Andrea Larko's Art

I first ran across Andrea Larko's Art in Dun Magazine. Her style is unique and has a tribal look to it. She sells prints, decals and apparel on her Etsy site. 

I decided to get a couple decals for my kayak.

I really love the colors on this bluegill. 

The redfish is just as awesome. My wife saw the decals and now she's interested in getting some of Andrea's art for the house. The hard part is deciding what to get. There are so many good looking designs. 

 Andrea adds a nice touch by hand writing thank you notes with each order. 

I have seen this done on Instagram with several of her orders. I believe Andrea really appreciates people finding something special in her art. 

Stripping Flies To Salvage Hooks

Over time I've accumulated a stash of flies that aren't fish worthy anymore but I'd still like the hooks. 

The hard part is figuring out an easy way to remove the material. I tried using a razor to cut the material off. This worked but it is very time-consuming and tedious. The next bright idea was to set the fly on fire. I figured the material would burn off and I'd be left with just a hook. I learned flies are very flammable and the fumes really stink up your house. 

Does anyone know of an easy method to strip the material off your flies? I'm thinking about starting a fly subscription service. Instead of sending you 10 flies every month you send me 10 of yours and I'll take the material off. I think I'll call it Stripfly box. Although there would be a lot of explaining to do when significant others see a charge for strip fly on their bills. 

The Fishpond Sushi Roll

I saw this thing at the last fly fishing show. I didn't buy it at that time but I received a coupon for a shop and picked it up. This thing is pretty neat and perfect for a canoe or kayak. The large roll is 10inches when rolled up and 16 inches when unrolled. I put it next to my wife's shoe so you can get an idea of the size.

This lower picture shows the roll all the way open. I added large flies so you could see how much space there was. The largest flies are 6inches or more. You can see there is plenty of room for other flies above or below them.

Another cool feature is the loop at the top that can be used to connect to a caribiner. The roll also comes with 4 velcro swatches.

 These can be placed anywhere on a boat or kayak so you can easily access the roll and put it away. If you're wondering if the flies get smashed when the sushi roll is closed there is foam that lines the outter edge.

This creates just enough space so your fly material will not get smashed but gives the flies airflow so they can dry. 

I'm really happy with the Sushi Roll so far. I like the portability of the unit as well as the amount of storage space. It has the same surface area as a large cliff box. I think the velcro part will be great for the kayak. I will be able to grab the flies and store them out of the way with ease. The product is a great value for $25.

Mom's First White Bass

I have been telling my mom about white bass for years. Every time we would try to go after them the odds were stacked against us. It was either the weather, water conditions or schedule conflicts. Something always seemed to deter her from catching the white bass while they were running. This year I had been diligently watching the weather.  My past years of experience with weather patterns and previous bass runs helped me deduce the perfect day. This time there could be no excuses. It was a warm bluebird sunny day and the water was slowly dropping and starting to clear from recent storms. Prime conditions. We arrived to the river later than I liked. Several cars were already in the parking lot which made me antsy to get to the water. I hurried along the trail peering over the edge and seeing anglers camping in various spots that were productive in previous years. The banks were muddy and you had to take great caution with how you navigated the terrain. I think that's what I love about the white bass run. Getting to the river is part of the fun. You have to log hop, parry your way through large briar bushes and deal with slippery mud. The leaves hadn't fully sprouted on the trees yet and you could really see the features of the river.

We fished the banks and the goal was to figure out the retrieve. It seems ever year the white bass want something different. Sometimes it's a couple twitches, other times it's stripping really fast or doing nothing. Today it was just letting the fly drag and swing in the current. The strikes were obvious, you can feel the line move and actually see it jerk. The usual scenario was cast near the bank the fly line would belly then as the fly swung tick tick boom. Fish on! It took a few tries but my mom was successful in catching her first white bass.

She caught plenty more after that and we had several doubles. Many of the fish were small males but every now and then you'd get a hefty female.

The kreelex flies I tied seemed to be doing the trick.

I still think white bass are some of the most fun fish to target with a fly rod. The larger fish fight so well you never know what you have until you get the fish in close. A large female can strip off line and run circles around you before allowing you to land her. It never gets old. The best part of the day was that I could enjoy it with my mother. I hope this if the first of many white bass runs we can fish together. 

Educated Trout

I got out Saturday and tried my luck with some educated trout. The fish don't hit the usual flies like egg patterns, San Juan worms and big bead head flies. It's times like these when the best fly is usually something out of the norm. A fly that you wouldn't normally throw for trout. I went with a copper and green kreelex fly. I was getting many misses that I could tell were reaction strikes. Eventually I caught a few.

I'm really enjoying this Anglers Roost and Piscifun Reel setup. The rod handles well whether I'm nymphing or throwing streamers. A good 14" fish will give you quite a tussle on the 3/4wt. There were a few fish that stripped line several times and I didn't have the upper hand where I could move them wherever I wanted. It makes catching the larger fish much more fun and challenging.

Putting the 3wt to Work

I worked on my nymphing with the new 3wt Anglers Roost Rod. It performed perfectly and I had a really great day. 

Sight Fishing 101

One of the best movies I've seen in awhile.