Imagine there was an Island. The island is relatively small, sparsely populated and dozens of creeks form from springs and flow, for a short length, into a few small rivers that then flow a short distance to the ocean. The creeks are filled with small Brook trout a few Rainbow trout and throughout the season Searun Brook trout, Atlantic Salmon and the odd Steelhead inhabit the rivers. The trout will take any dry fly they see, the Searuns are agressive. The Atlantics and Steelhead, well……., act like Atlantics and Steelhead. The average age of angler is increasing and the population in general is decreasing. On a week day it’s a surprise to see anyone fishing. On the weekend you’ll come across few. A guide is unneccessary but if you want one it will cost you under $200 canadian for a day. Sounds like a dream, doesn’t it? It’s not. Such a place exists on the East coast of Canada.
Prince Edward Island is the island I’m talking about. Not known worldwide as a flyfishing destination but, in my opinion, a world class destination. My opinion might not represent the status quo as I could care less about numbers and size. The experience as a whole is what I am interested in and this beautiful maritime province provided me with plenty of that a couple of summers ago. We went to visit My mother-in-law and took a few rods with us. I hooked up with a guide, Dwayne Miller, to show us around for a couple of days. We fished on our own for a few hours every day before meeting up with him and found brookies in every piece of water we came across. Dwayne got us into a few Searuns and I hooked and lost a steelhead on my 3 weight one afternoon while scouting a river on my own. Aside from the fishing the culture and scenery of the island is worth the trip alone and we feel lucky to have a place to stay there whenever we like.
If you ever get the chance to go to P.E.I. don’t hesitate. You will enjoy yourself, gauranteed. Contact Dwayne at http://flyfishtheisland.com/ and if he’s not out Tuna fishing he can guide you to some great fishing.
It arrived yesterday. A little card that said I had a package to pick-up at the post office. I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t eagerly awaiting it’s arrival and I quickly headed to pick it up. I knew I wanted this rod the minute I picked up sarah’s. I bought her one for christmas 2008, her first spey rod. Bob warned me that I would want one of my own but I ignored him. After all, I had 3 of my own. The 12′6 6/7/8 MKS is a sweet stick. It’s super light but quite powerful. It has a range that will cover all but the biggest rivers and tiniest creeks. It’s not too much rod for decent sized trout and more than enough for a big Steelie. Every time a got the chance I would use Sarah’s rod (just helping her cast or dialing in the line of course….). Finally I have my own and I can’t wait to get it on the water. We also picked up a couple of SGS Scandit line setups that I will review soon. Now……………..go fish.
So here’s the story:
4 years ago I decided that I wanted a two hander to use on the flats. I was thinking of something that I could use for making long casts while wading for bones. There were a couple of places in the Bahamas I fished that I thought this would be ideal. I phoned Bob and asked him if he had something that would be appropriate. He suggested a 4 piece 10′6 6/7 switch rod. Little did I know how much use this little rocket would get. I had the name Albulla Vulpes, the latin name for bonefish, put on the rod and had it built with saltwater components. Once I had the rod I began using it for all types of things. It excelled as a super light spey rod and landed many large Bulls on the Pitt. I used it to overhead cast shooting heads off the beaches for Salmon and landed steelhead with it as well. I ended up sticking with a single hander for the Bones and will continue to do so. Now I have a bunch of rods of similar size and use my 11′ 5 weight for all of the above situations. My wife was using it for a while but she has now inherited an 11′ 4/5. The rod is gathering dust and needs to find a new owner.
Now the details:
The rod is a 10′6 6/7 weight, 4 piece custom made Meiser. Full saltwater components including the real seat. The tip was lost on a float last year and we sent it back to get a new one. While there, Bob cleaned up the entire rod and it has been used only once since. I think it casts well with 350-425 grains. A 350 grain AFS for dryline work, a 350 grain shooting head for beach casting, and a 400 skagit for big flies and streamers. This rod has balls and will land fish over 15 pounds if you know what your doing. It’s also light enough for 3 pound trout. I will include the 400 Skagit in the purchase.
