First Turkey Hunt of the 25-26 Season - A Close Shave

Next week is my annual turkey camp on public land in Allegheny County, so I decided that I would try for a few hours on a private hay farm Saturday morning.  I decided I would go full blind and decoy setup, as traditionally the first hunt of the year is the most productive for me.  The temperatures were warm in the 50s, with highs forecast for near 80 degrees.  Overcast skies, but a fine mountain morning.

I had my super realistic jake decoy out about 15 yards with a hen 5 yards closer and off to the side.  My blind was nestled against a fence where the vines overhand from a tree.  

My Jake sits watch as the Catoctin Mountains lie in the backdrop.

Everything was quiet, no gobbles, and just the excited chatter of various nesting songbirds.   Then around 830am I caught a glimpse of what I thought was a hen across the field around 100 yards away.  I gave some soft calls and watched as the bird fed into the field, paying me very little mind.  Studying through the binos, I could not make out any sort of beard, though the body should have given away the secret.

Eventually, the bird started to close the distance until it was around 70 yards out.  Seemingly out of nowhere, it decides to make a bee line straight in along the fencerow towards my blind.   Then he puffs up into strut!  This was no hen!

I prepared for the shot and he passes broadside nary 12 yards away towards the hen decoy.  I focus on the spot and the bowstring hums.  The arrow flies a wee bit right of my mark but through the bird who shudders a bit and lurches forward.  I grab a backup arrow, and he continues on to the rear of my hen decoy and starts violating her!  As he is mounted and facing me, I focus on the edge of the decoy and arrow number 2 flies a wee bit left but also through the bird.  He took this in a bit of shock and jumped back.  Another arrow on the string and he was now facing away from me and toward the jake but between the decoy and me.  I focus again on a tiny spot and my arrow disappears again through the bird.  This time he had had enough.  Circling away and around, he was heading around the peninsula of tree about 30 yards out when my fourth arrow slices right between his legs forcing him to jump up. He was gone.  

Going out to gather my arrows, I found 3 areas with clumps of feathers.  No arrow had any blood. How close can you get.  

Close to 10am, I spotted what looked like the same bird back across the field again.  I called and he came back but passed out about 50 yards not biting again.  I guess he learned.

It was an exciting first hunt.  Next week I will likely bring the blind and decoys to the mountains, but will likely spend most of the time roaming without the set up. 

I also wanted to report that I baked that large rainbow trout and it came out super.

First Trophy Maryland Trout on the Flyrod, and a Special Memory

It was still a chilly morning at 10am when my brother Chris showed up at my house for some Washington Couty MD trout fishing fun.  The state had seen fit to stock the stream we planned to fish on Tuesday, and Thursday I had already planned to take the morning off from work and show Chris the techniques I was having success with lately tight-line nymphing.  

when we got to the stream, there was a fair amount of people fishing due to the recent stocking.  We started out on a shallow run, and I showed Chris how to direct line nymph.  He was getting the hang of it, and I soon hooked up two small rainbows.  We parted ways for a bit while he went down stream and I focused on the areas I had taken larger trout on previous trips.  Shortly, I had another smaller trout, then lost a 3rd before hooking up my line in a tree causing a pause for a total tippet replacement.  

When I had finished re-tying my double nymph rig, Chris came back and said he had to find the porta-pot and could I re-rig his rod also.  He was tickled pink he caught a fish on a nymph and had a small rainbow.  I re-tied his rig just in time for him when he returned.  He went upstream and across and I followed.  I started fishing the shallow water area before the deep hole turned rapid, when a huge rainbow grabbed my fly and the fight was on.  He didn't initially fight too hard but soon lunged and my fly reel's drag screamed.  It jumped several times clearing the water...this was a trophy fish.  I had just broken my 5x tippet on a 12-16 inch rainbow down below, so I was extra careful I didn't strain this one! 

The fight was going well, and I even pulled down my net from my back in preparation for landing him, when suddenly he made a run for the rapids.  To my horror he went into the fast water and into the rapids as my reel howled again.  He was rolling and boiling like a giant carp, and there was nothing I could do to stop him.  

