My leg and knee have gained back most of its strength, though I feel there’s still a ways to go before it’s completely normal. At least I’m walking without a limp, back to jogging and bike riding and most importantly: ready to get back to hiking and river wading. Physio has dwindled from several hours a day (at its highest) to an hour or so every other day, so there’s finally time to get back to the other things I enjoy.

Sadly, I don’t have a lot to report yet on the fishing front. We’ve had a lot of rain leading up to opener, which surely put a bit of damper on many peoples’ weekend as lots of rivers were still blown out. It looks like the Hendricksons have started though and with the rivers dropping a bit and calming down, this week should be pretty fantastic in comparison.

I picked up a new toy last weekend – one that I’ve been wanting to acquire for a long time. I was very close to purchasing a new Outcast pontoon before coming across a used Streamer XL-IR in decent shape for a fraction of the cost. It still needs some cleaning up, but it seems to be in great working order and I’m excited to use it this season on everything from river drifts to still water to (small) lakes.

My new (used) Outcast Streamer XL-IR.

When it’s not in the back of my truck, it will probably be sitting assembled in my garage (which I’m sure my wife and kids will just love). So aside from a good cleaning and some rod holders, I may also need to rig up some sort of suspension system for it in the garage.

On the fly tying front, the winter consisted mainly of a few Galloup streamer patterns, so I have some catching up to do (like usual) to fill my fly boxes with Hendricksons and other patterns that were lost to either fish or the trees last season.

All-white Silk Kitty: another Galloup streamer that is good looking, simple and fun to tie

I wasn’t able to get out to any rivers this weekend, as my wife was away on a trip with my daughter and I was left with our two boys. Given the river conditions and crowds though, I don’t think I missed much. I was planning on taking the next couple days off to fish, but that idea was also squashed due to a busy week at work. Hopefully I’ll get out after work once or twice this week, or on the weekend for a few hours.

Until then…

The post The Wait is Over appeared first on Caffeinated Fly Fisher.

Distraught, I phoned Sage and explained the situation. They instructed me to ship the damaged sections to their Warranty/Repair department in Washington. I would be responsible for the shipping cost, along with a $50 US handling and return shipping fee. When all was said and done, I was out about $80. Worse yet, the season was just getting started and I would have to wait almost 2 months for the repair to be completed and shipped back to me, since this is the busiest time of year for rod repairs.

The rod had broke in the mid section, near the ferrule. I sent both the 2nd and 3rd rod sections back to Sage, clearly labelled with tape where the damage had occurred. Aside from the obvious snapped 3rd section, there was some visible damage to the end of the 2nd section. Sage explained that they didn’t have any stock to replace the broken sections, so they would be custom building me replacements. When I finally got the rod back a couple weeks ago, I had a shiny new third 3rd section, but they sent the 2nd section back exactly the way it was. I was initially confused and not to happy about this, especially since I labelled the damage on it, but I concluded that they must have closely inspected and tested the section and verified that it was fine, despite the small chip.

This past Sunday, I took the rod out for the first time since getting it back. I fished it for a good 6 hours, landing several large fish, with one 20″ rainbow putting up a long hard fight. It was looking and performing great and I was happy to have it back. As I was heading back, I casted a streamer to the bank and began stripping it in when I felt a tug. I set the hook and all the sudden… SNAP! My newly repaired rod snapped in half, exactly where the damage on the 2nd section was not repaired.

Of the 8 or so fly rods that I’ve owned over the past 20 years, not only is this the first rod that’s broken, but it broke twice in one season. I can’t really blame Sage though, at least not for the first break. In their defence, when I called their warranty department back today, the rep was extremely accommodating. He said they would waive the $50 handling fee this time around and bypass their usual repair queue to get the fix done quickly. To save me on shipping costs, he instructed me to cut a 6 inch piece off the ends of the damaged sections (this way, I can ship it in a much smaller container). I have to say, it felt a little odd taking a hacksaw to a 4 month old Sage VXP.

