Desk time and trip dreaming

Lately it has been a lot of time at the desk knocking out orders and day dreaming.  The orders are getting done but it is hard to keep the mind from wandering as the now annual pilgrammage out to Wyoming is just over a week out!  Here are a few shots of my favorite tank brown that came out and sharked a big hopper pattern mid-day last year.  Just nine days until I am packed and back on the road, but in the meantime I will be working the vise until it is hot...

-mike schmidt
www.anglerschoiceflies.com

On the Bay with Kestner

A few weeks ago I got a call from an old friend that he had a cancellation during prime time and wondered if I could make it up to northern Michigan to hit some water with him....I of course jumped on it and made plans for a suicide run this weekend.

I have known Jon Kestner since he was at the Troutsman in Traverse City but had not been able to hang out with him since he was one of the guides in Alaska when I was there a couple summers back.  Jon has been on the fishing scene and a guide in northern Michigan for three decades, so when I got the call I was all about getting up there to chase some fish around and lerna few things.  After getting off work on Friday I hit the road and arrived at Jon's house south of the bay under a super moon.  We hung out and had a couple beers before turning in for the night.  We were not too worried about getting an early start since the forecast looked like there would be some gnarly storms coming early and then a window late morning through the afternoon.  I did my best to sleep knowing it would be a long day on the bay chasing smallies.

After a few cups of coffee to wipe out the cobwebs we checked the weather and found that the forecast had not changed...storms on the way.  We quickly got the boat in on East Grand Traverse Bay and took a short run to our first flat.  We knew that the front was coming and figured worst case scenario we were close and could make the run back in short order if it really got hairy.   Somehow the wind shifted a few times and the bad storms split around us so we just got some serious fog for the first few hours of the day.

The fog made the site fishing tough going, but Jon had us in fish.  The man was a wizard and had half a dozen fish in the boat before my eyes adjusted to be able to see the areas he was telling me to target and got in to a fish myself.  I was relearning to see all over again as if it was my first time on a salt flat...it was amazing how well everything blends together!  This chunky four pounder about what I could expect all day along with shots at bigger fish. 

Here is another fish that Jon brought in that was about in the same range.  The day before John had a client out and landed many over five pounds including one that boga'd over seven! 

I was in streamer heaven.  Based on water depth I was switching back and forth between sinking and floating lines, as well as weighted or unweighted flies, to dial in the presentation.  Early on the visibility was bad so we went with very light colored flies so that we could track them in the water.  Some of the time the take was viscious and unmistakeable, but others it was so light that it was nearly undetectable and only the light fly disappearing in the darkness was that clue that there was a fish on and it was time to set the hook.

About the time that we settled in close to shore to grill up lunch the cloud cover mostly burned off and it really turned in to a beautiful day.  We had an expertly grilled lunch of chicken, broccoli, nd garlic bread before geting back after it.

With the sun out we could really targe fish much better and found some really agressive fish to play with.  This particular fish chased my streamer without committing half a dozen times before Jon mixed it up and threw in a permit crab he had tied up that just happened to look like a crayfish.  The fish could not resist that snack and pummeled it.

That was a mistake on the fishes part as Jon drove the business end home.  After a quick few shots back in he went.  We spent the day cruising East Bay and getting in to fish, it was awesome.  We did not get in to any of the monster smallies that were around but did see a few that made my heart flutter as they edged away from us just out of casting range.  There is a reason that Kevin VanDam named this one of the top ten smallie fisheries in the country...it was awesome.

Tough to beat a sunny day on the water in northern Michigan!  If it has been like this all day instead of just a few hours in the afternoon I can only imagine what we could have done.  As it was we fished nearly blind much of the day and still landed a few dozen fish around the four pound mark along with some smaller guys that beat them to the food.  If you are looking to get out on the water in Northern Michigan then Jon is a great way to go.  Check out his services at the 'Jon's Guide Service' website or shoot him an email at kestnerflyishing.com to book it up.  Smallies, trout, salmon, steelhead...you can't go wrong!

