PACKING

Hello followers,
I am alive and I will be blogging about my new waders after our move.  This is the weekend Sarah starts at her church, and we move into our new house.  With the move and the fact that we are still packing, I have not had a ton of time to write.  So I am writing now telling everyone that, you will not hear from me till Sunday afternoon at the earliest.  Have a great rest of the week, and I will tell you all about the move and the waders early next week.

Thanks for reading

-Bruce 

I should be packing

Last week I packed two boxes and was instantlly sick of it.  So my plan was to come home from work today and maybe hit a stream for a couple hours before I really getting some packing done.  This plan however was not well thought out, because even though today was the first day of spring we had cold, snow and rain all day.  At one point there was two inches of snow on the driveway.  Needless to say I slid home from work and ended up taking a nap. 

This photo is what my mind has been saying about the packing that needs to be done.

After waking up I decided to find the counter in the kitchen so I did some dishes.  If you have not noticed the trend for the day, basically I avoided boxes and packing like the plague.  After dinner I used my in-laws tread mill to start my training.  This spring and summer I am planning to run a couple 5k's and some trail runs, and I thought that the first day of spring would be a great starting point.

Some good looking signs on the map. 

Some other things I have been doing to keep from packing are;
1) Scouting bodies of waters in the town we are moving to by map.
2) Trying to find blogs of people who fish in the eastern part of Massachusetts (if you happen to be a blogger in this area please comment so I can follow you, and you do not need to fish trout)   
3) Lastly I have been trying to plan a couple more fishing trips, because I have a review coming!!!!  (those William Joseph waders came last week and I want to put a good review out for everyone)


-Bruce

FISHING!!

It has been a really long time!  Yesterday I went fishing, which was a big deal because my fishing had been put in limbo status when we moved here.  With Sarah getting a church, and my part time job I felt good about getting an out of state license for CT now.  So with my new license in hand I arrived at a mountain stream that is normally a little smaller then it was yesterday.

So I started taking pictures about a half hour after the excitement ended.

 I was very excited to be fishing again.  Along with the fact that I was fishing, I was excited to have a new license, a new rod reel combo, new waders (which by this time next week I will have a good review for), and some freshly organized fly boxes.

Here is a sign to show that spring is coming or does this mean it is here?

After jumping into my waders and stringing up the new Redington I made my way to the stream.  The first thing I did was sat down on a rock and took a good look at what was happening on the water.  This stream normally runs lower and less stained then it was yesterday but it was still fishable.  I decided a Zebra Midge dropped from a Small Stream Reflections recommended Ausable Bomber would be a good starting setup.

Took this shot after one got away.

My first cast was a little rough, it could be best decribed as klunky.  The second was great, I loaded the new rod and unloaded a shot putting the dropper very close to the spot I had been looking at.  As I watched the rig drifting down the small riffle I spotted a shadow dart from alongside a rock.  The shadow went right past the midge and nailed the bomber.  I instantly started to laugh as I set the hook and with a little resistance I brought a beautiful little five or six inch brook trout to hand.  With the laughter and excitement I took the fly out of the top of the trout's jaw and reached for my phone (to take a picture) but he wiggled his way out of my hands.  I was not able go snap a shot of the fish but it was a story book start to the afternoon.

What do you think?  I think the new setup looks good?

Sadly that was the only real excitement.  I missed a couple fish on nymphs and had one hooked that shook loose.  Honestly I really did not care, because on the second cast in this state I hooked and landed a brook trout.  I am excited to have my CT license and the weather forecast for the next couple days looks great we might be hitting the 60s the next two days.  Perfect weather for some really small stream action.  I will keep my blog posted on any/all trips I take in the next couple days so do not for get to check back again soon.


Thanks for reading
-Bruce

Hidden Talents

So this winter seems to be never ending.  The fact that I have not actually gone fishing in months has been good for "the fly box overhaul of 2011", cleaning and organizing my gear and acquiring new gear. 

