Odds and ends to wrap up the week

This week went fast. I can't believe it's Sunday night. I have a project I've been managing at work about to come to a close, and as of Thursday, I'll be on vacation until 1/4/2011. I'm pretty psyched and I know that I'll be fishing every day crossing all the things off my wife's to-do list around the house. This includes fun activities such as painting and lots of cleaning. At least it's the holiday season. We took my son to breakfast with Santa today and unlike the post I saw on Troutrageous, my son actually loves Santa. Here's the offical Santa pic with him. He's had about 4 more since this one, but this is my favorite.



In other news, I tried to fish today. I think tried is the right word here. Although, I didn't suck at fly fishing like I did yesterday. I unfortunately don't have the luxury to have a spring creek with a consistent temperature near me so when I have limited time to fish, I hit the east branch of the Perk. I was able to get out for an hour today, but since it's been freezing cold every day, it's starting to ice up. Both sides of the water had about 5-10 feet of ice protruding out from them which meant you had a 10 foot channel in the middle to cast through.

*&#$ing ice


This did not make the fishing fun at all. I did see a small rainbow hugging a slate rock, but he wasn't having what I threw at him and when my streamer hooked in to a chunk of floating ice, I think he had enough of me and took off to hang out with the one or two other stockies still left in the water. Ok, so I didnt get snagged in a tree, but maybe I do still suck at fishing.

Later today, I watched the fly fishing film called "Once in a Blue Moon" and I highly suggest it. This guy heard stories about a giant mouse hatch (yes, I said a mouse hatch) in New Zealand and decides to check it out. I won't give away much more, but you should definitely check it out. I enjoying it enough to get me to sit at the vise and trying to spin some deer hair for my first mouse fly. If I wasnt so lazy, I'd post pics of it. Maybe tomorrow. Here's the trailer for it.



Well that's about all I have. In closing, I'd like to give a shoutout to Mike's Gone Fishing for some added traffic. Tight lines sir! The site has also been add to the Outdoor Blogger Network. It's a great site and I suggest checking it out. It has links to tons of great blogs.

Today, I sucked at fly fishing

There are days when I feel like I absolutely suck at fly fishing. Today was one of them. I hit the Little Lehigh sometime around 1pm and it was extremely cold and a lot more windy than I had expected it to be. I despise fishing with half gloves but they were on most of the day today, even though my hands are still cracked to the point where they are bleeding now. It also didnt help that my guides had to be cleared of ice every 5 minutes.


I started working my way downstream throwing scuds, pheasant tails, and eggs. In the first 20 minutes I was there, I lost 5 flies. I was roll casting and getting caught on branches, getting caught by the wind on my back cast, and trying to free a snag which would send my tandem fly rig rocketing into the trees. I went on to lose a total of 8 flies today. I even had a few wind knots that forced me to re-rig. These are mistakes that I am quite familiar with because they happened to me constantly for the first year of my fly fishing. I've since then had to deal with them less, but they came back with a vengeance today. I just wasn't on point.

To make matters even worse, the fish had lockjaw. I couldn't even get a fish to follow anything I was throwing at them. They weren't spooking easily, but they weren't taking anything. Even size 24 midges could not draw a strike.

I was about to pack it in, and then I saw it. One tiny BWO, about a 24, buzzed quickly in front of me. I only saw one and I didn't see a single rise, but I quickly hoofed it back to my favorite hole when olives hatch and tied on a size 20, which was the smallest one I had.

After ten minutes and not a single rise or bug siting, I decided to pack it in. As I'm reeling in my final cast, I finally see a rise. I immediately cast to it and connect with a 10 inch brook trout. I get him to shore and start fumbling for my camera. Before I could get out the camera or touch the fish, he popped himself off and swam away. Some people consider that a landed fish or a long release, but I still felt skunked.

About to snap my rod in half, I start walking back to the car. I look down and see a fairly deep pool at the tail of some riffles that I've never fished before and something told me to make a few more casts just in case there was a fish there. So, I tied on the Slumpbuster I mentioned in my previous post and it broke my slump on the first cast. I finally connected and landed a 12 inch wild brown trout. He wasn't huge, and he didn't really put a big fight but damn, it felt good to finally land a fish, plus he had beautiful coloring.


I released him after admiring him for a few seconds. I headed back to the car still pissed off, but relieved that the Slumpbuster saved the day.

Hungover Slumpbustin'

I had my work holiday party last night followed by 12% beers at Iron Abbey. Needless to say, it was a rough day at work. Thank god for cheesteaks and Gatorade.

I started feeling better on my way home and stopped by the Orvis store in Plymouth Meeting. I picked up some hooks and some natural zonker strips. They make for a beautiful Slumpbuster.



I'll be on the water freezing my butt off fishing at 6:30am on the Perkiomen Creek. Wish me luck.

Who needs a wingcase?

