Family and flies

It has been a crazy busy year and December has been no different. Worked extra time last week so that I could make it up to Detroit for my family Chrsitmas with the wife, brothers families, and Momma ACF.  This year we got up there and hung out with the nephews until bedtime on Friday then relaxed with a cocktail as we planned out Saturday.  Saturday started off with a fantastic breakfast and then we were off to the Detroit Zoo.  It has been quite a while since I have been there and one of the new exhibits is the polar bear and seal  enclosure with it's underwater area...really amazing.  As we walked up one polar bear was playing around in the water but by the time we got down underneath he had left the water.  We did get to hang out for a bit dow there though with the seals swimming laps around us.  I think that this time of year is perfect for the Detroit Zoo as there was absolutley no crowd anywhere vs the standard shoulder to shoulder we would have had to deal with a few months ago. 

One unexpected guest we had was the two-toed sloth in the rainforest exhibit.  This particular exhibit is a large enclosure with a plank path, but nothing separating you from the forest critters.  As we made our way through looking at freshwater rays, tortises, and birds there was suddenly a wide eyed look from my sister in-law as two dagger like claws slowly appeared no much more than a foot behind my wifes head.  She noticed the look and immeadiately sidestepped away before turning around to see the sloth hanging out where she had been standing and getting ready to munch down some leaves.  It was pretty cool to be that close to it and we were told that it is extremely rare that he comes out during the day as he is very shy. 

We did of course have to get the standard prarie dog shot!  It was a fun day and even more fun night as we spoiled the nephews with some pretty cool toys then spent the night playing with them.  It was great to spend the time with the family and just enjoy being together as it does not happen very often.  Sunday morning it was up and back on the road headed south to get back to work.

One shot I recieved from last week was this Cotton Candy eating brown from Steve Dally out on the White River in Arkansas.  They have been after the fish out there and reaping the rewards.  That river has an amazing number of large streamer eating browns and we are just now getting to the time of year where the streamer fishing will be sick for the next four months or so.  Definitely worth the trip out if you can get there!

A few of Tommy Lynch's Drunk and Disorderlies for the box.  Can't wait to get back out with these funky streamers and make them do the shuck and jive for some monster browns!

A fun order last week was for a local angler that loves to fish the Mallard Minnow.  His daughter in-law contacted me as she was unable to find them anywhere and heard that I may be able to help, and a few days later they were ready to go.  Flies tend to go in cycles and this is one soft hackle streamer that fell out of favor to the point that fly companies stopped producing them seven years ago or so.  It is a solid pattern that will produce fish and easy to tie.  Start with a 4XL streamer hook, wrap down a dozen or so wraps of lead, then secure a mallard flank to either side of the shank and finish with a smooth head.  I hit the heads on these with Clear Cure Goo Hydro to make sure they were glossy finished heads and no chance that a fish tooth takes them apart.  I do believe he will be surprised for Christmas and happy to have enough mallard minnows to keep him in fish for quite a while.

A few Voodoos headed to the south to see about a fish.

This is about a normal load each morning for this time of year.  Off to the Post Office they went with postage already taken care of as there is no way you will get me to deal with those lines!  More flies being knocked out this week to get out and looking forward to relaxing with my fabulous wife for Christmas.  Catch you all soon!

-mike schmidt

www.anglerschoiceflies.com

Seven inches of Shut Yo' Mouth!

Last few flies to be tied and shipped north before I head south to Florida for a few days are a set of custom seven inch Voodoo Squatch. This is the Cotton Candy color that has proven itself to be very effective tied in the Voodoo pattern with 3/4" eyes. This is a man fly to be sure! Can't wait to see what these monsters coax out of the deep; perhaps a 30" brown.... We shall see.

-mike schmidt
http://www.anglerschoiceflies.com/

Fishing with Strolis

The second part of the weeklong ACF fishapalooza began last Thursday when I took off at lunch and headed over to the airport to pick up a good buddy Rich Strolis, of Catching Shadows, fresh off his flight out from CT. Rich is a great guy and seemingly guides more than he gets out to fish himself, so I really wanted us to have some success while showing him my central Ohio playground. After a quick stop by the house to drop off some gear and pick up other gear we took off to hit the Mad and chase some browns around. Our target area was a stretch I have not fished in a bit so it was fun to see how it has changed. True to her nickname of 'the Maddening River' she gave up her bites sparingly, but I was able to 'Mufas-ize' an 18" and a 16" fish. We moved a number of other fish with a few that hooked up and then decided they'd had enough and spit the hook. I do believe I will fish her again soon...

