photos first

articles will come later...just few outlines and photos first... @@
Henry's Fork: another PhD degree



Henry's Fork Millionaire's pool: Hopper cheating


Lower Madison river: Maverick trip in a western paradise


Yellowstone river: steelheading in the yellowstone park?

Untitled from yuhina on Vimeo.

YNP Slough Creek: fishing with bear spray and beetles

Upper Madison river: romance in a moonlight meadow

Warm river ID: fiberglass and yellow matches

gear tangle

Fiberglass, graphite or bamboo?
Just want to share some thoughts related to “materials”. I have to confess I am a “material boy” I love something looks good, whether it is a fishing gear or a delicacy food. All need to be perfect. Ha..
Several years ago , I set out a ultimate quest in pursuing a ultimate fishing machine … a growing fishing gear cabinet is a obvious evidence that I have a relatively big ambition in accomplishing this task. Just like other silly fisherman, am I?! One of the fantastic factor of flyfishing, to me, is actually about the combination of Science and Art, just like my the other love in photography, it is also a combination form of science and art. Whether it is film developing chemicals, time exposure or lens optic physics. There are some hardware knowledge and some belong to soft art forms which is the manner of “feelings”… the combination resulting a elevated joy of a accomplished work. (a beautiful trout or a well exposed photo). I believe fly fishing doing the same, a well executed casting from the knowledge of blank flex, energy transfer and the flyline balance to the perfect landing of a fly to knowing the flowing current, the line mending technique and manipulating the fly. It is a lot of physics in there as well as rooms for different presentations by using different techniques in art’s sake.
I have fished relative broad spectrum of materials, fiberglass, graphite or even a nice bamboo two handed rod. The conclusion might be a bit disappointing to you? It’s ALL GOOD. Why? Well... Material is material, a high end stiff rod or a high quality fiberglass material all has it’s place in fly presentations. Rods won’t catch fish by itself unless the hand tell it what to do. Duh… I am stating the obvious… well… “obviously thing trap people” – Newton : Eenergizing a Fly casting . That is the BLING lesson I have learned in this trip… To me, it cost about few thousand dollars of money to learn this lesson and I am giving it away to you here FREE. : )
Material is material: knowing the strength and weakness
I love fighting fish with a soft rod, fiberglass is a great material to fight a fish, especially big fish. They are soft, durable and they are always has an attractive translucent blank coloration. If you can catch a trout on a fiberglass rod, you will realize the addictive feeling of the “vivid fight”. I have to agree that most of my big trout on glass memories are so vivid that I still clearly remember every move and the atmosphere in taking a fish while on the other side the graphite flights seems a bit “murky” to my old brain. Ha… well... when blind cast to a potential holding spot, I love to use fiberglass rod, wet fly swing, blind dry etc...
However, graphite rod is a stronger material that made for presentation and accuracy, (here we comes my opinion again). I have to agree I fish more graphite rod than fiberglass in this western trip. Big river plus spooky trout and pinpoint presentation… there is no room for errors. I spent 95% of the time with graphite rod in this trip. The reason for that is the constant afternoon wind and required long cast… also the accuracy in the spooky water play a big role in my choice. A well balanced graphite rod will boom out a laser sharp cast and deliver a fly quietly just right in front of a nervous trout. This is based on my experience, of course. The most common misconception is that "stiff rod can not make a soft presentation", this is totally wrong statement! by using proper stop move, stiff rod can produce a feather soft free fall landing and yet, with pinpoint accuracy. I have witness Rene zing out a laser loop with a soft landing with his Scott s4 in this trip. A fiberglass actually is more difficult to cast (sloppier) under those conditions, usually it require more close approach, more careful timing to avoid the wind. This inherent weakness of softer rods make fishing fiberglass rods become sort of religion rather than realistic. For me, I have my hats off to those people that insist choice of fishing fiberglass rod, and I know the rewards for them are going to be big. As I state before, fighting a big trout on softer rod is addictive! You will have to adjust the fighting point on the rod constantly and it make the whole thing become a wonderful “feeling” game.
On the other side, the fun of fishing graphite rod is the feel of “sharp”. As sharp as a samuri execute a kill… as sharp as a chess gamer make a final attack. I have witness a sharp cast well placed by Mr. Harrop. It is such a joy and honor to see he placed a #18 ants right in front of trout’s nose in 60 feet distance, and the landing of the fly is so subtle that trout are constant in her rising mode until she fell into the trap. This is the joy of sharp, accurate and clean presentation that fiberglass can’t achieve.

