Arizona Wanderings

Rambling Review – Orvis Battenkill Bar Stock II Reel

June 16th, 2011

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Rambling Review – Orvis Battenkill Bar Stock II Reel

Why:

When I have the free Saturday to head where I want to, I point the truck towards the small streams that run cold and clear from the Mogollon Rim. This water is perfect for my TFO Finesse 3 weight and its delicate presentation. When I first bought this rod, I coupled it with a cheaper reel that did not make it through a full season of my tripping and slipping on the small creeks. After doing some investigating, I decided on the simple, yet rugged Orvis Battenkill to compliment the Temple Fork rod. I have been nothing but happy.

First impressions:

Durable Construction – The Battenkill Bar Stock is a solid reel with very durable aluminum components and a solid fitting. It felt tough and stout even for its small size.

Lightweight – When holding the BBS reel in the Orvis shop, it was noticeably lighter then several of the other reels that I compared it to. The manager explained that it was made from machined aluminum instead of being die-cast. Mumbo-jumbo aside, looking at the weight specs, this reel is considerably lighter than other reels in its neighborhood.

Simplicity – The Orvis Battenkill Bar Stock has a simple yet classy look. Not one for a high tech or flashy look, I was really drawn to the aesthetics of the BBS. Once the reel was on the rod, I liked the look even more.

Field Use:

The Battenkill Bar Stock and the TFO Finesse are dynamic small stream duo. The reel balances sweetly on the rod and casting is mostly mindless without a second thought to the reel. After the first several trips out I really began to appreciate the simplicity and toughness of this small lightweight reel. Sure, at the end of the day, a small stream reel is just a glorified line holder, but the functionality and the rugged construction is a must have when banging around the creek.

I do not tend to get into too many monsters on the small Arizona creeks, and when I do, I try to make short work of the fight. With that said, the BBS has a solid drag that on some bigger water could come in handy.

Pros:

Weight – Very light in comparison to reels in the neighborhood

Durable/Solid Construction

Orvis 100% Satisfaction Guarantee

Simple Classic Look – Functional not flashy

Cons:

A little more money than some of the economy reels, but well worth the expense

Prognosis: A high quality, lightweight reel that has the durability to withstand the abuse of the bumbling small creek fly fisherman.

* Disclaimer:

The reviews at Arizona Wanderings are my honest opinion. Arizona Wanderings is not sponsored by or associated with any of the stated companies and is accepting no compensation, monetary or otherwise, in exchange for this review. My independent status may change in the future but, as of the date of publication, no relationship other than described above has been pursued or established.

Fly Tying: The Simi Seal Bugger

June 13th, 2011

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Aside from being my go to streamer for the deep pools or swollen flows of the trout creeks, I have been having quite a bit of success in the urban ponds throwing green Simi Seal Buggers. John Rohmer originally started tying the Simi Seal Leech and his recipe can be found here. The Bugger is simply a variation of of this original pattern but it is my go-to streamer when nothing else seems to work.

1. Bead on a hook. I prefer something in a size #12-8. These orange glass beads from the craft store seem to be the ticket.

(Whoever made this stuff should get a pat on the back…)

2. Wrap thread back.

3. Add a couple of turns of weighted round wire. 6 or 7 turns usually does the trick for me and if I have need to get my bugs deeper, I will add softweight to my line.

4. Secure wire with thread wraps and then add a marabou tail. In John Rohmer’s original simi seal leech he uses simi seal for the tail. I think the marabou has more motion in the water so I prefer it. I purposefully tie the tails long as I think that it also gets more movement and if worse comes to worse I can always pinch some of the marabou off.

Accept no substitute…

5. Dubbing loops are no fun.

6. Dub forward. The messier the better. In Rohmers video, he takes a popsicle with a little bit of velcro on the end and tease out the fiber to give the leech more bugginess.

7. Whip Finish.

Everyone loves the Simi Seal Bugger

Cat and Simi Seal - photo courtesy of Greg Madrigal — Cat and Simi Seal – photo courtesy of Greg Madrigal

Definitely check out Greg’s nets over at Sierra Nets…unbelievable works of art.

Arizona Fly Fishing: Welsh Style

June 9th, 2011

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I left early Tuesday morning to meet some friends from across the pond for a little fly fishing jaunt on the Mogollon Rim. Shane Jones and his wife Collette live in Wales but were in Sedona for a week or so and looking to do a little fly fishing while they were here in Arizona. Both fly fish a healthy amount around the UK and are as passionate about fly fishing as I am. Shane has fly fished since an early age and Collette has since joined him in his ventures. This was Collettes first time on moving water, but after a pool or two she quickly figured out the drift and connected with the first fish of the day.

Collete's first fish on moving water.. — Collete’s first fish on moving water..

The creek was kind to us and although it was running a little bit skinnier than I would have liked to seen it, the bugs were out in full force and the fish were hungry. Midges, mayflies, caddis, and a plethora of terrestrials could be found on the banks and in the water. We started by fishing mini-hoppers with a bunch of different droppers with the fish feeding on pretty much anything we threw at them.