My twice broken Sage VXP, after taking a hacksaw to it to shorten it up for shipping

Hopefully I get the rod back in time for some fall fishing – and hopefully this next repair will be the last one!

The post Twice Broken appeared first on Caffeinated Fly Fisher.

Some of newly acquired fly fishing gear from 2013.

Brodin Ghost Landing Net

New Orvis Brodin Ghost landing net.

As I mentioned in my last post, my wife bought me a new landing net for Christmas this year. My previous (very cheap) net broke last year when I accidentally stepped on it in the stream.  I had my eye on some Brodin Ghost nets and was talking to a buddy about them several weeks ago. I guess my wife caught wind of this and ended up having him pick one up for me. Good thing I never completed that on-line order that I started a week before Christmas!

I had been looking specifically at the Brodin Gallatin Ghost, which is a slim oval shape, similar to my last net. Instead I received an Orvis branded Brodin net, which is basically the Brodin Cutthroat Ghost with an Orvis logo. I’m extremely happy with it and I think it will actually be a better net for my uses, since its wider opening will be a bit more forgiving – especially when I’m struggling to land a big fish in the dark.

Smith Tenet Sunglasses, with Polarchromic Copper Lenses

If you mention sunglasses to my wife, she’s sure to cringe. Not only do I devote absurd amounts of time talking about and shopping for glasses when I’m in the market for a new pair, but I have a history of spending top dollar on sunglasses and then losing or damaging them. The most recent examples of this are when I lost both a pair of polarized Arnette glasses and my (brand new) Smith Hideout glasses last summer. The former were lost when diving into a lake while wearing them and the latter were left at a fishing access point, never to be seen again.

First, a bit of history on my quest to buy the ultimate fly fishing sunglasses. The Polarchromic lenses on the Smith glasses is a first for me. These are basically a polarized glass version of a Photochromic lens (automatically lightens/darkens based on light levels). In addition to not being cheap, I went through quite an ordeal to obtain them. I was set on this type of lens from Smith, but they simply could not be found anywhere in the Toronto area. I had no choice but to order them on-line.

I first ordered the Guide’s Choice model with a Polarchromic Amber lens. This seemed to be one of the more popular frame styles so I thought it would be a good start. I knew Copper was the popular lens colour choice, but I thought I would try Amber instead since it provides a bit more light transmission and would be better for low light situations. As it turned out, the Guide’s Choice frame style did not fit my face very well – there was a good sized gap between the frame and my face. On top of this, while the Amber lens did seem good in low light, it was just too unbearable in bright light.

Smith Guide’s Choice Sunglasses with Polarchromic Amber lenses.

So, after a couple phone calls and some more frame comparisons, I sent the Guide’s Choice back and exchanged them for the Hideout model, this time in Polarchromic Copper Mirror. This was another area I spent a lot of time investigating – the differences between the Copper and Copper Mirror lenses. My conclusion was that the mirror would reflect a bit more light and be slightly darker than the non-mirror and it should not compromise performance much. In reality, my main reason for picking the mirror lens was simply that I liked the frame style more.

Smith Hideout Sunglasses with Polarchromic Copper Mirror lenses.

Thankfully, shipping is very fast through the Smith Optics website and it usually took only a single day for orders to arrive at my doorstep. When the Hideouts arrived, I was pleased that they fit much better. I wouldn’t call it a perfect fit, but a good fit. I was also pretty happy with the performance of the copper mirror lens, which was very good in bright light though obviously not quite as good as the amber in low light. I’ll admit that I didn’t feel like they were that amazing, at least not compared to the expectations I had from reading on-line reviews. Still, they were very good and I was more than happy with them.

As mentioned earlier, the Hideouts did not last more than a few weeks before I misplaced them while packing up my gear after a day of fishing. As fast as I could research and buy them, I lost them… Needless to say, neither my wife nor I was very pleased about this and it wasn’t until a couple weeks ago that I got around to replacing them. I figured this time around I would try the only lens colour I hadn’t yet – the most popular and obvious choice, Polarchromic Copper (no mirror).

