Saturday, January 22, 2011

Soft baits the "new flies"



What you are looking at are "new flies". I have been using these "flies" with my fly rod, to catch bass. I consider these to be no different than using the salt water "gummy minnows" for fishing. For years spin and bait fishers have had access to these baits. A great deal of research and development has been done to perfect & offer the public a reliable alternative to live bait. A friend in Texas posted pictures of his experiments with a weedless rigs for bass. Last season I began to experiment with soft baits also. I had great success with these rigs while fishing for Large Mouth Bass. Some of my biggest bass were caught when I fished soft baits in the ponds and lakes of New York City.

Last year I began to glue these mini tube baits to # 6 and #2 bait hooks. Unfortunately, the glue did not hold the baits in place long while I fished. This season I'm using small jig heads to keep the soft baits in place while I fish. I have also experimented with a glue gun in an effort to find a light weight method of fixing the soft bait to a hook.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Back at the gym



I went to the gym this afternoon for some cardio and weight training. I'm getting ready for the coming fly fishing. You either do this during the winter or risk overuse injury during the season.

Tomorrow is the first day of the Annual Fly fishing show. I hope to take New Jersey Transit to New Brunswick, New Jersey and spend the day there listening to talks about fly fishing and taking a look at the new rods and reels.

How I spend the winter



I spent last weekend cross country skiing at Lapland Lake, my favorite ski area. I skied my first 50 Kilometer ski race there during a Blizzard in 1982. The owner of the ski area is an Olympian from the 1960 team. His ability to manage snow (grooming and setting track) is almost beyond description. I managed to get in about four hours of skiing for the time I was there.

The trail sign pictured above is for my favorite trail "Vasa". This trail while only a kilometer in length includes uphills, downhills and transitions from each. I believe that Vasa includes all of the elements which makes nordic skiing fun.