A little more then a week ago I thought I would get out and fish.  Well, with a couple days of rain in a row, the creeks and rivers swelled from their banks, started washing over streets and then started to carry houses away.  So needless to say I did not even attempt to fish last week.  But I have my fingers crossed that the mountain streams will be down in the next couple days and I can at least take my new 3wt for a spin.

Now maybe you as a blog reader are saying  "Bruce you need to blog about these things so we can see what you are doing" - well that is my bad.  I have not been good about it but fishing season is coming up and hopefully my blog will be chalk full of trips.  Until then I will be showing off more flies, and maybe some hikes (because the weather has been nicer - that is when it is not raining), and I have been kicking around the idea of a giveaway!

Let me show you what I do when I go bug eyed after tying too many size 22 dry flies.  The short background story is one of my best friends gave me a Dremel tool as a wedding gift.  He handed it to Sarah and me and then said sorry to Sarah because he knew it would be mine in five minutes (I used it on our honeymoon, but that is another story for another time).  So I bought some diamond tips for it and started playing with glass etching.  I have etched glasses as gifts ever since.

This is the one I made for Sarah's blog thing.  Oh and if you wear dresses today is Tuesday put one on.

In the last week I made this set of small water / juice glasses with a trout theme and one for Sarah and her women confidence initiative called "Wear A Dress Tuesday".  When I finished the glasses I was pleased with how they came out and after showing Sarah she said I should make a set and give them away.  With the fear of a flop giveaway being my first thought, I felt I would show them off and see what people think.  I could do a couple with flies, some fish and the name of your blog (it could be anything).

These are the other 3, a brook trout, a rainbow after a dry fly, and a streamers.

Some nice angled shots, thanks to my photographer (Sarah).

Better look at that streamer, all of these are done free hand so they are not perfect.

This is not officially a giveaway but if you all think this would be a good idea please let me know and I will post an official giveaway.

-Bruce

The Lost Week

So you might be saying to yourself where the heck did Bruce go?  Has he dropped off the face of the earth, or maybe those floods in CT washed him away?

Well I am here and the floods might have tried to take over our basement, but we fought them back and I'm still here.  First let me explain that I have not posted this week for a couple reasons.  The first reason is I was riding the excitement of Sarah's job, I was riding that thrill till Wednesday.  I am just very excited and proud of my wife!  So instead of turning this into a full three days of singing my wife's praises I opted to just tell her, my family, her family, and some friends how great she is. 

Then there was the rain.  We have had a little water in the basement and I have been cleaning it and trying to prevent it from coming back (with rain in the forecast tonight we will see how I did).  Also rain related problems are my morning commute.  I have been working a part time job, but it is a morning shift starting at 5.  My normal twenty minute drive has turned almost thirty five plus.  That means I have been getting up earlier and instead of blogging in the afternoon I have been napping. 

Lastly it is the start of Lent so I have been to church a lot this week.  There was the call sermon on Sunday, then Shrive Tuesday with pancakes after, and lastly ash Wednesday.  So this week really did not lend its self to a great blogging week. 

I did find time to tie a couple flies, and today I took some pictures of my boxes nearing the end of the filling process.   If you have been wondering how a person could have so many boxes and so few flies, it is because I went through them in the fall and purged them of all mangled, rusted, and worthless flies.  I tried to save any hooks that could be saved, and mainly just wanted to get my boxes looking nice and being more on the functional again.

This one needs a couple parachute Adams, and three more BWO's

There is always room for streamers.  I am constantly trying new ones and removing the junk.

I keep thinking I'm done with this box, but that is not true.  Hairs ear bead head, more brown stone flies, and I want to figure out a good Crane fly Larva pattern to add.

This box is fun.  I've got some of everything in here.  Some AZ Wondering mini hoppers, some Small Stream Reflections inspired Ausable Bombers, two sizes of Royal Wolf, Henryville Special's.  I am going to add some stone flies and a couple Goddard Caddis.

Now to wrap this up I want to thank Foul Hook for my newest box.  I am not sure what I want to fill it with but for now I put some carp flies in it.  One of my goals for this year it to bring one of these  "golden bones" to hand.  Last summer I was on the fish, but could not even get a fish to look at my flies.  Here is the box, I really like it!  The color is a little wild for my taste but if it use is for carp maybe it will be lucky.  Oh and it came with a sticker.  That is a huge bonus because I love brand stickers (I have them for my rods, and cloths on my truck).   

