Portable Fly Tying Table

Posted on by
Reply

I mentioned during the off season that I’d been considering building something to better organize my fly tying tools, which up until now have been stored in a bunch of boxes and ziplock bags. I considered everything from full blown desks to much smaller portable tying stations. In the end I decided to go with a simpler portable tying table, which takes up less space and allows me to easily move my tying area around the house (or even on a trip).

The design I ended up using was based off this one. I used pine for the base and all of the other wood. It’s still pretty bare bones since I have only incorporated my main tools so far. As you can see, there’s lots of room for additional tools and containers, but it’s already much more functional than what I was working with before.

Initial version of my portable fly tying station

Initial version of my portable fly tying station

Features so far include:

  • Metal rods to hold spools: thread, silk, tinsel, wire, etc
  • Slots to hold main tying tools: scissors, whip finish tool, bodkin, thread bobbin, hair stacker, wax, etc
  • Larger holes for containers
  • Hangers for larger more awkward tools, such as hackle pliers
  • Hole to hold my magnifying lamp
  • Enough table space to hold my vice, a tying book and some materials
  • Space under the rear ledge to store materials or containers

Possible additions/modifications I’m considering:

  • Pull-out drawers under the ledge at the back to store hooks, bead heads and the like
  • Additional metal rods to hold more spools
  • Additional holes and hangers for more tools and containers
  • Possibly a different finish for the base

Hendricksons

Posted on by
Reply

I managed to sneak away to the Credit last night for a couple hours, hoping to find it a bit further along than the Grand was on the weekend.  My hopes were met, with what was one of the bigger Hendrickson hatches I’ve seen in quite some time. The bugs were so thick in fact, that when I went to disassemble my rod before heading back home, I noticed a pretty consistent coating of bug goo on my rod from swinging it through the air.

My camera has been acting up every since I dropped it last year, especially when trying to use macro mode or taking pictures in low light. Excuses aside, here are a couple pics:

Tried to capture the thick hendrickson hatch coming off

Tried to capture the thick hendrickson hatch coming off

Hendrickson Mayfly

Hendrickson Mayfly

Most of the Hendricksons had the typical yellow egg sac, though it fell off the one above before I snapped the picture. Apparently I haven’t fished this hatch in a while, because my supply of Hendrickson flies was abysmal – I only had a few spinner imitations which were too small. So instead, I tied on my goto Red Humpy and managed to hook up with a few small browns. Nothing spectacular, but it was a start.

A Slow Start

Posted on by
Reply

After a long cold winter, trout season is finally open in southern Ontario. For a change, most of the rivers and streams are teeming with water this year, due to a good amount of snow melt and rain in early spring. Add to that some absolutely perfect weather for the first week of the season and you couldn’t ask for much more. Well, other than good fishing, I guess…

Continue reading →

Wet Flies

Posted on by
2

For most my fly fishing years, I have favoured the dry fly more than all other types of flies. My very first trout was taken on a dry fly, my most memorable days on the water involve dry flies and they produce arguably the most exciting takes from fish. I would typically rather prospect for trout with a dry fly than tie on a nymph or streamer, even when the fish are not rising. Considering most fish feed under the surface, this is a bit stubborn.

I’ve grown to appreciate the nymph and streamer for what they are and I certainly fish them more now than I did in the past: but still, I don’t enjoy them as much as I do fishing closer to the surface. Most trout fisherman generally consider these 3 types of flies: dries, nymphs and streamers. There’s also the more recent hybrid emerger, which is fished just under the surface flim, but these are what you’ll find predominantly in most fly shops and fly boxes. Yet, the sport of fly fishing grew up exclusively on another type of fly, one that is largely ignored by most anglers today: the wet fly.

I’m not stating anything ground breaking here. This subject has been brought up by lots of others, on the internet, in books and elsewhere. Speaking of which, I just received a copy of a new book, which is why this subject is fresh on my mind:

Wet Flies by Dave Hughes

Wet Flies by Dave Hughes

Continue reading →

Merry Christmas!

Posted on by
Reply

Just a quick post to say Merry Christmas! Woke up extra early this morning to 3 very excited kids and things are just settling down. Hope Santa was good to all of you and hope you have a great holiday and happy new year.