As we fished the morning away, Collette was working one of the deeper plunge pools. She had nailed a decent size brown on the dropper and had missed a large brown from under the bank. She threw one more perfect drift a few inches from the undercut and the brown reappeared for the mini-hopper. She neatly set the fly in the corner of his mouth and after a few acrobatic jumps, brought the largest fish of the day to the net. Not bad for her first time on a creek.

Brown Trout (better pictures hopefully on Shane’s camera)

Tough for us boys to swallow that the lady in the group was out-fishing us. Ulitmately we all pulled quite a few fish from the creek and we all caught one fairly good size fish a piece.

As we fished our way back to the truck, I worked a pool that had some overhanging roots. After working the foam line, I drifted my mini/dropper setup near the roots and was pleased when a larger body darted out of the cover and sucked in my mini-hopper. My three weight bent pretty good as I tried to stop several runs to the tangle of roots that would surely have made a mess of my line. The heft brown trout that came to my net had me smiling for the next hour or so. It is always rewarding fooling one of the bigger resident browns that you know must have seen a hundred flies before mine.

Around 1 o’clock we found our way back to the truck for PB&Js and some rest in the shade. The wind had been picking up and making accurate casting difficult so we opted to head to something more sheltered. Both Shane and Collette were very interested in catching some of the wild rainbows found in the secluded reaches of some of the Rim creeks. After ranting and raving about how this second creek was going to have rainbows coming out of the wood work, wouldn’t you know we caught mostly browns.

Browns where I was expecting to see Rainbows

We did find a few rainbows before they had to take off to get back to their family. It was a fantastic day on the water with good friends. Shane was a phenomenal fisherman and his casting made me want to go practice. Collette picked up the creek fishing a little too well and brought some great fish in for some pictures.

It is easy to lose track of time, when fish are coming to the net and you are sharing the experience with good friends. The weather made for a beautiful day and the wading was pleasant. It seemed that everywhere I looked there was beauty all around. Summer in the mountains is my favorite time of year and intend to continue to take full advantage of the nice weather.

Fly Fishing Arizona: A stroll around the ponds

June 6th, 2011

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Met up with my good friend Jason early Friday morning to beat the heat of the day and ultimately target the warm-water fish in some of the local ponds. We met up with Mike and the three of us worked the ponds for a couple hours.

In short order I found a nice koi that was feeding ravenously on the reef and after a decent cast he sucked up my fly and took me for a ride. After about five or ten minutes with a nice bend in my BVK 6 weight, Mike swung buy and helped me put a net on this bruiser.

We continued the morning walk around several of the other ponds and picked up several largemouth bass and a couple of tilapia. All the fishing is great because it is still “spot and stalk” style fishing. Most everything is sight casting which makes for an exciting morning.

Mike, educating us on bamboo and largemouth bass...

Ultimately we ended up on one of the large ponds and as Mike and I worked one side, Jason drifted in the opposite direction. At some point I look over and noticed that his 5 weight rod is seriously bent.

Uncharacteristically for this stretch of water, this carp had attacked his fly and without much running decided he was going to sit on the bottom. After about 10 minutes, he played the fish to the side of the pond and I was able to put a net on him. Definitely the biggest fish I have seen pulled out of this water, although you can see the bigger ones cruising.

We have been lucky here in the Valley that things have not been to unreasonably hot. Normally we have solid triple digits for May and the month of June is usually when I want to crawl into a hole and forget I live in the desert. This year, we have only sporadically jumped over 100 which has been a nice way to start the summer. I fear that it is quickly going to get hot (by “hot” I mean over 110). These ponds have been a lifesaver and have offered me a great way to get out and expand my horizons by targeting these warm-water species. A good day all around.

Arizona Fly Fishing: Spring Backpacking (Day 3)

June 3rd, 2011

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Not much to say about a beautiful day on the water…

Arizona Fly Fishing: Spring Backpacking (Day 2)

June 1st, 2011

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Rattlesnake Pool (Aptly named for the rattlesnake I almost stepped on...)

The morning sun broke the brisk chill that hung in the canyon and we sat in the sun trying to get warm. After thawing out we headed to the water to see if we could bring some of those trout back out from the depths, I missed to fish after about an hour and a half of fishing and Jake had a monster break him off after taking his dry fly. Around that time as if someone had turned a switch the wind started picking up and within 15 minutes it was impossible to cast.

We made the hard decision and decided to pack up our gear and hike out of the canyon. Even though we had another day and a half planned to stay, there was no point if the wind was going to blow and possibility that we might run into other anglers was not especially appealing. The hike out was rugged and the truck never looked so good. We took the washboard road back to civilization and after a little bit of strategizing decided to hit some water that would be a little bit more sheltered than the canyon streams that are so typical in Arizona

As if to validate our decision to switch water, a beautifully colored brown took a parachute adams on my second cast to the dark side of the first pool. The upper portion of this creek is dominated by rainbows but the occasional brown does find his way into the swift plunge pools.

