Not wanting to sound like a gossip rag…so I won’t invade privacy too much.     Sounds  like positive energy met positive energy. Feels like the earth should tilt given the geographical pull. Damn Sooner’s…

Of course, just wishing continued positive energy….and success for Ms. Vokey and ‘the other man’. Thousands of men noticeably slumped upon the word of a special someone. Only one remedy for a broken heart men…

I previously wrote about this pattern (7/15/08) and found reference to it again as a stillwater pattern suggestive of a cluster of midges/chironomids that have hatched or are hatching and clustered together. The Griffith’s Gnat is often suggested as such a pattern and I have caught nice trout with that little morsel. However, I am going to fish this pattern more and suggest you do also this Winter.

This is a straight forward pattern….simple enough without adding even more embellishments. In the July 08 post I added an ostrich herl wing on one and I am not sure it is necessary. The dubbing brush bristles with spiky animation and you can see in the brushes a lot of glint.

I start the thread at the eye and wrap back to cover the shank with the thread wraps. At the bend I tie in the brush while allowing a quarter inch or so of the brush to extend toward the rear. Once the brush is secure, I lift the brush upward, then pass the thread underneath and wrap the thread back up to the original tie on point behind the eye. Then I lay the brush down across the top of the shank and apply thread wraps to bind the brush down. I cut the brush leaving an equal extended portion to the front as in the rear. Tie off the thread and done. No ribbing. If the wraps are secure the pattern will not shift on the shank.

This an in the film pattern that can be twitched a bit during the hatch or in rolling waves. Otherwise, I would not impart too much movement on calmer surfaces. These dubbing brushes are nice for all manner of nymph and I know some make there own or scoff at the idea of a brush. But, the beauty is the wire core that gives the material strength to extend and remain bristled. Fly Tying Specialties Jan Siman Ltd.

من بار مشاهده شده است از شمال ایران. آیا هر کسی پرواز ماهیگیری یا پرواز مقید کردن؟ آیا از پیشگامان به

ورزش؟ من به نور بالا توجه شما به ماهیگیری پرواز ، پرواز مقید کردن و عکاسی می خواهم.

وانت Rød!

STARLING FEATHERS FOR WET FLIES AND FLYMPHS

Starling

A Nice Piece at Drawing Flies 365

Yes, there are many motives to ink, adorn, desecrate, enhance your body. I can only speak for myself and my mix of images, emotions, inclinations. It registers to me to take that, which for me was huge, step toward a tattoo…a visible tattoo. An in your face display that 100% flew into the face of all that knew me…or thought they knew me…to include me.  No regrets. In fact, I am about to leap again into the realm of ink. My ideas are to honor the resource and the quest. But, I have noted those that honor the departed. The above tattoo is simple and perfect to honor a loved one. I like it. He’s smiling.

I was discussing fishing with my bro-in-law last night and he remarked about a fishing derby he had entered this late Summer at Diamond Lake (Oregon). The prize money was sizeable and it was huge success….many fish caught and killed. All this on a lake that was a trophy lake years ago but because of morons introducing baitfish, it has been nuked at least two times to kill off all life and re-stocked in an effort to restore it to a decent fishery…..for ‘put and take…kill the fish derby’s’ apparently.

Kokanee Power Oregon states at their website:

“While bass fishing tournaments have long been a staple on the Oregon angling scene, derbies featuring cold water species like trout and kokanee have been uncommon.

But Kokanee Power is changing that — and providing a boost to fishing in the process.

Launched just 16 months ago, the Medford-based organization has already held six fishing derbies in Oregon. Two more are scheduled this summer — including another kokanee event Aug. 22 at Odell Lake and a trout derby Sept. 26-27 at Diamond Lake.

While its name emphasizes one spe-cies of fish (kokanee are landlocked sockeye saled to be the big-gest trout tournament ever held in Oregon, with a minimum of $5,000 in prize money.”

The expressed mission according to Kokanee Power Oregon:y to boost kokanee, trout and salmon fisheries in inland waters.”

I was sitting there listening to my bro-in-law describe the worthiness of this and said is it any wonder trout fishing in Orgon sucks if this is the means to the end? Even bass tournaments have figured out live wells and C&R for tournaments…but here in Oregon it is still about the meat…The Kokanee is such a plentiful fish in many lakes I guess it does lend itself to a put and take derby mentality. But, Diamond Lake trout…? And, somewhere in this mix of mess is ODFW, the masters of fish management in Oregon…

Perhaps there is an upside to this that I am not aware of beyond KPO donated monies etc. Like what is the real world results in California or Oregon to this good intentioned event?

Perhaps we are to the psychological point of man made impoundments and hatchery fish for stringers and meat…period.The picture is not from a KPO event…no difference in my estimation.

