After Noon Quickie

We have been working on opening up a fishing tackle store here in Fiji. Boy is it a heck of a lot of work and the doors are not even open yet. We found a shop that is in a good location and a good price and split the space with a friend named John. He will be opening a meat and specialty food shop. We are calling it "Pacific Harbour Fishing Tackle and Meats".

The other day we were inside painting and cleaning up the pig stye that the previous tenants left and finished up around noon. The weather looked ok and I said to my partners in crime, "why don't we go for a fish?" Of course there was a resounding, "sure what time?" To which I replied, "let's go home grab the gear and go." So we did.

I always leave the boat ready to go. It is cleaned fueled and watered. That way all I have to do is jump in and turn the key and go fish.

It is now just after noon and as we leave the shelter of the break wall it becomes obvious that the wind has picked up out of the SW and there is a rain squall coming our way. We put the hammer down and pound our way out across the channel to Beqa Lagoon.

Soon the clouds part and the sun comes out, although we are still contending with a 15-20 knot SW wind, it turns into a beauty of an afternoon.

Ok I need to back up a bit here and tell you that John has been out with us before but the weather has always been crap and he has declined to try popper fishing with the boat pitching in all directions. Not that I blame him. So this time it is just John, Rosie and myself out and John is at the rear with Rosie out front. After a few quick casting lessons John is popping like a pro.

Not long after we start really fishing, Rosie gets smashed by a beauty of a Long Nose Emperor. These fish fight like Mack trucks. They hit the lure and head straight for any structure they can find. and with a big fat tail propelling them they can move. After a good tussle Rosie brings it to the boat so it can have it's picture taken.

From XstreemFishingCom

From XstreemFishingCom

I instructed John on the fact that most, if not all first time poppers don't catch anything. It is just part of the learning curve. So to avoid disappointment I told him not to expect much in the way of fish but to practice and have fun.

Much to my and his surprise his rod suddenly loads up and he is onto a good fish. After a dirty fight with a nasty toothy Bass, John proves triumphant.

From XstreemFishingCom

Things go quiet for awhile after that and we settle into a nice rhythm and everyone gets a bit comfortable. This is not to last.

When you least expect it, I think the saying goes.

Suddenly, Rosie's rod loads up and line starts to peel off. With the drag screaming and me backing out of the reef the fight is on. We know immediately that it is a GT. Nothing fights like them. Deep powerful runs followed by massive head shakes and finally the long haul up with the fish using it's massive girth to fight you all the way to the top.

From XstreemFishingCom

It was like someone told all the fish that it was time to bite. With in a couple of minutes Rosie was on to another GT. A bit smaller but gave a good accounting of itself none the less.

From XstreemFishingCom

Now it was John's turn again. This time he was onto a Long Tom and it put on quite an aerial display. He handled it like a pro.

From XstreemFishingCom

Then it was back to the Trevally. This time Rosie lands a nice Bluefin Trevally.

From XstreemFishingCom

When the fishing is hot it's really hot and with great water clarity we all got to see the next fish swim up to the lure and nonchalantly take it. Once it had the lure and was heading in the opposite direction the massive GT turned on the after burners. The drag screamed as line melted from the reel. The fight was good and fair. Moving from on top of the reef to deep water followed by great head shakes and the long slug up to the top. Once the GT was in the boat both angler and fish could relax.

From XstreemFishingCom

From XstreemFishingCom

A few pictures and now its is 4:30 and time to go home.

Tight lines

Fishing Trip Video with Larry Harper the Fish Attractor King

A video from earlier this summer when we took Larry Harper the Bill Dance Fish Attractor guy fishing at a few places. We hope to be able to upgrade the quality our filming camera, we just need to sell a few more porcupine attractors though!

Wye 'Trugg is the bollocks as he lands a massive wild brown'

This was a much anticipated trip, i have been looking forward to going all week, i last fished here in mayfly time and had 35 fish which even got in the trout and salmon magazine which was nice, so was very exited about my return but knowing it would not fish the same..
I picked my mucker Dave up from Leek around half nine in the morning and we set off buzzing all the way there just hoping that the river would be i fine condition..
We met up with Mick (trugg) and Johnny Colemans on the grouse and made our way to the fisherman's car park, we all jumped in the trugg machine and parked in Bakwell and had a slap up breakfast with a stoke oatcake which was not upto the real stoke standard but did a job.
We were all in our element and had good tactic swaps about how our approach would be. Johnny has been quite a few times and give us valuable knowledge of runs ect...
These times do not happen often where good lads meet up for a fishing day on a dream river.






