Vermont Sports Magazine

Check out who made it into Vermont Sports Magazine for the

8 Great Things to Do on Lake Champlain This Summer!!!

Want to catch carp, bowfin, gar, or other critters on the fly this year?  I will be more than happy to help you out with that!

Send an email to muskyflies@gmail.com and let me know what you want to do! Dates are booking up quickly and the lake is getting in better and better shape!

Friday Angler Interview- Kurt Budliger

Kurt with a nice smallie on a recent trip!

For years several friends of mine kept telling me stories about this guy named Kurt Budliger and occasionally asked me if I ever ran into him. It really didn't happen until just a couple of years ago when I started getting more involved my local Trout Unlimited chapter- MadDog (no, it is named after local rivers, not 20-20). Kurt and I really hit it off and we have been able to get out and get some fishing in recently. On top of being a fun guy to fish with, he is a pretty amazing photographer too- a pro as a matter of fact. The Spring and Summer 2011 issues of Vermont Life magazine feature Kurt's photos on the cover (and inside as well!). Check out his website after you read the article!

How did you get into fly fishing?

 I got into fly fishing kind of late, I was in my mid to late twenties and in graduate school if memory serves.  I had grown up fishing with spinning gear but was pretty casual about it.  I had a couple of friends who fly fished and I always thought it looked pretty cool, much more elegant and sophisticated if you will.  I was working as an environmental educator after college and had access to some rods, casting videos and a stocked trout pond.  I recall spending quite a bit of time one summer out on the lawn during down times at work teaching myself to cast.  Once I hooked my first fish it was all she wrote so to speak, I quickly became a fanatic.

 Where did you grow up fishing and what was it that you were targeting primarily?

Beautiful dry fly 'bow by Kurt

 I grew up outside of Albany, NY.  I mostly fished on family vacations to Florida (off the dock with a cane pole), camping trips to the Adirondacks with my scout troop and in a family friend's bass pond.  I wasn't too picky, I fished for whatever I could catch, mostly bass I guess.  Once I started fly fishing I had the good fortune to be living very close to the West Branch of the Ausable and the Saranac River in the Adirondacks.  I learned to trout fish on the Ausable and spent a couple of fall seasons chasing landlocked salmon on the Saranac River.

 Dry fly, nymph, or streamer?

 I love and fish them all!  For trout, I fish nymphs most of the time but love to cast a dry fly to rising fish or skitter a bushy stimulator around boulders in the pocket water.  I'm starting to fish streamers more and more lately however.  I'm a big fan of big fish and find nothing works better to move Mr. Hog out from his hiding spot than a meaty streamer.

 From the amount of time you have been able to spend in Alaska, you obviously have fallen in love with the place. What is it about Alaska that keeps you coming back?

Alaska king by Kurt

 I love Alaska and would go every year if I could.  I spent a summer up there working as a naturalist guide at a backcountry wilderness lodge after college.  I fell in love instantly, the scenery is absolutely epic, truly the wildest place I've ever been and the quality and length of the light in the summer is magical.  The fishing is simply amazing, tons of big fish, little to no fishing pressure and the chance to experience it all in a truly wild landscape.

 Huge salmon and rainbows are the name of the game up there. What are you fishing for flies and (more importantly) what are you catching?

Kurt Budliger Photography

 It really depends on when and where you go.  Most of my fishing up there has been in the interior.  Early in the summer you're fishing for king salmon and we use some flashy flies (gold kills) tied on 1/0 and 2/0 hooks.  Mid summer means chums, pinks and sockeye.  Late summer means silver salmon.  I haven't caught that run yet, it'll be my next trip for sure.  I've also spent some time chasing big rainbows and dry fly fishing for arctic grayling.  The rainbows (and grayling for that matter) are suckers for pegged beads.  It's absolutely deadly especially if the rainbows are sitting behind spawning salmon.  Egg sucking leaches, sculpins, and flesh flies are also super effective.  Dry fly fishing for grayling is a lot of fun.  They readily come to the surface to grab a fly.  Terrestrial patterns like ants and beetles are killer, however my got to fly is a bushy ausable wulff.  I like to summon the late great Fran Betters when ever possible :)

 I know you get out for salmon and steelhead on the Salmon River in New York a couple of times a year. How does that compare to Alaska? (I have to admit that I am grinning as I type this question)

Kurt Budliger Photography

 Yeah it pretty much doesn't compare at all :)  I don't even go over to the Salmon River for salmon anymore, it's just such a zoo.  I do however like to go for steelhead and may try to go in the late fall for big browns.  The pressure that river gets is unreal, especially compared to most of Alaska.  If you're going to fish for salmon, especially kings there is nothing better than a wild sea run fish.  Plus they don't turn that ugly brown color the great lakes kings turn.

