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Pro Tips
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July 26, 2010
At Scott we believe in rod design through real-world application and real-world testing, what you may not know is that we send off our employees for time on the water testing as well. Below you'll find an account of the time Scott's Ian Crabtree spent on the Henry's Fork with Rene' Harrop and a report card that was sent to Scott's President and rod designer Jim Bartschi.
Many thanks to Rene' for donating his time with Ian and his gracious hospitality, also thanks to Bonnie Harrop and Masa Katsumata for the accompanying photography.
Many thanks to Rene' for donating his time with Ian and his gracious hospitality, also thanks to Bonnie Harrop and Masa Katsumata for the accompanying photography.
Hello Jimmy,
In keeping with your directive, young Ian Crabtree was greeted at the hospitality pool by a gallery completely qualified to administer the formal indoctrination ceremony for rookies on the Henry's Fork.
In keeping with your directive, young Ian Crabtree was greeted at the hospitality pool by a gallery completely qualified to administer the formal indoctrination ceremony for rookies on the Henry's Fork.
Comprised of TroutHunter partners Jon Stiehl, Rich and Millie Paini, Scott prostaffers Masa Katsumata, Brandon Prince, and Rene' Harrop, and a dozen or so local critics, the indoctrination committee administered the ceremonial toast of a half dozen Natty lights to the young admittee as he prepared to make his first cast to a wiley Henry's Fork rainbow.
Ian immediately impressed the group by wading into an area where the larger fish prefer to feed and proceeded to fool a ten inch rainbow on the first drift of a Flav Spinner. It was obvious that he did not understand the one point penalty for fishing to a trout of inferior size, but I think he got it that chasing the larger players from the spot he chose to reach the little guy was probably a bad idea. To Ian's credit, he endured the ridicule of both blunders with only a minor reddening of the ears.
Another dozen Natty lights and probably a shot or two at the TroutHunter Bar would put the rookie in prime condition to face the merciless cruisers of the Millionaire's Pool the following morning. As an added precaution, we made certain that Ian would not be the victim of too much sleep by putting him in the Log jam which, as you know, is situated adjacent to the bar.
Joined by Rich, Jon, Masa, and myself, Ian made a quick impression by sticking the first big cruiser he spotted on about the second or third cast of the first full day. Predictably, however, he farmed the fish after the first good power run, and there would be no redemption for the remainder of the morning.
Early evening on the same day found us about a half mile down from the top of the Ranch where reports of reliable Flav activity had Ian punped up at the prospect of getting that first big rainbow into the net. The first hour or two passed with only a couple of shots at sporadically rising fish. As the temperature began to drop and rain began to fall from a now overcast sky, big trout began to show in increasing numbers throughout a long stretch of gently riffled water. As can happen in such conditions, heavy numbers of Flav duns began to carpet the water, and it was at this point that Ian realized he had left his rain jacket in Masa's truck. Temporarily relieved from his coaching duties, and well protected from a soaking, Masa proceeded to engage several big Flav feeders while Ian made the mile long round trip hike to retrieve his rain jacket.
Not to be discouraged at the loss of forty five minutes of prime fishing opportunity, the young guy showed potential in achieving several solid eats from among more than a dozen sizable players. Sadly, however, Ian fell victim to a mistimed hookset on every acceptance of the fly which left him talking mainly to himself as we left the water under a strong wind that brought a premature end to the activity.
The wind subsided about thirty minutes later as we reached our vehicles at the upper parking lot. With an hour and a half of daylight remaining, Masa suggested a quick run down to Wood Road 16 to finish off the first day. Pronouncing himself "spent", Ian conceded victory to the fish and we again allowed the young spinner to retreat to the bar and more Nattys as consolation for his effort.
Expounding on the inherent tendency for many of the larger rainbows to move about during surface feeding activity, Ian commented on how he had envisioned fishing the Henry's Fork to include mostly stationary fish feeding rythmically on easily identified insects. And in this regard, he would get his wish the next day. What he could not know, however, was that he had already experienced the easiest fishing he would find on his first visit to the world's most challenging trout stream.
The gravel bar below Piney Point, which you know well, was the setting for Ian's final morning on the river. The cool, wet night had delayed the usual morning spinner fall to around 11:00 a.m. which was about an hour after we arrived at this preferred spot. With Masa and I both coaching from the bank, Ian moved into position below several large fish that finned lazily in a generally straight line along a rather sharp drop off between thin and deeper water.
For more than an hour, the target trout feasted on a menu of spinners that included Flavs and PMDs with a few Green and Brown Drakes thrown in as well. With little or no favorable response from the preoccupied fish, Ian alternated between changing fly patterns and casting positions as the heavy spinner fall ran it's course. Confidence if not enthusiasm began to wane as the feeding activity began to fade. The sense of urgency was not aided by a pair of lady anglers in the company of TroutHunter guide Marty Reed who hooked two very impressive fish as they drifted by on the far side of the river. Finally, as will sometimes happen in the eleventh hour, a minor miracle happened for our young guest as he finally lifted his rod to the weight of a trout validated presentation which occured at the end of several hundred fruitless casts. An excited shout and waving of arms from Masa brought my attention to the action a few hundred feet downstream from where I had positioned myself to dissuade interference from a rather unruly group of recreational floaters bearing down on us from upstream. But the excitment was again short lived as the hard earned fish spit the fly after less than a minute of connection to our young hero from Colorado. Deflated if not defeated, Ian bravely suppressed the disappointment of another lost prize as the end of his final day crept ever nearer.
Relocating about a mile downstream, I felt quite confident that Ian's quest for a big rainbow could be realized in water that had produced amazing results for me only a week earlier. But success was not to be on this occasion as a steep increase in flow from Island Park dam sent a surge of debris laden water that canceled what could been an action packed finale to Ian's first visit to the Henry's Fork. The minor opportunity that survived the sudden disruptive increase in water level was further shortened by another heavy rainstorm and wind that again put an early end to a promising Flav hatch. By now, however, Ian had willingly resigned himself to the solace of Natty lights which had become the only reliable aspect of his pilgrimge. Ian left the Henry's fork with an empty score sheet but also a promise to return on the first opportunity that presents itself, and that is what is most important. You are only a rookie once my friend.
Performance Report for Ian Crabtree
Henry's Fork July 2010
Submitted by Rene' Harrop
Fundamental Presentation Skill B
Insect Recognition C
Selection of Casting Position C+
Wading and Approach Skills B
Drag Management C-
Fly Box Efficiency D-
Enthusiasm and Determination A
Sense of Humor A
Appreciation for Cheap Beer A
Thank you,
Rene' Harrop
May 5, 2010
Observing the Henry’s Fork through the winter of 2009/2010 has been vastly different from the previous two years. Comparatively modest snowfall and mild temperatures provided unusual comfort to all river dependent creatures both aquatic and otherwise.
Wintering whitetail deer were not forced to concentrate in the river corridor for forage as in years past, and I have yet to see a single casualty of the cold season. Without severe icing influencing their survival, Trumpeter Swans and other waterfowl were free to access the entire length of the river thereby avoiding crowding and over harvesting of aquatic vegetation. Vulnerable mammals like muskrat also benefit from less severe conditions, and spring numbers of these gentle creatures attest to an easier life during the past winter.
Lower snow levels have permitted the observation of many spawning areas that would otherwise be difficult to reach in typical early spring conditions. Reproductive activity in these key locations is perhaps the best indicator of trout populations separate from actually fishing. Impressive is the best word to describe the numbers and individual size of spawning rainbows observed from early March through the end of April. The volume of predatory activity from Bald Eagle, Osprey, Loons, and river Otter might be troubling to some but it takes a strong fishery to attract and support such intense interest. Therefore, it seems logical to consider these wild consumers as positive indicators of a very healthy population of trout.
Mild weather aided by easier access to the water enabled anglers to get an earlier start on waters open to year round fishing on the ‘Fork. Early March found trout rising consistently to abundant hatches of midges and baetis, and this trend continued for more than six weeks. Clearly evident was a higher percentage of brown trout that were coming to a dry fly which indicates a strengthening of this relatively new resident of the lower Henry’s Fork.
Caddis and March Brown mayflies began to appear almost simultaneously during the third week of April bringing with them a nearly unbearable distraction for the heavily burdened fly tyer only thirty days out from the beginning of the general fishing season. Cool temperatures with weekly precipitation are perfect weather ingredients for heavy hatches and rising trout, and this has been the pattern since late March. Also positive in this trend is a strong contribution in the high country to a weaker than usual snow pack.
Key in the outlook for 2010 is winter flows from Island Park Reservoir that exceed anything we have seen on the Henry’s Fork since the late 1990’s. With flows running from 350 to 400 cfs during the coldest months of December, January, and February, a much higher percentage of young trout will survive than in years when winter flows were considerably lower. Large numbers of small trout now concentrated along the edges of the river confirm a continuing trend of improved winter survival that can be largely attributed to the efforts of the Henry’s Fork Foundation. Working in close cooperation with irrigation officials who control the release of water from the Island Park Reservoir, HFF personnel have succeeded in gaining unprecedented consideration for trout in the management of winter flows on the Henry’s Fork.
Aquatic insects that share environmental needs similar to trout are also benefiting from better wintering conditions. Strong hatches and an abundance of rising trout have persisted through the early season and I see little reason to expect this to change as the season progresses.
Concerns for a lower than average snow pack can be alleviated to a considerable extent by a large carryover in Island Park Reservoir that now approaches 100% of capacity. Cool temperatures and above normal precipitation beginning in late March and continuing through April have delayed spring snow melt and irrigation demand thereby improving the water outlook as well. More rain and perhaps even snow dominate the forecast as April draws to a close, and this is bad news only to golfers.
Winter in the adjoining states of Montana and Wyoming has been similar to what has been experienced in Idaho. Anglers who plan to visit the Yellowstone region should not expect to find rivers swollen by heavy runoff in late May and June as has been the case in the past two years, although this could change with continued cool temperatures and abundant precipitation.
2009 on the Henry’s Fork was the best in recent memory with abundant hatches and trout of impressive size and numbers. Based upon customary indicators, it is reasonable to expect fishing in 2010 to equal or even exceed what most fly fishers experienced last year.
Wintering whitetail deer were not forced to concentrate in the river corridor for forage as in years past, and I have yet to see a single casualty of the cold season. Without severe icing influencing their survival, Trumpeter Swans and other waterfowl were free to access the entire length of the river thereby avoiding crowding and over harvesting of aquatic vegetation. Vulnerable mammals like muskrat also benefit from less severe conditions, and spring numbers of these gentle creatures attest to an easier life during the past winter.
Lower snow levels have permitted the observation of many spawning areas that would otherwise be difficult to reach in typical early spring conditions. Reproductive activity in these key locations is perhaps the best indicator of trout populations separate from actually fishing. Impressive is the best word to describe the numbers and individual size of spawning rainbows observed from early March through the end of April. The volume of predatory activity from Bald Eagle, Osprey, Loons, and river Otter might be troubling to some but it takes a strong fishery to attract and support such intense interest. Therefore, it seems logical to consider these wild consumers as positive indicators of a very healthy population of trout.
Mild weather aided by easier access to the water enabled anglers to get an earlier start on waters open to year round fishing on the ‘Fork. Early March found trout rising consistently to abundant hatches of midges and baetis, and this trend continued for more than six weeks. Clearly evident was a higher percentage of brown trout that were coming to a dry fly which indicates a strengthening of this relatively new resident of the lower Henry’s Fork.
Caddis and March Brown mayflies began to appear almost simultaneously during the third week of April bringing with them a nearly unbearable distraction for the heavily burdened fly tyer only thirty days out from the beginning of the general fishing season. Cool temperatures with weekly precipitation are perfect weather ingredients for heavy hatches and rising trout, and this has been the pattern since late March. Also positive in this trend is a strong contribution in the high country to a weaker than usual snow pack.
Key in the outlook for 2010 is winter flows from Island Park Reservoir that exceed anything we have seen on the Henry’s Fork since the late 1990’s. With flows running from 350 to 400 cfs during the coldest months of December, January, and February, a much higher percentage of young trout will survive than in years when winter flows were considerably lower. Large numbers of small trout now concentrated along the edges of the river confirm a continuing trend of improved winter survival that can be largely attributed to the efforts of the Henry’s Fork Foundation. Working in close cooperation with irrigation officials who control the release of water from the Island Park Reservoir, HFF personnel have succeeded in gaining unprecedented consideration for trout in the management of winter flows on the Henry’s Fork.
Aquatic insects that share environmental needs similar to trout are also benefiting from better wintering conditions. Strong hatches and an abundance of rising trout have persisted through the early season and I see little reason to expect this to change as the season progresses.
Concerns for a lower than average snow pack can be alleviated to a considerable extent by a large carryover in Island Park Reservoir that now approaches 100% of capacity. Cool temperatures and above normal precipitation beginning in late March and continuing through April have delayed spring snow melt and irrigation demand thereby improving the water outlook as well. More rain and perhaps even snow dominate the forecast as April draws to a close, and this is bad news only to golfers.
Winter in the adjoining states of Montana and Wyoming has been similar to what has been experienced in Idaho. Anglers who plan to visit the Yellowstone region should not expect to find rivers swollen by heavy runoff in late May and June as has been the case in the past two years, although this could change with continued cool temperatures and abundant precipitation.
2009 on the Henry’s Fork was the best in recent memory with abundant hatches and trout of impressive size and numbers. Based upon customary indicators, it is reasonable to expect fishing in 2010 to equal or even exceed what most fly fishers experienced last year.
Rene’ Harrop
November 13, 2009
There is something bordering on sinister when a half dozen top Henry’s fork guides are joined by still water master Gareth Jones from Wales and one of Japan’s most aggressive and effective anglers, Masa Katsumata for a four day assault on a single body of water. But this was the picture in late October on one of the world’s most renowned still water fisheries.
Located near the Continental Divide in eastern Idaho, Henry’s lake is the headwater for the equally famous Henry’s Fork of the Snake. Though at times fickle, Henry’s Lake is known for its heavy population of especially large cutthroat, brook trout, and cutt bow hybrids. Hungry for some personal fishing and weary of squinting at tiny Baetis and Midges, the staff members of TroutHunter were also anticipating the opportunity to learn from one of Europe’s most accomplished authorities on still water trout. A Henry’s fork regular despite its distance from his homeland, Masa was even more pumped up than usual for his first shot at the lake known as Henry. While Masa and Gareth had shared numerous days on various waters around the world, this would be Masa’s first opportunity to watch Gareth apply his specialized still water strategies.
There are times when the lake gets hot and everyone seems to be catching fish. This is how things began on the first day on Henry’s when the weather was reasonably comfortable and the trout unusually charitable. Whether fishing from a boat in open water or wading the edges, fishing was fast and furious with no one from the group landing fewer than twenty fish ranging from eighteen to twenty four inches in size.
The vagaries of autumn weather in the high country were manifested by a fierce blizzard overnight but fortunately the roads were clear by noon the following day when Gareth and Masa were scheduled to depart for home. Though their respective flights exceeded 5,000 miles, I’m sure they both carried smiles along with fond memories of a very special lake for the entire distance.
Located near the Continental Divide in eastern Idaho, Henry’s lake is the headwater for the equally famous Henry’s Fork of the Snake. Though at times fickle, Henry’s Lake is known for its heavy population of especially large cutthroat, brook trout, and cutt bow hybrids. Hungry for some personal fishing and weary of squinting at tiny Baetis and Midges, the staff members of TroutHunter were also anticipating the opportunity to learn from one of Europe’s most accomplished authorities on still water trout. A Henry’s fork regular despite its distance from his homeland, Masa was even more pumped up than usual for his first shot at the lake known as Henry. While Masa and Gareth had shared numerous days on various waters around the world, this would be Masa’s first opportunity to watch Gareth apply his specialized still water strategies.
There are times when the lake gets hot and everyone seems to be catching fish. This is how things began on the first day on Henry’s when the weather was reasonably comfortable and the trout unusually charitable. Whether fishing from a boat in open water or wading the edges, fishing was fast and furious with no one from the group landing fewer than twenty fish ranging from eighteen to twenty four inches in size.
Limited by a stiff breeze on the second day, boat fishing gave way to wading the shallows along sheltered stretches of the shoreline. Despite this limitation, the catch rate was at least equal to the previous day or even higher. Double hookups were common and Masa stayed busy running from angler to angler with his camera. Leeches, Scuds, and big Chironomids fished on slow intermediate lines were the fly order of the day, and no single pattern seemed outstanding. Though outdistanced to some extent by our Welsh friend, we locals were beginning to think we might be something close to Gareth’s equal, at least on this particular lake. That would change abruptly, however, on the third day.
With more than one hangover following the season end party at TroutHunter Bar and Grill the night before, the group arrived at the lake to find twenty feet of ice rimming the edge. While essentially calm, the temperature was at least twenty degrees colder than during the first two days. As if iced guides and numb fingers were not complication enough, the fish seemed to have developed lock jaw overnight. And it was then that Gareth’s still water skills truly began to shine.
With more than one hangover following the season end party at TroutHunter Bar and Grill the night before, the group arrived at the lake to find twenty feet of ice rimming the edge. While essentially calm, the temperature was at least twenty degrees colder than during the first two days. As if iced guides and numb fingers were not complication enough, the fish seemed to have developed lock jaw overnight. And it was then that Gareth’s still water skills truly began to shine.
While no one went fishless, takes became few and far between for the locals who continued to apply the same techniques that had produced so well during the carnage of the previous two days. However, pride eventually gave way to practicality as Gareth demonstrated clear superiority in dealing with the radical change in weather and trout behavior. Generous to a fault, Gareth shared his personally tied flies and helpful tips that allowed everyone to improve upon their initial results. By days end, we had accumulated a respectable tally, especially when you consider that we saw no one outside our group land a single fish that day.
Temperatures improved on the final day but a pesky wind again kept us mostly confined to wading the shoreline. Unfortunately, however, the fish failed to return to the voracious feeding activity that made the first two days so exciting. With a new set of problems to face due to an unfavorable wind direction and discolored water we again turned to Gareth for solutions. Fly adjustment and depth changes soon had us back into business although the catch rate continued to be comparatively low. On the bright side, however, the day produced two big hybrids of more than five pounds and a real giant was lost early that morning before wind forced the boats from open water. The average size improved as well with only a few fish smaller than twenty inches taken.
Temperatures improved on the final day but a pesky wind again kept us mostly confined to wading the shoreline. Unfortunately, however, the fish failed to return to the voracious feeding activity that made the first two days so exciting. With a new set of problems to face due to an unfavorable wind direction and discolored water we again turned to Gareth for solutions. Fly adjustment and depth changes soon had us back into business although the catch rate continued to be comparatively low. On the bright side, however, the day produced two big hybrids of more than five pounds and a real giant was lost early that morning before wind forced the boats from open water. The average size improved as well with only a few fish smaller than twenty inches taken.
The vagaries of autumn weather in the high country were manifested by a fierce blizzard overnight but fortunately the roads were clear by noon the following day when Gareth and Masa were scheduled to depart for home. Though their respective flights exceeded 5,000 miles, I’m sure they both carried smiles along with fond memories of a very special lake for the entire distance.
Rene’ Harrop
July 28, 2009
While easy fishing is seldom associated with the Henry’s Fork, a month long period beginning in mid June produced something that came pretty close.
Green, Brown, and Gray Drakes are all size twelve or larger and the effect they have on trout is quite different than the usual insect fare on the Henry’s Fork. The appearance of any one of the three is an event to be savored but when they are hatching simultaneously, it can be almost more than one can bear.
Green Drakes are mostly a morning affair while Brown Drakes usually appear at around dusk. When combined with the Gray variety that can be found from late morning until dark, this impressive trio represents as much as a twelve hour window of what can seem almost suicidal behavior on the part of the trout.
For angler and river guide alike, the days become a frantic scramble from one location to another, and the distance between hot spots vary as much as forty miles. Deserving or otherwise, everyone seems to be catching trout of a size that normally would be considered an impressive accomplishment by even the most experienced veteran. Forgotten are the days when anything short of perfection in tackle or talent is met with utter disdain by the snooty rainbows and browns of the upper and lower Henry’s Fork. Reality has a way of coming around, however, and that is where we are right now.
It is amazing how small a size 14 Flav or Callibaetis can seem when you have become accustomed to fishing flies that are several sizes larger. PMDs in size 18 and the even smaller Tricos become almost invisible while abrupt adjustments are forced upon Drake spoiled anglers. But the river is much quieter now, and the big trout are still there.
Most of those whom only a few days ago, were celebrating the bounty of the Henry’s Fork are now off chasing Golden Stones and Salmon Flies on the Madison or Yellowstone. And while fishing here has resumed its normal demanding ways, it is still a fine time to be on the river. Hunting big trout along the open banks is now less likely to be disturbed by human competition, and the quiet is undoubtedly enjoyed equally by both angler and trout. Maybe I don’t miss the Drakes so much after all.
Rene’ Harrop
Island Park, Idaho
April 29, 2009
As the original fair weather fisherman, the Osprey’s autumn departure from the Henry’s Fork warns of winter’s arrival. Always the first to leave with the approach of cold weather, Osprey do not return until winter storms become a memory and the hatches of spring bring trout into a position of availability.
