Albemarle Angler Now Carries Kreinik Kreelex Material

I walked in Albemarle Angler today to pick up more beadheads for nymphs and of course I perused the store to see if I could walk out buying more than I intended.  (what else are student loans for anyway?)*

I was pleasantly surprised to see some of my favorite Kreinik flash material, which is what makes the Kreelex streamers have such great action, hanging up on the wall.  They had copper, gold, and silver styles.  And while there are other colors out there, these seem to be the best for catching trout.

Which brings up another topic...Rich and I have had a year long debate as to which color coordination is more successful.  He swears by the copper/gold while I swear by the gold/silver.  If you agree with me, please comment below.  If you agree with Rich, I hope you catch only chubs this year comment elsewhere.

One of last year's victims of a copper/gold kreelex

So do yourself a favor and run by the store to pick up some of this elusive material if you live here in C'ville and check out the Trow brother's video instructions which can be found here.  This doesn't pertain to those in the Harrisonburg area because the Mossy Creek Fly Fishing store has had kreelex materials in stock for a while now.

Also, if you're interested in fly tying (or as I usually call it "tie flying"... not on purpose mind you, just the dyslexia talking) sign up for email updates from Albemarle Angler as they've started having regular tying sessions at the store.  Only problem for those beginners out there: you'll need your own set of equipment and materials.  But if you're a member of the med school club then I can definitely let you borrow some materials (just not my rare collection of extinct tropical bird feathers.)**

*joke, obviously
**yet another joke... if that ornithological collection was truly wasted on flies then someone needs to set up a rehab center for fly fishermen.   

Fishing Report: Moormans River TJTU 1/15/10

Kyle and I fished the TJTU section of Moormans River today. I did a recon yesterday to check out the ice situation and it didn't look good. Most of the big pools were covered by a thin sheet of ice and the fish were holding down deep and not interested much in the few streamers and nymphs I dragged past them. Fortunately, Kyle convinced me to go out again today.

We fished from about 2-5 PM and rode the wave of the 50 + degree weather. It was gorgeous. The river actually thawed a great deal this morning and we basically had the place to ourselves. We started off throwing streamers but ended up switching to pheasant tails. We caught three 'bows on pheasant tails fished upstream in about an hour. Things slowed down a bit as the sun set so we tried our luck again with silver/gold and copper/gold kreelex. Sure enough, we landed two more on streamers. I expect tomorrow (Saturday) to be good as well since temperatures should remain in the 50s.

I forgot to post this before, but here is a slideshow with the "best catch of 2009". Hopefully we'll do even better this year! Oh and Cameron, maybe if you make it out of the library you'll catch more than fish than me this year...

New Year Resolutions

Everyone is making resolutions; Ridiculous resolutions that inevitably fail by the time February comes around. So instead, I thought I'd make some that may actually have a fighting chance of coming to fruition (this, of course, all hinges on whether we'll have time to fish while busy on clinical rotations). Here are mine:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/captkodak/ / CC BY-NC 2.0

1. Catch another gar. After I reeled in one of these prehistoric monsters last summer, I became OBSESSED and went on numerous occasions out to the Rivanna with the only goal of pulling in another to ensure the first wasn't just a fluke. I even bought heavy duty gloves to make sure I wouldn't lose a finger or two while trying to get the hook out. Alas, I received some head turns but never a solid bite. So by far the top thing on my list is to snag one of these guys again.

Huge Mossy Creek brown caught by Shane from Mossy Creek Fly Fishing (photo courtesy of MCFF)

2. Catch more brown trout (big ones). This may sound picky but really it means a lot more than it seems. Practically the only place to find decent brown trout around here is Mossy Creek. From our past posts about Mossy, you'll know that it's always a challenge to fish out there and going home skunked is a very real possibility. So this year, how about we pull in some of those famous monsters that the guys over at Mossy Creek Fly Fishing seem to pull in regularly.

3. Float the Jackson. Hopefully when I'm stationed in Roanoke in August I'll have some time to hit up the nearby Jackson River. From what I could tell from our quick visit just below the dam, the river is loaded with healthy fish and ideal water temperatures to ensure good fishing year round. Let's just hope that if I do float it, that I don't meet any angry landowners with shotguns.

4. Successfully fish the Shad Run. Okay last year I went out and tried my best to fish the Shad Run down near Richmond. This year, I think I'll play it smart and wade the Rappahannock instead. Also I'll probably need to get a sinking line and some properly made shad darters. Hopefully this time my trip will be more like Gordon's from Albemarle Angler as seen in the video above.

5. Catch more fish than Rich. Hey, I at least had to have something realistic on here right? Rich, you just been SERVEDDDD.