Tonight = filling in the box with some basic patterns and downing a few bottles of Spaten Optimator

Redneck Pheasant tail

Orvis 3xl nymph hook size 20
tungsten bead
pheasant tail fibers
UTC copper wire xs
12/0 brown uni thread
danville 70 denier bright red (hot spot)




I'd also like to give a shoutout to Minion Fly Fishing and Fishing With Dad for linking to us and pushing through some extra traffic. Gracias!

Is that a midge in your pocket, or are you happy to see me?

It's freaking cold outside. It didn't even hit 30 degrees today. When I can't fish, I tie. I'm currently sitting in my basement in front of the vise whipping out some quick flies in case I get some spare time to hit the water this weekend.

I hit up Michael's Arts and Crafts and bought a bead container. It has made my life so much easier while tying. I'm no longer looking for a little packet of beads buried in 20 other packets.


Since the beads were easily accesible, I knocked out a dozen or so Zebra Midge patterns. After Saturday, I'm now a big fan of hot spots.


Also knocked out some more olives in size 20. I'm experimenting with bigger wings which will hopefully give a little more time on the top of the water before it dips into the film. I'm really trying to get around spending money on tiny dun hackle. I'll let you know how it goes.


Time flies when you're tying and bumping early 90s house music.

Some sunday morning comedy

This was posted on the PA Fly Fish homepage and I thought it was hysterical. Enjoy your day.

Dry flies in PA in mid-December?! Oh yes. It happens.

I was psyched to hit the water this morning after a long week at work. I had a bunch of new patterns, I cleaned out my fly boxes, had a fresh leader, and brand new spools of tippet.

I tied up some BWOs just in case the rare hatch happened this time of year. I got to the Little Lehigh just before 11am. I started off by hiking half a mile downstream and didn't see one rise. A few small trout were feeding on midges, but that's it. Fishing was tough for the first 45 minutes. I took a break and hit the Fly Shop for some more tungsten beads and then got back on the water.

After that, it turned out to be a damn good day. I still didnt see any rises, so I started to fish midges. Turned out to be a good idea and I found myself in a nice 5 minute fight with this 18-19 inch rainbow in some fast water.



But what's that bright colored thing in his mouth you ask?


That would be a hot spot Zebra midge. (I apologize in advance for the quality of the fly in this picture. This is the exact one that caught the fish and it is mangled.

Orvis size 20 emerger hook
Uni-thread black 6/0
UTC Ultra Wire XS in silver
Glass bead from Michael's arts and crafts store
Hot Spot - Danville 70 denier 6/0 in hot orange
Coat the whole thing in Sally Hansen Hard as Nails



With no more luck on midges, I turned to a two fly rig with an egg up front and an orange flashback pheasant tail behind it. I literally watched this small brown move about 6 feet across the stream, scoop up the pheasant tail, and then he grabbed the egg before I even had time to set the hook. Even though he was hooked twice, he was released unharmed.



Here's the fly. Again, I apologize for the condition of it. This is the same fly that caught the fish.

Orvis 3x nymph hook size 20
Pheasant tail dyed orange
Krystal Flash
UTC Ultra Wire XS in gold
peacock herl



You are probably asking yourself, "I thought he said they were dry flies?" Relax, I'm getting there. After I released the brown, I saw one rise. Two minutes later..another. I then saw a baetis land on my hand. I immediately tied on some 8x tippet and threw on a size 20 BWO. I made a cast and was connected almost instantly to a brown that had to have been 20 inches plus. He broke me off in about 30 seconds by jumping. Damn 8X. Rerigged and connected a few casts later to a small brown who was landed with a quickness. Then after losing two more and missing a few strikes, I landed a 12 inch bow. I love fishing dry flies, and I usually miss it all winter, so I love when I come across a cold weather olive hatch.



I mentioned in an earlier post that I would post the BWO pattern I use so here it is. This is the easiest fly to tie and it can be done in like a minute. Thanks to Rod at LL Fly Shop for offering to show me this one.

You'll need
Size 18-22 dry fly hook 2XL
Olive thread - I use Sheer 14/0 but you can use whatever you want
Dun microfibbets (synthetic mayfly tails)-If you cant find dun, the black works just fine. I've used it.
CDC Puffs - dark dun

Build up a thread body about halfway back the hook. Tie in 4 microfibbets for the tail. Length should be 3/4 of the hook length. Work your way forward and build a tapered thread body until you hit 2 eyes lengths away from the top of the hook. Tie in a cdc puff with the feather shaft facing the eye of the hook using only 2 loose wraps. Pull the CDC towards the eye until you get the wing length you want and tie off. Wrap around the CDC to get it to stand up. Whip finish.

I've caught at least 50 fish on this fly this year. It's so easy to tie. It will sink after about 5 casts since there's no hackle but a few false casts dries it off instantly.






I also hate to admit it, but I caught a sucker using the new worm pattern I mentioned earlier this week.


My bro-in-law and I got drunk one night and made a fishing show video of us targeting dogfish at the NJ shore with bunker. Maybe I'll be an asshole some day and make a fishing show on sucker hunting. I know exactly what to call it.

