Fly Fishing: A Pretty Massive Pickerel

By trops on September 24, 2011

Today I went out to this little stretch of water where the bass ate the bluegill on my line, and decided to give it another shot.  I had on a Hildebrant spinner, and tossed a few in with no results, and then it happened.  A massive fish hauled it down, and started running.

..and my friend Julie got the whole thing on video.

It’s these lucky moments when everything comes together that make this worth it. ;-)

Here is the video.  The Pickerel was 3 pounds 8 ounces, and a little over 24 inches in length.

Happy fishin’ ;-)
These photos were made possible by the steady hand of Julie Brittain, @TopRealtorGirl.

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Fly Fishing: Bass Strikes Huge Bluegill

By trops on September 21, 2011

I have written a few posts on fly fishing and up until now, am still of average experience throwing flies to catch bass.  This is one of those stories.

I found a new stretch of water that is split in two by a bridge.  The “canal” is about 100 feet wide and you can just barely cast a large fly to both banks. The first day fishing this water, my buddy and I were tossing average sized poppers and having pretty good success.  I lost a big one, and so did my buddy, but we managed to pull in a few average bass.  Nothing to write home about, but nonetheless, there were fish here.  One of those fish was a 14 inch yellow perch, which I very seldom see a yellow perch that large.

The next day I went back.  I had to.  It was overcast, and I tied on the popper just as before, and tossed it into the brush by the bank.  Pop. Pop…Nothing.  I continued to use poppers, streamers, nymphs, big flies small flies, etc.  Still nothing.  The day was coming to a close and a friend had given me a Hildebrant spinner (fly) that is really tiny.  I began catching crappie and ig mutant bluegill.  This was alot of fun because I was still using the 5 weight rod.

One cast I hooked into a massive bluegill, and I merrily stripped my line in and got him to about 5 feet from my kayak when something happened. An enormous fish splashed in the water, and the next thing I know, that bluegill gained about 5 pounds and got extremely strong.  Could it be?  Did that huge fish EAT the bluegill? Yep.

So here I am in the kayak and I have a MASSIVE fish on the end of the line attached to the huge bluegill that has the fly hooked in his mouth.  The fight was incredible, the fish had actually taken the bluegill down to the bottom and I had to let line out so that I didn’t snap off.  After about 30 seconds of this fight, the big fish let go of the bluegill, now stunned, and I hauled him into the boat.

After inspecting the bluegill I noticed that there were no teeth marks on the fish (I had obviously thought a pickerel had tried to eat him).  This could only leave one conclusion: it was a bass.

Now keep in mind the bluegill was so big that I could barely fit my hand around him, and I have pretty big hands.  He was about 7 inches long and about 5 or 6 inches “tall”.  This means that the bass had to be able to fit this fish in his mouth.

*gulp*

Needless to say I am going back to this stretch of water with some massive flies ready to fish.  Moral of the story, in order to catch big fish, I suppose you need to cast really really big flies.

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“The Beast”

By trops on September 10, 2011

The first catch on the beast.

I have been fishing a lake near me that is quite a large lake.  It seems the larger the lake the more difficult it is to figure out how to fish.  This has been true for the past 4 months from spring to summer and now into early fall.  I have been fly fishing for bass and have come up short to say the least.  I landed a monster at my feet, but as I went to grab the sucker the line snapped, so I don’t like to count it.

Since that day I have been trying to hook the big fish that are in this lake and have had no luck.  I have used smaller flies and then some larger poppers in the evenings and still nothing.  The majority of the bass that I am catching are approximately 8-9 inches in length. Until today.

Continue reading ““The Beast””

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Business: Estimating Ethically

By trops on August 24, 2011

I am a consultant.  I consult.  People contact me because I architect advise and write code for the iPhone.  I receive quite a few phone calls on a daily basis, some interesting, some absolutely off the wall, and most are legitimate.

A recent phone call left me a bit bewildered.  I got a phone call from a company in Atlanta asking me to bid on a contract.  “No problem.”  They gave me the scoop, told me that the client needed this ASAP (they all do) and that they wanted to move on this pretty quickly.  “No problem.”.

The contract was to be completed in a month with a bunch of features, that I detailed and outlined.  I have been writing iPhone applications for three years and am pretty adept at estimating and have yet to miss a deadline on any project I have ever worked on.  Needless to say, I am fairly confident about my estimating abilities.

