I've been suffering from technical problems lately ie. my internet connection keeps disconnecting all the time. Sometimes it stays totally offline for hours. It's been like that for two weeks now and my ISP seems to be unable to fix it because the problem is most probably in the cable itself.
Another technical problem has been the lack of spare time. For the last three weeks, I've been doing long days at work and haven't had time to do any blogging at the office. On the other hand though, I've managed to gather myself a good 1.5 weeks of extra holiday. Hopefully it will be the full 2 weeks before the mid summer, meaning a total of 6 full weeks of continuous summer holiday!!
That's it for the bad news and now, the good news: Spring is finally here and all the remaining ice is melting away quickly! Yesterday I had a little sightseeing by the sea and the local river delta. By the sea, the shallow bays had lost there icy covers, just some lonely pieces of ice were floating around. The open sea was still under ice but its disappearance seemed to be just a matter of days.
The river has lost its ice a long time ago and I did some hiking in the bushes to find a little pond, invisible from the surrounding roads. After a while, I got to the pond that had a shallow water passage to the river delta. At the very same moment, I managed to scare off a dozen ducks, who left the place with horrible noise and splashing water. After a few minutes, I saw what I came there for: A couple of small pikes circling in the shallow water, possibly getting ready to spawn. Well, it's pretty early for that and it will probably take a few weeks before the spawning starts in the full scale. A good start anyway!
Now I need hurry up and get my tackle sorted out and fill all the fly boxes. It just feels unreal, after those five months of despair it starts all over again....
Monday, April 25, 2011
Friday, April 1, 2011
Easing the pain....
Finally, the weather forecasts are telling good news. For the next week, temperatures should stay above zero even by night which is the key factor in making the ice melt. And no, this is no April Fool's tricks!!
Just to maintain my (partial) sanity while being kept away from the water for five long months, I've tried to keep myself busy by tying flies and testing new equipment.
I tested my latest fly rod, Colton Tradewinds #9 9', which proved to be just what I expected. It's a powerful casting machine, capable of casting heavy lines with ease and produces high line speeds when necessary.
To compare it to my favourite rod, Five Rivers FT #9 9', Colton has a stiffer tip section and and it is more front heavy, making it a bit more heavy to do powerful casting strokes. I'd say that Colton could be regarded as a #10 rod, where the FT is a #9 fast-action rod. Colton is a saltwater rod with great ability to lift heavy sinking lines and re-cast them with longer overhangs. FT can throw almost any line because of the fast, but sensitive tip. The blank is very light and the rod feels like casting a #7 weight rod.
Where the FT shines in soft power delivery, light castability and yet very high line speeds, the Colton is a brute. You can and should use a little more force and all the force goes to the kinetic energy of the line. It will also help when casting big flies in windy conditions, with a cost of an extra effort. We'll see how it performs in one month or so.
Just to maintain my (partial) sanity while being kept away from the water for five long months, I've tried to keep myself busy by tying flies and testing new equipment.
I tested my latest fly rod, Colton Tradewinds #9 9', which proved to be just what I expected. It's a powerful casting machine, capable of casting heavy lines with ease and produces high line speeds when necessary.
To compare it to my favourite rod, Five Rivers FT #9 9', Colton has a stiffer tip section and and it is more front heavy, making it a bit more heavy to do powerful casting strokes. I'd say that Colton could be regarded as a #10 rod, where the FT is a #9 fast-action rod. Colton is a saltwater rod with great ability to lift heavy sinking lines and re-cast them with longer overhangs. FT can throw almost any line because of the fast, but sensitive tip. The blank is very light and the rod feels like casting a #7 weight rod.
Where the FT shines in soft power delivery, light castability and yet very high line speeds, the Colton is a brute. You can and should use a little more force and all the force goes to the kinetic energy of the line. It will also help when casting big flies in windy conditions, with a cost of an extra effort. We'll see how it performs in one month or so.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Little snacks
Some random smaller baitfish patterns, nothing special to tell about these. I tied these just for killing some time.
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| Chartreuse/White baitfish, 80 mm |
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| Green/Chrtreuse baitfish, 80 mm |
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| Olive perch, 75 mm |
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| Basic baitfish imitation, 75 mm |
Testing with tubes
I did a little practice in tying with tubes. There are some minor issues that I need to concentrate on when tying on tubes but I think I got a hang of it. Here's a couple of Fatheads tied on L-sized Eumer tube. It seems that one needs to use more material when tying on a tube but still the fly has a tendency to lose some of its profile. Practicing for a couple of hours will help me with this.....
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| Tubular Fatheaded brothers |
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| Brothers from the side |
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| Family portrait of Fathead cousins |
Fly Porn
Some Fatheads. Fatheads are tied much like Huchbacks, but the materials are spread more evenly around the hook shank. Also the fibers are tied even more fluffy, so the head of the fly will be bulkier and will push more water. This will hopefully create a strong, sliding zig-zag motion.
The body of the fly is made from PikeTrek's body fibre. Slinky fibre could be used as well. Head of the fly is made from fluorescent Water Silk, but craft fur etc. is suitable also.
The body of the fly is made from PikeTrek's body fibre. Slinky fibre could be used as well. Head of the fly is made from fluorescent Water Silk, but craft fur etc. is suitable also.
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| Emergency colored Fathead |
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| Profile of the Fathead is fat. |
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| Flaming hedgehog. |
Fly Porn
Some Hunchbacks, which have their underbody made from Slinky fiber and topped with Congo Hair from Fly Tyers dungeon. The fibers are mostly tied on the top side of the hook and on a very short area. This forms a hunch to the back of the fly. Some flies have their bellies made of Water Silk.
Unfortunately the wind made its tricks while taking pictures, so some flies have their fibers pointing in all directions.
Unfortunately the wind made its tricks while taking pictures, so some flies have their fibers pointing in all directions.
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| Mambo Jambo Hunchback |
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| Pink/White Hunchback |
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| Perch Hunchback |
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| Olive Hunchback |
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| Yellow/Red Hunchback |
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| Herring Hunchback |
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| Esset Hunchback |
Fly Porn
I've been talking about fly patterns and different materials. Now I finally managed to get some pictures of them, but the quality ain't that good.
These are some random experimentations with dubbing brushes. I made a few brushes using thin copper wire and a cordless drill (please stop laughing). I used fibers from a synthetic duster, which caught my eye while shopping for something else....
First I tied some saddle feather on the hooks shank, rolled on some of the dubbing brush and finally added some craft fur and a pair of eyes. No idea how the might work, but at least they've got some nice profile.
These are some random experimentations with dubbing brushes. I made a few brushes using thin copper wire and a cordless drill (please stop laughing). I used fibers from a synthetic duster, which caught my eye while shopping for something else....
First I tied some saddle feather on the hooks shank, rolled on some of the dubbing brush and finally added some craft fur and a pair of eyes. No idea how the might work, but at least they've got some nice profile.
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| Gay colored Duster |
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| Red and black Duster |
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