Golden Fall

Great Article From The Drake Magazine

The Junkie

By Feelio Babar

Friday, 25 September 2009 10:20

An Addiction to Streamer Fishing He has a serious problem, this man. Some would call it a sickness. He's a junkie of the worst kind and he knows it, lying and cheating to get what he needs, reckless in the pursuit of his much-needed fix. He is the Streamer Addict. Bunny fur and Marabou drive him wild. River. Lake. Crappy urban pond. Anytime, anywhere—when he needs it, he needs it. Casting like he's shooting a 12-gauge, his presentation is anything but delicate. Stuffing it into the rocks on the far bank. Flipping it out there. His flies hit the water like depth charges, sending feeble specimens fleeing in terror. He serves it up simple and the fish respond like any well-evolved creature: fight or flight. You've seen him, fishing by himself, laughing, screaming, and leering at you on the water. Moving quickly around your position, you can't help but wonder what he's up to. Stripping wildly, cursing, all the while that smug-ass grin spread across his face. The junkie covers lots of water, while you stand in the same hole for three hours. The afflicted tosses a middle finger to tradition. Sunny? Midday? Hatch? The junkie doesn't care. All day, every day, chump. His box of flies looks like a truck hit the Muppet band. He talks in tongues about "applying the voodoo," "street-fighter flashes," and "30-foot handshakes." And who wears a stripping basket on a trout river anyway? But it's not easy, being a dedicated fiend. There are slow days, too. Tough days. Frustration. Stripping till the arm hurts. Crazy action with no hook-ups. Sticking to the guns is sometimes difficult. But then there are the other days, where the junkie's as high as a Georgia pine. He's kind of a dick, really, laughing at the sad faces you make as he strips one through the run you just flogged and then lifts the local thug out of the water to show what you missed. You ask what he's throwing, and can only muster a confused gaze when you see the size of it. "Is that a saltwater hook?" you stammer. "And what's with the fighting butt?" The junkie just smiles, eyes glazing. To many, he makes no sense. Breaks all the rules. A step away from spin fishing, some say. They just don't get it. But perhaps it's better that way. Many just don't have the fortitude for the charms of streamer fishing. Best you just stick to your little bugs and 6x. As you part ways with the junkie, he flips you a five-inch fly with huge red eyes like his own. He staggers off, and with a booming laugh says, "First one's free kid, now shorten up that leader and get in there!" www.drakemag.com

Great eye candy.

http://www.catchmagazine.net/

Great online magazine.

www.thisisfly.com

SW AK

"Jake, how about you pick anywhere you want to go fishing in Southwest Alaska and we will go there for a day or two in the fall." This is what my Dad said to me over the phone last April. My instant reaction: Holy Sh*t!!!

I really couldn't believe what he was saying. I instantly got that similar rush like when you hook into an epic fish that comes out of the water just enough to taunt you and then break you off leaving you sitting on your ass replaying it in your mind. Thats how I felt after I got off the phone with my Dad. I have really been wanting to fish the SW part of Alaska for some time now and I didn't even know where to begin. I had to do all the research which was fine by me since he was taking the time to fly us there. Our means of transportation was my Dads Super-cub, Happy, which is righty named because of the constant use and unbelievable scenery the plane has seen. Since it was April when we decided we were going to make this trip I had some time to plan. I wanted to go really late fall when most of the bead bite was gone and because I wanted to swing for bows.

Our initial plan for the first day was to fly in, rent a boat and explore the Kvichak by boat. For the second day, we were planning to fly the area and fish a few small streams until the sun began to set. All of this, though, was dependent on the weather which ended up canceling our plans. Since the Bristol Bay area weather can be fierce and always changing, we weren’t too surprised. But finally, on day three of one of our scheduled departures, the fish God’s finally showed us some mercy and granted us a one day pass to Bristol Bay.

As we landed at our first creek we wasted no time getting down to the river. Not 5 seconds went by before I saw one of the biggest rainbows I have ever seen. I instantly got the buck fever feeling and frantically tried to get my fly in the water. Wind made things a bit more difficult but its really no excuse. After a few drifts through the run the fish jetted up stream and he was gone. We proceeded to catch a few more small ones. The fish we were catching had a much different spot pattern than a lot of the leopard bows that we catch in south central. It was really nice to see some different looking trout. The best fishing of the day was in the last hour before we had to leave. We spotted a large school of fish and decided that thats where we were going to hang the rest of the day. Not a minute after the first cast there was chaos. Swinging "The Magnet" my Dad hooked up on the swing. These fish meant business. Soon after he released his fish I hooked up. The take was amazing! After hammering the fly they would come directly up to the surface and head thrash while coming at you at the same time. This would make for hard solid hook sets. In about 30 minutes to an hour my Dad hooked 4 and landed 2 and I had hooked 3 and landed 0. I was a bit confused on how my Dad managed to land more fish than me, being how he rarely fly fishes anymore and thats all I do but I concluded that he is much wiser, more experienced and has more than paid his dues. Although I am a little disappointed that I didn't get to hold one, I'm also grateful that I didn't get spoiled on my first trip down. In fact, it just bolsters my desire to get down there as soon as possible next summer and show those fish whose boss.

First Post

Well, it's official. Our first season as legitimate fly fishing guides has ended. We encountered a lot of great people and great fish as well. We were very fortunate to have the clients we did for our first guiding season and hope to fish with them in the near future.

The summer of 2009 was a beautiful one and it carried over into a very late fall. Fishing was strong until about the last week of October which gave us an extra couple of weeks of fishable water. Snow now covers the ground so naturally it is time to uncover the fly tying materials and fish porn. The past year we have been following many blogs and have found them to be both entertaining and informative. So we are now entering this blog world to make our contribution and to keep everyone updated about fly fishing in our area and to really talk about whatever we feel like as long as it applies to fly fishing in some way. In the mean time, until the rivers and lakes open back up again, it's going to be very random but entertaining and informative. Enjoy!