 Tell me about your local trout fishing experiences. What is it about VT trout fishing that keeps it interesting for you?

Kurt Budliger Photography

 I know this will sound sacrilegious but I actually don't like trout fishing in Vermont all that much.  I do most of my trout fishing in the Adirondacks.  I find our rivers are prone to blow out and stay muddy in the spring and get too hot to fish by mid summer.  I will admit that there are a lot of rivers I've yet to fish and hope to soon.  My fishing time the past 5 or 6 years has been somewhat limited (young kids) so I've found it's actually easier to get away for a couple of days rather than try to blast out for a few hours.  I've got some great friends in the ADK and northern NY so I usually like to hook up with them and fish some familiar water when I get the chance.  I really should put in more time here at home.

 You are fortunate enough to get down to Pennsylvania every year to visit family and get some fishing in. Where do you fish?

Kurt Budliger Photography

 I mostly fish Penn's Creek and occasionally hit Spring Creek.

 Do you think the fishing in PA is more technical than here?

 I wouldn't say it's more technical.  Although I'm usually there in the Spring and the trout haven't been pounded too hard yet.  Penn's Creek isn't one of those fussy little spring creeks, it's pretty big and gets some big hatches, lots of miles to fish.  I'll see how tough it is when I'm there later this summer.

 Your two passions seem to be meshing together well- fly fishing and photography. How do you think that happens?

Kurt Budliger Photography

It's true my two passions in life are fly fishing and photography.  I've been a professional photographer for about 7 years now and for a long time I didn't combine fishing and photography at all.  If I was fishing I wanted to focus on just that, without complicating things by messing with camera gear.  I guess I've reached a point in my fishing life where catching fish isn't the end all be all of the experience.  Today I'm getting just as much, if not more satisfaction from making a beautiful photograph while out on the water with friends.  There is so much beauty and art in the sport of fly fishing, from the scenery to the angler's cast, the gear and of course the fish.  I'm finding a tremendous amount of fulfillment from capturing the art and story of fly fishing every time I head out.  As a professional photographer I'm also looking for more ways to focus my time and shooting on things that really inspire me, we make our best work when we photograph the things we love.

 
 Do you have subject matter that you are looking for when you are on a fishing trip?

Kurt Budliger Photography

 Sometimes I've got some really specific goals or concepts in mind when I head out on the water with my camera, especially if I'm working on a project or story.  However, sometimes this can be a detriment to your creativity.  If you're totally focused on finding something you've pre-visualized, or is on your "shot list" you can easily miss lots of other great opportunities that arise.  I sometimes find it's better to just relax and keep your eyes open to what's happening around you.  In most of my imagery I really try to create something that's different, artistic and goes beyond the usual grip and grin stuff we see in the mags.

 Have you ever had any bad experiences with cameras and fish (or water)?

 No bad experiences with cameras and fish yet (knock on wood).  I did take a pretty nasty spill in the Connecticut River a couple of years ago but fortunately the gear stayed dry.  I keep my camera gear in a roll top, dry bag style backpack made by Simms.  It's great, not only is the gear protected from dunking but also from rain.

 Have your fly fishing experiences started to change lately? Are you targeting things you haven’t before?

Kurt got this great shot of me with a friend

 Yes, they are changing quite a bit.  I've been fishing  with this crazy warm water fanatic that chases carp, bowfin and muskies.  Perhaps you know him? 

 Now that summer is upon us, what kind of plans do you have for fishing and photography?

 I'm hoping to do some warm water stuff, bowfin and musky being my main focus.  I'll also be doing a trip or two to the Adirondacks, the Upper Connecticut and maybe the Rapid River in Maine.  I'm toying with the idea of experimenting a little with HD video as well.

 So you have been helping to put together the first Vermont Trout Unlimited Trout Camp for kids. Tell me about the camp and the plans for the campers.

