The ONLY flies you need

I'm kidding, these aren't the only flies you need. Maybe you only need one of them, maybe you need more. I'm not you, you aren't me. These are just my favorites.
"
Terrestrials: I learned early on that terrestrials are huge portion of a trouts diet and for a major portion of the year. You can fish this fly from June through November. Last year Sam and I landed some nice browns that were preping for spawn with this fly. It doesn't look like much, just some black foam and rubber legs, with yellow foam on top for visibility.
Hoppers: That first fly is my go-to terrestrial, but hoppers are good to. This one is real easy to tie, dub a body, lay some foam over it, tie in some legs and top it with a turkey feather. I will also fish some ants, but hoppers and the cricket-like fly above will do the job when fish are hiding in bunkers and looking up.
Black Caddis: I hit the black caddis hatch last year and it was really good, not great, but good. This year I'll know what I'm in for, and this fly will get abused.
Blue-winged olive: The most consistent hatches in the driftless ares the BWO's and the Hendricksons in the spring. This fly will work for both. This is the best BWO (and all around mayfly) pattern I have found. Mallard flank for a tail, dub a body and lay a clump of deer hair on top. I trim the butts of the deer hair long for a wing pad, it helps the fly float better. -This is a sweet pattern.
Midges: I'm a terrible midge fisherman, but it isn't because of my flies, its becasue of my presentation. This fly is really all you need, the griffith's gnat. If I can get this fly to float well, and I can see it, I usually will get fish during a midge hatch.

When the fish are feeding on the surface, the above flies should do the trick, the 98% of the time that they aren't looking up, go with these:

Streamers: Big flies=big fish. This is a mini-clouser tied with rabbit strips. One on top and one on bottom, tie in a bit of flash and hit the water.
scuds: Otherwise known as amphipods, these critters eat aquatic vegetation. A big rain event will flush them down river and they will get the attention of big fish.
Hare's ear nymph: You can fish all sorts of nymphs and do well, but this one is really all you need, I think.
Thread midges: Trial your nymph with one of these...Simple pattern, consistent results.

The one thing that my favorite flies have in common is that they are all really easy to tie and don't have a lot of materials. I like to sit down and crank them out in a hurry, they don't need to look pretty, just proportioned well.

What are your favorites? If you could have just one of the above, which would it be? What would you add to the list?

First trouting of 2011

I scratched the winter trout itch yesterday. As I headed over to MN, the temperature dropped from 30 degrees at my house to 23 on the stream. I kept my camera in my backpack where it apparently got too cold and wouldn't work. I snoeshoed a good 2 miles of stream and didn't even see a fish. Not the best outing the world, but good to be back on the streams. Next time I'll visit some more reliable water, take better care of my camera, and get ya'll some trout pics.

In the meantime its back to the ice.

Streamers: some big, some small

Gierach Quotes

A nice feature of reading books on kindle or iphone is the ability to highlight and bookmark. Easy to go back and read some good stuff that short term memory loses. Some of my highlights from John Gierach's – Death, Taxes, and Leaky Waders.

Not long ago I spent three-hundred dollars on a fly rod, but an extra seventy-five cents for a pound of coffee still rubs me the wrong way. Once established, priorities must be maintained.

It's an article of faith among fisherman that any body of healthy water holds some monsters, fish that no one ever catches but that are, nonetheless, there.

These are established personal favorites, not so much fly patterns as articles of faith generating much magic.

Remember, fairness is a human idea largely unknown to nature.

The occasional peaceful bender in a solitary fishing camp is therapeutic, and I won't apologize for it.

in that part of Wyoming where daily life goes on just a peg or two above sensory deprivation

The point he's making is valid, though: Isn't it interesting that the logic you apply to the opposition is abrupt and unforgiving, while the reasoning for your own position is fluid, creative and finds infinite subtleties?

Restocking the box

I'm in the process of restocking my fly boxes. I'm starting with winterish flies and working toward warmwater stuff. Thread midges (upper photo) and scuds (lower photo) were on the menu today. Not the most glamorous flies, but you'd better have them on spring creeks-any season, but especially winter. The white square is 1.25 X1.5 inches for scale.