I provided the estimate and the client (who was subcontracting me) replied and said that his client (the main client) was shocked at the price tag.  “Yep, they usually are when it comes to iPhone”.  I was then asked to participate on a conference call to explain to HIS client why the cost was so high.  I felt this was a bit odd, but I wanted to help them get the business as they are, well, not very informed when it comes to the iPhone.

I get on the call early, the team in Atlanta isn’t on the call, and apparently didn’t get the invite from their client…yet I did, and was introducing myself to the team of 8 people who were on the call. Finally the team in Atlanta gets on the call and the first thing out of the client’s mouth is “[Blank], I am really unsure how we can pay [X] for this application.”.

Let me explain.

“Blank” is the company in Atlanta Prinicipal on the call, and “X” is the dollar amount the client was quoted.  Wanna know what X was?

“X” is the amount the client was shocked by…the amount that “Blank” had come up with…and “X” turned out to be 2.5 TIMES my estimate for a month long project.

Huh?  So, this project which was to take 30 days and 1 developer (me) was costing 2.5 times my estimate.  So where’s the beef?

What could the company in Atlanta POSSIBLY be charging the client? Let’s think, maybe Project Management fees?  Well, I am the only one working on the project, and the project is fairly simple, so that can’t be it. Well, it can’t account for 2.5 times the price!! Maybe they just padded and were making some money on the development hours which I can certainly see as a possibility…ok, but maybe they make 1/3 of my cost? (surely not 2.5 times my cost).

Keep in mind, the client is SHOCKED, and NOT going to move forward….

So I get an email from “Blank” asking me if I had learned anything else from the call that would cause me to LOWER MY ESTIMATE!!!  Umm…My estimate, or do you mean the 2.5 times bloated estimate you are offering the client?

I was stunned.

So I replied, asking how he came up with his numbers, and mapped out a project cost estimate including padding for development, project management, etc. and it came to about 1.5 times my estimate. (reasonable eh?)

He replied and mentioned that “my company has bills to pay, and electricity bills and advertising, and salaries, etc”…

Ok…but I want a Ferrari, should I charge the client $350k because I want it?

This is scary. Really scary.

In conclusion, I really hope there are not too many companies out there that are charging extremely ridiculous rates for iPhone development just because their client hasn’t a clue what is going on.  This is similar to the mortgage crisis in NJ when load officers were charging the elderly 10 points on their mortgage…just because they “could”.

How do people sleep? *sigh*

 

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The Times They are a Changin’ (for Bass)

By trops on August 24, 2011

In the Spring, things were good, and I didn’t even know it.  I knew it because I landed and lost a bass bigger than my leg, and from that day forward had a “Captain Ahab” mentality towards this fish.  I hooked into him just off the shore in about 2 feet of water on a tiny bugger (5wt hydros).

Then the summer came around and things…well..dried up.  Using a fly rod exclusively and being fairly wet behind the ears when it comes to fly fishing, I had a tough time understanding why I could never again hook into Moby Dick.  After much reading and deliberation, summer equates to slow bass fishing.  Water temperatures rise, and bass head to the deep where the water is cooler.  What does this mean for us fly flingers? No more surface action.

In the Summer deeper holding fish call for deeper, sinking presentations of flies.  This can mean longer leaders in 6-7 feet of water with heavier sinking flies.  This poses a bit of an issue.  Once you lengthen the leader, and put on a heavier fly, casting with your light tackle (5-6wt) becomes even more daunting. Usually you shorten leaders to toss larger flies, and now we need to do the opposite. Whats the solution?

One possible solution is to go to your local fly shop, and get yourself sinking line, or intermediate sinking line.  The intermediate sinking line will sink, but sink more slowly than the full sinking line.  I have throw both, and prefer intermediate.  The heavy leader on sinking line causes more loops than I like, and makes casting even a small fly more difficult (in my opinion — and I can throw large flies into the wind routinely without issue).

But alas, enough talk about the drudgery of summer, fall is upon us!  Sort of.  I fish everyday, and I can actually see the changes happening in the types of fish that are taking flies and the presentations that are attracting them.

The report up until now?  Deep slow retrieves barely inching large buggers on the bottom (crayfish patterns, black wooly buggers, etc) work well.  Now we are moving into faster retrieves and smaller flies.  I found this out when I was dragging flies across the bottom for two hours and got so frustrated that I stripped very fast and a small bass nailed it on the second strip.  Huh?  The times they are a changin’.

