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Quick update on the Team’s activities. This round we have a couple of items on recent happenings…

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Why We Like Maltese Puppies #maltese

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Yesterday, was able to get a cast or two with the TFO Fly Rod. Casting the OPST Commando Head with the coated running line made for much easier line management. So far so good… will likely use this rod in place of the 5wt that has been “retired” to the closet. Have a video of the fishing yesterday; still editing it… only caught one Bass and fouled hook at that. Temps were chilly, Bass were not biting… even picked up one by hand and moved it to a more aerated area. For now, Charlie and I have been preparing for warmer weather; plan to take him kayak fishing later in the year. That said, how about a skit to provide a little humor to our viewers!
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How Do We Clean and Cook Trout?

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Question from one of our Readers asking, “How do we clean and cook trout?” In answer to the question, we provide a summary of the different ways we clean and cook trout! Depending on the size of the trout, we clean and cook them as follows: Stocker size trout (9″-13″ in size) : We cut their heads or remove the gills (“gilling”), and then we remove the guts. Not sure why we opt to cut the head off versus “gilling” them; just seems to go one way or the other from trip to trip. When cooking the Stockers, we season them with salt and pepper (sometimes add Season Salt), and then pan fry them in oil for about 5-8 minutes each side. For larger trout in the 14″ – 18″ range: We clean them like the Stockers but will split the fish (butterfly). We then cook them on a cedar plank (see Grilled Plank Trout Recipe ). For trout going 19″+ in size: We gill them and remove the guts, leaving the head in place. Then, we stuff with lemon slices, onions, butter, and sprinkle Rosemary in the body cavity. Nex...
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General Observations for Locating Fish in a River

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Great info from one fisherman… Lloyd5: General Observations for Locating Fish in a River I've been fishing the same stretch of the Brazos for many years. Here are some observations on where to find different species in the river. These are not hard and fast rules, but fairly general in nature, yet they hold true an awful lot of the time. Bluegills are typically close to the bank, within about 6' of the edge. Bluegills love cover, so a good place to hunt for them is where there are tree branches in the water, or tree roots. I've seen a lot of bass tearing up the water right at the edge, going for the Bluegills, they are under constant attack, probably why they like cover so much. The further you get away from the bank the larger the Bluegill is likely to be. I've caught them in the middle of the deep zones, but not all that often unless the deep zone doesn't extend to the bank. Typically the further from the bank the larger the Bluegill will be. Bass generally stay i...
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Black Near Deere Variant

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Here is a variant of the Near Deere tied using the same material as the Olive Near Deere but uses one black marabou plume and no chenille. Instead, the marabou plume is used in place of the chenille. We still prefer using chenille when tying a Near Deere, but in making do with what we have, this approach allows us to skip a trip to Cabelas just for one item – black chenille. The pattern works for stocker trout in our area, and skipping the chenille makes for a quicker tie. Do check out the steps below on how we tie the Black Near Deere Variant.   Tying the Black Near Deere Variant Picture 1 First step is to build the thread base like normal, ending just slightly past the point where a perpendicular line from the hook point to the hook shank would intersect. Then, build a slight “hump” with the tying thread as shown in Picture 1. The hump helps lift and spread the feathers of the marabou tail from the hook shank.     Picture 2 Next, measure a hook shank l...
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Fly Casting with a Three Foot Fly Rod and no Reel... Hand Hold Revisited? #orvis #practicaster #demo

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This video answers the mail – a YouTube Viewer requested we show the hand hold we used in the video One Rod, No Reel. The intent of the One Rod, No Reel was to show quality fly line was more important than the fly reel, and the suggestion was to focus more on a quality fly line, followed by the fly rod, and then the fly reel for most fishing situations. In One Rod, No Reel, we used a premium but old 5wt WF Fly line that we have since retired… keeping about 8 yards of the forward portion of the fly line, attaching it to a short section of dacron backing, and a rubber band. We then attached the rubber band to the rod handle, and then demonstrated casting without a fly reel as well as catching a trout or two at a local pond. To answer the mail, we removed the 4wt fly reel that was zip tied to an Orvis Practicaster, and used the heavy “rope like” practice line that came with it to show the hand hold used. And since, we still had the fly line used in the One Rod, No Reel vi...
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Light Lining with Corn for Trout... #ultralightspinning #troutfishing

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Limited out at Waterloo Park Pond on trout but used a light lining technique as the trout were picky! For bait, tried Power Bait but soon learned the trout wanted corn instead. Video below demos the light lining technique; rig used was a split shot set a foot from a size 12 hook. Light lining calls for using a small split shot that does not sink too fast when cast. In the video, we cast the rig, count to 4 or 5, then make a couple of turns on the reel to take up slack, and then watch our rig drift in the current. We repeat this until we feel the trout nipping at our bait, then we maintain line control while we watch our line. If the line slackens, the trout is running in on us and we will take up the slack but not set the hook immediately. If the line tightens, then the trout is moving away and we will give line and continue to wait to set the hook. Timing the hook set will vary, some times the trout will commit to the bait shortly after the initial bite. Other times, the trout will bi...
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Question: How Do We Attach a Line to a Tenkara Lillian?

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Question from one of our Readers asking how we attach our line to a Tenkara rod’s lillian. We use a loop to loop connection to attach our line. One loop is formed by the lillian; the other loop is from the braided line that we use when fishing with a Tenkara rod. When we use a level line, we attach a 10″-12″ piece of monofilament line to the level line with a nail knot, and then form a loop on the other end of the monofilament using a perfection loop knot. To better illustrate the loop to loop connection, we have posted a video below. Do check it out!    
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