7 and counting.

Between my neighbor and I, we are up to seven pike through the ice over the last couple of weekends. The action isn't exactly fast, but we are getting some fish and it has been a great way to get out of the house for a few hours. Almost all of them have been the same size, about two feet long, respectable.

Dinner!

Sam riding a downed tree. He likes to kick snow in the holes, little bugger.

The Smuggler

Down here in the Driftless, slower rod tapers are becoming popular, especially in fiberglass or bamboo. I’ve been thinking about both of these materials for some time now. I’ve also been looking for a vintage glass rod to use for spin-casting. There is a river really close to my house that gets stocked with brown trout every year, but is completely choked with alders. It is impossible to get a fly on the water. But I’ve thought that an ultalight-spinning rod might be a nice way to catch a few fish and put dinner on the table.

I communicated this to someone I know who collects fiberglass rods, both spinning and fly. Yesterday he dropped something interesting off at my office. A rod likely made in the 1960’s for Ambercrombie and Fitch, called the “smuggler 3 in 1”.

This is a neat rod with the following features: Completely set up, it comes as an 8 foot fly rod, probably casts a 6 or 7 wt line. It is a noodle. But it comes with a second handle (as you can see in the photo). This reduces the rod down to 6’10” and it casts a 4 wt line ok. It is probably better with a 5wt line, but I don’t currently have one. This configuration can also be used as a spinning rod. But wait, there is more. Pull the last section of rod off and you have a 4’9’’ ultralight-spinning rod, perfect for a small alder choked trout stream.



I recieved the following from a very knowledgeable glass rod expert:

"I have not seen this outfit before. That is kind of cool. The reelseat on the spinning rod grip appears to be a Phillipson design. The rest of the rod looks much more like Silaflex. My guess is this rod was built for A&F by a small shop with parts they felt were the best available. From the components used, I think your rod is about 45-50 years old. Those ferrules were used in the early 60s, as were the reelseats. While it has a spinning rod reelseat, the tip section is set up as a fly rod. The 8 foot length indicates that it was originally designed as a fly rod too.

The primary value of this outfit is as a fishing rod (I don't think it will get much notice on eBay). Rods get in this condition because the owner loved fishing with it. A lot. The outfit is in fair, used condition, complete with the original rod bag and tube (in the background). The grips are dirty, gouged, and dented. The tip section is missing a guide. There are paint scuffs and label chips. Noble battle scars one and all. However, the ferrules look good, the majority of the wraps and guide look good, and the rod looks usable. I think you are best off cleaning it up and taking it to the water. The rod obviously has been there before.

Joint it up as a fly rod and try it with a 6 or 7 weight line. Then try it with some light spinning lures and light mono line. You may be surprised at how it casts and fishes."

Here is a link to the history of Silaflex rods:
http://fiberglass-fly-rods.pbworks.com/w/page/5183007/Silaflex

Weekend on the Ice

I started the year out hitting the ice below the house pretty hard. I had some success and learned a few things.

Stats: Had total 10 tipups. 1 fish ran into a log-jam and got hung up. Two fish were actually pulled through the ice (~18-21 inch Pike). The rest got off as soon as I/we set the hook. Both fish that were pulled through the ice were by my neighbors. –We had a little party down there, sipping Tom and Jerry’s and staring at tipups.

I did some hiking upriver of the side channel and found a spring. It appears as though the spring is running directly into the side channel (which I now consider more of a slough). I was pretty exicted to find the spring because that means fresh water with some oxygen getting into the main portion of the side channel. –Also important for finding Pike in the spring when they are looking for weeds and warmer water to spawn in. Here are some photos:


Cmon, spin...
The spring, fresh water, life...
-cool tree formation
One of the primary reasons why floodplains are among the most productive and diverse ecosystems on the planet-organic matter deposited from overbank flooding.

Deep snow

Listened to an interesting "On Point" with Tom Ashbrook. Was on my way to a stream yesterday rocking to some NPR jams. Worth a listen.