Kurt with a laker last fall

 I've been working with a bunch of guys from the Mad Dog TU chapter to get this camp off the ground.  We've been meeting and working on this since late February/early March.  We've teamed up with Quimby Country in Averil, VT so the kids will not only get to experience the thrill of learning to fly fish but get to do it at Vermont's oldest sporting lodge nestled in the Northeast Kingdom.  The program is 4 days and will provide kids (age 13-15) with a thorough introduction to the sport of fly fishing.  They'll learn casting, knots and knot craft, fly tying, fish and aquatic insect biology, wading and fishing tactics and participate in a conservation project with Joe Norton from TU national.  We've got some really topnotch volunteers slated to help teach and guide kids.  And of course the campers will get tons of time on the water to fish.  I spent a lot time working in camps and as an env. ed. when I was in my twenties and can attest to the fact that there is nothing more powerful and life changing for a kid than this type of immersive experience.  We owe it to our resource and those that came before us to help usher in the new generation of environmental stewards.

 I think it is pretty funny that for years I heard your name from various friends and I suspect you heard my name from the same folks. We finally met officially just a couple of years ago. Don’t you think it is kind of crazy that we know so many of the same people and took so long to fish?

Kurt Budliger Photography

 Yeah it is pretty odd but I'm glad our paths finally crossed. 

 It is October on the Saranac on a crisp clear morning. What fly are you going to tie on to get the interest of a landlocked salmon?

Always a tough choice picking the first fly of the day but I think I'd have to go with a grey ghost.  Although, the biggest fish I ever caught over there was on an olive bugger.

Zombie

Used for what it was designed for

A few years ago I came across these awesome jig hooks from Wapsi that I really love. Yes, they are jigs complete with jig heads so you purists can let fly all you want. I don't care. They work great and I plan on using them again and again.The hook itself is a 2X strong hook that is super sharp and has a black nickel finish. These blank jigs were intended for steelheading, but I had other plans for them... one of those ended up being the Zombie.

The Zombie is one deadly fly on smallmouth. I tie it relatively small and it seems to outfish bigger flies much of the time, especially when the water gets low. It casts like a dream and sinks like a rock. No question it is my #1 springtime fly for bass. In previous years it proved its worth to me on other species like rock bass and suckers, but this year it really outdid itself. Not only did it get those species it has also accounted for crappie, tench, longnose gar, largemouth bass, bowfin and redhorse. Yea... I love this fly.

Not what it was designed for... but effective anyway...

Now, am I going to give the recipe? That is a tough call.... for now, I am going to leave it a mystery but I suspect that a few of you can figure it out if you try.  

I reluctantly put the pic up....

Bowfun 2011 Begins

Kevin and I got out after some bowfin on Saturday. It was not as easy as it normally can be. Lake Champlain is super high- 102.6 feet when we fished it. That is 2.6 ft above flood stage and .4 ft over the previous historical high (set in 1869). Needless to say with 66 billion extra gallons of water fish have a lot more hiding places!  We found a few bowfin to play with though. Males guarding babies. Makes them a lot easier to find.

Bowfin are rarely described as pretty, but the colors on males in the spring are pretty spectacular. The bright emerald green on their fins and belly is just plain awesome. Some males even get tourquoise. Nice to get into some bowfun again! 


To make it even more cool, we were fishing along Interstate 89. Cars flying past, honking their horns. We even had people stop to take pictures.

Kevin's first bowfin this year.

Bowfin business end

The eyespot

Try to find that color on another fish in Vermont!

Revenge of The Gar

Lepisosteus osseus- Vengeance seeking fish.

This one was in my hand- about 2mm long

Last Wednesday I caught the largest longnose gar I have caught thus far- 48". Big fish. It definitely did some serious thrashing around when I landed it. I do remember it hitting me a couple of times, but I really didn't think anything of it. Until Thursday evening that is. I was climbing into bed when the heel of my right hand really hurt. I looked down at the small puncture wound I had there and it was looking infected. So I headed to the bathroom to get more light and a sterilized needle to drain the thing. As I squeezed something popped out- a gar tooth!  The thing got me!  Crazy!

On Saturday morning I was looking at this scrape on my elbow that I got last week. I thought it had been heeling really well but it seemed infected. I gave it a squeeze to drain it and out popped a much longer gar tooth!  Damn, the thing got me twice!  

This one was in my elbow... this one is about 6mm

I have to admit that I think it was pretty awesome that she got me back. It is even more cool that I ended up with a couple of teeth too. Not to mention that I carried them around with me for a while!