What to choose? graphite for big river, fiberglass for small creek
I have bring along several rods with me,
graphite:
Sage XP 590-2. 5 weight 9 feet 2 piece rod.
Sage Z-Axis 490-2. 4 weight, 9 feet 2 piece rod.
Scott G2 884. 4 weight, 8’8” 4 piece rod.
G-Loomis Czach Nymph 4 weight 10 feet 4 piece rod
Fiberglass:
Yellow Fenwick “Little Yellow” 3 weight 7 feet 5 piece rod
Cortland pro crest 6 weight 8 feet 2 piece rod
All of them are designed to fit several different styles that “I think”I might need. The scott G2 are exceptional joyful rod to cast, medium action and has a lot of power if you dare to sling it… which I did a lot in the lower Madison when the wind is howling like no one’s business… I hooked several fat white fish on this rod and all I had in my mind is “what the heck if I can break this rod on a fish…” it stand it’s ground, what a great rod!
The Z-Axis 4 weight 2 piece, OMG, the best rod ever made that have cast in my hand! Period. This rod bearing a lot of good reputations that I usually will give this kind of rods more snob treat than respect… “ how good you could be”… am I wrong this time? This rod tolerant “nervous jelly arm” when facing a 2 feet long trout that just feeding actively 30 feet in front of me. A accurate laser beam cast allowed me to reach a vary distance and also able to place a fly accurate enough to solicited a trout eat. I absolutely love this rod, if I only can use one rod for western trout, this is the one! Period. As a side note, two piece rod is a whole different animal than 4 piece rod. If you ever heard the rod company tell you there is no difference between 2 piece rod and 4 piece rod… DON’T listen to them… two piece rod are way more sensitive and “clean” in feel than 4 piece rod. It is definitely worth the hassle to ship them in advance. Of course, this is based on my personal experience… but you know what… some of the best casters I know has the same opinion. (to be continued to fiberglass talk)

Henry's Fork

Before this trip, Henry's Fork is just another famous name / brand that I have read many times in articles and magazines. Yes, you can also find it on the book "50 place to flyfish before you die". It seems this is "the place" to fish, however,to me, this kind of famous place never seems has an extra enticement or power to me, it seems a small mountain creek that just flow out of a mountain forest will do the same. For a analogy, a enthusiast birder as I see myself, I never pursue a life list in my bird watching career, never marked off a species that "is done". because even a common house finch, or a common mocking bird still worth a close investigation every time I see them. It would be exciting to observe more detail behavior in any kind of birds actually... fishing to me is in the similar formula... I could be very careless about what river I am fishing, but more care about whom I am actually fish with; careless about what fish I am catching, but care about what method I am using and how the fish react to my fly per se... I guess it is all about "the process"... (ok, no more preaching )

"Trout Hunter on the Henry's Fork" is the place changed my previous thought about famous place, well... at least I discovered it myself, not from any articles and books. Trout Hunter is a flyshop, lodge and bar and grill that just located on the riverside of Henry's Fork (about 50 steps from the water actually)... believe it or not, they are not only doing the flyshop business in a great way, they do everything on a really high standard. The experience is whole packaged! Sounds they are paying me to do so... Ha... no... I am just telling what has striked me in this place... the people and dedication of flyfishing... Everyday we started off a great cup of coffee from the shop and start our way "wading out" difficultly toward the parking lot... why difficult? because of the people here... all the people were hanging out in the restaurant and the front porch... talking about fishing and everything from bugs to natural observations. It's amazing to see the passions that dedicated to flyfishing in those folks... I can see the light in their eyes... whether they are 18 years old young guns or 65 years old veterans... again, the people in this place make it shine and it is so amazing to be part of them... (to be continued)

