Ant & Past Sketches

Here is a little drowned ant.  I love fishing the ant.  Hungry fish love these little guys on small inaccessible streams.  The variations are many with the ant and I have posted a few of them in the past but this one is drowned and meant to be fished just under the surface on a 'dead' drift.

And as I mentioned late yesterday, here are some of my past sketches using the wet pencil.  I have used these special pencil in the past for monochromanic sketches of future paintings or just as a practice on value painting.  Most of these are from a 2007 sketch book. 

 How you use the pencil is fairly simple.  Sketch out the subject then start dropping in water to smooth out the pencil eventualy giving the work a depth of contrast and texture you cant get without the pencil.  It is a perfect way to prepair for a watercolor work because the pencil and water react to the brush much the same as the watercolor pigments.  My favorite of these is the Huey's.

On the fishing front, It has gotten a bit cool down here lately and in the comming weeks I have a few days off and plan to hit up some serious trout fishing.  Keep an eye out for some fishy posts.

Wet Penciled Dry

Almost forgot to post a fly today.  I broke out the wet pencil for a quick dry fly post. It's been a long time since I've sketched with this pencil & almost forgot how much I enjoined this style. Tomorrow I'll post a few of my past sketches using this technique to show what this pencil can accomplish.

Partridge Peacock #2

As promised here is the second Partridge Peacock wet fly. 

Partridge Peacock

Suggested by Anthony from castingaround.com here is a peacock partridge wet fly sure to hook fish.
I did two versions of this fly so I will post the other on Saturday and you decide which you think is the best.

The Sawyer Killer Bug

The Sawyer Killer Bug was suggested by Chris over at TenkaraBum.com  This fly was created by Frank Sawyer many many years ago and from what I have been reading about this bug, everyone who fishes by it swears by it.  Frank is better known for his pheasant tail nymph and his book on these flies is a classic but its this fly that gets me the most excited.  I cant wait to fish this little guy.  It will be the first fly on my line.

WoodBurning Fly

Here is a wood burning I did yesterday of a fly.  The fly is burned onto the end of a rod case I have working on for a friend and I think It added just the right touch to the end of a great looking case.  It is just about complete and I will be sharing it with you when it is ready, but for now, this is all you get.

I also just got my new business cards in the mail the other day.  I have been sending out so many paintings and prints lately that I thought it was about time to get some cards printed up.  I used my Iron Blue Wingless fly from earlier this year as the work of art and I think it really works. 

Poor Sally

Via my request for flies to render as somewhat artful creations, I recieved this 'poor sally' from Alan over at http://Smallstreamreflections.blogspot.com   I decided not to attempt to duplicate his original because it is so well done. Instead I have done a 5x7 claybord etching of this classic and left out the color.  The end result is better looking than the pic shows.  I enjoined working on this piece so much I think I will have to do more of these type etchings.

I have received quite a response from my request with a lot of flies now in my in box so bare with me while I cycle through them.

Tenkara Midge and A Request

Fly number 270 for the year.  With less than 100 posts to go I am running out of juice looking for flies to paint so I am asking my blogging followers to send me pics of their favorite flies.  I need you to take a pic of you favorite fly in your vice, in the lip of a fish, or just the fly all alone and send them to me.  I will be looking for dries, wets, streamers, anything that catches fish.  Help me finish this year out.

Dry Fly + Some

"There is no greater fan of fly fishing than the worm."  ~Patrick F. McManus, Never Sniff a Gift Fish, 1979

I thought of this quote the last time I went out fishing as I pulled in rainbows.  I had been out there about half an hour, fishing this honey hole for all its worth when another angler shows up with his worms and tries to fish next to me.  I eased over a bit and let him fish the same bend in the stream as me.  I was having a good day and there was a good number of fish for the both of us so why the heck not.  Well after about 30 more minutes and me out fishing him five to zip, he grumbled something about how the fish were to small anyway, packed up his worms and moved on leaving me once again all alone with the 'small' fish.  It was about this time I hooked into a 13incher and gave my brief worm angling friend a little grin as I pulled the fish in.

