Fish On Fly, by Bill Hall of WBH II ROD

Maquoketa River @ Richmond Springs

2006-06-19T17:45:00.000-07:00

5 hours and a whole bunch of fish! I miss IOWA! It was great to be back!@

5-21-06 Summer is almost thinking about being here!

2006-05-23T16:47:00.000-07:00

Small bass still moving up close and appeared to spawning so I left them alone. The smaller pond was really great in the shallowest corner. I caught crappied and gills. Some big and a lot small. At one point every cast produced a fished. Much more fun then the swallowen Fox River where I started my day.

Good times and I can not wait to head out to IA!!!!

7'6'' 4 PC 2 WT. Forecast WBH II # 7642-061-06

2006-04-17T20:41:00.000-07:00

Warm watering fishing is starting to heat up and the new 2 wieght really worked well. Spent Easter morning at Paul Wolfe Park in Eastern Kane County. Big bringht rubber legs brought pre spawn fish up for a thrill. I could not be happier with the way the rod cast and what a blat landing them.

Get out there!

Email: wbhrod@yahoo.com

New 7'6'' 2 PC 3 WT Forecast WBHII #7623-05106

2006-04-17T20:35:00.000-07:00

Good Ole' Racine

2006-04-06T17:25:00.000-07:00

Well, I got to see some spring run steelhead caught, my dog was bit while walking in the park near the processing plant with my wife, of course by a German Shepard lacking a collar and leash and I went 0 for 0 trying out sinkng line. Better days are comming. Iowa is calling.

Few places are people that gracouis, the beer that cheap and the trout so exsessable. They are my new home waters even though they rest 300 miles west of my come across the mighty Mississippi.

I have a new 7'6'' 2wt that is in spring colors and it is ready too bloom!

See you all out there soon!

Bill
wbhrod@yahoo.com

Down Time

2006-03-04T21:14:00.000-08:00

With the strange weather and a 60 hour work week I am laying low despite the urge I have to get out and fish. So some pictures from the work shop to see where all this obsession calls home.

In order from top to bottom above:

PVC tubes with serial number and initials form each rods nick name. I can almost hear them wanting to get out.

Tip: I place with silica gel packs in the tubes to displace mostiture.

The old school fly rod tube logo. I will have a new one that I am going to have made for the rods, and want to work out their installation for the production rods. When I get there.

Extended body egg sucking leech. They came to me in a moment of thoughtlessness. I will figure out the proportion and colors soon. I like a small egg sucking leech for steelhead in Michigan.

Clementine. Our Basset Hound out hunting up hares and other dogs at a local dog park. She is athletic and very curious, for a Basset.

New option!

2006-02-27T15:42:00.000-08:00

Please feel free to leave a comment below, it is now open to anyone, or send me an email. To talk fishing and/or I will be happy to ad you to my email list which I send when I add or edit a post.

Email: wbhrod@yahoo.com

Wahoo from the Dominican Republic 2005.

White River Trip: Step 3,Fishing

2006-02-23T13:57:00.000-08:00

“Welcome to Arkansas!”

The trout dock employee exclaimed. That was morning of White River Trip Day Two, The Snow Day.

1. Tim fighting a White River trout.
2. Tim with a cut throat.
3. Fish due bite at 16 degrees.
4. Bull Shoals Dam
5. White River with no water being run
6. The “Razorback” Rod
7. Southern Snow Storm

Day one started out by my brother, Tim Hall and I pulling up to Mr. Bernard’s cabin at 5:00 o’clock in the morning after driving 9 hours. Map Quest got us close, I got us lost. Only to redeem myself my finding our way back to found through various unmarked dirt roads.