He was now in the fast water, and I thought he may fight his way back to me at the head in a swirling pool, but then he rolled and continued downstream in the heavy water!  I scrambled up the wire fence re-enforced rock wall the state had to protect from erosion, but he kept going!  

My brother took this quick video of me as I was scrambling up the wall, fighting the fish, my net was caught on the mesh, and I kept stepping on my stringer of fish!  This guy wasn't slowing down.  I was panicking.  

I ran to keep up, but the water was fast and he was headed for a blowdown log.  He got to the log, and I feared he was hung up on it as I walked out on the log like a woodsman log roller.  I lost my balance and nearly fell in, total swim job, but I caught myself and just dunked a leg.  I still had the rod up with tension, but the line was "dead" and I had no idea if the fish was still there?

I eased downstream of the jam, and to my relief he came out the other side.  The dropper fly he was hooked on came loose and he was now obviously fowl hooked by the point fly of my double rig.  I slowly heaved him into the net, turned and hit the solid ground of the bank, dropping to my knees completely spent.

When he was behind that log, my dropper fly he hit on had broken and by the grace of God, the point fly caught his side long enough for me to net him.  I pulled him from the net and nothing was attached!  Geeze.  I got him on the stringer and pulled out my tape quickly.  

He was a MD trophy over 21 inches long.  The fight took me about 100 yards downstream, and my brother was there to see and film a little.  Wow!  I was exhausted.

I fished a litter longer and hooked up the last fish to complete my limit of five for the day.  It was a little brown, who again hit the silver Perdigon fly I tied.  I walked back to Chris and he took a few photos for me.  He had 3 trout as well and learned a bunch about nymphing.

Entering him into the books he was 21.75 inches long and my first MD trophy on my quest to get 10 trophy species on the flyrod

 

Getting this fish, a limit of trout, with my bother there to witness, was just a super day.  The good stuff wasn't over though.

Before leaving, a single mom came by and asked us if we could give a few casting pointers to her approximately 13-year-old son who was struggling to learn fly casting. He was too shy to ask us, but he soon came over and we had a chat.  I stopped at the porta-pot myself and upon returning I saw Chris giving the young man a full demonstration with the boy's own flyrod in the grass.  Soon he had the hang of it while I was talking with the mother.  Hopefully, we were able to kindle some fire in the "young sport" and pass on some good will to the next generation of fly fisherman.

What a day!

Back home, I realized I must have ripped a hole in the seat of my neoprene waders during one of my many falls fighting this fish.  It probably caught on the wire wall.  Oh well, a true battle.  Time to patch and repair.  Maybe I will try my home-made wading boots and my new waders next trip.  

Three-day Weekend of Trout Fishing

I was able to pack in about nine or 10 hours of fishing after work on Friday through Sunday evening.  The weather turned from rainy and raining, to sunny by Sunday afternoon.  The larger creek was running higher and darker than usual, and I was pleasantly surprised at the lack of competition from other fisherman.  

I eased into the first deep hole and immediately hooked up on what I believe to have been a >20 incher.  I fought the fish long enough to get my heart rate pumping and a good look, when he broke off my 5x tippet at the dropper.  I was bummed.  I was trying a new way to rig the dropper by using a triple surgeon's knot.  I retied and gave the new knot a pull and it broke right away.  Well, that was it for the confidence of that knot!  I switched to an improved clinch and kept fishing.  They were hitting well on the silver Perdigon dropper, and I managed a 16-inch brown and limited out with 5 fish, the balance being rainbows.  I came away knowing a trophy size rainbow was in there with my fly in its mouth, but still a feeling of accomplishment for yet another limit of fish.

Later I researched and found another knot I like that seems stronger using a 4-turn spider hitch.  This is an easy knot with no tools and seems very strong.

Saturday had me heading back to a smaller creek that had not been stocked in some time.  I knew there would not be a ton of fish, but knew of a deep hole that would hold at least one. Father up there was that large Palomino I was thwarted by a week ago.

