Just one of those days...

Yesterday, Monday, was one of those days that don't come along very often and which one looks forward to with excitement.  A full day, all to myself, fly fishing.  Just me, the beautiful outdoors, the sound of the river, and rainbow trout.  It was going to be cold, but that's what layers are for.  And a day to try out the Cabela's waders and wading jacket that I got for Christmas.

I left the house at about 6:45am and it was showing 23 degrees according to the trusty thermometer in my Jeep. But I knew with clear skies it would warm up, and no wind it wouldn't be too cold.  But I was a little concerned about water clarity on the Blue; with all the rain and snow over Christmas, there was a chance the water might be a little muddy.  So after a uneventful couple of hours, I arrived at the parking area and suited up to take on the fish.

Sure enough, the water wasn't very clear.  It clear for about 18 to 24 inches, so any wading more than knee deep was done purely by feel.  Not fun!  I knew fishing would be challenging, and something with some flash would be necessary.  So first an olive beadhead krystal bugger, then a pheasant tail, then back to the bugger. Nothing.  No bites, no sign of fish.  Tried a couple more spots, and added a red copper john to the mix, and nothing.

Finally I worked up river to "The Spot".  Well, it's the spot I caught fish last time, so by my logic there would be fish waiting for me again this time.  It's right below a small waterfall (only a few feet tall, like most on the Blue River), but it's maybe 100 feet wide.  Within 5 minutes with a red copper john I had a good bite but couldn't get him in.  He shook off about halfway.  At this point I was half-skunked, which is better than being full-skunked.  The water being muddy, I didn't want to wade out as far because it was purely feel as to where the next step should be and there's deep holes all throughout the river.  So I was limited on where I could cast and had a hard time getting a good drift.  And no more bites.  None.

So I decided to stand up on the waterfall and try getting a good drift from the waterfall out about 60-80 feet.  I could cover a lot of different water from up there.  The problem was the trees stuck across the water that would limit any casting.  I made my way across the river along this rock ledge, ducking under and around the trees, and from there was able to get some good drifts down river.  After 15 minutes or so, there was one more spot of water over to the left to cover, so I tried a little sidearm cast and, snag.  Too much line out on the backcast, plus tree branches equals a snag.  No problem, right?  I worked my way over to untwist the line, and trying to hold the rod straight, I could barely reach the branch, and reeaaachhh....

SNAP!

My rod tip broke.  It broke!!  My Redington 5wt Super Sport, which I love dearly, is broken.  Fishing has come to a crashing halt.  That day that doesn't come along often and which I've been looked forward to has ended in a very bad way.  Of course I didn't bother to bring my 6wt; it's sitting comfortably at home.  I just reel in all the line, walk the mile or so back to the parking area, and head home.  At least I got a few hours of fishing done, just not as many as I wanted.

Oh, and my cell phone won't take a charge from the car charger, so I can't call my wife and let her know I'm headed home early.  And I know she's probably wondering why I haven't called at all.

I get home about 4:30pm, and one of my sons is running out of the house with a few neighborhood boys and he says "Mom needs you to go get Koda".  Koda is our 5 year old full blood Chocolate Lab.  I don't think much of it until I get inside and my wife tells me that Koda is at the vet, he threw up blood that morning, and the vet is concerned about something in his intestine.  Uh-oh.  He's only 5 years old!  He's been healthy!

I head over to the vet, and after a visit there was some good news.  Blood work was all clear, but the vet seems to think he got into something somewhere.   He kept asking "are you sure he didn't get into anything?"  Not that we know of.  But the resulting bill was almost $600!!  I could have bought a couple fly rods for that kind of money!

It was just one of those days.  It started out with lots of promise, but fizzled out (expensively) at the end.  Unexpected expenses from a broken fly rod and the vet bill, and concerns about health of our fantastic Koda, it was a day that needed to come to an end.  Today's a new day, and we hope that it's not just one of those days.  We can't afford it.

New waders!

Finally, some new waders!  Thanks to a nice gift card for Cabela's, I picked up their Dry-Plus Premium waders today.  I've read a lot of good reviews on Cabela's waders, and these have 5 layers through the lower leg and seat.  So they should stand up to a lot of abuse.  I'm looking forward to trying them out Monday.

Orvis chest pack

I mentioned before that it was a tough decision on which chest pack to get for fly fishing.  Well, I found a great deal on the Orvis Safe Passage chest pack, so I picked that up.  Several weeks ago I tried it out for the first time, fishing all day on the Blue River in Oklahoma.

Here's what I stuffed into it.  In one front pocket, I stuffed two Irideus Kenai fly boxes, one with dry flies and the other with nymphs.  In the other front pocket was a C&F box with wooly buggers and an Orvis streamer box.  Then I had attached a hemostat, small scissors (I like this better than line nippers) and a Ty-Rite Jr (which is the best invention ever!).  In the backpack I had a water bottle and small thermos of chili.

How did it work?  Well, having 4 big boxes stuffed in the front was a bit much.  The packs stuck out a little too much and at times got in the way when stripping in line.  It didn't affect casting, though.  So I realized I need smaller boxes, and put the bigger ones in the backpack.

Overall, I really like the pack.  It's comfortable and stays balanced on my shoulders.  I just need to get smarter about filling it, and not try stuffing so much.

Flyshack.com

It's time to give some props to Flyshack.com.  I've ordered flies from these guys several times, and every time the order was shipped quickly and accurately.  The flies that were backordered were shipped as soon as available, and not once did I ever have to follow-up.

So, hat's off to Flyshack.com.  I'll be ordering more and more flies over the winter.

Decisions, decisions...

One thing I’ve come to realize I need for all-day fly fishing is a pack that can hold 2 or 3 fly boxes, tools, leaders, tippet, etc.  And for a true all-day excursion, room for snacks and water.

So I’m looking at the Orvis Safe Passage Chest Pack, which has the backpack for snacks and such and room for a couple of fly boxes in front.  The other options are the Orvis Complete Safe Passage Chest Pack or one of the Fishpond packs.

What makes the decision more difficult is that I’ve seen some comments that a chest pack will restrict vision and make it a little harder to navigate through a rocky stream.  This makes sense, because if there’s a bulging pack then it’s harder to see where the feet are going.  I guess I might just have to buy one – any one – and try it out.  What works for one person might not work for another.

I’ll post an update when I finally make up my mind….