GREENS AND STREAMS BLOG
A Good Day on the Water
You hear it a lot, “Man was this a good day on the water, wow, it was a good day on the water…” and on and on.
Means only one thing, no fish.
So am I the only guy who gets jacked up when sitting in a boat, walking up to a stream bank, or standing on a beach tying on a fly or lure, who is thinking, I’m not leaving till I get one?
Does that explain why they call it getting skunked? Because as you know and I know, not catching fish stinks.
I sat with Pat Ehlers, owner of The Flyfishers fly shop in Milwaukee, as a good a man as you’d ever want to meet, in his jet boat on a lake full of bass and Pike. Weather had moved and the fish shut down. In three hours I caught one fish and tagged four, he landed four and tagged a few. He was throwing hardware and I was trying to figure out how to steal the new prototype fly rod that he let me cast.
So this topic, a good day on the water came up. “Sure, we all love a good day on the water, that’s when we take our kids tubing or water skiing. Not fishing. My ego won’t let me get off the water till I catch a fish or the person I’m with catches a fish.” This explains why we didn’t get the boat in until dark.
Getting skunked justifies just about any expense in fishing. It’s a great reason to buy a boat – now you can go cruising for hungry fish. Waders to keep you warm while you walk in cold water chasing hungry fish. A new rod because the old one just couldn’t get the fly, lure, live bait, or your special concoction, to the hungry fish. A new reel because the old just can’t handle the new lines and doesn’t hold enough backing for the cast you need to make to get to the fish that is hungry.
We even have our own lingo: the smell is on you man, the stench is strong, the funky odor has fallen overboard, finally- we’re skunk free and many more that I am sure you’ll want to share with us. There’s a number of expletive ones as well but way too many to list.
And a good day on the water has even made some of us liars. You fish all day and nothing, your buddies ask, "How was fishing" You look them right in the eye and say, "Fantastic, it's was a fantastic day on the water." And you describe a day you never had. Then it's to the couch and the catalog, on-line or stacked at the end if the coffee table.
It comes down to being predatory creatures. We don’t want to go home empty handed, even though we practice catch and release and we use barbless hooks, there is something about bringing that fish to hand that is damn near intoxicating. You ever get that big fish and afterwards need to sit down and have a cigarette? You know what I’m talking about, that fish that beats you up and fights like hell, you’re looking at your rod all bent in half and thinking, how big is this baby? Or when a fish takes off and you hear the reel going like the last few notes of a Billy Idol song. Sure you do and suddenly your adrenaline jacks up and you’re trying to remember everything you ever knew about fighting a fish. Please note: we play or fight a fish, it’s not a dance, a stroll or short walk with a fish. And even if we don't get that big fish, at some point, any fish will do, otherwise Pat and I would still be out there.
And nope, I didn't steal the rod, but here's some specs, manufacturer - Echo, weight 7, fit and finish -excellent, cast ability - I cast it for three hours, never had any fatigue. I threw it with a minnow pattern that Pat is working on and it is good for long casts or short casts and I'd call it a medium fast rod, length - 8ft 4" and it will make a great largemouth or smallmouth rod. The line was also a prototype but in an upcoming interview, I'll let Pat tell you about the latest developments.
In the meantime, have a lovely day on the water.
Stuart Van Dorn
ISA Bassbugger Events
This weekend the Illinois Smallmouth Alliance is hosting an event in Batavia, Cast and Compare 2014. Check out some of the details below. Jeremy from Dupage Fly will be out with some rods to test from Hardy and Orvis, and I'll be bringing out a few glass rods of my own.
Presented by the Illinois Smallmouth Alliance
Cast & Compare 2014
Saturday 9/13/14 - 8:00am to 12 noon
Glenwood Forest Preserve
1644 S. River St., Batavia, IL. 60510
Bring one or more of your new or favorite rods to compare to others. This is a great chance to try other rods on the water. Join us for this FREE event.
This fall we have new products from Sage & Reddington with rep Dave Gellatly & pro staff instructor Doug Taylor. They will showcase a generous cross section of their product line for you to try. Every rod will have a matching line. Doug Taylor will help match your own Spey/Switch rod to the correct line. One of the difficulties of learning to Speycast is getting just the right match of rod to line. If you are having a problem with your rod-to-line match up (irrespective of brand) or a problem with your casting technique, Doug can help.
Kevin Versino will have these kayaks to test paddle:
Jackson Kayak Big Rig, Kilroy & Cuda 12, NuCanoe Frontier 12, Ocean Kayak Tetra,
Wilderness Systems Ride 135.
Rocktown Adventures, Aurora - Rockford
630-506-5706 - 815-636-9066
Rocktown Adventures
DuPage Fly Fishing Co., manager Jeremy Spaccapaniccia is bringing rods from Orvis & Hardy. They are your local Sage shop & can answer questions on cost & availability. Thanks to Jeremy & DuPage Fly Fishing Co. for arranging the new gear for us. For more information on Dupage Fly Fishing, be sure to visit their website: DuPage Fly Fishing
We’ll also have a raffle of donated gear during lunch.
If you have any questions or more information, you can reach out to John Loebach - Fly Fishing Director, ISA at (630) 251-5904.
Birthday Gifts
Getting older isn't always the most fun thing, but sometimes good things can come from birthdays. It's a day people wish you their best and they always hope you get everything you want. I don't consider myself very materialistic and tend to have few requests when it's my turn. This year was a bit different. After getting the blessing from the Mrs., and running it past my other boss, I reached out to Stuart and Kyle Zempel of Black Earth Anglers. I worked out the day off, got a couple other guys to play hooky and we were off!
We didn't tear it up by any means, but had a blast and caught fish on hoppers, nymphs and dries. After a fun day of fishing we hopped back in the Pathfinder, dropped Kyle off, and slid home. Waiting for me at home, was my outstanding wife with my favorite meal and a cold one - the perfect way to end a special day.
