International Fly Fishing Film Tour - Rochester NY

The good guys at Silo 4 are bringing the International Fly Fishing Film Tour to Rochester NY...and I can't wait to check it out! Don't miss this great night to hang out and check out some cool videos. It's only 2 weeks away on May 17th, so quickly come up with your excuse to why you can't wash the dog that night and head downtown to the Little Theater.

"Silo4 (our collaborative that put A Deliberate Life together - silofour.com) is hosting it at the Little Theater on May 17th. Doors open at 6, show starts at 6:30. Tickets are $15 purchased in advance at the IF4 box-office (https://www.ticketriver.com/event/6253-if4---rochester--ny) or by contacting me via email. They are $20 at the door the night of the show."

"We'll be giving away a Thomas & Thomas NS6 fly rod, a Kast Hell Raiser jacket, guided fishing trips with Wide Sky and Brett Jackson, and some flies as well. We're also donating a portion of the proceeds to Project Healing Waters."

May 17th Doors open at 6:00 PM.  Film begins AT 6:30 PM. 
The Little Theater
Rochester, NY
(Tickets available here)

NEW LOCATION FOR THE EVENT on 2/16/2013

I'd like to officially announce that next month on February 16th 2013 we will have Guys, Flies & Pies at a NEW LOCATION! So many great people have come over the years that we just outgrew the last place. So please, please, please, let everyone you know, know that we are going to the beach this year!

The new location is the Roger Robach Community Center (Bathhouse) at Ontario Beach Park at 180 Beach Avenue, Rochester, NY 14612. This is only a few miles down the road from where we use to meet, and it's a much bigger building for us to hang out in. A bigger place means you should bring all your fishing friends along for the fun!

Don't expect the blue skies or snow-less walkways, it's February.

Parking is available right across the street behind Abbott's or at the main beach parking lot.

Event Details
Date:Feb 16th 2013
Time: 3pm-8pm
Location: 180 Beach Avenue, Rochester, NY 14612
Cost: $12 at the door  (cost includes entry, pizza, drinks, door bag, and entry into door prizes. Raffles not included.)

The event starts at 3pm and goes until 8pm. As we've always done, this is an event is a fly tying party, so bring your vise and materials to tie. I've never understood why other events have guest tiers and people just watch. Sure, we have demos, but it's great to be able to sit down after watching a demo and DO what you just learned. We'll have pizza around 5:30 or 6pm, and around 7 we'll do door prizes (if we haven't done all of them yet) and give out the big raffle prizes!

I'd like to thank once again the great sponsors we have had over the years and the ones that are with us again this year. Without their support the event wouldn't be nearly as awesome as it's grown to be. Please take a look at the links at the bottom of the page and check out their sites and consider them when making your next fishing purchases.

November 8th - Where the Yellowstone Goes

Seems like just a few weeks ago we got to see the Fly Fishing Film tour...and now we can go to another fishing movie. Next week on November 8th! Same place as before so you hopefully remember where to go, if not check out the details below.

Canandaigua Lake Chapter of Trout Unlimited
Presents

The Documentary
Experience a soul searching and inspirational 30-day drift boat journey down the longest undammed river in the contiguous United States. Connect with colorful characters, get lost in the hypnotic cast of a fly rod, and savor silhouetted moments of fireside stories on this heartfelt river adventure.  View Trailer

When
November 8th at 7pm

Where
The Little Theatre - 240 East Avenue, Rochester, New York 14604 - Directions

Tickets
Buy Tickets ($10) at the door or at http://wtyg-rochester.eventbrite.com

Proceeds benefit the Canandaigua Chapter of Trout Unlimited

Last Kayak Float of 2012...Maybe

My plans from Monday took a few days to come together, but today I got out in my kayak....the first time in a few months.

I had researched a new place online and planned my attack. I'd sneak in at a public access point and float downstream about 1/4 mile and take a sharp turn right....right into a small pond that is rumored to be man made. I figured that since it's right off the creek it would have potential to have pretty much anything in it.

But Google unfortunately doesn't use up to the minute images. I got there and the water was very low.

The put in, water 40 feet away

As you can (sort of) see in the photo, the water is way off in the distance.It should be just past that blue whatever it is there.

Someone was more adventurous than me

I found tracks through the mud, and drag marks, showing someone else was more determined than I was going to be. Looking at it now....those might be only tracks OUT, and not back IN....good luck whoever is out there, your car was not waiting in the parking lot for you.

I drove to the mouth of the creek and found the lake level low too, and too much mud to fight through to get out into the creek from there.

