mannym

The sexy vexy is sold. Thanks

Not sure of the age. I bought it used and have had it for 3 years. Thanks Manny

A must have for anyone serious about ice fishing. I need to sell for a bigger plan. First $130.00 takes it. Has brand new 9.0 amp battery ( from this season) was only used three times this year. I have a charger that goes with the unit. Thanks Manny

I had this rod made a month ago and will need to sell it for a bigger plan. I am only wanting what I paid. $150.00 The blank is an Rainshadow RX7. Reel seat is alum. with a permanent fighting butt at the end. It has two striping guides and snakes after that. All components are dark in color with the rod being maroon. I have not had a chance to use this rod but something tells me if I did, it would not have been posted here. Should make a nice rod for somebody going after bigger fish. Pics: Thanks Manny

Thank you phaaker. I might plan a trip later this month. We will see what mother nature brings us.

Man what a fine looking rod. Well done, Sir

Rather than post a short boring report, I will just let you guys know in this thread that..... I got the skunk the other day with my jig hook clouser. I tried a few different techniques to no avail. But I did find some rather deep holes ( for this river) One was about 9ft and the other two about 7 and a half. Both with washed up trees on rock shores and light to no current in them. To give you an idea of the layout of this stretch, I traveled upstream about 1.25 miles and only paddled through 3 pools. Average depth was probably in the 3 to 4 foot range with holes as mentioned above. It sure says big old smallies live here. Agree? At the end of the day, I will chalk this one up as a low water recon mission. Normally I fish this stretch for flathead during spring muddy water time. It was nice to see it during smallie water levels. Thanks John for the PM and tips. It made the clouser sit nice and level. I will have to reflect, revise and return to this area. If we get a warm weekend, The old Pensobscot might get pulled out of the garage and back on the water. Thanks for such a detailed conversation on this. Even if I didn't catch a fish, I felt much more confident chasing cold water bronzbacks.

I was thinking the same,but without the tandem rig. I tied some "special" clousers for this rig. Basically, I am using a jig hook with a small silver bead chain for eyes and sparse amounts of white and chartruse maraboo, tied in clouser fashion. I used red thread to make it look injured/bleeding. I added a couple strands of flash and I now have a chilly clouser for a float and fly with my 5 weight. I used indicators when I was fishing for steelhead a few weeks ago. The specific indicator I used kept an egg sucking leach pattern off the bottom. I am hoping it can keep this chilly clouser off the bottom too. The other part I was planning on doing was tying my leaders with a 3 foot butt section of 8 lb mono, followed by 3 feet of 6 lb mono, and 3 feet of 4 lb floro. I figured if I used floro all the way, my indicator would not float. But I wanted to use floro towards the fly end, to make sure the chilly clouser made it down to my desired depth as well as extended so I can see the lite bites on the indicator. I think mono, in any kind of current takes too long to settle and possibly not make the desired depth before the targeted structure or area. I am shooting from the hip on this, folks. Anyone want to give me some feedback or improvement ideas? I will be out Friday on the Vermilion trying this. They are calling for almost 60 in my neck of the woods.

Lately, I have been looking back at the progress I have made to my fly tying skills. I spent some time gathering up pictures I have taken from the last year of benchtime. The latest set of flies needed to be put through the studio. Fortunately, Deanna saved me time and pushed a dozen through the photo box she uses for her jewelry business. I will try to put these pictures in order to hopefully illustrate the evolution of my tying skills. As time went by, I noticed my storage was becoming an issue. I also realized how many bass pro receipts were hidden in drawers. The first set clearly shows that I was not paying attention to Lefty: As time went on, I would start to move up and get more creative: This was a fly I tied for a fly swap on another site. The confidence level was starting to take off after getting past this one. After taking some time to scope out a few Clousers I got from John G, I was ready to give them a go. At some point, I started to get interested in Steelhead fishing. Having never fished for them, I went on a google mission. What I found were these patterns: Egg sucking leach with a little milt: A cheap popsicle knockoff or two using a jig hook and conehead: The egg eating clouser I called a cradle robber. I used craft fur for the white on this one. My attempt at Senyo's Steak and Eggs I tried a few different stonefly materials. Dub and brass wire, dub abd red rib and black rib only. I liked them all equally: Lastly, I few basic eggs using some flashy Chenille I often use on Wooly Buggers, and an Eggi Juan Kanobi. I tied the Kanobi simply due to the cool name. I have yet to try these steelhead flies. I have tried to schedule an outing the last few weeks. Unfortunatly, between work, family obligations and the weather, I have been unable to drown these bad boys. I will wait patiently and let it happen when it is time. Although the checkbook is getting hit every few weeks, I do not regret taking to the bench. There is nothing more fulfilling than catching fish on something you made yourself. Below is my first smallie fooled by one of my own. Although not a trophy by most veteran fly fishers, this one fish will always be my first trophy:

