May 23, 2011

Gonzo

Image property of Third Coast Fly
And I am outta here.

Image property of Third Coast Fly
Catch the latest reports from Beaver Island at the roughfisher.com Facebook Fan Page. I'll be back in June.

May 22, 2011

A New Hope

Ephemeroptera
Been working on a restoration project over the past few days. It's a great sign of encouragement to find this guy emerging from the bottom of a ditch. This restored reach will be reconnected in July.

Ephemeroptera
Just like the good old days...

May 20, 2011

This

Image property of Third Coast Fly
Only a few days before I head out to Michigan and Beaver Island. If one of those sumo carp takes me down into the depths of Davy Jones' Locker, avenge my death.

Image property of Third Coast Fly
Image property of Third Coast Fly
Image property of Third Coast Fly
Image property of Third Coast Fly
Image property of Third Coast Fly
Eye candy courtesy of Third Coast Fly. Be sure to catch updates from the Beaver Island Media Outing over at Third Coast Fly and on the roughfisher.com Facebook Fan Page

May 16, 2011

the GreenFish movement

GreenFish
I was recently added to the GreenFish Ambassador Team, joining the likes of other industry notables like Conway Bowman, Dr. Zeb Hogan, Teeg Stouffer, Eric Wallace, Dave McCoy, and Kirk Werner to name just a few. Why should you care about GreenFish? Because they support the resource. Sustainable fishing is important to us all, regardless of if you are a commercial or recreational fisherman. Without the resource, we will have nothing to fish. GreenFish supports clean angling techniques and promotes the proper way to catch and release fish. They are pro resource, understanding that harvest can be a beneficial means towards a sustainable fishery. Better yet, through the sales of their apparel line, GreenFish donates 5% of all revenues to a select group of organizations that share their mission of protecting recreational fishing, promoting responsible fishing and rebuilding our fisheries and marine environments. GreenFish supports groups that are pro-fishing and also pro-fish. Every time you purchase one of their products, you can choose which organization you'd like to support with 5% of the purchase price through their GreenFish Gives program.

Greenfish Fly Tee
Besides, their clothes just look good!

May 11, 2011

You Can't Touch This

Blood Brothers
Blood Brothers, Wino and Blacula, borne of the same demented genius. Singlebarbed has got a great thing going with his Free Range dubbing, but I think I'll stick to what I got.

Wino
Blacula

May 10, 2011

Another one bites the dust

Every year at about this time (Read: after May 1) this is a common sight. And for what? I just don't get it.

Another dead sucker
The significance of May 1st? The opening of taking roughfish by spear, harpoon, or archery. One day we will wake up to find out that all of Earth's viable resources have wasted, spoiled, and shriveled up and died. And surely, man will be to blame.

May 7, 2011

USCARPPRO Magazine Issue #19

USCARPPRO Magazine Issue #19
Hot of the digital press, check out Issue 19. Introducing the USCARPPRO Pro Team, including yours truly.

May 4, 2011

Beaver (Fantasy) Island

Those other dudes had FIBfest, now we got ours. Sure, a week in the Bahamas chasing bones sounds appealing to most any fly fisherman. Even more jealous were the rest of us bloggers who were overlooked for the trip, attempting to stay warm within the frozen confines of home while getting fish porn updates from the white sands of South Andros. Well, through the hard work and generosity of the folks at Third Coast Fly, Indigo Guide Service, and others, they are sponsoring an event the rest of us "real" anglers all wish we could participate in over on Beaver Island in beautiful northern Lake Michigan.

Kevin Morlock, the carp warlock
In the back of my mind I always wondered if the Holy Grail of fantasy dream trips for the typical trout angler was an excursion off to the tropical flats, getting lost amidst the atolls, ghostly silhouettes, and copious amounts of fresh seafood, rum and lager. It would be hard for anyone to turn down a trip like this, even if you don't fish. But what about the roughfisherman? I like bikinis and white sandy beaches as much as the next guy, but I prefer a much more higher latitude, and a different quarry of fish. To me, the ultimate dream trip is one that holds potential for fish greater than forty pounds, bonus if they're carp. If it's in a beautiful locale, even better. Enter Beaver Island. You've got your white sand beaches, endless flats, northern latitude, bottomless supply of ales and stout, and oversized carp all right there. What more could you ask for? Oh yeah, you get to fish alongside some of the industry giants like Deeter, Romano, and Morlock, even my boy Rice-cakes will be there.

Now don't get me wrong, the folks at FIBfest looks like they had a great time, but this trip has legendary written all over it. Any self respecting carper can tell you that this is the ultimate trip that we all fantasize about. Well for once, I find myself inside the inner circle of all good things, and got the invite to participate in this year's Media Outing. Now, you guys get to drool about my carp escapades while I'm back kicking up my well worn heels, swilling from my goblet of rum and recalling all of the takes, misses, and runs from the day, in the glorious and eloquent manner that all such fly anglers recall their tales of ribaldry from the high seas.

This is the dream.

May 3, 2011

New Blood

AR-22
Fresh on the heels of reports that the US Navy Seals vanquished that bastard bin Laden, I finished my AR-22 build. Complete with Magpul furniture, big brother now has a little brother to kick around.

Brothers
AR-15 and AR-22
Just be careful son, little brother may be smaller, but he still packs quite a punch.

May 2, 2011

Scientific Anglers to the Rescue

Check out the next batch of goodies, courtesy of Scientific Anglers.

Scientific Anglers comes to the rescue
SA's leaders and tippet are always a solid combo for that crucial fly to fly line connection. Always gotta keep stocked on these essentials; you can never have enough tippet. I'm psyched to fish their new textured line series, like their Nymph/Indicator line or GPX taper. The textured lines should be a perfect marriage of the benefits of their Sharkskin lines, like less line memory, high flotation, and higher durability, meanwhile saving your hands a bit from being chaffed from line screaming off the spool from a running fish.

Of particular interest to me is the Mastery Series Coldwater Redfish line. While I'd love to be out on the salt marshes casting this line to redfish, this line will serve duty out on the carp flats. Featuring a short front taper and a half-heavy head, this line will be perfect for getting off quick shots at tailing carp. The Coldwater version of this line is perfect for environments below 70°F, featuring a soft PVC line and braided multifilament nylon core which will help with turnover in colder water. The line also features a larger diameter running line, very helpful when fishing from a boat or wading out on the flats. This might quite possibly be the perfect carp fly line. I'll have a chance to put this line to a true test later this month. More details on that to follow.