A Few Shots of the Lake

On my way out in the evening. The "witching hour" when it comes to bass and poppers

                                                                                                                                                             

A new family of Common Loons

Another Smallie Photo

Ive been going through some of my photos and found this one. I like these kind of shots. Check out the eye!!! It looks a little annoyed. Ha Ha

Evening Dry Fly

I have been so busy as of late I haven't had time to do much fishing. BUT Friday was such a beautiful evening I just couldnt resist. The day was really really warm and I just knew there would be a good evening hatch and I was right. The hatch of olives started at about 9:30 and lasted until dark. I really do just live for those days out when everything is just right!!!
                                                                      

Nothing better than fishing a good evening hatch of flies!!!

 

Reward--- A chunky grayling taken on a #14 Ducks Dun

Poppers+Bass=FUN!!!!

Heres a few fishing photos from my trip. I caught some very nice bass on the surface. I didnt bother using any streamer or sunk patterns at all. Its so exciting catching them on the top I just couldnt be bothered fishing anything else. I would rather catch one on the surface than 5 under. You can zoom all of the photos by clicking on them.

Mark( a local) and I took the quads and canoe back into a lake far off the beaten path. Ended up with a few nice smallies. This was the biggest of the day. It pulled like a tow truck. Great to have a whole lake to yourself!!

Got a few Largemouth this year. This was the first of the trip

This was the biggest Largemouth of the trip. What a gob on them. This took a number 4 Booglebug popper

Another shot of the one above.Getting into "Tank" range

More Wildlife

I know these have nothing to do with rodbuilding but remember the rods we build are after all made so we can get out in the great outdoors and experience all of this great stuff.

A rattlesnake-- native to the province of Ontario. Endangered yet folk still kill them.
The rattle sounds more like your getting a text on your mobile. It was mock striking as well as I was taking photos.

No possible way you can buy this I don't care how rich you are.

Fishing Trip and Photos

Well I am back after a 10 hour flight delay in Toronto. I was supposed to leave at 7:30PM and didn't get out of there until 4:30 the next morning. I could have fished that evening bite but didn't want to think about that too much. It was great to get away. Up at 6ish every morning pour some coffee and out to the dock/boat with the fly rod. As a rodbuilder its great to get out and use the tools you have made. After all this is what its all about. I seen loads of wildlife and Ill start with that. I'll get the fishing photos sorted out and post them shortly.

Make sure to click on the photos to enlarge them then click again to zoom them in!!!

Seen a black shape in the distance while fishing and curiosity got the better of me. Ended up getting really close to this yearling moose swimming across the lake. As I got the boat beside him he really started trucking. Notice the loons in the background

Finally across

A nice 8 point Whitetail was watching us as we nosed in for a closer look. Notice his rack is still in velvet.

Caught a snapping turtle on the dock eating some fish.

He didn't want to stick around but I held him against his will for a shot. Man they are strong. I could tell he didn't like it from the hissing and jaw snapping.

More to come shortly!!!

Basic Guide Wrapping

I get quite a few emails with folk that have questions or are having problems with wrapping their guides. Hopefully this will help. I will spread it out over several posts as there is a lot of photos.

OK let me start by saying before you even start worrying about wrapping with thread the most important thing to keep the job as easy as possible is to properly prep your guide feet. By tapering the foot and by making the "toe" very slim the thread will have little chance of slipping off once your thread starts "walking" up the guide foot.

GUIDE PREP


You can see in this photo that at the end of the foot (where it transitions on to the blank) has very little step in it. To do this take a file and gently remove material until you get it to look like this. As you file lay it on something flat to check how much "step" it has left. This photo should help for visual reference. The time spent here is well worth it as it makes wrapping so much easier. Take your time go slow and have a light touch. No need to dig the file in hard just a nice smooth forward stroke. No need to go back and forth as the file will only cut on the forward stroke.

HOLDING THE GUIDE




Use a thin piece of masking tape to hold your guide down on the blank prior to wrapping. If it wont sit nice and flat take it off and touch the bottom of the guide with a file. You want it to sit flat. Now there is no need to wrap the tape all the way around the blank. This only makes it more difficult to get off while wrapping. You will see what I mean later!!

MAKING A SHOULDER



Next take a full width of masking tape and wrap it around the blank twice where you want your wrap to start. The length of the wrap is up to you as it will be your rod. By doing this you will create a shoulder for the thread to sit against to get a nice square edge. It also makes a dam if you like so you can pack the thread against it. I find that this is the easiest for beginners.






THE WRAPPING



Now the meat of it. OK my for wrapping setup the thread comes from behind the blank so bring the thead over the blank against the shoulder then wrap it in open turns to your right hand side 3 or 4 times. If you want you can put a temporary peice of tape on this tag to keep it tight or hold it with your left hand putting mild pressure by pulling towards you at all times. Dont let it go.



While still pulling with your left hand use your right index finger to gently nudge the thread over creating an "X". As you make this "X" rotate your blank so it traps the thread underneath. This is why it is important to not let it go with your left hand which is holding the tag end. If you do the blank will tend to spin within the wrap.



Make a few wraps and use your thumnail or in this case a tool to gently push the thread against your shoulder made of tape.



Make 4-5 turns again using your right index finger to guide the thread over your tag end and so it lays against each other and does not criss cross. If you look at the photo there are 5 wraps all laying next to each other. You can release the pressure with your left hand and cut the tag. The thread is trapped now and wont fly off.