Once upon a time in the not so distant past, there was a dude who went in to his Favorite Local Fly Shop, told his Favorite Local Fly Shop owner that he had been reading a wonderful book about chasing trophy trout with streamers, and asked if it would be possible for him to order up a spool of Kelly Galloups Full Sinking Teeny line.
Now I wont say that said Favorite Local Fly Shop owner became indignant or anything, but a look most certainly came over his face like he thought dude was out of his freaking mind. He proceeded to tell dude that he didn't really want that line, it was meant for the big waters out west and would never work on the small low flow creeks around here.
Basically he politely refused to consider the possibility dude might be on to something, told him to save his money, and instead sent him home with a sinking tip to attach to his floating line. Whatever though, it was cheap. Dude would gladly spend $15 just to prove to himself that the even wisest among us doesn't always know everything. He took his sinking tip home, and being the stubborn jack-ass that he is, hopped online, went to WWW.SLIDEINN.COM and ordered it up from the man himself. Probably saved himself a few bucks too, not that it mattered. Dude likes to support local when they let him.
A week later the line came and it was time for an experiment . Who knows more about full sinking line? Favorite Local Fly Shop guy, or the guy with his name on the box, who also happens to have a 160 pg. instruction manual on how to properly use full sinking line with his name on it too. Hmmmm?
Dude spooled up his reel with the new full sinking line, attached a 4'leader(thats right I said 4' leader) as per the instructions, topped it off with an absurdly large streamer, and went looking for a trophies. 3 casts in dude drew out the largest brown he'd ever pulled from The Oatka, and dude has been fly fishing The Oatka for a long time, 12yrs to be exact.
Now full disclosure dictates I tell you that dude knew that fish was there before he started casting. It wasn't some miracle out of the blue, he had watched him for a good 10 minutes before he even set foot in the water. The Oatka, and Spring Creek are 2 of most amazing sight fishing creeks he had ever fished, and dude knew how to exploit that advantage fully.
Anywho, like I was saying, 3 casts in, biggest brown ever, yadda yadda, DUDE WAS STOKED!! Your out of your gourd if you think he was going to switch over to floating line w/ a sinking tip attached anytime soon. That fish had lit the fires, and he intended to explore every avenue of this unique method fully before any changes were made, which he did, for weeks in fact, and caught many, many, beautiful browns.
Eventually however, the urge to know who was right returned, and dude begrudgingly switched over to favorite Local Fly Shops method. Did it work? Sure, why wouldn't it? After all, it allowed dude to get a streamer on the water, and anytime dude can do that you know he's gonna catch fish.
Was it a tie though? NOT EVEN CLOSE! Favorite Local Fly Shop guys method might have worked, but it cast streamers like a train wreck, and didn't even come close to offering dude the control over how and where the streamer swam that the full sinking fly line provided. In fact the results were exactly as the instruction manual had said they'd be. Less than stellar @ best.
Why am I telling you all this? Really just to point out a simple truth that applies to pretty much everything in fly fishing, or life for that matter. You see Favorite Local Fly Shop guy committed the cardinal sin. He had a CLOSED MIND. He assumed that dude only wanted the line to get deep, and that he intended to fish it in the traditional way that is dead-drift northeast fly fishing. Why? Cause thats the kind of fly fishing Favorite Local Fly Shop guy knows, and to be completely honest, if in fact that we're the case, he would have been right.
Unfortunately for him, that wasn't the case however. All he had to do simply open his mind to what dude was trying to tell him before he shot him down, and he would have learned that dude had no intentions of using that line to get his streamers near the bottom. Quite the contrary, he wanted them near the surface, but not always on it. You see, dude had learned by opening himself to the research of others, that when you strip streamers on a full sinking line, they stay within the top 2' of the water column, darting around like wounded bait-fish/craws, and thats where big fish look for their food.
Too bad for favorite Local Fly shop guy, looks like he really missed the boat on that one!