Baetis CDC Thorax
Hook: TMC 100 Size 18-22
Thread: Tan 8/0
Tail: Whiting Coq de Leon
Abdomen: BWO TroutHunter Goose Biot
Wing: Natural or dyed Blue Dun TroutHunter CDC
Thorax: BWO TroutHunter Pro Dubbing
February 16, 2009
For more than a decade, members of the scientific community have attributed drought related trout mortality to inadequate water flows. If this assumption is correct, anglers should expect to see considerably improved trout numbers in
the coldest months, and severe icing is less likely to occur when flows exceed 300 cfs. Logically, hatch producing insects will also benefit from these improved winter conditions.
Combined with a nearly full reservoir, an adequate snow pack will likely produce spring flows that are similar to last year. Higher levels in late May created ideal conditions for the salmon fly hatch, and the resulting fishing for big trout was the best in recent memory.
Higher water levels should also encourage greater dispersal of trout below Box Canyon from Last Chance Run on through Harriman and the Pine Haven stretch.
Upstream from St. Anthony, the lower Henry’s Fork has been spared from severe icing that marked last year’s extended winter. Access to the river, including boat launching facilities, should not be delayed beyond mid March which is at least a month earlier than last year. I expect to be fishing Midges and the first Baetis hatches by that time as well.
While there is guess work in any prediction, it is extremely comforting to see the positive signs that have been missing during so many winters of the recent past. Water is the gift of life to our fishery and 2009 appears to be the recipient of this vital necessity.
Rene’ Harrop
February 9, 2009
In the proper season, my thoughts and attention are dominated by the big rainbows of the upper Henry’s Fork where copious hatches of great diversity dictate the refined application of a 3 or 4 weight rod. The constant disciplines of patience, concentration, and determination come into full play when the engagement involves long leaders and often tiny dry flies. But while I enjoy the intensity of this kind of fishing above all other aspects of the sport there comes a time when the distraction of a completely different game takes temporary control over my time on the water.
For several decades, my appetite for chasing fall runs of over size brown trout was satiated only on waters of considerable distance from my home. But in the years following their introduction in the mid 1970’s, brown trout have become a solid factor in the Henry’s Fork fishery below the massive Mesa Falls. A giant brown in excess of 25 pounds taken last year above Ashton Dam verifies the lower Fork as trophy water for this relatively new inhabitant. But while nothing I have taken thus far is even close to this record size specimen, autumn streamer fishing for sizable browns lies virtually at my door step.
The brown trout run has usually been underway for several weeks by the time we have returned to our winter home in St. Anthony. Early November finds me wading a stretch of the Henry’s Fork that is roughly double the size of its upper reaches in Island Park, forty miles upstream. I rely on a weighted fly to achieve needed depth rather than resorting to a sinking line, and prefer a double taper for its mending ability when swimming the streamer through likely lies.
My favorite fall streamer pattern for Henry’s Fork browns is a Black Leech tied with an orange head and Silver Dazzle Eyes added for weight. Palmered black hackle secured with copper wire over black chenille completes the body of the fly, and the tail is black marabou with a few strands of Crystal Flash.
Periods of low light during morning and evening hours are most productive although an overcast day can keep the fish active throughout the day. The brown trout run on the Henry’s Fork coincides with the final days of fall Baetis which joins with Midges in providing an option when streamer fishing is slow.
January 29, 2009
Sitting on the ground, I was physically and mentally spent. Seriously depleted of electrolytes, food, and water, nearly every muscle in my body was sore and stiff as if I had just run a marathon or participated in some sort of iron man competition. Though not quite so extreme, the day’s ordeal was close. I had just completed eleven straight hours of wielding a nine weight rod, a four hundred grain sink-tip, and a ten inch long fly in search of the most elusive of all freshwater game fish ─ the muskellunge. The left side of my body was as worn out from repeatedly stripping the fly as my right side was from casting it. In truth, I did take about seven minutes for lunch while traveling from one likely spot to another and about thirty seconds to drink some water on a few other occasions. But when it comes to chasing musky, especially with a fly rod, a full commitment is essential.
Esox masquinongy is historically known as “the fish of ten thousand casts.” Positioned on top of the food pyramid, it is only natural that the number of musky in a given body of water will be much less than any other species. Fishing pressure from the bygone glory days of past decades with low minimum sizes and high kill limits as well as reductions in suitable spawning habitat took their toll on historic musky populations. Add these factors to a musky’s keen hunting skills and arrogant swagger that allow it to selectively feed on its own timetable with discerning caution, and one can easily accept that its reputation as an aloof, cunning predator is well founded.
But with enlightened management practices that include an expanded catch and release ethic among many anglers, there is greater opportunity for a musky encounter today than in past years. Also, vast technological advancements in equipment along with a better understanding of musky habits have more than increased the odds for anglers, especially for those casting fly rods. But even with this encouraging news, catching a musky is still not easy. However, it might be time to adjust the musky slogan for the twenty-first century ─ something like “the fish of nine thousand, nine hundred casts.”
Of course, do not ask my friend Rob McCormick about the subject. His first time ever fly fishing for musky occurred one June day on my boat. He hooked and landed an impressive post-spawn female within the first hour. To him the musky is “the fish of ten casts.” But to put things in perspective he also hooked and landed a tarpon the very first time he cast to one.
Growing up on the Niagara River, I have always been intrigued by musky. I can still recall photos when I was a young boy of the lunkers caught by adult friends and family. A taxidermy mount in the local fishing club probably had the greatest impact. The fish was so large that it appeared a full-grown man could fit half his leg inside its gaping mouth. I was amazed, and even a little scared, that this leviathan came from the waters so near my home. I knew then that I wanted to catch one, but it would be years before I developed the skill and patience to even have a chance.
Despite the fascination and nearby availability, I never became a full-blown musky fisherman. My love for fly fishing and all its many facets got in the way. True musky anglers have a one track mind. Most fish for little or nothing else the entire fishing season. But that’s all right. Throughout the past many years I have found a way to combine my passion for fly fishing with my childhood captivation with old Mr. Esox. And since I have always been a bit of a challenge junkie, goals like catching a particular species or size fish with a certain technique has been the best approach to continually keep my fly fishing enthusiasm fresh ─ always raising the bar. After fishing for musky with a fly for more than fifteen years I am quite certain that the bar does not go any higher.
Muskellunge are native to the Northeast and upper Midwest of North America. Stocking programs have also spread their distribution southward past the historical range. Actually, until I studied a map of musky distribution, I never realized that the species occupied so many of the continent’s lakes and rivers. Thus, opportunities to fish for the species with a fly rod are more readily available to millions of anglers than one would think.
I recently read an article that described the muskellunge as the “water wolf.” When comparing teeth, the parallel is quite apparent. Musky have a frightening mouthful of them ─ some for cutting and others for gripping their less than fortunate prey. But for me that is where much of the comparison ends. Wolves are social creatures ─ hunting and living in organized packs. Except for spawning and occasionally gathering in wintering areas, the muskellunge works alone. This savage predator lurks in weeds or other cover to ambush with decisive precision. It will also wander the depths to strike out at unsuspecting prey like a street thug playing by its own rules. If a musky were to be compared with a wolf, it would be the lone wolf — dark and misunderstood.
Since it seems that human nature is attracted to mysterious characters, it is likely that the cryptic lifestyle of the musky lures anglers to pursue it. For me, fly fishing for musky is a way of trying to understand more. Placing my fly in musky water provides a conduit to an eat-or-be-eaten world that I can only imagine.
Fly fishing can actually be a successful method for pursuing musky. There can be sight fishing opportunities for post-spawn fish found cruising or laid-up on sandy flats. These situations give the fly fisher the advantage. But most of the time it is many hours of blind casting to likely musky structure, such as above and through weed beds, along weedy edges, near fallen timber, and around significant changes in bottom contour. The key to success is to identify some structure, make good casts with a fly that exudes confidence, and be patient ─ extremely patient.
Musky are known for routinely following one’s offering as it is stripped back to the boat. On more occasions than I would like to admit, a whole day of musky fishing has boiled down to a heart-stopping follow from a big fish, only to be snubbed inches from the boat. A glass half full type of person will find excitement in the encounter, and after many years I still do. But the experience can also be heartbreaking and discouraging.
Techniques like speeding up the offering or performing the “figure eight” move with the fly near the rod tip can elicit a strike from a follower. It is not known why a musky follows a fly or lure with such regularity. Maybe true to its reputation, the nefarious creature just enjoys striking terror into prey before chomping down for a bite. I use the opportunity to observe the fish’s reaction to particular patterns or retrieval techniques so that I may be able to improve upon them the next time out.
Steve Wascher has been my partner in the musky game for the last five years. Together we have fly fished musky waters in our home state of New York as well as in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Ontario. He understands structure better than anyone and fishes as hard as I do with no whining. We occasionally share a few stories while fishing, but most of the time our focus remains intently on the task. What happens in an instant can make or break the day — or maybe the entire season.
While fishing with Steve on a New York lake a few weeks back, I was in a particularly tough streak. I had failed to land a musky on my previous three outings. As I laid out cast after cast, the thought crossed my mind that maybe I would be better off pursuing something I could actually catch. But as I stripped in for my next cast, a shadow that began as a long dark strip behind my fly grew in length and width as the large streamer moved closer to the boat.
“Follow!” I yelled to Steve. I sped up the fly first by a faster strip, then by sweeping the rod with my arm and then by running up toward the bow of the boat. The big fish closed to within millimeters of the fly, but did not take. I then did a 180 degree turn with the fly and swept it rapidly toward the stern as the musky wheeled around to steadily close in on the bait pattern once again. With the enthusiasm of a five year old kid on a megaphone Steve yelled “IT WANTS TO EAT IT!” At the rear of the boat I began a figure eight and sure enough, the lone wolf ate. When I set the hook the fish flew out of the water in pure defiance. After a good battle, the big Esox was brought to the net. With my heart still pounding, I figured that was enough to keep me casting another nine thousand, nine hundred times.
December 9, 2008
It was one of those chance meetings… I had posted a question on a popular internet forum, asking who was going to be in Weipa this June. After a few weeks of no replies I proclaimed to have the whole place to myself. Then Andy Altman (‘Kiwi Andy’ to the forumites) responds. Great, I thought, we’ll share it amongst the three of us!
As usual after dinner on the first night, the fly boxes came out. What’s been working? That looks good! We were hoping to get after some of the more difficult species on offer in the Weipa area, and I was keen to find out what had been working the previous week. One of Andy’s flies got my attention – when I asked what the hell it was, the response was ‘… Andy’s Fuzzy Crab, thingy?’! It was kind of half crab, half shrimp and looked edible – even to me...
Andy has only been salt water fly fishing for around five years, starting out in his native Florida Keys then making pilgrimages to Weipa following his defection immigration to New Zealand. Several trips back to the Keys, Weipa and Christmas Island have seen him land most of the dream fish on flies he dreamed up and tied himself, including Keys tarpon and bonefish.
Andy’s Fuzzy Crab is one of these and an adaptation of a fly that he saw on a Floridian website, Doc Hall’s Perfect Crab. He couldn’t duplicate it with the materials on hand, so he used what was available at the time. The rest is history – Andy’s Fuzzy Crab is now a proven pattern. Andy likes to build his flies on solid hooks – in this case, Mustads’ C68 SSS in size #2 to #2/0. This is a heavy hook and quite capable of being fished through rough ground to fish strong enough to leave your ankles trembling.
Not only does this fly utilize lead dumbbell eyes, but lead wire as well. No mucking around – this guy is to be fished on the bottom, with attitude! A small tuft of orange Arctic fox or rabbit fur is then tied in to imitate roe. The (visible) eyes are made from burnt monofilament, coloured and dipped in epoxy to make them prominent and durable. One is tied each side angled downward to the rear before a couple of turns of marabou dubbing is applied. Sili-legs are added to give more constant movement. You can substitute any kind of rubber leg here such as Uni-Stretch, Spandex, Grizzly Legs or Tarantu-Legs.
The body is made by palmering mink zonker strip in tan, cream or brown. If mink is unavailable Andy has used rabbit zonker strip, and I am going to be experimenting with pine squirrel for smaller size flies! Andy prefers mink due to its shiny guard hairs, but concedes with a grin that he may be splitting hairs on this one. Pun intended.
That’s about it for the tying – the proof is in the fishing! Drop this fly in front of cruising fish, let it sink to the bottom and give it a slow draw or slight twitch just before the fish is on it… It is a passable imitation of a small crab, shrimp – hell, it looks like food! The rest is up to you …
Andy’s Fuzzy Crab
Hook: Mustad C68SSS #2 - #2/0
Thread: 3/0 Monocord
Weighted Eyes: Lead Presentation Eyes (small - #2, medium - #2/0)
Body Weight: 0.025” Lead Wire, tied on top of the hook shank
Roe: Tuft of Orange Arctic Fox or Rabbit Fur
Eyes: Burnt Mono, Coloured and Epoxied
Collar: Tan Marabou or Rabbit Fur
Legs: 6-8 Strands of Sili-Legs
Body: Mink, Rabbit or Pine Squirrel Zonker Strip
- Tie in dumbbell weighted eyes just behind hook eye, and two lengths of lead wire on top of the hook shank. The lead wire is an important step to ensure the fly flips over and sits flat each time.
- Tie in a clump of orange Arctic Fox or Rabbit Fur at the bend.
- Tie in mono eyes, one each side so that the eye is a shank length from the tie in point. Angle them out and down (remembering this fly will ride hook point up).
- Tie in a few turns of marabou applied as dubbing.
- Tie in 6-8 Sili-legs coloured to match the body of the fly and trim to length of 1 ½ shank length.
- Tie in Mink, Rabbit or Pine Squirrel Zonker Strip and palmer tightly to lead eyes. Tie off and cement.
- Present to fish!
December 5, 2008
The other day, while sitting on the can amidst deep thought I noticed a new book among the standard fly-fishing magazines and Men's Journals so common to a bachelor's bathroom. How to succeed in singles' bars- (For MEN Only!), was printed in big bold black letters across the top, with a final exclamation point to finish. And if that particular punctuation weren't enough, the word 'MEN' was written in red for added emphasis. The eye catching cover photo had a make up armored lady wearing a bad red dress at a bar, sitting with one long exposed leg crossed over the other, and a forced smile, which, no doubt, was for the poor sap approaching her. He wore a tan sports coat, unbuttoned, with a white shirt. The picture for this guide to destiny looked less like a smooth come-on and more like a staged hunting scene where the deer forces an awkward grin while the hunter sends a shot zinging into the brush behind.
The Eiffel tower of moused hair the lady in red sported for her big night out told me this book was before my time. The small print on the top told me that this guide, upon initial print, cost three dollars and ninety-five cents, and that Cathi Chamberlain, a former Playboy Bunny (also in bold red print) was the author.
The Eiffel tower of moused hair the lady in red sported for her big night out told me this book was before my time. The small print on the top told me that this guide, upon initial print, cost three dollars and ninety-five cents, and that Cathi Chamberlain, a former Playboy Bunny (also in bold red print) was the author.
I read on, and soon realized I was pushing through this book faster than a carp through grey water. Not only that, but enjoying it more than my standard hopper read, Presentation, by Gary Borger.
Now I must part with a nasty secret. The entire time I was reading the fated words of How to Succeed in Singles' Bars- (for MEN only!) by Cathi Camberlain (Former Playboy Bunny). I couldn't stop thinking how much this reminded me of a "how to” fishing book. Except that fishing books are huge, laborious feats of the pen, yet tackling in comparison a topic of less concern to the greater population. Ms. Chamberlain’s book offers up the heavens as it were, yet is small and written in eggshell white language.
“Perhaps,” I dared to speculate, “We have overdone our analysis of this wonderful fishing pastime?”
“Perhaps,” I dared to speculate again, “We have lost our point within our own verbosity, our own narcissistic love of the angler’s wit, our own interpretations of the semantics of words like ‘rod,’ and ‘mend?” Riiiight, as if looking for self-improvement on the molecular level of fly casting might actually teach us how to do it?
After all here is a monumental “how to” book on meeting women, (your soul mate nonetheless), in a singles bar, written by a former Playboy Bunny and explained in only fifty succinct pages. While La Fontaine has given us War and Peace on Caddisflies in a mere three hundred and twenty-four pages!
Maybe there is something a purveyor of fly-fishing know-how could learn from Ms. Chamberlain in terms of passing on such gilded knowledge. Maybe less is more, and maybe I can accomplish this right now, but first let’s look at Ms. Chamberlain’s method of teaching such fine skills.
For example, here is Chamberlain’s signature style, using a side-by-side list of what Mr. Right and Mr. Wrong does in chapter five, “Keeping her interested:”
1) Mr. Right joins the lady at her table only if invited. Mr. Wrong overstays his welcome.
2) Mr. Right stays at her table only a "moment,” creates "mystery," and returns later. Mr. Wrong ignores the lady's non-verbal cues indicating disinterest.
3) Mr. Right, after dancing, steers her away from her table for private conversation. Mr. Wrong intrudes on her and her friends at their table.
4) Mr. Right devotes complete attention to her and is a gentleman. Mr. Wrong gets drunk, flirts with waitress.
5) Mr. Right buys her drinks, and is a good "tipper." Mr. Wrong is cheap.
6) Mr. Right is "himself"- honesty in conversation, [unless being yourself puts you into Mr. Wrong category] Mr. Wrong puts on a false front hoping to impress her [unless a false front puts you into Mr. Right category] (43). *
Obviously Mr. Wrong is nothing more than a fly fishing guide who had the mishap of hitting on Ms. Chamberlain at the time she was writing her little “How to Book.” This must have happened at the Murry Bar in Livingston, or the Silver Dollar in Ennis, where Ms. Chamberlain came across some Copenhagen-spitting fellow in a multi-pocketed fishing shirt, and she mistook his intentions as being those of a man looking for a soul mate, when if fact, we know that this guide’s intentions were far from that.
So, can a similar approach unlock the secrets of fly-fishing? Can we explain obtaining trout on the fly in the same manner? We'll call the book "How to Succeed with Trout when you’re single (most likely for MEN only, since single fly fishing women are generally not single for very long) by Cale VanVelkinburgh, (Former guide and connoisseur of Playboy Bunnies), also in red print for added emphasis. The cover photo will depict an angler asleep on the bank, probably wearing a peach colored casting shirt and one of those caps with the really long bill that makes you like the Donald Duck outfit at Disney World. There will the lady in the red dress, standing over him on the bank, flipping him off.
This will be from chapter five, Habits of the Highly Effective Angler:
1) Good Angler is sneaky, wears drab colored clothing, and keeps a low profile while approaching a fish. Bad Angler vomits last night’s bourbon into river, stumbles and falls into the hole…then keeps fishing it as if the fish didn’t mind.
2) Good Angler starts by watching for rising fish, flying insects and looks closely around the river for evidence of hatching bugs. Bad Angler looks around the banks too, convinced that he might find hemp growing nearby, and then smokes a dandelion leaf by mistake.
3) Good Angler makes double hauls, stack casts, curve casts, and mends in order to achieve the perfect presentation, or drag free drift. Bad Angler casts with fixed amount of line, his free hand tightly gripping beer or flask, and then walks up river dragging line and flies behind him because “it worked last time.”
4) Good Angler follows the indicator or dry fly with the tip of his fly rod, making smaller line mends allowing for perfect drag free drift. Bad Angler has rod tip pointed at the Eagle flying overhead, forgets what a mend is, and subsequently loses focus of the task at hand. No, Bad Angler is not “high sticking.”
5) Good Angler is in tune with his surroundings, and observes proper angling etiquette. Bad Angler is lazy, or drunk and flirting with waitress, thus doesn’t pay attention and walks into Good Angler’s back cast, then blames Good Angler and wants to fight.
6) Good Angler anticipates the strike, even while mending, and looks for the slightest hint of the take, and sets on anything. Bad Angler is still looking at the eagle above, and misses each strike, or else believes that whenever the indicator moves it was “only bottom,” as if Bad Angler was Jacques Cousteau, and was wearing a dive mask and could actually see the flies hanging up on a rock.
Does this wise Playboy Bunny have something she could teach all of us in the fly fishing world? Does her style of juxtaposing the positive character and the negative character, with good descriptions of their wrongs and rights work when we apply the strategy to fly-fishing? I think so.
Perhaps we overdo it sometimes and become obese in our own know-how when we sit down and write about the pursuit of fish. After all, these are fish we are talking about, right? Not Carmen Electra sitting in the Murray Bar alone on some random Saturday night. (Permit might be the one exception to this…but look how many books are out there on that subject). No, no, no. We do not write about fly-fishing for the impartation of knowledge to others. We write about fly fishing, we dedicate thousands upon thousands of pages to techniques that may only work once, or patterns that may never work at all, not because we are on a quest to be knowledgeable, but because we are head over high-heels in love with what we are doing: Fishing with a fly.
In the next chapter I will cover the Dos and Don’ts of fly fishing from a boat, and Ms. Chamberlain will discuss, “Seeing her again.” Good luck!
*All commentary in parentheses is by me and not part of Ms. Chamberlain’s (Former Playboy Bunny) text.
Cathi Chamberlain (Former Playboy Bunny). How to Succeed in Singles’ Bars (For Men Only!). Chatsworth: CCC Publications, 1986.
November 26, 2008
“Fishing the Clock”
By
Rene’ Harrop
Although there are notable exceptions, trout streams within two hundred miles of Yellowstone National Park are considered large by most fly fishing standards. Typically, they flow through open terrain where wind is a daily factor. Add to this, the fact that these are highly popular waters that receive constant angling pressure during most of the year. The practice of catch and release has the inevitable effect of producing extraordinary elusiveness which increases as the trout grow older and larger. And of course, these are the objective of the selective trout hunter.
