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…and this time I made it!

A quick update first, and I mean quick as I am sitting in the library busy working away for another exam. I was over in Breckenridge, CO for a bit of skiing and socialising over the New Year period, I then had the hard drive in my laptop pack up and stop working but that is now fixed, and now I am back to a couple of exams once again. This brief, meaningless update will have to do for now, but I hope you like my first attempt at a timelapse using my new GoPro Hero2…

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I haven’t made a post in a while mainly due to being stuck studying and sitting exams and having little time for anything else. Finally I can say they are all over, I have a bit more time and can finally start writing again.

Some things have happened since my last post which might be of interest… the GoPro HD Hero2 camera I spoke about has been purchased so some pretty radical fishing fishing and skiing videos should be coming shortly.

I got up skiing for opening weekend at Nevis Range, great snow for the time of year. I don’t have many photos from the day as the light was a bit flat but here is one or two of the trip. The snow cover up on the mountain was fantastic for early season, some absolutely great skiing once I shook off the summer legs.

That leads nicely into my next point; ski trip to Colorado departing on the 30th Dec for 11 days. Going to be a blast, got a good few friends out there I’m going to visit – you know who you are! Looking forward to it big time, will try and get some good footage on the new camera!

And last but not least Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!

All the best for 2012, see you on the other side so to speak.

Scott

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The whole of Scotland has turned cold and going by the live traffic cams from around the country it is snowing everywhere. Here’s a quick snap from my house about an hour ago:

It’s coming down a good bit heavier now and probably going to mean some fun in the morning. If I didn’t have exams this week I’d be taking the skis for a hike up the local hills! Judging by the weather radar, the ski resorts are getting a fair whack of snow…. ah can’t wait to get out on the snow again and shred the mountain, it’s been too long!

Here’s the revised photo this morning, a good bit more fell overnight:

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I’m meant to be studying for exams right now which means two things, I am doing a small bit of study, not as much as I should be and I am browsing the internet more than ever. Internet usage and exam periods have a direct relationship I am sure, maybe I’ll research that and write a thesis on it! As you can imagine I haven’t been out fishing, the weather has been awful anyway, and I haven’t been out casting so you will have to settle with some amazing timelapses I have found on the internet.

Whilst searching for various examples of video quality of a few cameras I am looking at, I stumbled across the work of Terje Sorgjerd aka TSO Photography on vimeo. His work is simply stunning, the most impressive collection of timelapse videos I have ever seen.

Without further a do here is one example and a link to his vimeo page.

The Aurora from TSO Photography on Vimeo.

This is his Aurora timelapse but the others are also mind blowing, especially “The Mountain” – check them out and enjoy!

I have been looking for a couple of new cameras to make some new movies with and at first I was totally swung by the head cam option, and especially since the GoPro HD Hero2 has been released, what an amazing, indestructible wee piece of kit. The video on the GoPro website looks amazing but a better test is looking at the various videos uploaded to youtube and vimeo by users. The biggest difference I have noticed is the editing work and the size of the upload files, many are just uploading heavily compressed files instead of uploading massive files and screwing their internet connection. Every so often though you come across some home movies with real high quality – which reassures of the cameras potential. I liked this one:

Well that covers the underwater, point of view, skiing, general risky situation shots so now for something to create a bit of cinematic effect. The Canon EOS 550D is looking like a good choice, it’s a bit of an older model now so heavily discounted but still packs a punch. I also have a couple of older Canon lenses lying around that could be used with it, another big plus. I was looking at DSLRs a while ago so maybe I’ll take the plunge and just get one, if I do be prepared for some killer movies once I get the hang of it!

Next season’s plans are up in the air at the moment, a lot to think of and a lot of saving to do but currently in the thought process is USA, NZ and Australia, possibly more. That’s a lot of fishing. But before then there is a full ski season to concentrate on, the snow should be here anytime soon, in fact the Mountain Weather Information Service are forecasting a metre of snow over the Western highlands so Glencoe and Nevis could be in for a seriously good dump making the prospects of opening within a fortnight a real possibility… wax up those skis! I’ll leave you with two pictures from February 2010, the first looking at Chancer in the back corries at Nevis, amazing run that day, drop in off the cornice just to the right of the sun, you can see one skiier on it – heaven!

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I was asked if I would write a post on pike fly fishing tackle so here it is! I haven’t been at the pike fly fishing game long at all but the experience of casting very large, bulky flies and hooking into pike lets you in on the secrets pretty quickly.

At first I thought I would be able to happily use one of my #6 weight rods, a Sage TCX, which as you probably know is a very stiff, powerful rod. I thought it would cope with pike no problem… wrong. Well, not entirely wrong, it is fine for small jacks and casting smaller flies but that is where the biggest limitation comes in – the flies themselves. I can upline it, stick an #8 weight line on it, even a #9 weight line and it works but it really slows down the recovery speed of the rod and makes casting size 4/0 bunny patterns a bit of a pain. But hey, if you only have a #6 weight and you’re only going to cast small flies for small jacks on a local canal then by all means give it a go! You will be outgunned for bigger fish though, bear the welfare of the fish in mind at all times.

