Summer Summary

This has been an interesting summer for fishing. The weather was mostly wet and mild, with most of us agreeing that August was the only true month of summer. I think June actually had more than 20 days of rain.

The Farmington was either too high or too muddy to fish at various times, so I started exploring various lakes in the area, and developed an appreciation for kayak fishing for pan fish and bass, mostly with poppers.

I was able to take the kayak out after work to a local lake and spend a couple of hours fishing the grassy banks. Fishing with poppers falls somewhere between a dry fly and a streamer. You cast, let it sit for a few seconds and then move it a couple of inches, let it sit, and so on. I was amazed that color doesn't seem to really matter, but poppers with rubber legs were preferred. I want to learn about hairbugs next.

Bluegills, crappie, pumpkinseeds are fun and easy enough to catch, but hooking a bass of 12" or more is the only thing that compares to catching a trout. The hook up is sometimes explosive, and they love to run in the other direction. Bass are beautiful fish and after studying them I can say they are built to be eating machines. Large mouths and short bodies that allow them to maneuver quickly.

Over the summer I learned how to outfit and flyfish from my sit-in kayak. It now has a Scotty's rod holder and cleats for holding a drag anchor. Instead of a vest, I place all of my equipment (flies, leader, tippet, nippers, pliers) in a clear plastic box which sits underneath my legs. A simple and spartan operation.

I also had a couple of notable trips. The first was Troutfest, held in May in Townsend, TN. It was my first time fishing in the Smoky Mountains, National Park. The fist are wild and easily spooked, but I'll definitely go back.

The second was a September day on the Housatonic. It is larger than the Farmington, but the water was clear on the day I went. Caught 5 nice rainbows on a stonefly nymph in less than an hour. Can't beat that.

As I watch the last of the leaves fall on the wet grass and prepare for tonight's Halloween activities, I realize that there are still a few good days left before I'll need to put on the neoprene waders and gloves.

Naugy Part II

3/28/09- Went back today to fish the lower Naugy. Water levels were normal, it was almost 60 degrees and the sun was out. Still didn't shake the skunk, but saw a couple of guys catching fish. New rod works great for nymphs, streamers, and dries.

Right Time, Wrong Place

3/22/09 - Decided to try out the new rod on the Naugatuck, which sounded interesting because I had never fished there before. Loaded up the gear for the first true outing of the year. It was cold and overcast, but we were determined.

We fished for a couple of hours above the bridge, but no luck. We surmised that the Naugy had not been stocked yet. We walked back to our cars when we were approached by an older gentlemen. Apparently the fish truck had not made it north of the bridge, and all the fish were dumped downstream. Folks on the lower river had been catching fish all day! Oh well, so much for timing.

The Build

I was looking for a winter project when I found that the Salmon River Anglers Association was offering a fly rod building class. A few weeks before I had spent an afternoon with the SRAA during their Flies and Pies event, so I knew that this was a good group of guys dedicated to fly fishing and the Salmon River.

I had been looking at a course in the Catskills that was $1,350, so the $25 course fee seemed like a real bargain. Andy Manchester, the course instructor, is well known as a craftsman and rod builder extraordinaire. Best of all, the course was one night per week and would be finished by the end of March. My friend Paul was interested in the course as well, so we were able to carpool.

Before the class I chose the rod that I wanted to build - a 3-piece, 10 ft., 5 wt. I was looking for a good nymphing rod, and the 10 ft. rods seemed to be popular according to local fly fishers.

Andy sent me a link to a rod builders web site, and together we chose the components: a dark green rod blank, cork grip, green aluminum reel seat, guides, tip top, and two colors of thread for wrapping the guides, garnet and gold (Go 'Noles!)

There was also a list of supplies we would need: sandpaper, emery boards,rubber gloves, a mask, razor blades, small scissors, a reading lamp, masking tape and small brushes for applying epoxy. Andy provided a mandrel, practice thread, 2 burnishing tools, a rod holder, and 3 books on rod building. It sounds like a lot, but most of it fit in a shoe box sized plastic container.

In the first class we learned how to find the spine of the rod, which determines where the guides are to be placed. We also began to practice wrapping guides, which takes much time and effort. We needed to do 10 wraps before the first class. I did at least twice that, cutting away some wraps that didn't look good.

In the second class Andy examined our wraps and showed us how to epoxy the reel seat and cork grip to the blank. He encouraged us to continue our wrapping.

Update 3/28/09 - Over the next few weeks I wrapped the snake guides, ferrules and hook keeper. I applied 3 coats of color lock to the threads, followed by 2 coats of epoxy. Twice I tried to make a rod turner out of a converted can opener; both times resulted in burned up can openers. I finally went on Ebay and found a rod turning kit for $20. Done.

By mid-March I was done with my rod, and since I had some additional time before the class ended, I stripped my bamboo rod and put on new guides. Fun, but not as fun as the graphite rod.
Now I am adding accent wraps to a rod that we will donate to Casting for Recovery.

Took the new rod out on the next two trips to the Naugatuck that I'm about to describe, but so far no luck.

Somtimes it's just for the kids!

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