Handling the complexities of the Henry’s Fork, Missouri, or Snake is dependent upon numerous factors but effective casting rises above all other requirements. As primarily a wading angler, I love to hunt the big water where the quarry carries spots and fins rather than fur or antlers. With minor shame, I confess to seeking only large fish in most circumstances, and the game begins when a desirable target is located. There is always one best angle from which to take the shot, and although we do not always have a choice, the ability to identify the ideal casting position is a distinct and worthy skill. And a stealthy approach to that location is no less important. Depth, speed, and complexity of the current will influence the stalk as will also the speed and direction of the wind. Options also become limited when a trout is holding close to the bank. Unlike the wind, sunlight will not influence the actual execution of the presentation. However, nothing is more certain to alarm a trout than a shadow moving overhead. When planning your approach, always remember to factor in the direction of the sun.
When given a choice, I prefer to make my approach from the side and slightly downstream from a large surface feeder, and with the current moving from right to left. A positive curve cast will place the fly in the trout’s window of vision ahead of the leader while keeping the line well out of view. This method of presentation requires considerable practice and is usually limited to forty feet or less. In most instances, the positive curve cast is executed side arm with a tight loop and extra line speed that over powers the cast. An abrupt stop of the stroke applied at just the right instant will kick the fly and leader to the left in a pronounced curve. With the proper control, the amount of curve can be as long as the entire leader or as short as just the tippet. This control comes from the tip of the rod which must be fairly stiff in order to develop the kind of line speed needed to make a perfect presentation.
An upstream wind can aid a positive curve cast that can be delivered with less line speed but which is also dependent upon precise tip control for suitable accuracy. Too much flex in the tip will disrupt the aerial mend that allows the wind to induce a positive curve in the line.
A curve cast from a similar position but with the current moving from left to right requires a completely different maneuver if the angler is right handed. Simply described, a negative curve cast is almost an underhand lob. With the rod held vertically, allow the back cast to dip slightly then sweep the line beneath the tip with an under powered stroke that lifts the line upward and to the left producing an upstream curve. Stop and drop the tip when the fly is in line but upstream of the target. This will kill the energy of the stroke and produce what is essentially an incomplete cast because the leader and part of the line are not allowed to straighten before the fly arrives on the water. Precise accuracy is not a general characteristic of the negative curve because it is often hampered by wind. However, with practice it becomes a useful tool for covering a sizable amount of water with a fly first drift.
When the location of the trout allows an approach from the side or somewhat upstream, a reach cast is a fairly easy way of obtaining a fly first presentation. Begin this cast by starting the forward stroke toward the point on the water where you want the fly to arrive then move the rod tip to the upstream side. The fly will travel on its initial path while the line follows the rod tip upstream. Quick snap mends that add slack and length to the drift will enhance the effectiveness of this method of presentation. A reach cast to the right is utilized when the current is flowing from right to left. And of course the left hand reach is used when the situation is reversed. As in all casts, line speed is adjusted to wind force and the distance to the target.
Perhaps the most favored presentation among anglers of limited casting skill is made from a position nearly directly upstream from the objective. And while it can be relatively effective, there is a downside to becoming dependent upon this method. It is seldom that any trout will tolerate an angler’s presence within it’s window of vision, and it is never a good idea to allow the line to pass over the fish either in the air or on the water. Both of these negatives can come into play when the fly is presented from upstream. This is especially true in extremely shallow water or when the angle to the target is close to being directly downstream where the line can not be led far enough away from the drift line to avoid alarming the trout. However, I concede to times when a directly downstream presentation is the only option, but usually assume it will be a one shot deal.
A careful approach is always a key element regardless of the angle from which the cast will be made. Clumsy wading practices inevitably spell defeat by sending trout warning sounds or water disturbance ahead of your advance. Each step must be taken with slow deliberation. Feel the bottom with each foot as you move forward making certain of stability before placing your full weight on that foot. A successful stalk of fifty feet or less may take five minutes or more to complete, and it is here that many battles are lost without ever making a cast. Sturdy felt soled wading boots are a mandatory requirement for a stealthy approach and are well worth a little added expense.
A downstream presentation becomes much more logical in water at least thigh deep, and should not exceed a forty five degree angle unless absolutely necessary. It pays to utilize any obstruction such as a dense weed bed or large rock that can shield your approach and shorten the casting range. Bending low over the water will lower your profile and allow a closer approach than were you to come in standing straight up. As a rule, you should expect the cast to be considerably longer when positioned anywhere upstream of your objective. Personally speaking, anything beyond forty feet is considered to be a long cast when presenting the fly to a surface feeding trout. And of course, the difficulty of proper execution increases in proportion to the length of the cast. However, a long downstream presentation can often be accomplished with a cast that is considerably shorter than the actual distance to the trout. And this is undoubtedly what makes this approach so attractive to those of minimal advantage with a fly rod.
It is not uncommon to witness some success from anglers who get by with a rather weak delivery of the fly that arrives well upstream from the target but also beyond the correct line of drift. The fly must then be pulled into the desired position by dragging it across the surface. Assuming it is still floating, the fly is allowed to proceed downstream by dropping the rod tip and feeding slack into the drift with a series of mending actions. Hopefully the trout has not been put off by all the disturbance created directly upstream. Because all slack in the leader is removed prior to the beginning of the drift, this technique is not reliable when the fly must follow the subtleties of a complex current in order to arrive at the target in a natural manner.
A much more precise and dependable way of delivering the fly from an upstream position is to use a strong casting stroke that generates more line speed than is needed to reach the target. Allow the full length of the line and leader to straighten well above the water then pull back sharply with the rod tip. This will cause the line to recoil back against the rod and the leader will fall in loose curves to the surface. Some time and a little effort spent in perfecting this technique will enable very acceptable efficiency in placing the fly where it needs to be and with enough slack to avoid drag. Using this method, it is possible to shorten the length of an otherwise long cast by depositing the fly on the water well upstream but in line with the feeding position of the fish. A series of crisp mends with the rod tip will allow extra line to be fed into the drift as earlier described. With the correct technique and the right rod action, it is not uncommon to maintain a fly first drag free drift for thirty feet or more. This is especially valuable in extremely shallow water where an approach to less than fifty or sixty feet will most certainly spook your objective. If the presentation is not accepted, always remember to allow the fly to drift well beyond the trout’s position before leading it away from the drift line with the rod tip. Strip the now submerged fly back upstream until you are certain that the motion of lifting the line for the next cast will not disturb the fish.
It is my opinion that success in fly fishing is directly proportionate to the length of the cast. And the one angle most likely to allow a close approach is from directly behind the fish. For many anglers, however, a straight line cast made directly upstream can be quite intimidating despite its fundamental simplicity. I think this is because this presentation is highly dependent upon accuracy and does not allow for manipulation of the fly’s position after the cast or mending to improve the drift.
An upstream presentation is performed with the rod in a vertical position and the stroke is made directly in line with the flow of the water. Aim the cast slightly to the side of the target allowing only the leader to pass overhead. Accuracy is more important than a long drift when fishing upstream. In slow water, a distance of two feet beyond the rise is usually sufficient to allow the fish to see the fly and intercept its drift. Faster water may require as much as double that distance. However, a fish that is holding close behind surface obstruction such as an exposed weed bed may require that you literally put the fly on it’s nose. A tippet longer than thirty inches will hinder this kind of accuracy especially when wind is a factor. Allowing the leader and line to arrive on the water before the fly will induce premature drag. This can be avoided by stopping the rod during the delivery stroke at precisely the right instant to permit the entire leader to straighten just above the surface thereby minimizing the effect that wind can have on the placement of the fly. Drop the rod tip at this point to soften the impact.
An upstream cast that angles across the directional flow of the current creates a significant increase in the difficulty of creating a natural presentation of a dry fly. A fly cast straight upstream will be carried in a line that does not conflict with the direction of the flow. Conversely, a cast made even slightly across the current will encounter quick drag as the flow pushes against the leader causing the fly to move sideways rather than following the current directly downstream. A partial cure for this malady is to utilize a positive curve cast with a significant upstream mend. However, this technique can only be implemented from one side of the fish and is limited to a very short drift. A more versatile alternative is to use a check cast in conjunction with a longer tippet of forty to fifty inches in length. A tippet of inordinate length always carries the potential for diminished accuracy but there are situations when this is the best way to go. A vertical casting stroke that keeps the line as parallel to the water as possible is best applied when making a check cast. Slightly over power the delivery then stop the rod sharply as the leader straightens about four or five feet above the surface. The leader will spring back toward the rod tip then pile in loose curves on the water with more slack than is usual. Pulling back with the rod tip will exaggerate the recoil bringing even more slack into play if desired. The result will be a considerable delay in drag producing tension on the leader as the fly drifts downstream. The check cast can be effective anytime a difficult current is working against you.
“Fishing the Clock” is a descriptive term for the ability to present the fly from any angle to a fish in moving water. Attaining this level of competence is dependent upon mastering a variety of casting techniques that will allow you to effectively counter the host of obstacles that often present themselves. Of equal value is the learned ability to recognize the factors that determine the best position from which to present the fly. And of course, the advantage of minimizing the length of the cast by employing strategic wading practices can not be overstated.
A wide shallow river like the Henry’s Fork often provides a variety of choices from which to present the fly. This is because you can usually wade freely to virtually any point desired. And while complexity of current, instream structure, and water depth will frequently influence how the fly is presented, wind is the most common determining factor.
Over time, each of us should develop a confident relationship with a specific fly rod. This is based upon personal preference and individual casting style in addition to the conditions most frequently encountered on the water we fish. After more than fifty years, I have developed a preference for an 8’ 6” to 9’ rod possessing a fairly quick tip and stiff butt section. In fly rod terminology, the action would be considered medium fast with a continuous taper. Because casting the line and presenting the fly are not necessarily synonymous, I prefer this rod design for it’s ability to accommodate the variety of presentation angles that must be dealt with on any given day on the water. Precise tip control is key to developing line speed without the need to double haul, and this is where I find a problem with a slower action rod. Line speed generated by a compact stroke emphasizing quick recovery of the tip is not dependent upon hauling the line or loading much if not the entire length of the rod. In short range casting, I am looking only to load the tip of the rod and rely upon a fairly long leader of from sixteen to eighteen feet to bring delicacy into the presentation. Flex in the rod increases in proportion to the distance to the target as will the length of the stroke. When dealing with the wind or in gaining accurate presentation at a distance, I find a slow action rod to be a handicap. The same is true when attempting a high line speed delivery that transfers enough energy through the leader such as is needed when executing a positive curve cast. Slow tip recovery impedes my ability to get the fly quickly to a feeding fish that is moving quickly out of range.
Many devotees to slower action rods rely upon a weight forward line despite it’s tendency to limit control both in the air and on the water. Most weight forward lines are ninety feet in length with a front taper of thirty feet. The remaining sixty feet is level line of a thinner diameter and is intended to make shooting the cast much easier. A problem arises when more than thirty feet of line is needed to present the fly in a controlled manner. Unless you are double hauling, a functional cast can not be made when the front taper or head is outside the rod tip. In this condition, it is impossible to execute anything other than a straight line delivery with little control over how the fly arrives on the water or the amount of slack that can be induced. Mending for the purpose of anything beyond extending the drift can not happen when only the level portion of the taper is in the guides. However, a weight forward taper usually works adequately for any distance under thirty feet plus the length of the leader.
The belly of a double taper line is its longest and thickest part. No one expects a double taper to shoot with the ease of a weight forward taper. But in contrast to it’s counterpart which is specifically formulated for distance casting, a double taper is generally superior when line and loop control are the foremost requirements, and this is my choice for dry fly fishing on moving water. A strong butt section of the rod is needed to comfortably carry enough line in the air for a long cast and is also helpful in lifting the line from the water in preparation for the next cast. A skilled caster can easily shoot an extra fifteen to twenty feet of double taper if the butt section is strong enough to really drive through the delivery stroke. A double taper also facilitates the sophisticated mending techniques often needed to manipulate the drift of the fly when it is on the water.
My personal fly rods are not the excessively rigid tools preferred by some who specialize in distance casting but instead carry the characteristics of subtle and uniform flex throughout the length of the rod. A four weight line covers most of the waters I frequent and I use it at least seventy percent of the time.
In stating the preceding opinions it is imperative that the reader understands that they are specific to my personal perception of dry fly presentation. Others may disagree and challenge my statements, which is something I anticipate and accept. Among those things that make fly fishing so unique and appealing is that it is a sport of individuals. And because of this, we are each free to participate in our own way, satisfying only our personal preference and desire. And this is as it should be.
November 19, 2008
I just returned home from three days fishing and camping in the Everglades National Park. This was my first trip of the season here in South Florida since returning from Cape Cod. I had the pleasure of fishing with Jason Lynn who is the manager of Boca Grande Outfitters on Gasparilla Island. Jason is an experienced angler and avid fly fisherman and I have fished with him many times. He knows how much I love fishing in the Everglades and so we have been planning this trip for some time.
We started out on Sunday morning in Everglades City and headed south. Our plan was to stay on two different camp sites while fishing the two different areas and maybe a third on the way back home on the third day. We fished the first day with some success in an area where I have fished in years past. It was cool and breezy from the North and the air temps were in the low 70's all day. In the late afternoon we arrived back at our campsite and enjoyed a cool breezy evening with no bugs. As it got dark we had a visitor at our campsite. I heard Jason say hey look at the little bird that just landed on that branch. I was standing next to the bush where this little Eastern Spotted Owl landed while I was checking the battery level in the digital camera for the next day. With the light North wind and temps dropping in the upper 40's we decided we did not even need to set up a tent on the Chickee that evening. It was unbelievable to sleep under the stars and watch the moonrise around 9:00 pm. The cool cold fronts of the winter months in the Everglades completely clear the night sky of any clouds and humidity. This means the stars appear to be within reach when standing on the edge of the Chickee looking out on the water at night.
We fished a new area on the second day and we were into consistent topwater action for snook all day. It was very cool fishing. The snook were sunning themselves over a shallow muddy bottom as the temps came back up. It was again in the mid 70's on day two and not a cloud in the sky.
We had planned on returning to the campsite to pick up our gear and move on to another campsite and fishing area that afternoon. We got so wrapped up in the fishing that we did not return to the campsite until dark. When we returned to the campsite we found two other guys who were camping and fishing in the park. We apologized to them for leaving our gear on the campsite so late and told them we would grab our gear and head off to the next site. They told us they were just two and if we wanted to stay there was plenty of room. So we stayed and hung out with these guys and had a blast until the moon came up again and we could stay awake no more.
At the end of the day of fishing on the second day we had hooked and lost a monster. We were determined to get a big snook on this trip so we decided to head back to the same area to start the days fishing on day three. As we were headed back in the morning we stumbled onto baby tarpon rolling everywhere. We could not pass this up so we stopped and fished them for hours. It was so cool to see the beautiful mini silver kings rolling all around the boat and Jason landed his first ever Everglades baby tarpon on a fly rod.
Then in the late afternoon we headed back to the area where we had lost a huge fish in the afternoon the day before. I quietly poled the boat through some very shallow water while Jason was on the bow looking for Walter. After about 20 minutes he hooked up with what we both knew, but neither one of us was expecting, a massive Redfish. It was a beauty and he hooked it along the edge of some very small mangrove clusters with shallow sandy water all around the boat. It was a great way to end the trip and a fish of a lifetime! We got back into Everglades City around 6:30 pm and were bushed...
We started out on Sunday morning in Everglades City and headed south. Our plan was to stay on two different camp sites while fishing the two different areas and maybe a third on the way back home on the third day. We fished the first day with some success in an area where I have fished in years past. It was cool and breezy from the North and the air temps were in the low 70's all day. In the late afternoon we arrived back at our campsite and enjoyed a cool breezy evening with no bugs. As it got dark we had a visitor at our campsite. I heard Jason say hey look at the little bird that just landed on that branch. I was standing next to the bush where this little Eastern Spotted Owl landed while I was checking the battery level in the digital camera for the next day. With the light North wind and temps dropping in the upper 40's we decided we did not even need to set up a tent on the Chickee that evening. It was unbelievable to sleep under the stars and watch the moonrise around 9:00 pm. The cool cold fronts of the winter months in the Everglades completely clear the night sky of any clouds and humidity. This means the stars appear to be within reach when standing on the edge of the Chickee looking out on the water at night.
We fished a new area on the second day and we were into consistent topwater action for snook all day. It was very cool fishing. The snook were sunning themselves over a shallow muddy bottom as the temps came back up. It was again in the mid 70's on day two and not a cloud in the sky.
We had planned on returning to the campsite to pick up our gear and move on to another campsite and fishing area that afternoon. We got so wrapped up in the fishing that we did not return to the campsite until dark. When we returned to the campsite we found two other guys who were camping and fishing in the park. We apologized to them for leaving our gear on the campsite so late and told them we would grab our gear and head off to the next site. They told us they were just two and if we wanted to stay there was plenty of room. So we stayed and hung out with these guys and had a blast until the moon came up again and we could stay awake no more.
At the end of the day of fishing on the second day we had hooked and lost a monster. We were determined to get a big snook on this trip so we decided to head back to the same area to start the days fishing on day three. As we were headed back in the morning we stumbled onto baby tarpon rolling everywhere. We could not pass this up so we stopped and fished them for hours. It was so cool to see the beautiful mini silver kings rolling all around the boat and Jason landed his first ever Everglades baby tarpon on a fly rod.
Then in the late afternoon we headed back to the area where we had lost a huge fish in the afternoon the day before. I quietly poled the boat through some very shallow water while Jason was on the bow looking for Walter. After about 20 minutes he hooked up with what we both knew, but neither one of us was expecting, a massive Redfish. It was a beauty and he hooked it along the edge of some very small mangrove clusters with shallow sandy water all around the boat. It was a great way to end the trip and a fish of a lifetime! We got back into Everglades City around 6:30 pm and were bushed...
October 21, 2008
One of my favorite dry flies for searching small streams is this variation of the Au Sable Wulff. I first used this pattern with success in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales in the middle of a plague of small light coloured moths. Since then I have used this pattern regularly and it has now become my go-to fly for small streams in this colour. I tie my favorite variation with a light hares ear coloured squirrel blend dubbing, Hivis wing and heavy hackle of natural red and grizzly saddle. This imitates several species of mayfly dun’s nicely, and I find the Hivis wings stand up to lots of abuse – things like fish, thickets and clumsy fly tyers that are used to tying salt water flies!
Au Sable Wulff (variation)
Hook: Dry Fly #10-#18
Thread: 6/0 Red Monocord
Tail: Neck Hackle Fibers
Body: Squirrel Blend Dubbing (light hare’s ear colour)
Wing: White Hivis, tied in a ‘V’
Hackle: Natural Red and Grizzly Saddle wound full
October 20, 2008
This fall we had several weeks of great fishing for School Bluefin Tuna. These fish were averaging around 100 lbs. We had the opportunity to hook and land several on the Scott Bluewater 15 weight.
This is the fourth season for me on these rods and they are still going strong. I had an angler hook up with a 63' Bluefin Tuna that was around 150 lbs. this past week. I know this angler well and have caught many large fish with him in the past. As soon as he hooked up I told him I wanted to see him release this fish in less than 1/2 hour. It was not an easy task but he put the wood to that fish and we released the fish from the fly at the boat side in 26 minutes.
Anyone who has ever tangled with a fish over 100 lbs. on the fly rod knows that this is not easy to do. Even more people out there who have never hooked up with anything over 20 lbs. have no idea how hard you can and will need to pull back on a fish of this size to get it into the boat. While we were fighting this fish I was coaching the angler on how to best put pressure on the line and turn the fish towards the surface. At one point I noticed that the fish was just a little ahead of the angler and I asked him if I could take the rod and show him how we could do it a bit differently. He agreed and I took over the rod on the bow of the boat for a quick spell.
In doing so I was hoping to show the angler how the rod on a very low angler pointed almost directly at the fish (directly under the boat) could work the Tuna up in the water column without ever loosing pressure on him. The angler jumped back on the rod and did exactly as I had hoped. He was able to keep the movement of the fishing coming up towards the surface of the water instead of lifting the rod above the level of the horizon and then releasing pressure while winding the line back onto the reel. When this is done properly the fly rod tip never leaves the water.
In the world of stand up tackle this is termed 'short pumping' the rod. With stand up gear the angler wears a harness and places the rod in belt while the rod tip never comes down. Because we do not use a harness with the fly rods we have adapted the position of the rod so that the leverage on the line is the same as it is when 'Short Pumping' with standup gear. In the world of fly fishing we have found ways to do this with the larger fish hooked on fly tackle that allows for us to bring the fish boat side in a seriously short period of time.
My job as teacher and coach is very rewarding when we are able to land a fish of this size on the fly rod and sometimes there is years of work with an angler to achieve this type of goal. These are the things that make us tick!
In many cases the world according to the rules of the IGFA and other organizations that have set guidelines for us to follow when attempting a world record on the fly rod can only get in the way of the real world. In the case of my fishing here in the Northeast for Bluefin Tuna I have flat out no respect for the IGFA when they refuse to allow for 30lb. class tippet for our Tuna.
In many cases the world according to the rules of the IGFA and other organizations that have set guidelines for us to follow when attempting a world record on the fly rod can only get in the way of the real world. In the case of my fishing here in the Northeast for Bluefin Tuna I have flat out no respect for the IGFA when they refuse to allow for 30lb. class tippet for our Tuna.
