Gift From Kenneth the Dog

Kenneth must have been listening at least one of those times when I told him how well his fur works for tying fish-catching jigs. When I returned from travels, I found this beautiful pile of Kenneth fur in my office. He's a humble little dude, though. When I thanked him for the tying material, he looked at me like he didn't know what I was talking about.

I mostly tie 1/32- and 1/64-ounce jigs, along with a few flies, from his fur, so that pile will last a very long time, and he looked just as fluffy as ever, so I'm pretty sure I can find more when I need it. In case you wonder about the color difference, by the way, he really does look a lot blacker than his fur does off of him. The picture shows the fur lighter than it really is and with a little different tone, but the hair itself is kind of a dark grey, while he looks black. Of course, the jigs look pretty black when they are wet. The fur also looks and feels straight on Kenneth, but it has a bit of kink to it and flairs out on jigs. That characteristic, along with its buoyancy, are keys to its effectiveness, in my opinion.

I just know that Kenneth Bugs catch fish, so I appreciate for the nice little gift he left for me.

Kenneth Flies

I've mentioned Kenneth Bugs a few times in past blogs. They are hair jigs tied from the fur of our black dog Kenneth.

 

I tied the first ones as a novelty, amused by the idea if catching fish from something made from my dog's shed fur (easily amused, I know). However, it didn't take long to figure out that there was something about Kenneth's fur that made it work well in the water. Kenneth Bugs outperformed similar jigs tied from black crafthair, bucktail or marabou. I tie and use them now not for novelty but simply because they produce fish.

 

Next week's trout outing is a fly fishing trip, though, so I decided I'd better tie some Kenneth Flies to try. Same basic design. (I won't say pattern because I tie every one a little differently.) Just tied on streamer hooks instead  of jigheads.

 

First two are pictured. I hope to tie several before the end of the weekend. If I end up having opportunity to use them, I'll try to remember to report back how they do!

Dooodle Bugs?

Having learned how well jigs tied from my dog's hair work for trout, bluegills and other kinds if fish, I really couldn't not eye Doodles, my mom's big golden doodle. Her long cream-colored hair would certainly look good in a jig, and if it turned out to appeal to fish, I could get years worth if material in a few minutes. Doodles is due a major haircut anyway, so my mom said I was welcome to bring home some hair. I believe I need to at least try some to see what kind of Doodle Bugs I can make!

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Chattooga Trout Slam

My first trout outing of the new year yielded my first trout slam of the year, with one or more brook, brown and rainbow trout all having cooperated. All came on a Kenneth Bug, which is what I call any hair jig tied primarily with fur from our dog Kenneth.

Nathaniel, Brian Latimer and I fished the Chattooga River, which forms the border between Georgia and South Carolina. The rainbow and brook trout were Georgia fish, which means that the first four fish added this year's species list (bluegill, largemouth bass, rainbow trout, brook trout) all came from Georgia. I have the brown trout listed as South Carolina, as of now, but the jury remains out about how it should be counted. I was standing in South Carolina, close to the bank, but I cast across the river into Georgia and the fish hit right away.

It was a fun and productive outing, and I'm glad we were able to slip out. Next fishing for me will be next week on the ice in Pennsylvania. I drive north on Monday and expect to be on the ice first thing Tuesday morning. Seems likely that my species list will grow a bit more next week.

Autumn's Bug Collection

Autumn's bedroom got some new décor yesterday. Not typical décor for an 8-year-old girl and her 2-year-old sister, but a style that suits Autumn's interests well.

The jigs she love to tie were busting out of their boxes, so she decide to hang them where they weren't all mushed together and the could look at them more easily, and where she and I could select the right ones for the job when we go fishing.

It has been fun watching Autumn's "bait making" skills develop. Early ones all looked like salmon flies -- big and bold, with bright color and feathers going in many directions. The ones she makes now use more olive and other natural colors, and she tries to tie baits she believes will catch fish. Many will, I'm quite certain, and I look forward to a little warmer weather so we can go fish our hand-tied jigs together.

In the meantime, the bug collection will continue growing. In fact, I think it's growing right now!

Bug Tying Weather

Trout do like tend to like dark days, but it has rained enough over the past few days that I think the streams might have gotten a bit out of whack, and through the winter, a couple of days of steady, cold rain can sort of keep the trout from ever waking up.

