Sunday Classic / Stocking Nymph Patterns in Different Weights
THIS PAST WEEKEND, ON ONE OF MY HOME TROUT WATERS, I WAS FRESHLY REMINDED HOW IMPORTANT IT CAN BE TO CARRY DIFFERENT WEIGHTED VERSIONS OF MY FAVORITE NYMPH PATTERNS DURING TOUGH FISHING CONDITIONS.
The low and gin clear water had the trout extra spooky and cautious. All it took was one wrong move, like my shadow briefly being cast over the water, or a presentation made a little too hard, and the trout ran for their lives like they were being chased by a pack of starving otters.
I use split-shot most of the time with my nymph rigs to get my flies down in the strike zone. It works great for me almost all of the time, but keep in mind that the extra weight added by them, also increases the noise made when presenting your flies on the water. Since I had low and flat water conditions, it wasn’t necessary for me to use them to get my flies down for most of the water anyways, except for the deeper pools. I love my Thingamabobbers but I had to substitute them for small stick-on foam strike indicators to keep my presentations extra quiet. I could have used a dry fly as an indicator but it would have called for me to constantly adjust my dropper length to keep my flies drifting in the preferred depths from one fishing spot to the next.
For the most part, the trout were congregated in the deeper pools, buckets and troughs, where the most water was found, but there were also multiple spots where I found trout holding in shallow, slow moving water located near cover. These places required unweighted or lightly weighted versions of my nymph patterns to get a good drift through the target water. My problem was
Read More »Saturday Shoutout / Freedom On The Brink
We are seriously on the brink of losing our public lands for ever.
I am, frankly, shocked by the complacency of the sporting community on this issue. We should all be very angry at what amounts to the greatest land swindle since Manhattan was bought with beads. We should all be much more vocal about our displeasure and we should certainly all be voting these thieves out of office.
Fortunately, Jason Tucker, of Fontinalis Rising, is more than angry and vocal. He’s informed, and he’s sharing some valuable information with us all. If you are not seriously disturbed by what’s a foot, You don’t have all the facts.
Please read, “Our Public Lands- Freedom on the Brink”
Read More »Bauer Joins Winston And Introduces New Fly Reels
I have some twenty year old Bauer fly reels I still fish all the time.
I really appreciate that kind of quality in my fishing gear.You don’t get a lot of flash and marketing from Bauer but you do het reels with smart design, quality materials and beautiful fit and finish.
Over the last few years Bauer may have lost some market share to some of the new reel companies but a recent merger with The Winston Rod Company has breathed new life into the brand. Jon Bauer is still at the wheel, designing and producing great reels, and with Winston’s distribution and support, more excited than ever.
New for this year are the RX and SST offering powerful drag systems, large arbors and classic designs.
Watch this video to see the new fly reels from Bauer.
Read More »Reece’s Beefcake Beetle
By Bob Reece
Beetles are abundant in the riparian environments that surround many of the waters that trout inhabit. Though their size range varies drastically, their appeal to trout in those areas is consistent. On water where trout frequently see hopper patterns, a properly presented beetle can often become a difference maker. When I designed my line of Beefcake terrestrials, including my beetle, I focused on creating an underside to the fly that would be anatomically accurate in its imitation and, as a result, more appealing to fish. The application of loco foam on the bottom of this pattern deploys a reflective sheen that is seen in the exoskeleton of large insects. In addition to this, the presence of the foam and segmentation on the underside of the hook shank creates a three dimensional profile that is seen in the natural.
I typically carry this pattern in size 12 and 8. However, it can be tied from a size 14 up to size 4 contingent upon where and what you are fishing for. Depending on the water type and situation, I fish this pattern
Read More »Fly Fishing: The Popper-Dropper Rig
Like a lot of kids, I spent most of my adolescent summers chasing bass and bream on the local creeks and ponds in my area. Most days, a single rubber-legged popper tied to the end of my leader, was all that I needed to catch fat bream and the occasional lunker bass. On days when the bite slowed, I’d put down my fly rod and head to the neighborhood pool with my best friend Ryan Evans. It didn’t take long for us to get labeled the Huckleberry Finn boys of the neighborhood. We got plenty of strange looks walking through those pool gates, fishing rods in hand, and both wearing cargo shorts with boxers hanging out the tops. Those dirty looks were well worth it, and we learned to shrug them off, because that pool was the perfect place for us to cool down in between our fishing adventures, and it also happened to be one of the best places for us to keep track of the older females. We learned reflective polarized sunglasses weren’t just good for fishing, they also were great for inconspicuously eyeing the older females, walking by in those skimpy bikinis. It was a time in my life when I was relatively stress free, and I had not yet taken on very many responsibilities. Those were the days.
