Spence great pictures, smallies are such a blast. I have to admit to liking vintage rods, and I have become enamored with the fiberglass rods. Built a epic 5 wt. and tl Johnson 3 wt. fiberglass rods this winter. Now looking at a lami 4 wt. or steffen 3/4. The wonderful about flyfishing is all of the cool things you make for your and enjoy the every aspect of all year long. As for the bay, I fished walleye tournaments for many years there and some really weird things can happen on that body of water.
Mike.
Mike,
That pic of the different colored stones was from the pier/break-wall. We watched as huge schools of minnows swam along it in numbers beyond belief! I was talking to some "hardware" guys there and they said that at night the small-mouth and walleye move in to those areas and just slam those bait fish. I would of liked to have seen that.
The walleye guys show up on the pier early to stake a claim on a good spot and the fishing starts around 9:30.
The guy that got me in to fly fishing built my first rods. He told me recently that he had stopped at a yard sale on a whim and found in a bin the exact model fiberglass rod that was his first fly rod. He bought it and had re-wrapped it. He says it's a bit of a club, but somehow touched a nostalgic cord he didn't realize he had. :)
The first year I went up to Port Austin I had purchased a Rio Outbound Short line. I took a couple steps in to the water and did a practice cast.My line started to move away from me and I couldn't figure out what was up...I played with my drag and finally a fish as long as my arm made a left turn out there and my fly came flying back at me...It was a Gar Pike! The only one I've ever hooked.
I still have an old-school aversion to Carp, though they are becoming popular here. That first year out I had a school swim in and they saw me and turned on a dime and shot out away from me in a second. I had this bias that they were lazy sloths that lounged around all day. Never had I seen them swim like that.
I'm the corresponding secretary for the Michigan Fly Fishing Club. We have put on the Midwest Fly Fishing Expo (formally the "Rod Show") since the 70's. At the show the last couple years a guy has set up a booth and gave talks on the new interest in fiber-glass...I'll try to find his card and get you some info.
Glad you liked the pics...It's a fun time. If you go to our web site www.mffc.org you can look up the outing and I think there maybe a link there to a vid the guy who runs the outing did.
Spence