Free Fly Tying Class

Next Saturday there will be a free Fly Tying Class at the Manchester, NH public library. To register go to. This will be a great chance to learn how to tie your own flies.
Today Stan and I took a ride down to my favorite canals on the Tamiami Trail looking for tarpon and snook. We got some casting practice but no fish. We saw plenty of gators, but only a few jumping mullet and a couple tarpon rolling and no snook and no manatees. It was breezy and overcast and the fish seem to like flat water that is quite a bit warmer. Stay tuned, we plan to get out again in a few days.

Hatchery Pipe Tour

No I didn't decide to hit the Swift for one last time this year. I took a break from tying flies (more on that later) and strung together some video shots of the hatchery pipe area on the Swift. Those that are regulars there will probably not be too impressed, but you other folks who haven't made the pilgrimage yet might find it a little interesting. <YouTube Video>
Oh yeah, fly tying. I have been alternating between three themes: Major hatches for next spring (Alder fly and Hendrickson patterns, mostly); Florida; and Labrador streamers - yes a trip to Three Rivers Lodge is in the planning stages, so Clouser black ghosts and Mickey Finns have started to accumulate. In between I confess to tying some softhackles to use as droppers and also for an April foray to the Swift upon return from Florida. As soon as I finish the Florida flies, I hope to dig into my tackle bag and clean out the ratty looking flies from my fly boxes and started to get organized for next season. I have been mulling over some new ways to organize my fly boxes. Anybody have any special thoughts on that?

Postscript to yesterday's post

One of the hot flies on the Swift River was the Hotspot, a nymph I learned about from Ken Elmer's Miller River Fly Fishing Forum. I don't know if it is taken for a pellet, an egg, a pellet/egg sandwich, or whatever. I just know it works. Thanks, Ken!
Also, I frequently get some off-line email commenting or asking questions. That is fine, but feel free to hit the "Comment" button. This blog is for my fishing reports, but also for sharing information (thanks Eric and Bob) that advances our community of FFers. So get out of lurk mode every now and then and let's hear from you!

Tying Time - Variation on a Variation part 4

Well, I think this theme has just about run its course, I'll finish with a flourish of three more variations.
The first one is a variation on my rootbeer bugger. It has an orange glass beadhead. The orange could look like an egg, or just a shiny attractant that flows with the other colors of the fly. I like the glass beads for some of our shallower streams. It sinks the fly, but not as deep as brass or tungsten, so it won't get hung-up as much. If it isn't getting deep enough, just add a pinch of tunsten putty.






The second fly is my yellow/olive WB with a green glass bead. Gives a little flash and will sink the fly gradually.










The last one is the old standby olive WB with an olive glass beadhead. Nothing spectacular, but maybe just that little bit of distinction that will trigger a strike.

What variationsdo you tie?

Tying Time - Variation on a Variation part 3

I call this fly the"Bruiser." Yes, it is a big, meaty chunk for hungry fish, but it is black and blue, too. This WB is definitely a variation of the egg-sucking leech, which usually is tied as a black WB with an orange or red head. I once read that rainbow trout are attracted to the color blue in flies. So this seemed like a natural color combo for those early season rainbows that cough-up hatchery pellets when you land them.
Note: you might not (probably won't!) find in a fly shop all the different colored beads I use. Last winter my buddy Jerry Bernier bought a big supply of various colored glass beads and I bought a couple bucks worth off him. The red, pink, yellow and clear ones make great egg-flies. The others show up on my woolly buggers and larger soft hackle flies.

Tying Time - Variation on a Variation part 2

Here is another variation using the red "gill-bead" to add a splash of red. This might also be a variation of the Egg-sucking leech pattern. The color doesn't show on the scan, but I also "ruggedized"this fly using fine red wire as a ribbing. This adds another bit of color flash and also anticipates the success of the fly by adding the wire rib to keep the many fish which bite it from tearing it shreds. If you aren't an optimist, you are a fly fisherman! BTW, I always put a layer of head cement on the hook prior to wrapping the chenille body on my woolly-buggers. I almost always add a wire rib over-wrap, as well. Usually fine gold wire, but sometimes copper or red. This fly also has a few strands of black crystal flash in the tail. You might also notice that I usually tie the tails on my WB a little shorter than you might see elsewhere. It pisses me off when I get short-strikes and have to pinch off some of that flowing tail. So, I got into the habit of tying a little shorter tail, cutting down on missed strikes. It might look a little short to the fisherman, but the fish don't care!

Tying Time - Variation on a Variation

It is a well-known, revered tradition that when the snow starts to fly, New England fly fishermen hunker down in front of their vises and crank out flies to fill the holes in their fly boxes for the next season. As you can see by the dearth of fishing reports, this fisherman has hunkered down sooner than ever! Before this latest snowstorm hit, I was over to the Evening Sun fly shop chewing the fat with Charlie, Nelson and John and replenishing some tying supplies. Charlie was sharing some unique material he had just acquired and when I got home I sat down at the vise to try it out. It is really just a variation on some readily available materials in a unique color. I tied a few flies with the new material and when I stuck them into the foam block next to some other flies I had recently tied, it struck me that I was continuing the variation on a theme. The theme is tying tried and true patterns and the variation is to use some different colored materials to show the fish something different, but potentially even more appealing. The idea is not to be different just for difference sake, but to try to improve the effectiveness of existing patterns with "new" materials. The flies already tied so far are (Surprise!!) woolly-buggers. Yes, I tie them in all the "regular" colors - black, olive, brown and white. Lately I have added "root beer" to my repertoire. For the last couple years, I have also been using some material variations. The most successful of these has been to use yellow chenille body with olive tails and hackle. I will share some of these variations with you over the next few days. Keep in mind a couple things. First, these are tied to fish, not to win any beauty contests. Second, I just smacked them down on my scanner without combing, arranging or multiple scans. What you see is what the fish see and they don't give a darn, as long as it looks tasty!
Here is a variation on a variation. A yellow-body, olive bugger with conehead AND red glass bead tied on a size 10 nymph hook. The main variation here is the red bead. A lot of real successful flies have a splash of red. Some people think this simulates an injured fish or the color of the gills of a bait fish. Whatever the reason, this is the prototype and if it works, I'll tie some more, or it could just be an interesting "one-off" variation. Stay tuned for more variations on a variation.

Learn to Tie Flies - Free!

If you have always wanted to learn how to tie flies, here is your chance. My buddies Jim Norton and Stan Jodziewicz will be teaching this free class at the Nashua Public Library on January 24. Click on the title of this post to get to the registration page. All tools and materials are included and there is no charge for the class. There will also be a class in Manchester, and I will post that information, in case Manchester is more convenient for you than Nashua. The classes are jointly sponsored by the State of NH Fish and Game department's "Let's Go Fishing" program, and Merrimack River Valley chapter TU, along with the folks at the library.