This small (size 18) midge emerger lays flush in the film. It may not lay perfectly horizontal but, it is not tied on the ubiquitous curved pupa hook so popular with all manner of emergers (yes, yes I use it too). A simple Antron or Zelon body overlayed with thread wraps for support and the appearance of segmentation is used. A small dubibng of a thorax is created. The loop wing gives the fly visibility and flotation assistance. The thread was size 14/0 black. Again…very interesting to me is the lens captures all the little glaring oversights….that can’t be seen with my eye or they seem inconsequential (and, I think they are)…fascinating what that lens captures….I hold to those imperfections ‘probably’ only enhancing the suggestiveness of the fly. That’s my theory and I’m sticking too it!

This originally was a larger bead head pattern in the size 10 range that was run through riffles and runs for trout or when larger, the steelhead. Fished like a traditional nymph beneath a strike indicator, it catches fish year round. Here, I have tied it smaller than the original pattern. I tied it smaller and therefore use a Starling wing. I don’t tie much of a body. Mostly a thread body or a wound Krystal flash body comprised of a couple strands of flash wound up the shank. I focus more on the thorax where I dub in a ragged thorax of Ice Dub and allow strands to trail to the rear. I tie in two goose biots right behind the bead head. I arrange the biots to angle outward at an angle and to not extend back beyond the bend of the hook. Then I take a Starling feather and tie it in at the tip. I wrap it twice and tie it off. I love Starling feathers for wings more than Partridge feathers in smaller flies.

Biot Wing Application (Prince Nymph but works for this fly also)

There are the wet flies, and I admit I like them, that are like overdone hussies. Ripe with anticipation and just so put together they are hard to resist. Then there are those that are like a natural beauty. No adornments of excess, flash or enticement…nothing beyond their natural beauty. All the more perfect because their power to seduce is naturally given. Ok, for a few minutes forget about her and contemplate on my wet fly, the Wet Whistle. All natural, with strong  lines and inviting.

The fly is tied on a size 12 to size 18 dry fly hook, although a heavier wired nymph hook would be fine. Thread from 8/0 to 14/0 (depending upon the size of fly) is used. No weight/bead is added for weight. A small clump of antron or Zelon the length of the shank is tied in at the bend of the hook. I dubbed tan hairs ear with the guard hairs for the abdomen/thorax. Here a natural gray-brown hen hackle feather was tied in by the tip just ahead of the dubbing and wound twice forward toward the eye of the hook. For smaller flies, I would recommend Starling feathers for 16-20 size hooks. No ribbing, no flash to the tail or wing. Just basic earth tones with movement of the tail and wing.  The fly satisfies like a non-pretentious, dependable beauty should.

COMPARADUN TUTORIAL @ FLY GUYS OUTFITTING

One of the most difficult fly tying maneuvers I struggle with is tying a comparadun wing. I fumble fart around and go through repeated botched efforts. I over wing the fly or mash the wing so much it is catiewhompus..

Posted in Bugs, fishing, flies, fly pattern, fly pattern design, flyfishing, flytying, how to tie flies Tagged: comparadun, comparadun mayfly, comparadun wing, летать связывание, летят обвързване, 매는 비행, Fliegenbinden, fly tying, lentää sitominen, флы везања, voar subordina�, zbura lega, 抱き合わせ飛ぶ ]]> http://swittersb.wordpress.com/2009/11/06/comparadun-wing-tutorial/feed/ 0 SwittersB IMG_1652XX http://swittersb.wordpress.com/2009/11/06/mining-fish-responsible-leadership-re-the-land/ http://swittersb.wordpress.com/2009/11/06/mining-fish-responsible-leadership-re-the-land/#comments Sat, 07 Nov 2009 06:09:28 +0000 SwittersB http://swittersb.wordpress.com/?p=9228 ]]>

MINING NEEDS TO CHANGE NOW!

“America’s public lands — and the fish and wildlife that they call home — are struggling with the effects of a century of hardrock mining. Recognizing that an outdated federal law is to blame for much of the damage, America’s sportsmen have set their sights on reforming the 1872 Mining Law.

The 1872 Mining Law, which governs hardrock mining (gold, copper, silver, etc.) on America’s public lands, was signed into law more than a century ago. While the economies, cultures, and politics have changed in the West during the past 135 years, the mining law has not. More than 270 million acres of federal land are open to hardrock mining under the law, mostly in the Rocky Mountain West.”

MINING & HABITAT IMPACT

I frankly never remember to tie these patterns. How simple while churning out dozens of Elk Hair Caddis (EHC) to simply tie the Hairwing Dun. Whether, the tail is a traditional split tail of hackle fibers or as I tied it with Zelon/Antron fibers, the pattern does well as a mayfly dry pattern (and a caddis too).

