"Rolling" Fish!!! New Form of Fishing?

I was reading the Field and Stream Fly Talk Blog the other day, and Kirk Deeter was talking about a friend who was into cutting off the hook of a fly to make it hookless and fishing just to see the fish take the fly, tug a little, and have the fly come out without harming the fish. The friend called it "rolling" the fish.

Now I am all for having fun, but this sounds like it would be fun to try, especially when it's warm out and the trout are deep and you don't want to stress them by having them out of the water to dehook them.

Heck Tim Romano's wife has pictures of him stalking lizards around a pool using hookless flies at a resort down south of the border.

Maybe there is something to be said, definately would gain approval from the animal rights people, but PETA (People Eating Tasty Animals) would object.

Moffitt Angling System... Will it work?

I received a package today from China.... I ordered the Promo-18 fly package from Moffitt Angling (http://www.moffittangling.com/) last week and it arrived yesterday but because they require a signature on International Deliveries, I had to go to the Post Office and sign for it.


So here's what I got....



18 Hookless flies tied on Rubber Loops
5 Threaders with Foam Floats on one end
10 Circle Hooks
1 Hook Removal Tool
and the instructions in a plastic case.

Will it work? It should, but I won't know until later.

A couple of questions came up though....

Seeing the hook catches the mouth on the outside instead of the inside, is it considered snagging? even though the hook is in the outside of the lip?

If you attach multiple of these hookless flies on your leader but have only one hook, is it considered 1 fly or multiple flies?

I didn't get any answers from Moffitt Angling, but I did send them an e-mail stating that on their site it did not say anything about having to sign for the package or the fact that it would be coming from China.

The patterns look easy to tie, and I'm working on a vise system to try and tie some of these flies myself.

Now with that said, if it is considered snagging, and I don't want to do anything harmful like that, then I could just tie on one of the flies on the end of my leader, and go "rolling" (more on that later)

How To Be A Trout Bum Days 7 to 9

OK, Here's the last of the Trout Bum Trip.

The initial plan was to drive to Pittsburg NH, get a campsite, fish for 3 days, catch some trout and salmon, and feel great.

What actually happened was....

The 6+ hour long drive up through some beautiful countryside.... (got to talking over an hour with Bob Donnelly, a Native American Indian who works at the Visitor Center off Route 93N just below the Lakes Region, and who knows a lot about fishing New Hampshire, along with drawing maps of where to fish for the trout and salmon. Really nice fellow to talk to.)

Crossing the 45th Parallel, 1/2 way between the Equator and the North Pole....

Arrived at Lake Francis Campground, got a walk in sites with Electric and Water both nights. Rasonable rates too, $30.00 a night.

Fished the inlet to Lake Francis, helped an elderly gentleman from Connecticut land a nice Salmon.

Fished the Bridge Pool the next morning. Crowded, plus one fellow took a 21" Brook Trout around 11AM, lots of big fish were pulled out that day.




Getting bored due to no fish, I went sight seeing and scouting. Way too many fishermen in a lot of the spots, and the spots without fishermen were without fish.



Did get up to Lopstick Lodge, bought some flies and a guide book. Got some info while I was there.

Went back to my new site, right across from the site I had the night before. Campground was crowded due to start of Memorial Day Weekend.

Went back to Bridge Pool on the way home, then drove up to the Catch and Release between the First and Second Connecticut Lakes. Decided to drive home, fishless, but need to pick up my girlfriend and her daughter at Airport in Rhode Island that Saturday Afternoon.

Meanwhile on the road trip back, I did get stopped at a roadblock at Mile Marker 95 on Route 93, just below Franconia Notch. US Customs and US Border Patrol were checking cars and trucks for illegals and smugglers. They asked if they could look in the camper, I told them not a problem, and the remark by the border agent was "Damn, that's a small bathroom" when he opened the door to the bathroom / closet.

All in all, I loved the trip. It was with downfalls and disappointments, but I did learn a lot of new things and learned where to go for next time. So there may be a future saga of being a Trout Bum... someday.

How To Be A Trout Bum Days 4 to 6

Sorry about the delay, been under the weather since returning from the trip, plus the one fly competition.

So here goes....

Left Indian Hollow, had tick removed, stopped for replacement vent regulator arm and gearbox at Diamond RV, stopped for gas, resupplied the fridge, and made it to the Mohawk State Forest.

Had the best campsite, paved right to the edge of the site, and minimal levelling required.

Also had the Cold River behind the site, some really nice boulder strewn pools of gin clear water.

Not far from the Deerfield River, and the Cold Meets the Deerfield about 1 mile from the campground entrance.

Unfortunately no pics of fish, broke off 3 leaders fishing the turbulence of the Deerfield and Cold River flows meeting. Did raise one fish near the surface, but broke him off. I was bummed. But I did get my Tenkara Rod out for a nice 10" rainbow in the pool behind my camp site on the Cold River. Unfortunately he spit the fly just as I was getting the net out. But the people in the neighboring campsite saw the whole thing, and were surprised there were any trout in the pool.

Two nights in the campground were it for me, I had to preside over the Millers River TU meeting that Wednesday night, then drove home, clean up, resupply, and get some rest.

Next stop Pittsburg NH, home of large Brook Trout, Salmon, and beautiful wilderness.

Recap of the One Fly Competition

OK, here's what happened.....

Woke up late....

Drove 75 miles north to Millers River....

Went up to the Bearsden...

Had the place to myself.....

Tied on Black Wooly Bugger....

Fished for an hour...

Caught nothing...

Went to Lower Catch and Release on the Millers....

Talked with another angler....

Didn't cast anything....

Time ran out.....

Went to cookout at Wagon Wheel Campground....

Dried out waders....

Helped clean up....

Drove to work....

No Fish at all...... :(

Millers River One Fly Competition and Free Fishing Weekend

It's that time again, the first weekend in June, free fishing weekend in MA, where you don't need a license to fish June 6th and 7th.

Also the Millers River TU is holding the One Fly Competition, you can fish one pattern of fly, can't change colors, but you can change size of the fly. Also you can only fish the Millers River only, no tributaries or feeder streams. And the competiton runs from dawn until 12PM, with a cookout and awards at the Wagonwheel Campground in Wendell MA.

Further details, check out www.millersrivertu.org

See you streamside.

Being a Trout Bum Recap Days 1 to 4

How to be a Trout Bum.....

Take one angler...

Add in one truck and camper to make life soo much easier...

Added bonus, my father actually attended Satuday to do some trout fishing! good thing I brought the extra lawn chair and portable awning!

Add in some wonderful campgrounds next to water...

Add in some trout....

And some great fishing action...

And throw in a cookout... even my daughters showed up for the cookout....

And a good old campfire at the end of the day....

This is the life!

Of course there were several mishaps while during the first 4 days....

Limited Cell Service if you have Sprint or AT&T. Verizon and T-mobile don't work at all along the river or campground.

Slipped on rocks in Chesterfield Gorge, got swept downstream by current, soaked cellphone which using for photos, and broke the 4 foot fly rod on Saturday.

Thunderstorms Saturday Night blew out the river, so fishing was really tough, almost non existant on Sunday. Also had the lifting mechanism on the center roof vent of the camper separtate at the gearbox making opening the vent impossible.

Monday at 4Am woke up to find a Deer Tick burrowing in my right leg, packed up quickly and drove to the nearest Emergency Room, 10 miles away on backroads. They removed it, and started me on antibiotics for next couple weeks. Also got vent fixed, $12.00 kit at Diamond RV in Northampton MA. (Right off Route 5 and 10 North)