Fly Fishing: Fly Shop Gauntlet?

Cigar Box Pleasing to My Eye

Fly Shop Etiquette from Colorado FF Reports

I have posted here, for the beginner, before about how to approach other fly fishers & gear fishermen on streams and lakes. I have written about the attitudes one encounters in fly shops that are both discourteous and not helpful in overcoming the perceptions that fly fishing is an elitist endeavor. These are important considerations for enjoying the mental benefits of the sport. In the above linked post, the author reminds us that how you enter a fly shop and conduct yourself is important too.

A lot of mental, social machinations, it seems, to enjoy a pleasant, sometimes solitary pursuit. Yet, it is the reality in fly shops (hardware stores, the workplace, taverns, gyms, back yard BBQ’s). Ego’s, impatience, innocence combine where men (and some women) gather. Many don’t have a nearby fly shop(s) to visit, support or ignore. Some would say you are lucky, while others would say you are missing out on an enjoyable, social aspect of the whole experience. 

So, consider stream/lake etiquette, shop etiquette and if nothing else recognize the dynamics. Then try to place yourself as far from the maddening crowds as possible to avoid conflicts and receive the sustaining benefits of fly fishing. (The comments banter in the above link are worth a read also as they show the variety of perceptions re etiquette and customer service) (Excellent here to  at  Singlebarbed On Support Your Shops? Always read the comments too)

Fly Tying: Caddis Pupa Pattern

COOL PUPA PATTERN BY LEIF EHNSTROM

Hatches Magazine provides a very nice pattern (S-B-S/pics) for a Caddis Pupa that uses a latex product, Nymph Skin, to form the abdomen. A nice pattern of the bead head pupa variety. Good visuals.

Reel Problems: Clink and Grind..Eek!

Taking a Break at River's Edge (SwittersB~PP)

More often than not, you are fly fishing and suffer a tangle of your rigging. The tangle has to be re-rigged and the problem is at the tip of the rod or leader. The angler sets the rod down reel first and often onto a hard surface (rocks). Aside from the cosmetic damage of abrasion to the reel, there is a bigger problem that can cause serious damage to your reel: the reel hits the surface with enough force (it does not take much force) to bend the outer rim of the reel’s spool and crimp that inner slot that fits against an inserted flange that helps stabilize the spool to the reel housing. What results is either a reel that will not turn or turns with an intermittent grinding.

This is a very hard ding to fix and most people don’t have the machinist capabilities to return the reel to normal. Given the price of reels and spare spools, you might want to pause and look where you are about to set that reel down. You will hopefully avoid the grit, abrasion and dings that cause serious damage to your reel.

Reel apart exposing spools inner rim and reel housing (Loudog Pic~My Text added) SwittersB

 

Cat In a Tree on a Windy Day (Cat Rescue’s Self)

Finally, a sunny day. Often in Portland, Oregon when the wind blows out of the Columbia River Gorge on a Spring/Summer day the temperatures rise and the trees sway. I was sitting on the back deck gaining some Vitamin D when I opened my eyes and gazed upwards to the tops of the swaying Alders. Imagine my surprise when I viewed a dark shape nearly at the top of the tree. Probably 60+’ up was an animal. A raccoon ? A cat? I grabbed the telephoto lens and shot away as I could see it was a cat. A domesticated cat? A pregnant domesticated cat? A fat cat? Regardless, of its origins, it was a cat holding on as the tree swung several feet in either direction in the strong East wind.

Cat in a Tree 1 SwittersB

Cat in a Tree 2 SwittersB

Cat in a Tree 3 SwittersB

Cat in a Tree 4 SwittersB

On this particular day, I do indeed hope the cat has 9 lives. My back yard has been visited by Coyotes, Hawks and Raccoons. I hope this cat makes it down. The wind will blow for several more hours as temps rise. Hold on Kitty. I have to leave for the afternoon/evening in the midst of this wild life-domesticated pet drama. I will have faith that in any lulls with the wind, Penelope (yes I named her) will move downward toward safety.

Penelope the Cat: Down & Out (SwittersB)

Well now….I arrive home from a family gathering and bit of a drive, tired and ready to hit it. Oh yeah…the cat in the tree? It is pitch black out back, so I get a flash light and shine it to the top of the tree. Bouncing back are the reflective eyes at the top of the tree. And, a non-stop of woeful ‘meows’. The wind had stopped by now. What the hell now? I walk over into the area of the tree, with a small spring separating the tree from myself. The tree is oddly swayed and rotten branches extend up a good 40′ up into the flourishing area where the cat pleads for help. 

A few neighbors gather and a discussion ensues with the options of ‘let’s go to bed’; ‘it’s a cat, it will be ok’; ‘let’s cut the tree down’; ‘now?’; ‘would the fire department come out?’; ‘really?’. ‘Here kitty kitty’s’ are offered upward and ‘meows’ respond downward.