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
A thought
Its going to be 35 degree's and sunny sunday, and theres a creek not 30 minutes outside of Rochester who's temperature has nothing to do with the weather that is going to be HOP'N. The browns will be sip'n midges, pounding scuds, and chasing wounded sicklebacks like its not even winter. Its a not-so-secret secret I've been dipping into all winter long, afraid to reveal how well I've been doing for fear of blowing up my spot before the other streams picked back up. Lucky for you I'm going to be tied up the next 2 weekends and thus unable to take advantage, so put it together, head to the place, and take care of the thing, if you know what I mean:)
PS: send me some pics of how U did
PS: send me some pics of how U did
Friday, February 12, 2010
Do something warm
Hey all, I'm still here in case your wondering. I'd love to tell you some good fish stories, but reality is we're @ the peak of slow, and I really don't have anything good to tell ya. It's not that there's no fish in the streams 'to cast to 'cause there are, plenty in fact, but honestly your time might be better spent doing something warm instead.
Chew on this. Tuesday afternoon, opportunity knocked ie.the grandparents volunteered to watch the kids, so I threw on my waders, loaded up my gear, and headed down the street to I-creek to brave the cold, see what I could come up. The flows were nice, just a little tint to the water, pretty much ideal conditions if it weren't for the fact that the stream was barely above freezing, and had been that way for the better part of a month.
After a few hrs of unsuccessful casting, I went to pick my line up again for another cast, to find a nice steelhead in the mid 20" range on the other end. The fish took so lightly I had no idea he was there. Granted I fish Jedi (no strike indicators), but even if I had one on I doubt the take would have moved it.
Wait, it gets worse...........No, I didn't loose the fish, frankly I wish I had. (might have been able to hold on to the delusion that winter fishing is great no matter what the conditions) Anyways, how could that be you ask? Simple. The fish had no fight. A month ago that same steelie would have taken me to my backing, but there he was, so lethargic from the cold water, he just let me haul him in like a clump of weeds.
I don't know how the rest of you feel about it, but for me a fish with no fight is like a stripper with no boob's. They might be beautiful, but lets be honest, thats just not what you came to see.
Maybe that kind of fishing does it for you, but in my opinion you'd better off in front of your vice tying for a thaw, but hey, thats just my opinion, you do what works for you.
Until next time, stay classy.
Chew on this. Tuesday afternoon, opportunity knocked ie.the grandparents volunteered to watch the kids, so I threw on my waders, loaded up my gear, and headed down the street to I-creek to brave the cold, see what I could come up. The flows were nice, just a little tint to the water, pretty much ideal conditions if it weren't for the fact that the stream was barely above freezing, and had been that way for the better part of a month.
After a few hrs of unsuccessful casting, I went to pick my line up again for another cast, to find a nice steelhead in the mid 20" range on the other end. The fish took so lightly I had no idea he was there. Granted I fish Jedi (no strike indicators), but even if I had one on I doubt the take would have moved it.
Wait, it gets worse...........No, I didn't loose the fish, frankly I wish I had. (might have been able to hold on to the delusion that winter fishing is great no matter what the conditions) Anyways, how could that be you ask? Simple. The fish had no fight. A month ago that same steelie would have taken me to my backing, but there he was, so lethargic from the cold water, he just let me haul him in like a clump of weeds.
I don't know how the rest of you feel about it, but for me a fish with no fight is like a stripper with no boob's. They might be beautiful, but lets be honest, thats just not what you came to see.
Maybe that kind of fishing does it for you, but in my opinion you'd better off in front of your vice tying for a thaw, but hey, thats just my opinion, you do what works for you.
Until next time, stay classy.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
String Theory
Well, lets start this off w/ a little good news, I'm back on the water. I came across a $99 9' 6wt. St. Croix Imperial on close-out and couldn't resist. I was very happy w/ the 5wt I have out getting warrantied right now, so it only seemed fitting.
I actually made it down to Allens Creek
a few times this week, but nobody wants to hear a comeback story about me getting my ass handed to me,(monster Brown on a white twin-tail madonna) so I waited. I mean Really? What goods a fish story unless you put a fish in the net
Anywho, now that we've got that out of the way, lets get to the low-down on how I did it. For that we're going to need a lesson in String Theory. Physic's? You ask? Hell No! I'm a fisherman. I don't care how the universe was made, only that there's fish in it.
So what am I talking about then? String Theory, as in the theory that if you tie some really gaudy look'n flies
by wrapping cross-cut rabbit straps around a piece of string dangling of the back of your hook you wil catch MONSTER fish. Don't just take my word for it though, I didn't make it up.