Since I didn’t like the frames that came with the Hideout Copper lenses, I found another model that looked nicer and seemed to be sized similarly. I ordered the Tenet in Polarchromic Copper and got them the next day.

Smith Tenet Sunglasses with Polarchromic Copper lenses.

These glasses fit even better than the Hideouts did, they are lighter, more snug to my face and the copper lens is all around much better (in my opinion) than the copper mirror lens. I’ve yet to take them out fishing, but I’ve been using them for driving and they finally seem as amazing as all the reviews I had read. It took me a lot of money and time to get here, so hopefully I’ll treat this pair better and still have them several years from now.

Fishpond Wildhorse Tech Pack

Ever since I stared fly fishing, I’ve been wearing the basic type of fly fishing vests. Nothing fancy, medium weight and just enough pockets to carry my fly boxes and other small gear. Not that I care much about trends, but I would say that these traditional types of fishing vests have been going out of style for a while. They are usually replaced by either chest packs, tech packs or nothing at all (minimalist approach).

I’ve tried chest packs in the past and I’m not a very big fan. The main problem I have with them is that they don’t feel very balanced when you are wearing them, since all of the weight is in the front. Many sit high on your chest and this adds to the awkwardness of them as well.

I’ll admit that I do like the minimalist approach of not wearing a vest at all. On rainy days, when I have my rain jacket on, I usually do leave the vest in the car. However, you still need to carry bare essentials and this includes at least tippet, fly boxes, a couple tools and often a net. Having a shirt with a lot of pockets helps, as does a fly fishing lanyard / tippet necklace. On hot days when fishing for fairly short periods of time, I think this is the ideal approach.

However, when I hit the river it’s usually for extended periods of time. I like to hike far enough to get away from the crowds and find holes that are less frequently fished. Sometimes it’s simply because I haven’t fished for a while and need to binge, so I like to pack a lunch, some drinks and hit the river for a whole day. With this type of fishing, none of the other options really cut it – not even the classic fishing vest. I would often stuff food and drinks into the back of my fishing vest (which was not made for this) and deal with my vest being overloaded and uncomfortable all day. Then, I found out about Fishpond’s Tech Packs and immediately wanted one.

Tech Packs are made for exactly these types of situations. They come in a variety of sizes, have an integrated backpack and vest-like pockets on the front. They’re specifically designed to be able to carry a lot of gear and still be very balanced, with weight distributed to your shoulders instead of your back. I finally picked one up last season and couldn’t be happier with it. I will still do the odd day without a vest or pack, when I’m not venturing out too far or for too long. But on those longer days or when the weather is questionable, it’s great to be able to easily carry a lunch, drinks, a rain jacket, extra reels/spools and even an extra rod – all comfortably.

Fishpond Wildhorse Tech Pack: this thing can carry anything you need, comfortably.

Simms RiverTek Boa Wading Boots

I’ve been wearing Korkers wading boots for a few years and I was very happy with them overall. I had an older lace-up pair that had interchangeable soles, which I very much appreciated when I wanted to use the boots for something other than fishing. For example, I would use the felt soles exclusively for fishing and I would use the rubber soles for back country canoe trips.

Well, last year they finally died. My felt soles were ruined and the rubber soles that came with them did not seem to have enough grip on the slimy rocks of the Grand River. On top of that, there was a hole forming in the toe and the clips that the soles snapped into were wearing out.

I needed a replacement pair and the main feature I wanted to have was the new Boa Lacing System. This makes it so much easier to put on and take off your boots… no fussing with laces, a great snug fit, super fast to do up and nearly instant to undo. I intended on buying a new pair of Korkers, but it nobody had my size (13) in stock. I was in desperate need, so instead of Korkers I found a pair of Simms RiverTek Boa wading boots in my size.