While searching the infinite database that is the internet, I came across a couple fun tying ideas that I think I will use as inspiration next year. Enjoy!

Christmas Bugger (source)

Fly Ornaments (source)

Winter, Fishing (or Lack Thereof) and Video Games

Posted on by
Reply

Every year I dread the end of trout fishing season in southern Ontario, but I always try to be optimistic about the possibility of getting out for some steelhead fishing during the colder months ahead.  It’s never really been my thing, but I figure there must be a reason everyone else is addicted to it, so it’s worth a try. Well, it’s all coming back to me now… the reason that optimism never turns out.

Dark, work, kids, weather and more dark… that about sums it up.  The much shorter days mean less opportunity to get out after work and less time spent outdoors with the kids (I have three of them by the way).  That basically writes off weekdays completely and when the weekends come, it’s a lot of catching up with the family.  For me, evenings are always prime fishing time and that just doesn’t work well this time of year.

It’s not all a loss though, since thankfully there are things other than fishing to keep me busy.  Like… tying flies, or reading about fishing, or playing fishing video games!  OK, just kidding (sort of) 😉

Seriously though, I’ve wondered for a long time why there are absolutely NO good fly fishing video games.  Just think about how great a fly fishing game would be on the Wii, done properly, where you cast using a realistic motion with a Wii Remote.  I’ve searched for fly fishing simulations and the only ones I could find are extremely outdated and not very appealing, at least aesthetically.

In case you weren’t aware (or it wasn’t obvious from my writing), I’m a pretty big geek.  I’m a software developer, currently on the gaming team at RIM (BlackBerry).  You know those really outdated BlackBerry games, Brick Breaker and Word Mole?  I made those, years ago granted.  Technically I did not create Brick Breaker – just took over it a couple years after it was created when I joined the team.  Word Mole though, was all mine (along with a couple artists and a co-op student).

Anyway, my point is that I spend a lot of times either writing games or playing them and I’ve been giving this whole fly fishing simulation a lot of thought recently.  If I can muster up enough motivation and free time, I am seriously considering starting a project working on one of my own, with modern 3D graphics, realistic environments and simulated casting motions using something like the Wii Remote.  Maybe then, my southern Ontario resident trout fishing can extend into the winter months (in my family room)!

If you’ve got a bit of geek in you as well and think this is a good idea, I’d love to hear your thoughts/comments.

That Time of Year…

Posted on by
Reply

As is obvious from my sudden lapse in blog posts, things have been pretty slow to non-existent on the fishing front since the trout season closer. This is the norm for me around this time of year, when the weather gets suddenly colder and rainier and the fishing slows down.

That doesn’t mean I’ve got nothing to write about though.  As we get some drier days and the crowds thin down I’ll be getting out for some fishing here and there.  Also, this year I’ll be spending more time on the fly tying bench restocking my supply and experimenting with new flies.

In fact, I’m currently in the midst of doing some research for a little side project: building a custom fly tying station. I haven’t quite decided yet whether this will be a full size fly desk, or a smaller, more portable tying station. There are some neat ideas out there and I plan on combining them to make something of my own.  Here’s a couple links I have been looking at with some neat plans:

Fly Tying Desk
Portable Fly Tying Bench

The idea is that this will cost very little – possibly using nothing but scrap wood I have lying around my garage. I’ll post some more details and pics as I flush out the design and start working on it.

2012 Trout Closing Weekend

Posted on by
3

Well, trout season is officially over here in southern Ontario, which means my fishing days are going to be limited to some remaining warm water fishing (bass, pike) and possibly some steelhead fishing if I can manage to find a place and time where the crowds aren’t too bad.

My wife graciously agreed to let me spend way too much time on the water this past weekend, to finish off the trout season. I took Friday off work and managed to get out for three consecutive days, all of which were spent on different sections of my favourite local river. By the way, you’ll notice that I rarely mention river names or locations. This is on purpose, in an effort to avoid random lazy people from typing a couple words into Google and going away with sensitive and hard earned fishing locations. If you really want to know where I fish… well, I probably won’t tell you unless you’re family or friend 🙂  But, you’re more than welcome to ask.

