Moved to myleakywaders.wordpress.com

Just a reminder that the blog has been switched over to MyLeakyWaders.wordpress.com

It has been a great switch for me, though, I'm sure I lost many of you :)

Hope everyone is having a great spring!

- David

removing a thorn in my side

Something has been bothering me about blogger. I can't post from my phone. I used to easily be able to use the app on my phone to post pictures etc, but it hasn't been supported by iOS for some time. As such, I'm planning on jumping ship.

I've been using wordpress for a blog for my music and this has been very user friendly. Instagram is already vying for my attention and competing and with the blog so I'd like to remove any hurdles keeping me from the blog which has been running since 2008, I believe.


So, I'm currently in the process of transferring my posts to a wordpress site ..... MyLeakyWaders.wordpress.com


It will take some time to make it look like home. I really is like moving. You'll see boxes needing to be unpacked for some time and some things may not work for a while. I'm still inviting you over for pizza if you can ignore the mess. It is hard to leave blogger, but it is time. It's no longer doing it for me.

New water, new friends, new camera

With a sudden opening in my schedule, my habit of storing my fishing gear in the car paid off. Instaagram again gets a nod for connecting fly fishers. I connected with @hotdishflyfish recently and shot him a message. His work schedule usually results in free days/mornings, so we met for a couple hours on his local stream.

The water was new to me. It had plenty approachable holes and runs, but the clarity was a little too clear. Even with the overcast skies, the fish were jumpy. I managed a few flashes and finally landed a standard driftless brown.

Hot Dish spend the morning casting his Blue Halo with a nymphing rig. He had a few takes that were not sticks but nothing to hand. That was fine by him. Dry hands are warms hands in the winter.

We have a warm spell coming through. That should bring the trout out to feed especially as the snow melt leads to turbid waters.

On another note, I finally gave in and bought a camera other than my phone. We will see how it goes. I've always enjoyed taking pictures, so I think the Sony a6000 will do well for me. If not, you may see it re-listed on ebay :)

Winter Season Begins Jan 1st/8th

I found time to get out twice in the early winter season. The first day was a shot at some new water. There is so much water between Minnesota and Wisconsin. I've found some great streams, but it is really fun to try new things from time to time. In fact, in general, I prefer to fish a new stream than fish the same stream twice (unless it is a new section).


So, for my first day out in 2017, I found a new section on a this phenomenal trout map. I don't know who made it for Minnesota, but it is awesome. I love it. I'm hoping someone will make it for Wisconsin.


The section I fished had easement access but it was really hard to find so I stopped at someone's house to ask for directions. They were very helpful and said I could fish anywhere I liked. Score!


The stream has only a mile of publicly fishable land that had work done on it back in the 80s. A beaver did some work on it this last summer, but that is another story I'm sure.

Anyway, after finding the easement, I hiked my way down to the stream and found myself facing a phenomenal run and pool.

There was a nice undercut near the run so I threw a streamer through the run and caught a healthy driftless brown on my first cast. It is one of those sparsely spotted browns with good olive and gold color. It amazes me how variable these fish can look.

 

I got a new Patagonia hip pack.  I love it. I'm a hip pack person for sure.

I fished down stream until I came to a long, slow, deep section. I started hoping over a few muskrat or beaver dens and quickly saw when the section is so deep.

A broad, sturdy dam was doing its job. I wonder how that affects the fish population in that part of the stream. Darker water. Deeper water. Bigger fish?

 

On my way back out, I hit a few spots I a spooked earlier and manages a gorgeous native brookie. There is something special about the native brookie. Sure they don't get as big as the big browns, but, man, I really love them.

 

It was a great way to finish a first day out on the water in 2017. My next outing would prove to be a bit tougher as far as fishing is concerned.




We recently had a bit of a cold snap in Wisconsin, as such finding open water was more of a task. I hoped a favorite stretch would be open, but it was much harder than I thought. I should have searched for a sunnier stretch of water. So all in all, no fish came to hand.

I threw streamers because I'm not that confident in my nymphing technique or skill.

 

You can see how sparse the pockets of water were at times. It made for a gorgeous day. At times, I was able to simply walk across slow runs because the ice was nice and thick.

 

A couple amazing finds were this frozen hawk. I think it is a Nrothern Goshawk, but if any of you know can identify it as another type, let me know! I looked closely, but left the bird to the wild.

It was surprisingly light weight for its size. I suppose that's the deal when you are a bird.

I also found this big buck. I presume is a hunter's lost harvest. a gorgeous rack, just squeaking out that 9th point.

By the time I got back to the car, I decided to leave the waders on for the drive home. My gators were frozen to my laces. My feet were warm though.

Once we have a slight warm up, the water will get a slight stain and the fish will get hungry. The bite will turn on again!

Early Adventures in Fly Fishing for Musky

It is pretty awesome when you move outside your fishing bubble and meet new people. You never know what you might learn. For instance, I learned I have a wadable stream not to far from where I live that supports a healthy musky population. I also learned how to tie articulated flies (which, by the way, big brown trout also seem to like). 