Honestly, I have no clue who did. People have been fishing "strung out" flies for a while. THIS WEBSITE complete w/tying demonstration by Loren Williams claims it was Pacific Northwest guide Derek Fergus, and thats good enough for me. Bottom line, IT WORKS!
I caught the steelhead in pic above w/the fushia MOAL/Strung out leech/what ever you would like to call it, lost a nice brown @ the net w/ a natural over white, and missed the hook-sets on 2 more w/ charcoal grey over white, all while every other person I ran into on the stream claimed there "weren't any fish". Maybe I'm just that bad-ass, but I doubt it.
I tied my initial batch of 6 w/ a modified mustad big game hook trailing off the back, and by modified, I mean I bent the shank up myself in a vice. What do you want from me? I'd be poor if I ran out and spent money on every 1/2 baked idea I came across on the internet. That said only putting 1 of 4 in the net is sad @ best. The fish clearly wanted them, I just couldn't get a good hook-up.
I've since done my homework and have come to the conclusion that the trailing hook of choice for a lot of "strung out" tiers appears to be the Gamakatsu Octopopus, although none of them can seem to agree on the size. For this next batch I'll be going w/a size 4. I'll let you all know how it goes. Untill then, stay classy.
I actually made it down to Allens Creek
a few times this week, but nobody wants to hear a comeback story about me getting my ass handed to me,(monster Brown on a white twin-tail madonna) so I waited. I mean Really? What goods a fish story unless you put a fish in the net
Anywho, now that we've got that out of the way, lets get to the low-down on how I did it. For that we're going to need a lesson in String Theory. Physic's? You ask? Hell No! I'm a fisherman. I don't care how the universe was made, only that there's fish in it.
So what am I talking about then? String Theory, as in the theory that if you tie some really gaudy look'n flies
by wrapping cross-cut rabbit straps around a piece of string dangling of the back of your hook you wil catch MONSTER fish. Don't just take my word for it though, I didn't make it up.
Honestly, I have no clue who did. People have been fishing "strung out" flies for a while. THIS WEBSITE complete w/tying demonstration by Loren Williams claims it was Pacific Northwest guide Derek Fergus, and thats good enough for me. Bottom line, IT WORKS!
I caught the steelhead in pic above w/the fushia MOAL/Strung out leech/what ever you would like to call it, lost a nice brown @ the net w/ a natural over white, and missed the hook-sets on 2 more w/ charcoal grey over white, all while every other person I ran into on the stream claimed there "weren't any fish". Maybe I'm just that bad-ass, but I doubt it.
I tied my initial batch of 6 w/ a modified mustad big game hook trailing off the back, and by modified, I mean I bent the shank up myself in a vice. What do you want from me? I'd be poor if I ran out and spent money on every 1/2 baked idea I came across on the internet. That said only putting 1 of 4 in the net is sad @ best. The fish clearly wanted them, I just couldn't get a good hook-up.
I've since done my homework and have come to the conclusion that the trailing hook of choice for a lot of "strung out" tiers appears to be the Gamakatsu Octopopus, although none of them can seem to agree on the size. For this next batch I'll be going w/a size 4. I'll let you all know how it goes. Untill then, stay classy.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Li'l Rainbow Trout
I'm not really sure who first invented the Tri-color Bucktail, or streamers in general for that matter. There's a really good article here about who didn't, but anyways, I digress. Suffice it to say, I am most assuredly not the first person to tie the following list of material's on a hook and call it a Li'l Rainbow Trout. Truth be told, there's probably as many variations on the L'il Rainbow Trout as there are grains of rice in a box of Uncle Bens.
Now that we've got all of that out of the way.......... I was tasked with the job of tying up "some flies that work" for one of the guys down @ the creek the other day, when this little grain of rice made its way off my bench. It's a personal favorite of mine, so I decided to snap a pic, and pass it along.
Li'l Rainbow Trout
Hook: Diachii 2340 6x Long Streamer w/Small Eyes
Thread: Black 6/o uni
Body: Pearl Sparkle Braid
1st Wing: White Bucktail
2nd Wing: Pink Bucktail
3rd Wing: Olive Bucktail
Head: Black 6/o uni w/Clear Enamel
Notes: Tie this fly sparse, 15-20 hairs on 1st & 2nd wing, 30-40 hairs on 3rd wing. Also, its important that the eye's be mounted on the underside of hook shank. If you mount them on top the fly will swim upside down.
