Traditional Old-School Nymphs Catch Trout, Don’t Forget It
Every year, I spend quite a bit of time scouring the interweb and flipping through numerous fly company catalogs, all in the effort to stay up to date with the latest new fly pattern creations.
Many are just variations of already existing fly patterns, but quite often it’s a new fly tying material that’s created, manipulated, or that’s managed to stay under the radar and discovered, that’s used to develop these new fly patterns. I usually spend my time reviewing the new flies and their recipes, and hear my inner-voice chattering over and over, “why didn’t you come up with that fly pattern, dumby”. But even after purchasing and tying several dozen of the new fly patterns, many of them ultimately fall short on the water of producing trout numbers like my traditional old-school standby nymphs do. Why is that?
I think the the fly tying world is very similar to the rod manufacturing world, where a company builds a great fly rod that 90% of fly anglers love, and then a couple years down the road they discontinue the rod line, to make room for the introduction of the next innovative fly rod. Quite often, in my opinion though, that new rod design’s performance falls short of its predecessor. I know this process is called product life cycle, and it will continue to happen again and again, but it sure seems like we’re in way too much of a hurry to move on, and should instead be more content with sticking with a great product longer. It’s the notion that great isn’t great enough, and that we should retire the greats, in the hopes we can find something, for lack of a better word, that’s perfect. The problem is, there’s no such thing. No one product will work perfect for the infinite number of situations it will encounter on the water. My point being, in the target zone and scope of fly patterns at least, it may benefit many of us if we stop getting lost in creating and searching for the next best fly pattern, and instead spend more time just fishing the fly patterns that have proven to catch fish for us consistently for the past century.
Not long ago, I spent a day floating a very popular tailwater in the Southeast. It has an extraordinary trout population, supporting something like 6,000+ trout per mile. Fly fisherman travel from all over the country to fish it, and many of them go-in thinking presentation aside, that success is going to be determined by fishing the latest hot fly patterns that the fish haven’t seen. They run to
Read More »There’s No Such Thing As A Bad Perm
YOU KNOW WHAT THEY SAY. THERE ARE NO SMALL PERMS.
Just perms, and big perms. Happy perms and happy clouds. If you can’t catch perms, you can always drink.
Here’s Bob Ross to teach you how!
http://vimeo.com/32582348
The Bob Ross Drinking Game
Read More »Slim Shady Baetis
By Bob Reece
A baetis pattern with a secret.
“Hopper” Juan Ramirez is full time guide on Colorado’s South Platte and Arkansas Rivers. His years of experience on these water have allowed him to build an on-the-water knowledge base that is second to none. One of his recent creations, the Slim Shady Baetis 5.0, is testament to his understanding.
When I asked Juan about his Slim Shady 5.0, he shared the following thoughts with me. “The Slim Shady 5.0 was a pattern that I worked on for several years before I finally found the right material to set it apart from other great patterns that already existed. It took several versions, but I finally settled on a pattern that utilized a “secret” material. “Slim Rib” is a micro stretch material that I use to make a wonderful segmentation on this pattern. No one else is using it and that’s what sets this pattern apart from all the other Mayfly Nymph patterns. The pattern sits on a 200R hook. The 200R is a hook that is 3x long, giving it a wonderful mayfly shape. As the name states, it’s a slim pattern, matching the small mayflies in the Southern Rockies as well as elsewhere. It’s been thoroughly tested on the South Platte, Animas, Piedra, Dolores and Arkansas Rivers and has accounted for some really fine fish for my clients and me. “
While proper presentation is integral on highly pressure water, accuracy of
Read More »Checking Your Attitude
IF YOU READ THE COMMENTS ON OUR POSTS YOU’LL OCCASIONALLY SEE THE NAME TOM CAHILL. THAT’S MY BIG BROTHER.
Tom lives in Virginia. Too far away for us to fish together often but too close to have a good excuse.
He is an avid fisherman and a talented photographer. He and I have much in common. Our conversations may start off on motorcycles or politics but they usually end on fishing. I have often said that we are brothers, separated by a common hobby. Like brothers who marry sisters, Tom fell in love with bass and I with trout. I walked off up some mountain stream and he sped off at seventy mph across the lake.
The other day Tom left this comment to a post on G&G. It left me wondering why I’m the one with the fishing blog.