These days (August) I am throwing larger buggers, and minnow patterns with relatively fast strips.  This is pulling babies from the banks, and one of these days the bigger mamas will come sniffin the shores for minnows and small baitfish.

And I can’t wait.  Hopefully Moby Dick and I will meet again. Soon.

 

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iPhone: Some Popular Topics

By trops on August 20, 2011

It recently has come to my attention that you guys and gals have been actually reading my blog.  For the code.  I write these blog posts so I personally won’t forget the tips and tricks I learn along the way, I didn’t realize others would read it too.

So to that end I would like to highlight some of the most popular posts on this site, according to YOU the readers. Continue reading “iPhone: Some Popular Topics”

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My Journey Into Fly Fishing

By Coho22 on August 18, 2011

I’ve been fishing since I was a kid, and for 95% of my fishing career I always assumed bass fishing with spinning reels was all there was. I picked up a bait caster once or twice, but was never in thick enough cover to need heavy line, so I rarely even bothered. It was fun, and little still gets me as excited as a smallmouth crushing a topwater lure, but I never realized how much I was actually missing out on. Continue reading “My Journey Into Fly Fishing”

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Accounting for your Accountant.

By trops on August 16, 2011

I never really knew what an accountant “did”.  I mean I knew they filed your taxes and…well….filed your taxes. It was only when I trusted an accountant to file my taxes that I realized that I had saved enough to barely pay them (and pay for the accountant.  When you pay more taxes than most people earn in a year, it leaves a bit of a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach.  And then you look at your bank account and have a big fat 0 for the year. How did this happen, I made a bunch of money, right!?!? But you paid a TON of taxes.

SO…to alleviate the need for a bottle of Tums come tax time I am enlisting the help of a year-round accountant, someone who will advise me on “what is a deduction?”, and “I can write that off?!?”, and “how can I lower my taxable income!?”. Continue reading “Accounting for your Accountant.”

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Ken Lockwood Gorge – First timer

By trops on May 26, 2011

My new fishin’ buddy Marc and I were fishing a bass river and he mentioned he was making the trip to Ken Lockwood Gorge in the morning at 5am. Huh? Im a newbie, and thought to myself, “What Ken who?”. He explained that the Ken Lockwood Gorge was a wildlife management area in NJ that was packed with trout. Done. I’m in.

The only time I have been “trout fishing” was opening day in Pennsylvania. I caught one 7 inch brook trout, and I think the fish felt bad for me and hooked himself. Needless to say I am not an experienced trout fisherman (nor fly fisherman, but have been fly fishing for the past year). So when I heard there was an opportunity to go trout fishing with a knowledgeable trout fisherman, well, that sounded like a perfect opportunity.

Marc left super early in the morning and met up with his other buddy Bill. I left around 8am (had to walk the dogs, and slept through two 4:30 am alarms). Now I have to find the gorge, find Marc’s car, and then find Marc. WTF. I drove to the South end of the gorge up Raritan River road, and there is a parking lot, but the parking lot is in the middle of the road, and the road is closed after the lot, so you have to walk the stretch. Anyway, turns out my two new fishing compadre’s were at the North end of the river, and I tracked them town with my Spidey senses.

My first trout at the gorge

I began fishing around 11, and tied a wooly bugger (#12) anchor fly, and then a Prince nymph, and then a “Green Goblin” (I’ll explain in another post what the Green Goblin is). So I had 3 flies all linked up with 5x tippet, and of course a strike indicator at the top of my leader. I spotted a small waterfall over a boulder and the water was swirling on itself, so I figured I’d try my luck as a trout fisherman in this hole. On the first cast out into the foam my tri-fly rig sat for a moment, and then my indicator dipped about an inch, and I quickly set it. Fish on! Little did I know I had hooked up with a 18 inch rainbow on my first cast! The fish even jumped out of the water and put on a show, it was too cool. Here he is.

We kept fishing for trout and hooked into a ton of fish. I probably missed four or five, and landed four in total. One Rainbow, and three Browns. Too much fun and definitely will be heading back.

Here are some more pics from the day, enjoy.

