The fall alibi fishing has been exceptional, and our friend, Capt’n Jake Jordan has been right on top of all of it. My long-time friend, Chick Furimsky, founder of The Fly Fishing Show, had a chance to fish with Jake a week or so ago. They really did well. Trouble is, the sharks were in tune with what was going on, and several of their fish were “sharked.” they also lost fly lines, flies, and leaders, but no fingers or larger body parts, to the sharks. Still, it was a time of real “tug of war” with one on the sea’s truly fighting’ fools.

If you want in on the action, see the link to Jake at the right.

Chuck with a really fine Albie.

Capt’n Jake with another nice Albie.

Oops, shark bait.

This is one of those great programs that everyone should support, every chance available. Recently, Chuck Furimsky, founder of The fly Fishing Show, had an opportunity to help his local club with an outing for the Casting for Recovery Program. Here’s his report.

As  a founding member of the South Jersey Coastal Anglers I always try to join the club members when we sponsor the Casting for Recovery weekend. There are usually around fifteen women and plenty of volunteers that spend Saturday teaching casting, knots, and even fly tying. Rick Pope, the force behind TFO Flyrods, donated complete fly outfits for all the gals to use. We all meet at a beautiful campground lake where they all get waders, a box of flies, a loaded landyard, and a wading staff. Then everyone meets their guide from our club. I was teamed up with Viktoria, an artist living in New York after moving here from Hungary. She was the perfect partner, listening to all my suggestions, casting beautifully, and using the fly patterns she tied the day before. Her first cast, using her first-tied fly, caught her first fish, a nice 8 inch bluegill. That’s three firsts if you’re counting. We struggled to quit fishing and heed the lunch call. After about 15 fish, and one of the largest bluegills I’ve ever seen–I estimated it at 11-12 inches, and nearly two lbs.– it was hard to wade out for lunch. After a great buffet, a fund raising auction, and Viktoria winning a complete fly rod outfit for catching the biggest fish, another memorable Casting for Recovery weekend ended with smiles and tears.

Chuck and Viktoria ready to roll.

Now that’s one huge bluegill! It deserves a full fishing outfit award!

My friend, Bluesman Keith Scott, is also a fly fisher. He travels a lot playing blues across the U.S., and fly fishing, too. Recently, he had a fun day on a small lake. Fishing a Muddler, he landed a bluegill, a bass and, yup, a catfish. Now cats are not known as a fly rod species, but they can and do, on occasion, take flies just fine. This was the occasion. Nice catch, bluesman—see a link to Keith to the right.

Here kitty, kitty–sorry I couldn’t resist.

My good friend, John Beth, loves to venture into fly fishing’s past. This was a great year to do it, as he reports below. Tell us about it, John…

I had planned a September fishing trip to the historic and beautiful Bois Brule (Burnt Wood) river in northern Wisconsin with friends Bob Harrison and Scott Allen. We each planned one day fishing from a canoe with legendary guide Damian Wilmot; the other two would walk and wade the river elsewhere on their own.

To call Damian’s boat just a canoe would be a serious understatement. Damian, and his craftsman friend Lloyd Hautajarvi, had spent two, painstaking years restoring a magnificent, twenty foot, 1895, Joe Lucius canoe. Joe was a legendary canoe builder on the Brule, and one of the upper-river “lakes” is named after him—Lucius lake.

This float for me became something special. Damian had announced, earlier this month, that he would be retiring at the end of this season from full time guiding. For 29 seasons he has guided those who would cast a fly to a wild Brule trout. As an homage to the river, to him, to the wonderful Lucius canoe, and the spirits of all those past who, in my heart, are still there, I wanted my last day in that boat with him to be forever burned in my memory. The solution was quite simple. I love old fly gear–what I have of it – and I still fish with it. It is my connection to our sport’s past. The only way to know what it must have been like to fly fish 100+ years ago…is to fish that way!

On my day to fish from the canoe with Damian, the Lucius slid silently into the storied water at Stones Bridge, after a stormy morning had delayed us a couple of hours. I was soon casting my 1905 Millward Greenheart fly rod with a silk line, Macleay reel, made in Inverness Scotland in 1895–the same year that our Lucius canoe had been “born.”  There’s more…Damian had tied on a “Rat Faced McDougall “ dry fly, and I cast to (and caught) several native brookies in McDougall Springs, and oh yes, this Lucius Canoe was once owned by the Alexander McDougall Castle family.

There has been, perhaps, nothing more poignant than those moments and that day in my 50+ years of fly fishing. I was wishing a mysterious, ghostly fog would creep across the river and around us from the deep, Brule valley woods at our sides, and of course, It did.

The warm day too quickly faded away. Each push of Damian’s pole from the back of the canoe, just as Joe had done over a century ago, pushed us closer to our landing, and farther from the magic of our day of fishing wild brook trout in simpler times, as they did so long ago. It could not have been a better day.

