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| Home Waters |
By Jack Simpson
I've spent the last couple of years designing fly rods for different manufacturers and building them for about 15 years. Designing is all about composites and the placement within the rod blank taper to make it do what you want it to do.
Building is about selecting the different components of a fly rod in order to produce a rod that is both aesthetically and functionally pleasurable for a particular person.
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| Home Waters |
By Jack Simpson
Spring ‘turnover’ is upon us. Lakes in the 2000' to 3000' elevation have either turned or are about to. Water ‘boatman’ have been active in recent days, and trout fishing has been exciting as a result. There’s nothing like boatman for big, splashy, aggressive hits and almost always a positive hookup.
Ice-off: reed lines and leeches
| Home Waters |
By Jack Simpson
The lakes that are ice-free are becoming numerous.
As of this weekend, April 28th and 29th, any stillwater below about 2900' elevation should be clear. Now is the time to be hitting the shoreline shallows with micro-leeches.
Lake water conditions: winter-kill and turnover
| Home Waters |
By Jack Simpson
As the local lakes are just now beginning to open their ice surfaces, I thought it would be timely to present a short explanation of some of the conditions that affect our fishery immediately after ice-off.
Beyond the shoal: targeting the weed beds in early spring
| Home Waters |
By Jack Simpson
Aquatic weed beds are the ‘bottom’ of the stillwater food chain: the producers of oxygen during the daylight photosynthesis periods, the plants that pump nutrients from the sediments and release them into the water to support zooplankton, the structure that feeds and provides cover for aquatic insects and an area that provides both hiding places and a food supply for trout.
Ice off--fly fishing the shoals
| Home Waters |
By Jack Simpson
Early spring and ‘ice off’--finally! You've done the research, found your very own target lake on GoogleEarth and the fisheries data tells you there are trout in there. You've identified the shoals from satellite image, but you need to know where to start. In this case, you think like a bug: migrate to the warmest part of the lake--the part of the lake that warms up first.
Hard water season research
| Home Waters |
By Jack Simpson
‘Research’: verb - "To study (something) thoroughly so as to present in a detailed, accurate manner."
What research does for the ‘fisher’ is that it ensures success during the fishing season. Where to begin? How about a close, reasonably scientific look at the various stillwaters that we have in this area, including which ones are ‘productive’, which ones have large concentrations of coarse fish---plus that really important question: where are ‘the Big Boys?’
