Fishing has really heated up this past week.  Went out for a couple of hours this morning, got the limit and came in.  Almost wish it would have taken longer, because now I  have to go and work digging for a new cement pad.  You pay to play

After trolling for the early limits,  I spent another hour and half tossing weapons to land a few more fish.  Would tell you what colors, but I paint my weapon blades myself, so kind of hard to discribe.

When I came in, some of the older guys said they had good success perching around Sputnik.

Just check Captain Mike’s report from Matthew’s B&T, and they have much the same.  My best blades for walleye trolling were Moldy Muffin, Confusion and Purple Parrot.  Mike and Jason said they are loaded up with bait for the Holiday Weekend, and have some fresh GPS pts for their customers to try on their next trip.

While fishing in the Smith Reservoir in Lakewood, Colorado, 18 year old Travis Smith caught a fish with quite a bite. He first thought it may be a piranha, but realized that there are not supposed to be piranhas in Colorado. The teeth in the mouth of the fish were not what you would normally find in a fish here in the US.

Travis and his father investigated on the internet and sent photos of the fish to the Colorado DNR to determine extactly what species this mysterious fish was. It was identified as a “pacu”, which is a South American fish related to a piranha. Representatives from the DNR stated that it was probably purchased for someone’s aquarium and later put in the lake.

Travis has frozen the fish and is not sure what he will do with it.

Fishing is always full of surprises.

Now it all makes sense,  two weeks ago I had called Fishlander looking to pick up some additional glow colorado blades.  No one answered the phones on my attempts to get through.  Although, at the time I didn’t think much of the situation, it all made sense a week later.

Fishlander has closed it’s doors and shut down the shop.  Details are a bit sketchy, but lets call it putting trust in the wrong folks and money issues.

Although I have many, many Silver Streak blades that I have purchased from Frank’s and Matthew’s here locally, its still sad to hear.  Fishlander offered a product that couldn’t be found from other companies, an Ultra Glow blade for walleye harnesses.

Walleyes can be a fickle fish, the right colors and sizes out produce others when the conditions are right.  Those Ultra Glow blades were a favorite of mine on dark and overcast mornings.  I tried looking for more to no prevail.

Look for some of their spoons to be picked up by Warrior Lures, another Michigan company.  Warrior, like many spoon companies, started off making salmon spoons.  They will be coming out with a walleye spoon in time for next spring.

Well Belle is back from the clinic where she got snipped yesterday.  She is snoozing already, and after getting up at 5 am to take care of Gauge who slept in the house rather than be all alone, so am I!

I had to take poor lil’ Belle in to get snipped this morning down in Toledo,  on the way home I dropped off some of the crawler harnesses that I sell in Bolles Harbour.  While at Matthew’s I had picked up some blades and spoons to purchase.  As Jason was ringing me up, I got this little bit of useful information, all their spoons are on sale for the next two weeks.

All spoons are now $3.29 each.  True I just wrote about the big news at Bass Pro,  but I can buy a whole lot more locally that it would cost me in gas to drive down to Perrysburg.  I like the Silver Streak blades and spoons pattern choices a little better than the Stingers anyway.  But that’s just me, my preference.  Besides when you can help out a local business and they offer you a great service, give them a good look.  We all remember what it was like not to have that second bait shop in the harbour operating.  Good people, good service and support the locals first.

Bass Pro Shop’s Grand Opening in Rossford, OH is two days away.  That is this Tuesday, at 6pm.  For more information here is the store’s number….(419) 891-3900.  I just might head down to see Jeanette Lee, better known in the billiard circles, as The Black Widow.  She is on ESPN all the time when they show the ladies professional pool tournaments.  You can also meet KVD, or Kalamazoo’s own Kevin VanDam and PWT pro Gary Parsons all this Tuesday.  And that guy who likes to smootch on fish, Jimmy Houston.

Now for the deals:  Any Reef Runner in the 500, 600,  700 or 800 Series, you get 5 for $20 bucks.  Thats a buck 69 off each.  $55 Daiwa Accudepth reel and Firewolf trolling rod combos.  Your favorite Thundersticks, Tots, Stinger Scorpion Spoons or Northland Rainbow Image shiner or crawler harnesses are only $2.98 each.  Load up on Hot n Tots and Stingers for that price.

That same deep fryer that I picked up and used this past weekend that I showed with the pics, is on sale ofr $29.99.  The remote sensor I used for the smoker is on sale for $24.99.  Love that because I can be anywhere 100 ft away and I know what the temp is inside the meat being smoked.