These were tied on a size 14 hook. The thread was tan 8/0. The tail was tan Zelon and the dubbing was a tan synthetic by Hareline Dubbin. The dubbing was twisted onto the thread and wrapped up the shank to satisfy the abdomen and thorax. Tan elk hair was cut from the hide, evened out in a hair stacker and tied in as a wing. Simple as that. No rib. A basic EHC wing for a mayfly pattern. This pattern satisfies the mayfly emerger/adult pattern needs.

Notice the identical wing for the EHC and the Hairwing Dun. Below is a Hairwing Dun tied with a traditional hackle barb tail I found at Smoky Mountain Fly Fishing. I must note what I took to be a nice experimental effort on my part has the same look as the famous Matthews X-Caddis…hmm…the complications of thinking you are original and realizing, as you would expect, others have been there..done that..and called it something else. Oh well..the wing is the issue here. The tail I have used conflicts with the renowned X-Caddis pattern. What can I say…it works for both.

The pattern is a heavily weighted and meant for lobbing and dredging on a short, controlled drift..ala Czech Nymphing. The fly possesses all the weight required to sink to the bottom of any deep drift. I did not weight the hook, but instead bought hooks with molded lead (they come with titanium also, I believe). Such hooks are available in Europe and the U.S. You could try wrapping lead and concocting your own. I found the hooks at one of those yearly outdoor shows via Fly Tying Specialties.

I tied a few patterns with the weighted hooks. Of note are the bodies made of wrapped latex rubber strips and the dubbed thorax with dark deer hair. Jeff Morgan, an excellent tier, first showed me the dubbed deer hair thorax. I seldom see it used. The pieces of cut deer hair can be twisted onto the thread (not easy) or placed between the dubbing loop and spun (easier). Don’t over do the amount of deer hair. A dark permanent marker was used to touch up the thorax area to give a two tone appearance.

The above hook was covered with a fly pattern but I cut it away to expose the weighted underbody. I knicked the rear a bit with the scissors. Below are a few of the flies I tied using this style of weighted hook.

My lighting was off for these pics. So not as crisp as I would have liked….but you get the idea and I think see the value of the deer hair thorax.

Fly tying strives to simulate or suggest bug life as it is, with only a glint of flash to suggest segmentation, translucency, or a gas bubble enveloping an emerging/rising insect. Also, there are the baitfish patterns which possess flash to mimic the scales of little fish. So, it isn’t very often that the tier over flashes or excites the pattern beyond the natural. A few patterns that do cross this flash point are seen below.

The Lightning Bug is a ‘mayfly’ nymph pattern. More by shape than actual looks. The mylar/flashabou abdomen is silver or silver with specs of other colors. You can see the wingcase pulled over the peacock thorax is mylar also and the silver bead adds additional flash. Is it exact of anything…no…but this is a productive little fly.

The Roxy Rainbow is another ‘mayfly’ pattern…an emerger. Here, I used a peacock tinsel for the thorax and Rainbow Krystal Flash for the abdomen. Not as flashy as the Lightning Bug, but in the right lighting this fly displays the spectrum. The original did not use Krystal Flash, but rather the same mylar/flashabou as the Lightning Bug.

Below is a variation of a Rainbow Emerger in which I pulled the mallard (or teal, or gadwall) feather over the top of the abdomen/thorax. The flash is evident and productive.

I didn’t tie this Lightning Bug, but you seem similar components and it is in gold.

A couple of lessons here with this story…#1: Don’t bite off more than you can chew…#2: Sometimes stories change over time….

The Fish Story

Kind of like a trout trying to inhale that big Corkie strike indicator…

GHOST TOWNS PHOTOGRAPHY by Steve Bingham

Dusty Lens by Steve Bingham  (Amazingly Gifted Eye)

“The Salton Sea is the largest inland body of water in California, and easily its most toxic. Once a haven for tourists, fishermen and boaters — in the 1950s it was touted as “the American Riviera” — years of polluted runoff from agricultural and industrial sites, not to mention untold amounts of untreated sewage from Mexico, pumped into the sea via one of America’s dirtiest waterways, the Northward-flowing New River, have turned the Salton into a truly foul place.”

“At one time the Salton Sea was among the state’s most productive fisheries. (During WWII, when German submarines made ocean fishing dangerous, most of Southern California’s fish were harvested in the Salton.) But steadily increasing levels of toxins, algae, salt and bacteria led to a number of massive die-offs — the largest, in 1999, killed 7.6 million fish — and its once-thriving population of migratory birds are sickened each year with selenium and botulism poisoning. The Sea is 25% saltier than the ocean and getting saltier every year…”  (more to read)

Another Perspective (The Salton Sea Chronicles)

Salton Sea Environment

Two things here: First, I over hackled or wrapped the CDC feather and it is a bit too busy. Second, how cool does that CDC feather look!? Look at all the mini-barbs on each individual barb. Amazing capability to gather water droplets. Now here is how the fly should look properly dressed.Just Right (Sooty Dry by Shardack)

I tied these size 16 Caddis Pupa’s last Spring. The pheasant tail feather barbs are interesting as antenna. The brown hen hackle was wrapped for the legs/wing. A green synthetic dubbing was used. Check out a previous post here dated 6/17/08 re Caddis Fly and an excellent site by Roger Rohrbeck re entomology. I am, frankly, not overly adept at discussing all facets of insects. I tie the various sizes and colors and think larva, pupa, adult/small, medium, large.

