Trip Buildup

Hooray! Today was the first day in over two weeks that we hit the 30 degree mark! I'm not getting excited though, as temps are falling straight down and by Thursday and Friday highs will be in the low teens. Knowing this, and being completely bored from a couple weeks without fishing, Jake and I headed north yesterday to do a little steelheading. The reports lately have been that there are actually a fair amount of fish in the river but conditions have been really bad and good days are few and far between. It was 15 with a stiff breeze when we got there and over a foot of snow on the ground. We bundled up, grabbed the spey rods, and hiked upstream to a few favorite pools.

Right off the bat in the first run we fished I had a pull on a flashy leech pattern and came tight on a fish. Right away I could tell it wasn't a steelhead and after seeing the fish roll I was happy to see it was a nice sized brown. I couldn't believe my eyes when I got the fish to me and saw that he was snagged in the stomach! I've never seen a snagged fish while swinging flies and Jake and I both agreed the fish must have swiped at the fly and gotten snagged on the hookset or when he turned. Still, I couldn't get myself to take a pic....the fish was a 17-18 incher with alot of color though. Unfortunately that was the only action of the day despite fishing some prime water. Here is Jake swinging another popular pool.

Soon the wind had picked up even more and it had started to snow pretty hard. We figured we had toughed it out long enough and headed back to the truck. Even when you get shutout on this river its a good day, its so pretty and peaceful in the winter and you just never know when you'll connect on the steelhead you know is there.

The bright light at the end of the tunnel is that we leave Friday morning for Arkansas and the White River! I have never been down to this fabled river but several of my friends have and they all rave about the huge browns that live there. This will primarily be a streamer trip looking for post spawn browns who are wanting to put some meat on their bones. 7wt and 8wt rods, 250-400 grain sink tips, and big articulated streamers is the name of the game, so naturally I have been busy tying up concoctions of marabou, rabbit, schlappen, etc. I think I should be fairly well covered...



When the generators aren't running there is also some very good nymph fishing in the shoal areas. One of the favorites is the white river y2k bug. I fished this alot in Georgia/NC and apparently the fish love it in Arkansas too. Stupid looking but easy to tie and a fish killer.

One thing that excites me about the nymph fishing is that it will give me the opportunity to fish my new Winston b3x 9ft 5wt for the first time. Anybody that fishes with me knows I am a complete gear junkie and love new rods, reels, lines, etc. This little cartoon was posted by a friend on facebook and pretty much sums up how gullable and easily persuaded I am.

At least I know its mostly marketing and dont fool myself into thinking I'm actually going to catch anymore fish with it. With that being said....this is one hell of a rod! Just look at this spiffy Winston green graphite rod tube.

I have been looking for a real "do it all" 9ft 5wt and I feel that this rod is it. Super light in hand with a crisper feel than the B2x and a slightly stiffer tip. I really like the B2x rods, and have the 8ft 4wt and 9ft 4wts, but I think the B3x's are a nice improvement and thats especially true for 5wts and up where a stiffer tip helps with wind and turning over heavier rigs. I haven't gotten to fish it yet but plan to slime up that grip in a few days. In the meantime I keep wiggling the rod in the house and oogling over how shiny it is!



Needless to say I am a dream come true for these companies marketing departments, especially Winston which is my real soft spot. Oh well you live once! I'll get a report up when I get back next week, hopefully with some huge pissed off browns!