Stop #3 took me back to my favorite place, Buck Pond. It's in complete weed anarchy. I pushed off was able to find a few fish to play around with. I scared something real big at one point. I imagine there are plenty of carp and bass still in there, but with the weeds it would be pretty hard to fish for them.

Bluegill belly

 I ended up catching about 4 or 5 bluegill.

Foam fly holder

My new foam fly holder worked great.

When I got out I found my butt wetter than expected, and then I was cold. I think today might be the last float for 2012. If I end up lifting it up to it's winter spot in the garage, it's likely it will be there until 2013....but, we'll see if I get that motivated before I get it out again.

A Nice Inland Trout Trip

For anyone that follows Guys, Flies & Pies on Facebook, you might know that I was planning on sliding my kayak into a local creek to see what I could find. Honestly, it was a toss up between going solo in the kayak, or calling my friend Brian to see if we could attack together somewhere else. The only reason the kayak won out over Brian was because the kayak is a fair weather fishing companion, and I know Brian doesn't cry at the site of snow.

But plans change.

I got the 2 straps out of 4 on the kayak on the top of my car.....and fate prompted Brian to call. He offered an invite to an inland trout stream. I accepted. "40-45 and I'll be there." I quickly took the kayak down and put it back in the garage. Yes, it put up a fight and called me a traitor, but I didn't care, I had trout to go catch with a friend that knew how and where to catch them.

Sure, I've been to the creek before....that's kinda how I got to use the name of the creek in my email so many years ago when Al Gore first invented the internet. I just don't get to the creek often.

45 minutes later I'm on the side of the road squeeeeezing into waders bought over a decade and 50 pounds ago. Yep, I don't wade nearly enough.

We hiked in, past cows, turkey, vultures, trolls, over mountains, and a bunch of other things to throw you off our scent. We were in search of one pool. One pool that is deep enough to hold trout and covered by a tree and fed by a cool spring. Paradise...if you are a trout.

We traded back and forth in the prime spot where I saw at least 6 fish shoulder to should in a 12 inch space....and 6 fish was just a small sampling of the fish that were in that one spot.

14.75 Brown trout (photo: Brian Bradfield)

I foul hooked a fish and we found a fly left behind by some unlucky angler (if you are reading this, your bead head prince nymph worked....he was fair hooked.) We claimed the hook and I tied it on and proceeded to catch a beautiful 14.75 inch brown. Likely this is the largest inland brown I've ever caught. 

(photo: Brian Bradfield)

Brian managed to catch 2 and foul hooked 2 others. Foul hooking was expected because of the way the fish were so stacked up.

One thing I love about the Guys, Flies & Pies event I put on each year, is the people I meet. I've met some great people and had the pleasure of fishing with a few of them. It's a great by product of such a fun event.

Thanks again Brian for the good time out fishing! 

Brian's fishing reports can be found at Brian On The Fly.

Fly Fishing Film Tour

Wild Water Fly Fishing is hosting the Fly Fishing Film Tour on September 12th 2012 right here in Rochester NY.  THAT'S NEXT WEEK!!!

For $15 you get into the show and a chance at winning some of the prizes in the raffles.

Here's the official write up from Wild Water:


What: The Fly Fishing Film Tour
Location: The Little Theater (240 East Avenue, Rochester, NY)
Date: September 12th, 2012
Time: 7 - 9 PM (Doors open at 6:30pm)

Approximately 1 1/2 hours of short fly fishing films. Come with your fly fishing friends or just come to learn and have a good time.

Scheduled Films:

Riding High - Following tarpon along their annual migration through Florida

Sipping Dry - Amazing dry fly fishing in Craig, Montana

Hatch - Brilliant footage of chalkstream fly fishing and insect hatches in England

Fall Bullies - Bull trout fishing in British Columbia

ReVerb: A Punk Rock Love Story - Chicago Punk Rock Band Goes Fly Fishing.

Doc of the Drakes - Moving story of retired doctor's fly fishing experiences in Idaho

The Arctic - Unreal arctic char fishing on the Tree River, Northwest Territories, Canada

FLY: a Legacy - An angler's reflections on a life spent fishing for Atlantic Salmon in Scotland



Doing Good and PRIZES!

There will be a brief intermission where we will present a donation to Project Healing Waters and have a raffle of fly fishing prizes. Raffle is open to ticket holders in attendance.

We will have a few Wild Water Fly Fishing rods, some Sage hats and a few Scientific Angler's fly lines to raffle off.

The first 20 or so people will receive a souvenir magazine courtesy of The Fly Fishing Film Tour.