This is a nice nymph pattern I have tied for years. Size 14-16 hook, 8/0 black thread. Dark dun hackle barbs are used for the tail and the wingcase. A copper wire rib is tied in at the bend. A dry fly quality dun hackle is tied in at the bend by the tip and tightly palmered up the shank of the hook in the abdomen area. I then trim the wound hackle pretty close to form a gill like appearance (ostrich herl could be used to). Then the wire ribbing is wound up the abdomen area and tied off where the abdomen area starts. Dun hackle fibers are tied in for a wingcase. A thorax is dubbed with dark hare’s ear or any dark dubbing. Now here is something not too many tiers utilize anymore….a beard…which is formed from with the barbs a black hackle feather. A bunch of the black barbs are tucked under the thorax and held there while thread wraps help position the barbs beneath and slightly to the sides of the thorax.

Nymph Parts

Previously, I have referenced the fuzzy appearance of the wound barbs from a turkey feather. That is a nice affect and I think I have found a material equal to pheasant tail, at least as far as wrapping the abdomen area. Both materials need a little ribbing for reinforcement. I counter wrapped the copper wire ribbing here. I never paid much attention to the Cate’s Turkey pattern. I may have to revisit that pattern.

Fly tier (or is it tyer?) admission: Because of lighting, eye sight and a lack of commitment, I have not really ever committed to tying anything smaller than a size 18. I have not made the psychic leap that a small gaped, size 22 will penetrate the jaw of any fish over 14 inches. Yes, yes it does in fact do so…it is me. So, don’t pay attention to my doubts. Let the successes of other small fly fanatics speak for itself ….hookups. With that in mind I tied a few (actually several dozen). They are now tucked in with my Griffith’s Gnats (18’s).

Size 20 Pupa hook, Size 8/0 thread (I should have used 14/0), a Zelon wing was tied in first, then 3 pheasant tail fibers were tied in half the distance from mid-shank to the eye, then a small dry fly quality hackle suitable for a size 20 hook was tied in and wrapped several times then tied off, the butt sections of the previously tied in pheasant tail barbs were then pulled over the top of the wound hackle or thorax area as a wingcase and tied off. The excess materials can be seen to be protruding out…but I could not see them while tying. Not sure it really hurts anything as long as the thread wraps for the head are tight to keep those materials secure.

———————

Wow! That actually looks nice. A size 18 dry fly quality hook, 8/0 thread, an underwing of Zelon was tied in at the mid point of the shank, then a white CDC feather was folded in half with the tip meeting the butt section. The mid point (or spot where the CDC stem was bent) was tied in behind the eye with the tip and butt section extending to the rear and past the bend of the hook. A wingcase of mottled Thinskin was tied in at the mid point of the shank and then a dry fly quality hackle (size 18) was tied in at the thorax area and wound then tied off at the eye. The wing case was pulled over the top of the wound hackle and tied off at the eye. Again, a smaller diameter thread (14/0) may have been better.  I tied a bunch of these and they look way better to the camera lens then to my eyes.

I have received a few emails asking why my pics never show the barb flattened. “Aren’t you sending the wrong message about the imperative need for releasing one’s catch?” Well, my response  is two fold: I have never been dutiful in opening a box or bag of hooks and barbing them all at once before commencing to tie.

I frankly rarely tie more than a dozen to two dozen of anything anymore. But, if I had a suggestion for someone planning on tying in quantity then barb all your hooks in advance or buy the barbless hooks.

Also, it is important to do this for practical reasons…removing the errant fly from clothing, skin or gear.

Lastly, I admittedly barb on the water. So, no fret….excepting Salmon in Alaska or Oregon, I haven’t killed a fish in years (exception: the damn, evil Loons stalking me in B.C. and laying in wait for trout I released).

There is that begrudging realization that at many levels, man cannot function well without the steady support of a woman.   Peter Van Straten

Nothing much to these lil’ flies. They simply reinforce my love of peacock as one of the 5 best materials (don’t ask) and the fuzziness of wrapped turkey feather fibers turned out to be much fuzzier than when I recently used it for a BWO pattern. This fuzziness is akin to wrapped pheasant tail barbs. Fragile though, hence the ribbing. But, the turkey did give a nice fuzzy look. Also, look at that bottom pattern. I used the most miniscule piece of Rootbeer Krystal Flash, but look at the twist to it and the colors. I tied all these smaller on the size 16 hook. I also didn’t resort to the curved shank pupa hook. Mostly just dinking around to see how materials look through the lens and to play with presentation. Winter/early spring are great times to fish small midges given the limited hatches.