The foliage is nice as it breaks up the wind, but it can make for some casting issues. Roll casts and side loops are the name of the game.

If we played our cards right and dropped soft enough flies, wild rainbows would eagerly take parachutes out of the film. The creek was skinny but healthy and the mayflies, terrestrials, and midges were out in full force.

Jake and I both stuck with a parachute for the bottom part of the stream and had great success in fooling fish. We continued to hike and fish higher and the water kept getting smaller and smaller, but the rainbows kept getting hungrier and hungrier.

This creek started to get very shady the farther up we fished and I switched back to a bright orange mini-hopper in order to follow the fly in the fast plunge pools. Another brown showed up to play.

Brown Trout on a mini — Brown Trout on a Mini

Losing count of fish numbers is always a good thing. It seemed that each fish was unique in its colors and spots. A good day, all in all, out of the wind with not a soul in sight. Bushwhacking through brambles and over downed trees had us working hard to access the small upper reaches of this stream.

We wound up back at the truck with a little bit of daylight so opted to hit up one of the local places for dinner. Potato skins with bacon and onions always tastes better after a day or two with only Clif bars and Easy Mac. With a burger in my gullet and a couple of hard miles on my feet, I was out in no time and slept hard through the night. One more day in store chasing wild trout in the Arizona high country…

Fly Fishing Arizona: Spring Backpacking (Day 1)

May 30th, 2011

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Since the inception of the fly fishing virus in my life, I have always wanted to go farther and fish harder. My research and attentive listening continually came back to one particular creek that is said to be the place to go in Arizona for big browns. The creek is a little deeper in the Arizona backcountry and in order to hit some of the better water, should be done as an overnighter.

With school out, I had the time to invest in just such a trip and I called a couple of buddies to see who would be up to the challenge. My buddy Jake was free and so we planned a non-weekend trip in order to skip the crowds and have the water to ourselves. The goal was to get into this creek while the water was still up (water is already getting skinny here in AZ) and to fish it before Memorial Day weekend, a holiday in Arizona where ever stretch of water is occupied with bobbers and beer cans.

With anticipation running high, Jake and I bounced the truck in to the trailhead and once the packs were loaded on our backs, we started our decent. Our first indication of the tribulations to come was the tent and spinning gear at the bottom of the canyon. The couple we spoke to were nice enough, but stated they had been camping since the week before and the fishing they had experienced was marginal at best. So much for a pristine, angler free creek. We hiked up the creek a mile or so and set up camp. With hammocks hung and fly gear ready, we worked some of pocket water close to camp.

The creek is dominated by brown trout who work their way up from the lake in the fall to spawn in the moving water. Many of the fish stay and live long lives in the deep pools of the creek. The fish grow to enormous sizes as do the stories about this fishery. We pulled several meaty brown trout in the 10 to 12 inch range in some of the faster water before moving on to some of the bigger pools… and then the wind came.

We fished diligently and threw everything in our fly boxes, but the wind was unbearable. With a steady wind (not breeze) and strong gusts, the fishing was not happening and at times there were actually whitecaps on the water. We continued to fish were we were able and made a good attempt to fish some of the deeper pools with only a bump here or there. Jake and I were both baffled because we were fishing what looked to be really quality water but with nothing really to show for it. After fishing almost two miles up, we found the reason for our problem. The first angler was coming back downstream and after chatting with him for a bit we hoped our luck would change once we went further than he did. Then we met the second angler.

At that point with the sun starting to dip behind the canyon walls we decided to turn back around and head to camp. Once there, the wind died down and gave us a chance to fish some of the same pocket water we had fished earlier in the day and the water seemed to come alive.

Feisty brown trout started coming to the surface and fed ravenously on the mini-hopper. Most of the trout were again in the 10 to 12 inch range, and on such a slim section of the creek really fought and dove for cover like old, wise fish.

Fish were coming out in just about every likely spot and crevice.

Even though the mayflies were showing up pretty steady, I stuck with the mini-hopper as it seemed to be getting it done.

I did pull this really nice fish after a slow and almost lethargic rise. Once I lifted the rod, the pool exploded as the big brown realized he did not like sharp objects in his lips. He made a strong run for an underwater rock but with a little persuasion I convinced him to turn and ultimately brought him to the net. I love big fish and just the excitement of cradling life in your hands if only for a moment and appreciating all the colors that are painted on the side of the fish.

We finished up with the pocket water and as the canyon started to get dark, we cooked up some easy mac which always tastes a little better with the cold mountain air and the smell of pine. After a hard day of hiking and fishing, it was not too hard to fall right asleep with high hopes for the next day.

Fly Fishing Arizona: A Little Backpacking Adventure…

May 26th, 2011

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The past three days have been a whirlwind (partially thanks to this Six Flags promo) and there are photos of fish and the Arizona backcountry to weed through. I will have some trip reports coming out in the next few days, but until then, feast on a couple of my favorites…