-mike schmidt
www.anglerschoiceflies.com

Serious optics upgrade at ACF

For a long time now I have been shooting all of my shots with point and shoot cameras; first a Sony Cybershot and then a Canon G10. The G10 has ben a phenomenal camera and a reliable tool for shooting at the house and on the water, especially when paired up with the scuba case.  While they did the trick adequately there were always shots I just could not get so I have been dreaming of the day I could upgrade to a full DSLR, and that day has come.  I had been keeping my eye out for a good deal on the Canon 7D as it is a great camera and finally found a kit including the body, a 28-135mm lens, and a 70-300mm lens.  They are kit lenses but for the time being will be great as I get back in to the game and regain my camera savvy that I had accrued leading up to my BFA from Dayton.   I also sprung for a serious top end L glass lens, the f2.8 IS 100mm, and it is bad ass!  As I play with the lens and get more comfortable I will be posting more shots and plan on some pretty cool ones to come this summer.

The other benefit of the Canon 7D body is that it shoots video in full HD, so the option to produce more video step by steps is now on the table.  I plan to put a few up here and there as well as put together a collection of them on DVD at some point, perhaps by this winter.  With that being the case I will need to know what people really want to see so if you have a pattern you think is a must reply to this post and let me know.  If I choose your fly for the first video then I will tie a few of it up as I am getting ready to shoot the video and send them off to you. What could be easier!?!?

Here are a few shots I took with the 100mm the last few days:

I hope to hear from some of you with your fly suggestion for coming video step bystep!

-mike schmidt
www.anglerschoiceflies.com

Southern Swing Recap

Finally was dragged back kicking and screaming from an awesome couple weeks down south in Florida.  It took a few days to decompress from decompressing…now comes digging out of the pile of work that built up while I was gone.   It was a few weeks spent hanging out, first with the wife and then the second week with friends, and with no agenda or schedule.  I posted a few shots on other spots during the stay but figure a brief recap is in order here as I get back in the swing.

After driving through the night to get to New Smyrna Beach, the wife and I pulled in to town and spent the first day down there getting any small errands done, relaxing, and letting people know we made it.  The next morning we were up bright and early and off to meet up with Tim Baker from East Coast Paddle to pick up the custom boards that we had ordered.  I wanted mine for playing in flatwater and fishing while the wife wanted hers for yoga, so we ordered up the stable flatwater boards from ECP to accommodate those target uses.  The wait was well worth it as the boards came out amazing.   Mine specifically is the ’Slab’ model which comes in at 11’x35”x4.75” and was ordered up in custom wood airbrushing and black pads.  With 16 leash cups I have plenty of tie downs to go on any expedition I would ever care to take…or just use the ones for the cooler and day-tripping.

 I did get out with my good friend Mike Mann to chase fish around twice while I was down there.  The first day I had more shots than most trips I have taken but was met with the typically snooty attitude of Mosquito Lagoon fish.  After I got the morning jitters out by landing the fly on a few backs I settled in and made solid shots but they would simply swim away as if they had not a care in the world and ignored us.  Bottom of the ninth I switched up and did get a nice fish to hand. 

Long and lean with lots of spots..13 or 14 spots actually!

The second day out with Mike the pickings were slim and we have a nice bed of fluffy white clouds to put some gnarly glare on the water as an extra challenge.  No tails up so most fish were practically at the rod tip before we spotted them and going was tough.  As we worked our way in to one large basin we started to hear some heavy thunder coming from off in the distance…well south towards Titusville but close enough to keep an eye on.  As the front came in the tails went up and we had a few shots at doubles that either line spooked or felt the boat, then we saw the mother-load…a double with a half dozen fish 20’ past them.  We worked our way in to position and I could feel myself tightening up as the storm was to the point that I knew this was it before leaving the water early for the day.  As it turns out the double was actually two fish with tails up and another between us so my cast was a bit close for that fish and it swam off and put the other two down.  Not happy about that but it was not the end of the world since the other pod of half a dozen good tails was still happily working the bottom.  With the last put down fresh in my head I was a little shy about the casting so I started well out from the group and worked each cast closer in to avoid another unseen blowout.  On the seventh or eighth presentation I gave the fly a little hop twitch and watched the tails get excited, then after a second twitch one moved through the group and I came tight.  Then all hell broke loose as the fish took off and in a matter of seconds had taken all the fly line and 150 yards or so of backing.  After a good fight that thick fish was in hand with a Borski cornered in it's mouth, and boga’d just over the 8lb mark.  

A few pictures later it went back in the water and the celebratory beers came out.  I am not a Corona guy, but that beer tasted phenomenal!  With a few high fives as the beers went down we continued to scan for tails but the storm was on us and wrapping around the west side as well so it was time to head back early.If you are looking to get out on Mosquito Lagoon I cannot recommen Mike Mann's Fat Fish Guide Service highly enough...give him a call and book it up at 386.295.5991. 