Posted in Bugs, fishing, flies, fly pattern, fly pattern design, flyfishing, flytying Tagged: dropper pattern, летать связывание, летят обвързване, 매는 비행, Fliegenbinden, fly tying, lentää sitominen, midge pupa, флы везања, peacock fly tying material, voar subordina�, zbura lega, 抱き合わせ飛ぶ ]]> http://swittersb.wordpress.com/2009/10/31/midges-dinky-droppers/feed/ 2 SwittersB IMG_1535x IMG_1536x IMG_1539c http://swittersb.wordpress.com/2009/10/31/john-holt-damn-gates/ http://swittersb.wordpress.com/2009/10/31/john-holt-damn-gates/#comments Sun, 01 Nov 2009 04:08:41 +0000 SwittersB http://swittersb.wordpress.com/?p=9084 ]]>

The Obsession with Possession          Fencing the Sky

By JOHN HOLT

I suspect that men are going along this way for the last time, and I for one don’t want to waste the trip

Robert Traver–Anatomy of a Fisherman

John Holt

My difficulties with fences began some years ago, a delicate transmutation arising from problems I had and still have with gates. Either my hands get scratched from trying to latch the ragged compilations of weathered tree limbs and barbed wire that block passage to some exotic fishing water or I pinch my fingers in the workings of the newer hook-type mechanism or I become inextricably tangled in the wire while crossing through. And with the certainty of an eastern-horizon sunrise, I find myself on the wrong sides of these gates after closing them. Coming or going, it doesn’t matter. The Suburban is always beyond the gate waiting for me to figure things out.

When I turned fifty crossing fences turned into a struggle. I’m in fairly good shape, not too much overweight, and manage to totter around with a modest degree of authority, but now I cannot get over, under or through a fence, particularly barbed wire ones, without some sort of mishap. All of the shirts I wear fishing or bird hunting are torn along the shoulders and back. My sweaters have loops pulled from their tight knitting large enough to hold ice axes, and my waders leak, doing little more now than visually announce that I’m about to chase some fish.

One time along the Shields River I became entangled while stooping and grunting through some wire that silently guarded a delightful stretch of prime water. Frustrated – I could hear trout splashing after caddis less than 30 feet away- I jerked free only to have the tip guide of my fly rod hook on a rusty barb. Jerking the rod sharply I lost my footing, the rod separating at mid section. I slid to the bottom of the embankment with line humming off the reel as though I’d hooked a five-pound brown. Nothing serious came of this calamity. I lost a few minutes of my life during regrouping. The tip guide was bent into a narrow oval and my torn shirt was now more torn. I was dusty and bedraggled, but that’s how I wind up looking after fishing anyway. I went on to have a pleasant day catching a few browns, but that incident was the beginning of my firm dislike for fences and an beginning of an awareness concerning our obsession with closing land in, delineating, and not so tacitly stating that, a given piece of property that is owned is now longer a part of what’s left of free range in the West.

We’re all obsessed with possession. Relationships between the sexes are often defined by the scars of these emotional turf wars. That’s to be expected. We’re a flawed species. And purchasing a piece of land is overt possession, but controlling this land is absurd. Yeah, I understand that if someone pays the bucks they can do what they want with the acreage. Cattle must be managed. And riffraff such as myself needs to be kept at bay. A dwindling few ranchers still allow access to their land if a person politely asks and remembers to thank them with a Christmas bottle of rye whiskey or such. But the whole ownership thing is out of control on the high plains. Orange spray-painted fence posts by the millions, “Keep Out” signs swaying in the wind and “No hunting or fishing. No trespassing” warnings. How a person can do the former two without committing the latter is a mystery. This variation seems a case of restating the obvious. If you can’t pass, you logically can’t fish or hunt.

And I love the entrances to many of the newer ranches or ranchettes, the ones marked by a pair of enormous Ponderosa pine trunks topped by an equally large trunk across the top. And dangling below the top brace in clear examples of human hauteur are signs that dance to the tune of “Smith’s Ponderosa” or “Jones’s Wild West Retreat” or, my personal favorite, “Wall Street Retreat.” Thankfully the plains Indians never adopted this insecure form of territorialism. Visions of “Plenty Coups’ Palace” or “Dull Knife’s Estancia” come shakily to mind.

All of this makes sense to me. Let’s all hem in the land and its spirit with miles of barbed wire and then announce to the world who exactly is responsible for this self-absorbed mayhem. Like we own the good country in the long term. Recent wildfires in Montana and now California say otherwise, as do drought, earthquake and the inevitable ice age. I’ve never been a wannabe Indian. Not my style, and quite sensibly on the tribes’ part, they don’t want me, but whatever happened to respecting the land that can never be truly owned? What about honoring and submitting to the long-running buzz that is the electric spirit of the West?