We then made our way back to the car park and tackled up and made our way to the river, Mick had a operation (the snip) on Friday and was in a bit of a state, which made him walk like he had sh*t himself....

The river was in great condition and was running quite clear and slightly raised, weather was overcast and the rain was holding out, i was first to wet a line and spotted a rise instantly which got my heart pumping.. I had a go and got nothing until i tied on a a jt olive which gave a rise to a nice brown which slowly came up and sipped my fly only for me to strike too early and not set the hook... you only get one chance with these wild fish so i moved on..
The wind was strong and i went over to Mick as he was trying to hit some rises on the neck of a rifle, he took a couple of small rainbows and lost a pounder.

Woody and Colemans arrived back from further downstream and Johnny had taken a small grayling in a shallow run..
We had the first Kelly brew of the day and a sip of Woodys class whisky which evaporated in my mouth before i could swallow it!!!
We then made our way upstream, all of us drifting into our own little runs to fish, i picked up my first small brown in a fast run on the olive pattern which got me wanting more, fishing was not easy and rises were few but there was enough to cause a interest..

I saw a nice fish of around 3lb rising steady to bwo duns in a slow section on a bend, this is the type of fishing i enjoy at the moment, i have done the fast rifles but love a challenge of a slow section where fish can inspect your fly, i put on a jt olive only for it to ignore it until i got my pres right, the fish came up sucked my fly in and i missed it again!!!

I changed to a paradun and the same happened again, missed it, then another fly...missed.. these fish are so wise, if i got a take on a fly and missed it, the fish would totally ignore it until i changed my fly.. they were spitting the fly out before you could make any contact.. clever!

I then fished a long shallow rifle and took 3 small wild rainbows which fight there heads off and give my 7ft 3# some fun..

Johnny give a guiding lesson to Dave and he then hooked a lovely grayling, his face lit up and now he started to catch fish, confidence is everything..

Mick was catching on a small fly of his own and johnny was taking fish on my ltd pattern he had tied with a yellow coloured cdc wing under the deer hair-very nice..

Johnny is one of the coolest fly men i have met, he is very laid back and a joy to fish with, his approach to every fish with stealth, a very good tip for anyone..
We fished together in a pool known to him as heartbreak corner where you can good size fish rising but not showing much interest in your fly..
There was a pod of nice fish rising to blue wing olive duns, these were being sipped down regularly, the run is smooth with a faster feeding lane in the middle which makes presentation hard, we put every fly going on top of these fish but only got fish coming right to the fly and turning away, this drove me and johnny mad and we stuck with these fish for a good hour but never got a full take, i put it down too micro drag on the fly but thats just fly fishing, you never really know when this happens...
Johnny and myself had a crafty kelly brew while Mick and woody were further upstream, we needed this after the fish had taken the pi*s out of us..
We made our way over the first road bridge around 4 o'clock and the rain started to fall, it was really thrashing down so we found a marque which we took cover, hear i filled the kelly up with the water coming off the roof!! Well the lads were a bit shocked but this nice hot drink did the job for me but johnny and Woody were a bit cautious when drinking, JC said it was 'special' i could see the lads heads going down with the rain so assured them it would stop and we would get a huge sedge hatch!! they all laughed at me but this river is a bit special and i new non of this rain would take the river up or colour it while we were there, we had some good crack for a hour then headed off to the cricket stretch.
This is a very good spot and Mick and JC were fighting to get in there, we all spread out along this stretch and started to take fish from most runs, the rain was consistent but so were rises and my ltd sedge was doing wonders for me, there were small black sedge swarms under the trees and fish were rising to these, i drifted my fly on a medium flowing run and a small rise produced a huge run from a mad rainbow, this fish was fighting its head off and give me the run around, Woody and JC came to help me land the fish and it was a nice fit rainbow of around 4lb, my new pb!! i was on top of the world now and the rain did not put us off at all, if you were on your own you would have gone home but all of us were having a great time and having a right laugh..For some reason when i fish the wye and see a rise my heart starts to pump faster, i get a real buzz as i know that i could be hooking into a fish of a lifetime, i am sure that most fly men get the same feeling when fishing somewhere a bit special..
We all decided to go to the a Chinese in the town and had a full take away which really did the trick, we sat on the bench near the bridge and tucked into our snappin, these are great times and only fisherman would sit in the pissin down rain eating a chinky, i love my fishing but i also love the crack between fly men of the same passion..Woody is a very good mate of mine and we get on very well, he just laughs at me all the time and he sometimes looks at me as though i am mad, he is very true.. JC is a cool chap who is just a down to earth lad with a degree!! who you could just fish with all day long, as for Mick he is very much like me, loud and never stops talking, and laughs his head off all day long, a top bloke who goes out of his way to help you..
We then made our way over to Scotts Garden....
To be cont.....

