The Bend of the 1wt

Sometimes a bend in the rod is all we need for a little excitement.  The take of the fish, the rod doubles, and the reel screams as the fish makes his run gives anyone a thrill.  No matter what type of fish your after when you have that fish on and there is that bend in the rod and the feel of the fish a fisherman is in true heaven.  I had some time the other evening and I figured I would break out the Orvis Superfine 1wt rod.  It hasn't got used as much this year so I figured I would give it some action with some bluegills on small poppers, my usual pond has been tough to fish lately murky conditions and what not have made fishing tough but today I was surprised with good clarity when I arrived.  Usually when you come up with a big game plan it never ever ends up the way you usually plan sometime always changes or happens and things go astray.  Poppers are probably pushing the boundary of such a small rod but it cast them surprisingly well didn't turn them over as well as you would liked but that was pretty much expected for a lightweight rod.  Well I tied on a basic popper pattern and missed the first three fish so I am thinking well I better go smaller or this may be a tough tough evening of fishing and I could just hope I would not get skunked I could at least land something.  I open the fly box and see what I can come up with so a sneaky pete looks a little smaller so it gets the next shot at some fish.  A few fish are breaking the water so the anticipation to hook into a fish is growing.  Load up the rod and give the ole sneaky pete a nice long cast and the next thing I know gulp and the fly is inhaled into the depths of the pond.  The one weight rod comes alive with the fight of the fish.  After a short little fight the fish is in sight but this is where the plan runs amuck its no blue gill that I came to fish for its a nice solid bass a great fight on the ultra light fly rod.  After a few more casts I got that big chunky blue gill that I had came looking for this evening I was not disappointed with his fight he gave either.  The fish started to get a little more active and a lot more active in taking the little sneaky pete.  The rod was sure doing some flexing and bending as bass after bass was reeled in.  Sometimes you go looking for something and you get a good surprise this day I had my lightweight fly rod looking for one fish only to be surprised with some solid pond bass and some great action on a small little popper!  You can never beat a day on the water especially when there is that bend in the rod with a fish at the other end!

Vedavoo Hip Pack

Some products out there that come along are nothing new just same old gear that we have always seen.  Scott Hunter head man at Vedavoo founded and built these great packs in his garage.  Not only is he the headman at Vedavoo he also spends some time behind the sewing machine putting in the time building these great packs.  Always looking for something new I put in an order for one of there Hip Packs.  You can configure them to hold different tools and tippet.  I went with two s-clips on each side one for frogs fanny and tippet then the other for pliers then tweezers off the bottom.  They hold a couple small fly boxes all you need for a day on the water.  Unlike chest packs and vests that sometimes get in the way the Hip Pack attaches to your belt and is safely worn at your side so its constantly out of the way of your casting or navigating small streams.  I have tested out this pack on several small brook trout streams, farm ponds, and even the mighty Ohio for Hybrids.  Each time out I have been well pleased with the pack as its been lightweight and highly functional for a day on the stream.  If your looking for a product that's definitely something new and its made right here in the USA then give Scott and Vedavoo a look!  The Hip Pack gets the WVAngler stamp of approval from me!  http://vedavoo.com/

In Search of Brook Trout

Brook trout hold a special place in my heart and I just love chasing after them.  Dealing with a major drought for much of the summer the small brook trout streams have been a little hard to fish and conditions for the fish have not been much better either.  With recent rains the conditions on these small streams have been absolutely great.  Excellent water flows and good temperatures have made fishing above average for this time of year.  When your usually dodging rocks and fishing big pools now the whole stream opens up to fishing.  With these great flows and some time off from work I was ready to chase these great trout so I headed for the Mon Forest in search of some small streams.  I pointed the truck towards one of my favorite streams that I like to get out on that usually has pretty decent numbers of fish.  Pulling into the parking lot and not a person around I took my time rigging up then hit the trail in search of trout.  Fishing started off a little slow but once I got the fly size and color and such dialed in and my rusty small stream casting polished up I was into trout in no time.  They were whacking a yellow stimulator with ease.  The numbers were great but the size was mainly smaller fish a few decent ones mixed in as well.  With brookies sometimes the size is only half the equation what makes them so special is where they come from such amazing beautiful places and there colored up like the true wild trout they are.  It was a great day to be on the water with good flows, nice cold mountain water, fishing in solitude, a nice short hike, a few geocaches, and of course eager little brookies to take the dry!