Friday Angler Interview: Drew Price

Casting flies for pike early on (and rockin' some serious hair)

Alright, I screwed up and spent time fishing this week instead of getting an interview set up and take care of. Because of that, I am laming out and interviewing myself. It was either that or interviewing my fishing dog. I had a feeling I might have more to say than a toy poodle would. Besides, I wanted to keep her interview for later...

How did you get into fly fishing?

Well, I asked for a fly rod set up for graduation at college (the first time I graduated) back in December 1993. I had been a spin angler for a number of years and I wanted to try something different. I remember going out and trying to learn to cast. Total disaster. But I could tell that this was something I wanted to do. I got help from a buddy, Justin Rogers, later that winter so I could cast half way decently. I devoted a lot of time over the next few years to learning how to cast and catching fish. 

What was the first fish you caught?

I remember it well... I was fishing with my brother Pete on the Saranac River in Plattsburgh in May 1994. I had started tying my own flies and I had this stonefly pattern I had come up with- a pretty cool pattern that I should tie more of actually. I was drifting it along the edge of the river when WHAM!  I had a fish on. It ended up being a big male smallmouth. It was my first fish on a fly ever and on a fly I had tied. Once that happened, it was all over. 

So it sounds like you started tying flies pretty quickly then...

Absolutely!  Within a month of getting the fly rod I was totally obsessed. I had to learn how to tie flies. I went to the brand new Walmart in P-burgh (1993, first Walmart I ever went into) and they had this crappy little kit with a few tools and a bunch of materials. I got a book or two from the library and started to learn how to tie. I began to frequent the local fly shop- the Blue Goose or something like that. I got materials here and there. I ended up with a copy of the Orvis Fly Tying guide. That is the small book with the plastic binder so you can leave it open on your desk. 

I remember having one hell of a hard time with dubbing. I think that took me the longest to figure out. I wish I had some of those first flies. They were so awful.....

What were you targeting those first years?

Well, at first I didn't have a car so I was stuck fishing for whatever I could get to close by. I got waders from Hook & Hackle Company pretty quickly but of course I didn't spring for real wading boots. I fished in old Vietnam style jungle boots for a few years. I fished trout, bass and panfish for a few years. In the fall of 1993 I decided to try for salmon on the Saranac and I lucked out. My first fish was HUGE. I can still remember that fish- a big hen. It was about 10 pounds and still chrome from coming out of the lake. A truly amazing catch considering that I didn't really know what I was doing. I lucked out.

Overall though, it was mostly trout, panfish and bass. I learned a lot, caught a lot of fish, and had a lot of fun. 

When did the bigger fish come into the picture?

That didn't take too long. I got a Cortland 7/8 weight rod in 1995 and started tossing big streamers for bass and pike. I was using commercially made wire leaders then.... they work, but not that well for tossing flies. I ended up catching more than a few pike on that rod. That started the obsession.

Did you have a boat in those early days?

Nope. My first watercraft was a float tube. I used to spend a lot of time in that thing. Before I had a car I would carry it through downtown Plattsburgh to the lake and kick it around near the mouth of the Saranac. I caught pike down there frequently and a few bass. 

I also remember getting scared to death by carp. I was out there float tubing. I was (and still am) nervous in a float tube. Those things are not for me! I hate them actually. Anyway, I was sitting there getting ready to fish and something big hits the tube. I flipped out, yelled and started kicking for my life. These worm drowners on the bank got a good laugh out of that. It was just one of the big carp out there bumping into me.

Things changed once you got a car though.....

Oh yea.... my first car! The Acadian! My grandmother gave me her old car- a Pontiac Acadian- the Canadian version of a Chevette. Fun little car. No power, had some issues, but it got me to the fish! I started fishing all over- went to the Ausable, fished all over the Saranac drainage, high mountain streams in the Adirondacks, all sorts of places on Lake Champlain. It was great.  I was still limited to fishing most places by foot though. 

I did take the float tube around. I will never forget when Justin and I decided we wanted to fish Butternut Pond for pike. Butternut is south of Plattsburgh near the town of Peru. It had a reputation for big fish but since it was the town of Peru's water supply it didn't have a dock or easy access. What you had to do was to park on the side of Route 9 then climb a fence, run across Interstate 87, climb another fence and you were on the water. Imagine doing that with a fly rod and a float tube. Classic right? It fished great though... lots of pike. I remember a big slab of a crappy too.  It did have some big fish in it. Funny to think that New York state had tried to stock it with rainbows for 5 or 6 years in the 1970's.... they never took. Gee, I wonder why....

