BWO’s (Most Waters~Most Places) Rick Hafele, A Great Source

BWO Nymph

So what makes these small mayflies so important to the fly fisher? One reason is that they occur in nearly every type of flowing water habitat. Their worldwide distribution attests to their ability to adapt to many different conditions. They live in streams from sea level to over 10,000 feet high, from alkaline spring creeks to acidic mountain streams, and from hot desert streams to frigid arctic waters. For example, while studying a small desert stream in western Colorado I found Baetis tricaudatus to be one of the most abundant aquatic insects present. At the same time, during study in Alaska, I found Baetis bicaudatus a significant component of the invertebrate community. Water temperatures may be an important factor affecting the distribution of different species. Within the large range of habitats utilized by species of Baetis, the largest populations tend to occur where lush beds of aquatic plants grow in rich spring creeks, or in shallow, fast flowing gravelly riffles of freestone streams and rivers. And wherever Baetis species are abundant they provide a near constant and readily available food supply for many aquatic organisms, including trout.

http://www.laughingrivers.com/rick-baetis.html

Fly Tying with Peacock (Excellent Tutorial at Whiskey Creek Fly Fishing)

Whiskey Creek (http://wcflies.com/blog/) is an excellent blog site on how to tie. It has many outstanding examples. I enjoyed this p0st re peacock and to be honest, I have often purchased strung peacock and tied herls in by the butt only to be disappointed with the smothering of herl fibers. I often find the tips too fragile on the cheaper herl. Here, Whiskey Creek gives great advice on one of the most important fly tying materials. 

Whiskey Creek FF

“Compare the herl coming from the eye and from a string. Notice how the eye herl has even fuzz on both sides of the stem. For the strung herl, one side is better than the other. For strung herl, its best to twist it into a rope, so that the best sides come forward. The eye herl is on top, strung on the bottom (but you could tell that already). ”

Mark this site for excellent info, especially re wet fly construction.

Fly Tying (Mayfly with CDC~ ‘la collerette en CDC’)

http://www.jpdessaigne.com/Astuces/colleretteCDC/colerettecdc.htm

Good tutorial on creating a biot body and spinning/dubbing CDC for the wing material. If you need additional translation beyond the visuals, use Bablefish.

 

Fish & the photarium

http://www.flyanglers.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6176

http://www.wildfishconservancy.org/store/wild-fish-photarium-large

Fly Fishing Streamer~Killer (Mrs. Simpson looks good, for her age)

Mrs. Simpson

 Hook: #2 – 10 regular shank
Thread: Yellow or red
Tail: Black squirrel
Body: Tying thread
Wings: pheasant rump feathers
Head: black. 

Mrs. Simpson

I love the look of this NZ born streamer pattern. Originated decades ago, this pattern should be resurrected for experimentation on rivers and lakes. It strikes me as every bit as enticing as a Matuka or Muddler Minnow. The drab qualities of these patterns beg a bit of Krystal Flash, but it should be initiated as is and additions added to further experiment.    

Some additional fanciful history perhaps: http://www.flyanglersonline.com/features/oldflies/part236.php

Fly fishing Northern India for Golden Mahseer on the fly

Golden Mahseer

“There is only one kind of Golden Mahseer- the Barbus tor putitora and it lives only along the Himalayas- from Uttaranchal and Himachal in the West to Assam and Arunachal in the East.”

 “Like all of India’s wildlife, the golden mahseer is in decline, both in sizes and numbers. Where available in numbers, they run small, when it comes to size, some of the biggest have been killed off, especially the great females which grow the biggest.”

http://www.otterreserves.com/

Flyfishing for Mahseer’s has been evolving for the last 25 years. Streamers are often used to lure the fish. Most fly caught fish are in the steelhead poundage range. The 60+ pound bruiser above is more often caught in deep pools with hardware of bait. Much like salmon. The Golden Mahseer is becoming endangered and C & R is expected in regions that cater to fly fishers. A 1989 movie, Casting for Gold (Baily/Boot) reportedly highlights fly fishing for Mahseer in the foothills of the Himalayas. This is viewed as a novelty fishery to the West. Euro’s are frequent pursuers of this species with the swung fly with one and two handers.