Simms RiverTek Boa wading boots.

I was a bit reluctant at first because the pair they had in stock did not have felt soles – they were rubber / Vibram. However, with the anti-felt-sole movement of late, which urges anglers to stop using felt soles due to their promotion of the transfer of invasive specifies between rivers, I decided to buy them. I figured, if they were too slippery I could just buy some spikes.

Well, I was pleasantly surprised all around by these boots. First, they seemed like a higher quality boot than the Korkers. The fit was better, the seams and soles looked sturdier and they offered more support. The Boa system was actually more amazing than I expected it to be and the Vibram rubber soles were fine even without spikes. So far, I would say they’re my favourite boot to date. Since I bought the rubber soles (and not felt), I’m also happy that I can take them on portage trips in the future as well.

Simms Headwaters Gore-Tex Jacket

A good rain jacket for fishing is something I’ve been wanting for years. It’s just another expensive piece of gear that you eventually need to splurge on. It was my last two Algonquin trips where I realized I absolutely needed one however, when I was stuck on a 30 km canoe trip in the pouring rain with nothing but a plastic rain poncho.

In addition to being a great all around fly fishing jacket for rainy days, it will also serve me well on hiking or canoeing trips and as an outer layer in cold weather fishing. I looked at a bunch of different jackets and ended up settling on the Simms Headwaters jacket, which seemed to have just the right fit and features without breaking the bank:

• Gore-Tex outer layer with micro-fleece inner layer
• Two large pockets on the front with gear clips inside, capable of easily holding large fly boxes
• Fleece-lined hand pockets for keeping your hands warm on cold days
• A deep hood with a bit of brim to keep you completely sheltered from heavy rain
• A net clip on the back
• Just the right length and weight to keep you comfortable in any weather, with appropriate layering underneath

Simms Headwaters Gore-Tex Jacket

Long story short, it’s a simply designed Gore-Tex jacket with just the right amount of features at a good price ($200).

Hardy Zenith 8’6″ #4 Fly Rod

The final piece of gear worth mentioning is my long overdue trout rod upgrade. I actually bought this during the 2012 season, but I thought I’d include it here anyway. It’s hard to believe I got by on entry level fly rods for so many years. Don’t get me wrong, they do the job and a rod is not going to make anyone a better fisherman (actually, that is somewhat arguable). There are just a lot of advantages to using a better rod that is made from higher quality materials.

It was time to shell out some decent money on a good rod, but I didn’t want to unnecessarily spend without doing my research. So as usual, I devoted a lot of time to reading and looking at different rods. Living in North America, the obvious choices for high-end rods are brands like G. Loomis, Sage, St. Croix and Orvis. I also looked at a couple other mid-tier rod makers, such as Temple Fork Outfitters.

Going into this, I would have never guessed that my rod of choice would not end up being from any of the above mentioned manufacturers. I settled on a Hardy Zenith 4 weight rod. Hardy has long been a popular rod maker in Europe, but in North America they are known more for their reels than rods. If you follow the Yellowstone Angler Rod Shootouts (one of the most popular sources for in-depth rod reviews), you’ve surely heard of the Zenith as it’s topped several of their recent shootouts. It was their 2012 Four Weight Shootout that got me looking into this rod.

My upgrade rod of choice: a Hardy Zenith 8’6″ 4 weight

In the past, I’ve always used 5 weight rods for trout fishing. Like most people say, this is a good versatile choice for all-around fly fishing. After my first few 5 weight rods, I began doing more small stream fishing and realized that I need something smaller, so I purchased a 7’9″ St. Croix Avid 3 weight. I still have this rod and I enjoy it very much for small stream fishing. I’ll occasionally use it on slightly larger rivers, especially if I’m only fishing for brookies, but it really is not suitable for large trout.