Any other good float tube stories?

Sure thing.... I used to fish the lake a fair amount and I would get some nice pike doing that. So much fun getting pike in the tube. I always hated having my feet dangling in the water though. They do let you get close and stealthy to your target species but I have to admit that I have this completely irrational fear of crocodiles. Yea, I know, there aren't any in Lake Champlain. That is why it is called an irrational fear. I was going to SUNY Plattsburgh again to get a degree in Environmental Science at that point too, specializing in limnology (the study of freshwater ecology). I definitely knew that there was nothing that could get me. I just hate not being able to see what is underneath me when I am in the water. I freaked myself out a lot.

One time I remember fishing close to a boat ramp in the tube. This guy started to launch his Sea-doo. There is a no wake zone from boat ramps to about 300 yards into the lake. This no brain guns his wavemaker right off the bat, going from zero to up on plane in a matter of 2 seconds. I got hit with that wave. Hit hard too. It almost flipped me over. If you have ever been in a float tube you know that you are kind of strapped in to it. If I went over I would have drowned. Reason #2 for hating tubes. Reason# 1,293,784 for hating personal water craft (worthless things, absolutely worthless in my book).

I remember going to fish in Wilmington, NY with Justin again in that tube. I tried to walk out in some mud to fish an impoundment on the Ausable. Ever tried to walk in a float tube with fins on while carrying a rod?  Doesn't work well. I ended up face down in the mud. Reason #3 that I hate float tubes now.

What ever happened to that tube?

Well, funny story that.... I decided to get out fishing one day in Plattsburgh. This was in 1998. I went to the lake, and after fishing that I drove up to the Saranac to hit some smallies. Great day fishing the smallies if I remember correctly. As I walked back to my 'vette, I saw this huge blue thing in the back of it. I thought to myself "I didn't have anything blue back there..."

Oh yes Drew, you did.... the outer nylon of the float tube was brown and tan but the inner bladders were blue. I left my float tube sitting in the back of a hatchback car on a hot, sunny day. The air expanded and it ripped through the outer nylon of the tube. That thing was the size of a Homer Simpson dream doughnut by the time I found it. I got a good laugh. I held onto that float tube cover for many years though, thinking I would fix it. I finally threw it out a few years ago. Good riddance. 

Salmon fishing was a huge part of your second stint at college, wasn't it?

Saranac salmon... a pretty typical fish...

Oh yeah... the glory years of salmon fishing on the Saranac. The sea lamprey control program had gone through an introductory period and its effectiveness was proving itself. Everyone was dumping tons of salmon into the lake and its tributaries as well. Landlocked salmon were everywhere. 

I was able to head down to the river after class in the fall and chase gorgeous fish. It was unreal. I taught myself how to make sink tips out of pieces of shooting head and I would use those to get my flies down to where the salmon were hanging out. I got the system down well. There were a lot of returning fish that were really interested in hitting my flies too!  Just amazing fishing. 

I had this really simple fly I called the Salmon Slayer. All it amounted to was a piece of rabbit strip lashed on to a salmon hook with chenille for the body. I tied it in white and yellow. It was a killer!  Especially the white one. Between that fly, Mickey Finns and (especially) Marabou Black Ghosts, I found what I needed to get the spawning run fish to take. It was unreal.

What about winter fishing the Saranac? 

I figured out that there were salmon and browns in the river after the spawn. They would stay there all winter to feed. Folks call these fish black salmon. They aren't the nice, pretty fish you see in the spawn. These are fish that are dark and want to eat. They do take nymphs but in early and mid winter I liked to use streamers. Really sparse streamers at that.

I would rig up my rod with a sink tip and some fluorocarbon (I got into that stuff quickly thanks to H&H) and swing streamers. I would nail some gorgeous fish from some of the pools I knew well, in particular the pool at the head of Webb Island. That pool is totally different now though. Used to be a nice pocket right at the head of it that would hold big browns and salmon. When Kurt Budliger and I fished it this past winter it wasn't what it once was.