The mild, rainy summer has left an unusually high(atleast in my experience) number of par in the tributary's this year (the li'l bastards keep gobbling up my stonefly's), making them what I assume to be, a pretty common food source. No doubt, this fly has rung the bell for me more than few times. Tie some up, and go get 'em.
Now that we've got all of that out of the way.......... I was tasked with the job of tying up "some flies that work" for one of the guys down @ the creek the other day, when this little grain of rice made its way off my bench. It's a personal favorite of mine, so I decided to snap a pic, and pass it along.
Li'l Rainbow Trout
Hook: Diachii 2340 6x Long Streamer w/Small Eyes
Thread: Black 6/o uni
Body: Pearl Sparkle Braid
1st Wing: White Bucktail
2nd Wing: Pink Bucktail
3rd Wing: Olive Bucktail
Head: Black 6/o uni w/Clear Enamel
Notes: Tie this fly sparse, 15-20 hairs on 1st & 2nd wing, 30-40 hairs on 3rd wing. Also, its important that the eye's be mounted on the underside of hook shank. If you mount them on top the fly will swim upside down.
The mild, rainy summer has left an unusually high(atleast in my experience) number of par in the tributary's this year (the li'l bastards keep gobbling up my stonefly's), making them what I assume to be, a pretty common food source. No doubt, this fly has rung the bell for me more than few times. Tie some up, and go get 'em.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Greatest Hits 2009
We'll..... Rod-less , Job-less, and Snowing, means there isn't much for me to do right now. The kids keep me busy, but w/ a 2 1/2 yr old and 9mo. old twins, venturing out into the world is pretty much a nightmare. More often than not, I find myself sit'n on the couch w/ a whole lot of day to fill, the perfect condition's for tying some fly's. In front of a make-shift TV dinner tray bench, and my HMH Standard vice, I regulate the unruly mob, while at the same time still managing to stay connected to my obsession w/ outsmarting fish. The following, have been some of my most productive machinations for 2009. I hope you enjoy tying them, and they catch you lots of fish. If tying is not your game, but you'd still like to try 'em, well that's alright too, shoot me an email, I'd be happy to get some to you.
Egg Suck'n Stonefly
Hook: Diachii 1120 sz.8 w/an 1/8" Gold Bead
Thread: Brown 6/o uni
Tail: Dk. Brown Goose Biot's
Abdomen: Brown V-rib
Rib: Fine Copper Wire
Wing-case: Brown Flash-back
Thorax: Brown Life-cycle Stonefly Dubbing
Wings: Dk. Brown Goose Biot's
Egg: Flame Orange Glo-bug Yarn
Head: Brown Life-cycle Stonefly Dubbing
Notes: I boned the concept for this fly off Jay Peck from Coleman's fly shop. If you've ever been there you've undoubtedly seen his Black "Oatka Stonefly's". In the odd chance that you haven't, look again, they work magic. Credit where credits due. That said I like to put my own spin on thing's coming off my bench so I made it brown, and geared it towards targeting Brown's and Steelhead running up out of the lake by adding an egg. Its a straight forward tie w/ the exception of glow bug yarn which is tied onto a piece of mono pom-pom style, threaded through the bead then lashed to the bottom of the hook underneath the wings and trimmed.
Egg Suck'n Prince (Dk. Pink)
Hook: Diachii 1120 sz.8 w/an 1/8" Gold Bead
Thread: Brown 6/o uni
Tail: Rust Brown Goose Biot's
Abdomen: Peacock Herl
Rib: Silver Holographic Flash
Wings: White Goose Biot's
Egg: Glo-bug Yarn Color of Choice
Head: Brown 6/o uni
Notes: The Egg is tied in Pom-Pom style just like the Stonefly. Any glow-bug yarn will work, but as a rule I find oranges and yellow's seem to draw more Brown's, where as pink's and charteusse's seem to entice more Steelhead.