Fish Porn - now on DVD

I just finished watching the 2nd edition of Trout Bum Diaries for at least the 4th time and I have to say, it gets me psyched to go fishing every time I watch it.

If you haven't see these films, you should hunt them down. It's a group of guys who call themselves the Angler Exploration Group that pretty much get paid to go on an extended vacation and do nothing but camp out and fly fish. The films aren't really educational, but the scenery is beautiful, the soundtrack is amazing, and they catch some absolutely MONSTER trout.

Volume 1 takes place in South America and follows the crew as they travel down to Patagonia and land some sea-run brown trout (Think of a steelhead, only chrome with brown spots). Volume 2 is called Kiwi Camo, and the fish are even bigger. Watching one guy spot and another guy casting a 15 foot leader with a giant rubber legged dry fly is intense.

I would highly suggest hunting these down. Their website is no longer functioning and forwards you to the Fly Fishing Film Tour website, but hopefully they will make more videos in the future. This is fish porn at it's finest. Here's the trailers for you to check out.

Trout Bum Diaries Volume 1 - Patagonia


Trout Bum Diaries Volume 2 - Kiwi Camo


And while I'm on the topic of porn, this fly fishing website from Ohio has a feature called fly box porn that's worth checking out. It's pictures of fully loaded flyboxes and some pattern recipes.

One more day until the weekend, and a chance to try some new patterns.

If fly tying is cool, consider me Miles Davis

You'll only get the joke in this post title if you've seen Billy Madison. If you haven't, it had to do with an old lady, and peeing your pants. I'll leave it up to you to track it down.

I had a bad day at work and I'm not feeling so hot. I figured a couple hours at the fly bench would do me some good. It did.

I read a great website recently talking about micro-nymphing techniques and patterns. I had honestly never heard of it before reading it. Then I was reading the Jersey Angler blog and he had some beautiful nymphs posted with recipes. It interested me enough to try out a few of my own. Who knows if they will work, but I'll try them this weekend. All size 18 mustad scud hooks with tungsten beads. Almost all have wood duck for the tail. Then I changed it up. I used everything from flashabou to krystal flash to orange pheasant tail to peacock and ostrich herl. A few of them turned out pretty cool looking.




I then decided to knock out a few wooly buggers. I tied up some more of the peacock chenille ones I mentioned in an earlier post, but I hackled them this time. I also tied up some size 12 conehead brown buggers with lots of flash. They should do the job.


Now I have to do two things.
#1 Make room for this stuff in one of my boxes.


#2 Clean the hell up and go to bed. Urgh.


p.s.
Could someone buy me this shirt in a 2XL? Thanks

Eat the worm(s)

I know a lot of fly fishing purists despise them, but I find myself a frequent user of what many people refer to as "junk flies." This includes eggs, worms, and about 10 million steelhead flies. It's basically anything that doesn't "hatch".

When nothing else is working, I can usually get a hookup on a San Juan worm. I often use eggs as an attracter pattern above a nymph. The way I see it, fly fishing is having fun. If you need to have an exact imitation of a size 24 midge larve to do that, more power to you. I just like to get on the water and catch fish.

While bargain shopping the closing sale at the Little Lehigh Fly Shop, I came across a ton of chenille for like $.70 a package. My SJ worm collection was getting low, so I stocked up. I was reading Mid Current the other day, and saw a pattern for a looped San Juan worm. I never thought about trying it before, but damn, it looks sweet and I think it will work. Here's a size 12 in pink. I also knocked out some in red, brown, and orange.


If the rain starts Saturday evening, Sunday should be a good day to test them out.

In other worm-related news, there is one pattern that from what I've read is mostly only used in PA, more specifically on the Little Lehigh. That pattern is the honeybug inchworm. I've read quite a few forum posts with people asking about them, where to find the material, and how to tie them. The material is called cotton chenille, and apparently hard to come by in fly shops. The original pattern is tied in a lime green, but I found some of it at the LL fly shop in white, so off I went to tie some. It's such an easy fly to tie. It only takes about 45 seconds from start to finish. I knocked out some white ones, and I used my Prismacolors (BTW if you tie flies, you NEED these things. They are great for coloring patterns and have extremely vibrant color)to make a few look like mutant caddis larva.







And before I go off to get to the worm at this bottle of Tequila, I want to give a shout out to Troutrageous for showing us some love on his blog.

Most of you probably got here from his link, but if not, definitely check it out. I've been a fan for half a year now.

Enjoy your Cuervo.

Partridge and Orange

I was reading about some Old English traditional flies and this one caught my eye. I bought some partridge a few weeks back because it was half off and I hadn't touched it so I gave it a go. I tied one on a dry fly hook, and one on an emerger hook.




This is the first time I've ever tied a soft hackle wet fly. I don't think they turned out too bad. The traditional does not call for the gold ribbing, but I thought it was a nice touch.

I wonder what this guy would have to say about breaking the tradition..

Merry Fishmas

This is my favorite ornament.


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