When I started fishing for bass on a fly rod, the only choice I had was either one of my 5 weight rods, or my much larger 8 weight. I’ve been using an old 5 weight, but it’s far less than ideal. Sure, for small to average sized bass it does the trick. But if you land a large bass or a pike (which is very common in areas where bass exist), the 5 weight is not up to the job. On top of that, casting large bass or pike flies is not something that a 5 weight is ideally suited for. For bass, a 6 weight is ideal and it’s definitely on my list of big purchases in the near future.

All this got me thinking… 5 weights really are a general purpose all-around rod that you can use for almost anything. Just like with other things, a jack-of-all-trades is usually not expert in one specific thing, but rather mediocre to good at most things. This is how I feel about 5 weight rods now. If 90% of my fishing is for resident trout, is a 5 weight really my best choice?

As it turns out, I don’t think it is. An 8’6″ – 9′ 4 weight rod is just enough rod to handle any resident trout without much trouble, yet light enough to not tire you out after a long day of fishing. Add to this some of the high-end ultra-light materials used in many of today’s top rods (like the Zenith) and you have a very capable light-weight rod that is perfect for resident trout fishing. No need for a bulkier general purpose 5 weight, especially if you also have (or plan to buy) a 6 weight for bass.

I’ve been using my Zenith now for 1.5 seasons and it’s been a pleasure to use. I’ve definitely noticed an improvement in casting accuracy and distance with this rod and it’s so much lighter and easier to cast for extended periods of time. As a bonus, taking a step down in weight makes it so that I can take it out brookie fishing on rivers without feeling like overkill (like my 5 weight did).

The post New Gear appeared first on Caffeinated Fly Fisher.

Though we considered some new routes this time around, a few factors contributed to choosing the same route as last year, with some day trips thrown in. First, the canoe trip to Big Crow seems to be a good one for spotting wildlife (even though we were not so lucky last year). The Crow River in particular is a shallow marshy area that is popular among Moose that inhabit the area. In addition to this, we decided to rent the ranger cabin on Big Crow Lake, which is situated in an ideal spot for easy access to hiking trails and other rivers, lakes and portages for day trips. It may also come in handy as a refuge from the swarms of Black Flies and other biting insects that will likely be out in full force during our stay.

Regarding the insects, I’ve never been to Algonquin at this time of year and as mentioned, it generally an extremely buggy time with peak mosquitoes, black flies, deer flies and other nasty biters all trying to make a meal of you. For this reason, the park is usually much more empty than normal, with most visitors opting to wait for July or August when the bugs die down. A few (billion) bugs aren’t going to scare me off, though I will certainly be armed with this trusty bug shirt:

In addition to Algonquin being virtually empty, the biting insects also drive Moose out of the thick forests and into the open at this time of year, meaning wildlife viewing should be at its best. The brook trout fishing should also be fairly good, with fish still in shallower areas of the lakes and rivers. The fly rod will definitely be coming along and hopefully I’ll finally get acquainted with a few of the fabled Algonquin brookies.

Look for a trip report in a couple weeks.

The post Back to Big Crow appeared first on Caffeinated Fly Fisher.

Long story short, I returned the backpack along with most of the dry sacks and purchased a SealLine Pro Pack (pictured below).

You can get a sense of the size of this pack by the full-size guitar sitting next to it.  This beast has 115L capacity, which is about 64% more than the previous backpack!  On top of that, it’s 100% waterproof, which means it can sit at the bottom of the canoe getting wet, all my gear inside stays dry without the need for additional dry sacks and I don’t end up carrying a soggy backpack around.  Finally, the profile of this bag is actually better for portages since it sits lower than a typical large hiking backpack and won’t interfere with a canoe resting on your shoulders.

It worked out that the cost of the SealLine was about the same as the cost of the cheaper Brio backpack with all the required dry sacks.  Now all I have to do is find enough stuff to fill it!

The post SealLine Pro Pack appeared first on Caffeinated Fly Fisher.