Fur, Fortune & American Empire
http://www.onpointradio.org/2010/12/fur-empire

The snow was deep, fishing was slow. Scenery was great and was glad to have my snow shoes on.

Western Rivers

The Bighorn, MT
A Bighorn Rainbow
The Green River, UT

The Wilson, OR

through the ice

There is a side channel of the Black River below our house. It only carries water during extremely high flow events, like the flood during this past September. During the moderate to low flow conditions that are typical on the Black, the side channel only receives water from downstream. If you think this seems a bit counter-intuitive, you are right. But you need to consider that immediately downstream of the channel is a big corner pool with a back eddy that pushes water up into the side channel. What this means is that the lower end of the side channel receives a lot of slow moving to stagnant water with low oxygen and a lot of sand. During the summer, there are sometimes gar rising back there in the shallows. Only a few fish species can tolerate low oxygen levels, gar being one of them. Northern Pike can also tolerate relatively low oxygen levels, but during the summer Pike are also looking to find bait fish, many of which are out in the back eddy, not up in the side channel. The other thing about this side channel is that without a major flood to periodically scour it out, it tends to fill up with sand. Why should you know all of this? Well, I got a hot tip from someone about the Pike fishing in the side channel during the winter following a flood. The last time (so and so) caught Pike from the side channel was the winter of 1993, following the Great Flood. That was the last time the side channel had been scoured out, until this year.

I’ve been drilling some holes through the ice, which is well over a foot thick now, all over the side channel looking for Pike. Water depths have ranged from 2’ to 5’. I think the depth is adequate, but I’m not convinced that the fish are back in there. I haven’t fished it particularly hard, only a few hours here and there, and with kids. But it has been a nice way to get outside and have some family fun. I need to get some live minnows. So far I’ve been jigging preserved minnows, which just aren’t the same as the real thing. After the Holiday’s I’m going to work hard in that side channel and find out if there are fish in it. After all, if I don’t find out, no one else will. There is nobody fishing back there. Any advice?





The kids are working it... Sam only dropped the Dora pole in once and the scoop in twice. He figured out pretty fast that it isn't a good idea to try to touch the water-cold.
Jig-jig-pause-jig-jig-pause.

Crusty Waders

new in box
swishy sounds when you walk
feel too new
occupy your mind
afraid to kneel
shiny fancy waders

getting older now
patched a few times
fish slime deet dirt
walking crunch
no longer occupy your mind
crawl on hands and knees
crusty waders

Black Eyed Snakes

Before kids, and when we lived in Duluth, we used to frequent the Black Eyed Snakes shows. High energy, lots of noise, lots of sweat, and a ton of fun. We were at this show in 05 and I think you can hear AJ singing at the end. The video sounds like a mess, but it was cool to find it posted on the web. Tim from riverblends will remember this well as he got beat up by a he/she :)

Also at this show were the Moaners, two girls from Memphis (I think). The drummer could play guitar and drums at the same time.

End of November

I closed out the 2011 trout season just before Thanksgiving. Iowa produced some nice bookies and a ton of spawned-out browns. I caught a couple of 12-14 inch fish that looked like snakes. Finished the season fishing a nice midge hatch, nothing special, but fun.
In other news, the Black is a steady stream of slush. Finally, I had the eager beaver out yesterday (my chainsaw). Took down an oak and a pine.

The Samurai

A winter ago Uncle Nate and I tied a few samurai streamers. It was spotted in a stealhead book and has been proven to be a deadly assassin.

"Not fishing for a while gives you a perspective on the sport that being in the thick of it never will. You remember things–good, solid, revealing things–that might otherwise have drifted on downstream and gone out of sight forever". –John Gierach "Death, Taxes, and Leaky Waders".

Iowa's clear creeks

These are not trout streams. However, they are just as pretty and hold smallies, carp, and others.

A River Runs Through it

Poets talk about "spots of time," but it is really fisherman who experience eternity compressed into a moment. No one can tell what a spot of time is until suddenly the whole world is a fish and the fish is gone. I shall remember that son of a bitch forever. - Norman Maclean

I recently read this book on my phone using the kindle app. I want to make a trip west.

fighting bullying with babies

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/08/fighting-bullying-with-babies/

some random thoughts...

