Replenishing fly boxes

Things have been crazy lately as spring time rolls around. There have been a lot of people thinking about what is empty in their fly boxes and so have either been ordering through MyFlies.Com or have been visiting their local shops. Fly shops have been contacting me for flies to replentish their supplies and clients have been trying to fill their empty slots in their fly boxes. Here are some of the most recent orders that have gone out the door.

Chain Gang Stonefly




Chain Gang Hares Ear



Loopty Loop




Chain Gang Pheasant Tails




Y2K & Tellico Nymphs




Yellow Stonefly dries





Spirit of Pittsford Mills





Brown Beacon And Loopty Loop

Warm water bite is on

My friend Mike and I spent some time on the West Branch of the Susquehanna this Memorial Day weekend. Saturday when we went out on his boat, it was a great day of fishing. The water was crystal clear and was running about 68 degrees.  The water was a little up from the average flows but it was great for fishing.  You could see to the bottom in 7' of water with no problems.  Actually we could see several large smallies just swimming along the bottom.  Mike had some outstanding fish.  He was using either spinner baits or tubes.  One of the crazy, exciting moments was when we had the fantastic double.  We both hooked up at the same time.  As we were bringing in our fish, both fish danced on the water side by side at the same time!  It was awesome to see that. 


I didn't have the quantity he had but I liked the results of some of the new patterns.  The Stoned Claw Crazy did well to bring several to hand.  We were catching several smallies and we got into some really big red eyes, rock bass, or whatever other names you have for these fish.  I was using the brown and also tried a new color, orange/brown. 

I got some fish on the modified clouser. I extend the body with a bead chain body.  I have some flash and arctic fox at the end of the bead chain. 

I had tied up a few of this new pattern.  It is basically rabbit strips, flashabou, craft fur head, and pheasant feather for the cheek.  I used a worm hook.  It does good for getting in and around weeds.  Not that it is completely weedless but it did well being fished around thick stuff.  I also got a positive response from the fish!  Here is one of the rock bass that attacked this new pattern.  My problem I had with this pattern is that I lost a couple due to the fact that I forgot to check my tippet and knots often.  With dragging it in and around the thick stuff the line got weak and I lost them.  I know for sure that I will be tying up more of this pattern! 

On Monday morning we went out at first light and fished till about 10:00 before we headed home for the weekend.  There was a haze or fog cover and cloudy when we first started but when the sun burned through the fog, it was clear blue skies.  The high pressure that moved in had the fish reacting sluggish.  Mike was picking up several fish on tubes.  He mentioned that he could hardly feel the bite on several of his fish, which was totally opposite of Saturday's fishing experience.  I have heard of guys saying the bite was soft but this was just crazy.  I felt like I was trout fishing, as I got a lot of refusals and short strikes on all the patterns I used. 

Here was one of Mike's nice bass from this morning.  The way it was going for me, I thought I was going to get skunked.  Luckily, I brought out the "Ice Magic" and it ended the drought.  Here was my lone bass for Monday.  It wasn't very big but it put on a great fight.

Memorial Day 2012

This weekend I am really looking forward to. We always go to a friend's cabin. There are a bunch of kids and they have a blast hanging out and playing together. There is nothing like creating your own games and fun times in the mountains. They will also get some of the older kids to take them on golf cart rides. They take the carts out on the groomed paths around the cabin. This always seems to be one of the highlights from the weekend.

While the kids are doing their thing my friend and I head out to do some fishing. We often take his boat out on the Susquehanna river and do some bass fishing. I am always fly fishing and he spin casts. Last year we had an epic day bass of fishing. The water was rising. I don't think we ever caught so many smallies in the 15-18" range as we did that day. I would love to experience another day like that one! I will also head to Big Fishing Creek or Spring Creek to try and hit some of the mayfly hatches. This year my son said he would like to join me. So I hope to get him on his first trout on the fly rod. We may see the sulphurs and caddis on Spring or if the water comes down we may hit Fishing Creek. The green drakes are soon to arrive. They are also seeing some slate drakes, sulphurs, and tan caddis right now. This could lead to some exciting dry fly action.

If the water is still high on these creeks I may be doing some testing on some of my newer streamers that have done well in other locations. I am also anxious to try out some of my bass patterns.

Here is one of my newest ideas.  I haven't decided on an official name for this fly yet but I am thinking of "Ice Minnow", "Polar Express", or if you have a suggestion let me know.  I want to see if I get as good a response from some trout and would like to also test it on the bass to see if they like the looks of it.

I also have some sculpin patterns I want to try.  I have fished these a little but haven't received any feedback on them yet.  Others that have fished them have like them though.

I have a couple newer chain gang nymphs I would like to test.  Below are the prince and royal prince.  They have brought some to hand but need to continue testing these.  Also is a bead head chain gang stonefly pattern.  May have to see if I get any response from it as well. 

Bloop, Bloop.......Gulp!

I love top water bass fishing! Casting poppers and other top water flies to bass and sunnies is a blast. If you ever get the chance to do it, take the opportunity to do it.

Sometimes the strikes come right after the pop when you are letting it just sit there. This retrieve worked a little but I got more strikes when, after the cast and just letting all the rings disappear from the fly landing, to just slowly pulling the fly back to me. Then the big gulp would come. It is such a thrill to me to see their aggressive takes!  Water splashing every where as they come up to kill that popper that is bothering them. 