Dovedale 'Wood gets his smile back'

Met Dave tonight at dovedale around seven, we had heard reports that the river was getting back to normal so decided to give it a go, arriving on the car park i took a glance at the river showing it losing its colour and dropping but still raised.

We had not fished since last week and this had done my head in so was pleased to get out even if fishing was poor...

We started at the bridge and i took a few fish in the first section to a klink, not a favorite fly of mine, but great in the river conditions..

Half way up the fast section i noticed a nice hatch of bwo with fish taking them with a confident splashy rise, i switched to a olive pattern which took a small fish but missed a good fish that i watched sipp my fly in only for me to strike too early a pull the hook! with the river flowing quite strong i was getting lots of drag which was putting fish off and they were having a good look then turning away with any sort of drag..

Looking above me i saw huge clouds of bwo spinners around the trees which lifted my hopes of a good spinner fall.

Dave hooked a nice fish up in the fast section only for the hook to pull after a good scrap, this got Daves back up, he has had some bad luck on our last outing and i could see his confidence dropping, we all have that in fishing, it drives me mad, confidence is massive in everything we do, if a top class footballer cant hit the net and he loses confidence things get worse, but soon as he scores he is at it again, the same goes for fishing, if you have no confidence you will not catch fish, you start to try too hard, strike too soon, not consentrate.. At these times we need to just knuckle down and go back to basics..

We sat down in the nursery section for a kelly brew and usual pork pies, was so great to be out fishing after a week break..

Dave started to fish while i watched him, fish were quite finicky in the nursery, the odd rise here and there, he turned around to me with a sad face and said 'i think im in for a blank youth' that second a fish hammered his olive pattern and gave him a right good run around.. Dave was into a nice fish, he then landed a wild trout of around a pound and a half, he was buzzing his head off, a quick picture and off she went, A cracking trout and a massive boost for my mate...

His eyes lit up and he was now back to normal, he said 'i am not bothered if i dont fish all night after that' We all know how he feels, we have all been there!

Dave actually ended up catching more fish and that was all to do with him being relaxed again, well done Dave you are back to normal...

As the light faded i worked my way down the stones section towards the bridge, hear i have spotted a very good fish all year and it always laughs at what i put past it.. I have hook it once and it blew 20 yards off my line and pulled the hook,

I tied on my 'living the dream sedge' and hooked a nice fish on first cast! getting on for the pound mark, a truley full wild brownie

(into a sedge smasher at dusk)

I then took another small fish but noticed the big fish rising again, i covered the fish with my sedge and on the third cast it smashed my ltd and hooked itself, my 3# looped clean over, i was in for seconds until a weak point in my tippet to fly line snapped, i was gutted, this fish has yet again turned me over! hopefully it will lose the barbless size 17 soon. I was more gutted to have left it trailing the hook than not catching it, goes to show why barbless must always be used..

A great night again with Dave and thank God he is smiling again!!!

Going the Wye on Sunday with Trugg, Dave Wood and Colemans, should be in for some fun, watch this space...................

Glen

No cool pics, just a recap!

I am on diaper duty right now. Brook is out at the lake with 15 junior high girls for an overnight retreat, and I just got the kids down for a nap and dont really feel like working much, shoot I might even take a nap myself!