The beauty of this is that before we even leave the dock we usually know what our game plan is for the day and if we are not planning on an attempt any world records we don't have to worry about the rules of the any organization other than our own. This means I can take the time and the leaders I need to fish for and catch the Chicken of The Sea.
I am winding up my season here on Cape Cod and heading to Florida again in November. I am going to be running a new flats boat in Florida. I have sold both my Action Craft 1890SE and Maverick HPX-T and purchased a new Action Craft 1710TPS. The TPS stands for Technical Poling Skiff. Because I have been fishing so much in the winter and spring in the EvergladesNational Park, I have decided to purchase a Carbon Kevlar boat that will fish as shallow as the winter low tides in the Everglades require.
I am winding up my season here on Cape Cod and heading to Florida again in November. I am going to be running a new flats boat in Florida. I have sold both my Action Craft 1890SE and Maverick HPX-T and purchased a new Action Craft 1710TPS. The TPS stands for Technical Poling Skiff. Because I have been fishing so much in the winter and spring in the EvergladesNational Park, I have decided to purchase a Carbon Kevlar boat that will fish as shallow as the winter low tides in the Everglades require.
This boat will draft 6' and can accommodate up to three people. I have outfitted the boat with a Yamaha 4 Stroke 60 horse power motor. In this day and age when the world economy and fuel cost is in fluctuation each week I feel it is important for each of us to do our part. In my case it means it will take 20-30 minutes longer to get to the fishing grounds when we run 25-35 miles into the Everglades for Snook, Reds, and Tarpon, but the amount of fuel we will consume on a small boat like this with a small four stroke motor will be less than half of what I was using in years past.
Captain Joe LeClair
North Eastern Anglers
(774)263-2675
October 16, 2008
In fly tying, specific imitation is driven by observation and logic. During a mayfly hatch, close scrutiny of the water reveals a sizable portion of emerging duns that are not successful in completely freeing themselves from the nymphal shuck. In this crippled condition, they are incapable of leaving the water. Logically, this vulnerability makes them more attractive to a hungry trout than a healthy winged insect that can fly to safety in a mere instant.
The Last chance Cripple is characterized by an abdomen that duplicates the form and color of the nymph.The thorax, wings, and hackle represent a partially emerged dun in shape and coloration. The buoyant CDC wings provide excellent flotation and visibility when fished on choppy water or during low light conditions. These features also cause it to be a perfect indicator fly when a corresponding nymph is suspended from the hook bend.
The colors of the Last Chance Cripple can be adjusted to effectively match any mayfly that emerges on the water.
Tying Recipe for Last Chance Cripple
Hook: TMC 100BL
Thread: 8/0 Uni-thread
Tail: Sparse tuft of Trouthunter C.E.N. dubbing over three Wood Duck fibers
Abdomen: Stripped goose biot or turkey biot tied to appear rather fuzzy.
Thorax: Trouthunter Professional Dry Fly Dubbing
Wings: Paired CDC feathers set at a forward angle over the eye.
Hackle: Whiting Hackle
Rene' Harrop
House of Harrop
33 W 4th N
St. Anthony, Idaho 83445
Tel: 208 624 3537
Fax: 208-624-3455
www.houseofharrop.com
The Last chance Cripple is characterized by an abdomen that duplicates the form and color of the nymph.The thorax, wings, and hackle represent a partially emerged dun in shape and coloration. The buoyant CDC wings provide excellent flotation and visibility when fished on choppy water or during low light conditions. These features also cause it to be a perfect indicator fly when a corresponding nymph is suspended from the hook bend.
The colors of the Last Chance Cripple can be adjusted to effectively match any mayfly that emerges on the water.
Tying Recipe for Last Chance Cripple
Hook: TMC 100BL
Thread: 8/0 Uni-thread
Tail: Sparse tuft of Trouthunter C.E.N. dubbing over three Wood Duck fibers
Abdomen: Stripped goose biot or turkey biot tied to appear rather fuzzy.
Thorax: Trouthunter Professional Dry Fly Dubbing
Wings: Paired CDC feathers set at a forward angle over the eye.
Hackle: Whiting Hackle
Rene' Harrop
House of Harrop
33 W 4th N
St. Anthony, Idaho 83445
Tel: 208 624 3537
Fax: 208-624-3455
www.houseofharrop.com
October 13, 2008
Greetings Fellow Scott-Heads and fly-fishers!
I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome you to my Southeast Alaska Scott Pro blog area. Please take the time to venture through this area as I intend to use it to keep "you" up-to-date on various industry items as well as what's happening here, in Alaska, and in particular, the Southeast region.
Currently, things are winding down. Snow is now working its way down the mountains, but there are still silvers in most of the waters here. Up the Lynn Canal, in the Haines area, late-run silvers are drifting in with every tide and the forecast there calls for a very good run. So far, weir counts have been good. We've been pounded with rain which curtailed much of the fishing last week, but if we get a break in the systems, and the water drops a bit, the grab should be "on".
In addition, the late chum run should add some additional grabbers as we progress into November.
Fall-run cuttys in the various lakes also adds to our late season angling opportunities as well.
So even though the season is winding down, hard core fly rodders can still find some relief from work related desk work here in SE Alaska!
Cheers,
Rich Culver
I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome you to my Southeast Alaska Scott Pro blog area. Please take the time to venture through this area as I intend to use it to keep "you" up-to-date on various industry items as well as what's happening here, in Alaska, and in particular, the Southeast region.
Currently, things are winding down. Snow is now working its way down the mountains, but there are still silvers in most of the waters here. Up the Lynn Canal, in the Haines area, late-run silvers are drifting in with every tide and the forecast there calls for a very good run. So far, weir counts have been good. We've been pounded with rain which curtailed much of the fishing last week, but if we get a break in the systems, and the water drops a bit, the grab should be "on".
In addition, the late chum run should add some additional grabbers as we progress into November.
Fall-run cuttys in the various lakes also adds to our late season angling opportunities as well.
So even though the season is winding down, hard core fly rodders can still find some relief from work related desk work here in SE Alaska!
Cheers,
Rich Culver
October 7, 2008
In the accessory-rich world of fly tying there are all manner of whip finish tools. The best whip finish tool is your hand – you can place a whip finish anywhere along the hook shank, and even use it to fashion a ‘needle-less nail knot’ to connect your leader to fly line. And you’ll never have to search for that tool again!
October 7, 2008
Eyes are an important feature of many fly patterns. Check out a baitfish next time you see one swimming past, and the pupil is usually most prominent. Many pre-painted or stick-on eyes have tiny pupils. Next time, try making them larger for better results.
October 7, 2008
Stripping baskets are a necessity in a number of fishing situations. They allow you to get maximum casting distance, keep the line from tangling around your feet and keep your lines cleaner. No one basket will do it all, so check them out and find one that suits your style of fishing. What seems cumbersome at first will soon become indispensable.
October 6, 2008
Want more hook ups in salt water????
Try using a non slip loop knot. It is easy to tie, extremely strong, and allows the fly to have a lot more action. Flies tied with synthetic or natural materials (especially craft hair and rabbit fur) really perform well using this knot.
The knot is simple: Start with an overhand knot then take the tag end through the eye of the fly and pull it up to the overhand knot. Pass the tag end through the center of the overhand knot, three times around the running line and back through the center of the overhand knot. Wet the knot before pulling it tight. With a little practice, they can be tied extremely small. There will be little difference in the action of a fly using a large knot versus a small knot. The down side of a big knot is that a fly with eyes may get caught in the knot while casting. The eyes on a fly cannot get caught if the knot is small. If this knot is tied properly, the tag end should be at 90 degrees from the running line.
October 6, 2008
Start short. Use a rod and line combo that will load well in close. Try and keep as much line off the water as possible to eliminate drag. Keep your rod and arm high to assist. Remember to use your arm as an extension of the rod. I like to make 5-10 casts per pocket to search.
On my river, you hardly ever see consistent feeding in pockets so you have to tease them up. If you do not get a strike, move on!!! Most people spend too much time in one spot.
Movement of your fly is key. Skittering your fly like a natural can provoke some really violent takes. Be ready! The strike can be sudden and almost scare you. Many times you only get one shot.
To skitter, you want to work the fly against the surface tension of the water- so it's almost like you are trying to lift the fly off the water, but stopping before it comes up. It takes some practice, but once you get it, you can start improvising with rod movement etc.
Think of yourself as a puppeteer.....
Another cast I use to get the fly into a pocket quickly, involves a vigorous haul towards the end of the cast, as the line has straightened out. This will force your fly onto the water almost in a right angle, and it will impart a small bit of slack to allow for drift. Of Course Mending is of the ultimate importance in pocket water, this skill will only improve as you become more familiar with your rod.
October 6, 2008
Try and work upstream if possible (especially in low water). Map out a course (not unlike picking a line in skiing) to wade. If it's anything like the West Branch Ausable, and the wading is tough, try to economize your position and fish all vantage points from where you are at the time. The key is to cover the water.
October 6, 2008
“DUDE, SWEET BACK CAST”
Now, that is something you don’t hear often when one is perusing the rivers of the Pacific Northwest. More along the terms of “just a little farther”, mend it, and so on and so forth. Yet when it comes down to it, the perfect back cast is the single most important unheralded and under scrutinized piece of the puzzle.
Now you will probably ask why? Justifiably, so I have some reasons. The picture of a perfect effortless backwards stroke of a fly rod-one with the line flying out the tip at mach two, the thumb and wrist cocked ever so slightly at just past 2:00 clock gives me a chill-one that I usually reserve for when my Elhew locks up in full stride, head forward, nose in the air and tail straight to the sky, waiting for the rooster to bust. Casting a fly can do that sort a thing to man. Albeit a little weird but none the less you get my drift.
If Einstein was a fly fisherman and I was a betting man I would venture outside the box to say he would have been a hell of a caster. Physics as much as many of us hate it, and I for one could care less about E=MC2, is essential to one part fly rod and one part fly line. If one is heavier than the other for which it was intended, it can have effects-Some good, some bad.
I always tend to lean the way of the rod, change the taper of the fly line, not the grains or line weight it was designed for. That is the key to success with casting and more importantly a SCOTT fly rod. Every model has a sweet spot and they are designed for the line weight that is appropriately marked.
Eventually all things merge into one and actually a sweet ‘lil river does run by the factory. So if you ever get the chance to kick it in Colorado, stop in and say that “Tyler sent you”, you might get a “dude, sweet, right on, or let's fish! But one thing's for sure, you will see some sweet back casts.
Yee-Ha, Now get out there and fish.
Tyler Palmerton
October 2, 2008
I’m not afraid to learn from my anglers. One thing I noticed was how well good trout anglers controlled their lines in heavy current. Subsequently I now use reach casts and mends for line control in heavy current. I can dead drift the fly better, and I have no downstream belly in the line. That gives me a better connection with the fly, and a better sink rate with sinking lines. Just remember trout guys we set our hooks with a strip strike-DON'T LIFT THE ROD TILL THE FISH IS HOOKED.
have fun, Capt. Jeff Becker
have fun, Capt. Jeff Becker
October 2, 2008
Life as the Anti-Matcher of Hatch has served me well, and there¡¦s no better time for that philosophy to shine than springtime. Common knowledge, combined with life experience, should tell you that good or bad, the attention always goes to those that opt to be different. I¡¦m a simple man with simple concepts, and doing the opposite, thinking backwards comes naturally to me. Achieving the AMH life style is very simple and requires only one thing, the ability to tap into that unused portion of your mind to see beyond what is right in front of you to your advantage. To our mind this comes naturally if you allow it.
Notice that it doesn¡¦t matter in waht oredr I wirte the ltteers in a wrod, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wtihout any porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe i.e., seeing beyond. Applying that natural talent makes not matching the hatch simple and successful.
The cold water in New Jersey during early spring makes baitfish nearly non-existent. The exception are grass shrimp hatches on the moons-A great hatch and plenty of them, but not on the menu for Bass. Choosing to throw matching shrimp patterns may produce a fish or two, but looking beyond and throwing an imitation of a baitfish that¡¦s not due in for a few months can put you in the game.
Two months out from May in New Jersey „_ peanut bunker „_ crease fly. The crease fly is by far the #1 fly for Stripers, a fly that 98% of anglers will throw when fishing top water on a floating line with an 8 ft. leader. This is a great combo during the summer months but for spring bass the opposite is the call.
Instead of trying to matching the hatch, throw a crease fly on a 350-grain sinking line with a 4¡¦ leader on a 9wt. The result will be that on the retrieve the crease fly is dragged down by the line on the strip and will float towards the surface on the pause (deadly).
Taking this ill logic one step further is to throw that same combination in skinny water (12 inches or less) resulting in the line dragging the bottom, kicking up sand on the strip, and the fly floating up out of the cloud of freshly stirred up sand on the pause. It drives Bass crazy (not mention Lower Florida Keys Bonefish and Tarpon).
Throwing sinking lines may not sound glamorous, but on a 9wt it¡¦s very comfortable especially on those windy days. As a word of caution when using this technique always remember the one factor that trumps all; If you don¡¦t truly believe in what you are throwing you might as well be matching the hatch.
Capt. Bryan DiLeo
Iowa Fortune Guide Service
www.iowafortune.com
Notice that it doesn¡¦t matter in waht oredr I wirte the ltteers in a wrod, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wtihout any porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe i.e., seeing beyond. Applying that natural talent makes not matching the hatch simple and successful.
The cold water in New Jersey during early spring makes baitfish nearly non-existent. The exception are grass shrimp hatches on the moons-A great hatch and plenty of them, but not on the menu for Bass. Choosing to throw matching shrimp patterns may produce a fish or two, but looking beyond and throwing an imitation of a baitfish that¡¦s not due in for a few months can put you in the game.
Two months out from May in New Jersey „_ peanut bunker „_ crease fly. The crease fly is by far the #1 fly for Stripers, a fly that 98% of anglers will throw when fishing top water on a floating line with an 8 ft. leader. This is a great combo during the summer months but for spring bass the opposite is the call.
Instead of trying to matching the hatch, throw a crease fly on a 350-grain sinking line with a 4¡¦ leader on a 9wt. The result will be that on the retrieve the crease fly is dragged down by the line on the strip and will float towards the surface on the pause (deadly).
Taking this ill logic one step further is to throw that same combination in skinny water (12 inches or less) resulting in the line dragging the bottom, kicking up sand on the strip, and the fly floating up out of the cloud of freshly stirred up sand on the pause. It drives Bass crazy (not mention Lower Florida Keys Bonefish and Tarpon).
Throwing sinking lines may not sound glamorous, but on a 9wt it¡¦s very comfortable especially on those windy days. As a word of caution when using this technique always remember the one factor that trumps all; If you don¡¦t truly believe in what you are throwing you might as well be matching the hatch.
Capt. Bryan DiLeo
Iowa Fortune Guide Service
www.iowafortune.com
October 2, 2008
IT'S ALL IN THE RETRIEVE
The striped bass is a predator, an eating machine that maims and then devours its prey. Whether fishing Clousers or whistlers for these trophy game fish I ask one thing of my clients: make sure you pause the fly. All my flies are weighted in the front so when we pause them they dive straight down.
When stripers come into a school of bait fish they often stun their prey using their tail or thick bodies. They often circle back around to devour all the crippled baitfish they can find. I always like to vary my stripping retrieves from one to five pulls with pauses from one to several seconds.
Typically the colder the water the longer I pause in between strips. I always like to start my initial retrieve with three or four good pulls on the line. Even in murky water stripers will pick up on this water movement and come to investigate.
Fish Hard, Mike Costello
The striped bass is a predator, an eating machine that maims and then devours its prey. Whether fishing Clousers or whistlers for these trophy game fish I ask one thing of my clients: make sure you pause the fly. All my flies are weighted in the front so when we pause them they dive straight down.
When stripers come into a school of bait fish they often stun their prey using their tail or thick bodies. They often circle back around to devour all the crippled baitfish they can find. I always like to vary my stripping retrieves from one to five pulls with pauses from one to several seconds.
Typically the colder the water the longer I pause in between strips. I always like to start my initial retrieve with three or four good pulls on the line. Even in murky water stripers will pick up on this water movement and come to investigate.
Fish Hard, Mike Costello
October 2, 2008
CASTING THE HEAVY LINES
You've just purchased that casting machine S4 9 Ft. 9 Wt. and now you have to cast a lead core shooting head that weights 375 grains and a huge black over chartreuse whistler fly that is nine inches long and weighs a whopping 110 grains to catch that lunker 30 pound striper lurking in the deep.
Don't panic, you do not need to wear a football helmet and there’s no need to put extra padding around your butt. Take a deep breath and forget all about the 10 o’clock to 2 o’clock dry fly casting stroke. Just load your fly right off the water with one or two easy casting strokes until the shooting head has cleared the tip of the rod. DO NOT LET OUT LINE ON YOUR BACK CAST!
On your final approach use a simple double haul and make sure you open your casting loop on your back cast. A slower back cast helps your timing as the line and fly are going to load a lot quicker than a 4 Wt. line with a size 16 caddis. On your forward cast shoot for the stars and watch as 80 feet of line shoots out of the end of your rod. Even the fish will stand up to applaud!
You've just purchased that casting machine S4 9 Ft. 9 Wt. and now you have to cast a lead core shooting head that weights 375 grains and a huge black over chartreuse whistler fly that is nine inches long and weighs a whopping 110 grains to catch that lunker 30 pound striper lurking in the deep.
Don't panic, you do not need to wear a football helmet and there’s no need to put extra padding around your butt. Take a deep breath and forget all about the 10 o’clock to 2 o’clock dry fly casting stroke. Just load your fly right off the water with one or two easy casting strokes until the shooting head has cleared the tip of the rod. DO NOT LET OUT LINE ON YOUR BACK CAST!
On your final approach use a simple double haul and make sure you open your casting loop on your back cast. A slower back cast helps your timing as the line and fly are going to load a lot quicker than a 4 Wt. line with a size 16 caddis. On your forward cast shoot for the stars and watch as 80 feet of line shoots out of the end of your rod. Even the fish will stand up to applaud!
October 2, 2008
I have never met an angler that hasn’t said out loud, or at least under his breath, “boy, I wish I had a good photograph of that HOG”. You can get “lost” in a good photograph, but you don’t have to be an expert photographer to take a compelling image. With a few tips in your vest pocket and a little practice you can get beyond the typical “grip and grin” photograph and bring home better images of your next fly-fishing trip. This is the first in a series of tips for high impact fly-fishing photographs. Practice and experiment with these tips and you will be on your way to super charging your fly-fishing photography.
Super charge those “grip and grin” photos
Okay, so you’re bored to tears looking at all those standard “grip and grin” photos you have in a worn out album lying on your fly tying bench. Here’s how to super charge photos from your next trip
First, when you look through the camera’s viewfinder train yourself to “see” in a different way. Be conscious of what will be in the image when you press the shutter button. What you leave out of the image is as important as what you leave in. For example, you don’t want the big tree in the background or a fly rod to appear as though they are protruding from your subject’s head. Those little details can really detract from an otherwise great shot.
A powerful technique is to get in close to your main subject so that you fill the frame with the main subject(s) while at the same time cleverly cropping out all the extraneous clutter from the image. Have your subject kneel down low in the water, momentarily lifting the fish only a few inches out of the water with a couple of fingers around its tail and the other hand gently supporting its belly. Don’t wrap your hands around the fish in a death squeeze ….you want a picture of the fish, not a pair of hands. Above all you want the fish to survive the experience. Minimize the time the fish is out of the water, a few seconds should do it.
In most “grip and grin” shots the angler is looking straight into the camera with that killer grin. You can give your photos another “look” which can make them more interesting by having the angler peer admiringly at the fish rather into the camera.
Another option is to avoid the grin altogether by zooming in on the star of the show–– remember you already have a drawer full of pictures of yourself. Get in tight, focusing on the fish’s eye and let the background simply be the river in soft focus or the anglers vest with dangling paraphernalia.
Another simple technique for high impact images is the environmental portrait. This “style” helps paint a vivid story not only of the angler and the fish, but also of your surroundings. Looking through the viewfinder there is an overwhelming urge to stick that angler smack dab in the middle of the frame. Resist the urge. Turn the camera a bit, placing the angler to one side or the other of the frame. Get in close so that your main subject fills about a third of the image, leaving two thirds of the image to complete the story.
Get out there and fish. Leave the fish where you found them, but bring home high impact images of your experience.
Mark Lance, a Scott Pro Staffer, is a freelance photographer, writer and fly-fishing adventurer from Centennial, Colorado. Visit his website at
www.riverlightimages.com
Super charge those “grip and grin” photos
Okay, so you’re bored to tears looking at all those standard “grip and grin” photos you have in a worn out album lying on your fly tying bench. Here’s how to super charge photos from your next trip
First, when you look through the camera’s viewfinder train yourself to “see” in a different way. Be conscious of what will be in the image when you press the shutter button. What you leave out of the image is as important as what you leave in. For example, you don’t want the big tree in the background or a fly rod to appear as though they are protruding from your subject’s head. Those little details can really detract from an otherwise great shot.
A powerful technique is to get in close to your main subject so that you fill the frame with the main subject(s) while at the same time cleverly cropping out all the extraneous clutter from the image. Have your subject kneel down low in the water, momentarily lifting the fish only a few inches out of the water with a couple of fingers around its tail and the other hand gently supporting its belly. Don’t wrap your hands around the fish in a death squeeze ….you want a picture of the fish, not a pair of hands. Above all you want the fish to survive the experience. Minimize the time the fish is out of the water, a few seconds should do it.