Peacock Herl + Glo-bug yarn = Deadlier than the combo that took down Belushi
Articulated Egg Suck'n Leach
Hook's: sz.8 Diachii 1120 snelled to the back of a sz.4 Mustad 9671 w/an Orange Bead
Thread: Black 6/o uni
Tail: Black Marabou
Hackle: Black Hen Saddle
Body: Black Marabou
Note's: I tie this fly articulated for 2 reasons. 1, fish seemed to like to short strike this pattern when it was originally tied on 1 hook. This caused a lot of missed hook set's, which made me want the hook further back in the marabou. And 2, because I feel long shanks give fish an awful lot of leverage especially when there is a lot of bulk added on top of them and having a break point @ the tail strips the fish of that advantage.
It is tied like a standard woolly bugger in every way except the marabou tail is tied directly over the eye of the rear hook, and the body is made by wrapping whats left of the marabou plume instead of using chenille (waste not,want not). When the fly is finished I clip off the front hook and work the body w/ my fingers back towards the tail onto the mono. The end effect is a nasty fly w/ a whole lot of motion and fish catching ability's.
A few words on Diachii 1120's
You'll notice all of preceding patterns were based around Diachii 1120's. The reason for this is simple, They're the best. Both heavy, and stout, they make for the perfect bite sized morsel. There short curved profile make's them IMO the ideal hook for sink'n into the mouth of a large Brown or Steelie, and rarely do I loose one once it's on.
Either way, I hope I made you think for the day. Until next time, enjoy
Egg Suck'n Stonefly
Hook: Diachii 1120 sz.8 w/an 1/8" Gold Bead
Thread: Brown 6/o uni
Tail: Dk. Brown Goose Biot's
Abdomen: Brown V-rib
Rib: Fine Copper Wire
Wing-case: Brown Flash-back
Thorax: Brown Life-cycle Stonefly Dubbing
Wings: Dk. Brown Goose Biot's
Egg: Flame Orange Glo-bug Yarn
Head: Brown Life-cycle Stonefly Dubbing
Notes: I boned the concept for this fly off Jay Peck from Coleman's fly shop. If you've ever been there you've undoubtedly seen his Black "Oatka Stonefly's". In the odd chance that you haven't, look again, they work magic. Credit where credits due. That said I like to put my own spin on thing's coming off my bench so I made it brown, and geared it towards targeting Brown's and Steelhead running up out of the lake by adding an egg. Its a straight forward tie w/ the exception of glow bug yarn which is tied onto a piece of mono pom-pom style, threaded through the bead then lashed to the bottom of the hook underneath the wings and trimmed.
Egg Suck'n Prince (Dk. Pink)
Hook: Diachii 1120 sz.8 w/an 1/8" Gold Bead
Thread: Brown 6/o uni
Tail: Rust Brown Goose Biot's
Abdomen: Peacock Herl
Rib: Silver Holographic Flash
Wings: White Goose Biot's
Egg: Glo-bug Yarn Color of Choice
Head: Brown 6/o uni
Notes: The Egg is tied in Pom-Pom style just like the Stonefly. Any glow-bug yarn will work, but as a rule I find oranges and yellow's seem to draw more Brown's, where as pink's and charteusse's seem to entice more Steelhead.
Peacock Herl + Glo-bug yarn = Deadlier than the combo that took down Belushi
Articulated Egg Suck'n Leach
Hook's: sz.8 Diachii 1120 snelled to the back of a sz.4 Mustad 9671 w/an Orange Bead
Thread: Black 6/o uni
Tail: Black Marabou
Hackle: Black Hen Saddle
Body: Black Marabou
Note's: I tie this fly articulated for 2 reasons. 1, fish seemed to like to short strike this pattern when it was originally tied on 1 hook. This caused a lot of missed hook set's, which made me want the hook further back in the marabou. And 2, because I feel long shanks give fish an awful lot of leverage especially when there is a lot of bulk added on top of them and having a break point @ the tail strips the fish of that advantage.
It is tied like a standard woolly bugger in every way except the marabou tail is tied directly over the eye of the rear hook, and the body is made by wrapping whats left of the marabou plume instead of using chenille (waste not,want not). When the fly is finished I clip off the front hook and work the body w/ my fingers back towards the tail onto the mono. The end effect is a nasty fly w/ a whole lot of motion and fish catching ability's.
