A Spring Cleaning

It's been a while since I've posted, but there's good (well...truthful at least) reason for that.  Over the past several weeks, I haven't gone fishing more than 2-3 times, and have exactly no fish to show for it.  Further, I've done no tying at all, and what little photography work I've done to this point has been just that: work.  The D80 got it's first real workout of the year at work, taking a few shots of various pieces of equipment for reference purposes.  Not exactly thrilling news.

That being said, changes are in the works for Dharma of the Drift. 

Dharma of the Draft? 

With recent added responsibilities at work, I've found myself becoming more and more interested in beer.  Not just the drinking of it, but the history, taste, brewing, and chemical aspects as well.  While I'm no chemist, brewer, or historian, I am now a beer-taster by occupation, at least partially, so as difficult as it's been to commit to tasting beer on a regular basis, I'm taking my tasting more seriously.

To that end, after posting some fun facts, reviews, impressions, and opinions elsewhere on the interwebs, I realized that my readers probably do their fair share to keep people like me, in the beer business, in business.  While I'm sure not everyone who checks out DotD is a beer drinker, I bet many are, and I bet there's a high-percentage of craft beer enthusiasts.

To this end, I've decided to include beer, alongside fishing, tying, and photograpy, as a focus of the blog.  Of course, some may argue against diluting the purity of focus...but ultimately, it isn't their blog.  Over the past few months, beer has become another sort of hobby-taken-seriously for me.  Instead of browsing the coolers for a funny name or snazzy packaging, I'm looking at styles, favorite brewers, hard-to-find beers, or beers that showcase particular ingredients.  I'm far from an expert, but I hope my readers will enjoy the shared thoughts.  Further, sharing my impressions will make for much more regular updates, which is a good thing for all of us.

Facelift

I'm sure many of you remember the original gray and orange theme that was in place when the blog here launched.  Wasn't much, but it was functional.  Then I made an overhaul to the current look.  Over the next several months, I'm looking to re-do the look of the site, preferable to a simpler (though not strictly minimalist) look.  I read several dozen blogs, and I most look forward to visiting the simplest layouts among them.  

While I want to maintain functionality, there's lots of baby fat in the current design, and I'd like to trim it somewhat.  Though it's far from finalized, I'm thinking 3 or fewer colors, in maybe 2 tones each.  Nothing busy or flashy.  I'm even considering dropping the carousel window (one of my favorite features in the early days of DotD).  

Long story short, I guess you'll know it when you see it.

PhotoRetro

Just added this little beauty to the stable.  

Though she needs a bit of TLC, expect to see some pics from this one (as well as a more detailed intro post) soon!

Reel Good News

The reel I wanted to pair with my new 8wt finally arrived at the doorsteps of a shop I've been emailing for a month.  Placed the order a day or two ago, so hopefully, I'll have it in my hands within 2 weeks!

That's all for now...after two weeks of stupid-warm March weather, an incredible St. Patrick's day in Pittsburgh, and a really nice birthday, it's time to get to some fishing!

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Redington Predator 7'10" 8wt Review

For those of you in contact with me outside Dharma of the Drift, whether personally or on any of a number of forums, you probably know that I’ve been looking to put together a setup specifically for fishing big streamers for big fish, especially from my kayak.

What started out as ‘keeping an eye out for a good price on a 6wt’ turned into a real learning experience.  

Some may know that over the past few weeks, I decided on a rod. While I’ve been busy with long work hours and the onset of the spring semester (complete with a 6 hour class that is held at 8am on Saturday...yes...it’s every bit as awful as it sounds), I’ve not had a chance to fish the rod, but I figured that if any of my readers are in the market, it might be helpful to them if I shared my first impressions.  

It was a long deciding process, but eventually, I decided on a streamer rod...

Redington Predator, 7'10" 8wt, 4pc

Decision Making Process

As everyone here knows, I do a fair amount of comparing, reading of reviews, obsessing, considering, and generally fussing over any major choice, and this rod was no exception.  In the end, for off-the-rack rods, it was narrowed down to the TFO TiCr X, Sage Smallmouth, Ross FlyStik, or the Predator.  

Each choice had pros and cons: reviews of the Sage were all over the place...not just with regard to personal satisfaction, but even down to things like the overall action (with the same line), casting in the wind, casting topwater, casting streamers, and distance/accuracy.  With that much variance, I was a bit leery, also, most reviews either completely loved or completely hated the rod...that makes it one I'd like to borrow from a friend or shop for a day or two on the water before committing to a purchase.  