The musky season in Wisconsin runs May through December. I didn't start my search until the last days of November. The last couple outings were in snowy cold weather. 

I essentially spent time looking for dark water. Deep pools where big musky might be waiting to ambush unsuspecting prey. 

Lots of bushwhacking and exploration over several short trips yielded no follows or fish seen. 

Dead Dear Run is one of my favorite spots on this new found stream. Named as such for obvious reasons. 

Lots of frozen guides and cold fingers until finally... finally...

I caught my first musky on the fly. He took it right at my feet. It was so fun to watch. No too big. Maybe a little over 25' (though, naturally, he gets bigger every time I tell the story).

Big hunks of meat for these big toothy fish. 

Here is @normalicious showing off his o'pros dragonfly rod holder. they are handy in certain situations. I like when standing in a stream and tying on a new fly. Sometimes line get's caught up in it, but in general, it is a nifty too to add to the arsenal. easy stocking stuffer too. 

The New Guitar Strap

I just got my early Christmas present. A custom guitar strap from Lenny Kenny leather. Here's hoping this inspires as much music as there is snow falling down outside our home. 

Kristian Matsson's Guitar Strap

I am envious of Kristian Matsson's (aka Tallest Man on Earth)

guitar strap in addition to his musical skills.

He has been know to collaborate with Rolf Nylinder. I would love to fish with these guys. Rolf has a few videos showcasing Matsson HERE. So good.

Edit:

I figured out who makes these. It is Linny Kenny out of New Hampshire. Her stuff is amazing.

Meant to post this about a month ago. The post after this will show the result of this new find.

Rest Easy, Friday Night: Vol 19: David Nash (ME!). County 9 - My Third Album

If you are looking for some new music, especially some to make the new Bon Iver album sound a little better, check out my new CD. You can listen on Spotify or get it on iTunes.

There are only 8 tracks, but I feel it is a good album considering my amateur status. Honestly, it is better than the first two.

So this fall/winter, when you are sitting down with your favorite cold or warm beverage and searching for inspiration while staring at the naked hook clamped in your vise, try playing this CD in the background. If nothing else, you won't be sitting in silence.

 

Click HERE for a link to iTunes

Click HERE to listen to "Fertile Ground" on Youtube

One last outing this season. For real this time.

Last Saturday, I got in two more hours before season ended in Minnesota's East Coast/Wisconsin's West Coast.

Courtney, @SculpinArmy, and hopscotched our away from run to run, pool to pool and tree stump to tree stump.

The overcast skies and mild weather were comfortable conditions for swinging large flies made of buck tails and rabbit strips.

We found plenty of easer smaller trout. Nothing spectacular, but fun. I was getting ready to announce, "You know, it is just great to get out one more time.  It doesn't matter if we catch any big ones..."

photo credit: Courtney Morris, @SculpinArmy



photo credit: Courtney Morris, @SculpinArmy



And that's when I had a nice take. I was throwing an articulated streamer tied by Courtney. Light in color, fast in action.

19 inches of browned butter sauce and black peppercorn. 

photo credit: Courtney Morris, @SculpinArmy



photo credit: Courtney Morris, @SculpinArmy



Now that is how you end a season of fishing in the Driftless Area.



photo credit: Courtney Morris, @SculpinArmy



One last outing before season ends

I met up with a new friend, Sculpinarmy on instagram, and we went to explore some new local water. We got great weather and so hungry browns. 

The first frost of the year laced the trees. As it melted, it seemed to rain down on us even though the skies were cloudless. 

We threw streamers into deep pools and enticed quite a few healthy upper teens browns out of the shadows to attack our flies. Few landed but great fun all the same. 

Any photo in this post with me in it was taken by Sculpinarmy. Check him out on instagram. He catches big driftless browns and takes great photos. 

On another note, the blogger app seems to be malfunctioning on the iPad and iPhone. I can't add anything but photos. My computer isn't working well so it is making editing this a bit tricky. Hope the formatting works okay. 

On the Stream, Work Attire and All

I had a long break this afternoon so I took an hour to explore the closest stream to the office. 15 minutes from my door I have fishable water. That is pretty darn awesome.

The stream I fished is called Johns Coulee and is a tributary of a larger area stream. There are plenty of small pools that could hold fish. There are also plenty of trees as the entire section is wooded. However at the right time of year one can easily find reasonable casting room at the pools. I fished this section of the stream because I thought the headwaters were likely to be back to normal water levels. We had almost 5 inches of rain and some areas with up to 10 inches last week. The water level looked good however I think most of the fish were pushed out of their pools with the high flow. 

It was clear the water had been out several feet at one time. I think this is an important stream for reproducing fish and as a fish refuge because of its consistently cool temperatures (58 degrees today) and good coverage. However I can't imagine one having a productive afternoon fishing Johns coulee  Creek. It is a pretty stream.

It was great to be out on a cool early fall day. Great sun and strong brisk wind.  

The biggest problem I have now is picking the burrs out of my dress socks.