The Price:
THE ROD HAS BEEN SOLD
My friend/guide Dwayne Miller sent me a couple of photos of fish he caught this October on his home rivers. Can’t wait to get back over there to fish and check out a few more new rivers, Dwayne.
Sea-run Brookie
Atlantic Salmon
Is that a Steelhead? They do have some there........
Kirk and I decided to remember those who perished in past wars the proper way. We hit the river in search of Coho. It was, as usual for rememberance day, a cold and wet one. We headed up river pre-dawn in “Red Tooth” the zodiac, with a watermaster shoved in between us. Once at our spot, I jumped out and rowed into position. I don’t believe I spotted a single Coho all day. The Chum were thick though and I was able land a couple despite using my 11 foot 5 weight switch rod. If we had come prepared for Chum we would have ahad an epic day as there were plenty of clean, by Harrison standards, fish within the schools. No Coho were caught and in the evening we needed to throw some steaks on the fire and drown our sorrows with beer.
So last night Sarah and I sat down to watch a copy of RISE. I have to admit that I had high hopes for the movie as the first installment, DRIFT, was pretty good. By the end though, both of us were pretty disapointed. Don’t get me wrong, this is some good fish porn. But, as I suspected, it’s just the same old stuff with different music. The locations are old news and, other than the Redfish, have been covered forever now. I was hoping for something new and interesting like the India segment from DRIFT. How about Dog Toothed Tuna in Australia or Panama jungle Snook? We’ve all seen a a shot of a fish jumping in slow motion a hundred times before. At least they cut the trout fishing from a drift boat to a minimum. We both felt that we had just watched 80 minutes of advertising for some guides. Listening to these guys tell their life stories took away from the purpose of the film and the overdramatic narration was way too much (Los Roques is the flyfishing worlds best kept secret??????? Maybe it was in the 80’s). All in all it’s worth watching if your buddy buys it. I’m calling it a sophmore slump. Hopefully part 3 is better. I have a copy of the Drake to go read…………………….
Here’ a quick video from Peterhope lake, unfortunately it is an “LDR” clip as in long distance release!peterhope
Last weekend we decided to go for a fish. Slough fishin’ for ho’s to be specific. Sarah and I headed out with the Watermasters and a bunch of rods. Kirk would meet us later in the Zodia. We put in at a lake at the head of the slugh and floated down, fishing the pools as we came to them. The lake itself was filled with dead and dying Sockeye and Chum. Later this year there should be plenty of trout around cleaning up the remains.
Once we floated into the slough we started to come across more lively fish. Coho were here and there but seemed to have lock jaw. We tried unsuccesfully to hook up in pod of Cutties before deciding to float down to the “glory hole”. Once there we cam across Kirk. He had been there for a bit and had hooked up with a couple of Ho’s.
Sarah and I set up shop and she proceeded to get her first Coho and Kirk landed a couple as well. Sadly, I only managed to get 3 or 4 strikes before it was time to head out into the main river for some Chum fishing on the way to our take out.
I hooked a couple of chum but no pictures due to mishandling. I was snakebitten for the day. All in all it was a great day on the water. Maybe we’ll try again before the run is through. But the Steelies are calling………………..
Tired of dragging around that big foot pump. Looking for something to use when you don’t have a battery. The K series hand pumps are perfect for setting up inflatables. I ordered my K200 from Dave Inks of Waterstrider. It arrived at my door in less than a week, in bomb proof packaging. I was a little skeptical at first. It seemed like such a simple, compact design. How could it work as well as my dual action foot pump?
The pump comes with it’s own carrying sack that can be attached to your boat and it’s design makes it sturdy for travel.
The pump sock
The first test was to pump up our Watermaster rafts before heading out for some Coho fishing. I was quite surprised at the air volume that the pump pushed with each stroke. Being able to stand upright and pump made the chore quick and easy. Both rafts were pumped solid up in 5 minutes. The rubber tip of the pump fits nicely into the valve of the rafts. Only light pressure is needed to keep a seal. The pump action is nice and smooth and it feels solid even though it is entirely plastic.
No back Breaking Work
I would definately recommend this pump to anyone. I would also recommend ordering raft supplies from Waterstrider.
Now…………..go fishing!