Our flashlights point upward, and suddenly as if either drawn to our summons or thinking ‘finally, I can see were I am going!’…Penelope the Cat commences a harrowing, claw clinging, upside down descent from on high. This little drama results in a bunch of ‘oh my God’s’ and ‘I can’t watch’s’. The cat is silent. Every ounce of that cat’s being is clutching that tree’s trunk as it slides inch by inch, sometimes a rapid foot all at once, down that tree trunk. This draws out until, we are certain there cannot be any energy left to continue. Yet that cat did, until the final five feet. It swung around tail (half tail missing) downward and after hanging by the claws it let go into the brush below, beside the small stream. I met Penelope and she was immediately drawn to me.

Well this resulted in a rather sleepless night of my two dogs, annoyed as hell, testing the lightning quick paws of Penelope. Not a relaxing night. And, the cat was/is badly dehydrated and starving. Who knows how long it had been up there? It is now open to debate within the family of how to proceed. I will be dutiful to scour the area for wanted posters.

For now, I need to make a litter box or decide if this is a house cat or outside cat…should Penelope decide to stay awhile.     zzxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx   mmmmmmmmmmmmm,,,,,  (I do know the cat is fascinated by the cursor moving on the screen here).   

Fly Tying & Fishing: Borger Brassie

It is a reality of fly tying and fishing that we tend to seek refinements ad nauseam for patterns. It cannot stand that a simple, effective pattern can just be, as is, without more color options, dubbing, beads, etc…. refinements from what if’s and what about’s.

Several years ago, I sat front row at a Fly Fishing Expo affair in Portland, Oregon. Gary Borger was a featured speaker in one of the little side theaters. My son and I sat excited to get some inside refinement to our fishing efforts and from a notable fly fisher to boot. Borger was, that day, crusty and authoritative. Boy, this was going to be good.

Authoritative about what? One of his go to patterns, a copper wire bodied fly with a red thread head and no beard as depicted in the pic here. That fly with a split shot a foot above the fly was the offering that day. Initially, I heard a man from behind mumble ‘you’re kidding me?’  But, Borger wasn’t kidding and he remarked at the simplicity of the whole fly, rigging, presentation. It struck me that day how confused I was. That was it?

Was that all there was? Really, if that was true then maybe the problem wasn’t the gear, the waters, the fly….maybe it was me over thinking, over planning, over “everything-ing…(my word, you can borrow it). I have not forgotten that simple approach that Borger offered that day. It still flies in the face of the difficulties I have catching Steelhead on big rivers (not smaller coastal rivers where pods stack up and one hander nymphing rigs connect with fish).

But, none the less, the point here is some patterns are simple and presentation is perhaps more critical than over tweaked fly patterns. The over tweaking is part of the creative bent most tiers enjoy and the fun of putting your personal touches on a pattern. If it works, all the better. The admonition to KISS is often good advice. I think it is a benchmark to keep an eye on when one ranges so far afield, that basics are forgotten and success is elusive. 

“This pattern is attributed to Gary Borger although it is an adaptation of a pattern originally tied for the South Platte in 1971 by Ed Marsh. Gary admits that this particular version came about by him not remembering the correct dressing as related to him earlier. Anyway he was fishing the Armstrong Spring Creek the next summer when he saw the little flies in his box and tied one on in desperation and the rest is well, history. He says it has taken trout feeding on midges in rivers and streams the world over as well as even fooling steelhead!

“It works because the wire body provides a strongly segmented appearance and because the bright copper produces an attention-getting flash. The copper colour also suggests a rusty brown larva and may hint at the red colour of a bloodworm. I’ve dressed this pattern in every imaginable shape and form; with a thorax, with a tail , with legs, with a sparkle yarn husk, with a wing, with a soft hackle, with a stiff hackle, and so on.

They all catch fish, but not anymore effective than the simple body and throat. So I’ve stayed with my original, mistaken design.” (Gary Borger, Designing Trout Flies, 1991, page 93).”           http://www.goulburnvlyflyfishing.com.au

Fly Fishing: Tandem of Yellow Sally Nymph & Green Rockworm?

I recall last Summer having good success along the riffles of the McKenzie River while fishing separately a nymph (Large Hare’s Ear, size 8-10) and also a Green Rockworm Larva pattern. I am going to experiment in the months ahead with dredging a shorter line, while offering two flies at once through the riffles. I will probably stay with a larger, weighted, Gold Bead Head, Gold Ribbed, Hare’s Ear for the Yellow Sally Nymph (Family Perlodidae/Genus Isoperla) and a version of the Green Rockworm larva (Caddis, Genus Rhyacophila). The Jersey Angler provides a worthy pattern for the Green Rockworm and some good pictures of the larva and his pattern The Cooper Bug.

Employ the standard nymphing rig, cast/lob/sling with a more open loop to avoid tangles of two flies, strike indicator if you use one and split shot (that would be a mess wouldn’t it?). Certain Czech Nymphs would also provide excellent pattern options for the Green Rockworm Larva.