Anyhow, been electrofishing a couple nights a week, stocking quite a few Hybrid Striped Bass, killing lots of duckweed, and even did a little fishing with some clients on their new fishing dock last night.

You wont believe this story: Anyhow we get all our business taken care of and its 7 pm and cool and calm and we decide to grab some gear and head down to the dock for a few minutes. Scott busts a blue fox spinner out and reels in a nice crappie and Terry casts out a night crawler and catches a pesky "little" perch. Inside I am glowing and admiring these trophy 10-12 inch fat yellow perch that the guys keeping reeling in on almost every cast until I find out that they didnt realize exactly what they were catching. Come to find out the pesky perch are so easy to catch they classified them as pesky bluegill and had been cutting them up for catfish bait on their jugs they set out!!!

Anyhow we got that squared away and let them know that those are indeed trophy fish and would be the envy of thousands of anglers across the midwest!

That brings me back to today. I had a couple appointments and an application to do today, but I also agreed to watch the kids and ended up pulling everything off and they are sound asleep and everything got done, but I dont think I could handle another day like today for quite some time. I got to get some rest before nap time is over so I had better get rolling!!!

4br Home, Indoor Gym, Pond, and 5 acres!

Outstanding 4bd/3ba Home, Indoor Gym and Pond on 5 acres!

ListingID 22149267

$595,000 Willing to negotiate 9621 State Rt 91 (map) Peoria, IL 61615 4 beds, 3 baths Single Family

Contact the Owner Greg Herman 309-303-2242 Also try 309-243-5610 Or E-mail the Owner

Additional photos below

Open House

Sunday, August 16, 2009 2:00PM to 4:00PM More Information

About this Property

Bedrooms: 4

Bathrooms: 3

Floors: 2.0

Square Footage: 3285

Year Built: 1988

School District: Dunlap

Garage Size: 2.0

Lot Size: 5 Acre(s)

Amenities:

Fireplace, Central AC, Carpeted Floors, Wood Floors, Appliances Included, Patio/Balcony, Basement, Bonus/Great Room, Central Heating, Deck/Porch, Garage, Jetted Bathtub, Lakefront, Office/Den, Active Adult, Tile Floors, View

• This estate is located in Peoria County on Rt 91 just down the road from the Shoppes at Grand Prairie, the new medical buildings, hospital, and the new Grace Presbyterian Church! Hoerr's Apple Blossom Farm Orchard borders the entry lane on the North side! The Home was constructed by Noah Herman Sons builders in 1988. A new roof and hybrid heating/cooling system were installed in 2007, and a brand new $100,000 very large kitchen with granite countertops and tile floor was remodeled in 2008! All of the bedrooms are upstairs and the Master Retreat features a fireplace, balcony, and jetted bathtub.

• The "Barn" was constructed in 1995 and features a 2600 sq/ft indoor gymnasium with full court basketball and volleyball. Also boasts an 1100 sq/ft banquet area with full kitchen and a 1000 sq/ft 3 stall garage! The House and Barn sits on 5 acres of land with over 300 feet of waterfront frontage, private beach, and a large deck/dock on a shared 3 acre pond. The pond is shared with the 3 other homes in the "subdivision". No other houses can be built in this subdivision!

• The pond is professionally managed and maintained by Herman Brothers Pond Management. It is fully stocked with Trophy Yellow Perch, Crappie, Hybrid Bluegill, Catfish, Bass, Walleye, and even Tiger Muskie. Large Rainbow Trout will be stocked this fall for ice fishing!

• The sellers of this property are now empty nesters and very motivated to sell the property to a family who will appreciate and utilize all of the amenities and activities this estate has to offer. Although the sellers are willing to negotiate, the property is priced to sell very quickly and at list price will not be on the market very long. Our Open House is scheduled for Sunday, August 16th from 2-4pm. House is available to move in immediately following the Open House.

E-mail the Owner

More Photos

Contact the Owner

Greg Herman 309-303-2242 Also try 309-243-5610 Or E-mail the Owner

Fiji Fishing, Bad Weather and GT's

No matter the weather, or the conditions of the sea. When someone catches a hell of a big fish nothing else maters and the day is good.

From XstreemFishingCom

Rosie has been trying to catch a big one for quite some time. Patience and perseverance finally paid off.

