Happy new year beer!

De-lish!

Wish list for 2011

The crew at OBN has a point. With the new year approaching, it is worth while thinking about what I would like to accomplish this year with regard to my fishing pursuits. As such, I have come up with a list of ten things I am looking forward to .... tackling... *ah-thankyou*... during 2011.

So here is THE OUTDOOR LIST:

1. Truly understand the spey verses one-handed debate.

2. Fly fish Minnesota's Driftless area.

3. Fly fish during an explosive hatch.

4. Be more like Phil Dunfee: "I'm a cool dad, that's my thang. I'm hip, I surf the web, I text. LOL: laugh out loud, OMG: oh my god, WTF: why the face."

5. Tie flies to match a hatch.

6. Blog 2 poems per month (minimum).

7. Organize/create my tying bench.

8. Take better pictures of my fishing outings.

9. During intern year, when I have a chance to fish, spend that time with my wife instead. Not every time, but at least once :) Sorry, Sara.

10. No matter where I match for residency, find some local fishing.

Here's to a good year, Phil.

Heart of Gold

He doesn't start playing until about 1:40 in, so be patient.

I'm heading out to buy some new gear. Harvesting the fruits of Christmas. Don't worry, my waders will always be leaking.

Luckier than ever. 12/27/10

Good evening, little one.

Thank you for being all that you are.

Your long hair

And creative contributions

Inspire me in all aspects of my life.

Just to sit here

As you, in adult-sized footsies,

Organize jewelry,

I feel luckier than ever.

- dln

Holy Perch!

My brother caught the biggest perch I've ever seen while ice fishing
in Minnesota. I think we can thank catch and release for this hog. Super awesome.

one more post :)

Great video I found on Bottomhand.com. The best way to find happiness and satisfaction is to turn what you love into your job.

Here you go! Click and watch the video called "preOccupations."

Last post before Christmas! Caddis Pupa!

As I continue to learn about fly tying, I realize how the process parallels other things I have learned in the past. I grew up playing ice hockey (goalie) in Minnesota, and as you develop your style, you tend to emulate your play after players you look up to. For me it was a teammate one year ahead of me who is playing professional hockey still and Patrick Roy. By copying their style, I developed a platform of skills and techniques that would eventually allow me to grow into my own style. The same pattern of events occurred when I learned to play guitar. I had some artist I liked and I tried to learn their songs. After a while, I began to write my own using the strumming patterns and chords I had picked up.

With regard to fly tying, I've been watching Youtube videos and searching other fly fishing blogs. One blog I really like is http://www.winonaflyfactory.com/. I really enjoy WFF's tying, photography, insights, and presentation of his posts. For instance, a great thought he had in a previous post was that, in order to get a better understanding of how your fly will look in the water after you tie it, throw it on some tippet in a glass of water. He astutely stated how easy it is to overlook that part. We are so focused on how it looks as we tie it, but dubbing looks quite different when wet.

Anyway, today I used WFF as my tying guide. He has been working on his caddis pupa presentation and tying. So much so that it inspired me to tie a few. I made three attempts. Two with bead heads, one without. One was using a skinnier (0.5mm diameter) clear tubing/thread for wrapping. This gave it more of a grub appearance.

Well, enjoy the snapshot. I used a cork from a wine bottle to hold the flies and this worked nicely. Have a happy holiday weekend!

Why Fish?

Why Fish? 12-22-10

A bond forms when walking a stream.

Whether you study its fluid dynamics,

The aquatic fauna and flora,

Or simply enjoy the company,

The line connects the rod holder

To a ballet of scales and invertebrates.

_________

Rhythmically paddling back and forth,

Stationary at the seams of faster currents,

Patiently waiting for the optimal meal

Until a passing morsel

Drifts closer.

_________

Sitting on the trunk of my little black car

Emptying my sieve-like waders

And breaking down my gear,

I feel complete after a day of fishing.

I am the rod, the line, the fly, the water,

And the fish.

- david

Look who's organized!

A fellow Cornhusker Fly Fisher tipped me off to these boxes for
keeping your tying hooks organized. It is a bead or craft box made by Craftmates with a
locking mechanism for each hatch and rounded bottoms so it is easier
to grab the hooks. I taped labels to the lids and threw away all the
crappy bags I kept my hooks in. Score!

Total cost of box? $3.99 at Hobby Lobby

Oh, we've come sooo far...

Ladies and Gentlemen (mom and dad), I am proud to tell you I am now listed among the many superb blogs on the Outdoor Blogger Network. It is a great collaboration of those of us who are striving to shore our outdoor passions. I'm excited to continue looking through the pages on the website and encourage you to do the same! They have more than just fly fishing blogs. They have hunting, fishing, outdoor sports, photography, boating, ecology, etc. Enjoy!

1st Cornhusker Fly Fishers' tying session

It was a good first session for me. I tied some basic flies. Nothing difficult, but while focussing on technique, I noticed they were a bit sloppier at first. So as you go from left to right in the picture, the flies get progressively a little better.

Things I came away with:

1. getting much better tying on dubbing.

2. realized the importance of wrapping hackle feathers consistently fly to fly.

3. judging hackle feather size appropriate for fly.

4. I learned how to reattach my muffler to my car with iron wire.

I tied 5 "Soft Hacks Flies."

- 3 size 14, 2 size 12

- olive/green dubbing

- partridge hackle

and... 1 "black fur ant"

- size 12

- black dubbing

- saddle hackle

a few photos from this year...