Warm spells during the winter were awesome. A little bit of warming (upper 30's to low 40's) would get the fish going. I remember stripping back streamers through Allen Street Pool and getting gorgeous salmon mid winter. Nymphing produced a lot too. The one fish I never caught was a steelhead though. They just didn't show up for me. I did get one in the spring time near the mouth of the river, but never upstream where lots of guys told me they would get them. I know they are there. In 2000 someone got a 13 lb steelie down near the Broad Street bridge. One hell of a steelhead for Champlain.


You keep talking about Hook and Hackle Company... did you work for them or something?

As a matter of fact, I did. I worked for them in the spring of 1998 just after I graduated from SUNY Plattsburgh with a degree in Environmental Science. It was an awesome experience. I worked with all sorts of materials and got to see a lot of different equipment. The owners were awesome to me and I got some great deals on goodies. I loved that place. It has since sold to some equally great folks who moved it down to Pennsylvania.


More of my fishing past coming at some later point (when I forget to get my act in gear again...)

Gar-gantuan!

Nice big gar

I got out with a buddy today and we got into some fish, but the top dog of the day was this puppy.... not a bad fish huh?  Let me make it even more interesting.... on a Zombie (one of my special patterns) on a 6 wt Orvis TLS with 3X Mirage tippet- no bite tippet.  She chomped right down on it as it swam by. One hell of a fight later I beached her and got these shots.

48", 12 pounds- my biggest longnose gar so far... so far...

Gorgeous fish

Look at them teeth!

Pretty pleased!

Springtime Smallies

I just had a piece go up on Orvis News.com about fishing spring smallmouth bass. Now is the time folks, read up and if you want some help I am available to guide you too- just go to my website MasterClassAngling.com!

Springtime Smallies

My latest Master Class smallmouth bass- 19"!  Hit me up, I can get you into some of these!

Variety Pack

Got out yesterday for some fishing over the weekend. Results were good. Variety pack!

Silver redhorse- always a blast!

First tench I have ever caught! (good and bad news both)

Early season longnose gar!

Second tench- they look like the unnatural cross between a smallmouth and a carp!

The redhorse like the Meggi Juan Kenobi (a super big version of the EJK)

Kurt got into a nice bass!

Apparently it was a crappie day too!

Kevin gets in on the tench action!

 

Friday Angler Interview: John Parise

Some good winter fishing for John

I ended up with a friend request on Facebook from some guy named John Parise about a year or so ago. I accepted it and it didn't take long for me to see how passionate this guy was about fly fishing. I have chatted with him a number of times and since I wanted to keep this Friday Angler Interview about anyone that enjoys fly fishing, I thought I would hit him up this week.  Here it is!
 

How did you get into fly fishing?

   

   I think I got my first fly rod when I was in grade school. I was probably about 10 or 11, and it was a Shakespeare 4pc kit I bought at K-mart with money from my paper route.  It went unused because I realized that I realized that I'd have much less of a learning curve fishing with a spinning rod, and catching trout was much easier for me with the spin outfit at that time in my life. Fast forward about 10-12 years, I'm living in the north west corner of NJ, and I'm surrounded by trout water, and seeing guys catch trout on the fly made me decide I wanted to do that too.  After my first trout on the fly, I've never looked  back.

New Jersey isn’t often thought of as great fly water, but I know it has its share of fish. Tell me about your home waters.

Gorgeous wild NJ brown

   My local water is the Big Flatbrook. It's a 28 mile gem of a stream, which flows through state and federal lands, so development is minimal, and wildlife abounds.  In my opinion it has the potential to be one of the top trout fisheries in the state, but because of the fact that it is a largely put and take fishery, finding fish in the heavily trafficked sections outside of the stocking season is frustrating.  Where I live in Sussex County I am lucky enough to be very close to PA and NY and some incredible fishing opportunities in both states.

Dry fly, wet fly, nymph or streamer? (or a combination)

   If I had my druthers, it's dry flies all day, but being a realist I know that is not always the case, so I tend to employ all of them, and stick with the one that produces the best at that given time.

 

As you know I am a bit of a warm water nut. What kind of warm water options are available in the Garden State?

  Take your pick!  We've got 'em all from carp to crappie, and bluegills to bass( LMB &SMB).  My usual time for targeting warm water species is when it gets too warm to trout fish.  I've got a few nice local ponds and lakes I frequent for bass, and pickerel, and haven't even begun to scratch the surface on all of them.  Last year I spent a lot of time on the mainstem of the Delaware River, targeting smallies.  It's a great fishery for them, and most all came to hand on my own ties, so that's a real kick for me! 