This has happened more times than I can remember on this stretch of river and it is actually more rare to have a corn chucker or worm angler out fish a fly here.   I suppose this might be the case because this area of water is heavily fished by locals and the fish have seen more of the corn worms and powerbait than natural flies.  Is there science to back this up this claim? I don't know.  All I know is that I always do well there and the only reason I don't fish there more often is because the pressure of local anglers also brings the pollution and crowds I try to avoid when I fish.  Unfortunately it has easy access and if I am pressed for time it is the first spot I think of.

Brookie Streamer

Here is a ink sketch of a brookie streamer.  Best used in those remote mountain plunging pools that often hide beautiful fish.  I particularly favor a yellow bucktail, black or red throat hackles and or tail, black body, and tinsel flash ribbing.  Whats your go to stream side - plunge pool streamer.

Fishing The Tenkara Setup

Yesterday I took my new Tenkara setup for a test run and was immediately impressed with the way it performed.  On my third cast a nice 10 incher took the fly and the fun never stopped.  One after another, rainbow after rainbow and even a moderate sized brown attacked my presentation with amazing vigor.  It had to be the best two hours of fishing I have had in a long time.  They weren't the native brookies I had planned on testing the rod out on but with the time constraints I had to settle for a lower elevation stretch of river.  I was sure happy I settled.

I did have one big shoulder 13 inch Bow that tested my fly and my 7x but I managed to chase him down and pull him in.  I found that fighting these bigger fish on a setup like this, without a bit more line to peal off fighting the fish, it is more of a challenge.  I did a lot of moving up and down the bank trying to baby the line and hold the fish.  The reward was worth the effort. I also was a bit unsure what to do with my free hand now that I had no line to hold. I eventual got use too the feel and became comfortable with the cast and various ways to fish a tenkara fly.
I fished the normal dead drift, the cross current pull, the upstream pause and pull, the down stream pull and pause and found for these fish the dead drift worked the best and the up stream pull a distant second.

The little guys were fun and the day was a total win.  I am glad I made it out.  Now I have something more to dream about when I am back at work.  This trip is just what I needed to fill the old inspiration tank.
Id like to write a bit more but work is creeping up on me and as the saying goes, 'first things first.'  I will leave you with this.  If you havent tried Tenkara on a small stream, you are sure missing out.  I LOVE MY TENKARA!!!!"  Thanks again Daniel from Tenkara USA for this killer set-up.

(Keen observers might notice the poor fin condition on alot of these fish.  Not all the fish I caught were this beat up but even the rough looking ones were still fun to catch.  hopefully next time I will be able to hook into those native brookies after a bit of hiking and hunting blue lines.)

Hooking Fish With Tenkara

Ok, so I got your attention and you are expecting some fish photos but you are going to be disappointed....for today.  No time to load them but check back tomorrow for some rainbows in hand and a full report.  Today its just a teaser.

I managed to ditch all the work I really should be doing this morning for a few hours to take my virgin Tenkara USA 12ft fly rod out for the first time.  WHAT A FREEKIN BLAST!!!  Third cast of the new rod and BAMM.  10inches of jumping bow.  then another and another.  I lost count after the first 30min.  Probably the most active 2 hrs of fishing I have had in a long time.  I LOVE MY TENKARA 12FT.

Blue Framed Dry

A Fly & A New Look

Here is a quick fly and a few words.

Unfortunately the little trip I had planned with Jason from Killbillies.com fell through due to other commitments with our day jobs but I am so pumped for a bit of trout fishing that I still plan on making a bit of a trip later this week. I plan on testing my new Tenkara set-up from TENKARA USA on some killer native rainbow and brookie streams in the upstate.

On another note.
You might have noticed the new look to the blog and header. I thought it was appropriate for the start fall. I have also added a BUY A PRINT button at the top of this page for purchasing both 8x10 and 5x7 trout prints and low prices. There is also a few other buttons including a PAINT YOUR FISH button and a BUY A FLY page. Please check them out and feel free to email any questions you might have.

Hairwing Rubberlegs

Check back later today for a few new prints to be available. I am hopping to get enough free time today to work on the blogs look as well as add a few features to the site.