The Ross seemed to get generally positive reviews, but not many reviews compared to the others, and at that, I seemed to get the impression that most of the reviews I read were by people not as steeped in fly fishing as me.  That isn’t to say I consider myself some kind of pro, or that I’ve been fishing for decades...just that a lot of what I read seemed to be coming from a guy who, while happy with his Fly Stik, would have been equally pleased with any mid-level 6-8wt on the market.  Yes, it was a good rod that did everything they asked of it, but few seemed to have perspective compared to it’s direct competitors in the ‘short, fast, heavy’ niche.

That left the short (now discontinued) 7’6” 6wt and 8wt in the TFO TiCr X line and the Predator, which comes in the same weights at 7’10”.  For both of these rods, what little in the way of info and reviews I could find was overwhelmingly positive.  In fact, most of the negative feedback on both rods came in the form of questioning the usefulness of such a rod by people who never actually used one.

From what I could gather, both rods filled the same niche and filled it pretty equally well, with the TFO being, perhaps, a bit faster and more powerful, the Redington a bit smoother and better finished.  Really, these things effectively cancelled one another out, so it simply came down to price, availability, and personal preference.  For the preference end of things, all else equal, I prefer to steer clear of TFO, due to spokesman Lefty Kreh’s stance on the privatization of public water.  Not that I’m boycotting TFO or despise Lefty by any means, just that I disagree with him on an issue that is very important to me, and as a result, given otherwise equal options, I’d rather not support his position through my dollars.  

Of course, finding the Redington at a deep discount made the decision fairly easy as well.

Impressions

Upon receiving the rod, I found it to be about as high-quality as I expected for a rod at its MSRP, and significantly nicer than any rod retailing for what I paid for it (with discount), making me, thus far, pleased with my purchase (though it hasn’t hooked any fish yet).  I’d expect a $700 Winston to have higher standards of quality, but I really couldn’t imagine any rod having $450 worth of higher standards than this rod.  

I think that’s an important bit of perspective that many reviews and reviewers either ignore completely, or fail to take into account for the factor it is; a review must include context, and the most useful context is to compare the subject to other rods in its price range.  For fly rods in the sub-$350 range, I think any comparison to rods within $50-75 of the subject’s MSRP is fair, perhaps expanding to $100-150 in $350+ rods.  That being said, my subjective review of this rod is in comparison to similarly MSRPed rods in the $175 to $325 range.

Fit and finish were great.  Wrappings had a few noticeable flaws, but nothing too hideous...things like a ⅛” thread tag sticking out or other cosmetic imperfections ...if they were present in a custom rod, I’d be displeased, but for a mass-produced, off-the-rack rod it’s well within the limits of acceptability.  Epoxy is smooth and even, guides are straight, grip and reel seat are neat and straight, and the cork, while not top quality, is very nice for the price point and well-filled and smoothed in the minor pits and gaps it does have.

The Predator features both alignment dots (a nice feature) as well as a line weight & rod length designation at each ferrule which, while not strictly necessary, is also a nice touch.  I suppose if you had several of the same product line in different configurations...that you regularly had disassembled in the same area...this might be necessary...but even if you’ll never need a feature like that, it’s a nice addition that doesn’t detract from the look of the rod in the slightest, so it’s a cool little added bonus.

After assembling the rod and giving it the test waggle, the only thing I can really say about it (without having fished the setup extensively) is that I’m surprised at how light it feels.  Though the short length has a lot to do with that, I was still prepared for an 8wt to feel...well...like an 8wt.  As it is, I think my 5wt St. Croix weighs more, or at least feels heavier, than this rod, which is great for a rod I plan to use a lot once things warm up a bit around here.  Really, though, this trait is in keeping with the only other Redington I’ve fished, which is a 9’ 5wt that a buddy of mine got as a starter outfit.  

Overall

While I’ve only spent about ten minutes on the water with this rod, it was a very positive experience that has me eager for warmer weather and feisty bass, pike, and carp.  With a 300gr. 26’ sink tip spooled, the rod was shooting as much line as I could give it (cold weather and line memory was resulting in some tangles).  For it’s purpose, a light, fast, rod capable of tossing large flies in rough conditions, I think it’s going to be ideal.

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Cross One New Years Resolution Off the List!

Each year, I have a recurring New Years Resolution to take a new species of fish on a fly rod.  Last year it happened to be a chain pickerel, taken late (October) purely by accident.  The year before that, it was an 18-20" flounder, my first ever salt water fish (despite many vacation evenings spend in the surf with squid and blood worms...and two separate charters...all with spin gear).  That fish was the result of a great deal of pre-trip research, tying, map-reading, and deliberate decision making as an angler.

