Preventing Ice-up on Guides and Rod

This tip came from today's, June 11, 2011, Sportsmen's Devotional. It is a daily devotion that you can subscribe to and I HIGHLY recommend it. Here's the link to subscribe http://www.sportsmensdevotional.com

Sportsmen's Tip of the Day

Several marketed products such Stanley's Ice-Off Paste by Loon or better yet, vaseline petroleum jelly help with preventing ice freezing to fishing guides and line. Vaseline applied frequently doesn't freeze, is non toxic, very inexpensive, and will not harm your line, pole, or reel.

Now I know it is Spring - almost summer - and we are not supposed to be worrying about ice this time of the year - but who knows what is going to come with the weather we have been having!!! Could happen on the OP or the East Side or even the Seattle metro area. Global warming huh??

So now you don't have to fight ice no matter the time of the year. Go fish!

Mayflies on the Window Screen

Well, it is Definitely spring time AND fishing season - officially by state reg.s anyway, despite a lot being open year round. Why?

There is a Mayfly on my window screen! Now that is God telling me it's time to fish! And you know what is odd about this? I have no creeks, rivers, or real lakes around my house to fish. There are entryway ponds at a housing development a 1/4 mile away, another pond that is just a persons personal pond and sort of a swamp, mainly for drainage runoff collection, an 1/8 mile away, but other than that, nothing.

Besides the excitement of being blessed with this insect gracing my house, why make a deal of this? Because it is time to start matching the hatch for sure! I believe this one to be a Blue Wing Olive. If I had fishing opportunities around my house, this is what I'd be tying on.

So pay attention to the guides and river reports, use their knowledge to match the hatch. And if you don't get that info ahead of time, take a half hour of your morning to look at the evidence of what is hatching, like the grass, bushes, rocks, for carcasses or shucks, etc. Pick rocks out of the river bed and check what's clinging to them. Then try yo match the hatch and go fish.

Or, if your lucky like me, check your window screens...........8^)

Sunglasses

One of the most overlooked pieces of safety equipment for fly fishing is a pair of sunglasses, or glasses in general. They act as safety glasses and can prevent you from loosing an eye - despite how large or small the hook is.

If you are chucking heavy weight Clouser Minnows, that fly can SMACK you at any time during the cast. And a hit to the head is bad enough, think of getting that size 6 or 4 hook in an eye - especially if you didn't pinch the barb well enough. I don't even know if an eye that gets hook can be saved for that matter.

Of course if you get polarized sunglasses, you get the added bonus of glare reduction and site fishing.

So go buy a pair of sunglasses that you can afford and get polarized too for that added benefit. They range from as cheap as $5 and go up over hundreds of dollars if you'd like.

You only have two eyes, the glasses are not totally for fashion, they serve one good purpose, to keep the eyes you have.