Since I moved down to the driftless area a few years ago, I’ve been struck by how common the act of trout fishing is here. I’m not sure if ‘common’ is the best word for it. But what I’m saying is that although the season’s change, the fishing doesn’t, at least not that much. For example, yesterday I fished a nice blue-winged olive hatch, something I haven't done in a while. I had a blast. At the same time, there were some pretty good sized brown trout spawning in the shallows. It was a pretty cool day. Yet I couldn't help feel that it wasn't all that different from fishing a month ago, and that it won't be much different in another month. The fishing is always good here.

Contrast this will the furry of fall steelheading. When the fish are only around for a short period of time, you better get fishing, or you’ll miss it. For me, that aspect of fall steelheading drove an impulse that I largely lack right now. There is no urgency to fish because I know that I’ll be able to experience pretty constant action on these streams regardless of season.

Yesterday I spent some time just sitting on the bank over a gravel bed watching a couple of midsized (~16 inch) brown trout spawning. I was thinking about all of this and I felt lucky to have access to a resource that is so seasonally consistent. Everyday flyfishing is what I’ve started to refer to it as. It’s just a part of life, something to be balanced with other activities and obligations. It’s a low-key affair, nothing to get too excited about, yet something to enjoy. I also thought about fall steelheading and how it isn’t just another part of life. For a couple of months, it is life.

It’s tempting to try to make things into what you want them to be. But it’s much easier to just enjoy something for what it is. When I lived up north, I spent most of the summer trying to find an ‘everyday fishing’ experience, only to learn that fly fishing up there is mostly seasonal. Sure, there were some hatches that brought fish out, but those were pretty rare. Now that I live here, in such a constant environment, I yearn for the excitement that comes with fall steelheading.

But it’s all good, for what it is. –And that is all this ramble is really about.

The new Black River

I've been adjusting to life on a relatively different Black River. The recent flood completely wiped out the sandbar on the opposite side of the river and there is no longer a good place to stand over there. The floods also wiped out the little island that I used to stand on to fish the back eddy. Now the sandbar just upstream from the house is 5-10 feet above the water.

I've been casting stinky streamers for gar. I mean stinky literally as I have been experimenting with Berkley's night crawler scent on my flies as well as a homemade batch of garlic puree. So far I've had one hook-up in the past three outings. I couldn't hold the fish and it wasn't big. Gar a difficult, I actually think they are feeding primarily on insects right now. -But who knows?

Big Brown

I just got back from a trip up north in search of Steelhead. Also just got a new internet connection, so I'm trying it out.
Sam came along and we camped together. We met up with Andrew S. and Tim P. who were also looking for some steelie love.
Sam enjoyed life around the campsite the most.

Nice scene along the river.
Didn't catch any steelhead, but managed a nice 26 inch brown. Don't even ask about the finger in the fish's gills. Its the ending of a long story, I'll try to post it later. Not proud of it.
this pic turned out too dark, so I enhanced it.
later

Good ending to the WI Season

I've caught this big brown a hundred times this year... In my dreams. In reality I caught him once this Spring. Uncle Nate and I decided to end the Wisco season where we started it -- in search of big browns in Grant Co WI.

We didn't hook into any big browns. Still, a couple days in paradise on the spring creeks of the driftless area.

Wisconsin season ender

Uncle John and I closed the Wisconsin season out where we opened it, down in Grant County. You may recall that John landed a 20 inch Brown down there in March. So we were searching for big fish. We found none. Not even a hook-up with something big. In fact the largest fish either of us landed was 12 inches. As I reflect on the weekend, I wonder where those big browns are right now? I know we were fishing over areas that are likely to attract spawning fish, so it isn't like they were farther upstream. Maybe they just weren't hungry. Who knows, I guess that's why they call it fishing.

Despite not landing any lunkers, we had a great time fishing and landed a lot of 10 and 12 inch fish and it is always beautiful on a Wisco spring creek.