is over.. Both the extended Steelhead season & the Xmas/New Year's holidays. Between being over-worked, working while sick, lack of days off, pitiful conditions over-all this year & holiday family commitments and fitting them in, in a grand total of 3 days off over the last month. I'm thankful it is "all said n done"

Truthfully I think the below artwork pretty much sums up my feelings on the whole Xmas spiel anyways..


Ok..So i haven't really been giving it an honest effort this Fall/early-Winter, as far as the Steelheading goes..Hardly a few hours over two days denotes an effort, truth be told.

Yet yesterday & even in a few hours today, I was/am looking eagerly to finding some solitude. Yesterday the excuse was to escape, zone out and take in a mild day temp wise, sans camera to lose myself from the recent hectic work n family schedule. In an effort to stay solitary I ended up running the 15' Hardy & my old reliable 5" Stanton, rather then the new "Z" Spey conversion & latest offering from friends @ Islander. Today it's the Lamiglass n Smith Smith.

Meandering thru two local systems, the mood was set by my solitary nature, the quietness/calmness of the day & the tunes on the iPod, being mostly P.Floyd & oddly enuff classic Iron Maiden & their instrumentals. After a such an absence it seemed fitting enuff. A few specimens were brought to hand on both systems, each one a tribute to their Winter bright chrome colors. S'funny how we as Steelheaders here in the GL Region can find solice & comfort in watching a float meander thru a run, riffle or pool. Yet that was the antidote that was much needed yesterday, although a dram or two of The Macallan helped along the way I'm sure ;-)

So my fellow Steel bloggers i bid you a prosperous 2008, as it is time to make my way Eastward & hope the warmwater flow is kind to me this morn....

'Nuff said

New Stick & Bad Conditions

Really diggin the 7136-4 Z Axis i had built up. Light powerful & a decent parabolic curve under load. I'm super impressed with it.



Aside from the the really low water con's (the worst I've seen in several yrs here) I did manage a few hrs over a few days & even lucked into a few Steelhead, which isn't bad considering I haven't logged any water time since mid Aug.

Also like'n the Islie I have been workin in conjunction with the new stick. It's been dubbed the "Toonie" and performs exceptionally well.



Until next entry..

updates

Two months since my last entry...Not much happening, water conditions are dismal this year & I'm not really interested in fighting the Minion hordes for stresses Steel in low-water cons.

The new Sage 7136-4 ZAxis Spey conversions sits quietly & patiently awaiting it's inaugural outing. Along with a few new 'Pins. Honestly my desire to get out sans our recent conditions have been at a low. Generally I've been whoring (to scam this line) myself shamelessly to the work front as needed. Thus I've been living vicariously through my fellow Steelie-nite bloggers to the right.

'till an actual report/outing is worthy of cyber-space...

Almost time

So ends the regular Trout Season this past weekend. The Professor managed to get away for a two-day venture this past weekend. Not sure how he managed thus far.

Thus ensues about a 1/2 month of static limbo for me. It gives me time to focus on some OT at work, for much needed funds for the coming year. It also has allowed me to seriously contemplate (and by stating this I'll let the flood of emails ensue) narrowing down the "Collection" and take a gander around webs-ville to see some of "The Drakes" new entries into their 2007 vid awards.

Thus far the only ones that don't look like re-makes of TBD Vol 1 are the boys at Felt Soul Media and possibly the new TBD Vol : Iceland. While imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, it's time for some new thinking/approach in the flyfishing DVD world already. Don't get me wrong they are all fine work, but seriously how many times can you portray fish porn without it becoming monotonous ??

Just waiting for consistant precip to head our way and then gear up for some Steelhead. Possibly a few trips NY side to blow the cob-webs out and get into the swing of things are in order (??)

From Brown to Silver..The Last 24

Headed back West for one last round on the Grand yesterday with the "Professor", looking for some sort of redemption from last Sunday.

Previous nights T-Storms in the area buggered us on the conditions however, making for a frustrating day looking for consistant risers/feeders. A small Trike hatch pre-dawn had our hopes up, as I watched the morning un-fold in almost a 60's psychadelic like trance.

Wasn't pretty fishing, sort of wingin it all the way, making some stupid-azz type casts & mends 'cause when we did spot fish, they were holdin tight to structure, giving us the big pectoral fin salute at times. Can't really complain about the season however. Tied into & landed decent hogs thru-out, the Professor & I did. Some fish were more memorable then others, for reasons of their own, yet each was appreciated. Lots of shitz n giggles & taunting of each other, while we ply'd the trade each outting, searching for our own persoanl jesus within. Good times, no doubt about it.


With that, it draws my season to a close on the Grand. Time to switch focus to the dark, cold & lonely ambiance of the Steelhead Rivers. Where one can zone out and seek a Zen type frame of mind. All seems right with the world during the Steelhead season. Watching a float meander by, or making some Jedi-type casts with the Spey & Switch rods, sorta gets the lost Mojo/Ju-Ju stirring in the soul.

The Professor has even geared up for Steelhead. Lord help his azz, once the first Chromer takes him into backing Bruce way. He'll get that zombie-like trance, start haunting online weather crystal balls, muttering to himself about lack-luster conditions/cold fronts, wonderin if he has enuff egg & micro speys to cover the day & sport wood everytime the barometer hits that special zone like the rest of us soon enough. Poor soul... He has no idea what's about to un-fold in the coming months...The only burning quetion is, wonder if he'll provide a good Single Malt for our excursions ?

Looking forward to a 3-4 day sabbatical NY-side, where I point the "Silver Goat" south-east for some early Nov Lake O. Brownage on the swing. Until then pic below says it all..

'Nuff said..

Served

So the Professor convinces me for one last (or second last) kick at the Grand this year for this past long weekend. Figuring I had been given Sage's newest release (ZXL) to mess around with for the Mrs', I figure what the heck. Sept is usually a good month to search out some of the Grand's hogs that are feeding up on Sept Caddis, Micro Caddis and the like. The fish are relaxed, on the feed & to a degree predictable.


Every-once-in-awhile a fish comes along (regardless of species) that completely humbles you. Regardless of what experiences you may have, had it completely does something that you are un-prepared for. Yesterday was the case, as I tied into a brute of a Hog. We had heard reports of this 28"-30" fish haunting our fav hole all year. Local guides had clients tie in the brute on occasion this year only to be owned by it. As luck would have it, yesterday was to be my turn. The take was subtle, but the battle that ensued was anything but & short lived. You just know you've got a pig on when a #5Wt is bent over & bucking wildly, resounding out the big shoulder-to-shoulder head shakes thats going on. A long hard run deep back into the slack water of the pool, with more head shakes and zig-zagging going on & next thing I know the whole line comes flying back at me. Served.... badly... I threw all my stink at him/her and they did the same, ultimately showing why they have reached that size.

The picture above is of the Proffesors' 22-1/2" that I christened last years new release from Sage (Z-Axis) on earlier this year. Adding insult to injury on the day...

Yup served...

Big Jack

So i get an e-mail from a friend last night while at work. Seems they had another banner year on their annual FLA adventures. Of course work dictated a sabatical from fishing the saline this year & as luck would have it they even had shots at 100-120 'Poon regularily...figures

Of all the species of Salt critters I've chucked a fly at Jack Crevalle rank as my favourite. Aggresive feeding machines by nature, they hit hard & a 5Lb'er will double a #9Wt to 90 Deg nicely.

I'm gonna guess this slab is bordering on 20Lbs or so...All I can say is holy fugg stains that's a brute !