As we closed the day, I was haunted by a strange sense of happiness and sadness.  Stepping out of the stunning, mahogany-trimmed green, cedar canoe for the last time, and looking back down this amazing river, I realized I wasn’t going back to reality–I was leaving it.

Ready to go–in the refitted Lucius canoe from 1895.

And, John, let’s fish the Rat-Face Mcdougall, a famous Brule River fly.

Success–a nice Brule River Brookie.

Even the fog cooperated, putting the river in the right mood for times past.

The Brule Runs Through It.

Chuck Furimsky, founder of The Fly Fishing Shows, was recently fishing the Salmon River in NY and decided to fish a small white, fly rod jig for the big kings—and guess what? Yup, he connected. That’s an impressive fish, Chuck!

Three years back (2014) I was fishing kings in the Chilean Patagonia, and we found that they took nymphs rather well. I caught a number of really big kings on a black, hair leg Woolly Worm.

So, don’t pass up the smaller flies just because you think the kings won’t take them. The may be the answer on an otherwise blank day.

Chuck’s king on a small, white, fly rod jig. That’s one big fish.

A Chilean king that fell to a size 6, black, Hair Leg Woolly Worm. The rod is Jason’s Shadow Caster 20–9 feet, 5 weight line–that I took the fish on.

Recently my friend, Chuck Furimsky (founder of the Fly Fishing Shows) fished western Montana with some friends, including Harry Schoel from Holland. They had a wide ranging experience but found the really big fish in lakes in SW MT. Lakes hold more and bigger fish that rivers, and if there’s a chance for lake fishing, I’ll take it. Chuck certainly found a good lake!

Lakes hold more and bigger trout that streams, and Chuck is out to prove it.

Ok, once is a coincidence. Twice is fishing in the right lake.

Fishing with flies started with trout. Our first records of fly fishing were made by the Romans about 100 AD, who observed a shepherd in Macedonia using flies to catch Marble Trout. But now that modern technology has stepped in and handed fly fishing nanotechnology, CNC machining, and CAD built lines, fly fishing has gone “whole hog,” and leapt into the waters held sacred by the gear guys—carp, pike, bass, gar, albacore, sailfish, marlin, and a host of other species. There’s great reward for the fly rodder willing to stretch beyond the confines of the trout str4eam.

Our friend, Theo Bakelaar, from Holland has had to do this simply because Holland is not the best place to fish for trout. There are a few, but there are many other species that are fly rod read, too. One of these is the “Asp.”As Theo explains, “they came over many years ago into our Dutch waters when the river Donau become too high. They hunt here for our small coarse fish and grow like crazy. It is a very strong fish and very clever. Hard to catch but in the fast current I could hook one on a popper. Fast stripping in the fast current, they have to take it ,yes or no. And when you hook one there is a party man, that fish runs like crazy in the current…..hard to stop. Its great fishing for them but hard.

If you’re a trout guy (like me), don’t turn away the chance to fish for other species. If they will take a fly, why not give them a chance. I’d like to have a go at the Asp in Holland. I’ll bet the take is savage and the fight equally so.

The Asp is a fish of heavy, fast water. Theo casts a popper and strips like crazy.

Heavy bodied and bright silver, the Asp is a great fly rod species.

An Asp of this size is a trophy, if for no other reason than the muscle needed to wrestle it ashore.

No, not the mafia—real sharks. My old friend, Chuck Furimsky, recently returned from a toothy critter trip for Northern Pike (which see). He then decided that pike teeth are not nearly toothy enough. So out on the big water off the coast of New Jersey to catch some big sharks—yes you have to use wire tippets. He used his incredibly effective “Chunk Head” fly, pulling the sharks close with a cut fish chum before showing them this cut bait fly. By the way, one does not unhook them with one’s hand—use a very long hook disgorger to do the job.

These were a bit bigger than the normal ones Chuck catches–very exciting to unhook.

Notice the wire tippet–essential on sharks of any size.

Yes, the Chunk Head is tied to look like a part of a baitfish.

My old home state, Wisconsin, has some great spring creek fishing, especially in the “Driftless Region,” so called because it was not glaciated in the last ice age. My old friend, John Beth, lives on the edge of the Driftless, and worries its trout–when making knives and playing piano and guitar will allow him to do so.

On his last visit, the summer vegetation had taken over, and he had to work to find places to cast without getting hung up in the tall prairie grasses and forbes. Well, he did find a few places, and found some good trout there. I especially like the coloring of the big brown and big brookie that he managed on his last outing.

A very nice brown on a tiny dry.

Great color on this lovely brookie from the Driftless.

My friend, bluesman Keith Scott, has been performing in MT, and has had a chance to fish some prime water. He visited Georgetown Lake (headwater of the Beaverhead). It’s a big lake—a big trout lake. I’ve also has some great carp fishing there. He had a great day with some nice fish, including a big brookie. Keep after ‘em Keith. Will there be a new song entitled “Georgetown Blues”?

Keith with a very healthy Georgetown rainbow.

A big Georgetown brookie.

Another great Georgetown rainbow.