Fly Tying & Fishing: Little Fort Leech (Variation)

Yes, a version of the ubiquitous Woolly Bugger, The Little Fort Leech. Without question, and for whatever reasons, the best dark WB I have ever used. Yes a basic black or dark brown WB will produce, as will almost any colored body combination given the right location and presentation. However, this pattern can be fished wit confidence on stillwaters and rivers. Simple to tie, this variation has a variegated marabou tail rather than the traditional Black marabou with a bright splotch of red hackle or marabou tied atop the black. The abdomen/thorax is lightly palmered with dark brown hackle. It is unweighted save the bead head. I tied this fly on a stout size 8 hook. I came upon this pattern about 20 years ago in Little Fort, British Columbia at a fly shop and have never stopped tying this very basic fly.

Fly Tying: Exacting Details for Small Fly Patterns

Planet Trout-Fly Tying-Macro Photography-Photography-Outdoors-California-Fly Fishing

Tim Barker over at Planet Trout has a never ending supply of small fly patterns that are intelligently designed and reasoned out to the hatches trout dine upon and habitat they hold in. His attention to small details in fly pattern design make one consider the learning process of fly fishing. There are many layers to the sport and a never ending opportunity to experiment  while studying various watersheds.

Yes, it does make a dimes bit of difference to study the habitat, hatches, fly pattern design and presentation of fly patterns! But, for even more exacting details in a fly pattern visit Planet Trout for many fine examples of well thought out fly patterns.

This Rainbow Trout was seduced into sipping a small soft hackle in the film during a chrionomid hatch (Caught/Released)

 

Photography: Shakers, Indians & The Collapse……

The original church was relocated to this location in the 1970’s. In the 90’s it collapsed into a pile in the foreground.

Lone Pine Tree Village set upon a rock bluff adjacent to the Columbia River. It was near the native’s fishing grounds.

“The church and village were built by Henry Gulick, a Scottish immigrant who settled in the area in the 1890s.

His wife Harriet, a local Wasco woman, was a member of the Indian Shaker movement.  

Though Henry was not religious, he built a small wooden church, which soon became one of the centers of Indian Shaker activity on the Columbia River.”

 (Frank Hunt Photography) Please visit Frank Hunt’s site for more  details re the Shaker religious movement amongst the native American tribes. Apparently there are still remnants of this today.

Here, my wife locates the window and building where her photo had been taken 30 years earlier. Also, we were trying to stand out of the ripping wind and an approaching downpour.

The bridge joins Oregon & Washington states. The original church was moved because of the bridge right of way and a motel construction. The building in this shot was the northern most structure still standing. SwittersB

You can see by the aerial imagery that the landscape is harsh and rugged. The motel construction, bridge construction and parking lots clash with the historically rustic village. I am glad we got to explore this after so many years. It makes for those nice images of the old, weathered structure and tall grass.

Above is the small, insert image of the Lone Pine Tree church as it stood in the 1950’s. That image was taken by Gladys Seufert, whose family owned the property the motel was constructed upon. It so happens Gladys & Francis Seufert took quite a few photos of old structures in Wasco County, Oregon.

SEUFERT PHOTOGRAPHY OF OLD STRUCTURES IN OREGON