It wasn’t until I started dabbling in trout fishing that I found a way to improve my warm water popper fishing.
Read More »5 Flies For Labrador
By Jason Tucker
Having recently returned from Labrador, I got to try a lot of different tactics, techniques and flies. It’s the benefit of being able to fish all day, every day, for a week. We fished everything from dry flies to streamers to nymphs.
Labrador had it all—copious hatches of both mayflies and caddis, with fish rising steadily or cruising and taking flies. They hit streamers aggressively, and they took mice on top as well.
You would think fish that see so few anglers would take anything you threw at them, but that assumption is dead wrong. They were picky about what caddis fly you presented. Mayfly patterns had to be the right size. Even the pike wouldn’t hit an olive streamer.
We both brought every fly box we owned and a huge pile of flies. Here is what caught fish.
Cone Head Madonna in Yellow
Like most places in North America, sculpins are found in Labrador in abundance. I know there’s a plethora of great and traditional patterns out there. This is a great pattern and easy to tie. I tied a variety of colors for the trip, but yellow with a white body out-fished every fly on the trip. It caught pike, the Atlantic salmon pounded them with abandon, and I got my biggest brook trout, a four-pound male, on this fly.
Goddard Caddis
I tied up a bunch of these in size 14 before the trip. Caddis are a big deal up there, hatching daily, and at times achieving
Read More »Sunday Classic / Camera Care in Saltwater
My cameras take a beating. On a trip to the Deschutes I dunked my Nikon D300s so badly that when I took the lens off, water poured out of the body. I was sure it was done but I pulled the battery out and set it in the sun and after a few hours it came back to life. The lens needed repair but the body seems fine.
I’m not recommending that you take your camera for a swim but good quality DSLRs like Nikons and Canons will take a lot of punishment. The one thing they can not take is salt water. I got away with a little dunk in the Deschutes but the salt spray and even the air in the Keys or the Bahamas can be deadly.
When I’m working around salt water I take great pains cleaning my gear.
Saturday Shoutout / Hex Season
An interesting bit of perspective, history and, well…argument on some of Michigan’s most famous trout waters.
Interesting in trout fishing the holy waters of Michigan? How about boat choice and guide politics? It seems like any more you can’t pick up a fly rod without someone taking issue. In the end, we all have water to share and how we do it says a great deal about us as anglers and as people.
This essay from True North Trout is one of the most thoughtful pieces I’ve seen on the subject. If you’re inclined to think about such things, it’s worth your time.
HEX SEASON, BRINGS OUT … …EVERYTHING
Read More »RIO Gets Big, Nasty and Salty: Video
RIO swept the IFTD awards in the fly line category this year.
A pretty impressive showing, considering they won for every product they entered. Two of the awesome products on the awards list are the Big Nasty fly line, designed to turn over the heaviest of flies and a new saltwater mono leader material.
WATCH THIS VIDEO FOR ALL THE DETAILS ON COOL NEW PRODUCTS FROM RIO.
Read More »2 Hand Surf Casting Tips From Tim Rajeff: Video
Surf fly-fishing is becoming more popular and with it a new style of 2 hand rods.
Anglers fishing the surf with fly rods know all too well the fatigue that comes with repeatedly hucking a line a hundred feet int the ocean. To solve that problem many surf anglers are turning to 2 hand beach rods. These long, powerful rods trade in the double haul for a smooth 2 hand casting stroke with a compact range of motion. Thanks to the power of the long rod that hundred foot cast becomes almost effortless.
When Tim Rajeff told me Echo would be releasing the new Beach Boost for the surf crowd, I knew a lot of our readers would be intrigued and many equally perplexed. The world of 2 hand overhead casting is pretty small and plenty of anglers will surely not know where to start. Fortunately, Tim was all too happy to give us a few tips on casting these cool new rods.
You can get more info about the Echo Beach Boost HERE.
WATCH THE VIDEO FOR TIM RAJEFF’S 2 HAND OVERHEAD CASTING TIPS.
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