This year, I've already got my new species...similar to last year, it was more dumb luck than anything else, but it was last year's research and exploration that allowed me to put myself in a position for dumb luck to take effect.

Yesterday afternoon I bought my 2012 license (probably the latest I've waited to get it in the past 5 years) and hit a tailwater that I'd explored for the first time last year at the peak of summer heat.  It's not the classic image of tailwater...last summer it was barely 20 feet wide at its head, easily wadeable at any point, with the only real holding water being the first 100 yards from the outflow.  Still, it was a source of cold water in late July, and in January, ironically, these sorts of places are among those that resist freezing (as any good angler with access to these flows should know).  Even though we've been blessed so far here in PA with a winter that has thus far declined to bare its teeth, I was interested to see how this small area might fish later in the winter, assuming that it will eventually assert itself and lock up more popular water.

As I made my way to the water, I noted that it was definitely higher than when I'd last visited in the summer...and moving.  While it was certainly still well within the realm of 'fishable', One would be wise to give careful thought to if and where they would cross this flow.  Indeed, I made the decision not to attempt a crossing at all after giving the current a quick evaluation.  This left me limited, obviously, to the side from which I'd approached, and while I had originally intended to fish the stream down, using streamers to probe likely water, I decided to check out the area right up at the outflow first.  As it turned out, I never left that area.

As I approached the outflow, I noted that the area between the main and secondary outflows (aligned along the main outflow about 50 feet down, as opposed to parallel), which had been little more than a near-stagnant pool of shin-deep bath water in July was now a deep blue green, churning with the confusion of several different currents, pulling water in every direction.  This would be a tricky flow to fish properly...especially with my guess that any fish present would be holding near the bottom.  Undeterred, I peeled some line off, and sent my streamer...at the end of a short, heavy, fast-sinking streamer leader...into the churning water.

For a few minutes, I went without a bite, trying various tactics to get my fly down and still allow for a slow retrieve.  Eventually, I figured out the best way to get my streamer down in the various portions of the pool, usually with two or three mends immediately after the cast, that let my fly sink a good ten or fifteen seconds before I had to begin my retrieve, or surrender the fly to depth-robbing drag.  As soon as I figured this out, I felt a weight on the line.  Not sure if it was a fish, a snag, or the effects of some strong undertow, I slowly tightened the line.  

I felt a sluggish head shake, then my line went slack.  I'd missed my first fish of the year.

This was repeated a few more times, and while I tried striking harder, each time, the fish was able to get off the hook.  I was starting to think that either the fish were short-striking...somewhat odd for trout to do so consistently...or that I'd found a group of small fish that were just not big enough for the 2 1/2" streamer I'd been throwing.  I changed to a smaller minnow pattern, tied on a longer hook, to try to account for both possibilities.

I was concerned that the smaller fly would have trouble sinking, but it turned out not to be a problem, as a few casts later, I again felt a little heaviness on the line.  I waited about two second, then raised my rod and strip set hard.

The resulting head shake dispelled any thoughts of puny fish, as the weight and pull that came from the hookset put a bend well past the middle of my 4wt.  Knowing that I was into a good fish, I quickly began reeling in slack to get the fish 'on the spool'.  Once I had this accomplished, the fish started to fight a bit more enthusiastically, still too deep in the pool to see what sort of fish I was into.  It was definitely the sleepy, slow fight of a winter fish, as opposed to the quick runs and thrashing of warmer months, but the fight was distinctly different from most trout I've caught, even in the winter.  After the first head shake, I didn't get any more, and rather than a frantic back and forth, the fish seemed to prefer hanging deep and pulling steadily, with the occasional three or four short but strong dives even deeper.  I had just about decided that I was into a winter smallmouth, when my leader broke the surface, as the fish rose.  Just before my tippet came out of the water the fish turned and dove again, leaving me with only a glimpse of a long greenish side, easily in the 18"+ range.  No matter what it was, it was a good fish, though the reflection seemed too long and lean for a smallmouth.

As it came to the surface again, clearly tiring, it turned again, and the bright orb of one of its eyes shined up at me and I knew what I had: my first walleye on the fly.

Now, a lot of things made more sense: the bumps at the line, the odd fight, the reflection.

As the fish came to hand, I was careful to avoid both the spiny fin, held high at attention, as well as the mouth, which I knew would be full of pretty wicked teeth for a PA fish...bested only by pike and musky in this state.

