Anyone still up and taking nourishment around here?  Time to fill the gaps in the fly boxes!



Playing around with some Zack's {Thurman} Bloodgeyser Midges on size 16



And some panfish foam spiders.  I admit it.  I love bluegills at sunset with a fly rod!

I use it for streamers, and occasionally jigs.  If you don't snug it up it allows a little more lure action.

Most "serious" kayaks have pretty good options for adjusting the seat and foot rests so you can get comfy.  I sometimes also lay my legs up on the deck.

Canoes are great.  But THE ADMIRAL insisted she had to have her own vessel so we opted for a pair of kayaks.  I think she was afraid I'd ask her to paddle while I trolled.

A second boat is also a great safety feature.

Came across this fellow in Watkins Glen State Park (NY).  A Gray Petaltail Dragonfly.  The body is about 3" long. 

Interestingly - this is one dragonfly we as fly fishers may not care about.  The Larva/Nymphs do not need standing water to develop.  They survive in mud or seepage areas on steep gorge faces.

Just received mine.  Haven't had a chance to fish with it but it is a well made "minimalist" packet.

One thing I will do is make a release point on the neck line.  I don't like having anything around my neck that can strangle me if it gets snagged or yanked.  It comes with a piston cord lock, giving the option, so I'll just snip the loop and let that hold the ends together.

It is a different casting motion.  VERY slow. 

If you have ever seen one the tip of the rod looks like the lead from a 0.5mm mechanical pencil!  It is scary thin.  But the whole 12 or 14 feet of rod is s___l___o___w  action and protects that and the tippet.

So your timing has to be sloth like.  But, I can do nice casts that get out far enough for small streams.  And for dabbling along banks or under branches the 14 foot rod is very handy.  You can lay the fly out upstream and let it drift while keeping all but a few feet of tippet in the water . . . with care.

When I was a kid I had a cane pole - this is VERY much like the modern version of that.  Not necessarily a bad thing.  I still have that cane pole (I believe 10 ft) and used to carry in on our sailboat to lay out poppers once anchored for the night and play with the sunfish at sunset.  Loads of fun.

The "bold" thing is to trust this simple gear enough to actually fish with it.  If you have ever short-line wet and nymph fished (high sticking) you might really like this.  Sight-fishing long range . . . not so much.

Yeah.  Tropical Storm Lee did horrors to the Delaware and tributaries.  We were passing through Margaretville two years ago and I couldn't even find, let alone recognize, a little hole I had visited.  It is now a gravel bar - I think.

Anyone else fishing with Tenkara equipment?

I have been doing some stream fishing with a 14 ft Ito rod and am happy enough with it that I may just leave the bass rig on my 6 weight outfit.  Three feet of arm, 14 feet of rod and 20 feet of line and tippet means a reach of 37 feet.  Not much for a river but on a 60 ft wide or less stream it makes a viable outfit. 

I have taken to carrying mine in the SUV at all times.  The rod (in a aluminum tube), a net and a pack that only needs to hold the line and tippet, a couple flies, and if you are a worrier a spare line and tippet on a spool or in a zip-baggie.  Coming off a Catskill background I at first narrowed down a "spartan" fly box to 20 essential patterns.  But then I got the spirit and limited myself to six in the "traditional" Tenkara styles.  Basically a wet-fly system that has elements of short-line nymph fly fishing. 

I have since added a seventh pattern - a black ant tied Tenkara style.  Just can't go without a terrestrial pattern.  ;-)

The beauty of the system was apparent yesterday.  We were on a back route headed up to the old Eric Canal paths to ride our bicycles and passed by a fishing access site on the Otselic River.  Since THE ADMIRAL had brought a book I allowed myself an hour of checking out a spot I had not fished before.  Yes, certainly I could have as easily had a three-piece rod, reel , vest etc. in the SUV.  But I don't as a rule.

With Harvey finishing up and Irma headed along we has some pretty good winds - 10 with 20 mph +/- gusts.  I was amazed how well the Tenkara rod kept it's head together and presented flies fairly well.  I could really feel the wind on the pole.  But I never snagged the overhanging brush I was drifting the fly under.  Grated 35 feet or so isn't a large radius with any rod . . . but no complaints on the Ito.

I just ordered a Skulpin Flatvest that will hold all of my Tenkara gear.  (Support our Sponsors!).  Basically what you could fit in a front jeans pocket.  Pretty simple and tidy.

I do recommend a net - even for little guys.  The Tenkara pole is so whippy it will protect a tippet from most everything but it just won't lift a fish.  Also, with no reel, the added little-bit of reach makes a world of difference.