Sure fencing one’s property ensures at least the illusion of privacy and security. We can all drive down our private, dusty lanes, sit on the front porch and arrogantly say while sipping some expensive single malt, “I’ve got mine. You can’t have it. I’m really living now.” The mentality that made us great hideously guts the essence of open space.

Up until a few years ago I couldn’t imagine what Montana or the Dakotas would have been like 150 years ago. A land of no fences, few people and a vastness filled with wild animals that rivaled Africa’s now ravaged Serengeti. For the past several years I’ve been drifting up to the far north of the Yukon and Northwest Territories with increasing frequency while researching a book. When I first drove through the hundreds of miles of uncut boreal forest and crossed rivers like the Mackenzie that are more than a mile wide and 40 feet deep, when I saw thousands of woodland bison grazing by the dirt roads that are called highways up there, I was blown away. To finally experience such an immense wealth of wilderness, an area many times the size of Montana, with so few signs of people was staggering. To catch countless grayling of several pounds from one small stretch of river was stunning. One day last June as I cruised up to the First Nations Dene De Cho settlement of Pedzah Ki, I watched the Mackenzie flow, not flow but power, its way north to above the Arctic Circle and finally into the Beaufort Sea. The Canyon Range, then the Mackenzie Range, then other mountains rolled away to the west for hundreds of miles. Moose ghosted through stands of dwarf birch. Black bears were all over the place feeding on the green, rich grasses of a short, intense summer. Through binoculars I sighted grizzlies wandering the slopes of the McConnell Range. Fifty miles to the south, Nahanni Butte shimmered silvery blue. For days I saw only a few settlements of maybe 100 people each. No phone or electric lines. No fences. The difference in the energy, in the feel, of this land was palpable. The countryside sizzled and seemed to flicker with a light that is not seen by the eyes. This must have been what the Big Sky felt like a couple of centuries past. Montana is home in my heart, but the North in its, for now, untamed radiance owns my soul.

Experiencing all of this up north made me see that we don’t improve things for ourselves or, more importantly, for the good country when we attempt to stamp our designs of control on the landscape. Instead we cut out the heart of the place and in the process slice away chunks of ourselves. In a few years my children will be off to college and I’m going to move out of Livingston and back into the empty, open spaces. I’d like to believe that I’ll tear down all of the fences on whatever place I find, but knowing myself, I doubt it. I want my piece of paradise just like anyone else.

Last October while returning from another day fishing on the Shields I crossed several fences on the way back to the Suburban. Angus cattle were casually grazing on the last of the year’s good grass. As is normal these days, I fought with a fence near the highway. When I finally passed through I looked up and saw a lone cow standing on the road-side of the fence. Cattle do this. They always want what they see on the other side, then decide that they really need to return to their original side of the obstruction. The animal was pushing against the barbed wire trying to rejoin its herd. The cow bawled in its frustration. A large gash ran along its flank. Blood from the wound glistened in the sunlight. I turned away, unlocked the back doors of the rig and started to put away my gear. I looked down at my right hand. A long scratch ran from the base of the little finger to the wrist. There was a good deal of blood that, too, glistened in the light.

John Holt has been called the Hunter Thompson of Montana. He is the author of numerous books, including the gripping novel Hunted, and Coyote Nowhere: In Search of America’s Lost Frontier. He lives in Livingston, Montana and can be reached at: jholt@msn.net

Found this 2004 piece by a writer I have no familiarity with but should. Anyone likened to that renegade Hunter Thompson is worth a look see. Here are some additional pieces by Holt re Montana.

Keeping You In or Keeping You Out?

A Ghastly Disneyland with High Rise Outhouses Gating Montana

The Feedback Loop Gating Montana: Part Two

By JOHN HOLT

At first blush you would discount this pattern as too simple to be worthy or effective. I understand that more adornments seems better. But, this pattern has REPEATEDLY proven itself on stillwaters and streams. I have taught fly tying to beginners over the years. After the Woolly Worms, Elk Hair Caddis, Hare’s Ear Nymph, Bead Head this and that…I would end the class with this pattern. I would invariably see the baffled looks. ‘This fly does not seem complex enough to work.”  A gift horse in the mouth….

Work it like any nymph…it works. The Lil’ Grey was the original color. I was on a grey kick. It work as a Lil’ Brown or Lil’ Greenie. Simple to tie for a young tyer and absolutely efficient at catching trout. Trust me…trust it. The tying sequence is hopefully simple to follow.

Grey or Gray…this lil’ nymph is probably too simple to warrant all the pics, but I am not given to the usual tutorial sequences. So, I thought I would give it a try. To recap….simple to tie, simply tight.You can look at the fly and go….well a wire rib would add more flash….A little Krystal flash to the wing…oh the tail is too bushy….see you are thinking too much. Take a break…keep it simple.

