John Rohmer's Simi Seal Leech

John Rohmer's Simi Seal Leeches are a staple of every serious fly fisherman I know in Arizona. These imitate leeches (obviously) but also crayfish and baitfish. Trout, bass, panfish and carp will take them. Their great below an indicator, as a point fly on a sinking or intermediate line are even drifted below a big dry. Because of this versatility, I use this pattern as my utility fly when fishing western waters. When I travel elsewhere, these flies seem to produce even better - they work very well on both still and moving waters for a multitude of species. I recommend buying a few, and then learning to tie them. To purchase, visit http://www.azflyfishing.net/.

Simi Seal Leech:

Exciting things to come

In February, I started this blog in earnest. I had imagined that I would update it - perhaps daily - with insightful thoughts and anecdotes. That hasn't happened. The Waving Stick is not dead, though. In fact, there is much in the works for this site. In the coming months, expect to see much more content that should interest anglers everywhere. We'll be adding some contributors, posting many more photos and even a few videos. Plans call for new product reviews and even an event or two. Stay tuned!

Some awefully random musings from he with cabin fever

It’s been nearly two weeks since I’ve fished; it’s been longer than that since I’ve written. It’s been uneventful enough, but the deal is this: it’s time. I need a fix. I need like three hours on water – any water. I’ll fish carp, or stocker trout. I’ll midge for bluegills. I’m not going to be able to travel far to fish for a couple of weeks, and I live in the desert. That limits me to urban ponds and tailwaters, mostly. I had planned on driving up to Canyon Creek this week, but that little stream now sits under 3 feet of powder. Despite my woes, that’s good news for fish and those who chase them with small metal and fur.

I’m alright, I guess. If this were an idle thing, or even a hobby, it would be a lot easier to pass the time off the water. It’s just that I’m not all there. Fishing might be the only way I capably deal with stress. It’s not all medical or meditative – it’s just quiet and rhythmic. It’s thinking while you swing a stick around. It’s breathe in, breathe out, zip, swish, swish, swish. It’s tempo and thought and quiet and, occasionally, a creature that lives in the water placidly lying in my hand, anxious but pensively waiting for its return. Fucking A.

I’ve got a good wife. She’s a great mom, and a patient partner to a guy who sometimes feels locked up in a giant desert city. I’ve got an amazing son, too. He’s two, calls fish ‘sish,’ and everytime he sees one, he says he wants it. Hard to ask for more. We go to Bass Pro Shops twice a week and buy nothing. He likes the aquarium – calls the catfish ‘meow sish.’ He tells them ‘hi.’

Later this month, the both of them are going to Houston for two weeks. I’m going to miss them, but I’ll make the most of the distance by wedging myself into some trout habitat and giving it a go. I’ll get a friend to tag along and I’ll probably drink a bit. I’ll talk some shit and fish. Man, it’ll be sweet.

New bass patterns

I've been playing with Diamond Hair a lot lately with some experimental ties. John Rohmer makes the stuff and has put it to great use on his Diamond Hair Minnow, which is really a mainstay pattern for anyone who fishes for bass in Arizona. Actually, some local hardwear guys are even using these on dropshot rigs.

Anyway, the stuff is incredible for tying streamer patterns. Left alone, it pulses in the water and gives a nice, full body image without a lot of weight.

I've been doing something different with it, though. I remember before I really started fly fishing the popularity of a soft plastic jerkbait called a Slug-Go. The bait stayed near the surface and darted erratically when retrieved. It was always a productive lure for me, and since I've been flyfishing, I've wondered about a substitute. The problem for me has been creating a fly with a soft texture that darts when retrieved. I had essentially given up until recently, when I had to seal a joint in my shower with some silicone. I wondered how the material would behave as a coating for a fly. I immediately went to the vise and started testing it. After several beta rounds went into the trash bin, I'm pleased with the progress. I tested two patterns on the water yesterday, and saw nice results with both.