After the fish was very cooperative in coming to hand, allowing me to dislodge the fly and take a quick photo, he went back in the water.  Though it may be just my perception, it seems like time spent out of the water is more taxing on a fish in the winter than it is in warmer times, and fish take longer to revive themselves.  This held true for the walleye, as I had to hold it in a bit of still water for a good twenty or thirty seconds before it caught its second wind and swam away powerfully.

And just like that, my first fish of 2012 was a new species for me to take on a fly.

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Looking Ahead

So of course, I owe you guys a typical new year post.

I don't (or I try not to) do the 'resolution' thing.  For me, its too confining, too all-or-nothing...which makes it somewhat counterproductive, as the whole point is to better yourself.  When you set a resolution, it's usually either too harsh (tomorrow, I'm done smoking!) or too soft (over the next year I'm going to try to cut back slightly on junk food).  In the first situation, the moment you break it, you're done.  And in the second, it's so lax that there's really no self-betterment.

No, for my new year, I just try to set a few well-defined goals that will require effort to accomplish, yet are realistically within my reach.

For this year, I have five goals for myself as far as my recreational activities go:

• For my fly fishing, like last year (and the year before), I want to catch at least one new species on the fly.  I don't care about how it was accomplished, only that I got a fish to take a fly.  Last year, by dumb luck, I caught a chain pickerel.  In 2010, I added a flounder, my first saltwater catch on any tackle.  This year, I'm hoping to add one or more of pike, carp, gar, catfish, or, if I make it back to the salt, another species from the ocean.  One of my best friends lives minutes from the Chesapeake bay, so we're hoping to get together to fish some of the estuaries from kayaks.
• For my tying, I'd like to explore one specific area that I've been avoiding ever since my first attempt at it: spinning and stacking hair.  I tried to tie a few muddlers when I first started tying a few years ago, and they simply looked horrible.  This year I'd like to improve on that, and get some nice flies tied with spun or stacked hair.  This will coincide nicely with my goal of catching a pike on the fly.
• In October, a friend of mine invited me to do some waterfowl hunting, and I loved it.  To that end, I've been making a good effort at finding some good hunting around here, but so far, I've been unsuccessful.  While I did manage to take one bird on that first outing with my friend, I'd really like to get a few 'on my own' in 2012.
• For my photography, I'd like to continue to learn, specifically in terms of landscape shooting, as well as macro work.  Of course, there's a wishlist of lenses, gadgets, and other good stuff I'd like to get, but the main thing for me is to make time to get out there, and to push myself.  Sure, this one is fairly nebulous, but it's probably the one that will mean the most to me on December 31st, 2012.
• Finally, and most difficult, I want to get my work out there.  Ideally, I'd get published by a magazine or some other publication, but I don't want to limit my options.  While this will take some work (and I may be kidding myself with optimism at this point), I believe this is a goal that I might be able to achieve in the next year.  Hopefully, with the right combination of hard work, inspiration, and luck, I'll be able to see my name, words, or photos in print.

Well, that about sums it up for me.  What are some of your goals for the new year?

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International Fly Tying Symposium 2011

This year, just like in 2010, I attended the International Fly Tying Symposium in Somerset, NJ in mid-November.  This trip meant a little more to me than the trip last year because I had planned on going since mid-summer, but then I lost my job in September, and I really couldn't justify the expenses of a hotel room, food, and gas at a time where I really had to stretch my limited funds to make ends meet.

Then, at the very end of October, just a few weeks before the show, I got a new job.

As it turned out, I got my first paycheck from my new job they day before the Symposium.  I could justify the expense again, and it seems like a bit of a karmic reward.

The show was fairly similar to last years show, and while I'd highly recommend that any fly tyer go at least once, there wasn't enough different to make me immediately say that I want to go again next year.  For the cost of the trip, I could easily add a rod, reel, or new piece of photo equipment to my arsenal, and now that I've seen what there is to see, I'll likely go that route instead.

That being said, I did have a great time at the show, and had a lot of fun in New Brunswick Saturday night.

I'm not sure how much I talked about it here last year, but when I went in 2010, I had only just bought my SLR, and at that point, I had no lens to use on it, which limited me to taking my compact camera to the symposium.  This year I got to take my SLR and get some pretty decent shots.  Hopefully you'll enjoy these images as much as I enjoyed taking the shots.

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My Fall (Part 2)

Aside from my now job, there were a few other really notable positives in the fall, the most relevant one to my readers is that I caught my largest trout to this point.

I didn't have a tape at the time, but comparing it to the rod beside it, I estimate it to be a 22-24" tiger trout.  This is my third tiger, and it was an intense fight on my 4wt!

As usual, I took a break from the small streams and wild brookies when they decided it was time to spawn...

As I said, I made it to Erie to do some steelhead fishing...

