Rex Robinson's Blog (13)

Finally have seen the sun after all the rain we have had in the last week.  My oldest son and I decided that we should go fishing this morning, so we loaded up and launched our kayaks at dawn.  Water level at our favorite lake was still about 5ft above normal but we were confident that we could still find some gills.  Caught a few on top water around flooded structure but went with a bead eye dragon fly nymph to connect with the bigger ones…

Went to check one of my favorite lakes this evening as we had some flooding a couple of weeks ago.  Lake level was up three ft but that didn't keep me from finding some of my marked bedding spots.  Paddled back to a nice shallow flat where the water was about 5ft,  The water had cleared up a lot so I was able to see the nice stretch of craters well before I was on them.  Distanced my kayak several feet away and rolled out a cast with a popper dropper rig.  Slurp!!! Mr. Bluegill was home. …

With my son's middle school baseball season ending, I actually had some time today to test out a fly that I tied up during the winter months.  Got in from work and loaded up the kayak, grabbed my flyrod and headed to my favorite lake that has a good gill population.  Saw a few surface smacks as I launched so I had a good feeling my fly was going to be met with approval.  Paddled into an area that I knew had beds in the past and rolled out a cast and watched my fly land with a soft splash. …

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With the success many of you have with crickets, either fished alone or tipped on a jig.  I decided I needed a good cricket pattern for my fly box.  I had tried in the past to tie a cricket pattern, but was never happy with the profile or proportions.  I have a foam spider pattern that is easy to tie and I thought if I could add some shapely legs, a wing and some markings I could produce something that might pass for a cricket to a hungry gill.  I little time at the vise produced…

A while back my boss at work told me he was going to be cleaning out his basement and that he might have a few things I would be interested in.  A few days later he calls me to his office and gives me this... He said it was in with some of his dad' s old stuff and since I enjoy fly fishing he thought I would possibly be able to do something with it.  I was very thankful and…

Let the sun come up this morning to knock the chill off before leaving to test the waters.  Took my fishfinder with me since most of my shallow spots that have been holding fish are not producing since the temps have dropped.  Decided to troll a spoon tipped with a curly tail grub as this has produced well in this little lake in the past.  I had paddled into some water that was 15 ft deep and started seeing fish and balls of bait fish on my finder.  The spoon did it's job and instantly found…

Took a few days off since the kids were out of school for fall break and we took the opportunity to fish at a friend's private lake.  We have had the opportunity to fish here before as he always invites us for spring break and fall break.  The fishing here is great this time of year as the summer crowd of campers have left and all is quiet from ski boats and jet skies.  The lake has some huge crappie and in the past we have done well with minnows.   We headed out this morning to get some…

Took a few days off since the kids were out of school for fall break and we took the opportunity to fish at a friend's private lake.  We have had the opportunity to fish here before as he always invites us for spring break and fall break.  The fishing here is great this time of year as the summer crowd of campers have left and all is quiet from ski boats and jet skies.  The lake has some huge crappie and in the past we have done well with minnows.   We headed out this morning to get some…

Launched my kayak at dawn this morning and noticed the cooler temps in the air and water as I waded out to settle in for a little paddle to my favorite spot. tested the top water bite with a popper and caught a few of these.  Not much size but they were hitting it aggressively, so I continued to fish the popper.  Always hard to change to another fly if your getting hits even…

Was able to take a Friday off of work and what better way to spend it than on the water.  Temps have been in the low fifties at nights with daytime highs in the low eighties so water temps have dropped some making the urge to wet a fly strong.  Tied up some bead eyed dragon fly nymphs in this color pattern to see how they would work.…

Haven't been able to fish in several weekends due to storms and work obligations, but everything is good to go in the morning.  Temps have dropped to daytime highs of low 80's and nights in the upper 50's so should  make for a good day for the old fly rod and yak.  Don't realize how much of a stress reducer fishing is until you've gone a while off the water.  Hoping the topwater bite will be on and Mr. frog takes a pounding.  Even got a few new patterns I want to try.   I am like a kid…

Wanted to share some material I have found that I have adapted for fly tying.  It can be found where sewing goods are sold.  It's called stitch witchery.…

Through the years I have learned that a lot of items labeled "for fly fishing" often cost more than other fishing tackle.  The same is true with" fly tying" material.  But thanks to the abundance of craft store now a days I have managed to support my habit of fly fishing and fly tying by finding comparable substitutes.  I realize there is no substitute for top grade hackle and proper tying thread, but often times synthetic material, beads, foam, glues, and others materials adaptable for fly…