Fishing my way up I had nary a hit.  Entering the large deep pool, I started fishing up and across stream and eventually spotted another large Palomino.  I think I bumped him as he had lock jaw, but after about 20 minutes I worked upstream slowly into the deeper current.  I was greeted with a nice 16-inch rainbow.  It was a great fight, and I was happy to get the experience fighting the larger fish with the reel.  Being a newby at fly fishing, I had always just fought the fish with my left hand and not used the reel drag.  I wanted the practice so I would not screw up another 20 incher.  He tired out and came back to the net without incident.

Nice big wide paddle tail and the start of a hooked mouth on this guy.

I unscrambled my flies and in short order had another similar trout on the line.  Two decent fish! They seem to like the pheasant tail point fly today. 

This one fell for the silver  perdigon.

In the course of the next 2-hours I had three more small trout and limited out again.  No one was on the water as there was a cool drizzle.  A great day on the water.

Back home, I took an old pair of composite toe work shoes and converted them into wading shoes for the new chest waders my friend mike gifted me.  They were too small for him, but I needed wading shoes as my neoprene ones had the boot connected.  This will be key as the temps get hotter.  I screwed in some sheet metal screws I had in the toolbox at home.  My wife is out of work from the Government job cutting, so it was time to try to make do with my broken sub-optimal rod and home-made shoes. 

 

Sunday was sunnier with a stiffer breeze, and this evening saw my friend Mike able to join me on the river.  The fishermen were there but not crowded.  

I initially was trying old 4 lb test stren monofilament instead of flourocarbon tippet material (because of that big one that got away).  I did hook up a small rainbow in the faster current but wasn't getting a number of hits.  I looked at my line in the water and decided it was too visible and changed back to 5x flouro. That did the trick, and I started getting hits again.  Mike had a decent fish as soon as his flies hit the water but it pulled free. He was struggling with getting fish or detecting them.  He eventually hooked the biggest of the day with a nice 16-inch rainbow that turned out to be his only fish.  I managed to get my limit again and had to throw back a 6th rainbow.   The bite was a little more challenging today, and most fish bit on the orange-colored hybrid fly ignoring the silver perdigon.  There was a hatch ongoing and lots of fish were hitting the top at dusk, but I was reluctant to switch to a dry.  I caught a 6 inch smallmouth and I suspected at least a portion of the fish I saw were not trout.  There was some rising trout though.  I still have a lot to learn.

Still, I was experiencing more success on the fly rod then I ever thought possible with the direct line nymphing.  I started a tally, and thus far in 9 outings I have caught 29 fish with 4 limit days.  Super happy and enjoying it. 

I plan to go out again Thursday morning with my brother Chris and try to show him my methods.  His reply back was a question if the area is "fly fishing only", so I may need to work hard to get him to change his mind that fly fishing can be just as effective as spinners.  I wasn't convinced myself until this year. I know there is at least one rainbow I threw back there to catch.  

Early April Trout Trip and New Fly Pattern to Try, Scud / Sow

 

Ahead of a cold front and several days of rain, I was able to get back out to my trout stream in Washington County for a few hours.  I wasn't expecting too much action as the state had not stocked this area for some time, and it was a popular pressured section situated in a public park.  

There were already about half-dozen fisherman scattered about, and the water was a little higher and more turbid than normal.  I was pleasantly surprised when I hooked a small fish within the first dozen drifts.  It took my heavier point fly that was a lighter tan color body that I had tied after the last trip.  After landing, my line was considerably tangled in the net, and around the stinger I now had the fish connected to.  I had to cut loose my flies and retie them to get everything untangled.  

Continuing down the run a bit, I hooked a second trout, but halfway through the fight he broke loose, and I suspect it was due to a bad knot I tied.  My eyes aren't what they used to be and when the light is low and overcast sometimes my bifocal fishing glasses make it difficult.  Anyway, I was optimistic that I had two fish on in a short amount of time.

As I continued to fish, more fisherman started to trickle in as the weather cleared up a bit.  I only saw two other fisherman with single trout on the stringer, and none of them were using fly gear. I spotted a lone tenkara fisherman as well, but I didn't observe him fighting any fish either before he moved off.  I made my way up into the better and deeper areas and felt a fish on one of my drifts.  I missed him but kept trying that area until I felt the same bumps and this time hooked up on a little bigger rainbow, landing him without much trouble.  