Not one to stay out all day in the sun I retreated to Peanuts each afternoon adn got in a little Buzztime quiz game.  Some local wins, national rankings, and a perfect game were had.  Love to learn a bit while having some tasty brew!

We were worried that nobody had seen our Gopher Tortoises since some construction took out an area that they used to feed in next to the condos, but the day before we left one of the little guys made an appearance so they must still be around!

Paddleboard yoga was fun for the group as well.  Some had been out on them before but for some this was the first time on a paddleboard but they still threw down on some poses…my contribution was taking pictures.

Back to reality now though and working through orders that had been on hold.  Also hope to take advantage of the warm water fishing that has been on fire here in Ohio while I was gone.  Going to be in town now for the next few months so there should be more regular updates around here again...and hopefully some good local fish shots along with the flies!

-mike schmidt

www.anglerschoiceflies.com 

ACF Step By Step: Junk Yard Dog

I have had people asking about this fly for a few months now and have not been able to get the time set aside to compete a step by step for it, but a few weeks ago that changed and I was able to get the shots.  This is a large weightless fly that is best fished on a full sinking line, and has a great swimming motion especially when retrieved with short and hard stopping strips.  Tie some up and have at it!

Thread:	UTC140 denier, brown
Hook1:	Gamakatsu SP11 3L3H size 1
Hook2:	Gamakatsu B10S size 2/0
Tail:	Marabou, tan
Body1:	Polar chenille, UV Copper
Body2:	Marabou, tan
Body3:	Arctic Fox tail, rusty brown
Body4:	Arctic Fox tail, dark tan
Head:	Senyo Laser Dub, Dark Tan
Eyes:	8mm Clear Cure Dumbbell eyes, steel
Connect:	Beadalon, 19 strand .018"

STEP 1:  With your Gamakatsu SP11 3L3H size 1 in the vise get your thread started and wrapped to about mid-shank.  Secure a single marabou feather hanging off the back of the hook approximately one shank length.  Clip the excess about an eigth of an inch behind the eye and bind the feather to the top of the hook shank.  End with your thread at the rear of the shank, with your thread hanging down halfwy betweenthe hook point and the barb..

STEP 2:  At the rear tie in point, located above the midway point between the hook point and the barb, tie in the Polar Chenille then wrap your thread forward nearly to the eye.  Palmer the Polar Chenille forward taking care not to bind any of the pieces to the shank.  Once behind the eye then secure the material with a few tight wraps of thred then clip the excess.

STEP 3:  The next step will be to make a marabou veil over the back hook.   Prepare the marabou feather by coming down from the tip and trimming  out the top by clipping the center stem at the point where the fibers are long enough to reach past the Polar Chenille once wrapped around the shank.

STEP 4:  To form the veil I hold the marabou on top far side of the hook shank, using your left hand to hold lightly you push down the far side of the shank with your index finger to start the feather around the shank.  Come over the top of the shank with a loose wrap of thread and then tighten straight down with the thread and use the thread tension to pull the marabou up the close side of the shank.  The result is that you spin the marabou similar to how you would spin deer hair.  Once the marabou is all the way around the hook shank then you can carefully trim the butt sections behind the eye and make a few wraps over them, advancing your thread to just behind the eye of the hook.

STEP 5:  The last material on the rear hook will be a topping of Arctic Fox tail.  Take a pinch of Arctic Fox Tail and tie it in with the tips hanging out over the eye of the hook.

STEP 6:  Use your thumb to reverse the Arctic Fox Tail back over the rear hook and then bind it down on top of the shank with a half dozen wraps or so in a tidy bullet head.  Whip finish over those wraps and the back hook is complete.

STEP 7:  To connect the rear hook to the front hook you will use a 4" piece of 19 strand .018" Beadalon with a few beads to close the gap.  Place your B10S size 2/0 in the vise and then secure the back hook with tightly wrapped crossing wraps of thread up and down the shank of the hook.  Make sure that the loop is vertical in the back once bound down so that the rear hook will have unimpeeded movement.

STEP 8:  Wrap the thread forward about one third of the hook shank and there we will add the marabou for the mid-body section.  Take two fluffy marabou feathers and hold them on top of the hook shank, then use the thread tension to help spin them to encircle the shank (similar to how you formed the veail on the rear hook).  Once spun around the shank then make a few security wraps before trimming the excess, then wrap over the butt sections.  If you prefer, an alternative method is to tie in a feather on to of the shank and one underneath.

