DeadDrift.org :: the dead end of flyfishing

South Island explorer – New Zealand again

// May 18th, 2012 // No Comments » // news from deaddriftistan

Well…man, all I can tell you is that I love mountains, I love beaches, fjords and I love glaciers. I love the bush that I saw on the movie Lord of the Rings. I love grass, so green, seems like bumblebees love it too. Seems like every person your meet, animal you see loves everything that I mention above too. It’s probably impossible not to love such amazing country where you can find all the nature wonders on one island. You can drive for hours and all what’s in your sight is endless mountain ridges, rivers, creeks and…and sheeps. Thousands of them. Of course that’s what New Zealand is worldwide famous for – the merino wool. But first of all it goes the scenery of the country itself – from little gold rush towns to the skiing resorts, from the little spring creeks to the massive fast flowing rivers – the bluest colour you could imagine of. From grassy farmlands to the highest snow caped mountains. From…and so on and so on. Most of the time spent on the South Island I just hiked, paddled, drove around and just explored the country in general – pubs were included for sure. The most incredible experience to me was to camp just beside two highest NZ mountains Mt.Cook and Mt.Sefton after a tiring hike. Hear the avalanches happening at the nightime ,right in front of the tent in the gacier valley and then see the sunrise coming from behind the alps while having breakfast – that was magnificient.Did some fishing too! Just to satisfy that “fisherman” bit inside of me, as the rivers you drive past looks so damned tempting…but it’s like one famous character said “…and it’s again, there’s  another mountain, and another lake, and another…river, somehwere…”

doing the Ozland

// May 18th, 2012 // No Comments » // news from deaddriftistan

Few years have passed by, and here we’re back again. Back again – where? Yep that’s right- at the campfire. Though from the different type of wood - they call it gumtree or snowgum over here. It’s few of the hundreds of eucalyptus species found all over the Oz land. As Dalius said ,before we started our hike: ”Who could have told you years ago, back in Lithuania, that we’ll be hiking one of most precious national parks on Earth together?” – the Blue Mountains – thousands and thousands miles away from home (Oh well ,that depends what you call your home I suppose ). Yeh,but he’s right, I thought to myself – probably not even in my dreams. So…we hiked,then we drank, then we smoked then we drunk again and finally we fished during Dal’s visit in Australia. Yeeeep, that’s right and finally we did that – we fished. And with a heap of success actually. We caught quite a few good ones. Unfortunately,seems like the most trophy fish is never meant to be pulled out of the water. But we saw the most fullest river of fish we’ve seen in our lifetimes. Personally, I was just amazed and shocked, I can’t describe this in words. I swore at almost every pool we approached. Catching this massive fat smart brown trout (I’m talking about a fish around 10lbs or even more) was another story though. I managed to hook couple of these monsters, they run like a bullet – straight down to the backing. I’ve never believed trout can do that, honestly. It reminded me bonefish or some other saltwater fish. One that I had hooked was sightcasted and it’s run, or it’s more likely – my run, is captured on one of the photos Dalius has taken) To stop such fish with 3wt and a tipet of 0.14mm is litterally impossible. And we know what follows next, of course. Break off and the silence…silence until…well, until now I would say.

The photos tell more than these sentecnes and hopefully I’ll get a chance to drink, fish and hike with you Dalius, or any of the other deaddrifters out there, once again. It’s just so much fun to share the happy moments with crazy punks you’ve known for a long time. Talk about the good-old-high days. Don’t give a shit about nothing and enjoy the fire…wherever it is…

New shtick

// May 16th, 2012 // No Comments » // sticks

Just made this one today. This CTS Affinity MX #8 nine footer is the one of sweetest rods I’ve ever built. Not talking about cosmetics, it’s kind of individual thing :D

… he will come

// March 30th, 2012 // 2 Comments » // news from deaddriftistan

We’ve been waiting for him for so long…

…he will come 2012 from deaddrift on Vimeo.