Thanks in advance to everyone that attends. Your ticket sales make it possible to donate the gear to Project Healing Waters and support their work with our veterans.

Come join the growing fly fishing culture in Rochester, NY.

Links:
flyfilmtour.com
http://youtu.be/8tl6nYVzoeM

Ticket's can be purchased at the door or online from Wild Water at http://shop.wildwaterflyfishing.com/product_p/f3troch.htm

It's been years since this tour has been close to Rochester, and now it's IN Rochester. I hope to see you there!!! 

Wet Wading

This past week a friend of mine invited me out to go fishing. I picked a local creek that usually gets all it's pressure during the lake run of salmon, browns, and steelhead. I don't know if I've ever heard of anyone fishing it any other time. I did fish it a few times years and years ago with some success. We met up at my house and headed out.

Truth is, I rarely wade....wet or dry. My waders don't really fit and most of my fishing is from the shore at local ponds, or recently out of my kayak. So with a pair of shorts and my sons aqua socks I stepped into the creek and was glad it wasn't ice cold. In fact, it was quite warm.

We fished for a few hours and caught likely 30-50 fish each. The largest was a 12 inch largemouth. Others included smallmouth, rock bass, bluegill, shiners, and chubs. Will saw either a pike or gar, but couldn't get it to take.

It was great to get out and in the water....I hope to have only a few days/weeks go before I do it again, no need to wait 10 years again. In fact....another friend invited me out for some late night fishing.....and that might happen this week.

A Friends First Float

Last week I put out an Open Invitation for anyone to join my long time fish buddy and myself out on the local pond. Let's just say....it's probably good no one else showed up. The fishing wasn't that spectacular.

5:30am rolled around on Thursday and my son (who was awake and ready for school) helped me pull my kayak and a borrowed blue friends kayak out of my garage. Che showed up minutes later and we started loading kayaks on cars and rods in trunks.

Buck Pond is only about 5 minutes from my house so the drive and anticipation was short. We pulled in to an empty parking lot....which is good since it's a small lot.

We unloaded the kayaks and put the gear inside and then got ready to push off.

Locked and loaded

Last year when I went on my first kayak trip with the fishingpoet, after we were finished for the night he told me he had prepared himself mentally to the potential of having to give me an hour worth of paddling instructions before the fishing could even start. Thankfully for him (and me) that didn't happen and I just took off. Not a huge accomplishment, because I think it's fairly simple to kayak. Thankfully Che was able to paddle this kayak easily too, and it kept on track better than mine.

First few minutes

We likely pushed off around 6:15am. We saw a lot of carp going crazy! They were splashing all over the place. Che tried to hook some, but the closest he got was getting soaked when a few came close and danced on the water next to his kayak. I would have loved for him to catch a carp, but with all the weeds in this pond, it's not likely he would have been successful landing a beast that size.

Just as 7am rolled around I finally had a nice bass surface and inhale my popper. I yelled "FISH ON!!!" and Che came paddling over quickly to get some photos. Unfortunately, even my $25 zip lock bag can't take great pictures, but does protect it from water....and Che's actual zip lock back isn't really any better at clear photos. But, these are the photos of the fish I caught, so these are the photos I share.

Good morning Mr. Bass

16 inches of bass that saved the day

We paddled around for probably close to 2 miles total, and explored some places I had wanted to. Unfortunately none of those places did anything for us as far as catching fish. We did manage a few other hits but besides the few seconds they were on, we caught nothing else. We did find different types of weeds which may sound boring, but in a pond that has either reeds or rock shoreline, any variance is nice. The pond apparently averages 6 feet deep. I put my paddle down a few times and found it even shallower than that where we were. It's a perfect habitat for the bass I've caught, and the pike I've heard rumors of. Someday I hope to verify the pike by catching a few!

Even though we only brought one fish to hand, I dream of the day I get back there in my kayak again!

So......after getting home, I got out of my wet shorts and headed for the shower. A few hours later I realized my knife was missing. I'm a stickler for making sure my son knows where his knives are (currently in my closet since he didn't know where there were last time) and so I was upset I had lost mine. I searched every where I could think of. Every place I put my wet shorts when I got home, any place it could have fallen and slid under. Ever place was checked, and double checked. I even drove to the pond and asked all the fishermen at the parking lot. Nothing! On a whim I sent a message to Che asking if he had found it. He replied "right on top of my truck where I left it." I had forgotten I had loaned it to him to cut a strap. He placed it on his truck....where he wouldn't forget it....and then drove off. It stayed on the roof of his truck for at least 5 miles...even after we unloaded the kayak at my friends place. I was amazed it was still there, but it made my day to know that my $60 knife would be back in my pocket soon!!!