In most “grip and grin” shots the angler is looking straight into the camera with that killer grin. You can give your photos another “look” which can make them more interesting by having the angler peer admiringly at the fish rather into the camera.
Another option is to avoid the grin altogether by zooming in on the star of the show–– remember you already have a drawer full of pictures of yourself. Get in tight, focusing on the fish’s eye and let the background simply be the river in soft focus or the anglers vest with dangling paraphernalia.
Another simple technique for high impact images is the environmental portrait. This “style” helps paint a vivid story not only of the angler and the fish, but also of your surroundings. Looking through the viewfinder there is an overwhelming urge to stick that angler smack dab in the middle of the frame. Resist the urge. Turn the camera a bit, placing the angler to one side or the other of the frame. Get in close so that your main subject fills about a third of the image, leaving two thirds of the image to complete the story.
Get out there and fish. Leave the fish where you found them, but bring home high impact images of your experience.
Mark Lance, a Scott Pro Staffer, is a freelance photographer, writer and fly-fishing adventurer from Centennial, Colorado. Visit his website at
www.riverlightimages.com
October 2, 2008
Planning your trip
Yellow Dog Flyfishing Adventures is a destination angling booking company that sends hundreds of anglers a year all over the world. Over the years of booking trips and fishing the world ourselves, we have learned one very important lesson about destination trips — especially those that involve international travel to distant waters. The more time you spend preparing for your trip prior to departure, the more you improve your odds for a successful and enjoyable saltwater adventure. If you’re planning any kind of destination adventure, the following thoughts and suggestions will help:
1. Do yourself a favor and create a detailed and well-thought-out gear and equipment list. Save this list and make it your “go-to” reference list whenever you plan a fishing trip that will take you far from home. The lists that we use and send to all of our clients are lists that we have spent years creating and fine-tuning. The lists are designed to ensure that our customers travel with the right type and the right amount of equipment that is applicable and relevant to their destination. Your “Go-To Gear List” list should include the following:
• All fishing equipment and tackle, such as rods, reel, lines, leaders, backup gear, spare spools, etc.
• Personal clothing items such as fishing shirts, warm clothes, rain gear, and head gear.
• Items of a personal nature, such as your toiletries, necessary medication, books, etc.
• The proper documents such as your passport, drivers license, and photo copies of everything.
• Sunscreen and insect repellant – don’t ever leave home without these things!
• Such optional items as binoculars, alarm clock, writing materials and other things.
2. Check your gear prior to leaving on a trip. Don’t wait until you arrive at a distant and remote lodge to discover that your rod tip is missing, your fly line is cracked, or your backing has mildewed and rotted. Preventative maintenance on your gear – before, during and after a trip - will add years to the life of your equipment.
3. Practice your casting prior to leaving for a trip! This is especially applicable if you are heading to the saltwater. Anglers who are proficient on their local trout stream with a 5-weight often times don’t realize that casting a 10-weight into the wind is a different game altogether. Practice casting with your saltwater set-ups prior to your departure. For best results, pick a stormy day at home, and practice casting both into and across the wind. For the best casting preparation, try casting at moving targets as well. That cat that your girlfriend brought home has got to be good for something!
4. Check your passport and travel documents to make sure that everything is valid and up-to-date. Don’t wait until you arrive at the airport to find out that your passport is expired!
5. Whenever a flight is involved, try to carry on your rods, reels, flies, sunglasses, a pair of shorts, sunscreen, and other important items that will allow you to fish for a day or two in the event that your checked luggage is lost or delayed.
6. Make sure that all of your checked and carry-on luggage is labeled with your current ID information. Use luggage tags on the outside, and include identification on the inside as well, in the event that a luggage tag is yanked off or destroyed.
7. Aside from the right rod and reel set-up, polarized sunglasses are perhaps the most important piece of equipment you’ll bring with you. In many situations (especially saltwater!) spotting fish in the saltwater is crucial and can make all the difference in the success of a trip. For this reason, you should buy the very best polarized sunglasses you can. For lenses, light amber or brown will work well in most situations. We prefer sunglasses that shape to our face and block out as much peripheral side and top light as possible. Bring a second pair in case the first one breaks or is lost!
8. If you’re like most anglers, you will probably want to bring your camera gear along with you on the river or in the boat. If so, then you will want to be sure that it is protected at all times. A good waterproof camera bag or hard-sided box is a must, as salt spray and/or water are constant factors. Be sure to bring lots of extra film, extra memory, spare batteries, and a soft lens cloth and solution for cleaning. If you still shoot film or slide film, remember that any film packed inside your checked baggage will be ruined by new baggage screening devices. Carry on your film and camera equipment, and request a hand-check if you have any doubt about the carry-on screening process. If you are shooting slide or print film, then we recommend a “leaded” film pouch that will protect your film from screening devices.
Have a great trip, and know that through the right amount of preparation, planning and practice, you have set yourself up for a successful and enjoyable angling experience!
Yellow Dog Flyfishing Adventures is a destination angling booking company that sends hundreds of anglers a year all over the world. Over the years of booking trips and fishing the world ourselves, we have learned one very important lesson about destination trips — especially those that involve international travel to distant waters. The more time you spend preparing for your trip prior to departure, the more you improve your odds for a successful and enjoyable saltwater adventure. If you’re planning any kind of destination adventure, the following thoughts and suggestions will help:
1. Do yourself a favor and create a detailed and well-thought-out gear and equipment list. Save this list and make it your “go-to” reference list whenever you plan a fishing trip that will take you far from home. The lists that we use and send to all of our clients are lists that we have spent years creating and fine-tuning. The lists are designed to ensure that our customers travel with the right type and the right amount of equipment that is applicable and relevant to their destination. Your “Go-To Gear List” list should include the following:
• All fishing equipment and tackle, such as rods, reel, lines, leaders, backup gear, spare spools, etc.
• Personal clothing items such as fishing shirts, warm clothes, rain gear, and head gear.
• Items of a personal nature, such as your toiletries, necessary medication, books, etc.
• The proper documents such as your passport, drivers license, and photo copies of everything.
• Sunscreen and insect repellant – don’t ever leave home without these things!
• Such optional items as binoculars, alarm clock, writing materials and other things.
2. Check your gear prior to leaving on a trip. Don’t wait until you arrive at a distant and remote lodge to discover that your rod tip is missing, your fly line is cracked, or your backing has mildewed and rotted. Preventative maintenance on your gear – before, during and after a trip - will add years to the life of your equipment.
3. Practice your casting prior to leaving for a trip! This is especially applicable if you are heading to the saltwater. Anglers who are proficient on their local trout stream with a 5-weight often times don’t realize that casting a 10-weight into the wind is a different game altogether. Practice casting with your saltwater set-ups prior to your departure. For best results, pick a stormy day at home, and practice casting both into and across the wind. For the best casting preparation, try casting at moving targets as well. That cat that your girlfriend brought home has got to be good for something!
4. Check your passport and travel documents to make sure that everything is valid and up-to-date. Don’t wait until you arrive at the airport to find out that your passport is expired!
5. Whenever a flight is involved, try to carry on your rods, reels, flies, sunglasses, a pair of shorts, sunscreen, and other important items that will allow you to fish for a day or two in the event that your checked luggage is lost or delayed.
6. Make sure that all of your checked and carry-on luggage is labeled with your current ID information. Use luggage tags on the outside, and include identification on the inside as well, in the event that a luggage tag is yanked off or destroyed.
7. Aside from the right rod and reel set-up, polarized sunglasses are perhaps the most important piece of equipment you’ll bring with you. In many situations (especially saltwater!) spotting fish in the saltwater is crucial and can make all the difference in the success of a trip. For this reason, you should buy the very best polarized sunglasses you can. For lenses, light amber or brown will work well in most situations. We prefer sunglasses that shape to our face and block out as much peripheral side and top light as possible. Bring a second pair in case the first one breaks or is lost!
8. If you’re like most anglers, you will probably want to bring your camera gear along with you on the river or in the boat. If so, then you will want to be sure that it is protected at all times. A good waterproof camera bag or hard-sided box is a must, as salt spray and/or water are constant factors. Be sure to bring lots of extra film, extra memory, spare batteries, and a soft lens cloth and solution for cleaning. If you still shoot film or slide film, remember that any film packed inside your checked baggage will be ruined by new baggage screening devices. Carry on your film and camera equipment, and request a hand-check if you have any doubt about the carry-on screening process. If you are shooting slide or print film, then we recommend a “leaded” film pouch that will protect your film from screening devices.
Have a great trip, and know that through the right amount of preparation, planning and practice, you have set yourself up for a successful and enjoyable angling experience!
October 2, 2008
The Yellowstone is the classic western freestone river and the only major U.S. river to escape damming. It starts in the Teton Wilderness, a stones throw away from the Snake River, flows into Yellowstone Lake, through Yellowstone Park, and cuts through Montana before meeting the Missouri at the Montana - North Dakota border. Over much of its length, it offers great trout fishing. Many of us grew up reading about fishing this blue ribbon water from legendary outdoorsmen like Joe Brooks, Charlie Waterman, Dan Bailey and Lee Wulff, and when you fish it you may be standing in their footprints.
The section above the lake is native cutthroat water and is only accessible on foot, horseback or by boat. Fish from the lake run into the River to spawn and can be abundant during summer months. It is a July 15th opener to protect spawners, and it is a catch and release fishery. Streamer patterns and attractor dries will work well for the hungry post spawn fish. The lake itself offers some fine fishing and opens June 15th. The primary species here is cutthroat, but growing numbers of lake trout have been showing up. Both species can be caught on streamers and leech patterns, such as mohair leeches, Kiwi Muddlers and Buggers. The fish seem to travel in schools along shoreline structure and action can be hot and heavy with periods of lulls. At times of hatches and calm winds, the cutt’s can be caught on callibaetis mayflies and damsels. The lake trout or mackinaw are a non-native species and must to be killed, to prevent their expansion, but you never know if you will catch a fifteen-inch or fifteen-pound specimen.
Below the Lake and through Hayden Valley, the Yellowstone has the look and feel of a large spring creek. Here again many of the fish are lake fish, which have moved into the river to spawn, and it is a July 15th opener. The Fishing Bridge, LeHardy Rapids and Hayden Valley area are closed to fishing, but there is plenty of great water in the area. When it opens, the fish are on the feed to replace calories lost during spawning and most fish are in the fifteen to twenty inch range. Combine this with the abundant hatches of Pale Morning Duns, Yellow Sallies and a variety of caddis, and the angling can be outstanding. Much of the fishing involves spotting fish and casting to them. For a while they can easy, but the fishing will be technical. Match the hatch patterns and emergers or sight nymphing is necessary. At times, ants, beetles and hoppers are productive. Even when the fishing is slow, it’s hard to have a bad time in these beautiful surroundings.
Below Canyon, the backcountry angler can have some great fishing for naïve cutthroats, but some sweat equity is involved. Trails lead into the Grand Canyon and the Black Canyon of the Yellowstone and drop down 1500 to 2500 feet to the River. The hike in is much easier than the hike out. Salmon flies and golden stones will hatch during early to late July. Attractor patterns like Convertibles, Madam X and Chernobyl’s are good searching patterns for these sections of water. As you get down in the Black Canyon, a mix of cutthroats, rainbows, browns, brookies and whitefish can be found. The trip can be done as a long day hike or overnighter. Make sure you carry ample water and gear, and bear spray isn’t a bad idea. For a less vigorous adventure, the bridge near Tower Junction offers access.
The Yellowstone River leaves the Park at Gardner, Montana. From this point down the river can be floated, and except for Gardner whitewater section and Yankee Jim Canyon most of it can be floated in a drift boat. Montana has done a great job of purchasing fishing accesses, which can be used a boat launches or for wade fishing. Camping is available at Loch Leven and Mallards Rest. The section from Gardner through Yankee Jim Canyon is primarily one channel with fast, deep water and has a high proportion of cutthroats. As you move below here, the gradient drops as you enter upper Paradise Valley and you will get some braiding. This fish populations is an even mix of cutt’s, browns and rainbows, and a good portion of the rainbows will be rainbow/cutthroat hybrids. The lower section of Paradise Valley, from Mallard’s Rest down to Livingston, flows at a quicker pace than the upper Valley. The Paradise Valley section is the most popular area, and many of the photos seen in magazines and calendars show this area with its backdrop of the Absorka Mountains. The section through Livingston has the highest population fish in the River, and many of these are 12” to 14” rainbows. Below Livingston, the Yellowstone changes its northerly direction and flows east. Fish populations drop, but the chance for some larger fish is there, and the surroundings are rural ranchlands. The geography changes as well as you leave the mountains and enter the plains. Seventy downstream of Livingston is where the Yellowstone changes from a trout fishery to a warmwater one.
Like all rivers the Yellowstone has its idiosyncrasies. On this river depth is the primary cover and sometimes it seems as if the browns are allergic to wood. Part of the reason for this is the gradual concave bottom of the river with its bowling ball size rock. As fish feel threatened they recede to deeper water in the pool. What seems like subtle changes in depth can be critical to finding fish. Another character of this river is its love/hate personality. One day she is gracious and others a whitefish would be a bonus. Summer hatches on this river can be very regional and one riffle can be alive while others are dead. Never leave a spot with rising trout.
The Yellowstone is open to fishing all year, and except for the dead of winter and runoff offers good options for the angler. In February, as days lengthen and warm, fish will become more active. Nymph fishing is generally the best bet. Look for deep, slow water adjacent to riffles. Trout are still using the insulation of the deeper water and saving energy. Midges will start to appear during this time frame, and with it the chance for dry fly activity. Midge clusters, midge emergers and small parachutes can work well. A midge pupae just a few inches below a dry are good for “bulging” fish. Foam lines and backeddies can get filled with bugs pushed into them by Livingston’s infamous winds. Around this time, rainbows will get more active prior to spawning and can be caught in riffles and runs with attractor nymphs.
March through runoff, which is around the first of May, is one of the best times on the Yellowstone. The midges and nymph fishing continue, but around the end of March and first of April, baetis will show up. These are good size blue wing olives in the #16 - # 18 range. The hatch seems to spread throughout most of the River. With the silver glare on the river, parachute Adams or BWOs with black or hot pink wings help the angler follow the fly. When floating a #14 dry with a smaller beadhead baetis or pheasant tails is a good bet. When wade fishing to a pod of fish, smaller, imitative flies, such as Sparkle Duns, Everything Emergers can be useful. Soft hackles to imitate the active nymphs are also good. Larger March Browns can also be found locally on the River, and look like sailboats compared to the smaller insects.
Around the end of April, the famous Mother’s Day Caddis Hatch will occur. Actually if you are there Mother’s Day, take Mom to dinner because you are too late. This hatch of brachycentrus cased caddis can be amazing. It is usually a mad race between runoff and the hatch. You want it to warm up enough for the bugs to hatch but not so much that the river floods. The number of bugs is astounding, and the fish notice them. The best dry fly fishing is during egg laying, and patterns like Dennis Sparkle Caddis, Peacock Caddis and Sanchez Foam Wing Caddis in #14 or #16 are good flies. At times a Coachman Trude or Midge Convertible are good hi-vis flies that you can pick out from the rafts of naturals. In the mornings a Glass House Caddis pupae of Prince Nymph will fool fish feeding of drifting larvae. Everything Emergers or X-Caddis are perfect for emerging pupae.
Runoff usually ends around mid-July, and depending on the year salmonflies coincide with the rivers clearing. Around Livingston and Paradise Valley fishing rubber leg nymphs is the most productive fishing, while on the upper Valley to Gardner there is more dry fly fishing. Accurate casts into the willows can be more important than the exact fly. Mystery Meat Salmonflies and Rubber Legs Stimulators are good adult imitations. At this same time, golden stones, Yellow Sallies (small golden stones) and caddis are common. In some sections of river the smaller flies will work better, and these hatches will be there long after the salmonflies are gone. Golden StoneX, Sally Stones and Elk Hair Caddis are good patterns. Convertibles can be good attractors as they have many of the attributes of a variety of the assorted bugs. A variety of mayflies hatch on the Yellowstone inn the summer. Overall these are localized hatches and can range from Pale Morning Duns to large Grey and Green Drakes. Parachutes or Wulffs in #16 - #12 are good searching flies.
One of the biggest summer hatches are hoppers. This will start in late July and go through September. With the structure of the River, you need to fish hoppers in different places than you would on other rivers. Two inches from the bank might have the flies in two inches of water. Look at inside corners, tailouts are troughs. Basically, look for holding water with an irregular depth. Sometimes, the best water is nondescript straight-aways and runs, and the best water can be fifteen feet from the bank. Large brown stones, classenia, are also found on the Yellowstone at this time and this may account for some of the midriver fishing. A Foam Wing Hopper or a Parachute Hopper are good imitations of both. Fishing Yuk Bugs, Buggers and Double Bunnies are good for early morning fishing and can bring out some larger specimens.
Fall fishing starts around the middle of September. Baetis perform an encore of the spring hatches, and pools, banks and riffles can be alive the small mayflies. The same patterns and techniques used in the spring will. Brown trout start to become active prior to spawning and the other species seem to put on the feedbag before winter starts. The Brown trout streamer fishing is similar to steelhead fishing. Rig a seven or eight weight rod with a running line and quick sinking shooting head, wade as deep as you dare and throw it as far as you can and cover the water. You will pay your dues, but you have a chance to catch some nice browns. There seems to be a bump in activity around the first of October and the end of the month. Feather streamers, such as Spruce Flies, are the most common patterns. When float fishing, rig a five weight for Blue wings and an eight weight for the junk. Cover the pool first with a dry and then streamer fish it. This is a great time of year with a mix of Indian Summer, snow storms, fall colors and snow covered vistas of the Absorkas.
Around November, fishing becomes tough not because of temperatures, but from wind. Thirty mile an hour winds with seventy-mile gust is a tough fly fishing gig. However, on calmer days midge dry fly fishing and nymphing can be great. Basically, the year ends the way it began.
The Yellowstone offers some varied and great fishing opportunities on the last major undammed river in the US.
Scott Sanchez
PO Box 3738
Jackson WY 83001
307 733 2041
scottsanchezflies@hotmail.com
The section above the lake is native cutthroat water and is only accessible on foot, horseback or by boat. Fish from the lake run into the River to spawn and can be abundant during summer months. It is a July 15th opener to protect spawners, and it is a catch and release fishery. Streamer patterns and attractor dries will work well for the hungry post spawn fish. The lake itself offers some fine fishing and opens June 15th. The primary species here is cutthroat, but growing numbers of lake trout have been showing up. Both species can be caught on streamers and leech patterns, such as mohair leeches, Kiwi Muddlers and Buggers. The fish seem to travel in schools along shoreline structure and action can be hot and heavy with periods of lulls. At times of hatches and calm winds, the cutt’s can be caught on callibaetis mayflies and damsels. The lake trout or mackinaw are a non-native species and must to be killed, to prevent their expansion, but you never know if you will catch a fifteen-inch or fifteen-pound specimen.
Below the Lake and through Hayden Valley, the Yellowstone has the look and feel of a large spring creek. Here again many of the fish are lake fish, which have moved into the river to spawn, and it is a July 15th opener. The Fishing Bridge, LeHardy Rapids and Hayden Valley area are closed to fishing, but there is plenty of great water in the area. When it opens, the fish are on the feed to replace calories lost during spawning and most fish are in the fifteen to twenty inch range. Combine this with the abundant hatches of Pale Morning Duns, Yellow Sallies and a variety of caddis, and the angling can be outstanding. Much of the fishing involves spotting fish and casting to them. For a while they can easy, but the fishing will be technical. Match the hatch patterns and emergers or sight nymphing is necessary. At times, ants, beetles and hoppers are productive. Even when the fishing is slow, it’s hard to have a bad time in these beautiful surroundings.
Below Canyon, the backcountry angler can have some great fishing for naïve cutthroats, but some sweat equity is involved. Trails lead into the Grand Canyon and the Black Canyon of the Yellowstone and drop down 1500 to 2500 feet to the River. The hike in is much easier than the hike out. Salmon flies and golden stones will hatch during early to late July. Attractor patterns like Convertibles, Madam X and Chernobyl’s are good searching patterns for these sections of water. As you get down in the Black Canyon, a mix of cutthroats, rainbows, browns, brookies and whitefish can be found. The trip can be done as a long day hike or overnighter. Make sure you carry ample water and gear, and bear spray isn’t a bad idea. For a less vigorous adventure, the bridge near Tower Junction offers access.
The Yellowstone River leaves the Park at Gardner, Montana. From this point down the river can be floated, and except for Gardner whitewater section and Yankee Jim Canyon most of it can be floated in a drift boat. Montana has done a great job of purchasing fishing accesses, which can be used a boat launches or for wade fishing. Camping is available at Loch Leven and Mallards Rest. The section from Gardner through Yankee Jim Canyon is primarily one channel with fast, deep water and has a high proportion of cutthroats. As you move below here, the gradient drops as you enter upper Paradise Valley and you will get some braiding. This fish populations is an even mix of cutt’s, browns and rainbows, and a good portion of the rainbows will be rainbow/cutthroat hybrids. The lower section of Paradise Valley, from Mallard’s Rest down to Livingston, flows at a quicker pace than the upper Valley. The Paradise Valley section is the most popular area, and many of the photos seen in magazines and calendars show this area with its backdrop of the Absorka Mountains. The section through Livingston has the highest population fish in the River, and many of these are 12” to 14” rainbows. Below Livingston, the Yellowstone changes its northerly direction and flows east. Fish populations drop, but the chance for some larger fish is there, and the surroundings are rural ranchlands. The geography changes as well as you leave the mountains and enter the plains. Seventy downstream of Livingston is where the Yellowstone changes from a trout fishery to a warmwater one.