just got back from the trip

I just got back from the annual road trip, memory and soul are enriched with those wonderful moments that shared with friends, mostly on river banks and some on the "drive talks". It is such a amazing trip that I don't think it ever happened before, it's also so overwhelming that I don't even know how to star those stories...(it seems every year me and BG were saying this is "the best" trip... then we top it over the next... I am afraid to imagine what is next? Ha....)
First off,as usually, instead of lay out the diary report, I would rather like to share some important thoughts that strikes me in the trip. So the following post won't follow the time line in the trip.
To me, people are always the key elements in the traveling. It's fascinating to observe and interact with other people during the trip, we exchange information, ideas or life experience and if I am lucky, a light worth a 10 years effort will come across and allow me to take a glimpse. What a inspiration! This is the moment that happened to me in this trip. How amazing and how lucky it could be! (to be continue)

when stars aligned

lucky me! yellowstone cuttroat trout found in yellowstone river... life is so wonderful!
: )

fish the yellowstone

needless to say, the yellowstone, what a great place to explore... it's soooo wonderful to see so many wildlife that actually fish with us @@... catch a trout in a moonlight meadow, with trumpter swan flyby, buffalo, elk and osprey... I am fishing in a heaven. We fish from dawn to dusk... sorry... there is no time for report... just few photos first... : )

it's time for another redbull

vacation!

Adventure West - Episode 04 from Thaddeus on Vimeo.

been there, done that! and I don't mind to do it again, and again...
: )

Montana Yellowstone Expeditions-Documentary from Phil Eastman on Vimeo.

Taming the Wind

DVD Review: "Taming the Wind" from Davin Ebanks on Vimeo.

This video is shown some wonderful tricks to tame the wind. The concept of "constant loading" is also mentioned in Ed Ward's skagitmaster DVD. It's such a great concept to control the wind. I have modified my double haul with this constant load concept. I really love it. It's smooth, fluid and fun, just like Yo-yo!

Zipcast fly line dressing

Time after time, the fly line will gradually accumulate dirt and become less "slicky",and doesn't float well. When it get old, it is time to bust out some fly line dressing, or cleaner to rejuvenate the line. It is very important to proper clean the line. Not only they will float better, shoot further, but also it will make you have better control of the line. Especially during short double haul casting, the dirty line will thwart re-feed the line in the back-casting and created line control problems. There are many kind of fly line dressing on the market, most of them are Silicone based. For those kind of line dressing, you squirt some on cloth and run though the line, wait few hours and buff them off. The Rio X agent and Umque line dressing are belong to this kind. I am NOT impressed with those Silicone dressing at all, because it only increase a bit performance, and sometime old dressing could become "sticky" and ruin the whole line.
What I have found lately, is a review article from globalflyfisher LINK The review is so tempting that I have to try it myself... the result? Oh man, I love this thing... it is super easy and super "slicky". It is Teflon based dressing, just run it though your line once or twice, you are good to go. The Zipcast is alcohol like solution, so you will feel everything go away except the lubrication remain on the line. I absolutely love this thing! I order them directly from the dealer, email: www.flyreeldots.com
flyreeldots@yahoo.com
610.220.9058
Jerry is such a gentleman to deal with. Just shoot him a email and you will become another firm believer, World's finest fly line treatment!
As a side note, you might want to clean your rod guides with the zipcast as well. As the old saying goes: "It take two to tangle"! This will reduce the fraction between line and rod guides and dramatically increase the smoothness of fly casting! Great stuff!

does color matters?

