Life isn't about sex.
Life is about fishing
and passion.
And spirit.
It's about love.
It's about people.
It's about connection.
It's not about
this Rusty Trombone
and dirty Sanchez.
Just relax...
A couple caddis nymph patterns featuring Super UV dub, now available for purchase at the online store.
Products of the rusty Super UV dub. My best dubbing yet, this blend rolls on the thread like butter and dubs a smooth body, ironic for being such a buggy and coarse blend. This dubbing is a delight to spin.
Caveat Emptor: it has proven extremely difficult to capture the sheer beauty of the composite blend of fibers and its luminescence under light on camera.
The roughfisher sends his thanks to all the vets out there who have defended this great nation. All gave some, some gave all.
Another wet fall. Flows on the Otter Tail are three times the normal for this time of year, and the highest they've ever been on this date for the Red. Nothing like fishing spring flows in the fall. I showed up at one of my tail water spots only to find one of the gates open. Bad news. There's no way you'd catch a carp out of those whitewater flows. I gave the run a few drifts and ended up taking a digger, breaking my fall on my rod and wrist. I somehow managed to keep my rod from falling into the abyss but did not save the graphite from a few nasty scratches on the rocks. It'll still fish, but I also ended up with a dirty gash to the wrist. No pain, no gain.
I had zero visibility in the foam, and it was even worse further downstream. This is utter bullshit. I recall only one week out of the entire year where flows were normal, and the day I fished it the Corps raised flows that morning. This high dirty water sure gets old. My guess is that things won't improve anytime soon and these flows may become the new norm.
You have to be willing to spill some blood to run with the buffalo.
I fished a Tobacco Caddis and blindly fished a current seam. The water was so high I was all out of sorts and had some difficulty making structure. Fish were not holding where I thought they would be in the heavy current and it totally caught me off guard when I had resistance on the line. I didn't have enough line stripped in and had to manually set the hook by grabbing my line up high, fumbling around to get that line on the reel as fast as I could. I saw a pretty healthy wake and knew I didn't want to lose this fish. I gave myself plenty of chance to fail, but somehow pieced it together. Thankfully, the cold water temps (near 40°F) kept the fish docile and my incompetence at the rod luckily didn't alert the fish that it was hooked. The one thing about cold water buffalo is that they don't fight as robustly as they do in the summer. To my fortune, the fish stayed out of the heavy current and I was able to play it to shore without incident.
That was a solid fish. It's in the top five fish of the season and is a serious contender for number one overall. An oil tanker. I fished that heavy seam and hooked up with a trout sized carp. It smoked my fly. The fish torpedoed around breaking the surface a few times just like a rainbow. I stripped the fish in by hand (a rare occurrence for carp), chuckling that the fish was really a trout trapped in a carp's body.
Same fly, same current seam. Another Sea Donkey. This fish was longer and broader than the first buffalo. I had difficulty landing it in my under-equipped net. I scoped over the Brave, noting the battle scars to the cheeks and tattered dorsal fin. This old warrior has seen his share of battles. I struggled to bring the fish to hand, the brute strength poised in its muscles nearly overcame me. Pride aside, I raised the fish in salute of the seal of slime he adorned his victor with.
The spirit of the warrior shines on.
Finally got around to grinding up some of the goodies I've picked up over the past month. I've got a nagging chest cold that's just been a bitch; it's had me so laid up I don't even think of wanting to get out fishing. That just ain't right.
The materials layout. Like my mentor Singlebarbed, I like to work with a composite of colors to compose a blend in a particular shade. I was shooting for rust and began with a cocktail of fibers and colors. There were four different shades of brown, rust, black, orange, red, two types of angelina, copper twinkle trim, and some kitty fur. Should make for some killer crawdaddy bodies.
I also mixed up an ectoplasm green for those nasty caddis bombs I call nymphs. I added some green antron and a different shaded green of acrylic, three types of angelina, pearl twinkle trim, and kitty fur. Almost looks like my phlegm. 
Now If I can only muster up enough mojo to get over to the vise... *cough*
One of the best things to come out of Quebec besides Guy LaFleur and the Montreal Canadiens, poutine is the food of Gods. This Québécois staple is a comfort food well received across the great white north and points south of the border, better known as french fries and gravy stateside.
Poutine is an easy DIY meal that can cure that case of cabin fever or that lingering cold. Perfect for making yourself a bowl and settling in to catch the evening's hockey match up. Start with 6-8 medium sized russets and scrub thoroughly. Slice into 1/4" to 3/8" strips depending on your preferred thickness. Immediately rinse and soak the cut fries in an ice bath, to prevent sugar conversion and darkening of the fries. Many of us up north are fortunate enough to be able to run our tap water on cold at around 39°F year round. Let the fries soak for at least an hour occasionally changing the water. This is a good time to heat the fryer to 325°F with any preferred oil. This is also a good time to get started on the gravy. Any type of gravy will do, that is the beauty of this dish there are so many possibilities. Many folks prefer chicken gravy but I prefer a darker gravy, a brown gravy often beef, veal preferred. I'm a gravy whore so I typically make about a quart and simmer it in on the stove while I'm cooking up the fries. Adding savory items like shallots to the gravy can help with the blossom of flavor. 
The secret to crispy fries is double frying them. Fry the first round for 5-6 minutes and let dry on a cooling rack. Bump up the heat to 375°F and cook the second round another 5-6 minutes or until browned. Fries will float to the top of the oil when done. Drain fries and add to a bowl. Top with cheese curds and copious amounts of gravy. Cheddar curds are tasty, but hook yo'self up with some jalapeño or pepperjack cheese and you're tastebuds will thank you. Garnish with some fresh parsley, dry will work in a pinch. Bacon if you dare. Serves two.
Nom, nom!
© 2006-2009 Roughfisher Fly Fishing LLC