Anyway, on with the report!

Friday, September 28th

Friday was supposed to be a full day of fishing, but I slept in a bit more than I would have liked and as usual, I needed to do some last-minute fly tying to top up my box. The main ties included a bunch of Red Humpy dry flies (which are always productive on this river), as well as a number of Simulators and a couple Gartside Gurglers for a bit of night fishing.

Lots of Stimulators in sizes 12-14 would be the main go-to fly during the days

Gartside Gurgler (size 6) for hopefully enticing some hungry Browns at night

Continue reading →

Chinook on the Fly

Posted on by
Reply
There’s a section of river about five minutes from my house which, although nice looking, isn’t usually worth fishing due to its location between dams. However, for a few weeks during spring and fall, this section of river comes alive with big migratory fish that gain access via a fish ladder on the dam several miles downstream.
Historically, I haven’t fished much for salmon or steelhead – I normally prefer resident trout waters, where the crowds are less and the fish are (in my opinion) prettier. Since this section of river is close to home though and one of the lesser fished stretches, I figured I’d give it a try for a couple hours before work.
The river seemed pretty empty when I arrived, but a walk downstream showed a much different picture: lots of Chinook salmon cruising the shallows. I’ve never targeted Chinook on the fly and I’d say I’m not very well equipped to deal with them. An 8wt rod (intended for steelhead fishing) with 12 lb tippet suddenly feels very inferior when you imagine hooking these freight trains. Unfortunately though, this would have to do as it’s the heaviest setup I currently own.
Well, it did… sorta. I hooked 2 fish, one of which lasted a mere couple of seconds before it bent my hook completely straight, bringing me to the realization that large hooks are a necessity for these beasts.

A Chinook Salmon landed during some morning fishing before work

It’s mind boggling how strong these fish are. This was my first Chinook and considering the fact that it was probably an average sized fish, I can’t imagine what a large one could do. I’ve caught plenty of other large fish in the past, but nothing has come even remotely close to the girth and power of this thing.
Since the fishing days are numbered, I decided to tie a handful of salmon flies tonight and will be heading back tomorrow morning for some revenge. Here’s hoping my equipment makes it through!

Trout Season is Fading

Posted on by
Reply

It seems like trout fishing season (open May-September on most waters here) was barely existent this year.  Now, there’s only one week left before it’s gone. Hopefully I’ll be able to sneak out a couple more times next week, before or after work and on the weekend.

I absolutely loving fishing in the fall.  Cool crisp temperatures and colours galore, on both the trees and the fish. Yesterday was full of walking and roller coasters, as I took my son to Canada’s Wonderland, but today I managed to get out for a few hours of fishing. Normally I would choose to fish my favourite brown trout water this time of year, but seeing as how I failed to catch any fish during my Algonquin trip, I thought I’d try to make amends and head to some brookie water today.

Fishing was pretty slow for most of the day. Rain was off and on and temps were quite cold, but overall it was great to be out. I managed to catch a few small brookies in the first couple hours – nothing to brag about, but better than nothing.  I also took a break to watch a beaver that lives in this section of the river (I’ve seen him here for several years now).

Resident Beaver chilling out on a rock in the middle of the river

I started out casting dry flies and eventually switched to a small streamer since there wasn’t anything happening on the surface. The streamer provided 2 hits, but no fish landed.  As daylight faded, I approached a nice stretch of water and decided to go back to dries. I tied on a size 12 stimulator and the second cast produced a nice brookie.

Nice colourful resident Brook Trout caught on a Stimulator

I had hiked in quite a way from my car and it would be a long walk back. Since I packed my headlamp, I figured I’d push my luck and stay a while longer and hike back in the dark. Then it hit me… I had put my headlamp in my fishing net in the car… and now I was wearing my fishing net on my back. Unfortunately, the lamp was no longer in the net. It had obviously fallen out somewhere along my trek today, which took me through a lot of heavy brush. Not only did this mean I just lost my new $50 headlamp, but it also meant I had to stop fishing if I wanted to avoid stumbling back the 30 minute hike in dark without a light. Doh!