If you surround yourself with like minded goof balls, you will unfortunately have bad behavior reinforced as acceptable. You will be the one at 50 years of age, that never got the memo about harassment and the hostile workplace. So, I think you need help or an alert of sorts when you venture out of the confines of your reinforcing group to that new group that invited you over for the Halloween Party tonight…reconsider that costume.

“Singing done, I took my seat at the bar right in time for the cops to waltz in and throw down the native woman sitting next to me. Amid a shower of curses, with cell phone cameras a’glare (we’ll get you you sons-of-bitches), the cops wrestled the wreathing mass out the door and all went back to normal….” Angler’s Tonic, Clearwater Steelhead, Greg Thomas

I always enjoy those that get to sneak away beyond home waters, and it reinforces to me what distilled corn, rye or barley can do for courage and to that morning constitution. Anymore, ugh…where did the endurance go? Nice writing…if you are just finding it…. quite good… the enjoyable mix of visuals, words the obligatory tunes and the ability to put you there. Greg Thomas Blog

Yes, I know. There is little in the way of fly design that can equal the simplistic, single syllable utterances re the Adrienne Comeau Budweiser Beer Can Holder. Normally, I would not even attempt to suggest that much short of the take could equal Adrienne’s pull. But, tonight I almost found a match. Not quite, but for awhile, until I looked at the pic again, I thought I was close.

The Oracle Wet Fly is just plain seductive and inviting. It has all the stuff in the right places and well it makes you pause for a longer look. Not the ACBBCH, but close.

Oracle: authoritative, devines future, believed to be infallible.

Hook: Size 16 Dai-Riki 700B   Thread: 8/0 Black   Tail: Mallard Tail Barbules    Body: Gold Tinsel with Copper Ribbing    Wing: Tan CDC & Olive Hen Feather wrapped.  (No thorax material).

This Oracle Wet has a body constructed from Root Beer Krystal flash. It still picks up multiple colors when wrapped.

FLY FISHING for STEELHEAD

~ When the water temperature drops below 40 degrees, switch to sink-tip lines.

~ You don’t have to dredge the bottom with your sinking line. It will work as long your fly is within 4 feet of the bottom.

~ Don’t swing flies in runs more than 8-feet deep because you probably can’t fish them effectively, even with a sink tip.

~ If you only have a floating line, use a sinking poly leader as a substitute. It will get your fly down deep enough in most cases.

~ When the river is getting lots of pressure, fish out-of-the-way places like pocket water, and the fringes of popular runs. You may find fish holding in unlikely places.

~ When fishing nymphs under an indicator, use a heavy fly in front like a stonefly or egg sucking leech, then trail a small nymph or an egg pattern behind it. In the spring, an egg pattern is your best bet.

~ If there’s lots of fishing pressure, fish with smaller flies, as small as size 10. Make sure the hooks are strong enough to land a steelhead.

~ It’s never too cold to catch fish on a fly, but when the temperature drops into the mid to low 30s, dead drift flies instead of swinging them.

~If you prefer swinging flies, swing them when the water temperature is rising, which makes fish more active.

GENERAL TIPS

~ Learn to identify steelhead water. Steelhead hold in fairly distinct spots. Look for current that’s about walking speed with underwater structures in the form of boulders or bottom contours where deep areas turn shallow.

~ Steelhead prefer water that’s from 3 to 10 feet deep, but there’s a lot of leeway there.

~ Pay attention to seasons and conditions and know how they will affect fish. As the water gets colder, steelhead tend to like water that’s deeper and slower.

~ Learn a section of river. It’s tempting to chase rumors of a hot bite, but if you know where fish hold in a particular piece of water, you’re usually better off going there and waiting for fish to bite rather than trying unfamiliar water.

~ Be adaptive. Steelhead fishing conditions are constantly changing. If you adapt with the conditions, you will catch more fish.

~ Think presentation. No matter what tackle you’re using, how it’s presented is critical. Slower is usually better. You want your gear in front of the fish as long as possible.

~ Learn the local tactics. People tend to fish the Snake River differently than the Clearwater River or Salmon River. Tactics even change between the lower and upper Salmon River.

Natural Gas Drilling in Roan Valley, Colorado

“As it lays plans to exploit the Roan Plateau, the Bill Barrett Corporation is promising sensitivity to the area’s wild character. The company acquired its drilling rights last year after buying a 90 percent stake in the leases from Vantage Energy, which won them at a federal auction last August. (That auction netted nearly $114 million, a record for a lower-48 onshore lease.) The company has told investors that if it is allowed to develop the plateau, it may drill as many as 3,200 wells. But Mr. Zavadil said the company would diligently avoid trout streams and minimize other disruptions by using advanced techniques to pack dozens of wells together. The company has also pledged to develop only portions of the plateau at a time, and to put up money to improve wildlife habitats.”