Maybe those are excuses. Maybe it just seemed cold to me to walk up a creek.

One way other the other, today seemed like a good day to stay home, and a Saturday at home typically is a good day to convert jigheads, fur and feathers into critter imitations or attractors that I hope will draw the interest of trout, smallmouths and other fish. Some will work. Others probably will not. Either way, Ugly Bugs are fun to tie, rain or shine.

Shad Fly's First Pups

The little white long-haired dog on the stuffed animal rack at the Goodwill store immediately caught my eye, and I knew her name, "Shad Fly," before I even spent my dollar. She's only been home about a week, but she's already beginning to produce offspring. A handful of "pups" from the first litter are pictured above. Shad fly is kind of poodle-like now, but I suppose she'll eventually look like a white schnauzer.

Ugly Runners Ready

Ugly Runners. I guess that's what you'd call 'em. Ugly Bugs tied on Road Runner heads. Whatever you want to call them, I have several tied and ready put to the test next week at North Carolina's Nantahala River, and I'm looking forward to seeing what the trout think. I have a few other ideas spinning in my head as well and am likewise eager to test those ideas. I'll tell more if they work!

With the delayed harvest season having just opened, there should be plenty of trout in the river. I just have to convince them that they want to eat.

Splendid Sequatchie

Patrick Roberson and I had been knee-deep in Tennessee's Sequatchie River for about three minutes when the first of many rock bass nabbed the little black jig I'd tied from my dog's shed fur, and by the time we'd worked circled the pool (maybe 10 minutes), we had caught and released four fish of three different species (rock bass, crappie, smallmouth bass). The next pool up produced a longear sunfish and a largemouth, along with some more rock bass.

"That's the thing about river fishing," Pat said. "You never what you're going to catch."

He certainly proved that. We spent about five hours together, wading two different sections of the same river, and during that time we caught nine different species. I sort of wish I'd had one of those little clicking counter things that pitching coaches use, because I really have no idea how many fish we caught. I only know that it was a bunch, and that on quite a few occasions, he and I were both reeling in fish at the same time.

Pat was showing me home waters. The Sequatchie River, which cuts a broad valley between high ridges, runs right through his family farm in Bledsoe County. Our gear and approach were as simple as it gets. We waded wet and each carried nothing but a single spinning outfit and a few extra lures. In truth, we never needed the spare lures. I fished the same hair jig from start to finish, and Pat never had reason to change from his Hildebrandt Nugget.

My fishing destinations range from the ice to the ocean, and there are elements of every style of fishing that I really enjoy. Pressed to pick, though, I'd have to say that wet wading in a cool-water stream and casting small baits for everything that swims is my favorite way to fish, and yesterday's fishing with Pat was about as good as that kind of fishing can get.

That means yesterday was a "best of the best" sort of day, and you can bet that I'm already looking forward to doing it again some time!

Dog Fish

Kenneth sheds. In fact, he sheds a lot. So when he got a bath yesterday, I got a big pile of black dog hair. If it turns out to be good jig material I'll be set for a long time. There's a big pile of it drying outside.

I tied one quick little Kenneth bug yesterday, just to see how manageable the material seemed, and I took it along on a short pond outing. All I can claim at this point is that the bluegills like Kenneth bugs. We'll find out about trout soon, I suspect, and I might have to whip out a few 1/8-ounce Kenneth bugs to test next week at Sturgeon Bay.

The hair looked good in the water, and the jig stayed together well. The material was less buoyant than I expected, so I might have to mix with other materials or tie bugs thicker if I want a slower sink rate.

Feathers for Holly& Me

"Pretty!" Holly said, as soon as I pulled my new brown and orange marabou boa from the Walmart bag. That much we agreed on. I'd eyed the same strings of feathers a few times previously, thinking about the crawdad jigs they could become, and had finally decided to bring one home and put it to use.

Holly seemingly saw a different beauty in the feathers, though, because she immediately removed my new purchase from my hands, wrapped it around her neck and repeated, "Pretty!" Again, I could only agree.

I figure we can both enjoy the boa for now. I can trim feathers as needed to tie crawfish pattern Ugly Bugs, and she wants to throw the soft feathers over her shoulders and parade around in pretty colors, there will be plenty of feathers left to enjoy for quite some time.

Of course, when the boa does get sparse, I can always go search out another one. I wonder if Holly would think black or olive feathers were pretty?