Those are some of the fishing highlights, there are guns, combo’s, furniture and clothing for sale as well, plus many more stars of the outdoor world visiting as well.

We’re back at the home of the Trout Underground’s Anonymous Director of Freeloader Montana Fly Fisherman Housing - unexpectedly so.

The fly fishing on Rock Creek has been excellent; the trout were jumping on our Golden Stone dries non-stop.

Yesterday found me holding my first pure-strain Westslope Cutthroat (pretty thing) in the net. Today it was non-stop brown trout, with a few cutt-bows mixed in to foment suspense.

Adding to the Extreme Fishing Situation (imagine a rock soundtrack playing under this report) was the oddly pleasant high-modulus “crack” generated when a high-end graphite rod simply snapped in half when my big, burly, sinewy, extremely manly arms attempted a hookset into a big, big brown trout.

Us writers are slight, but wiry.

Later, we pulled out [name redacted]’s mini-drifter, but when we arrived at Stony Creek campground, the hissing from under the truck’s hood was audible.

The upper radiator hose had passed from this plane of existence, and if we were going to drift Rock Creek tomorrow (Monday’s the last day you can fish it from a boat), we needed a replacement. Fast.

Fortunately, we had the Subaru shuttle car handy.

Which is where it gets a little weird.

Montana’s not exactly bereft of Ford pickup trucks. In fact, they’re pretty much everywhere, but apparently, nobody feels the need to stock this particular hose.

After three hours of driving, we discovered the only hose in the area was back in Missoula — our starting point Saturday morning.

We made the 2.5 hour drive back, retrieved the Extremely Valuable Radiator Hose, then swung by the [name redacted] homestead for a quick shower (yeah, we needed it), a little beer, and a lot of food.

With two more hours of driving still to come, I sat down and added up the chilling figures; by nightfall, I’ll have spent 26.5 hours in a car seat since Friday morning.

I think I’ve seen as much of the world from behind the windshield as I care to - at least for now.

We’re almost back out the door.

Back… Wednesday? Probably. Should have a few pictures, but Rock Creek’s not exactly a leisurely float; the river is moving fast, there are damned few places to eddy out, and you’re focused on hitting the slack spots on the bank.

All of which leaves little time for photos. But because you are my friends, I’ll endeavor to shot a few.

See you on the water, Tom Chandler.

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Looks like Captain Mike from Matthew’s B&T ended up having a better day yesterday than I did.  The four foot plus waves played havoc on the equipment, its no wonder I saw quite a few “tournament” boats heading in so early in the morning as we headed out at 7 am.  We did end up with an undersized walleye for the first time this year, a nice looking year and half old fish.  Here is what Mike was able to get done yesterday. 

WE fished today and did OK. We ended up taking 25 Walleyes trolling spoons and cranks out from Stoney Point in 27′ of water. We took quite a few small eyes today as well probably 10 or so. Good to see the little guys around, good fishing for years to come.

Capt. MIke

The aging Toyota (and the aging person driving it) made the 13.5 hour trip to Missoula in great shape.

Though I’d love to describe the effort in terms that elevate it to the level of crossing the prarie in a Conestoga wagon, the truth is rather simpler; I just drove a lot.

In the west — where things are rather far apart — that’s how you get from Point A to Point B.

I’m at the house of the Underground’s Anonymous Fly Fishing Benefactor in Missoula, and we’re throwing gear in the car for a camping trip on Rock Creek.

The stones are still coming off, the creek’s coming down, and for once, it looks like the Underground’s timing is damn near perfect.

Naturally, expecting big fish on top of the perfect timing represents a kind of hubris that can only lead to trouble, so I’m only going to say it’s beautiful up here, The Benefactor’s fun to hang with, and if we catch a few small fish, well, that’s just icing (looks around furtively).

I’ll likely be out of touch for a couple days. But don’t cry for me, Undergrounders. It’s the kind of out-of-touch fly fishermen live for.

See you in Montana, Tom Chandler.

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One of the best ways to invent something new is to somehow combine two things that already exist. That is what Snag Proof has done with the Wiggle Wog. It is part frog and part swimbait. It has a 4/0 double hook, an internal glass rattle for attracting attention, and a paddle tail to produce great action. The movement of the paddle tail causes the entire lure to wiggle as it moves through the water. The Wiggle Wog is great in open water, and of course is weedless so also works well in tall grass and weeds.

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