After a quick bite and a few Guiness we hit the sack knowing that our wake up call would come early the next day. As the alarm went off I was already eyes open and ready to go. Based on river levels and a few phone calls we decided to head up to the Vermillion to start off the day. We got there to see pretty clear water that was just a bit off color and enough fish around to play with. We walked a long stretch hoping to be able to swing a few flies, though we carried indi rods as well. The highlight of the morning was Rich hooking up on the swing to a big bright fish that took a hard tug and a few rolls before slicing his line for a quick getaway.

The oddity of the morning was a double landed fish. I nymphed through a run and burried my fly deep in the mouth of a drop back male. That guy was having nothing to do with my forceps in his mouth trying to get the fly...a few flops and he popped my line and took off with the fly still in. No big deal I figured as the fish was pretty beat up and not really picture material anyway despite being pretty girthy. About ten minutes later Rich yelled up 'Fish On' so I headed down to help out and found that he had his egg buried right next to my fly! Both flies removed, along with a third, from the mouth of this active dude and away he went.

Lunchtime hit and we took off to head east across the Alley. We stopped at my favorite river and found that it was super low and gin clear, but we decided to take a stroll anyway as it is so scenic. We did see a few fish but there was no getting near them, and the few spots in that stretch with nice dark slots were already manned upon our arrival. Wonder how wet wading in jeans worked out for that one family...brrrr... We finished off the evening with a long walk swinging flies on Conneaut before turning in for the night.

Saturday morning saw us hitting Elk despite the weather...which was ridiculous. We got there to find gin clear water, but the wind was starting to pick up. We kicked up a few fish here and there as we worked our way up river and marvelled and how gorgeous the area was. Long story short the wind was a steady 35mph and gusting to 50mph which meant that any attempt to mend and the wind would blow your whole rig upstream. The trees coming down all around us was a bit unnerving to say the least! At one point we heard a massive crash up around the bend and within minutes the river went to total chocolate for a half hour or so. Twice we had trees come down within about 25 yards of where we had just been so we were both a bit on edge. When the wind calmed down the rain picked up and within a few hours the river was visibly rising and the runs were chocolate milk so we called it a day.

I had a blast hanging out and fishing with Rich for a few days. Preliminary plans are in the works for a trip out east to chase some fish around...

Also had a few good shots emailed over to me from some of my customers that are getting in to solid Michigan browns on ACF flies. Here are a few that took a Cotton Candy Double Deceiver, Red Rocket, and Voodoo Squatch. Thanks for the pictures guys, glad you are hammering on some fish!

-mike schmidt>
www.anglerschoiceflies.com

The boys are back in town...White River fish porn!

There are a lot of ACF streamers probing the White River this year. Just back in town from what seems to have been a pretty solid trip is the crew from northern Michigan's 'Streamside Custom Rod and Guide Service' (http://www.michiganstreamside.com/). Kelly, Erik, and Adam headed out and made it through some hellish driving conditions to basically make it straight to the river and get the party started. Targetting the big fish was the game, and these guys were swinging for the fences throwing big streamers.



Erik with a 26 inch White River brown that devoured a 6 inch glow in the dark Double Deceiver.

Same 26 inch fish fish down in the water. Thick!

Adam holding up a brown that went for a custom 7 inch Double Deceiver that was basically in brown trout colors, but had a bit of orange in it.

Kelly with a brown that went 'nom nom nom' on a Fin Clip.

Erik holding up a slab male sporting an 8 inch Cotton Candy Rainbow in it's maw.

To say I am jealous of this trip is not necessary...I think that goes without saying. By all accounts the White River is an amazing fishery, and is high on my list of must do trips in the short term. Glad the guys had a good time despite the weather and looking forward to catching up with them up on the Au Sable this spring.

I posted these and a few other shots on the ACF Photography page.

-mike schmidt

http://www.anglerschoiceflies.com/