  

I have been told there are some great options in the Pine Barrens- is that someplace you have hit up? And if you have…. Have you run into the Jersey Devil yet?

   Unfortunately, my knowledge of the Pines is limited to the times I drive through them on the way to vacation at the shore.    

   As far as the Jersey Devil, all I can say is not YET!!!

You got up to the Delaware this spring for a float. Can you tell me about that?

West Branch of the Delaware

    Sure.  I do a trip with 18 guys to the West Branch of the Delaware in the Catskills in early May.  We do it pretty nicely too, we stay in cabins right on the river, eat and drink and smoke cigars like kings, and fish early and often.  Most years the  flows are decent enough to wade comfortably, somewhere in the range of 400-800 cfms.  This year however, we had major rains the week prior to our trip, and the river crested over 10,000 cfms.  So at that point we knew that wading would not be in the picture for some time.  We arrived to camp in the rain, and the river was down, but still flowing at 4500+cfms.  The first official day of camp found 90% of the group driving to find fishable water, the second day however was a different story.  One of my buddies has access to a drift boat, and we floated 12 miles of the river.  We fished hard and pounded the banks with big articulated streamers, and were able to boat 3 fish.  Now some guys may say "damn, only 3 fish" but I will say that a 12 mile float with no fish would have been a LOOOOONG day.  It was a good day with great friends and I look forward to doing it again

 

I know from conversations that you tie your own. How long have you been tying?

   I've been tying for about 2 years now and really enjoy it.  I really wanted to start tying my own, after many seasons of buying flies that would produce fish, and realizing that I could tie them just as well, and not have to pay up to $2 per fly.  I was lucky to have to major upgrades in my tying in the last year.  The biggest of which was a dedicated tying area, in the basement portion of the addition I put on my house last winter.  I share the office with my wife, and my half was turned into my tying area.  The 2nd was the purchase of a new vise.  I got a Regal Medallion in March and absolutely love it! 

Sweet caddis John!

What do you enjoy tying up most?

   I enjoy tying everything really, but if I had to pick one thing specifically, it would be streamers, and the bigger the better. I can crank em out, and I find you can incorporate much more of your own personality into them, versus a traditional dry or nymph pattern,

 

Tell me about what your local Trout Unlimited group does? I know that some folks would think that you guys might be busy removing mob victims from your streams, but I am sure the reality is a bit different?

John with a nice Delaware brown

  We do A LOT!!!!  We are currently involved in a major effort to improve my local stream the Big Flatbrook.  We are doing things such as stream cleanups and riparian buffer plantings, we've also started a float stocking program which covers a little more than a mile of river.  It in my opinion has really improved the fishing over that stretch, due to the fact that now people are forced to walk away from the "normal stocking points" and actually look for fish.  We are also in the permitting stages to do some major in stream restoration work in the a portion of the river that we are stocking.  We have contracted a company to do the work, and hope to be doing  the work in the coming months.  I will tell you that we have found some very interesting things on our cleanups, but mobster bodies aren't on the list!

 

Has it been difficult for you to find people to help you out?

   As far as volunteers go we are very lucky to have a great membership that is always willing to help, as well as folks from other chapters in the state.  I've noticed in my short time as an active member that there is a willingness to "cross volunteer" and help out another chapter with their projects, this I find to be a great thing.

Do you ever get a chance to hit the salt up?

Not as much as I'd like, but yes.  The closest salt water for me is a 100 mile trip one way, so when I do go I make a long day out of it.  I've had some super days fishing bait, and plugging, but have yet to catch a fish from the surf on the fly.  I hope to change that this summer!!!

    

So you are offered a trip anywhere to fish anything… where do you go and what do you target?

Back to Florida for some Poon!!!  A few years back, my wife, daughter and I visited a couple we are friends with in the Cape Coral area.   While the ladies were lounging pool/beach side, the fellas were out chasing fish.  I jumped two BIG ONES, but got none boat side.  It was a rush unlike anything I've ever experienced and would do it again in a second!

Alright, being from Jersey, I have to ask you… have you hooked Snooki (or hooked up with her)? Or would you be more inclined to hook into a snook?

   Definitely the fish...I gave up hunting trolls years ago ;>)