Today I had an all white popper drawing the strikes.  I caught several decent large mouths and I even had a few sunnies that joined in the action.  I didn't get anything monsterous, but anytime you can get the surface bite, it is really exciting. 

It was also thrilling to watch the bass feeding along the edges of the pond.  There would be a couple bass swimming about 4-5 feet from the bank.  This would push the minnows up to the edge with very little room to escape.  Then all of the sudden you would see big splashes as the bass would zoom into the shallow water to go for their next meal.  I wish my camera had a better zoom.  As I was watching this feeding action of the bass, a snake joined in.  As the minnows would be in the shallow, this snake would swim through and was attempting to snag his next meal.  It wasn't as successful but it was interesting to watch.

Conestoga 4/29/2012

I went out on the Conestoga River to do some more exploring and try to find some more water I can take my son to fish safely. A friend was showing me some good spots. It was a clear blue sky and outside temps were just great for fishing. We riffle hopped trying to find some cooperative fish. I only found one that was willing to cooperate. The water temps were still really cool. It only reached mid 50's. I think it was just a bit cool for them to be too active yep. And it seems like it is pre spawn yet here even though we have had such warm weather and low water conditions.

I guess I should have had a different fly box with me. This is a warm water stream but we were seeing some large cahills. They looked like size 14 or even size 12. To my surprise the bass were taking them off the top! I guess I should put a few cahills in my warm water box for next time!

I only got one bass, but it did come on one of my new streamers. It was the darter pattern I posted recently. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera available but it was a nice healthy 10+ incher.

Contest Flies

I am not even sure anymore how I heard about a new fly tying contest but the deadline is March 15 to be post marked. So I put a package in the mail for the Baxter Bulletin fly tying contest.

There are seven categories. I am sending in flies for five of them. The categories I have flies for are trout nymph, trout soft hackle, trout streamer, small mouth bass, and bass. Any of the below patterns are available through MyFlies.com Custom Order. 

For the Bass category, this is a pattern that I had a lot of success with in the fall of 2011.  It is called "Movin & Groovin".  It got its name when my daughter came home from kindergarden and said she had fun at Movin & Groovin time at school.  Well, I found out it was the teacher's way of getting some of the excess energy out of these young energetic kids.  This pattern just made me think of the kids movin and dancin around the room.  The tail is made of bead chain and allows me to attach shorter materials to make a longer pattern.  The tail is made of artic fox and ostrich herl.  This pattern swings and dances in the water that the fish find irresistable!  It is always moving even when at rest.  When you strip it and then give a pause, the water just makes this thing pulsate. 

"Movin & Groovin"

 The second pattern I submitted was for the trout streamer group.  It is a newer concept but utilizes the same mechanics as the Movin & Groovin by using the bead chain to lengthen the body and have extreme motion. 

Sculpin 

The third pattern was for the small mouth group.  This is a new pattern too but has a lot of trigger points to it that should get the fish's attention.  A little bit of flash for the antenna, tons of movement with the marabou and the rabbit strip back, and lead dumbbell eyes placed close to the bend of the hook to allow this pattern to drop level, as most crayfish do.  I am currently fishing with this pattern in black, brown and olive. 

Crazy Craw

The fourth pattern is for the trout wetfly group.  This is a new idea as well.  I am using UV Chewee Skin on the body and pheasant tail feathers for the hackle.  The Chewee skin gives a nice reflective quality about the body and is a nice attractor.



Chewee Soft Hackle

The fifth and final pattern is similar to the soft hackle in that it is using the same body material, UV Chewee Skin.  I am tying this pattern in caddis green and tan, with or without a bead head. 

Chewee Caddis

Donegal spring show

On Saturday march 10 I attended the Donegal spring outdoor show. This is a great event to attend. There are all kinds of vendors from fly tiers, material vendors, reptile rescue ( which seemed popular as they were holding the alligator and snakes out for people to touch and experience), guides, kayakers, rod makers, bowyers and more. This event supports the Donegal Fish and Conservation Association. They do some great work educating kids on conservation, stocking a stream for a kids fishing day, modifications to Donegal creek, and lots if other great things.

I was able to meet some great people at the show. Thanks to everyone who stopped by my table!

Sculpin Swap

I signed up to do a sculpin swap with a bunch of other tiers.  So this weekend I sat down and tied up my group of sculpins.  This was a new pattern for me so I am anxious to fish them and have the others fish them to get their respons on how well they fish for everyone.

Chain Gang Nymph Family

This is the time of year that I am either working on orders or designing new patterns. Last year at this time I was finding out the results of the Feather-Craft Fly Tying Contest. This contest resulted in a first place with my fly pattern the "Chain Gang Stonefly".  You can purchase any of these patterns on www.MyFlies.com by clicking on the links above each photo below.  The site sells these flies that are tied by and shipped by me to your location.

                                                           Chain Gang Stonefly.

With the success of this pattern in the contest and the results in the stream, I have been working on a few new patterns with the bead chain concept.  I now have the Chain Gang Nymph Family that has been producing well for me. 


                                                             Chain Gang Caddis

 

Chain Gang Hares Ear

Chain Gang Pheasant Tail

Chain Gang Copper John