***
“Of all the cash we spend to catch a fish the biggest element is free. Years ago on one of those frustrating days my friend Rodney put it quite simply. Just as I was about to cast he asked ‘Are you going to catch one this cast?’ I responded with ‘Probably not!’ Rodney: ‘Then why don’t you just stand there until you are.”
“Now if you see me on the deck of my bass boat you may see me checking my line, checking my knot or checking my drag, but if I look like I’m just standing there staring a hole in the water, I’m checking my attitude.”
***
That’s Tom all over. Contemplative in the face of adversity. A talented golfer and all around athlete, I remember watching him stand silently at the tee box. In a world of his own, visualizing his swing, reasoning through every detail. When the swing came it was perfection. The ball flying and fading exactly as it was told. I’ve not known
Read More »8 Tips For Figuring Out The Trout
How do you find and catch trout on days when there doesn’t seem to be much action?
When the river looks like it’s boiling with rising trout and you’re having to wipe the BWOs out of your eyes just to tie on a fly, it doesn’t take a degree in entomology to catch fish. Sadly, days like that are few and far between and we spend plenty of days on the river scratching our heads and guessing what might get a favorable response.
Most days there is a combination of fly pattern and technique that will put a couple of fish in the net. If you’re struggling with finding that combination, you may just need a method of narrowing down the variables and making an informed decision.
HERE ARE 8 TIPS FOR FIGURING OUT WHAT THE TROUT WANT.
Take a few minutes to watch the water.
Try to resist the temptation to jump in and start casting. I know, it’s hard. You’ve driven a couple of hours and you’ve been thinking about fishing all week, but take a few minutes to watch the water and see what you can learn.
Are there any bugs at all? If there are adults but no fish rising to them, try the nymphal form. If fish are rising, pay attention to the rise form. Splashy takes may mean they are eating emergers, while lazy sips might suggest spinners. What about water clarity? Stained water might require larger or more brightly colored flies. Higher or lower than normal flows might affect where fish hold.
Look for fish, too. It’s much easier to narrow down choices of patterns and techniques when you have an actual fish the test them on. Before you start blind casting to pockets and seams, see if you can spot a good dance partner.
See what the birds are doing.
Birds and fish have more in common than many folks realize. Most birds eat insects in the same way fish do. If swallows are buzzing the surface of the water the hatch is on, even if you can’t see it. If they are circling high above, you may have missed the hatch but those bugs will be back later in the day to lay eggs and fall. Other birds like herons and osprey are professional fishers and know exactly where to find fish. Keep a close eye on them too.
Sample some bugs.
It’s never a bad idea to take a few minutes to see what’s on the menu. Especially when fishing new water or as the seasons change. Turn over some rocks in a riffle and see what’s clinging to the bottom. Look around rocks and plants on the edges of the water for shucks or adults. Shake some bushes and kick the grass to see what’s hiding there. Run a bug seine along a foam line, especially if you see fish rising but don’t know to what. A little investigation will at least give you a starting place, if not an answer.
Use searching patterns and tandem rigs.
Read More »Chug a Coke, Save a Bleeding Fish.
There’s nothing worse than watching a big beautiful wild fish bleed out from a damaged gill.
I found myself in just that situation with a big brown trout one day. Watching helplessly as the water turned red. Thank God Kent was with me. Thinking fast he said, “hey, did you finish that Coke?” I had not and he showed me a great trick. He opened the fish’s mouth and poured the Coke down her throat. As soon as it hit the injured gill the bleeding stopped. It was like magic. I’m not sure if it’s the carbonation or the acid but something in the Coke cauterized the wound. It saved that fish’s life. I know it for a fact because I saw her in that same pool several weeks later, although she was wise to me by then. I’m certain it was
Read More »Dehumidifiers Keep My Fly Fishing Gear Fresh & Dry
It used to be an ongoing battle all season long to keep my fly fishing gear dry and odor free.
There’s nothing worse than having to slide into a pair of stinky, sweaty waders that are still damp from the day before, struggle to slide your feet into a frozen solid pair of wading boots during the winter, or head out fishing on a rainy day with a rain jacket that’s already soaked to the bone. A couple years ago, I finally got smart and bought a dehumidifier, and now all I have to do is drop my gear on the floor next to the dehumidifier in the evening, and it’s waiting for me the next morning 100% dry and odor free. I’m telling you, it’s like heaven on earth, and I guarantee, you’ll find a whole new appreciation and respect for dehumidifiers when you take the leap of faith and put one to work.