The first patern is a darting minnow that I really designed to behave like the previously mentioned Slug-Go. While it is not an exact match, it's very close. If attached to the line with a loop, the fly does indeed dart left and right, as well as up and down. What's more, it floats. On a floating line, it's a great topwater pattern (I even managed to 'walk the dog.') I also tested it on an intermediate line, which I liked a lot, as it behaved like a traditional jerkbait. While I have not tried this yet, I imagine that when fished behind a 200+ grain sinking line it might even fish like a split shot rig.

All in all, I really like this pattern and plan to use it often this season.

I also created a similar pattern that would create a bit more commotion when retrieved. I did this by layering foam on the hook shank before applying the Diamond Hair, thus building a small popping head to act as the base for the materials. This was a first time tie, and already, I think it's going to be a winner for the striped bass in some of our desert lakes. It will likely also attract larger bass, and in other color tones, pike. It's a bigger fly, and I needed a pretty heavy rod to get it out there. I used my Sage Bluegill Rod (which, by the way, is the most poorly named piece of fishing gear I own; this thing is a cue stick). The rod is basically a short 8-9 weight, and it moved the fly just fine. I'm also going to tie some in smaller sizes for more realistic presentations.

This fly behaves much like a pencil popper, throwing off a nice 'cup' of water when twiched hard. When twitched more subtly, it actually does a very similar glide to that of the darting minnow. While the fly definitely floats, it will suspend briefly if pulled down, so it's definitely possible to pause the pattern below the surface if that is called for. This effect can be minimized or supplemented by changing the hook size/type. I used a larger saltwater hook for the first tie, but I think I'll switch to a smalled daimeter topwater hook for my freshwater fishing. This will actually drop weight but give a larger exposed hook bend.

The Boat Show

My dad and I took Miller to the Arizona National Boat Show tonight to see what we could of the '09 fleet. It was really fun to watch Miller go completely nuts sprinting down the display aisles and jumping around in the boats. Maybe every kid is like this, but I think he's genetically predisposed to share mine and Dad's love of outdoor gear. He is also completely bullish on the topic of fish (or, in his parlance, shish) - he insisted on staring at the bass tank for half an hour. He's into it.
Inasmuch as he's two, it's not likely that Miller wondered at all about the economy's impact on the show, but Dad and I talked about it all night. Going to the show is an annual thing for us - in fact I don't recall missing one - and I have never seen one this small. There were very few exhibitors, but actually more of them were present than were there were visitors. It was a bit melancholy, and I really emphathize with the sales people manning these booths - they looked nervous and I couldn't for a moment blame them.
We cruised the floor a few times and let Miller run wild before heading home. It was a fun night.

On fathers and sons

Over the past few days, I've received sad and similar news from two dear and close friends. Both men are from different worlds. They have never met one another and have little in common. The one link they share, at least in my mind, is that tonight they are thinking about what life will be like without their fathers. In neither case is this a surprise, and I can only hope that this fact has their families prepared for the loss, though I can't imagine actually being prepared for a loss like that. My thoughts and prayers are with them.

My son, Miller, is sleeping next to me as I write this. His grandfather lives less than a mile away, and the two of them are among the closest friends I have. We do everything together. The joy I take from being both a father and a son is ever-giving, and learning of a friend's paternal loss is just plain hard for me.

Friends, I mourn for your loss and am thankful for the men your fathers helped you become. Peace and love to your families.

T(r)ying again

About a month ago, I started tying flies again. With a goal of fishing mostly my own patterns again, I have some work ahead of me. I'm able to tie leech patterns and ubiquitous nymphs, but larger baitfish flies, along with smaller ties like midges and chironomids are really eluding me. It's frustrating - some of these things look like accidents! For the moment, I'm laying my deficiencies off on fatherhood and a real job, but I'm anxious to relearn the craft.

To me, tying is cathartic. It can be relaxing and formulaic, or creative and challenging. It's also rewarding. Generally, our water is small in the Southwest. Our fish can be finicky, and fooling them with 'a homespun' is always a gainful thing. I'd like to be doing more of it and plan to.