I was told by a few well respected anglers that I should be looking at an #8, #9 or #10 weight, something beefy that will handle 20lb+ fish if you come across them, which on my local waters is a distinct possibility, and will handle heavy lines to chuck big air-resistance flies. They were right. I use a 9’ #9 weight rod and it is a far better tool for the job both in handling the flies and the fish. Which rod is up to you, pick one that you have tried and get on well with, whether that is a softer or stiffer rod is your prerogative. You should also note that pike are going to give a fair bit more of a pull than your typical sized trout which is definitely part of the appeal, so take the right rod with you.

Ok, onto the line – this is probably the most important bit of kit as it will make or break your setup in terms of casting. Get something with a heavy loaded front taper, you need the weight up front to turn over the large flies. If you imagine a typical trout taper as having most of the weight in the middle to rear of the head with the line tapering out thinner towards the tip for delicate presentation, we want the opposite. We want a short front taper that is heavily front weighted. Anything designed specifically for pike fishing or throwing salt water flies will probably be a good bet. A line weight to match your rod should suffice, but don’t be afraid to overline if you feel you need a bit more weight. I use a floating line or an intermediate most of the time and use both full lines and integrated shooting heads depending on circumstance, have a play around with different setups and see what you like best. The shooting head is easier to cast further but it’s not as delicate. In simple terms that is the trade-off. I’m currently using John Norris Big Fly lines in floating and intermediate models for my full lines and a Rio Outbound for my integreated shooting heads. The Outbounds make casting big flies so easy! The John Norris lines present exceptional value for money for what you get in my opinion.

Now onto the leader make up. There are some pretty cool products on the market ranging from hard mono, a very stiff monofilament, to knotable wire, to non-kink titanium wire. Again this is a personal decision and you should probably experiment. I have used hard mono and haven’t had a problem but my preferred setup was one detailed by Dougie on Fly Forums. From the link you can see it is a fluorocarbon leader joined to American fishing wire single strand 40lb titanium attached to a fastach clip. I’ve had very positive experiences casting and fishing with these. No kinks at all and very strong. The clip also makes changing flies a doddle and they will never accidentally open.

The last thing to remember is take a pair of long nosed forceps with you. Pike have large mouths; even the small ones and they have an intimidating number of teeth lying in wait to shred your fingers if you get them too close. It’ll also aid you in removing the hook as fast as possible and returning the fish to the water, oh yeah… last thing – fish barbless. It’s better for the fish and you’re a cooler fly fisher for it!

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Let me set the scene to start with. Imagine leaving the house before 7am in pitch darkness, the air filled with dense fog and a heavy frost on the ground. You plan to fish a venue that you have never fished before but have instructions from a friend so you are confident you know roughly where you are going. Arriving at your destination after a slower paced drive than normal you are greeted by two young deer prancing across the road. You park up, tackle up and start following the directions. When you arrive near the water the water level is very high, well above the bank and in the fields, there are trees in the water, the mist is so dense you cannot make out much of anything, there is an eerie silence about the place and then it happens, the first fish of the day is spooked and all of your senses hone in, your heart gives a few thumps and your inner fish bum instinct kicks in.

Ok, I realise that is a departure from my normal writing style but that morning was magical, it was so wonderfully eerie, hopefully the following pictures will help convey that.

The first spooked fish was a smally, nothing to worry about but a great sign all the same. There were a few fish crashing about on the surface, difficult to say if they were pike or not as there’s a few other inhabitants in this particular water. One thing I can say for certain is that the water was freezing! I started off covering the water with a white and chartreuse split bunny pattern with no success. After a short time Craig joined me and we meticulously fished the bay. Nothing seemed to be doing, a few fly changes, a lot of areas covered and nothing. It took until about midday before we came across a fish when Craig hooked into a nice Jack that fell to a yellow deceiver. Here’s a short video of the fish, be sure to play it in HD.

 

That was Craig 1-0 up and something had to be done about that! Craig and I were working in opposite directions along the bank away from each other and not long after I had one have a couple grabs at my fly but it didn’t stick, got the adrenalin rushing again though! Presumably a Jack that missed the hook, could even have been a perch for all I know.

After covering a bit more water, I finally hooked into a spritely jack that gave a good account of itself. It was a white bunny pattern with a burnt orangey/browny/reddy marabou collar. Result! Fish on the bank and the score level at one a piece.

We decided to head back to the cars not long after this but on the way back Craig decided to try and outdo the 1-1 scoreline and upped the anti to 1.1-1. He found a piece of a pike! The full lower jaw was found in two pieces, a seriously impressive set of gnashers.

And that raps up this weekend’s fishing excitement. It was great to finally fish this water, one I’ve been looking at for a while and one that definitely warrants some time being spent on it. Hard to beat that for quality fly fishing after wild species in the winter outside the trout season! The weather is starting to get really cold though so it might soon be time to switch over to chasing Grayling instead.

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It’s been a while since I put up a fly tying post so I thought I’d rectify that tonight! Unfortunately not my ties, although I’m definitely going to give them a shot. After I write this I’m going to finish my flies for the Sexyloops board swap and perhaps tie up a few pike streamers.