Year in the Drift

// December 29th, 2011 // No Comments » // news from deaddriftistan

I‘d say 2011 was a year of happening… By all means of that weird word. Suit yourself – did you ever give a thought that bonefish and permit (sperm it, hah hah :D) does migrate to spawn in a small creek in february in the latitude same as Skeena. Just the oposite the globe. Best wet-wading fishing ever! Unbelievable, but it did happen… Nobody knows why, but it did. And hopefully it will again.

For the same unrevealed reasons a fly pattern called „Horse fart“ was born. Very effective salmon fly in a distinguished colors, aka Banatata… Really weird.

Even seems like black magic is involved in all that. But the strangeness fades away once becoming the knight of the DeadDrift order. And then you realise that the whole life is nothing less but a continuous flow of a weirdly pleasant moments dead-drifting by, waiting to be dived in. And the strangest of all things is that we almost always consciously letting‘em pass… Long time ago, some roman said: „Carpe diem!“. Well, I guess that‘s exactly what we‘re doing here in DeadDriftistan.

Join the Dark Side of The Force, clear your mind and Drift in Peace! ČBA! :P

Best fishes for 2012!!!

// December 23rd, 2011 // 2 Comments » // news from deaddriftistan

BTW that beautiful arc is a new Loop Nano!

Nu tie – streamer for redneck pike

// December 13th, 2011 // No Comments » // bugs'n'shit

It was awhile since the last post. We are working on the new project – stonedfly.com so we’ve been kind of busy lately. But to keep posts coming I am posting some content from the future project (it’s about to start this year) here.

It’s step-by-step video of my favorite pike pattern I’ve posted earlier http://www.deaddrift.org/?p=4133

This version is slightly modified, there is no more weight (streamer is kind of heavy by it self), and there is no marabou “skirt” left. But the main thing is the wool head that makes a lot of noise underwater. Why redneck pike? Because pike is often underestimated due the lack of royal-blue blood, it lives in ponds and lakes, not the glorious clear mountain waters and overall this is not the noble fish. Also as we are, the rednecks of flyfishing!

So check it out

Midsummer Ide

// November 11th, 2011 // 9 Comments » // news from deaddriftistan

This summer Ide where surprisingly active (the day before shooting :D) and we caught not only one and had even more bites. We put here our first efforts of shooting something, so please don’t laugh too much. Bluddy viruses ate the best material!!!! We’ll try to do better though.

Vasarą meknės netikėtai buvo labai aktyvios (dieną prieš filmuojant), tad sugavome ne vieną ir ne dvi, dar daugiau kibo. Iš to, ką šiek tiek pafilmavome (tik geriausius failus sugraužė prakliati virusai!!!!), sukurpėme trupmą filmuką. Tik labai nesijuokit, pirmas blynas. Stengsimės tobulėti.

Midsummer Ide from Justas.B. on Vimeo.

Taparas

// November 9th, 2011 // 2 Comments » // news from deaddriftistan

Nors toks filmukas niekada neprilygs Vytauto susuktajam apie Ūlą, bet vis dėlto pasidalinsiu. Manau, paskutinė taparų žūklė šiemet. Šmikiai labai išrankūs. Bet tuo ir žavi jų gaudymas rudenį. Beje, muzika mano, įrašyta prieš kokius šešerius metus. Tikiuosi, per daug ausų nerėžia.

Taparas in Lithuanian means grayling and this is a short slideshow of photos from the last trip in search of lings. There are already some ideas of making videos in our heads and I think it would be even more interesting to use our own music.

Last train to Ula

// October 26th, 2011 // 9 Comments » // Thirsty Traveler

It’s time to say goodbye to my beloved river Ūla! Season ended – as you saw few posts below, trout are starting to spawn, so let’s not ruin their le sexy time… Also it’s time to say – see ya to my dude Giedrius. He is coming back to Australia today. We had a great weekend and some good parties before, but vacation is over, hit the road bro and back to the work! Will be waiting for you next year!

here is a short video: