The Swamp Thing

This is the new addition to the Fly Fishing Traditions fleet, "The Swamp Thing". It traveled all the way from Donighan, Michigan to make its home here in Northern California. As you probably have heard I'm selling my 13' 4" Boston Whaler Sport to make room for it. The whaler is in the shop right now getting the chines re-worked and a new coat of epoxy marine paint on the entire bottom. I'm also stripping out all the Philipine Mahogany wood work and refinishing it. When I'm done it will be almost completely restored. I decided to do it right!

The Swamp Thing is a 16' 1982 Lowe Roughneck. It's been around the block, the paints pretty tarnished but I rubbed it out and it looks a lot better. I've ordered some factory "Lowe" paint and I'll give it a new coat later this summer, but you know how that goes.

The controls are in the right front position and it has 3 other seats. It's got a live well, not that I'll be using it, a carpeted platform at the bow with a receptor for the post and seat. The main section is carpeted.

Here's a shot of the storage under the bow and the carpeted deck. The seat mounts in the bracket.














Here's a shot of the captain's seat with the controls. The motor also has a power tilt function that is on the shifter. There is also controls on the motor itself. It works!

The best thing about this boat, other that the fact it is a jet sled, is that it's got an Envirude factory Jet Pump. The motor is a V-4 which is known for its dependability. It's a 90 horsepower that delivers 65 hp through the jet pump. The motor is a 1993 that has very little hours on it. My marine mechanic, Steve Cyr, from Float Your Boats believes it has less that 40 hours on it.

I didn't hardly sleep last night anticpating meeting Steve to fire the motor up. He had me pull the plugs, squirt WD40 in each cylinder (it's a 4 cylinder) and let it sit for at least 2 hours. Then I cranked it over without the plugs in it to spit out the WD40. I put the plugs back in and headed to Scotts Flat Lake this morning to meet him.

When we got there he pulled the plugs again and cranked it one more time, to make sure I'd got enough of the WD40 out. He then squirted some starting fluid in each cylinder and we put the plugs back in. I attached the gas line and we crossed our fingers. It popped immediately which was from the starting fluid. I tried it again and hit the electric choke and it started after a couple of bumps. Steve kept pumping the gas line to ensure all the air was out of the line and when it warmed up it just purred. Steve pushed me off and I moved outside of the 5 mph zone and opened it up. It jumped up on plane and it flew. Fast that is. This surprised me a bit. It seemed as fast as my whaler. I took a few turns to see how it handled and it just slides through the turns. That's a jet pump.

So I guess this boat buying experience is one with a happy ending. Buying an ebay boat by relying on pictures and asking question is and was nerve racking. Especially when it was in Missouri. I had it hauled here by uship. All in all it was just a leap of faith. Looks like this time it payed off.

March Brown Emerger

We've been seeing a few more March Brown Duns lately and maybe we'll get a real hatch this year. The March Brown hatch on the Lower Yuba just isn't one that comes off consistently year after year. With the early spring type conditions and the lack of rain maybe this will be one of the good years. With that said it's time to tie up some March Brown patterns to get ready just in case.

Here's a March Brown Emerger that is tough to beat. It's worked well for me. I'm not sure where the pattern came from but this is how I tie it.

March Brown Emerger Recipe

Hook: 2x Long Nymph Hook, TMC 3761BL
Thread: 8/0 Tan
Lead: .015 wrapped along side hook shank outrigger style
Tail: Ginger Z-lon
Tail Fibers: 5 or 6 Brown Hackle Fibers
Rib: Small Copper Wire
Dubbing: Hares Ear Synthetic Dubbing
Hackle: Partridge Soft Hackle
Underwing: Ginger Z-lon
Overwing: Brown CDC Fibers

Step 1: Insert hook into vise and start the thread at the head and wrap down the hook shank just to the bend of the hook.

Tie in .015 lead outrigger style if desired.

Step 2: Separate a small bunch of Z-lon fibers, about 12 to 15 strands and tie in as a tailing shuck. Extend the fibers long and cut off 1/8" past the end of the hook.

Step 3. Select about 5 brown hackle fibers and tie in as the tail. Extend the hackle fibers about 1/16" past the Z-Lon shuck.

Step 4. (Multiple Steps)
(4a) Tie in small wire for rib
(4b) Wrap thread dubbed with a sparse amount of Hares Ear Dubbing forward to about 1/8" from the eye
(4c) Wrap the wire rib forward and tie in off. Clip off excess
                   wire.







Step 5: Prepare a small partridge hackle and tie it in about 1/8" back from the eye. 













Step 6. Wrap the soft hackle so you have a sparse soft hackle all the way around.













Step 7. Tie in a small bunch of Ginger Z-lon fibers as an underwing. Cut the Z-Lon fibers at the bend of the hook shank.

Step 8. Select a small brown CDC hackle and tie in as an overwing. Match the length of the Z-Lon underwing.

Step 9. Tie off the head and whip finish.

The Perry Poke Positioning Cast

As you advance with spey casting you will continue to spent time "Warming Up" using the roll cast with it's waterborne anchor or the "Switch Cast" with an airborne anchor. Both of these casts end with the "Forward Stroke" which needs to be grooved as it is part of every spey cast. An exception to this is the "Perry Poke" cast. It is a re-positioning cast and does not have a forward stroke, unless you call dumping the line a forward stroke. You'll see what I mean as you continue to the "How To".

The Perry Poke was named after Karl Perry who popularized this cast. The “Perry Poke” is a re-positioning cast that allows you to re-position your line to use some of the straight line casts like the “Roll Cast” and the “Switch Cast.” You can also use it with a "Single Spey" cast.

The “Perry Poke” is an upstream shoulder cast. For a right handed caster this would be from river left. The river would be flowing from the right to the left with the bank behind you. The “D Loop” will be placed on the upstream side. This cast is best utilized with an upstream wind or no wind. The “Perry Poke” is a Sustained Anchor Cast.

As with most casts you can use this cast from opposite side of the river,river right, with a "Kackhanded Cast" which for a right handed caster is with the right hand at the top of the grip and the "D Loop" set over the left, upstream shoulder.

The cast works well with short “Skagit Heads” of about 27 feet in length or with "Scandi Heads".

First Stage. The first stage of the “Perry Poke” is the hang-down.

(1) Make sure you have a nice taught connection.
(2) Strip your running line back in to the belly or the head before Step Two, the pickup.
(3) Set your feet in the direction that you want to target your cast.
(4) Turn your hips and shoulders to face the line at the hang-down.
(5) Gather line and drop the rod tip down.

Second Stage - Step two is the pickup.

(1) This step is where you pick up the line to place it in the secondary position. The important movement is the lifting of the rod vertically up and not swinging. They line travels quite close to the body. It is a nice smooth operation.
(2) Raise the rod tip to the vertical position and over your upstream shoulder.
(3) The line should place the anchor point right in front of you, slightly downstream from your position.

Third Stage - Step three is the throw down for the “Set”. It is a relaxed dropping of the line. You want the line to drop in a crumpled pile. It looks messy but the line on the water will give the power for the forward cast.
The crumpled pile should be under your rod tip.
Note: a common mistake is to push the throw down out and away from your position.

Stage Four - Step Four is the sweep combined with the “Forward Casting Stroke”.

The important part of the sweep is to take the rod path upstream and outside of where the line is laying.

(1) The sweep brings the rod tip around and upstream in a slightly inclining plane to the point behind you where the sweep up begins.
(2) Go out and around with the rod tip then you do the “Turn Over” which is the rotation of the rod into a vertical plane to prepare for the “Forward Stroke”.
(3) The stroke path is very similar to a single handed “Belgian Cast”.

Summary

The Perry Poke is a causual cast the you can use to re-position your line to use a simple "Roll Cast" or a "Switch Cast". It can be combined with other more advanced casts too.