Fishing Wet Traverse City, MI

This weekend I was stuck working so no football, BBQ, or family fun. The good news is that my job took me to Traverse City Michigan. Why is this a good thing you ask, well only about 3/4 of a mile from my hotel is one of the nations best streams for fishing (or so I am told).
The Boardman runs strait through the heart of the city and is home to big trout, great lake salmon runs, steelhead, bass, muskie, and pike. As you can guess this gets one fairly excited especially if one has not been fishing in quite a while. So rigged up with the hopes of hitting big salmon coming in from the bay, I set out the other morning eager to hook into a monster.

Only one day to fish and I had only 2 &1/2 hrs for fishing if I got up before dawn, which I did - in the pouring rain and 60 degree temperatures and 30knt winds. I had not packed for this, what I had also not packed for was trout. I had only packed 3x tippet and big leaders with my 7w expecting big fish. What I didn't know, and further research would have showed, was that although the occasional big salmon does come in the beginning of September, they are not stacked in there.

In those early morning hours I shivered continuously, struggling to find a fly to prob the dark waters for fish I could not see, and struggling even harder to stop my fingers from shaking so I could thread the hook. I did get two bites of a streamer but no hook ups. As 8:30 rolled closer, I had to pack it in and made the call for the hotel van to pick me up. Cold and defeated I headed to work to pine the day away for another chance at those waters.

After work, and with the 7pm sun falling fast I quickly got my gear and headed back. This time I was able to see the waters in a better light and only found a few small brown actively feeding the midge hatch. This would have been great had I packed my midge box. I'm not sure how it didn't make it into my gear bag, but it didn't so the over sized streamers had to play. an hour later I gave up and found a ragged caddis, tied it on and took a stab at trying to fool them despite the big tippet. Most of the over fished browns snubbed it but with a few cleverly disguised presentations I managed to hook into three smallish browns after much persistence.

So as the sun began to set and more storm clouds began to gather on the horizon, I packed it in and left as happy as a bum that just found winning lottery ticket. With big smile on my face I headed back for dinner and a quick daily fly post. You might say to yourself, Why is he smiling? No Salmon, only three small browns and near hypothermia, sounds miserable. Well for me it was a combined 5 hours of vacation that made work fly by. I caught fish and took everything mother nature threw at me to try to keep me in my room.
I went out and did it despite the hardship and came out victorious. I'll take those three beautiful browns any day over the inside of any hotel room or airplane or office building.

Inked Nymph

Here is yet another ink sketch. With a preview of a fishing report.

I went fishing this morning and got skunked, but so did every other soul on the river. Got a full day of work then plan on trying my luck later this afternoon. Where am I fishing you ask? You will have to check in later to figure it out. Hopefully by Sunday I can have a full report with a pic of a fish in hand.

Bass'n

Had a free minute and sketched this bass out then had a little fun with photo editing. I am hoping to get a bit of free time this month to do a bit of fishing. we'll have to see how it all shakes out but there might be a fishing report come the weekend. I have a geared up 7w and big browns on my mind. The weather report for the local I'll be fishing says wet, wet, wet and I failed to pack my rain gear but I doubt it will stop me. It never has in the past...

Also, I just got a package in the mail the other day from HopperJuan with a few great stickers. If you haven't checked out his blog you are missing out on some great looking flies. I true tying master. Check out his Blog HERE

Pencil Leaping Trout

Here is a Pencil sketch of a leaping trout going after a fly. Ive been doing a lot of Japanese type stuff in the last few days and this has come out in my sketch. I didn't plan it that way when I sat down for a few minutes to sketch this out but when somethings been in my mind for a few days, it just kind of comes out.
Unfortunately there hasn't been a fishing report lately due to an overworked schedule. Right now I barely have enough time to sketch, but the daily flies still get done.

Hairwing

I have been super busy lately so I apologise for the string of picture posts without commentary. Today is another one of those days but I will ask this question and leave it up for comment.
Has anybody else been hooked on this show on Animal Planet called River Monsters. The star is not a fly fishing guy but it is still exciting to watch. Big fish, simple large bait with simple large gear, hook into a big monster with massive teeth and you got good TV.

The Trude

Nothing to say today. Its just one of those picture post days you just have to live with.

Bass Bug Sunfish

Here is Bassin sunfish posted for all those that try the big warm water jumpers on a fly rod. I know a few of my new followers really hit those bass hard. One has even won some events and cash for their bassin skills.

I have real admiration for those that tie these big hair bugs and do it well. I have tried my hand at tying up a few hair bugs and I got to tell you they are tough to do well. Mine end up vaguely looking like a fur ball even after a close shave. The hair is uneven and all in the wrong direction and its a mess. Its no wonder the stores charge so much for these. The material and time needed to do these well really adds up.