Patrick of, “Patrick’s on the White” was our host and greeted us that morning as we began to stir. Patrick and Brenda run the small set of cabins and are great host, here the lodging was simple but I felt accommodated and right at home. After going over a few local options and patterns we dressed for the mild temperatures and slid right out of Patrick’s back yard, great access he has there for both boating and wading. The water was down and fish where on the bite. We caught cut throat, brown and rainbow that first day. Just missed my grand slam. Some even coming on a dry fly! Number 24 gnat attractor I can up with to catch those fish that seem to be rising on nothing. 12 foot leaders and staying low really helped.

So this is when the weather report we hoped would be wrong, was not. The northern part of Arkansas that houses the White River averages 43 degrees in the winter. They have had no accumulation of snow this year, being that they are in a drought as is Illinois and Iowa. Our timing could not have been worse. That night 6 inches of snow feel. That is like ten feet to an area that has no salt or snow removal equipment. That little slice of the middle south froze shut for the rest of the weekend. We made the best of it. Barbara was nice enough to twice bring us unexpected hot meals that two growing mid west twenty something’s really appreciated. At one point Sunday the air temp before the wind chill was 16. Churches and all events that some one would drive where closed. The number of anglers dropped to less than a third. That state park was full of empty lots with reserved signs that one came to claim. We caught fish all three days and as you can see no giants where brought to hand, we heard no reports of large fish at all, the bite slowed as the weather got colder.

It was a memorable trip and it was time that I had with my brother that I will never forget. We broke in the “Razor Back” and “Tim Hall” rods, used up a bunch of flies and got to catch up our now vastly separate lives. On Monday we headed back to my home and on Tuesday we parted ways. All good things must come to end and the real world quickly takes over my thoughts again. Thank you to those that helped with this trip, The Bernard’s of Patrick’s on the White, if your are going to the Norfolk or White call them first, they are great people! All the posters that gave us fly and tippet info, MP for keeping me in the sport to begin with and my brother for putting up with my overly anal fishing habits.

And of course, thank you mom for sending your youngest out here for his graduation for college. I love you.

http://www.patricksonthewhite.com/

Email: wbhrod@yahoo.com

White River Trip: Step 2

2006-02-14T22:30:00.000-08:00

The bags are packed, the rods are dry and the flies are tied. I am ready to go!

My fly boxes are bursting at the seams, I have way too many rods and I have started to pack my fishing bag. I can not wait to hit the road and get to Arkansas. I have heard good things about the fishing and the weather will be what is will be. I have for the first time think I am truly ready to go, prepared. First ad kit, head lamp, tons of patterns tied, maps and fishing regulation guides are all packed. I include a picture of my travel tying bag and really hope that I do not need it but it has saved me before. Late at night tying in a hotel room or camp site. I even have spent some time tying on the tailgate streamside. Better safe them paying $2.75 for a PT nymph. I have big plans for those sculpins, big browns with some hopefully increased water levels.

So we are off Thursday, wish us luck and I will report when we return.

Email: wbhrod@yahoo.com

The "Face Lift" Rod

2006-02-10T17:50:00.000-08:00

The “Face Lift” rod is ready for some spring time steel with a new reel seat and decorative wrap.

I built this rod about 7 or 8 years ago and I have fished with it a great deal since then. I thought that I would spruce it up a little with a new wrap, inscription and replace the graphite seat. I love even more now! The reel seat is a Pac Bay and it helps balance out the whole set up. The graphite had a less then desirable feel to it and the old green wrap was not my best work.

Removing the reel seat is a chore. The fighting butt thankfully came off with out heating and then the real work began. Three hours of slowly heating the graphite and breaking it away from the solid spacer below. The fiberglass spacer is strong and makes for a tight fit but really fought me in the removal. I ended up breaking the seat away with pliers bit by bit. The wrap is me all the way. The person the I first learned to build from, Mr. Drives, did these rings types wraps for years and I love the old school look. The wraps are green, dark drown, light brown and cream. I used the serial numbers at the ferrules and I think I will do that, a little finer pen tip, from now on. I like the very functional look.

My advice is that if you plan on removing components it helps to know what is underneath and to go slow. The cork needs to be sanded and retreated and then off to Lake Michigan tributaries we go!