I've made noise about getting on this for a while, but I think this is the year. Miller loves to watch me tie flies and perhaps before long, he'll even try to wrap a few with dad. Those will be interesting, I'm sure. Launching this blog will likely keep me focused on this, too.

Drift, Red Gold

I recently had the chance to watch two relatively new fly fishing films: 'Drift' and 'Red Gold.' I'll keep the review brief, but thought that both merited a few words. I'll start with 'Red Gold.'

The Bristol Bay basin in Alaska is purportedly the world's most rich resource for sockeye salmon. Local commercial fisherman call the spring run a 'wall of fish.' In addition to insightful narrative content, the film features fantastic footage of these unbelievable fish migrating upstream and enriching the lives of literally everything that they swim past. The resource, it seems, has supported the people of Alaska for a long, long time.

Enter the Pebble Mine, a controversial and gargantuan proposed project planned at the headwaters of the region's two principal watersheds. If 'built' (or dug), the mine would expose the largest known untouched copper vein in the world, along with substantial gold deposits. This film details the struggle between the locals who say 'hell no' (literally) to the Pebble Mine, and the company representatives, who plea for an opportunity to present their side. I thought the film was fair in giving the mining outfit a voice, but you can probably guess who I'm siding with.

'Red Gold' really isn't a fishing movie, but don't let that stop you from buying it. Both relevant and touching, this is a tremendous film. http://www.redgoldfilm.com/.

On to 'Drift.' This is very much a fishing film. I liked it. Featuring well known destinations like the Deschutes River and Belize, as well as far-flung streams in war-torn Kashmir, this movie is cool, and I reccomend it. http://www.confluencefilms.tv/.

January 13th and 14th - Salt River

This was a slow week and having caught, I believe, every yellow bass living in the big pond at the Research Park, I thought I'd get a bit less domestic. My venue: the salt river below Saguaro Lake. The lower Salt is 35 minutes from my front door and when flows are consistent, it is a nice alternative to the urban ponds for a few hours of fishing. I have a couple of rules on this water: go midweek and expect mediocracy. This river is a beautiful tailwater with tremendous potential but it is blighted by the fact that it is essentially within our metropolitan grid. It gets abused by insensitive use and inadequate management, and thus the river really just gives us glimpses of what it could ultimately be. It is not uncommon for the river to run dry for months when Saguaro Lake is at full pool and then have 800 cfs coming out of the dam. Given that 4+ million people drink, bathe and irrigate with this water, the fishery is clearly not the primary concern.

1/13:
I drove out around 1:30 with carp in mind. I know, gross, right? Nope - these fish are challenging and strong, and I can't believe what they've done for my fishing. I rigged a small indicator and strung a weighed rubber-legged nymph as the lead fly, followed by a tiny egg. I broke two fish off early and then resigned myself to letting the fish take as much four weight line as they'd like. That was the trick, and hook up number three was rewarded by a chunky three pound fish. The next fish was pretty exciting. The indicator barely twitched, but upon setting the hook it was clear that this was a bigger fish. After roughly 20 minutes of into-the-backing runs, I brought a beautiful 8 lb+ fish to hand. On a four weight! What a thrill..

The day ended with a few more 2-3 lb fish and then a traffic free trip back into town. I even had time to pick up Miller.

1/14:

Jonesing for another big fish, I left the house at 11:30 and arrived at Blue Point to find the river up 2 feet and flowing clear and fast. The fish had moved to the bottom and were really tough to fool. I induced two takes, but was unable to convert on anything. I hiked upstream and watched two small bass track a dragon fly for a while, and then drove back to town. When my cell phone found it's signal, I learned of 6 voicemails. Some days you have it; on this day I did not.

Here we go!

This is my fishing log. I chose to create the site as a means of tracking my fishing. For those who care to see them, I'll provide access to photos and a brief narrative of my adventures. As the content grows, I may alter the name of the site and invite contributions from others but for now, consider this a simple outdoor journal.