Very interesting read John. We have been fishing the same waters all this time. I too started with bullhead. A catfish was a trophy fish in those early fishing days. On the way down to the fishing hole, my buddies and I would argue on who had the straight, right and left cast from the little open spot the backwater offered. After that came the Illinois. I remember seeing dead gar bigger than me laying on the shores. Carp so stinky, Pepe would fall in love at first whiff. The first white bass was at Starved Rock with minnows on a jig. Creek fishing was a favorite when I couldn't ride my bike to the canal. There I first learned about the Smallmouth Bass. I fell in love with the way they fought so hard to get loose. When I heard the Big V had these red eye bass, I always brought a fishing pole to our after church park outings with the family. There I learned to fish for smallies and flatheads while inadvertently learning to swim. I learned of the deep spot right in front of that flat rock with fast currrent to the left as you look downstream. Crawfish was my choice back them. I always found enough to catch a fish or two and come back up to the shelter before dark. I think this is the place I first ran into you. I too recall the days of many fish. 100 fish days were common for many anglers. Boy have the times changed. On the last few outings, I have noticed lots of crawfish swimming around as I walked through the shallows in the evening. I dont think it is lack of food. Or at least not for lack of crawfish. Do the carp mess with the spawn beds? Should the DNR fight carp with stocking programs to get them when they are small and edible by other fish? I wish we would figure it out soon. I would hate to see this river turn into a dead stream. If you are still open this weekend, let me know. I am still able to fish all day and anywhere.

I certainly do not have the money invested most of you folks do. I have the lower end equipment. For small streams, I have 4wt, 7'6" traditions rod with a Redington Surge reel spooled with basic float line. I do well with it in close quarters that I often encounter. It doubles as my trout rig too. The bigger rivers, I.E. the Fox, big V or K3, I have a 5wt, 9' Redington Crosswater, again with basic float line. I am hoping Santa is good to me this year and brings me a couple higher quality 6wt and 8wt's. The 6wt for bigger smallie flies and the 8wt for steelhead and pike flies. I do not have use for sinking line with these waters but would like to have a setup for that so I can check out the Big Pond and some of the lakes in the BWCA. My next trip up will be my first fly rod only trip.

Hey guys, I plan to head over to Hoosier land for a day of fly fishing for Steelhead this week. Is anyone willing to share their favorite fall flies for these fish? Reports are saying the water should be low and pretty clear on this creek. So far I have tied the basic egg with a #10 hook in various colors. I plan to do a few egg sucking leech patterns as well as the Eggi Juan Kanobi fly. The name was enough for me to say that I want to have a few in my box. Although I do not care for the name of this fly ( Chrystal Meth), I have what I need to tie this one and will have a few in the box as well. An egg eating stonefly pattern is the last one I came up with. I have read about all these different ways to fish for steelhead and decided I just want to stick with the more traditional fly fishing approach. All that chuck and duck, spey business just isn't for me. If I can avoid even putting a split shot on is even better. I have read much on tube flies but do not have the materials/equipment to go that route. I was hoping for something I can tie myself. Keep in mind, I am pretty wet behind the ears when it comes to the bench. Thanks Manny

This guy is all over the place. I have to think that soon, he will have networked more than Verizon. He seem to know many folks in the outdoor field. Another article on our Captain

Nice report Ronk. I had mentioned to John G about trying to get up there before yesterday, but overtime at work got in the way. As it did for a trip I wanted to take to Indiana today. Thanks Manny

I have been using a black popper in the evenings with good success. Pulling with the current is tough but has performed better than pulling upstream. Just my .02.

Ditto on John's comments. I live in Lowell and have chosen streams farther away for the simple fact that you have to bust your butt to scratch out a 10 inch smallie. Carp are so thick, you can walk across them. However, I have hooked a few big carp that put up a serious fight. One gave me finger burn when it pealed 30 yards of line in less than five seconds. It might have went 10 lb or so. Why is the big V a bust these last few years? Well, one could blame many fronts. Such as: 1. Flooding has ruined many a spawn periods. 2. The Carp have made it all the way up to Streator 3. Poor farming practices within the watershed. 4. Over harvest of game fish. 5. Sewer goo has increased in volume. The amount of foam has increased from what I rememeber. I never could understand why cities can dump reprocessed pee/poop water into our rivers. They all have good points. What bothers me is that we do not have the money to preserve this river like many other states do to theirs. What a shame.

John, I got the gunk. Tomorrow still an option? I get in town about 6:30 ish.

John, I will grab it next week. Monday/Tuesday. I will make sure to talk with the person behind the counter to see what he says about your type. Do you have an open evening next week? Maybe we can meet up on the river.

The bike patch method or flexible clear silicone might work. There is stuff in a tube for seams on waders too. I used it on my hodgemans at the start of the wading season. It was only about 5 bucks. Tell you what, I will grab a tube from BP and trade you for a sampling of those supersized clouser minnows you threw at those hybrids.... hahaha. Seriously, if you want a tube, I go there during lunch at least once a month and I am about due. I know this cuz I am starting to get the shakes.

The river is in a valley for most of the stretch from lowell to the mouth. There is no easy way in places with access. Your best bet is going towards Pontiac. The closer to Pontiac, the less of a chore to the water. Its finding public access that becomes the new chore.

Thanks for the info. I had two on my leg yesterday from walking on a horse trail at Math state park. Fortunately, they were not completely buried.

Looking forward to it, John. Be careful on your trip.

John John John John John. OUTSTANDING Job! Glad your first trip with the fly rod was a great one. When are you leaving for trout country?

Paddling.net is a good source as well. Worth checking out.