After a while, I had a third fish on in the fast flow.  Fighting for a few seconds he eventually pulled loose the fly and was gone.  Bummer.  This time it just wasn't hooked solidly enough, so I felt a little better than the one I lost due to a poor knot.

By this time, I had to pack up soon to go to a music recital my son was involved in, so I headed back downstream again.  Still trying to tweak my gear and learn this style, I had a few times where I saw a trout flash sideways after my flies but never detected or felt the strike.  I believe that I may have had too much tippet between my sighter section and that allowed more bow in the line preventing me from a close contact to feel those strikes.  Next time I will shorten up the tippet for that depth and see if it makes a difference.

looking back on the trip it was a success, as I had hooked 4 trout, had at least two other strikes, and came away with 2 for the pan.  I learned a bit and was excited to go back and try for the couple I left back there.  

Back at home I examined the stomach contents of the fish I had caught.  Both fish had been in the river a while and their flesh started to turn "salmon" pink from the white when they are stocked.  This indicates a diet high on insects.  They had been feeding heavily on aquatic sow bugs as seen in this photo:

That Sunday, I decided to try my hand at tying some imitations and scud pattern to mimic those for the next trip.  I am excited to try back with these in my arsenal along with some shorter tippit / leader combinations after these next several days of cooler and wetter weather. 

Inexpensive 3D Turkey Season Practice

Getting along with my new bow Sagittarius.  A little turkey practice fun!

Humble Pie and Some New Flies

I was excited to hit the water with some of my new nymph patterns I had tied from the vise at home this past week, and I was itching to hit the water. 

Since Saturday was opening day for trout fishing in MD, I decided to try a closer and smaller stream on Sunday evening.  I had about 3 hours of fishing light when I hit the stream.  I was kind of surprised when I didn't see any trucks parked in the parking area near a bridge that is a common stocking area, but I commenced tying on some nymphs as temperatures were in the 80 for a change. 

After some casts I noticed I wasn't seeing any fish, I thought I had seen a rise but later hooked up a 5-inch fall fish (creek chub) which may have been the culprit.  I saw a few other groups of fishermen as I ranged upstream, but none were catching anything as far as they were saying, and I wasn't getting as much as a strike I could tell.  In addition, I realized that I was really sweating in my heavy neoprene waders.  I was diligent about hitting every good-looking riffle but was not seeing any action.  I started to question if they really stocked this area.  

After a mile or so in a lather, with my waders chaffing me around where the boot seam ended (at least I had enough sense to have shorts on instead of pants), I made my way to a bend in the creek and a deep pool around a boulder.  I could see a good-sized palomino just outside of the main current running around the boulder.  Usually there are other stocked fish nearby as well that are harder to see.  Finally, I had found some fish.  The spot was challenging.  There were many overhanging branches on the downstream side that prevented me from casting up to the fish.  The current hugged the boulder and was fairly stagnant where he was parked.  I tried to circle upstream and get my fly into the current to run by the fish but kept getting hung up on the boulder.  When I missed the current my fly would just die well ahead of the fish.  I had one cast where it looked like the fish made a move to snag my fly, but there was nothing on the end of the line at all when I raised the tip.  This was the only time in the several tries and about an hour of attempts.  I thought I saw another trout rise and kept at it thinking that maybe another would get into the fly, but after a long time it was getting dark. I had no luck coaxing the trout to bite.  I lost several flies and tried everything except dry flies. 

I left the creek humbled and extremely dehydrated.  When I got home, I was soaked and after drinking my fill of water weighed 6 pounds less than I was the evening before.  Tough trip.  

I also learned too late to get tickets that the local theater was premiering a movie about the Frederick native and fly-fishing legend Lefty Kreh.  I am going to have to catch this show when it airs, as I work where Lefty was employed after WWII before he became famous.  I've caught a few stripers on the "Lefty's Deceiver" fly and that was one of the first big fish flies I learned to tie. 