1. Dad with a nice crappie last winter.

2. Steve (in picture) and I heading out Muskie fishing. No pictures of fish. No fish caught.

3. Fishing with friends in Northern Minnesota. Neither of those people are me :).

4. Northern Minnesota lake. Don't remember the name. Evening fishing with freinds.

Wildfire Poly Caddis and Modified CDC Emerger

Wildfire Poly Caddis:
-Size 14 hook
-Zeeba Dubbing (our cat)
-"Homespun" Yarn: color Wild Fire
-70 Denier Black Ultra Thread







Modified CDC Emerger:
-Size 16 emerger hook
-Tail: Mallrd Flank Feather
-Red ultra wire (didn't have white)
-Some leftover black thread
-Zeeba Dubbing
-Wings: I don't know what the feather I used is called
-Head was finished off with a little more dubbing and then tied off

* I'm calling it modified because I didn't have the proper colors or wing materials. It called for CDC Puff feathers.

** Woo Hoo!

It's worth a try, right?

http://www.youdontknowtrout.com/

Odds of winning this contest? Probably at most 1:500,000.

Would it be sweet to win? Hell yes.

White elephant gift!

To follow up on the Cornhusker Fly Fishers group post yesterday, it
just so happened it was the group's annual Christmas party. I was able
to join the group (in spite of bad weather) and meet several of the
members. We were supposed to bring a white elephant gift for less than
$10. I brought some liner wading socks and below is the gift I got in
return. It is a leather bound fly case. It looks like it is rather old
but has not been used ever. It is great! Excellent start to the group.
We are meeting again on Saturday to tie.

This is going to be fun.

Walking Beside a Creek by Ted Kooser

Walking Beside a Creek by Ted Kooser



Walking beside a creek
in December, the black ice
windy with leaves,
you can feel the great joy
of the trees, their coats
thrown open like drunken men,
the lifeblood thudding
in their tight, wet boots.


*this is from a daily email I get called "The Writer's Almanac." Garrison Keillor picks the poems of the day and mentions notable events in the day's history.

Spectacular. Hell or High Water.

I've found a new outlet...

So I stopped by Omaha's only fly shop, which is in Cabela's. There I met Bill, the guy who was working the fly shop. We chatted about tying and fishing in the area and he mentioned they are having a fly tying course this Saturday the 18th.

Not only that, but he mentioned a group called Cornhusker Fly Fishers. Interesting... Their website looks like it needs maintinence. Apparently they meet at Cabela's each Thursday to tie. This could be a great opportunity to formally learn some skillz (wow, I've never used the "z" like that. I feel a little ashamed but also a little liberated).

I'll probably stop by this weekend. Maybe tomorrow night as well.

I'm such a beginner at this, in reality. I need some people to teach me. I've been fishing my whole life. I've been trout fishing off an on since I was in 5th grade. I just have never taken that leap to really get taught about fly tying and fly fishing. In fact, I think I have always been resistant to asking for help. Instead, I figure things out my self even if that means I don't know everything I should. So this will be good for me. I will be start attending this group to really learn how to be better.

On another note, today is a good day to try and write some poetry. Let's give it a shot.


Stranded.

Eastern Nebraska in the winter.
It's as much an island from
Fly fishing
As the Sahara.
The waters are slow and frozen.
The fish are hunkered down.
I either need to hunker down
And tie like a mad hatter,
Mind poisoned from the cement,
Or pick a date
And escape
To a stream with enough
Kinetic energy to
Bare its ripples and expose her fish.

Murder Mystery Fishing Stories by Victoria Houston

So I recently stumbled upon this book, "Dead Angler" by Victoria Houston. I'm in the middle of the book and it is a good read. A murder mystery that takes place in Northern Wisconsin, but with an appealing underlying theme.... fly fishing. Even if the topic is there for the novelty and, at times, it seems a little unnecessary, I'm liking it.

I like to read a many different types of books (historical, scientific, introspective, biographies, novels, and, of course, Harry Potter). My "fluff" books usually are thrillers. To be able to combine a murder mystery with fishing simply rocks.

I'm already a huge fan of the books and I haven't even finished. She has 10 books total in the "Dead ____" series. If you're board this winter, read them. The Omaha Public Library has the entire series.

http://www.victoriahouston.com/books.html

Flying out of Utah

I sitting here on the plane waiting to finally get back to Omaha after
a very long delay of flights. I have only been to Utah once and I'm
wishing this were a fishing trip. Oh well.

- David

The result

Harvesting Zeeba dubbing

Winter is here...

So as the cold rolls in, the local fishing season has all but shut down for me.

That being said, I spent some time chatting with my brother about a possible winter trip to the Big Horn out in Montana. There is a great place there, the Cottonwood Camp. They have some excellent guide services and with it being winter, there shouldn't be too much of a crowd at all.

It would be either sow bugs or midges. I think it would be an amazing experience. That being said, it is a 14hour drive from here. If I don't go in the next few weeks, the next opportunity would be in April. It would be an awesome experience either way.

Besides that, I have been tying to build up my fly box. I have been tying scuds lately and then I think I will go with midges or something else basic. I will try to post some pictures to show you the scuds. They are pretty cool because I'm using cat hair dubbing from our cat's brush and a mini snicker's wrapper for the iridescent top of the scud.

Anyway, hopefully there will be more posts to come :)