In between Fridays’ dinner out, friends over for one football game on Saturday followed by heading out to watch my game, shopping for the week and an impromptu (and much needed) trip to the river I managed to squeeze in 21 dozen flies of which fully half were articulated. It was quite a lot of time at the desk to say the least, but it is now the time of year that requires that time investment when water time is not on the books so that when trips are scheduled they can be fully enjoyed. With me on the road the next few weekends this was work that needed to be knocked out.
This weekends work consisted of a starter set of streamers to send out to a new account in CO, flies for two books, some mice for carnivorous Alaskan rainbows, and a whole pile of buggers for a guide buddy that simply has no time to tie. As well as a few stragglers to be knocked out!
At some point around dinner on Sunday the wife came in and made mention of how stressed and/or tired I looked. I agreed that it had been a long few days and I really wanted to get to a river for a quick spell to which she replied “Well why don’t you go now?”. With almost no debate I decided that was a great course of action and threw a few flies in my Vedavoo wallet as I skated out the door.
I decided on heading to a favorite carp spot as it is off the beaten path a bit and may not have seen much pressure on this holiday weekend. I rolled down the road, enjoying a fine Honduran puro cigar, and I realized that I had not fished that stretch in the evening in a number of years. I had been fishing it at first light so I was not sure exactly what to expect. As I rolled up the river laid out before me and I struggled to keep myself from hurrying, trying just to relax.
There are a few hundred yards of some nice riffles and pools to navigate before getting to the first of the usual ‘carp spots’ so I decided to throw on a weightless streamer to start. I flicked my fly out at the base of the first riffle and then started to pull line of for my first cast. With the line pooled at my knees I went to haul the fly out of the water for the first cast and was met with some resistance….fish on the board before really even casting! Instantly all the pressure and time tables melted away and I proceeded to get in to a dozen strong smallies between 12-16” as I worked my way upriver. I never did spot or spook a carp so I ended up just fishing that streamer close to the surface for 90 minutes or so until the sun dipped below the trees and I made my way back.
I am excited about the coming weekends as I will be spending both in Michigan and on the water. This coming weekend I will be downstate in Ypsilanti at Schultz Outfitters for Castapalooza and Streamer Sunday. During Castapalooza I will be wandering around some and also intend to fish the Huron for a bit and see what I can turn up. I will be out of there in plenty of time to get a good seat for the Michigan game against ND that evening! Sunday will be a blast as there will be tying workshops and dmeos held throughout the day from some of the top streamer guys out there today. I believe that there are still a few spots for the workshops so call up to the shop if you are interested in attending one.
The following weekend I will be making a long run north after work on Friday to meet up with Ethan Winchester from Boyne Outfitters. We have a crazy intenerary of throwing streamers all day on Saturday and then gearing back up for an night of mousing. Hope to have some great pictures from both weekends to share here!
-mike schmidt
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