Like all rivers the Yellowstone has its idiosyncrasies. On this river depth is the primary cover and sometimes it seems as if the browns are allergic to wood. Part of the reason for this is the gradual concave bottom of the river with its bowling ball size rock. As fish feel threatened they recede to deeper water in the pool. What seems like subtle changes in depth can be critical to finding fish. Another character of this river is its love/hate personality. One day she is gracious and others a whitefish would be a bonus. Summer hatches on this river can be very regional and one riffle can be alive while others are dead. Never leave a spot with rising trout.
The Yellowstone is open to fishing all year, and except for the dead of winter and runoff offers good options for the angler. In February, as days lengthen and warm, fish will become more active. Nymph fishing is generally the best bet. Look for deep, slow water adjacent to riffles. Trout are still using the insulation of the deeper water and saving energy. Midges will start to appear during this time frame, and with it the chance for dry fly activity. Midge clusters, midge emergers and small parachutes can work well. A midge pupae just a few inches below a dry are good for “bulging” fish. Foam lines and backeddies can get filled with bugs pushed into them by Livingston’s infamous winds. Around this time, rainbows will get more active prior to spawning and can be caught in riffles and runs with attractor nymphs.
March through runoff, which is around the first of May, is one of the best times on the Yellowstone. The midges and nymph fishing continue, but around the end of March and first of April, baetis will show up. These are good size blue wing olives in the #16 - # 18 range. The hatch seems to spread throughout most of the River. With the silver glare on the river, parachute Adams or BWOs with black or hot pink wings help the angler follow the fly. When floating a #14 dry with a smaller beadhead baetis or pheasant tails is a good bet. When wade fishing to a pod of fish, smaller, imitative flies, such as Sparkle Duns, Everything Emergers can be useful. Soft hackles to imitate the active nymphs are also good. Larger March Browns can also be found locally on the River, and look like sailboats compared to the smaller insects.
Around the end of April, the famous Mother’s Day Caddis Hatch will occur. Actually if you are there Mother’s Day, take Mom to dinner because you are too late. This hatch of brachycentrus cased caddis can be amazing. It is usually a mad race between runoff and the hatch. You want it to warm up enough for the bugs to hatch but not so much that the river floods. The number of bugs is astounding, and the fish notice them. The best dry fly fishing is during egg laying, and patterns like Dennis Sparkle Caddis, Peacock Caddis and Sanchez Foam Wing Caddis in #14 or #16 are good flies. At times a Coachman Trude or Midge Convertible are good hi-vis flies that you can pick out from the rafts of naturals. In the mornings a Glass House Caddis pupae of Prince Nymph will fool fish feeding of drifting larvae. Everything Emergers or X-Caddis are perfect for emerging pupae.
Runoff usually ends around mid-July, and depending on the year salmonflies coincide with the rivers clearing. Around Livingston and Paradise Valley fishing rubber leg nymphs is the most productive fishing, while on the upper Valley to Gardner there is more dry fly fishing. Accurate casts into the willows can be more important than the exact fly. Mystery Meat Salmonflies and Rubber Legs Stimulators are good adult imitations. At this same time, golden stones, Yellow Sallies (small golden stones) and caddis are common. In some sections of river the smaller flies will work better, and these hatches will be there long after the salmonflies are gone. Golden StoneX, Sally Stones and Elk Hair Caddis are good patterns. Convertibles can be good attractors as they have many of the attributes of a variety of the assorted bugs. A variety of mayflies hatch on the Yellowstone inn the summer. Overall these are localized hatches and can range from Pale Morning Duns to large Grey and Green Drakes. Parachutes or Wulffs in #16 - #12 are good searching flies.
One of the biggest summer hatches are hoppers. This will start in late July and go through September. With the structure of the River, you need to fish hoppers in different places than you would on other rivers. Two inches from the bank might have the flies in two inches of water. Look at inside corners, tailouts are troughs. Basically, look for holding water with an irregular depth. Sometimes, the best water is nondescript straight-aways and runs, and the best water can be fifteen feet from the bank. Large brown stones, classenia, are also found on the Yellowstone at this time and this may account for some of the midriver fishing. A Foam Wing Hopper or a Parachute Hopper are good imitations of both. Fishing Yuk Bugs, Buggers and Double Bunnies are good for early morning fishing and can bring out some larger specimens.
Fall fishing starts around the middle of September. Baetis perform an encore of the spring hatches, and pools, banks and riffles can be alive the small mayflies. The same patterns and techniques used in the spring will. Brown trout start to become active prior to spawning and the other species seem to put on the feedbag before winter starts. The Brown trout streamer fishing is similar to steelhead fishing. Rig a seven or eight weight rod with a running line and quick sinking shooting head, wade as deep as you dare and throw it as far as you can and cover the water. You will pay your dues, but you have a chance to catch some nice browns. There seems to be a bump in activity around the first of October and the end of the month. Feather streamers, such as Spruce Flies, are the most common patterns. When float fishing, rig a five weight for Blue wings and an eight weight for the junk. Cover the pool first with a dry and then streamer fish it. This is a great time of year with a mix of Indian Summer, snow storms, fall colors and snow covered vistas of the Absorkas.
Around November, fishing becomes tough not because of temperatures, but from wind. Thirty mile an hour winds with seventy-mile gust is a tough fly fishing gig. However, on calmer days midge dry fly fishing and nymphing can be great. Basically, the year ends the way it began.
The Yellowstone offers some varied and great fishing opportunities on the last major undammed river in the US.
Scott Sanchez
PO Box 3738
Jackson WY 83001
307 733 2041
scottsanchezflies@hotmail.com
October 2, 2008
I tie two epoxy sinking ant patterns, the TransparANT and the Attract-ANT, both of which are carried by Umpqua. They sink very slowly, usually only a few inches below the surface. I often fish them by themselves either to rising fish during a hatch or lightly weighted and with an indicator. What I have found to be a deadly technique with these two patterns is to fish them as a dropper about 12-16 inches behind a big terrestrial pattern like a hopper. I guess the trout see the hopper, come for it and decide to take the ant instead. Works like a charm!
Be sure to check out Harrison's amazing book, titled, Terrestrials
Be sure to check out Harrison's amazing book, titled, Terrestrials
October 2, 2008
CENTRAL TEXAS BASS FISHING
If you enjoy wade fishing crystal clear streams with healthy populations of native fish and float fishing scenic rivers lined with lush vegetation, I have a wonderful place for you. Some of the waters are spring creeks with abundant aquatic life and dense hatches. There are chances to sight cast almost every day and fish will actively rise to dries, eat nymphs and viciously attack streamers. This isn’t Montana, Wyoming or Idaho; it's central Texas. Texas probably has the best variety of fly-fishing in the United States and the Texas Hill Country is the gem. The Hill Country area is in central Texas east of Interstate 35. San Antonio forms the southern boundary and it extends north almost up to Waco. Although this isn't the Rocky Mountains, the terrain is very rugged and inclined. Numerous gullies and canyons flow through the limestone substrata and beautiful limestone cliffs and bluffs are found along the streams and rivers. If your ideas of the Texas landscape were formed from 1960's western movies, you will be pleasantly surprised. Northern trout fisherman will feel at home on these waters. The central Texas streams offer solitude, incredible fishing and beautiful surroundings.
When I followed my wife from Jackson, Wyoming to Austin, Texas some of my friends worried that my fly rods would collect dust. They couldn’t have been further from the truth. My wife attending graduate school at the University of Texas was a blessing. Austin is centrally located for access to the surrounding Hill Country waters. I was given the opportunity to expand my fishing experiences in a wonderful area and add a few more species to my fish checklist. My friends, Bill and Kay Jones of Dallas, gave me a copy of the late Bud Priddy's Fly Fishing the Texas Hill Country book. This excellent book and The Roads of Texas atlas helped me find some great spots. I also worked for the Austin Angler, which gave me access to a wealth of information. Although I now live in Montana, I still like to travel and fish this area.
This part of the world has large underground aquifers and most of the rivers and streams are partially or completely spring fed. This provides a source of clear water and maintains constant temperatures in the area adjacent to the spring. Damselflies, dragonflies and caddis hatch almost all year long and are found in numerous sizes and colors. Some waters have the large Hexagenia mayflies and terrestrials are common throughout the year. To round out the food chain, we have crawfish and a wide range of baitfish. The biomass in these waters probably exceeds that of most trout tailwaters.
The native Hill Country gamefish include largemouth bass, Guadalupe Bass, a variety of sunfish, channel catfish and Rio Grande Perch. The yellow breast sunfish, which are actually a red breast sunfish, are the predominant river sunfish and they will live and feed in current. Locally, sunfish are called "perch". Some of the popular introduced species are striped bass, white bass, spotted bass and smallmouth bass. Rainbow trout and brown trout are found on the Guadalupe River. This tailwater has a good population of stocked trout and a number of holdovers. The best trout fishing is in winter months. Some of the non-gamefish, such as carp, freshwater drum, buffalo, suckers and gar, can produce some fun fishing also. These fish can be sizeable and are probably the most difficult of the Texas species to catch on a fly. Given the choice of casting to a pound gamefish or a ten-pound "trash fish", I'll aim for the latter.
Stream access varies. Some rivers, such as sections of the Llano, Guadalupe and Colorado have state owned river bottoms and you may wade fish up to the high water mark. Legal access sites are state and local parks, low water crossings, or by paying an access fee at private recreation areas. Camping is available at many state parks. On other rivers, the actually river bottom may be privately owned. These are best fished by floating or fee fishing on a private recreation areas Floating may require portages so canoes, kick boats, or kayaks are the best bets. Good fishing can be had all year, but the best times are March – June and September – November. In the spring, abundant wild flowers such as bluebonnets will carpet the Hill Country and enhance the outdoor experience.
Llano River
This is one of my favorite streams in the world. It's crystal clear with riffles, runs and pools running over the colorful pink granite bottom. There are also areas of pocket water and numerous side channels. At the head of the riffles you will catch Guadalupe bass, in the runs and pocket water yellow breast sunfish, and in the pools and shaded banks largemouths will be present. It has a good population of the native Guadalupe Bass. The Texas State fish lives in current and is similar to a smallmouth in habits. They don’t get very large, but are aggressive, strong and beautiful. He is the cutthroat of the bass world and like the cutthroat is perfectly adapted to his environment. It is a great wade-fishing stream and can crossed at braids, riffles and tailouts. There are many access points. One of my favorite sections is in the town of Llano, a scenic seventy-mile drive from Austin. The city and county parks are excellent access points and the reservoirs provide fishing options. I have also floated the river. This is best left to the adventurous and should only be attempted with adequate flows. A kick boat with oars, canoe or kayaks are the best choices. Invariable you will portage around some rock gardens. The best sections are upstream of Llano and you will need to run your own shuttles.
I fish the Llano with two to four weight rods to take full advantage of the Guadalupe Bass, but largemouth exceeding eight pounds have been caught. You never know when Mr. Big might eat. I once had a sizeable Largemouth try to eat a Guadalupe off of my line. I’ve caught carp, spotted gar and largemouths up to a couple of pounds. Channel catfish and carp can sometimes be found tailing in the riffles as they look for nymphs. Traditional trout nymphs such as hares ears, pheasant tails and squirrel nymphs will work. Very large catfish have been caught in the Llano and I once stung a buffalo that was the size of my thigh. I doubt I would have landed him, but I had to try. I’ve fished some excellent caddis hatches with the pools stacked with rising fish. Madam Xs, Convertibles, Clouser Minnows, woolly buggers, pencil poppers and divers are useful patterns. A night at the historic Dabbs Hotel Bed & Breakfast, a restored turn of the century railroad hotel, and pork chops at the famous Coopers Barbecue are a good addition to any Llano fishing trip. Historically, this area was an important hunting ground for the Commanche Indians.
Blanco River
This limestone stream offers the chance of catching a large river smallmouth. I’ve also caught good largemouth, a variety of sunfish and catfish on the fly. Some of the of the yellow breast sunfish can reach good size. Numerous springs are found throughout the river and adjacent to them is thick aquatic vegetation. Water clarity is exceptional. Sight casting to visible fish can be effective. Deep pools are alternated with faster runs. Rock ledges give the fish cover and ambush points. However, access is limited. Floating this river is the best way to fish it and this should be done with caution and discretion. Area landowners are less than enthusiastic about recreational use of "their river" and the state owns the water but not the river bottom. Also, legal parking areas near low water crossings are not well defined. Wade access can be found at Blanco State Park, Little Arkansas Camp, a private fee area near Wimberly, and at Dudley Johnson Park near Kyle. All these areas also have small reservoirs on them, which have excellent stillwater angling. These spots are under an hours drive from Austin. There are good populations of insects, crawfish and minnows for the predators to feed on. Rubber leg Woolly Buggers, crawfish patterns, Kiwi Muddlers, damselfly nymphs and poppers are effective for the smallmouth, largemouth, spotted bass and sunfish. Joey Linn, an Austin fly fishing guide and photographer, has caught a number of smallmouth over three pounds on this water.
San Marcos River
A spring creek in Texas? The San Marcos bubbles out of the ground at 200 CFS with a constant 70-degree temperature. I’ve watched sunfish sipping Callibaetis mayflies as gently as any trout. Long strands of aquatic vegetation provide habitat for the abundant lifeforms and large Cypress trees form a canopy over the water. The area around the springs, the present City of San Marcos, is one the oldest constantly inhabited sites in the world. Our ancestors knew when they had a good thing. The river can be wade fished in the San Marcos City parks. As you move downstream most of the banks are deep and undercut. This creates wading difficulties, but it is an excellent floating river. You will be able to spot schools of bass and sunfish and watch them come to your fly. All the common bass and sunfish are found in this water with the addition of the Rio Grande Perch. This small cichlid is related to the peacock bass. They are difficult to catch on a fly and are considered a fly rod trophy even though a twelve-inch specimen is a large fish.
There are two excellent five-mile floats between I-35 and the town of Martindale. The Blanco flows into the San Marcos downstream of the city of San Marcos and doubles the flow. The lower float has class 3 rapids which can portaged if you don’t feel adventurous. Canoes and kayaks can be rented at Shady Grove campground in Martindale. They also offer float instructions and shuttles to put in points. I like to fish Madam Xs, Rabbit Charlies, mohair leeches and divers. Bass over five pounds inhabit the water and I once caught a foot long yellow breast sunfish. In hot and cold months, the upper river with its constant temperature will fish better than other central Texas streams.
Colorado River
The largest river in the area starts in west Texas and flows through Austin on its way to the Gulf of Mexico. The reservoirs on the Colorado are home to the white bass and his big brother the striped bass. These fish travel in schools looking for baitfish. A boat is used for this fishing. Chasing stripers busting bait on top is very exciting and you never know what size the fish might be. They could be two pounds or twenty-five pounds. Deceivers, Double Bunnies and Divers will imitate the injured shad. When it is good it’s incredible, but you will have some slow days. More consistent fishing can be had in the tailwaters below the power generating dams. When the dams are generating power, baitfish are forced out with water. This is makes an easy meal for the waiting predators. White bass are the most frequent catch, but stripers will key in on this also. Max Starke Dam or the dam on Lake Buchanan are good spots. Largemouth, Guadalupes and sunfish can be caught during slack water periods. You might also pick up a freshwater black drum or you can cast to carp tailing in the shallows like bonefish. Use caution when wade fishing as the water flows come up quickly and without an alarm sounding. A sinking shooting head is helpful in deeper holes. My Lipstick Minnow, Cypert’s Mylar Minnow and Clouser Minnows are good imitations of the common small baitfish.
The Colorado and tributaries such as the Llano and Perdenales host good spawning runs of white bass in the spring. They feed heavily on the stream minnows. Fishing can be fast and furious. The smaller males move in first. Later, when the females move up, the whites will average between a pound and two pounds. Small #8 bonefish flies or grey Clousers are very effective, but at times my Conehead the Barbarian fly in chartreuse can be deadly. There is also the chance a striper may be in feeding on the white bass. Last year, J.T. VanZandt, an Austin Angler guide, caught striper in the ten-pound range. Colorado Bend State Park, the mouth of the Llano at Lake LBJ and Reimers Ranch on the Perdenales are some of the more productive areas. This is one time when you will have company on the river.
Town Lake in downtown Austin can be fished for largemouth and sunfish. It holds some the bigger largemouth in the region. The perimeter of the lake is a city park with a walking trail or canoes can be rented. Barton Springs, a popular summer swimming hole, flows into Town Lake and it holds a number of fish. They will congregate here in winter months. I caught a redear sunfish during a January cold spell that was the size of this magazine. Above Barton Springs, Barton Creek is paralleled by a green belt hike and bike trail. The flow can intermittent, but I've caught fish in the deeper pools and smaller springs seep life into the creek during low water periods. It is urban backcountry angling. Onion Creek at McKinney State Park is a suburban small stream option.
Downstream of Austin, the river becomes larger, wider and slower as you drop out of the Hill Country. There are some big largemouth here. Trees and deadfall provide excellent habitat for them. The faster riffles and runs hold Guadalupe bass and stripers, white bass, channel catfish and large gar also inhabit the river. Larry Sunderlund of the Austin Angler uses his Montana style drift boat to float the Colorado. There are a number of floats that can be done. A canoe or kickboat can also be used. Traditional bass bugs, poppers, bendbacks and crawfish are good flies.
Tackle
A rod in the four to six weight range is ideal for most of the Hill Country fishing. These will allow you to cast reasonable size bass flies and still have fun with smaller bass and sunfish. Medium action rods are better than fast rods for throwing the wind resistant or weighted flies. A 7-½ foot 2x leader will cover most of your stream fishing. Floating lines will cover most situations, but a Teeny T-130 shooting head is helpful for probing deep pools. I’ll use a seven to nine weight rod for stripers and big bass fishing. A 0x leader is about the smallest I use. Full sinking lines are good for suspended fish in the reservoirs. Along with the before mentioned flies, Rocky Mountain style attractor dry flies, hoppers, trout nymphs and streamers will produce.
Cautions
As with any outdoor adventure there are inherent potential dangers. Flash flood warnings should be taken seriously. The hilly, rocky terrain pours water into ravines during heavy rainstorms. It can come up very quickly. A small creek can become a large river in a short time. Water moccasins and rattlesnakes are part of the area's fauna. I figure if I don't bother them, they won't bother me. Give them a little space and you should be fine. When floating make sure there is an adequate flow. Otherwise, you might be in for a long portage. Also, float with a partner. Some floats are very remote and a companion may save your life.
Austin has excellent air service. Austin is known as the live music capitol of the United States. Nightclubs have great music for people with any type of musical taste and there are frequent indoor and outdoor concerts. Austin restaurants are on par with the music and any style of food is available in good quality. This is a great place to take a non-fishing companion.
There are numerous other streams, rivers and lakes in the area. I highly recommend wetting a line in the fertile waters of central Texas.
If you enjoy wade fishing crystal clear streams with healthy populations of native fish and float fishing scenic rivers lined with lush vegetation, I have a wonderful place for you. Some of the waters are spring creeks with abundant aquatic life and dense hatches. There are chances to sight cast almost every day and fish will actively rise to dries, eat nymphs and viciously attack streamers. This isn’t Montana, Wyoming or Idaho; it's central Texas. Texas probably has the best variety of fly-fishing in the United States and the Texas Hill Country is the gem. The Hill Country area is in central Texas east of Interstate 35. San Antonio forms the southern boundary and it extends north almost up to Waco. Although this isn't the Rocky Mountains, the terrain is very rugged and inclined. Numerous gullies and canyons flow through the limestone substrata and beautiful limestone cliffs and bluffs are found along the streams and rivers. If your ideas of the Texas landscape were formed from 1960's western movies, you will be pleasantly surprised. Northern trout fisherman will feel at home on these waters. The central Texas streams offer solitude, incredible fishing and beautiful surroundings.
When I followed my wife from Jackson, Wyoming to Austin, Texas some of my friends worried that my fly rods would collect dust. They couldn’t have been further from the truth. My wife attending graduate school at the University of Texas was a blessing. Austin is centrally located for access to the surrounding Hill Country waters. I was given the opportunity to expand my fishing experiences in a wonderful area and add a few more species to my fish checklist. My friends, Bill and Kay Jones of Dallas, gave me a copy of the late Bud Priddy's Fly Fishing the Texas Hill Country book. This excellent book and The Roads of Texas atlas helped me find some great spots. I also worked for the Austin Angler, which gave me access to a wealth of information. Although I now live in Montana, I still like to travel and fish this area.
This part of the world has large underground aquifers and most of the rivers and streams are partially or completely spring fed. This provides a source of clear water and maintains constant temperatures in the area adjacent to the spring. Damselflies, dragonflies and caddis hatch almost all year long and are found in numerous sizes and colors. Some waters have the large Hexagenia mayflies and terrestrials are common throughout the year. To round out the food chain, we have crawfish and a wide range of baitfish. The biomass in these waters probably exceeds that of most trout tailwaters.