Email: wbhrod@yahoo.com

The "Cigar Rod"

2006-02-08T20:44:00.000-08:00

The "Cigar Rod" is done and ready to get to Iowa and be enjoyed with a real smoke!

So it is done, this is the “Cigar Rod” the newest of my collection. I have received a lot of emails about it and it is great to see people are open to new ideas. To give credit were credit is do I have to thank some people. First of all the brains behind this one, Stephanie my loving wife of almost two years now. It was her idea. We sat with family in a cigar lounge in Grand Blanc, Michigan enjoying a smoke and it hit her as she played with a discarded ring, “why don’t to put this around one of your rods?” What a great idea! Also, Matt Pederson of the Rambling Reports website, guide service and custom rod building. For the line up dots and for the rebirth of my fishing passion, that I almost let Chicago Land strip me of. He is a great angler and a great person. Look him up:
www.ramblingreports.com.
The rod is again a Forecast blank, 7’6’’ four weight. The handle is from Corren’s in Chicago with a Pac Bay skeleton and insert. Single foot chrome guides from Pac Bay as well with brown and white nylon thread. I finished the wraps and the cigar label as normal, color preserver and the “lite” finish build, the label is over the brown wrap. The label was from a smoke that I saved from a treasured trip with my brother ducking hunting near our childhood home and remember that day every time I see it in bedded into the rod. We had a great time on those little trips to pot lakes near our home. If you intended to try this I suggest using a label from a cigar that you shared at a memorable time, it ads to the experience.

I learn from each rod and I think that this build went pretty straight forward. The “lite” build formula is great for builds with a couple different heights, allowing you to keep things even. Forecast blanks are glossy blue so you do not get the high contrast that a matte blank gives you and I really like that look.

Again, feel free to email me any questions and good luck!

Email: wbhrod@yahoo.com

White River Trip: Step 1

2006-02-08T20:03:00.000-08:00

Above:
1. Start of the fly tying, a long way to go.
2.The Razorback Rod
3. One foot of thread.

I am ready for a long weekend of fly fishing. A great chance to catch a lot of fish and get the skunk off some new rods. Arkansas here we come!

My brother and I are heading to the Bull Shoals Lake tail waters, the White River, in a couple of weeks and I have been busy preparing. Not having fished a tail water before, I am very excited about the new challenge. The area is filled with anglers, both bait and fly. To keep a pretentious fly angler like myself from cutting stringers, even on stocked fish, is going to be a challenge in itself. My goal is to, of course, have a great time and to complete a White River Grand Slam. On my first trip it might be a little aggressive, but it would be a great achievement in my book. Tim and I talk almost everyday about new patterns or tactics that we have dug up and I cannot think of a time that we have been more excited about a trip. I know that it is not Jackson Hole, but I am ready to go!
As far as preparation goes it has been a great deal of work. I built the “Razorback" rod and it did not go well. During the curing process for the decorative wrap I stuck my arm across the rod on the drier and it touched the tacky finish. Being a fleece shirt, the lint found its way on to the rod for good. You can hardly tell, but I will always know. The rod now is a little like the White River: a great trout fishing destination but a little rough around the edges. It is an 8 foot, five weight fast action rod with chrome snake guides and a larger stripping guide for some longer distance casting on the wider White River. I like to stay back from pools and runs as far as possible. The wrap is to mimic the Arkansas Razorbacks' colors. It is a little much but I like the very obvious custom look of the rod. The black hardware is to match the HC1 Bass Pro Shop White River Reel. I think it will commemorate the trip well and should function very well.
With the rod finished I began the task I dread the most. Tying flies and de-barbing hooks. I have a boat load of flies for Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa that I had left the barb on for some unknown reason when I tied them. The amount of scuds and sow bugs that my brother and I would burn up in three days of heavy fishing was going to take some time. I am working on trying to have 20 a day ready. There are plenty of fly shops in the area to fill in any gaps; I would like to get some variation in my sow bug selection. Also I would like to pick up some streamers and shad patterns that match the bait fish in that fishery. It is with anticipation that I await our voyage.