I suggest the two patterns in one offering because they inhabit the same waters and are equally vulnerable to drift and are active during the same span of Summer. If the two fly rig is two cumbersome then keep both insects in mind for subsurface presentations, and of course, watch for the activity on the surface as Caddis come off or the Yellow Sally comes off (if you research the literature re Yellow Sally’s ‘emerging’ it is often said then crawl toward shore or up onto rocks to hatch as most Stoneflies do…. however, there are some members of the Yellow Sally that emerge out of the water like a Mayfly on the run…I witnessed this last year on the McKenzie River and commented re that back then). Regardless, have your Elk Hair Caddis and larger, cream colored wet fly or Stimulator like patterns available for surface activity too.

Fly Fishing: The Pale Morning Dun (Summer’s Hatch)

For the beginning fly tier and fisher, the Pale Morning Dun is a ‘predictable’ hatch on Western rivers from June into September. It is a late morning to early evening window of opportunity  for a hatch that has a pronounced pre-hatch nymph ‘drift’ before the emergence on the surface. It is enjoyable to figure out and to fish to. It is one of several Summer hatches that are satisfying to discover and react to.

PMD Adult Wing (McKenzie River Page)

The ‘crawler’ nymphs will move from the rocks and bottom debris where they have hidden. As they move up out of the protection, toward the surface, they are now at the mercy of the currents and trout. This drift, in moderate to slower waters, can take place over an extended period of time as the nymphs drift, wiggle upward, split their wingcases atop the thorax area, wiggle further toward the surface, shed that nymphal case at the surface (emerge) and poke through the surface film (meniscus) to ‘hatch’. The adults will drift a bit further as those now upright wings (opaque) dry a bit and then they lift off into the air, fluttering and drifting with the breezes of the day, toward shore. (Is that a mega paragraph or what?)

The Clear PMD Spinner Wing

This whole process provides stages of presentation that are satisfying  & predictable: nymphs drifting along the bottom in the moderate to slower waters (careful wading, longer distance-stealth presentations?); then emerger/wet fly/flymphs/floating nymphs in the top foot or so of water to the surface; dry fly action and later spinner fall action as the females bob about in quieter side waters to lay eggs and then fall with their clear, spent wings stretched out to the sides like a partially submerged little airplane in film…drifting down in the slower currents.

So many opportunities here for presentations from bottom to top. Once you find a hatch of PMD’s on your favorite stream note its location.  Your patterns will tend toward the tan to dark tan (mottled earth tones) in sizes 16-18 over the course of the summer. You can research Google Images for PMD nymphs, emerger, dry and see a large variety of pattern options. 

 

Fly Tying & Fishing: Patterns in the Algae

I came upon a source (stillwater blog re chironomid presentation) this week and then lost it to credit here…the site mentioned fishing patterns (they were talking about chironomid pupa patterns) in the often frequent algae bloom on/in lakes. The writer mentioned something interesting: the algae will taint/tint/paint your chironomid patterns that have antron or similar wings, gills, filaments. The writer suggested that a white bead would be a better substitute for the oft used white synthetic elements that extend above the bead, over the eye or horizontally beneath a wingcase, out to the sides. Something to consider. The algae bloom often only extends 5-10′ beneath the surface. A pattern can be presented below the bloom. But, drawing the the pattern through the bloom will coat the pattern with a green film. So, a simpler pupa pattern that can be swished clean is a suggestion. For all the others?….might as well stay with olive as the color theme? Anyway, I thought it an interesting suggestion for later in the Summer on stillwaters with a bloom.

Frequent use of antron extending out over eye of hook

White Bead for Thorax region (SwittersB)

 

 

Fly Fishing: Hi-Jinx’ed (Midges Flush)

Hi-Jinx Midge Emerger (SwittersB)

Stillwater, conventional, fly fishing wisdom is to present your chironomid/midge pattern in a vertical posture from the muck to the surface. I agree with this. There are always exceptions. I can recall  moving from one part of a lake to another and trolling along a midge pupa, that had to be bobbing between vertical to horizontal as I rowed, and getting nailed. But, a stationary, vertical presentation toward the surface is predominantly called for.

That said, I have had excellent results with a horizontal presentation for midge emergers in the film. Retrieved back, twitched or wind drifting, a pattern tied and presented in a horizontal path does provide positive results on top.

Now I am talking stillwaters, re that maneuver. On the slower tailouts of rivers, a drag free, dry fly presentation is appropriate. A light wire hook is better on a river to maintain a mostly horizontal position for the fly. The rear end of the fly will cant downward because of the lack of a tail to prop the fly up in the surface, or pattern design.

With the Hi-Jinx pattern above, the fly is tied smaller on a size 16 hook. This is not a bad idea for some patterns: still go somewhat small for the hook size and then reduce further the pattern size on the shank of the hook. The positives of the pattern will overcome the perceived negatives of the exposed hook. Pattern + Presentation will usually overcome most negatives.   

Manly Trivia & Minutiae…Worth a Look

The Art of Manliness~Interesting Boyhood Minutiae of Old & Now