The native Hill Country gamefish include largemouth bass, Guadalupe Bass, a variety of sunfish, channel catfish and Rio Grande Perch. The yellow breast sunfish, which are actually a red breast sunfish, are the predominant river sunfish and they will live and feed in current. Locally, sunfish are called "perch". Some of the popular introduced species are striped bass, white bass, spotted bass and smallmouth bass. Rainbow trout and brown trout are found on the Guadalupe River. This tailwater has a good population of stocked trout and a number of holdovers. The best trout fishing is in winter months. Some of the non-gamefish, such as carp, freshwater drum, buffalo, suckers and gar, can produce some fun fishing also. These fish can be sizeable and are probably the most difficult of the Texas species to catch on a fly. Given the choice of casting to a pound gamefish or a ten-pound "trash fish", I'll aim for the latter.
Stream access varies. Some rivers, such as sections of the Llano, Guadalupe and Colorado have state owned river bottoms and you may wade fish up to the high water mark. Legal access sites are state and local parks, low water crossings, or by paying an access fee at private recreation areas. Camping is available at many state parks. On other rivers, the actually river bottom may be privately owned. These are best fished by floating or fee fishing on a private recreation areas Floating may require portages so canoes, kick boats, or kayaks are the best bets. Good fishing can be had all year, but the best times are March – June and September – November. In the spring, abundant wild flowers such as bluebonnets will carpet the Hill Country and enhance the outdoor experience.
Llano River
This is one of my favorite streams in the world. It's crystal clear with riffles, runs and pools running over the colorful pink granite bottom. There are also areas of pocket water and numerous side channels. At the head of the riffles you will catch Guadalupe bass, in the runs and pocket water yellow breast sunfish, and in the pools and shaded banks largemouths will be present. It has a good population of the native Guadalupe Bass. The Texas State fish lives in current and is similar to a smallmouth in habits. They don’t get very large, but are aggressive, strong and beautiful. He is the cutthroat of the bass world and like the cutthroat is perfectly adapted to his environment. It is a great wade-fishing stream and can crossed at braids, riffles and tailouts. There are many access points. One of my favorite sections is in the town of Llano, a scenic seventy-mile drive from Austin. The city and county parks are excellent access points and the reservoirs provide fishing options. I have also floated the river. This is best left to the adventurous and should only be attempted with adequate flows. A kick boat with oars, canoe or kayaks are the best choices. Invariable you will portage around some rock gardens. The best sections are upstream of Llano and you will need to run your own shuttles.
I fish the Llano with two to four weight rods to take full advantage of the Guadalupe Bass, but largemouth exceeding eight pounds have been caught. You never know when Mr. Big might eat. I once had a sizeable Largemouth try to eat a Guadalupe off of my line. I’ve caught carp, spotted gar and largemouths up to a couple of pounds. Channel catfish and carp can sometimes be found tailing in the riffles as they look for nymphs. Traditional trout nymphs such as hares ears, pheasant tails and squirrel nymphs will work. Very large catfish have been caught in the Llano and I once stung a buffalo that was the size of my thigh. I doubt I would have landed him, but I had to try. I’ve fished some excellent caddis hatches with the pools stacked with rising fish. Madam Xs, Convertibles, Clouser Minnows, woolly buggers, pencil poppers and divers are useful patterns. A night at the historic Dabbs Hotel Bed & Breakfast, a restored turn of the century railroad hotel, and pork chops at the famous Coopers Barbecue are a good addition to any Llano fishing trip. Historically, this area was an important hunting ground for the Commanche Indians.
Blanco River
This limestone stream offers the chance of catching a large river smallmouth. I’ve also caught good largemouth, a variety of sunfish and catfish on the fly. Some of the of the yellow breast sunfish can reach good size. Numerous springs are found throughout the river and adjacent to them is thick aquatic vegetation. Water clarity is exceptional. Sight casting to visible fish can be effective. Deep pools are alternated with faster runs. Rock ledges give the fish cover and ambush points. However, access is limited. Floating this river is the best way to fish it and this should be done with caution and discretion. Area landowners are less than enthusiastic about recreational use of "their river" and the state owns the water but not the river bottom. Also, legal parking areas near low water crossings are not well defined. Wade access can be found at Blanco State Park, Little Arkansas Camp, a private fee area near Wimberly, and at Dudley Johnson Park near Kyle. All these areas also have small reservoirs on them, which have excellent stillwater angling. These spots are under an hours drive from Austin. There are good populations of insects, crawfish and minnows for the predators to feed on. Rubber leg Woolly Buggers, crawfish patterns, Kiwi Muddlers, damselfly nymphs and poppers are effective for the smallmouth, largemouth, spotted bass and sunfish. Joey Linn, an Austin fly fishing guide and photographer, has caught a number of smallmouth over three pounds on this water.
San Marcos River
A spring creek in Texas? The San Marcos bubbles out of the ground at 200 CFS with a constant 70-degree temperature. I’ve watched sunfish sipping Callibaetis mayflies as gently as any trout. Long strands of aquatic vegetation provide habitat for the abundant lifeforms and large Cypress trees form a canopy over the water. The area around the springs, the present City of San Marcos, is one the oldest constantly inhabited sites in the world. Our ancestors knew when they had a good thing. The river can be wade fished in the San Marcos City parks. As you move downstream most of the banks are deep and undercut. This creates wading difficulties, but it is an excellent floating river. You will be able to spot schools of bass and sunfish and watch them come to your fly. All the common bass and sunfish are found in this water with the addition of the Rio Grande Perch. This small cichlid is related to the peacock bass. They are difficult to catch on a fly and are considered a fly rod trophy even though a twelve-inch specimen is a large fish.
There are two excellent five-mile floats between I-35 and the town of Martindale. The Blanco flows into the San Marcos downstream of the city of San Marcos and doubles the flow. The lower float has class 3 rapids which can portaged if you don’t feel adventurous. Canoes and kayaks can be rented at Shady Grove campground in Martindale. They also offer float instructions and shuttles to put in points. I like to fish Madam Xs, Rabbit Charlies, mohair leeches and divers. Bass over five pounds inhabit the water and I once caught a foot long yellow breast sunfish. In hot and cold months, the upper river with its constant temperature will fish better than other central Texas streams.
Colorado River
The largest river in the area starts in west Texas and flows through Austin on its way to the Gulf of Mexico. The reservoirs on the Colorado are home to the white bass and his big brother the striped bass. These fish travel in schools looking for baitfish. A boat is used for this fishing. Chasing stripers busting bait on top is very exciting and you never know what size the fish might be. They could be two pounds or twenty-five pounds. Deceivers, Double Bunnies and Divers will imitate the injured shad. When it is good it’s incredible, but you will have some slow days. More consistent fishing can be had in the tailwaters below the power generating dams. When the dams are generating power, baitfish are forced out with water. This is makes an easy meal for the waiting predators. White bass are the most frequent catch, but stripers will key in on this also. Max Starke Dam or the dam on Lake Buchanan are good spots. Largemouth, Guadalupes and sunfish can be caught during slack water periods. You might also pick up a freshwater black drum or you can cast to carp tailing in the shallows like bonefish. Use caution when wade fishing as the water flows come up quickly and without an alarm sounding. A sinking shooting head is helpful in deeper holes. My Lipstick Minnow, Cypert’s Mylar Minnow and Clouser Minnows are good imitations of the common small baitfish.
The Colorado and tributaries such as the Llano and Perdenales host good spawning runs of white bass in the spring. They feed heavily on the stream minnows. Fishing can be fast and furious. The smaller males move in first. Later, when the females move up, the whites will average between a pound and two pounds. Small #8 bonefish flies or grey Clousers are very effective, but at times my Conehead the Barbarian fly in chartreuse can be deadly. There is also the chance a striper may be in feeding on the white bass. Last year, J.T. VanZandt, an Austin Angler guide, caught striper in the ten-pound range. Colorado Bend State Park, the mouth of the Llano at Lake LBJ and Reimers Ranch on the Perdenales are some of the more productive areas. This is one time when you will have company on the river.
Town Lake in downtown Austin can be fished for largemouth and sunfish. It holds some the bigger largemouth in the region. The perimeter of the lake is a city park with a walking trail or canoes can be rented. Barton Springs, a popular summer swimming hole, flows into Town Lake and it holds a number of fish. They will congregate here in winter months. I caught a redear sunfish during a January cold spell that was the size of this magazine. Above Barton Springs, Barton Creek is paralleled by a green belt hike and bike trail. The flow can intermittent, but I've caught fish in the deeper pools and smaller springs seep life into the creek during low water periods. It is urban backcountry angling. Onion Creek at McKinney State Park is a suburban small stream option.
Downstream of Austin, the river becomes larger, wider and slower as you drop out of the Hill Country. There are some big largemouth here. Trees and deadfall provide excellent habitat for them. The faster riffles and runs hold Guadalupe bass and stripers, white bass, channel catfish and large gar also inhabit the river. Larry Sunderlund of the Austin Angler uses his Montana style drift boat to float the Colorado. There are a number of floats that can be done. A canoe or kickboat can also be used. Traditional bass bugs, poppers, bendbacks and crawfish are good flies.
Tackle
A rod in the four to six weight range is ideal for most of the Hill Country fishing. These will allow you to cast reasonable size bass flies and still have fun with smaller bass and sunfish. Medium action rods are better than fast rods for throwing the wind resistant or weighted flies. A 7-½ foot 2x leader will cover most of your stream fishing. Floating lines will cover most situations, but a Teeny T-130 shooting head is helpful for probing deep pools. I’ll use a seven to nine weight rod for stripers and big bass fishing. A 0x leader is about the smallest I use. Full sinking lines are good for suspended fish in the reservoirs. Along with the before mentioned flies, Rocky Mountain style attractor dry flies, hoppers, trout nymphs and streamers will produce.
Cautions
As with any outdoor adventure there are inherent potential dangers. Flash flood warnings should be taken seriously. The hilly, rocky terrain pours water into ravines during heavy rainstorms. It can come up very quickly. A small creek can become a large river in a short time. Water moccasins and rattlesnakes are part of the area's fauna. I figure if I don't bother them, they won't bother me. Give them a little space and you should be fine. When floating make sure there is an adequate flow. Otherwise, you might be in for a long portage. Also, float with a partner. Some floats are very remote and a companion may save your life.
Austin has excellent air service. Austin is known as the live music capitol of the United States. Nightclubs have great music for people with any type of musical taste and there are frequent indoor and outdoor concerts. Austin restaurants are on par with the music and any style of food is available in good quality. This is a great place to take a non-fishing companion.
There are numerous other streams, rivers and lakes in the area. I highly recommend wetting a line in the fertile waters of central Texas.
October 2, 2008
The last time she and I fished together I learned a new fishing strategy. I remember because she wore a bikini top in the bow when the sun came out, and I became distracted because that is one of those things I really like, bikini tops in the bow of fishing boats. I also remember this day because she caught more fish than I did, using a technique I had never really considered up until that point. Not one that she had invented, but one passed onto us by the lucky guide oaring the boat down the Snake River, who I suspect was enjoying the bikini as much as I was from the stern.
An outfitter friend had procured a deal for us on a guided trip, where he ate the cost, paid the guide, and we got a deal. I jumped on the offer, thinking how nice it would be to un-tie my own tangles, be the client for a day, and not have to concern myself with artfully constructed compliments on my girlfriend’s casting and tactful suggestions about how to do this or that. That was the guide’s job, and we both felt that her receiving instruction from another guide rather than me would be one of those good things for couples, like going to a marriage counselor, or doing what you do after making up after a bad quarrel.
However, that morning at the ramp I began to reconsider our decision when the guide opened up the one box he had, which was packed with the same fly, in the same color and the same size, all red Chernobyl ants and nothing else. Then he told me how she needed to fish this fly.
“Katherine,” he said, “cast this thing at the bank, then mend it, but I mean big mends, and don’t stop mending it.”
The effect of course was that of a bass popper, and though I secretly doubted it at first, I soon realized that she was catching the hell out of the fish, and that I was becoming increasingly jealous over the fact that this other man’s ploy had worked so well making him look like the hero while her saggy-ass boyfriend sat with a limp rod in the stern, a pupil to his own ignorance.
Regardless, it worked. The large degree of terrestrials on the bank, beetles, hoppers, ants, and the like, would on occasion fall into the water and in a desperate attempt to get out make such a ruckus that the fish had become accustomed to this popping motion, and apparently craved it. While this may not be news to everyone, it was for me, the consummate Colorado-dead-drift nymphs-and-dries-and-everything-else fisherman. I mean really, how often do you see boats working banks by ripping big foam things through the water as if they were floating streamers?
The day ended, and she hammered fish until her arm was sore, and though I had not come up with the witty tactic that had brought so many trout to the net, she assured me later on that I was indeed still her hero.
Life’s lesson number one: When fishing with a significant other…GET A GUIDE! You can be the hero later on, when it counts.
I recalled the popping of the foam the following summer, and tried with minimal success on my home rivers with clients and friends. They all looked at me like I had just asked them to remove their trousers and fish the next bend naked when I suggested they throw larger mends and make that bug move. It didn’t work so well, not like that day on the Snake, so I forgot about it like so many other fishing tricks that I have learned over the years.
I still happened to be with the same wonderful woman, and though we had been too busy to fish together things were going great and as far as I could tell I was still the hero I wanted to be, until that following spring when I told her I would be guiding in Chile next winter. So began the slippery slope of the break up so common to those who have a hard time staying in the country while beautiful significant others wait at home for them. She was not about to wait, and as I eventually learned, had grown quite tired of my angling lust making my four month disappearance to Chile the final straw.
It ended and I became just another single fishing guide that summer. I made attempts at popping the foam, but it brought back more memories than hooked fish, so I again quit this tactic citing emotional reasons. That is until I met my new boss several months later in Patagonia, Chile.
“You do what?” I asked rhetorically.
“Yep, we pop it. And I mean fast. The faster you move that Gypsy King across the surface, the bigger the fish I say.”
And he was right. The first time we went out, he suggested I tie on the big, black foam thing with hair known as Rance’s Gypsy King. I threw it at the bank, and made over exaggerated mends as my now ex-girlfriend had done before, giving the fly an injured limp across the surface.
“No.” My boss said, “Move it faster.”
So I made bigger mends and more of them, and the fly retained its injured limp motion, only quicker now, like an old man in a walker trying to out run a pit bull chasing him down the street. I looked like an idiot.
“No, faster, damn it!” A snarl came from the oars, “Make it kick some water.” And with that he jumped up, snatched the rod and began sweeping setting the foam fly across the surface, which no longer looked like a man in a walker outrunning a pit-bull, but like a Hemi truck running down a pit-bull in a snowy field. That is when the giant brown trout erupted from the clear water in a shotgun style leap, slamming the Hemi truck fly into the air and down its gullet.
Over the season, I analyzed this technique, and found other ways to pop the foam. I was feeling better about my ex-girlfriend, and the popping of the foam, which soon became almost therapeutic, like anything that catches fish. However, it wasn’t just that this pop, pop, pop, caught fish, but unlike the grabs my ex got from the cutthroats on the Snake, these fish absolutely exploded out of the water, launching into the air Shamu style with the foam treat hooked into their lips.
Here, again, I found myself in a terrestrial fishery. But unlike those in rivers in the states know for their hoppers, this one had larger more obnoxious bugs to present. First of all, the lack of aquatic insect life meant that the fish relied more heavily on what came from above. Beetles and hoppers and dragonflies (though I am not sure this exactly falls into the terrestrial class). Second: that many of the beetles and dragonflies didn’t just plop in the water and wiggle their ass. They moved like Cale Yarborough down the speedway. My boss would tell me stories of trout chasing the flying dragonflies as they zipped over the water’s surface, so intent on the moving bug that they would swim through your legs, and eventually you would see the fish explode into the air and eat the dragonfly a foot or more above the surface.
I eventually deduced that the popping of the foam worked so well in Chile because percussion sound travels better in water than in air, so when a fly splats on the water and then raises hell moving across the current, the fish can pick up on that movement, that excitement, perhaps better than a silent string leach moving by.
And in order to create this noisy attraction, I drew upon the lessons I’d learned from the bass pros when fishing top water baits. Lower the rod tip until it almost touches the water, then strip and sweep low, this will drive the buoyant fly down, creating a bigger splash, more noise, and hopefully more fish.
However, it doesn’t work so well on rivers where fish don’t need to chase their food, or when they do it is the plentiful smaller fish stupidly gorging on drowned tricos that they chase. But I have had big looks by big fish on the Yellowstone and the Madison with this same approach, though it seems to work best…well, in Chile. However, this angling ploy serves as a reminder of a more poignant point. That tricks and tactics are products of their environment, they work well in the situations that are most conducive to that particular trick or tactic. So, when learning new schemes to catch the wily trout, don’t just learn the moves, but look at why the moves work, look at the environment around the trick. Or something wise like that.
Which brings me to life lesson number 2: Fish are predators and like things that move. Women, however, don’t.
An outfitter friend had procured a deal for us on a guided trip, where he ate the cost, paid the guide, and we got a deal. I jumped on the offer, thinking how nice it would be to un-tie my own tangles, be the client for a day, and not have to concern myself with artfully constructed compliments on my girlfriend’s casting and tactful suggestions about how to do this or that. That was the guide’s job, and we both felt that her receiving instruction from another guide rather than me would be one of those good things for couples, like going to a marriage counselor, or doing what you do after making up after a bad quarrel.
However, that morning at the ramp I began to reconsider our decision when the guide opened up the one box he had, which was packed with the same fly, in the same color and the same size, all red Chernobyl ants and nothing else. Then he told me how she needed to fish this fly.
“Katherine,” he said, “cast this thing at the bank, then mend it, but I mean big mends, and don’t stop mending it.”
The effect of course was that of a bass popper, and though I secretly doubted it at first, I soon realized that she was catching the hell out of the fish, and that I was becoming increasingly jealous over the fact that this other man’s ploy had worked so well making him look like the hero while her saggy-ass boyfriend sat with a limp rod in the stern, a pupil to his own ignorance.
Regardless, it worked. The large degree of terrestrials on the bank, beetles, hoppers, ants, and the like, would on occasion fall into the water and in a desperate attempt to get out make such a ruckus that the fish had become accustomed to this popping motion, and apparently craved it. While this may not be news to everyone, it was for me, the consummate Colorado-dead-drift nymphs-and-dries-and-everything-else fisherman. I mean really, how often do you see boats working banks by ripping big foam things through the water as if they were floating streamers?
The day ended, and she hammered fish until her arm was sore, and though I had not come up with the witty tactic that had brought so many trout to the net, she assured me later on that I was indeed still her hero.
Life’s lesson number one: When fishing with a significant other…GET A GUIDE! You can be the hero later on, when it counts.
I recalled the popping of the foam the following summer, and tried with minimal success on my home rivers with clients and friends. They all looked at me like I had just asked them to remove their trousers and fish the next bend naked when I suggested they throw larger mends and make that bug move. It didn’t work so well, not like that day on the Snake, so I forgot about it like so many other fishing tricks that I have learned over the years.
I still happened to be with the same wonderful woman, and though we had been too busy to fish together things were going great and as far as I could tell I was still the hero I wanted to be, until that following spring when I told her I would be guiding in Chile next winter. So began the slippery slope of the break up so common to those who have a hard time staying in the country while beautiful significant others wait at home for them. She was not about to wait, and as I eventually learned, had grown quite tired of my angling lust making my four month disappearance to Chile the final straw.
It ended and I became just another single fishing guide that summer. I made attempts at popping the foam, but it brought back more memories than hooked fish, so I again quit this tactic citing emotional reasons. That is until I met my new boss several months later in Patagonia, Chile.
“You do what?” I asked rhetorically.
“Yep, we pop it. And I mean fast. The faster you move that Gypsy King across the surface, the bigger the fish I say.”
And he was right. The first time we went out, he suggested I tie on the big, black foam thing with hair known as Rance’s Gypsy King. I threw it at the bank, and made over exaggerated mends as my now ex-girlfriend had done before, giving the fly an injured limp across the surface.
“No.” My boss said, “Move it faster.”
So I made bigger mends and more of them, and the fly retained its injured limp motion, only quicker now, like an old man in a walker trying to out run a pit bull chasing him down the street. I looked like an idiot.
“No, faster, damn it!” A snarl came from the oars, “Make it kick some water.” And with that he jumped up, snatched the rod and began sweeping setting the foam fly across the surface, which no longer looked like a man in a walker outrunning a pit-bull, but like a Hemi truck running down a pit-bull in a snowy field. That is when the giant brown trout erupted from the clear water in a shotgun style leap, slamming the Hemi truck fly into the air and down its gullet.
Over the season, I analyzed this technique, and found other ways to pop the foam. I was feeling better about my ex-girlfriend, and the popping of the foam, which soon became almost therapeutic, like anything that catches fish. However, it wasn’t just that this pop, pop, pop, caught fish, but unlike the grabs my ex got from the cutthroats on the Snake, these fish absolutely exploded out of the water, launching into the air Shamu style with the foam treat hooked into their lips.
Here, again, I found myself in a terrestrial fishery. But unlike those in rivers in the states know for their hoppers, this one had larger more obnoxious bugs to present. First of all, the lack of aquatic insect life meant that the fish relied more heavily on what came from above. Beetles and hoppers and dragonflies (though I am not sure this exactly falls into the terrestrial class). Second: that many of the beetles and dragonflies didn’t just plop in the water and wiggle their ass. They moved like Cale Yarborough down the speedway. My boss would tell me stories of trout chasing the flying dragonflies as they zipped over the water’s surface, so intent on the moving bug that they would swim through your legs, and eventually you would see the fish explode into the air and eat the dragonfly a foot or more above the surface.