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Fly Fishin’ in Spring

By trops on May 19, 2011

Hi all,

Im back and have a few more stories to report. I have moved to the North as we all have figured out, and the fishing up here is awesome. I went on a camping trip in the Catskill mountains near Woodstock and Newberg, and although I didn’t catch, (or thankfully didn’t get caught by a bear) the environment was impecable for fishing. It had rained heavily the night before I went out on the river, therefore the river was moving super fast and it was a difficult wading experience, but I made it. Also, as I was on the river, the rains came again. Muddy waters, rain, and a very high river didn’t make conditions easy.

Channel cat in a small NJ pond

Since the New York trip (which I have to try again) I have been fishing lakes and ponds and a few streams in NJ and PA. In NJ I have been catching at a local lake. I am learning about fly patterns alot more in depth in the following way: “Certain species of fish are definitely attracted to specific patterns”. In my experience thus far, I have tied a hares ear nymph when all else fails and I catch bluegill, pumpkinseed, white perch like mad (30+ per day, every other cast) and occasionally I will snare a bass, but not near as often as I would like.

I began experimenting with larger flies (muddlers, bucktails, etc) and no effect. The latest fly I am tying and getting actual results is a wooly bugger (#10-12) with no hackle. I am tying dark olive and black. So about a 3/4 inch maribou tail with the same color chenille body, and a gold bead head.

The story I am about to unfold is true, and just happened the other day.

The rains were coming in and the pressure was dropping, I had been fishing large flies (9ft 5wt WF5 with 7 1/2 4x leader and 2ft 4x tippet ) and getting a few decent casts in there, when the wind started picking up, and all of a sudden I had to put on the rain gear.

Im hip deep in the water, about 15 feet off the shore (chest waders) when the rains start to fall. Looked like rain was coming up from the lake as the splashes were hitting me from underneath. I tied on the last hope fly, because the rains were coming, and I had really only caught bluegills and white perch for the past hour…I tie on the dark olive #14 wooly bugger with gold barbell eyes dark olive chenille body and a small pheasant quill feather as a tail (about 3.4 inch).

I was in a cove and cast outward to the right of a fallen birch when all of a sudden I am snagged…or am I? I remember saying out loud (as I often talk to myself) “Please God don’t let this be a log!!”, and it wasn’t. It was a 2-3lb crappie that fought like hell. Here she is.

I had then caught a second crappie, about 2/3 the size of the big mama, and then decided to move up the shoreline. There was some bullrush on the bank, and a overhanging tree branch that I figured had to hold fish. I reeled in, and extracted myself from the lake, to pop in about 100 ft north of my location.

I decided to stick with my hairless bugger and cast parallel to the bank towards the bullrush and fallen tree. Nothing. Second, third, fourth cast…nothing. Then it happened. I felt the largest hit of my life on a fly rod or otherwise (except for a 25lb striper). My 9ft 5wt rod was bent in half as I tried to haul in whatever the heck had decided to feast on the bugger. Seconds later a bass the likes of which I have never seen in person, jumped from the surface close to 4 feet in the air and flapped like mad.

Umm. What in the world do I do now!!! I am in the pouring rain, no net, have a 5-6lb 1.5 foot jumping mad bass on the line with a 5lb test tippet and I am hip deep! I moved back slowly in towards the bank while the bass continued to haul back at me, my rod strained to the max the whole time. My heart was literally jumping out of my chest at this point because I very seldomly have the opportunity to haul in a proper fish on the fly rod, especially one bigger (by 3x) than I had ever caught in my life!!

I have the fish, rod raised in my right hand as far as I can get it, I am now in one foot of water, creeping back towards the shore in an attempt to get him in the shallows so I can snag the fish with my left hand.

I made a fatal mistake at this point. The fish jumped yet again ten feet in front of me, his mouth about 6 inches in diameter and pulling like a hog even still. I grabbed the line with my left hand which placed solid tension on the weak tippet. The fish is now at my feet and I am guiding the line with my left hand towards me so I can grab him with the right (rod under my right arm). At this point I am inches from the biggest fish I had ever caught in my life.

*SNAP*

I made one quick last ditch effort to lunge for the fish, but he was gone…

I now bring a net, and switching to my 9wt rod. I hate to do it because the feeling of stripping in a huge fish just can’t be beat on light tackle, but the thought of losing another monster gives me nightmares.

Until next time…

Happy fishing. Don’t let the big ones get away ;-)

John

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