And for the first time in my life, I went duck hunting.  A friend of mine invited me to do a few days of hunting with him, and now I'm hooked, and on a mission to get a few ducks around here on my own.  My first duck hunting trip was successful...

But subsequent trips have been a bit less so.  In any event, it's a new venture for me, and just like fly fishing, I don't expect lots of early success.  I'll be out again early tomorrow morning to try to get a few, but even if I don't get any, every trip out is one closer to the trip where it all finally clicks.  For now, I'm just enjoying learning something new.

A few weeks after my first duck hunting outing, I started my new job, and focused on adjusting to it for a few weeks after that.  Still, it couldn't have come at a better time, as it meant I could afford the gas and hotel room to make the drive up to Somerset, NJ for the 2011 International Fly Tying Symposium.  While I was there, I made sure to take plenty of photos...

...which you will all get to see in my next update!

That's all for now.  Merry Christmas to all my readers, and when I post again after the holiday, you'll have lots of fly pictures!

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It's Been One Heck of a Fall

Hello again to all of my readers.

No, I'm not gone for good, but I had a lot of changes in my life over the past few months, and while I wasn't busy the entire time, usually when I had the time to post, I just wasn't inspired to do so.  While I'm not exactly inspired now, I wanted to pop in to let everyone know what's up.  My readers have been great ever since I got Dharma of the Drift started, so I wanted to let you know where I've been as well as where I intend to be in the future, with regard to the blog here.

When I last posted, it was early September.  summer fishing was winding to a close and my thoughts were rapidly turning north with thoughts of Lake Erie steelhead.  Then the unexpected happened, and I lost my job.

In retrospect, getting laid off hit me much harder than I ever thought it might.  Sure, there's the financial hardship, and the daunting task of finding a new job in this economy, but the hardest thing for me was the blow to my self-confidence.  It wasn't that I'd failed to perform or done anything wrong at work...just that, even after holding my position for four years, I was still low man on the totem pole in my department.  Business had been slow for a long time, everyone knew this, and my employers had done what they could to avoid layoffs, but as time went on and prospects remained bleak, they were forced to make difficult decisions, and while I wasn't pleased with the outcome, I don't take it personally.

Like I said, the biggest impact, for me, was the blow to my confidence.  While a part of me knew it had nothing to do with me as a person or a worker, it's hard to avoid the nagging feeling that somehow you didn't measure up or you weren't good enough.  I'm sure anyone who's been laid off before can understand.

While I immediately got to work getting my resumee into shape, I wasn't really optimistic about hunting for a job, interviewing, or even doing the things I enjoyed, like fishing, tying, and taking pictures.  My family was really great at that time, keeping me moving and encouraging me, while at the same time giving me the space I needed to sort things out on my own.

Over the next several weeks, I got my resumee up to date and submitted it to at least a dozen places, in person, online, you name it.  Eventually, keeping myself busy with the job hunt got me thinking about fishing again, and I realized, finally, that without a job, I was uniquely available for making a trip or two to Erie to fish during the less crowded weekdays in the early season.  This also got me back to tying, and before long I had dozens of eggs and buggers in boxes, and was driving north on I-79.  Through late September and early October, I managed to spend 7-8 days steelhead fishing, having some of my best days since starting to fish for steelhead.  Through this same time, I started to get a few calls about my resumees.  Finally, in early October, I got my first interview.

Things went well and through a bit of fate or karma or divine providence, the job I applied for (which wasn't in my field) was already filled, buuuuuuut they were considering adding a position that was exactly in my field.  At this point, a lot of my optimism and confidence returned, even though I still didn't have a job.  I think it was just the idea that yes, my skills were still useful, and yes, I had a chance at what seemed like a nice job.  I think my confidence must have shown through a bit, and they said they'd be in touch to schedule another interview.

Turns out that they called while I was up in Erie, fishing for steelhead.  After my trip, I returned, and did another interview, and a few days later, I got the call: I'd gotten the job.

I started my new job on Halloween, and while I do understand that I was fortunate, and very much in the right place at the right time, it gives me a little hope for our ailing economy.  I don't wish to use the site here as some sort of soapbox for my political views, but suffice to say that while there are certainly people that are in the position I was in for two months that abuse the system and don't try, I like to believe that there are lots more good, honest people that are trying, and that their right place and right time just haven't come yet.

In any event, that covers my life in September and October. I'm getting tired, and I have a cold, so I'm going to stop here for now, and finish bringing everyone up to speed in another post.  That'll likely be tomorrow.

Hopefully, my return finds my readers in good health and high spirits!

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