 http://www.rackelhanen.se/eng/10339.htm   

http://www.indiaangling.com/Fly_fishing_tackle.htm

Winter’s Little Brown Stones (or Black)

On a past trip  to Central Oregon’s Deschutes River at Tethrow Crossing, I was fishing a Midge Dry amongst the cat tail reeds and quiet water. I was picking up a few browns and rainbows. The only other angler visible on the cold January day was fishing above me and having repetitive success. I waded out and sat nearby smoking my briar and after awhile the man walked my way. 

Blk. Stimulator

I noted his success and asked the usual question of the unsuccessful. He showed me his fly..a smallish black Stimulator (maybe a size 14, 2x or so). He explained he was fishing to match Black Winter Stoneflies. Huh? I knew about the big California Stones of May and the Golden Stones of Summer. However, I had never heard of Winter Stoneflies. He displayed his fly box with Black Elk Hair Caddis and Black Stimulators. He also had black Hare’s Ear Nymphs. He told me to fish the edges of riffles in the quieter water with any smaller black nymph. I had no dark hairwinged flies. The man pulled a black EHC from the box put it into his palm and rolled it into my palm. I thanked him and he departed up the hill toward his pickup.

 

I fished some ten feet out from shore..not wading…and proceeded to catch a half dozen

Winter stones

 or so brown trout with memorable ease. I have added dark hairwing flies to my winter arsenal of midges and  bwo’s. I have learned to fish the edges much like other stonefly fishing. These small black or brown stoneflies crawl toward the edges like their larger cousins. 

  http://www.westfly.com/feature-article/0001/feature_110.php     (this is an informative piece by Hafele and Hughes that explains the habitat and appearances of Winter Stones).

Wotton’s Magical Midges (nice looking pupa patterns)

Wotton Super Midges

http://mountainriverjournal.wordpress.com/2007/11/15/davy-wotton-super-midge/?referer=sphere_related_content/

“DAVY Wotton’s Super Midge’s have been an underground cult pattern on the White River for the last year Super Midges were whispered about, talked about and pontificated on but rarely seen.”

 

“The Synthetic Living Fiber, or SLF dubbing, is one of Davy’s, so is Prism Dubbing and most of the range produced by Wapsi. Wapsi bought Davy’s dubbing business before he moved to Arkansas,…”

 

http://mtnriverflyshopstore.com/dawocufl.html  

 

 

Wild Salmon Center (far reaching efforts)

Protecting globally significant salmon ecosystems.

When we protect wild salmon, we safeguard our rivers, forests, communities, and economies.

The mission of the Wild Salmon Center is to identify, understand and protect the best wild salmon ecosystems of the Pacific Rim. We devise and implement practical strategies, based on the best science, to protect forever these extraordinary places and their biodiversity.

info@wildsalmoncenter.org

Eggs and Beads (Alaskan ‘Attractor’)

“Beads: The Bare Naked Truth

Have you ever wondered why grown men and women spend their free time painting plastic beads……Lurking in fly shop aisles looking for just the right color…..Elbowing teenage girls out of the way to purchase various shades of nail polish…….Standing midi-stream, mumbling to themselves, while staring intently into their enormous selection of beads? Why do they go to all this trouble when the could just use a Glo Bug?” **Please note that in the State of Alaska beads are considered attractors, not flies. When fishing beads in Alaska’s fresh waters, a bead that is fixed or “pegged” so that it cannot freely slide on the leader, cannot be fixed more than 2 inches from the hook. ***Also note that because beads are not considered flies, you cannot fish them in fly-fishing only waters with a bare hook. In fly-fishing only waters a fly tied of traditional means (with thread) must be used with beads. A thread wrapped hook with a pegged bead will suffice in fly-fishing only waters under state regulations. http://www.alaskaflyfishinggoods.com/How-To-Articles/Beads-The-Bare-Naked-Truth.html