International Man Of Fly Tying

My friend over at Trout Passion recently invited me to participate in a fly tying exchange. Pretty cool. The coolest part? I am the only tier from the United States! The rest of the tiers are all in Europe, which means I should have some pretty cool flies from all over the world soon!

Above are the flies I will be contributing… A Clouser Minnow, Prince Nymph, a ‘Gil Getter Wet Fly, and Stimulator Dry Fly.

And now to tie 10 of each…

See you hunched over the vice!

E

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November Trout!

Back to the fly fishing!

I got a chance to go out for what is probably one of my final fishing trips of 2012. I might get a chance to go out next weekend, but that might be just about it for the year…

And I did manage to catch a couple of fish too!

These are what I refer to as a “low probability day”. With the cold weather, decreasing water temperatures, and decreasing amount of daylight most fish have moved beyond the range of my fly fishing tackle. As the weather grows colder, they will seek shelter in the deepest parts of the water… far away from where my gear can place a fly.

There are some exceptions… trout tend to be most active in cold water. And every once in a while, you’ll pick something else up to; like this bluegill.

Mostly I go out on days like this just to get away and relax. To think about things and clear my head. To just be outside…

There are lots of trips I make throughout the year when I go out on days that I know the fish won’t bite. But I still gear up and head out anyways…

Fishing is not about catching fish.

I have friends that would never go fishing because they say it is boring. That waiting for the fish to bite is too much to bear. I think a lot of people think that fishing would only be fun if you could pull fish after fish out of the water as soon as your line hit the water.

But would that really be fun? If fish were so… unelusive… that you could catch them with that ease?

Fishing on “low probability days” doesn’t mean that I expect to catch fish. Far from it. I actually expect not to catch fish…

I expect to think, relax, and to spend time working on my cast.

Catching a fish on a day that I am not supposed to catch any fish?

That is just icing on the cake.

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…Resume Normal Behavior

One final post on deer hunting, then this will return to it’s normal fly fishing/fatherhood blog…

To entertain myself while deer hunting, I tweeted my whole trip. I thought that a few where rather entertaining…

Then again, I easily amuse myself…

A few of my favorites in case you missed them in real time:

Every year when I head to the tree stand, I briefly consider only taking one rifle cartridge with me… #Hunting #fliesoverdeerhunt

Now in my treestand. Alone with my thoughts, the wind, nature… and a Twitter enabled iPhone… #Hunting #fliesoverdeerhunt

Apparently this tree stand doesn’t have wifi… Can’t send pictures out… #whoknew #notetoself #fixfornextyear #hunting #fliesoverdeerhunt

I think I heard a deer… Or Sasquatch… Will update… #Hunting #fliesoverdeerhunt

If a fly fisherman falls out of a tree stand in the forest… #deepthoughts #Hunting #fliesoverdeerhunt

It’s 5:38 am. 16 degrees outside and I am about to go sit in a tree. Why do I do this again? #Hunting #fliesoverdeerhunt

To… Cold… To… Tweet… #Hunting #fliesoverdeerhunt

@(a friend without an iPhone who prefers to remain nameless) So a deer just walked by and said “Is that an iPhone?” And I was like “of course who doesn’t have one!” #fliesoverdeerhunt

Haha “staff meeting in 8 minutes” reminder… I’m on vacation! #fliesoverdeerhunt

I wonder if deer have Twitter… Maybe they are following my Tweets so they know where to avoid… #makessense #fliesoverdeerhunt

Haha! I do entertain myself!

Okay, okay… one last thought from from my trip home. Fitting considering the post…

This pretty much sums up my hometown… and for those that know me personally, this probably explains a lot.

Now back to Little E, fly fishing, and whatever else it is I do with my time!

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Success In Failure

Those who followed my recent deer hunt are aware that I did not take a deer this season. Some might call this a failure.

I disagree…

I spent two vacation days from work relaxing in quite solitude. I was surrounded with scenes like the video above. This was one of several deer that walked within twenty yards of me in my tree stand.

So I didn’t shoot a deer. Oh well.

Watching nature wake up with the sunrise is a welcome break from modern life.

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Wild Nebraska: Photos From The Hunt

Just a few photos of wild Nebraska taken so far on the trip…

There is a deer in this picture… look close!

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