STEP 9:  The eye on the JYD is an 8mm Clear Cure Dumbbell eye in the steel color.  Figure eight in a set of the eyes on the underside of the hook shank.  The front edge of the dumbbell eyes should be just back of the eye of the hook.

STEP 10:  To give the front hook the bulk to make the fly push water but still be light, we will hollow tie a fox tail collar.  At about mid shank you will take the lighter color Arctic Fox Tail and spin it around the hook shank, with the tips out over the eyes.  Once spun in place then work your thread through and make a few wraps at the base of the hair, then advance your thread about to the rear of the dumbbell eyes.

STEP 11:  Just behind the eyes spin in a second darker color of Arctic Fox Tail, hollow tied as in the last step.  The butt sections of the second color should be tied in over the top of the hair from the first stack, and will help to hold the hair back as a collar.

STEP 12:  To create the head of the fly we will clump tie in four stacks of dark tan Senyo Laser Dub.  To prep the materiaal for each step you will separate and stack the Laser Dub so that the fibers all line up in the same general direction and are about the same length. For each stack you will tie in the Laser Dub with two or three tight wraps directly on top of each other, then pull the material back out of the way and secure with two wraps at the base of the material. You will tie in one stack on top of the hook shank just behind the eyes, then one on the bottom of the shank.  Then tie in a stack on the bottom of the shank in front of the eyes and finish with one more stack on top of the shank in front of the eyes.  Pull all the Laser Dub back out of the way and whip finish right at the eye of the hook.

STEP 13:  To finish the head of the fly we will make two cuts.  Pull the Laser Dub vertical on top of the hook shank and make one cut from the eye of the hook on a upward angle from the eye of the hook to just above the dumbbell eyes, and then make the final cut from the eye of the hook on a downward angle just below those eyes.  The result is a wide wedge-cut head that will push a bunch of water and make the fly move like crazy when stripped.

-mike schmidt
www.anglerschoiceflies.com

4/20 TCO Streamer workshop

My final tying event of the season came and went last weekend, it was a long awaited streamer workshop for TCO Fly Shop in State College PA.  After work on Friday I hit the road headed east to crash at George Daniel's place.  Upon arrival we hung out for a bit and talked some fishing before hitting the sack.  Despite the serious rain they had gotten that day we were going to try and hit some water in the morning. 

We awoke to near freezing conditions and just about everything but Big Fishing Creek blown out...and even that was pretty gnarly water.  We got out for an hour after breakfast and despite the conditions enjoyed the crisp morning.  Lots of casting and no fish willing to play.

After getting changed we headed about 15 miles up the road to the bed and breakfast where the class was to be held.  We had a good group of guys and covered four patterns as well as some rigging and tactics while we tied.  It was a fun class and the guys kept me on my toes with a lot of questions as we worked our way through two patterns before lunch and then two after.  Hopefully the guys learned a few things and will be tying up some more streamers to hit the water soon!

Afterwards I met up with Lenny Gliwa and headed back out to the river...which was still pretty blown.  We gave it a shot and after a few hours I finally hooked up with a mid-teens fish that performed an expert lond distance release after aabout ten seconds...and that was the only fish I would feel. 

That night was an absolute blast with a bunch of the local guides coming over to Georges for some dinner after which we had cocktails and BSd long in to the night.  Lots of stories were told...almost none of which I could repeat to my mother.  It was awesome!  I finished off the trip with below freezing conditions on the water with George on Sunday morning.  We gave it a shot at three different stretches but to no avail.  I thouroughly enjoyed hanging out with George and the guys, and seeing some new water.  I will definitely be back to hit that water again in more favorable conditions!

Sorry for the short and sweet report but I am working on getting caught back up on orders and am exhausted.  Keep your eyes out here as in the next day or two I plan to post a new step by step which peope have been asking for over hte last few months.

-mike schmidt

www.anglerschoiceflies.com 

ACF office rebuild complete

For some time now I have been making due with the space that I had to produce the flies for myself and all the Anglers Choice Flies orders.  As I sat at the old desk I devised a layout in my head that would allow for a more economical use of space.  this weekend I decided to head out and pick up the supplies to make that design come to life.  Here are some shots from the build.

 

-mike schmidt
www.anglerschoiceflies.com