Good looking box don't you think?

Still learning about carp flies so this is kinda a work in progress.

Okay everyone I am back.


-Bruce

The NEWS

To some this may seem like a lot of build up for not a lot of actual news, but my wife (The Reverend Sarah Weaver) was accepted to her first church call.  So at the end of the month we will be moving again, from here in CT to Rehoboth, Massachusetts.  She is going to be serving Rehoboth Congregational Church.  These are exciting times for Sarah and I, our families, the town and church in Rehoboth.

The proud new pastor in front of her church

Of course I am looking at all my new and exciting outdoor activities, and looking at maps of streams in the area.  I have checked on fishing licenses and regulations.  Also I have talked to some church members who either know about places or people who fish.  I already have offers to be taken on a stripper fishing trips to the cape (which is less then an hour away)!  Also I will have some new opportunities to teach people to fly fish, and maybe keep the sport going... 

SO to the people of Rehoboth Ma thank you so much for welcoming us.  Sarah and I are very very excited to be part of your church family.  To you folks who read this blog regularly (if there are any of you) you can look forward to reading how I find and fish new waters!

I love this shot, this is Sarah in her church office.  I think there is room in the corner for a fly tying vise ; )

Lastly Congratulations wife you worked really hard and your pay off is a wonderful church full of wonderful people!!!!

Friday afternoon tying session

So Friday after noon I sat down to tie flies.  I have plenty of flies that needed to be tied, but I was in the mood to crank out some streamers.  I have a fly wallet that I keep them in and it needed to be updated.  I love streamers, and if I am not working a hatch or my nymphs are not working out, a streamer will normally do the trick.  There was a time when a marabou streamer was my first and last fly of the day.  Actually a black and white marabou streamer got me my fist trout on the fly rod.  Well here is Friday afternoon's work.  

This is my version of a cone head zonker minnow

Here is my play on a black nosed dace

This was me playing with a little flashabou and the back nosed dase

Here it is a black and white marabou streamer just like the one I caught my first trout on

The famous Mickey Finn, a staple in my streamer box/wallet since day one!

Another streamer that has been in my boxes since day one.  The Black Ghost

This is a leech pattern a wise old fly fisher taught me. 

This is my dace again, and Sarah was working on an artsy shot for me.  What do you think?

Okay everyone, tomorrow is the BIG announcement.  So stop in, in the evening and there will be exciting news.  Until then enjoy the pictures and if there are any streamer patterns you can not leave home without what are they?

-Bruce

Short Hike on a Sunny Day

So today after lunch I decided to see how the snow melt was going, and it is going well.  The sun was out in full force today.  The temp was in the mid 40's and I am sick of sitting in the house. So I had my wife drop me off at one of my favorite trail heads, and I spent two hours trying to find hard snow to walk on.  The soft snow was still between mid shin and knee deep, but I did not care anymore, I needed to get out of the house.  The walk took me along a stream that I was told has native and wild trout in it.  So this walk was part fresh air and part scouting mission.  My camera is worthless at this point and a new one will most likely be a late spring to early summer investment.  For now I am going back to my phone as a camera it does well enough as long as I keep it clean (it was not clean today so the shot is not great, oh and the sun was making for a tough picture). 

Bright sun makes for a hard picture but I did not care this was too nice to pass up

Well Spring is coming, but there is still a good 15 inches to deal with in some areas.  Maybe I will head to PA and do some fishing soon.  I am very ready to get out on the water again.   On a side note, I have not mentioned this yet, but I won a fly box in a give away last week.  So thanks to the Foul Hook blog for the new box and when it comes I will take pictures and try to fill it.  I already have an idea of what flies I want to put in it. 


Okay it is late and the new work schedule has me up a quarter of 4 and out the door by 4:30 am.  Do not forget about Sunday's big announcement. 


-Bruce