This catch is a testament to good angling skills. It was hooked with only one leg of a treble and only in the lip. When it was brought on board the lure just fell out. She kept constant pressure on the fish never slacking once. The rod stayed bent the entire time and she received her just reward a really nice GT. That was how the day started.

We had a late start,after 10AM. The weather was breaking and it was decided last minute to go fishing. The action was relatively fast, we probably landed 6 fish with a lot more strikes in about 2 hours. The water was clear as glass and you could see the strike as they happened.

From XstreemFishingCom

We caught about four Bluefin Trevally as well as Queen fish and Bass.

From XstreemFishingCom

This all happened before 1PM. Not a bad morning if you ask me.

We went out the next morning to have another go.

We landed a couple Bass

From XstreemFishingCom

As you can see the weather is crappy and only proceeded to get worse.

From XstreemFishingCom

This image is just to give you an idea of the weather. We were sheltering behind an Island so the sea looks calm.

From XstreemFishingCom

This is Paul sitting on the bottom below the boat maybe 15ft down. Just mucking around.

Tight lines

LTD Sedge pattern (how to tie)

I am bored out my head at home with the state of the rivers so i am going to post one of my sedge patterns that has caught me some good fish this season when fishing into the dark with the trout hitting the small black sedge. It is not a new pattern but a slight variation of a sedge pattern that was gave to me by Alex Swann from the Ladffa, it was the only fly that would raise a good fish on a certain occasion fishing with Alex..This fly is not a attractor pattern but will pull a fish when nothing is hatching but is a absolute killer when the fish are hitting sedge, usually when the light starts to fade..John Tyzack uses a fly similar to this..I am not a great fly tyer but my flys catch fish and when do you see a natural that is perfect?Materials required
Tiemco size 17 hook (tmc103bl)
Masterclass #27 Brown caddis
Olive/brown thread 8/0
Natural CDC
Deer Hair natural fine
Cock de leon feathers


Run the thread down just a wee bit past the hook point, not too far as the fly can become too bulky and longer than the natural....l Pinch on your Masterclass #28 brown caddis dubbing, not too much but make it nice and fluffy to give some buzz to the body...

Run the dubbing upto the eye making sure nice and light or the fly will sink when wet..

Take two small feathers of cdc and tie in at the hook with a couple of turns, make sure the end of feathers do not pass the full length of hook, some of the cdc should come around the eye, you want this to give the fly a life like buzz around it, some of the cdc should be under the hook, do not snip this away..

Snip off and trip neatly

Put a small dot of cement(glue) to secure the cdc, this tends to fall out if not glued as i hammer my flys in all sorts of trees ect!! Try to keep the turns on the eye to a minimum as you dont want to get a big thick head, this will ruin the fly, try a smaller thread if you get a problem..

Pinch in a small amount of deer hair at the eye, i usually use a hair stacker to get the end of the hairs straight but my 4 year old has jumped on it so had to do it by hand! dont use too much as this is where i used to ruin the fly, it can become like a big moth if your not careful, the mix of cdc and deer hair is so natural like and makes a great combination...

Tie in with 3 turns as tight as possible, dont worry about the flair of the deer hair as it can be worked back down....

This is my variation, tie in two strands of cock de leon, this is a major trigger point for me and i have proved this to work better than not using them on ellastone, the cock de leon is very expensive but lasts for many flies and it has a superb look and texture to it.. do not tie in too long, keep them shortish like the natural, dont forget this fly is not a attractor...

Snip off ends and add cement then tie off..notice the down eyed hook will sit in the film and help the front tippets to sit on the surface giving a great view to the trout and a strong trigger, i believe some fish look for these when watching them from below, fish this fly in slow to medium paced rivers, in fast rifles its hard to see so could be beefed up slightly..

The finished fly, keep it very sparce and dont bush it up and you will hammer fish in a sedge hatch late on, the fly looks very rough but thats how it should be, it has got a buzz about it..Always use the tiemco hook, they are very sharp and strong, black, and great shape for this pattern..Whats it called 'LTD Sedge' If you follow my blog u will know what it means!!Hear them slurps, bang it on, and get stuck in to em!!!Hope it helps you and its well worth ago....ThanksGlen