Creatures of the Night

I know its been a little while between post so I will make it up to you guys with a few fish. Since my last post I have become a creature of the night while fishing for Calicos. The Wall turns into a whole new world at night. The lights from the port light just barely light up the wall just enough to give you the feeling that you know where the fly lands. And unlike like the day, the wind usually die down and help turn the ocean into a lake. Then this calm night is shattered when a 6 pound Calico Bass decides she likes your fly more than you do. A tug of war ensues like you have never felt on the end of your fly rod and hopefully your line and muscles hold out long enough to get the fish to hand.

 

 Capt. Bill Calhoun with a solid 6 1/2 pounder

 This Calico was touching barely touching 7 pounds

Big fly equals big fish

I am currently working on getting my captains license so I can show you how much fun Calico Bass can be on a fly. 

A Little Bit of Everything

This last week has been just a potpourri of different fish and places. From the Long Beach Break Wall, to the clear waters of Diamond Valley and even a local pond. It all started with a very cold early morning boat ride to the Wall to see if some checkerboards would want to play. We got on the water at 5 am and started to knocking around on the outside but nobody was answering. The Santa Ana winds started to pick up so we moved inside to get and out of the wind. I was hoping to find a few sandies on the inside. We didn't find any Sandies but a few frisky Calicos decided to make our day a bit more interesting. After a about 8 or 9 fish to hand and the wind becoming more and more annoying we decided to call it a day.

I decided to give the Calicos a break and go pester the the carp again. I get to the pond early to see if sneak up close to some tailing fish but nothing was up yet. As I look at the pond it seams to be even dirtier than normal. It was like trying to find a fish in a barrel of chocolate milk. It was hard enough to see the fish butvery fish I saw was spooked by another fish closer to me. I felt like I need a gilly suit just to sneak up on some fish, it was ridiculous. I decided to sit and wait for the fish to come to me. So I sat and waited. Then waited a bit more and wished that I had a beer to help my fishing mojo. After about a thirty minute wait a single fish wandered into my casting lane. I was so proud of myself for out smarting the carp but then I reliezed that it was just a fish and that I haven't even hooked it yet. 

So I made my cast but I was a a couple of feet short. As I get ready to pull in my fly the fish turns towards my fly and I was stoked. But the fish decided to take its sweet ass time. I have seen snails move faster than this carp. After what felt like a hour he got to my fly and did his duty in eating my fly. After a good tug of war this beautiful guy came in for a kiss. He would have been pretty enough to kiss if I had a beer or two. After a photo I let the carp go into the chocolate milk and went home in good spirits.

 After a few days of job hunting and fly tying I get the urge to go get some green backs. So I called up my friend Jason aka "Big Sexy" and hit up DVL. The fish liked what Big Sexy had to offer. I, on the other hand, could not even get the fish to give me the time of day. After an early morning of nothing I started to moving around and do some metering. I found school of suspended fish off a saddle point. Yes, my searching has paid off this time. We make about ten casts each and the wham. Jason was bent with what I believe to be a striper until it went airborne. Its a big ass trout.  After a surprisingly good fight she came to hand and we realized she was well over 20 inches. We fished hard for the rest of the day and had only one more fish to hand for all of our hard work. Only two fish were landed and both were by Jason. All I caught was an old fish rod. Oh well, fun time were had by all. 

Carping in the OC

I know it has been a little while since my last post but I finally got my act together. And while I was getting my act together I decided that I would go bother the local carp for a morning. 

When I got to the pond there was a just enough wind to make it hard to see any fish. Still I decided to take a walk around for kicks. As I walked I noticed that I was not the only one that liked to fish this place. I keep walking and trying to spot fish but no luck. Then clouds parted and the wind died. I looked down to see a fish working just 20 feet away. At that moment I knew the Lucky Charms I had that morning were starting to kick in.

I make my cast and land the my marabou blood midge right on target. I could just see his tail working left to right. Looking for my fly and then....... Nothing. I got the cold shoulder. I don't like getting the colder shoulder. So I made another perfect cast and here he comes again. I feel something on the end of my line. Yes. I give a good strip and feel the line get even heavier. As I lift my rod and yell "yesss". As my rod get higher the fish comes unbuttoned and I end up with spaghetti all over. But he didn't get away clean, I got a scale.

 I stewed for a little bit while I waited for the fish to come back for seconds. As I sit there look over the water I see a golden tail come out of the water as if to say hello. And I decided to say hello in my own way, with an evil grin on my face. This time instead of leading the fish I would put my fly right on top of his head. My fly hits the water and WHAM. My line goes flying, the reel starts singing and my knuckles get a hammering. Man it hurt but it hurt so good. After a bit of coaxing and some sweet talk this beautiful creature came to my hands. All 8 pounds of him or her. After a couple of pics I get him up right and with a good push he swims off into the murky water. I ended up landing another 6 pound carp before my morning session was done. Not a bad way to spend a couple of hours in my opinion.

Good times

New Calico Patterns

Letting the super glue dry

Before trimming

The final product

And the result

I decided to sit down at the bench and get little bit more creative with a few of my Calico patterns. After a rather large beer I had few new color ideas pop into head. Not to mention I was drinking the perfect beer for the job. While tying I made sure double up on any areas that need some super glue and reinforcing. After a little bit of trimming I had three new color patterns, along with a couple of my favorites. I was so impatient to try them decided that now was as good as any time to try them out. So at 1 AM I headed out to the break wall with the Raja dog in along for the ride. After a few casts, and a perfect tide, I hooked a solid fish. After Battling the fish for a few minutes a 4 pound Calico came to my net. About 10 minutes later I had another fish slammed my fly. And another solid fish on and this one was 5 pounds. What a good night already. After 3 hours of fishing I had over 20 fish to hand and three of the fish where 4 pounds and above. All I can say is that both me and the pup slept good that night or should I say that morning.       

Calicos on the Wall

Please enjoy a little clip I put together a little while ago.

Lake Skinner has been pretty solid for the last few weeks with a few 4, 5 and even 6 pound fish to hand. Most of the fish are cruising the tule line getting ready to spawn. Throw Clouser Minnows, EP Shad flies and some Hare Jigs right up against the tules. Just make sure to cover a ton of water.

Fly fishing Calicos

Back to back to back hook ups. Too bad one was a Mac but it was still fun.