Here's Che using a MonoMASTER from Guys, Flies & Pies sponsor Grasshopper Outdoors! With all the use this place gets from drive up fishermen, we could use a MonoMASTER the size of a garbage can! 

Mastering some mono!

Open Invitation

Tomorrow morning around 6am (that's Thursday May 24th 2012) my long time fishing buddy and I will be putting kayaks into Buck Pond to harass some bass. I hear by invite anyone that would like to join us...with no explanation to why I said "I hear by...."

Click this fancy link to see the place we will park and launch from.

The launch

Buck pond is only about 100 feet from Lake Ontario, so you can explore the pond or head towards the lake (something I might try for the first time tomorrow if the lake is calm enough.) The pond is pretty large and offers plenty of places to fish, but note there are weeds to work around.

While there is a lot of shoreline to fish from, the weeds in this pond are pretty extensive, so shore fishing might be an issue. So, while this invite is open to everyone keep in mind I'll be out in my kayak, and you might wish you were too.

If you make it, look for me in my yellow banana kayak, and my friend in his blue one. I'll be the one hauling in all the fish!

The forecast is for 60+ degrees at 6am with 4mph winds.....should be just perfect.

Early Saturday Morning

Yesterday I had my alarm set for 5am. Friday night I put my kayak on the car and left the straps loose but at the ready. My plan was to get up at 5am, eat, tighten the straps, and head off to one of my new favorite spots for fishing from my kayak. 5am rolled around and I jumped into action.

2 microwaved hot dogs provided my breakfast (good food choices are often thrown out the window when fishing is on the plate.) I grabbed my water bottle and wallet and locked the door on my way out. My kayak was slightly wet from the morning dew, but she was ready to rock.

I made the last few tugs on the straps to tighten everything down then started up the car and took off. It was 48 degrees and I was wearing shorts, a t-shirt, and a pair of sandals. The reason I was dressed for summer is because I have a sit in kayak, meant for river runs, and ultimately I get wet. Plus the foot rests were put in by the original owner who was considerably shorter than I am, and they are as far back as they can go...so even wearing sandals would make the cramped conditions even worse. It is amazing however how quickly being under dressed doesn't seem to matter when you are fishing. After the short drive I completely forgot about it barely being 50 degrees out.

When I went to bed Friday night I didn't know if I would end up at Buck Pond or back at Durand Lake. I took some time to think of the benefits of one pond over the other and realized the narrowness of Durand Lake and the high hill sides with trees keeps it shady longer than the openness of Buck Pond. So, in hopes to have the sun help warm me sooner than later I went to Buck Pond.

6:01am

 I put in just before 6am.....it was perfect. The water was completely calm and there was fog floating around. I paddled out past the shore fishermen and made my way out to the furthest point I've been on this pond, hoping to find new shoreline to explore. The shoreline is all pretty much the same, so I paddled around finding the biggest holes in the weeds. This pond is FULL of weeds. I brought my new weed guard flies and found this to be extremely useful in keeping the fly from getting weeded, and from having to de-weed (is that a word?) way too often.

Guarded Condition

Within about 30 minutes I had hooked a nice sized bass. I reeled in all my slack line and started to fight him. He took a few jumps to show off his skills and then tossed the hook. It always sucks to lose the first fish you catch because you never know if you'll get another shot. Thankfully, I got another shot. Just after 7am another bass hit. I reeled in slack line and he dove for the weeds......

This should have been a bass

....it also sucks losing your second fish, because you don't know if you'll get another shot. Thankfully, I got another shot. A while later another bass decided to play along and after a nice fight I brought him in and got him all dressed up for his photo shoot. Recently I got a waterproof case for my cell phone so I'm excited to have the chance to photograph what I catch while in my kayak. So I get the phone out, tell Mr. Bass to smile, he then says "Cheese" and I take the picture and let him go. Then I went to check out the picture of my bass.....yeah....I was disappointed. Here's the awesome photo I somehow screwed up.

For $500 I can photograph your wedding too!

Apparently my new, awesome, Bending Branches Slice Angler paddle photobombed this shot. Let me just tell you I love this paddle. It's only a few weeks old but I've used the hook removal slot at least three times and with the bass above, I was able to use the measuring marks. The bass was 13 inches.

It was a great time on the water and I'm already planning the next trip out...hopefully this week with a friend of mine. It will be his first time in a kayak but I think he'll love it too.