Quick Update

Well, summer with Colin was going great until I got a crazy insane flu or cold virus. I seldom get sick, but when I do, it’s a doozy.  This time was no exception, and for the first time in about a decade, I was laid up for about two weeks.  By the time I had regained my energy, the heat and humidity took hold, with temperatures heading up above 45C with the humidex taken into consideration.

A couple of nights, the temperature didn’t even drop below 35C.  At night! As much as I love fishing, that’s just too hot to do anything.

We did manage a couple of short trips – one of which saw me skunked for the first time this year, not counting when I competed in the Fly Fishing Championships.

One evening, Colin and I decided to try a different section of the Grand River, above Lake Bellwood.  I drove along a bunch of gravel roads, and I am not even sure I could get back to the place if I tried.  There was a well worn path down the bank of the river, and later we discovered that a half hour walk downstream would have gotten us to a stretch of the river where some nice smallmouth bass hang out.   We didn’t walk too far, but in the hour and half of fishing that we did, I caught a bunch of baby smallmouth bass on the Quinchat’s Glimmer as well as Hare’s Ear Nymphs.

Another evening, we had time to spend about 45 minutes before it got dark below Shand Damn.  There were small fish rising, and I had about 20 fish rise to my “Tap Dance Caddis” but no hook ups at all.  A frustrating 45 minutes indeed! Colin had one fish on, using The Grand River Fly, but lost it before he could bring it to hand.

Milder weather has finally moved in, so I’ll likely be doing some fishing again this week. And just in time for that, my new William Joseph “Coastal” Chest Pack arrived in the mail today.  I am totally impressed with the products William Joseph produces!  As some readers will know, I reviewed the William Joseph waders here.  After I spend some time with this chest pack, I’ll write a review of this product – initial inspection says… “Impressive!!”

I also picked up the “hydration bladder” which fits nicely into the back of the chest pack – and holds 3 litres of water. I like to have lots of water with me when I’m fishing, but bottled water is awkward no matter what one is wearing.  This water bladder is going to be awesome.

More soon!