The "Tim Hall" Rod 1-26-06

2006-01-28T23:14:00.000-08:00

With a chest cold and some cool, damp weather I took the weekend to work on rods. My brother’s rod is finally done and looks great. Also I started the cigar rod; it is turning out so well. The details below are for the “Tim Hall” rod. I also included any issues that came up in the rod's construction.

My brother Tim graduated from Western Michigan University this December and has been released into the real word to teach our youth. He always said that he could not build rods because he does not have the patience. To enjoy teaching children the way he does takes real patience. I am proud of him and really could not show him in any other way just how impressed I am with his dedication. This accomplishment deserves reward; turning out a great fly rod for us to enjoy together for years to come is a good start.

His rod is a 7’6’’ 4 weight fly rod. It is a Forecast blank from Hook and Hackle with a custom turned reel seat from Winslow Rods of Golden, Colorado. The handle is Bamboo Burl and guides are black Pac Bay single foot. I used tan and rust thread from Guderod in an open diamond pattern. I wanted the rod to look old school but still new and clean. I added a great deal of features to trick the rod out. The ferrules have "line up dots" on them along with a ruler built into the rod’s first section. A great way to lay a big fish down, get a photo and measurement and return her to the water. My brother is also a catch and release angler, or I would not fish with him. The rod bag is an old school four place bag; to commemorate the gift I wrote:

“To my brother and my best friend.”

On the inside flap the rod's specs and the "WBH II ROD" signature. I had the reel seat ring engraved with his initials; it is a great touch on any rod. It casts well with 4 weight Wonderline. It is a true moderate action rod. I think presentation is more important than distance.

I had some issues with the line ups dots looking right. If you are going to do them make them big, they will look better. Do not trust anyone with your reel seat; they will not remember which side goes up when they engrave.

Good luck Tim, on the river and in life.

Love,

Your Brother

Email: wbhrod@yahoo.com

1-22-2006: Battling with January lake run brown trout.

2006-01-28T21:52:00.000-08:00

New year and I promised myself I would make more time to get out fishing.

Trip #1:

The inaugural blog after the first outing with my fly rod in 2006. This was a great day. I met and became fast friends with Mr. Butler of Chicago. He is a great person and never without anything to say, fishing related or otherwise. His tales did help pass a cold afternoon at Colonial Park on the Root River in Racine, Wisconsin. The air was cold but the sun shined and Friday’s heavy wet snow was falling from the trees as the rays became warmer. Not a perfect day for catching but a great day for fishing. I took the usual 9 foot, 7 weight with egg patterns and split shot; keeping it simple. I built the rod some time ago and sold it. With luck I found it again and bought it back. It was meant to be, for me and that ugly old rod. It is the true definition of function before form, and even sometimes lacks in both departments (02/09/06 new decorative thread and reel seat were added and a post of the is listed above, face lift). I built it as I was learning to construct rods and it shows, but it fishes so well. I was up against fish in the twenty pound class in rocky waters, blow downs, line snags and swift currents that all should have done away with the six pound tippet, but did not.

The first fish I hooked was exciting and unexpected. I did my best, but the large brown was not having it. As I drew him closer Mr. Butler took out his camera, "the jinx", the hook came loose and the fish stormed away victorious. As it grew later I found myself alone with his place to fish. I moved downstream. Before he had walked out of sight, fish on. The fish, as you can see, is of good size and fresh to the system. Her ventral fin is clipped from the hatchery and she was properly released. I took a few photos to remember her and then without much persuasion returned her to the deep pocket from which she came.

In the end, the presence of the brown this late is rumored to be a result of the weather being unseasonably warm and low precipitation. On this day I was glad there was still a few left. I will return soon to hopefully find some steelhead and maybe one more holdover brown trout.

Email: wbhrod@yahoo.com