Dehumidifiers are also great for
Read More »The Virtues of the Single Spey
The Single Spey is one of the most efficient, and most overlooked, casts for the two-hand fly rod.
Like a lot of anglers who picked up the spey rod to target steelhead, much of my early fishing focused on Skagit techniques. I spent my time perfecting the Snap T and Double Spey in the standard and off shoulder forms and pretty much got by with that. Later I added a Snake Roll for when things are tight but for years the only time I used the Single Spey was when working out my head. As I spent more time fishing Scandi style lines and traditional flies, I realized I was missing out by not using the Single Spey. I also realized I had never really mastered it.
THERE ARE SEVERAL GOOD REASONS TO USE THE SINGLE SPEY OVER A CAST WITH A WATERBORNE ANCHOR.
First, it’s just more efficient. There are fewer steps and less wasted motion than in Skagit casting. Skagit casting is great when you need to lift a heavy sink tip, but when you are fishing a floating line you don’t need all of that power. A Single Spey is requires less effort and saves you energy, so it’s less fatiguing.
It’s also much quicker. Not that we are out swinging flies because we are in a hurry, but it does get you through the run faster, which can be a good thing. If for instance you are trying to squeeze in one last run before dark, you’ll spend half the time casting with the Single Spey.
The Single Spey can also be a big help when the wind picks up. With a waterborne cast like a Double Spey, it’s hard to generate line speed without blowing your anchor. The slower pace of the cast allows the wind to carry your line, often making it hard to form a good D-loop and killing your cast before it’s even launched.
Since the Single Spey is a touch-and-go cast, it’s easy to step up the tempo while still making a good D-loop. It also allows you more line speed on the forward cast, which helps you land the line and leader straight. Even in the wind.
The more I use the Single Spey, the more applications I find for it. It may be one of the oldest two-hand casts but it has not outlived it’s usefulness. It’s worth taking the time to learn to do it well.
The real key to this cast is
Read More »Adjusting your rig
By Dan Fraiser
I’M STANDING ON THE BANK WATCHING THE BOTTOM FALL OUT OF THE STREAM AND A DARK ABYSS FORM WHERE THERE ONCE WAS STREAM BOTTOM.
The currents are right and the undercut bank is textbook. I know there are fish in there like I know putting my head under water would make breathing hard. It’s just obvious. I know that I don’t have enough weight on, that my dropper needs a tandem fly, that my hopper needs to go and be replaced with a strike indicator and that I need to dig the shot out of my pack. I know it, but that seems like so much work and the fish are right there. So I spend 10 minutes working the run without a strike. Casting and mending and trying to work the margins where I might be deep enough. Eventually, I give up and tear down my rig, put on all the right stuff and immediately start catching.
This unwillingness to change set-ups is a real problem for me. I’ll try to make do with what’s on, only to eventually cave and do it right. It feels like re-rigging would take up so much of my fishing time. Forget that mistake. I timed it tonight. To go from a bare tippet to a two fly rig, complete with shot and an indicator took me 2 minutes and 22 seconds… and I’m slow. I waste more time fishing a rig that isn’t right, just because it’s on, than it would cost me to just get it right and start catching. And who knows how many fish I spooked or made shy before I made the change.
Ignoring the time wasted fishing wrong, let’s just think about this. If you
Read More »7 Easy Steps To Successful Saltwater Fly-Fishing: Video Round-up
Let’s review some basic skills you need to get started catching fish on the fly in saltwater.
Success in saltwater fly fishing is all about the fundamentals. If you understand and practice the fundamental skills you will catch fish. There is a lifetime of learning but once you have the basic skills it’s a blast learning the rest.
Saltwater fly fishing doesn’t have to be daunting. Any angler can learn and today we’re going to review the skills you need for some great days on the water. Skills simple enough for any angler to understand and put into practice.
7 VIDEOS TO HELP YOU CATCH FISH ON THE FLY IN SALTWATER
Let’s start with the most basic and likely most important aspect of saltwater fly fishing, communicating with your guide. Understanding the
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