A Big Day For This Blog

A big day for A Year On The Fly blog with a special honor. A great forerunner in the business of fly fishing and Tenkara has chosen a work from this blog to be on its banner.
You might remember a few days ago my mentioning Tenkara USA as well as posting a few flies on the subject, well the other day, Daniel of Tenkara USA and I came to an agreement on the use of a daily painting of mine to be featured as a banner on their homepage.


This piece is the one Daniel picked to be the banner for a little while and I would be lying if I said that I wasn't thrilled to see it up there. You might have also noticed that I have also added a button on the right side of my blog for the Tenkara website. Click it and let him know I sent you.

On another subject, The fly I posted today is yet another reverse hackle with a Japanese Character in the Kanji style. This style of character I'm told is the most widely recognised form of character in Japan so in an effort to continue the quiz - nobody got the last one by the way - I will keep this character in line with the theme of the last. Can anyone tell me what these two symbols say in English?
With the help of a few crossovers from the Tenkara USA site I am sure somebody will figure this out sooner or later...

Midge

"The two best times to fish is when it's rainin' and when it ain't."
Patrick F. McManus.

Some of the best times I've had on the river have been standing mid current in a blinding down poor. Not a soul on the river and the cold rain pelting the hood of my rain jacket lets one fully connect to the water he (or she) is fishing. The relaxing white noise seemed to focus my other sense's. The one time that is in the forefront of my memory was when I was so in tune to the fish that, although I couldn't sight fish them, I just knew where they were holding. Every other cast yielded a nice bow or brookie. Even as the rain pebbled the active waters I felt I could see the fish rising to take the fresh midges driven out by the rain. Now as I look back I'm not sure if it was my just imagination or what I had experienced was reality. Regardless it was an experience I will remember for a lifetime.
As summer turns into fall, the waters here in the south begin to cool, and the fish begin to escape from those deep holes in which they have been hiding, I look forward to another rainy day and the hope for such an epic day.

Simple Sedge

When I set out an open challenge to duplicate a simple looking fly with unusual colors I didn't expect to much, but my fellow bloggers have risen to the occasion.
And here is yet another response from my red and blue bucktail post a few days ago. This one comes from Brk Trt at Small Stream
I like the body mod of yarn. It adds something extra I think trout will enjoy.

Hook, Mustad 3665A #10

Body, Gray UNI yarn

Wing, Red, Blue bucktail

Caddis Poobah

Bow Sketching + Quotes

Just another free time sketching post. Added a bit of color to spruce it up but nothing to special.

Also here is a bit of my thoughts I decided I'd share so bare with me. I am a fan of good one liners and good quotes. In one line a person can impart so much without waisting excess words, and sometimes the one liner is just so plane funny that they can carry you through the day. For instance I once worked with this old man when I was a kid that was a master of the one liner. We would be bailing hay for three,four hours strait in 100deg plus heat and the old guy wouldn't say a word then out of the blue he would stop, look you dead in the eye and impart the years of learning on an impressionable young mind on a subject that had absolutely nothing to do with the task at hand. It wasn't any profound insite or meaning of life knowledge and to be honest I really can't repeat most of what he said but it was just so funny you never forgot it, and with a bunch of work left to do for the day, it was a one liner that would get you though many more hours of hard labor.

So with that in mind, here is a few great quotes a ran across the other day:

"It has always been my private conviction that any man who pits his intelligence against a fish and loses has it coming."
John Steinbeck
....................
"There's a fine line between fishing and standing on the shore like an idiot."
Steven Wright
....................
"Nothing makes a fish bigger than almost being caught."


And coming from the Bigerrfish fly tying bench is a fly that is spot on to a bucktail red and blue streamer I posted a few days ago. One word for the coloring of the buck tail... Sharpie. It looks great!

Lake Side Streamer

Here is a lake streamer with nothing else to say. Sometimes you just get a fly painting and that's it.

Red Blue Challenge

How do you make this fly? I painted it but short of dying my own buck tails, where do you find red and blue deer hair. I believe brown, white, and black are the common colors but I recently got hold of a yellow buck tail Which Is GREAT for the streamers I love to fish. I think I can only tie this with feathers. If you can tie this with buck tail, send me a pic of your work and how you tied it and I'll post it here with a plug for your blog/site.

Red Tenkara Fly

SOLD
Here is yet another Tenkara fly but with a bit of a quiz. Can you figure out what the Japanese character says? If you read Japanese it should be an easy one but if you don't, it might take a bit of work. Good luck!

Also,since I post one fly a day, which means my posts are quickly outdated,I thought I'd plug Tenkara USA one more time with a Learn More About Tenkara Link... Take a look If you have not already done so. If you do drop in to the site just let them know I sent you.