does flyline color matters? this is a long debating question in fly presentation. Over years, I found myself have leaning toward the camp of "Yah, it's matters"... as we all knows presentation is everything in trout fishing, stealth approach, good position, accurate casting, good landing, mending and good drift... all accounts! and everything is essential and important to a successful trout fishing. If you only fish for small creek pocket waters, you probably want to stop reading here... because you don't need anything below... For spooky trout fishing, I feel I need to do everything right in order to lure them to eat my fly. Does flyline color matters? I say yes!
As we know, trout has very good eye sight, not only see the full spectrum of color RGB as we can sees, but also studies show that rainbow trout can see the UV light (and most likely so in other trout species) that human can't see. On top of good color discrimination, trout also has a very accurate, sensitive vision, otherwise they will have a hard time to pick up a size #32 midge pattern. When we talk about vision and perception, there is one important factor that has to be taking into account, that is background color. Imagine a sculpin or darter swimming above a pebble bottom or on a white sand bottom. The background color will make them looks very different. Underwater trout looks up for food, the sky color become a predominant background color to them. So the contrast against sky color become important in trout fishing. White line will become camouflage under cloud cover. clear line will cast less shadow into the water under a sunny condition. The good old saying - "fly size" first, follows "shape" and "color"? have ever spooked a trout by casting a shadow into the pool? So the idea of monic flyline is by using a clear flyline, it will reduces the shadow and contrast when casting to a spooky trout. I have read some technical fishing reports in french nymphing for spooky trout. People are using long leader that up to 16-20 feet. Well, this might not sound difficult to cast to a experienced angler, however, the problem and challenge of this method is not casting, but is the lost of controlling the long leader. In my opinion, good control of the line and fly are the most crucial things in trout fishing. The solution? I am thinking the monic clear floating line maybe will provide a better control and stealth for this type of fishing... The drawback? they are more invisible to angler too, so a good feel in casting is needed, need some night casting training : ) The result? not sure yet... I will have to try it later in the trip and see how far it will go...

why everybody should visit yellowstone?

Adventure West - Episode 3 from Thaddeus on Vimeo.

because it is American's Best Idea - National Park! truely awesome family film! remind me how much fun I have when traveling with families and friends! Of course, a bit fishing would be even better : )

why fiberglass trout rod?

It's about time to fish for trout (for me). I am all excited about the coming trip to fish the western rivers, then a thought fly over my head: why not let's talk about trout rod? I have a gradually growing collection of trout rods... most of them are fiberglass rods, some of them are graphite rods, all has it's own character and role to fish them... but the one I enjoy the most is made from fiberglass material... why? not sure how to answer it, but let's read the famous interview from Fiberglass Manifesto first... then we can go from there... Larry Kenney is the one of most import rod designer in the early Scott Rod Company. He and Harry Wilson (Scott rod founder) created the highly sought after Scott fiberglass rods in the 70' (San Francisco era). If you are lucky, you still can find one on ebay, just be sure you put $800 or more into the bid if you really want it...
Quote from Larry Kenney Interview in Fiberglass Manifesto LINK "To get good accuracy, good leader turnover, and decent tippet protection from a light line rod, particularly a short one, you need a supple but controllable tip section, supported by mid and butt sections that let the tip do its work at short range and accept increasingly more of the load as casting range or fish resistance increases. You can build that tip section from graphite, but getting the suppleness you need demands either a very small diameter or a reduced wall thickness. There are problems with both choices. If you choose a thin wall, you risk creating a fragile blank. If you reduce diameter you need very small diameter mandrels around which to roll the graphite, and the resulting skinny graphite tip sections frequently don’t fare well in the rough and tumble of real-life fishing.

There are some pretty decent light line graphite fly rods available at 8 feet and longer, but in shorter lengths I’ve generally not been impressed. The path too many graphite makers have taken to make shorter #3 and #4 line fly rods has been to put the bend necessary to move the line into the butt section. The results, to my way of thinking, are pokey rods with stiff, slow moving tips that make for poor near-range accuracy – one of the very qualities you want a short rod for in the first place. Fiberglass’s greater flexibility and more reasonable diameters lead more directly to light, supple, effective and durable tip designs..." continue reading LINK

CF Burkheimer 1015

How lucky am I that be able to test cast the CF Burkheimer from Brian Styskal. This is a real big gun, 10 weight 15 feet. two different tips for different casting situations, specially designed for competition (and fishing). Brian is one of the finest distance spey caster in the world... He was placed in the 4th in Spey O-Rama 2010. I feel a lot of spirits and energy by just holding this rod... more report to come! Check out Kerry's website CF Burkheimer.

vacation 1

Kitchen is the place to have some fun : )





I have several vacation schedules coming up... finally! and this one is on the NC state visiting friends with friends in the blue ridge mountain area... it was a good 7 hours drive to the mountains... do I miss mountains!YoooHoooo, good food, good gathering and good fishing... I will just let the photos tell the story... who doesn't like vacation!? : ) there is more photos to come... (photos by Adrian/Mark)

Fly Fishing Iceland's Midfjardará River - Fly Nation TV Preview from Nick Pujic on Vimeo.