No fishing, but still keeping busy

Its been 11 days since our stream season has opened and I still haven't been out there casting a line yet. Last year this time I would have been out a few times already, and the way things stand at the moment it will be another two weeks before I get the chance.  I picked up a sweet Sage Click III reel for a bargain and am dying to give it a try. I have even been putting of spooling it with a new line and some backing because I fear that if I do that I am going to have to call in sick at work to go try it out.

Just waiting for a new line

I have also been busy setting up the shop, but being technologically left behind it turns out more of a mission than I though. I though by doing it myself I would know all the in and outs so that when things go wrong I would at least be able to fix it. As it turns out most of the things that goes wrong is of my own doing. I am hoping to change the shops theme as soon as I figure out how to do it.

Apart from that I have also been tying some flies that is going on sale in the shop.

Those of you that know me knows that I hate tying the same fly over and over, so selling flies will not be a full time thing, but it always is nice to have some box fillers for the suckers clients to add to their orders.

I will leave you with a short clip of the first day of the season on one of the local streams that was shot by Tim Rolston from The Fishing Gene. Just turn of the sound as the traffic driving past is a bit annoying.

Custom build nets and rods.

It has been a while since I have posted anything. With our river season still closed (3 more days to go), work keeping me busy and trying to get my online shop up and running I haven't spend much time on the blog, fishing or tying any flies.

Today I thought I would give a shout out to a very talented rod and net maker. Mario Geldenhuys of Custom Fly Rods has help me quite allot in the last few weeks to get my website up and running. Apart from being a guru on the computer Mario is also a master at making custom rods and fishing nets.

Mario make his Japanese style curved nets from scratch. He even goes out and collect and cut his own pieces of wood and is always looking for that next piece of wild wood with the perfect grain.

http://www.customflyrods.co.za/

Each net starts of by laying out the handle shape on a piece of wood to best incorporate the grain of the wood in the final handle.

 

 

 

http://www.customflyrods.co.za/

http://www.customflyrods.co.za/

One of Mario's net in action

It is well worth giving Mario a shout if you need that one of a kind net or custom build rod. His craftsmanship and attention to detail is superb.

Give www.customflyrods.co.za a visit and check out the gallery section of the site for some more samples of Mario's work, including hand crafted reel seats, grips, custom build rods, and more.

And of course if you need help building a website or a place to host it, then Mario is also the man to speak to.

Blue Gum Grove 01-08-11

Had the day of work today to attend to some things. I managed to finish early and decided to go down the Blue Gum grove for the evening hatch. I tied up another Fish Skull fly over the weekend and decided to try it out. This fly had a awesome action in the water and I with the dam settling and the water very clear I could see a couple of fish giving it a look and a follow but none committed to it.

 

There were some fish rising around the dam and I think they might have been more focused on the hatch. I tied on a small nymph and first cast it was fish on. The little bit of wind dropped and the dam was transformed into a mirror, which together with the clear water made thing a bit difficult. I did manage to land another few fish though.

The was also a Fish Eagle competing with me. This was actually quite amazing to watch as he was sitting in a tree and every now and then he would launch himself and dive for a fish. I actually spend a good hour just sitting on the bank watching him. I shot a little movie on my point and shoot camera but it came out terrible. I really wished that I had my bigger camera with me as I could have taken some awesome shots.

FINAL SCORE

ME: 1

FISH EAGLE: 0