This is something I’ve always wanted to do: portage into the Algonquin Provincial Park back country. However, I haven’t really been able to find anyone adventurous enough to do it with; and I’m certainly not about to solo a trip like this, at least not for my first few attempts.

Well, I’ve finally found a victim (I mean companion) to endure this experiment with me and we’re planning to do a 3 day trip, leaving Thursday, September 13th. I’ve done some limited camping in Algonquin’s developed campsites in the past, but I’m completely unfamiliar with its interior. Along with Google, the following book has been my main planning reference so far:

We’ll be leaving straight from work Thursday and staying the night as close to our access point as possible. Early Friday morning, we’ll head to Opeongo Outfitters (on Opeongo Lake) and begin our trip from there. The current plan is to canoe Opeongo Lake to its North Arm at the Proulx Lake portage, then follow the portage and Proulx Lake to the rest of our adventure beyond. I’ve heard that Opeongo Lake can get fairly treacherous at times, especially if the winds are high and/or blowing in an unfavourable direction. Here’s hoping we don’t run into that problem!

Our trip should be fairly straightforward, with about 32 km worth of rowing and 3 km of portaging (just 2 portages, 1.5k each). Depending on how things go, we may do a day trip a bit further and hit a few more portages. In reality, 3 days should be more than enough for this trip, but some exploring and fishing will surely be done to fill any downtime!

Since this is to be my first backcountry trip including portages, I needed to gear up a bit, so I headed over to Mountain Equipment Co-op in Burlington today. I’ve never been to this place and I’ve got to say… it’s a very dangerous place for me. There’s just too much nice stuff in here if you’re into the outdoors.

The main piece of gear I was missing is a BIG backpack. It turns out, storing a tent, sleeping bag, food, clothes, toiletries, fishing gear and other odds and ends into a single backpack is not easily achieved, especially if you don’t have the right backpack and are not used to packing extremely efficiently. It turns out, it’s pretty easy to spend upwards of $300-$400 on a good multi-day backpack or canoe pack. But since I have no clue what I actually like yet, I wasn’t prepared to spend that kind of money and I settled on this extremely well priced ($83) 70L multi-day backpack from MEC:

It’s got a lot of room, seems very well made and for the price, I don’t think it’s possible to do any better. My only concern is how it will work out when trying to carry a canoe on your shoulders, since these backpacks are fairly tall and could possibly interfere with the canoe a bit. I’m still contemplating returning this and going with a more traditional style, shorter and stouter canoe pack. In particular, MEC carries a bag called the SealLine Pro Pack RE, which has an incredible 115 L of storage room, is completely waterproof and is probably better suited to portaging. It’s double the price of the Brio, but that’s still a fairly low price when you compare it to others in its category.

Aside from that, I picked up a compass and a few waterproof dry packs, which will be used to organize my gear within the backpack and make sure it stays dry. One of these (the black one on the left in the image below) is a compression sack as well, which will store my sleeping bag. This cool little bag helps minimize volume by compressing large bulky items such as sleeping bags or clothes. Down sleeping bags are the best choice here since they compress extremely well; unfortunately all of my current (decent) sleeping bags are synthetic, so they are still a bit large even in the compression bag.

For me, Algonquin’s wild Brook Trout is one of the main draws to this area, especially when travelling off the beaten path. However, this is not the only reason for our trip and in fact, it’s not even the main reason.

Our main goal is to simply take in the Algonquin back country for the first time while getting some portaging experience to hopefully get a feel for what longer and more difficult trips may be like in the future. My partner is not actually a fisherman, although he is not opposed; and the plan is definitely to bring some fly fishing gear along and try our luck in some of the lakes and rivers we pass through that are known to contain brook trout.

I have a feeling the next few nights will be spent finalizing plans, packing and tying flies for the trip. Hopefully the weather is cooperative and I should be able to post a trip report next week sometime.

The post Algonquin Bound appeared first on Caffeinated Fly Fisher.