A few words on Diachii 1120's
You'll notice all of preceding patterns were based around Diachii 1120's. The reason for this is simple, They're the best. Both heavy, and stout, they make for the perfect bite sized morsel. There short curved profile make's them IMO the ideal hook for sink'n into the mouth of a large Brown or Steelie, and rarely do I loose one once it's on.
Either way, I hope I made you think for the day. Until next time, enjoy
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Snake-bit(Thus concludes the Imperial Challenge)
It was cold when I woke up Saturday, freezing to be precise, but that was my day to fish so I did what any normal person would do, sucked it up, and headed down to Irondequoit creek look'n for some action.
The sun was barely up so I decided to target Browns, and made for my favorite slow pool which also happens to be the furthest to walk to. I've been seeing a ton of action jerk-strip'n rattlesnakes so I threw one on in black and got down to business.
It was slow going, and so cold the line was freezing in the ferrules, and I had just begun to think perhaps feeding and striping line might not be the best plan of attack for the morning when a big ole' brown decided it didn't care about my ice problem's and smashed the living daylight's out of the rattlesnake.
FISH ON!!!!! Screamed the drag, and for the moment it seemed like maybe the forzen ferrules would'nt be an impediment after all. It was a pretty intense battle for a 5wt rod, but I played 'em of my reel, and let the drag wear 'em down. I kept getting him just close enough to be netted only to get spotted and have him go scream'n off again, and each time the ferrules would freeze over causing the line to jam and then break free. I knew I was in trouble.
Finally, I managed to put the fish in the net, snap off a sweet pic
and get the fish revived and back on his way, but in the back of my mind I knew that one had cost me. There was no way the fly line repeatedly getting ripped through the frozen ferrules hadn't taken it's toll. A climb back down the bank rod in hand a few minutes latter proved my fears as I caught the tip of the rod on a branch, and it broke off at the last ferrule w/o so much as even the slightest tug of pressure on it.
Long story short, the rod is on it's way back to St. Croix to get warrantied , and for now, it appears the 5wt Imperial challenge is over. That said, I don't blame the rod for braking in the least bit. On the contrary, I feel it preformed quite beautifully given what I asked it to do. It certainly handled every fish I got into, and cast even large flies with relative ease.
At the end of the day, I believe what it all came down to was hellish conditions. Its cold here in Rochester this time of year, if you want big fish, there's a pretty good chance your fishing in sub-prime weather, and below freezing temperatures, watch your gear and your step. Danger is lurking EVERYWHERE!
The sun was barely up so I decided to target Browns, and made for my favorite slow pool which also happens to be the furthest to walk to. I've been seeing a ton of action jerk-strip'n rattlesnakes so I threw one on in black and got down to business.
It was slow going, and so cold the line was freezing in the ferrules, and I had just begun to think perhaps feeding and striping line might not be the best plan of attack for the morning when a big ole' brown decided it didn't care about my ice problem's and smashed the living daylight's out of the rattlesnake.
FISH ON!!!!! Screamed the drag, and for the moment it seemed like maybe the forzen ferrules would'nt be an impediment after all. It was a pretty intense battle for a 5wt rod, but I played 'em of my reel, and let the drag wear 'em down. I kept getting him just close enough to be netted only to get spotted and have him go scream'n off again, and each time the ferrules would freeze over causing the line to jam and then break free. I knew I was in trouble.
Finally, I managed to put the fish in the net, snap off a sweet pic
and get the fish revived and back on his way, but in the back of my mind I knew that one had cost me. There was no way the fly line repeatedly getting ripped through the frozen ferrules hadn't taken it's toll. A climb back down the bank rod in hand a few minutes latter proved my fears as I caught the tip of the rod on a branch, and it broke off at the last ferrule w/o so much as even the slightest tug of pressure on it.
Long story short, the rod is on it's way back to St. Croix to get warrantied , and for now, it appears the 5wt Imperial challenge is over. That said, I don't blame the rod for braking in the least bit. On the contrary, I feel it preformed quite beautifully given what I asked it to do. It certainly handled every fish I got into, and cast even large flies with relative ease.
At the end of the day, I believe what it all came down to was hellish conditions. Its cold here in Rochester this time of year, if you want big fish, there's a pretty good chance your fishing in sub-prime weather, and below freezing temperatures, watch your gear and your step. Danger is lurking EVERYWHERE!
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