Shad At the Locke and Dam 1 Capefear River

Going to head out in a little bit to hit the river for shad. Eric and I are taking the Kayaks down near Elizabethtown   . Hope to catch them on the fly rod. Will take plenty of pictures and post here later.

More Shad Flies Today

Decided that I didn't have enough flies for the trip to the river tomorrow. So I got busy at the vice for awhile today . From what I have seen of the shad darts and other lures used for Shad, I belive what I have come up with will work pretty good. I have tied two basic patterns in multiple colors. Most are of the florescent varieties.So without further ado here they are:

Heres a few of each one. These are called the Mighty Mighty Speed Dart. 

Originally tied for bone fish and permit on the flats of Florida. 

I am sure that they will work on the Shad tomorrow.

But not only Shad but also Crappie, Bass, Red fish, Speckled Trout

And False Albacore, cant wait to try them out. If they catch good tomorrow
I will be tying these at the Fly-Tie-A-Thon the 30 th of next month at the
John E. Pechmann Fishing Education Center for the March Of Dimes.
See the post below the the other Pattern and the post below that for information
on the Fly-Tie-A-Thon. Also if you are inclined to you can help sponsor me at the event.
Just follow this link to the  March of Dimes ,http://www.marchforbabies.org/EddieMathis no gift is to small or to large what ever you decide is right in your heart.
Thank You

Flies today instead of Rods.

Well after yesterdays disappointment I decided to tie up a few flies for shad fishing Friday. I am going down to Lock and Dam 1 with Eric and Hone from NC Angler with the kayaks. The water is supposed to be nice not too much current. It will be My first time ever fishing for Shad . To tell the truth when someone mention shad fishing I am  thinking of a throw net/I am used to the shad we use for bait. But these American and Hickory Shad are supposed to get pretty big. So I'll give it a shot. Here are the flies I tied up to day.

6th Annual Fly -Tie-a-Thon

Our team the Fayetteville Fly Tiers, have a Fly-Tie-A-Thon to help save babies. Last year we had a good showing at the Tie -A-thon and raised over $5000.00. We had a great time.
Here is the web site that tells about the Fly-Tie-a-Thon: http://www.flytieathon.com/ Please go to this site and read about what we do.
I`m very excited to be a part of March for Babies this year. Please help me reach my goal by making a donation to my walk. It`s easy and secure - just click through to make your donation.

Your gift will fund March of Dimes research and programs that help moms have full-term pregnancies and babies begin healthy lives. And it will be used to bring comfort and information to families with a baby in newborn intensive care.

Please support this important work. You can make a donation with your credit card, or if you prefer, cash or a check is fine, too.

Thank you for helping me give all babies a healthy start!
Please do what you can!

EddieMathis

Visit http://www.marchforbabies.org/EddieMathis to donate or to walk with me.

Would you like to see what March for Babies is and why I'm walking?
Click here to see the video.

The March of Dimes mission is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality.

Just Wrapping

This morning back is still giving me fits, so I am back at the rod wrapping. Laid down the 5th color band and added 3 wraps of a blue Holographic mylar. That will be the half way point. Now I'll just wrap the same colors in reverse order. He what I have done so far:

Center wraps are Sulky Holoshimmer145-6030

   

Here is What I used on the other wraps:

Got to give credit where it is deserved. Saw Billy at the international Rod Builders Expo in High Point this year.
He's pretty cool for a Yankee.
Truly the Lord Of The Strings!!


Here is after 4more pass with the next two shades a of blue.

OOPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well if that don't suck, guess theres a lesson in this somewhere but damed if I know it right now.Think it is time to go self medicate a little and come back to this tomorrow. So that is what I am off too.

Still Waiting

Got a e-mail today from Cabela's that the 6 piece fly rod blank that I order that was on back order is in and should have shipped Sat the 19th. This is to replace a fly rod that I broke on the New River trip last year. I am not going to start on this rod until I have a few more under my belt. With it being a 6 piece I am not sure how to find the spine. I am leaning toward sighting down each shaft and going with the straightest line. I will be asking a lot of questions on the rod building forum.
  Put my back in a bind Saturday and I am taking it easy for a day or two. It would be nice if to be able to start on a rod but just don't have all the parts yet. So guess I will do some practice wrapping. I'll post pictures later if the wraps look OK.

When say wraps I am talking about decorative wraps. I am just starting this and I have lengths of  5/8 PVC pipe that I sand to get all the markings off of it.
So heres what I have done so far, not quite half way done on this one. No it would usually not take this long but like I said I am new, and my back wont let me stay seated for more than about 20 mins at a time.

Above two colors down, I wrap in bands of three threads.

Four colors down, you can see my thread box. Each row is the same color, thus the three thread band.

Back orders @%#%*

Well got the guides , EVA Grips, Hook Keepers and the crappie decals. Thats great BUT the Reel Seats are back ordered. Man I really hate that. If you don't have them in stock say so when I place my order, don't wait till I get the rest of the order in the mail to tell me some of the order is back ordered. Also I really wish when they do wait to tell you that they would at least tell you when they expect to get the product in.I really like Mud Hole  but sometimes they really piss me off. So still waiting for the reel seats to get started on the crappie rod.

Happier note , got to go fishing with my good friend Bobby Parker on his boat Thursday , St Patties day. We went up to Shearon Harris and hit the ramp right at sun up. Had a good day , didn't catch a lot of fish but enough to bring some home for dinner.It was just good to get out on the water and share good times with a friend.

  Caught a few Crappie 

and a small Large mouth that we released.