I eventually deduced that the popping of the foam worked so well in Chile because percussion sound travels better in water than in air, so when a fly splats on the water and then raises hell moving across the current, the fish can pick up on that movement, that excitement, perhaps better than a silent string leach moving by.
And in order to create this noisy attraction, I drew upon the lessons I’d learned from the bass pros when fishing top water baits. Lower the rod tip until it almost touches the water, then strip and sweep low, this will drive the buoyant fly down, creating a bigger splash, more noise, and hopefully more fish.
However, it doesn’t work so well on rivers where fish don’t need to chase their food, or when they do it is the plentiful smaller fish stupidly gorging on drowned tricos that they chase. But I have had big looks by big fish on the Yellowstone and the Madison with this same approach, though it seems to work best…well, in Chile. However, this angling ploy serves as a reminder of a more poignant point. That tricks and tactics are products of their environment, they work well in the situations that are most conducive to that particular trick or tactic. So, when learning new schemes to catch the wily trout, don’t just learn the moves, but look at why the moves work, look at the environment around the trick. Or something wise like that.
Which brings me to life lesson number 2: Fish are predators and like things that move. Women, however, don’t.
October 2, 2008
“Leave the stripping to the girls at Fred’s Lounge- dead drift your wooly buggers”
Well, I guess it’s a little more complicated than that. But, I have never in fifteen years had a new client step in my boat that fully understood how I wanted them to fish a bugger, so I figured this might be a good tip to put in print.
Whenever I mention to a client that I’d like them to try a bugger, I often get that scared, deer in the headlights look, followed by a comment about how they don’t like bugger fishing because it is too much work to be constantly stripping as fast as you can. Over the years, we have developed a technique that is a hybrid between indicator nymph fishing and stripped streamer fishing. Before I get too far into the details, let me explain why it works.
Most of the waters of Western Montana are medium to higher gradient streams with a lot of pocket water. We have a lot of big stoneflies hatches. The stonefly family includes the famous Salmonflies, Golden Stones, Skwallas, and Acrenuria. These stoneflies are all greater than an inch long, and all are on at least a two to five year cycle as nymphs. We also have a lot of sculpins in our rivers. That means that our fish eat stonefly nymphs all year long, and are very accustomed to seeing a big meal come rolling down their feeding lane. The technique I will describe tries to imitate the behavior of both stonefly nymphs and sculpin minnows in the same technique.
Here is my theory…If you see a great seam wrapping around a boulder and extending downstream for 10-20 feet, why would you only keep your fly on (or under) that seam for only one or two feet? With a dry fly you would make you cast and set up your mend so that you could get as long a drift as possible, but most people throw their buggers in and strip them right back out of the feeding lane, and hope that the fish will chase. Granted, fish will charge after a fast stripped fly occasionally, but only when the water temps are right and the stars are properly aligned.
Set Up
I tie my buggers on size 6 and 8, 3x long hooks. Almost always with a single brass bead, some rubber legs (to look like a stonefly) and I usually stack all the hackle just behind the bead, for the tapered look of a sculpin, rather than the usual palmer style. Vary your colors as the dominant stonefly hatches and water color change. Black and orange for Salmonflies, brown and yellow for goldens, etc. Add more color to the fly as the water becomes more turbid.
Rig your leader with about 10” of tipped so that one or two BB size shot can be placed above the knot. I always prefer this to a heavily weighted fly. Place your indicator three to six feet above your fly depending on the depth. I prefer the pinch on foam or corky type indicators, rather than yarn. Yarn does not stay buoyant when repeatedly twitched though the water.
Pocket Water
Let me paint a picture of a typical holding seam near the bank. A boulder, stump, or protruding gravel bar will push out into the current and create a pocket of slower water. The seam (the line between the fast and slow) will extend down from the object until it dissipates, and the water speeds become even again. The slow water directly behind the object will often re-circulate upstream in an eddy. The water just down from the boulder will generally be the deepest part of the seam, and then it will become increasingly shallow as the seam dissipates. The water will also become increasingly shallow as you move closer to the bank. Blocked on two sides by the bank and the boulder, the eddy water will be pushed out against the faster current and be swept back downstream in the “seam.” These seams come in many sizes and scales. Sometimes the entire river will turn around a point and we call that an “inside seam” of the river.
Execution
The simplified explanation of the technique is to let your fly go as slow as possible without hanging up on bottom, while adding life-like action to your fly, and keeping it in the strike zone for as long as possible.
To fully understand it, let’s walk through the ultimate drift in the theoretical pocket described above.
From a straight across position cast your fly near the bank several feet below the boulder. Finish you cast with a high rod tip (creating a bit of slack) so that you can make a large mend upstream. This will tighten your leader and allow your fly to swim with the current upstream in the eddy water. Keep you eyes glued to that indicator and don’t doubt yourself, don’t be afraid to strike!
As the indicators get pushed out near the seam your indicators will slow down and allow your fly to sink (the water direction is about to change.) Now sweep a large mend down over your indicators and allow a little drag to grab your fly line and speed up your fly. Your fly line should be laying straight down the seam in front of your fly. Your fly will be dragged straight down the feeding lane.
Remember that you want your fly to go as slow as possible, so now you need to slow it down. This is achieved by making a series of “kick mends” all the way down the seam. A “kick mend” is a tight mend upstream that tugs at first and then rolls a small loop right up the fly line, usually only as far as the indicators. This kick mend achieves many things all in one smooth motion. First, the tug twitches the indicators downstream, which both straightens your leader (so you can instantly see or feel the take) and bounces the fly up off the bottom (giving action). Second, the tight loop mend instantly gives slack to the indicators and allows you fly to sink again. Repeat all the way down the seam whenever your fly seems to go too fast. If you wish you can tighten up and allow your fly to swing out at the end of your drift.
Rules of Thumb
1) Always keep you indicators down current of your fly (remember eddy currents can move upstream.)
2) Fish will always face into the current.
3) If your fly leads your indicators you will not see the take.
4) Mending up current will let your fly sink.
5) Mending down will speed up you fly and make it rise up.
6) Approach deeper pockets from slightly above, shallow pockets from below.
7) The colder the water temps, the slower the drift.
8) Wherever you mend your line, if you tug, your fly will follow.
The result of this technique is that your fly follows the depth profile of the pocket, stays in the feeding lane, has controlled life-like darting action, yet drifts at an appropriate speed. Give it a try on your home river from early spring until the high water completely settles. And if the fish are off in the mid-summer dog days try it again. PS- it is also deadly for smallies.
Good luck and keep in touch,
Joe
Well, I guess it’s a little more complicated than that. But, I have never in fifteen years had a new client step in my boat that fully understood how I wanted them to fish a bugger, so I figured this might be a good tip to put in print.
Whenever I mention to a client that I’d like them to try a bugger, I often get that scared, deer in the headlights look, followed by a comment about how they don’t like bugger fishing because it is too much work to be constantly stripping as fast as you can. Over the years, we have developed a technique that is a hybrid between indicator nymph fishing and stripped streamer fishing. Before I get too far into the details, let me explain why it works.
Most of the waters of Western Montana are medium to higher gradient streams with a lot of pocket water. We have a lot of big stoneflies hatches. The stonefly family includes the famous Salmonflies, Golden Stones, Skwallas, and Acrenuria. These stoneflies are all greater than an inch long, and all are on at least a two to five year cycle as nymphs. We also have a lot of sculpins in our rivers. That means that our fish eat stonefly nymphs all year long, and are very accustomed to seeing a big meal come rolling down their feeding lane. The technique I will describe tries to imitate the behavior of both stonefly nymphs and sculpin minnows in the same technique.
Here is my theory…If you see a great seam wrapping around a boulder and extending downstream for 10-20 feet, why would you only keep your fly on (or under) that seam for only one or two feet? With a dry fly you would make you cast and set up your mend so that you could get as long a drift as possible, but most people throw their buggers in and strip them right back out of the feeding lane, and hope that the fish will chase. Granted, fish will charge after a fast stripped fly occasionally, but only when the water temps are right and the stars are properly aligned.
Set Up
I tie my buggers on size 6 and 8, 3x long hooks. Almost always with a single brass bead, some rubber legs (to look like a stonefly) and I usually stack all the hackle just behind the bead, for the tapered look of a sculpin, rather than the usual palmer style. Vary your colors as the dominant stonefly hatches and water color change. Black and orange for Salmonflies, brown and yellow for goldens, etc. Add more color to the fly as the water becomes more turbid.
Rig your leader with about 10” of tipped so that one or two BB size shot can be placed above the knot. I always prefer this to a heavily weighted fly. Place your indicator three to six feet above your fly depending on the depth. I prefer the pinch on foam or corky type indicators, rather than yarn. Yarn does not stay buoyant when repeatedly twitched though the water.
Pocket Water
Let me paint a picture of a typical holding seam near the bank. A boulder, stump, or protruding gravel bar will push out into the current and create a pocket of slower water. The seam (the line between the fast and slow) will extend down from the object until it dissipates, and the water speeds become even again. The slow water directly behind the object will often re-circulate upstream in an eddy. The water just down from the boulder will generally be the deepest part of the seam, and then it will become increasingly shallow as the seam dissipates. The water will also become increasingly shallow as you move closer to the bank. Blocked on two sides by the bank and the boulder, the eddy water will be pushed out against the faster current and be swept back downstream in the “seam.” These seams come in many sizes and scales. Sometimes the entire river will turn around a point and we call that an “inside seam” of the river.
Execution
The simplified explanation of the technique is to let your fly go as slow as possible without hanging up on bottom, while adding life-like action to your fly, and keeping it in the strike zone for as long as possible.
To fully understand it, let’s walk through the ultimate drift in the theoretical pocket described above.
From a straight across position cast your fly near the bank several feet below the boulder. Finish you cast with a high rod tip (creating a bit of slack) so that you can make a large mend upstream. This will tighten your leader and allow your fly to swim with the current upstream in the eddy water. Keep you eyes glued to that indicator and don’t doubt yourself, don’t be afraid to strike!
As the indicators get pushed out near the seam your indicators will slow down and allow your fly to sink (the water direction is about to change.) Now sweep a large mend down over your indicators and allow a little drag to grab your fly line and speed up your fly. Your fly line should be laying straight down the seam in front of your fly. Your fly will be dragged straight down the feeding lane.
Remember that you want your fly to go as slow as possible, so now you need to slow it down. This is achieved by making a series of “kick mends” all the way down the seam. A “kick mend” is a tight mend upstream that tugs at first and then rolls a small loop right up the fly line, usually only as far as the indicators. This kick mend achieves many things all in one smooth motion. First, the tug twitches the indicators downstream, which both straightens your leader (so you can instantly see or feel the take) and bounces the fly up off the bottom (giving action). Second, the tight loop mend instantly gives slack to the indicators and allows you fly to sink again. Repeat all the way down the seam whenever your fly seems to go too fast. If you wish you can tighten up and allow your fly to swing out at the end of your drift.
Rules of Thumb
1) Always keep you indicators down current of your fly (remember eddy currents can move upstream.)
2) Fish will always face into the current.
3) If your fly leads your indicators you will not see the take.
4) Mending up current will let your fly sink.
5) Mending down will speed up you fly and make it rise up.
6) Approach deeper pockets from slightly above, shallow pockets from below.
7) The colder the water temps, the slower the drift.
8) Wherever you mend your line, if you tug, your fly will follow.
The result of this technique is that your fly follows the depth profile of the pocket, stays in the feeding lane, has controlled life-like darting action, yet drifts at an appropriate speed. Give it a try on your home river from early spring until the high water completely settles. And if the fish are off in the mid-summer dog days try it again. PS- it is also deadly for smallies.
Good luck and keep in touch,
Joe
October 2, 2008
“Double Haul Camp Coffee” AKA “Rotator Cuff Coffee”
Ingredients needed: A little cold water, a lot of centrifugal force, and a splash of faith.
Forget the eggshells, mule spit and all those other secret tricks that are said to settle the grounds in a pot of camp coffee! Get your calisthenics and caffeine at the same time.
1) Throw away that basket thing that comes with the coffee pot
2) Boil 2/3 full pot of fresh spring water
3) Remove from heat at least 30 seconds before adding coffee or you will have a boiling volcano of coffee grounds
4) Add twice as much ground coffee as you would at home.
5) Set pot half-on half-off the burner. The water will “roll” up one side and down the other creating the perfect brewing conditions.
6) Let brew for about five minutes and remove from heat
7) Swing pot by the handle up over your head (quickly) - Use the force, Luke….centrifugal!
8) Hat is recommended to minimize burning in the event of a malfunction, although a large brim will get in the way of swing path.
9) Let sit while you take a couple of Advil, and your shoulder will be ready to cast all day.
10) Grounds will completely settle to the bottom. Just don’t have the last cup.
11) Best enjoyed out of the tin cup you were drinking whiskey out of the night before.
Ingredients needed: A little cold water, a lot of centrifugal force, and a splash of faith.
Forget the eggshells, mule spit and all those other secret tricks that are said to settle the grounds in a pot of camp coffee! Get your calisthenics and caffeine at the same time.
1) Throw away that basket thing that comes with the coffee pot
2) Boil 2/3 full pot of fresh spring water
3) Remove from heat at least 30 seconds before adding coffee or you will have a boiling volcano of coffee grounds
4) Add twice as much ground coffee as you would at home.
5) Set pot half-on half-off the burner. The water will “roll” up one side and down the other creating the perfect brewing conditions.
6) Let brew for about five minutes and remove from heat
7) Swing pot by the handle up over your head (quickly) - Use the force, Luke….centrifugal!
8) Hat is recommended to minimize burning in the event of a malfunction, although a large brim will get in the way of swing path.
9) Let sit while you take a couple of Advil, and your shoulder will be ready to cast all day.
10) Grounds will completely settle to the bottom. Just don’t have the last cup.
11) Best enjoyed out of the tin cup you were drinking whiskey out of the night before.
September 8, 2008
Spey casting tip 1: Lining up your anchor
Many Spey casters have difficulty getting the end of their line and leader to turn over properly. Some blame the design of their lines, others blame their leaders, still others blame their rods. Sometimes these much-maligned components of kit are the problem, but more often than not, the culprit lies in a simple casting flaw.
By definition, a Spey cast is a cast where the backcast is made under the rod tip and the end of the line and leader are allowed to touch down on the water transiently, immediately before the forward cast is made. Simple enough, but not enough people pay attention to how the line lands on the water. The end of the line and leader form the anchor or grip, and essentially freeze the momentum of the line on the backcast so that the rod can be made to bend (or load) against it for the forward cast. If the anchor is not formed properly, casting distance will definitely suffer, as will line turnover.
One thing that separates good, consistent Spey casters from wannabes is the way good casters always line up their anchors in the direction of their forward cast. The anchor shape is also linear, not crumpled or bent. By focusing on improving your anchor shape and direction, your casting consistency and line turnover will rapidly improve.
Tip 2: Casting Stroke Length is Proportional to the Belly Length of Line Used
Many Spey casters learn with short belly lines, like the Scientific Anglers Short Head, Rio Windcutter, or Airfo Delta. All of these lines have short bellies (around 55 feet). Although relatively easy to learn Spey casting with, these short belly lines often lead to the development of bad habits or arrested casting development, especially when the budding Spey caster wants to use longer belly lines.
The casting stroke is determined by when the rod tip starts moving at the beginning of the cast to when it stops. Between these two points, during any cast (forward or back), the rod tip should be accelerated, with the tip speed steadily increasing until the casting stroke is abruptly stopped, ending the casting stroke. The distance that the rod tip travels between stops is the stroke length.
Using a short belly line and a long rod (14-16 feet) mandates a short stroke length (a longer stroke length will often cause the anchor to skip out of the water, killing the cast). When advancing to longer belly lines, remember that if you are carrying more line out the tip of the rod, you will have to increase your stroke length, both on the Spey backcast (making the D loop) as well as on your forward cast. One easy way to increase your stroke length and simultaneously improve the efficiency of your casting is to start using your torso. By rotating your torso back during the backcast, and forward during the forward cast, you can increase your stroke length by up to two feet, while simultaneously adding power without additional arm strain.
Tip 3: The importance of a sudden stop:
Many beginning and intermediate Spey casters have difficulty casting tight, efficient loops. Although the slower actions of Spey rods may contribute to wider casting loops, the main problem is usually a fundamental casting flaw. For some reason, even good single hand casters forget that a sudden and relatively high stop is important with Spey casting as well. Maybe it has something to do with gripping a rod with two hands, but it shouldn’t.
The casting stroke is determined by when the rod tip starts moving at the beginning of the cast to when it stops. Between these two points, during any cast (forward or back), the rod tip should be accelerated, with the tip speed steadily increasing until the casting stroke is abruptly stopped, ending the casting stroke. With the increased leverage afforded by two hands on the rod, getting the rod tip accelerating usually is not the problem. Focus on using both hands to abruptly STOP the rod at it’s maximum point of acceleration. This will result in tighter, more efficient and wind cheating loops.
On Rods:
In the past five years, there has been a great leap in Spey casting performance. Over the years, I've had a rare opportunity to cast and fish with most of the two-handed rods from the world's greatest manufacturers. Yet, I still felt that something was missing, even from my favorite sticks. Jim Bartschi, was sympathetic to my concerns, and over four years, has steadily worked towards making what I consider the ultimate series of Spey rods. With the new T2H, he's hit the nail on the head. No longer does a Spey rod have to weigh a ton. No longer do you need different rods to cast short and long belly lines, or to cast floating lines and heavy sink tips. No longer do you have to worry about differing rod actions from one line weight or rod length to another. No longer do you have to pay over $1000 for the best money can buy. These new T2H sticks simply ROCK. Now, I have to figure out what to do with all the other rods cluttering my basement!
Many Spey casters have difficulty getting the end of their line and leader to turn over properly. Some blame the design of their lines, others blame their leaders, still others blame their rods. Sometimes these much-maligned components of kit are the problem, but more often than not, the culprit lies in a simple casting flaw.
By definition, a Spey cast is a cast where the backcast is made under the rod tip and the end of the line and leader are allowed to touch down on the water transiently, immediately before the forward cast is made. Simple enough, but not enough people pay attention to how the line lands on the water. The end of the line and leader form the anchor or grip, and essentially freeze the momentum of the line on the backcast so that the rod can be made to bend (or load) against it for the forward cast. If the anchor is not formed properly, casting distance will definitely suffer, as will line turnover.
One thing that separates good, consistent Spey casters from wannabes is the way good casters always line up their anchors in the direction of their forward cast. The anchor shape is also linear, not crumpled or bent. By focusing on improving your anchor shape and direction, your casting consistency and line turnover will rapidly improve.
Tip 2: Casting Stroke Length is Proportional to the Belly Length of Line Used
Many Spey casters learn with short belly lines, like the Scientific Anglers Short Head, Rio Windcutter, or Airfo Delta. All of these lines have short bellies (around 55 feet). Although relatively easy to learn Spey casting with, these short belly lines often lead to the development of bad habits or arrested casting development, especially when the budding Spey caster wants to use longer belly lines.
The casting stroke is determined by when the rod tip starts moving at the beginning of the cast to when it stops. Between these two points, during any cast (forward or back), the rod tip should be accelerated, with the tip speed steadily increasing until the casting stroke is abruptly stopped, ending the casting stroke. The distance that the rod tip travels between stops is the stroke length.
Using a short belly line and a long rod (14-16 feet) mandates a short stroke length (a longer stroke length will often cause the anchor to skip out of the water, killing the cast). When advancing to longer belly lines, remember that if you are carrying more line out the tip of the rod, you will have to increase your stroke length, both on the Spey backcast (making the D loop) as well as on your forward cast. One easy way to increase your stroke length and simultaneously improve the efficiency of your casting is to start using your torso. By rotating your torso back during the backcast, and forward during the forward cast, you can increase your stroke length by up to two feet, while simultaneously adding power without additional arm strain.
Tip 3: The importance of a sudden stop:
Many beginning and intermediate Spey casters have difficulty casting tight, efficient loops. Although the slower actions of Spey rods may contribute to wider casting loops, the main problem is usually a fundamental casting flaw. For some reason, even good single hand casters forget that a sudden and relatively high stop is important with Spey casting as well. Maybe it has something to do with gripping a rod with two hands, but it shouldn’t.
The casting stroke is determined by when the rod tip starts moving at the beginning of the cast to when it stops. Between these two points, during any cast (forward or back), the rod tip should be accelerated, with the tip speed steadily increasing until the casting stroke is abruptly stopped, ending the casting stroke. With the increased leverage afforded by two hands on the rod, getting the rod tip accelerating usually is not the problem. Focus on using both hands to abruptly STOP the rod at it’s maximum point of acceleration. This will result in tighter, more efficient and wind cheating loops.
On Rods:
In the past five years, there has been a great leap in Spey casting performance. Over the years, I've had a rare opportunity to cast and fish with most of the two-handed rods from the world's greatest manufacturers. Yet, I still felt that something was missing, even from my favorite sticks. Jim Bartschi, was sympathetic to my concerns, and over four years, has steadily worked towards making what I consider the ultimate series of Spey rods. With the new T2H, he's hit the nail on the head. No longer does a Spey rod have to weigh a ton. No longer do you need different rods to cast short and long belly lines, or to cast floating lines and heavy sink tips. No longer do you have to worry about differing rod actions from one line weight or rod length to another. No longer do you have to pay over $1000 for the best money can buy. These new T2H sticks simply ROCK. Now, I have to figure out what to do with all the other rods cluttering my basement!