DO WE USE RED ENOUGH? REMEMBER WHEN EVERYTHING WAS RED? Course that was when you bought your flies at a hardware store: the Royal Coachman, Red tail Yellow Woolly Worm, the Red tail Joe’s Hopper. Red was so there on spoons, lures, eggs, flies…..

Bloody Mary Nymph (SwittersB)

The above fly is the standard wet fly imitation. Sometimes, depending upon what is being imitated (mayfly or caddis) there is a tail. Above, of note, is the peacock herl thorax. Note how it pushes outward the barbs of the wound hen hackle. Theoretically, this allows the feather to pulse away from the sides of the body suggesting life. I can’t swear to this, but is make sense.

Now, below is a similarly purposed fly with tail and a wing. What I like about this fly (suitable for streams or stillwaters) is the filoplume material at the base of the quill. This portion is often discarded after plucking away the top portion to wrap a wing (like the above fly’s wing).

It is fascinating to look at this fly and see what was not evident with the naked eye….the wire ribbing was snipped off flush (so I thought). There it is…protruding from beneath the thread head. It won’t hurt the effectiveness of the fly or its durability…but aesthetically that is quite unsettling to some. Maybe I need to wear those big goggles to better focus on minute details.

So, you see the filoplume feathers tied in for the tail and wing on this size 14 hook. It is like miniature marabou and a wonderful material to utilize in tails and wings on small flies ( a great tail on a truly mini-bugger). Below is a portion of a hen saddle hackle.

This is the individual feather.

The top is usually used for a wing

and the bottom portion once plucked

away discarded. Use the fluffy barbs at

the base of the feather for tails & wings.

To the right is a pinch of plumes from the

feather on the left.

Tip from SwittersB visitor Maureen Clancy re BOUNCER FLIES. This always looks like a novel idea, but I have not actively pursued this. Have any of you for river flies?

Simon Grahams Bouncer Tutorial

PIKE BITES MAN

How many times have you taken your pliars to remove a hook from the bony mouth of a fish and stared at those impressive teeth. It has never really occured to me to be afraid of a freshwater fish. Would a salmon turn and snap a hand, a pike slash a hand….apparently so.

I was reading the always useful Oregon Fly Fishing Blog and a piece (installment) by Jay Nicolas entitled The Fly Fishers Glossary: Snippets From the Underbelly of Fly Fishing, Fly Tying, Fish Biology, Dusty old Facts, Hallucinations, and the Plain Truth as I know it, by Jay Nicholas.

In the piece there was something that caught my eye besides the uncharacteristic pic of a tight tush (are the OFBB guys loosening up?)…it was a comment that “….Research has demonstrated that blogging occupies an average of 6.5 hours per day for an avid fly fisher. Researchers have concluded also that a preoccupation with blogging” essentially precludes devoting any time to actual fishing. Thus, any bloggers who pretend to report fishing trips must have been hallucinating the event.”

Well, that is so true. It becomes akin to ‘those that can do and those that can’t coach’ (sorry coaches). So much effort to create posts that are meaningful, accurate, tinged with humor. It is a consuming drain, especially combined with work and family and vices. I so seldom get to fish of late..the addiction of the pasttime is so self evident I worry for my sanity headed into Winter. Too consuming, too passionate this blogging. So with that in mind I have decided to relax, expand the mind and remove myself from the blogging harness for awhile and explore other avenues of fulfillment. I mean if OFFB can pull a little sex kitten from Moldy Chum or Buster then certainly I can find a similar release……

Well, on second thought…although there were lots of ‘bootylicious’ displays in this cultural sidebar…I guess as Clint said,  ‘a man’s got to know his limitations’ or something like that. I am too old for a mid-life crisis, so I will go back to researching and tweaking the FF populace and dreaming, planning and yes, sometimes getting out there.

“I prefer women who like to fish rather than women who like to bitch alot.”  FatGuyFF

theartoftattoo.wordpress.com/2009/02/

And, it wasn’t even a ‘you should have been here yesterday’ moment.

I know nothing more about Pike fishing than they look evil and arouse the predatory, retaliatory urge in me. That said, far better, if you live in the lands of Pike, to be familiar with two notable experts in the field, who are amazing tiers and gifted chroniclers. Must be the latitude.

Simon Graham (Finland) at Pike Fly Fishing Articles and Ulf Hagstrom (Sweden) at 700 Teeth tie some amazing creations to provoke the slash. Check them out at their sites. If you are of a mind, they are both at FB also.

Check out Jiri Bohdal’s exceptional images at Naturfoto

A reminder you to stoic or skattered ones dancing and skipping ahead of reality… be mindful of those you love. They won’t always be here.

Posted in Health, life, Nature, Nature's Beauty Tagged: Fall, Life's Transitions, Rose Bud, roses, women's health ]]> http://swittersb.wordpress.com/2009/10/26/last-chances-last-gasps/feed/ 2 SwittersB IMG_1484x