The flies here are from Jay Zimmerman in the United States.

So without further-a-do I present the:

Clown Show Caddis

Banksia Bug

Iceman Midge

I hope you like these flies as much as I do and give them a shot!

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I’m currently couped up in the library with my head buried in a book, no wait, I’ve been distracted and I’m writing on the blog! You have to break up the monotony of study every so often or you would definitely drive yourself insane.

It’s a busy time for me at the moment; exams, study, casting lessons, planning next year – it’s all happening. Aside from my time in the library I’m currently planning some travels for next year hopefully with copious amounts of freshwater and salt water fly fishing chucked in for good measure. In fact, there definitely will be, enough said.

All I have done fishing related in the last week is given a fly casting lesson. I have noticed something in particular over the past few lessons with people and that is most are far too critical of themselves. The hardest thing for a beginner is knowing when they’ve done something right and instead they think it is all the same and get down about it. Amazing how something so simple has a massive effect on the quality of their casting after you boost their morale.

Anyway to try and spice up this post considering I have no fishing pictures, I thought I would pinch a few from friends. So without further a do here are some of Jack’s photos and some of Trev’s I’m not sure if Trev’s facebook album is public or not, I hope it is so you can see the pics! If not you’ll have to settle with Jack’s…. I’m hoping I could be back on the river with him in a year, fingers crossed.

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It is a wee while away yet but there’s a great sounding fly fishing event happening in Germany next year….. the 7th International Experience the World of Fly Fishing 2012. The organisers have been very proactive over the recent past in creating a fly fishing app. I don’t know too many details about the number of fly fishing apps in the world markets but I can’t imagine there being many so this is exciting! Even more exciting is that the odd one of two of my articles have been used in the material for the app! (A shameless plug, I know )

Here is what the organisers have to say about the event which is shaping up to be a great show already:

7th International Experience the World of Fly Fishing 2012 (EWF)

Europe’s largest event with well-known equipment manufacturers, publishers, tour operators, authors, fly tyers, casting professionals and fly fishing schools as well as a special programme show-casing many aspects of fly fishing, such as:

over 90 renowned exhibitors from home and abroad

single and two-handed casting shows by international professionals and instructors

fly tying demonstrations with international professionals

2 large casting pools for learning and trying out

casting programmes specifically for women and beginners in fly fishing

supervised fly tying and casting programme for children and young people

casting clinic for single and two-handed casting

travel presentations on the fly fishing world

general lectures about fly fishing

5th Open German Championship in Fly Tying

Venue/directions:

Event Forum Fürstenfeld,
Fürstenfeld Monastery,
D-82256 Fürstenfeldbruck, near Munich

(sufficient free parking at venue)

Date: 21 and 22 April 2012

Opening hours: Sat 9:00am to 6:00pm, Sun 9:00am to 5:00pm

Admission: Adults € 13.00, 2-day ticket € 23.00, children under 15 years free

Continuously updated programme and exhibitors’ information at:

www.experience-world-flyfishing.com

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Well since my last post, which was two weeks ago, I hadn’t had a fly rod in my hand until yesterday – making it an entire month without the rod. I think that is a record for me, usually it’s a few days tops! I gave a lesson on friday afternoon and seeing as the weather was alright, which for the way it has being going, is a bloody top notch forecast. I made the decision to get out fishing after the lesson for the hour and a half before dark, pike was the target.

I tackled up and set to work working the fly around all the various features trying to tempt one of the toothy beasts from its lair. About 20 minutes in and one had indeed decided to attracted from its den and gave my fly good thump, evidently thinking that was enough to get me excited then let me down without bothering to hook itself. It chose not to stick. That was the end of the action. The canal has been kicking my arse with the pike fishing, one follow and two takes for no fish landed is the result after 5 or 6 sessions – when will they stick?!

Today was a bit different again – it was my annual outing with my uncle on one of his fishing club’s days. We were fishing the Lake of Menteith which I’ll be the first to admit is not my cup of tea given it’s a stocked fishery but it was a good day out and some wild fish were certainly caught…. dropping some hints here!

The light was crap all day, this photo was taken just before midday and whilst the exposure was set a bit lower than normal it still shows what it was like. Excuse the wonky horizon!

The fishing was slow for the morning session, my uncle had nothing and I managed one small jack pike.

The afternoon session brought better fortunes, with much calmer water and some rising fish. Quite a lot in fact but they weren’t particularly interested in anything. I went on the small scale but they must have been feeding on micro-emergers! I managed a nice rainbow of just below 4lb – yes I know it’s a stocked fish, and the picture doesn’t do it justice but its the best conditioned farmed fish I’ve seen. It was fully finned, gorgeous colouration and fought like something possessed. It’s moment of glory came when my uncle netted it, it decided it wasn’t having it and leapt straight vertically a couple feet out the water managing to escape – at least the hook held!

The day ended with a lovely wee perch for me. My first ever perch and on the fly too – I was stoked.

I was never a coarse fisherman before getting into fly fishing so haven’t done the whole worm and float thing for perch. It was a welcomed addition to my species list. A great day out with a pike, trout and perch completing a wee grand slam.