MANLAW - My new "Swinehart" Inspired Craig Ekin and Nate Steen Collaboration Longbow named "Sagittarius", Commemorative Bob Swinehart

This post will introduce everyone to a very special longbow I was blessed to receive last week upon my return from work travel.

I purchased a heavy 78# Howard Hill Big-Five longbow from a fellow left-handed archer for a good price.  It was identical to my "White Eagle" hunting bow (that I received from the same gentleman) and my thought was to have it reduced to around 65-68 pounds and use it as a workout / training bow.  I had it shipped from the seller directly to Idaho and Nate Steen agreed to rework the bow and reduce it.  There was a crack in the belly glass on the handle fade area that ran lengthwise, and Nate said that shouldn't be a problem.  Halfway through completion Nate informed me that the bow was too good looking to be relegated to a workout bow and that this bow "Needed to Hunt", and if it was ok to reduce her down more. That sounded reasonable. He also asked what I wanted it to be named, and he remembered that I was a Sagittarius.  I told him, "bowyers choice" on the name. 

Nate was able to catch up on some bow shop work after the hunting season, and in late February he sent me a text with a bow tube ready to ship.  I waited...then waited...then Nate asked if the bow had arrived, and I started to get nervous.  By March 15th I was all but resigned that the bow was "lost in the mail".  I was heading to New Orleans for a work trip, and I sent Nate a note that it was still MIA. While I was on travel, my wife texted me that I had a bow arrive!  Whoo-hoo, but now the waiting felt even longer.  

Arriving home to unpack the container, I started to realize what a special bow this really was.  The first thing that struck me was the re-shaped handle making it more in the style of Swinehart as can be seen from the photos below.  The flatter handle section that may have been from the glass running through completely under the handle grip on the models he shot.  

 

Here is the handle before rework, showing the thicker and much more rounded handle:

The second item was the inscribed name, "Sagittarius", that was an obvious reference to the Swinehart book.  Also, I happen to also be a Sagittarius, and I own an older John Schulz made right-handed Tembo by the same name. Some kind of cosmic linkage?

Next, the bow will not sport a side plate, whose lack is customary to Nate's bows as well as what Swinehart shot as seen in the photo below.

The inlay in this case is Alaskan moose that was donated by a fellow longbowman.  I am hoping it will bring some luck of "moose proportions" to my hunting.

The reason I like to go without a side plate is that the bow will give me feedback and "speak" if I have a bad release or form problem.  I need the feedback to improve by listening to what the bow is telling me.

If we compare the bow side-by-side to its brother (both Ekin made Big-Five models) you can see what was done.

Part of the work was a major reduction in draw weight to the tune of 15 pounds.  You can see the belly now has considerable trap and less glass width. 

 

You can also see the thinness of the glass compared to a similar weight and model, and the original that was much heavier, thus changing the wood to glass ratio.

This is a photo of the bow before the reduction and rework:

Nate of course puts on a super glossy and durable finish which I love.  Very classy and I've never spooked an animal that I could attribute to glare, even with the white backed bow I used to own.  You can see there is still a good setback to it unstrung.

Shooting both bows there is a noticeable difference in feel.  These two bows are within 3 pounds of one another, yet to my eye Nate's bow seems faster shooting the same arrow.  There is a different feel upon release I can only attribute to the tiller differences as the limbs return to brace.  There appears to be less vibration and quieter shot.  

Now, looking at the serial number and specs, I'll let Nate describe what he did in his own words, "There was no Big Five model back when Bob hunted,  so I didn't want that model name on the bow, but I wanted a reference to Swinehart's original model...so the Schulz-induced model for Tembo on the specs was "T - ...."   So, I copied that.  T-001.  You have the first Tembo model named Sagittarius, in Schulz's Howard Hill font, built by Ekin and reworked by Steen.  An all around original."

We know a Tembo has only 3 bamboo laminations, but this bow is about more about tribute than anything.  The bow is a unique combination of Ekin and Steen. A "Steekin" made bow.

I plan to take this on many "Safari's" as I hunt with it.