Featured Photo: Streamer Eater on the Clinch

Featured Photo: Streamer Eater on the Clinch

Monday, April 08, 2013

Baby Bass

Boulder County is blessed, not only with some quality trout water, but with a diverse array of warm water options as well.  Last Thursday I managed an hour or so exploring a new pond.  My original goal was to look for some big bluegill, but I soon realized that there were too many small fish to be worth messing with.  Some big carp cruising inspired me to try and figure out that species as well, but in the meantime I rigged up for bass or anything else that might hit.

Then I proceeded to fish, casting again and again with only an occasional tap to remind me that I was trying to catch something.  Those taps were mostly from bluegill with appetites much larger than their small size would normally indicate.  Eventually I decided to downsize.  Apparently the bass weren't hungry, or I wasn't stealthy enough, or maybe I'm just not a bass angler yet (definitely the most likely conclusion here).  Anyway, I was now changing tactics from let's catch some bass to let's not get skunked.  Those bluegill were looking pretty interesting at this point.

Only a couple of casts with the new fly (a Simi Seal Leech of course!!!), and I hooked up.  The monster took me for a ride all over the lake..........oh, wait, that must be from another story.  I quickly landed the bass, glad to have avoided a skunk although not entirely sure if baby fish count or if that just makes me a mean fisherman



Thursday, April 04, 2013

From the Office

Not a bad view from work!!!  I must admit, however, that it does occasionally encourage daydreaming. Yesterday, a few scattered showers moved across the front range.  Late afternoon sunlight lit up the precipitation falling over the Flatirons creating an amazing display between light and shadows.  Sadly, my camera was at home but before it was too late I remembered the old point and shoot was somewhere in my car.  The pictures didn't turn out too bad...





Wednesday, April 03, 2013

Leeches

One of my all time favorite flies for a variety of situations is the Simi Seal Leech.  This simply fly can be modified to look more like a nymph or left buggy to serve as a great leech pattern.  And did I mention that it catches fish?

For years, this has been a late winter/early spring staple on the trout streams.  Tied sparsely and without brushing the long fibers out, it is a good generic stonefly nymph.  I fish it in double nymph rigs and have had days where it out-fishes more precise patterns like a bead head Pheasant Tail nymph.  Then there are the bluegill....

Ah, the bluegill.  I still have not found a good bluegill lake or pond here in Colorado, but trust me I'm starting to look.  Back home, early season bluegill were a great way to pass the time in between trips to trout waters.  Last year, I caught some big ones, including this one.


Yes, you guessed it, this brute and many others were all caught on the Simi Seal Leech.  It is my secret bluegill fly.  Of course, bluegill will often eat just about anything, but this pattern seems to be particularly successful.  Recently, I sent an order for a half dozen of my Ultra Wire Soft Hackles to Bill over at Fishing Through Life.  I tossed in an extra bead head Simi Seal Leech to aid him in his quest to catch 100 big bull bluegill this spring.  It worked great, so good in fact that I just sent him another dozen with some new color schemes.



The best thing about this pattern is that it is super fast to tie.  I find myself caring less and less about a fly looking good and more and more about effectiveness and ease of tying.  These flies just look buggy.  If you are interested in trying this fly for yourself, you can purchase the material straight from the originator, John Rohmer.  He has lots of other good materials that are also worth checking out.  Personally, I use Black Simi Seal dubbing the most followed closely by Crystal although there are a LOT of other colors to check out.  Try the dubbing on stonefly and other nymph patterns as well as for bodies on streamers.

I'm hoping to add some big stillwater trout to the list of fish I've caught on this pattern now that I live in Colorado.  The float tube is ready for spring and it will be time to hit the mountain lakes before we know it!!!

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Tying Feathers

Do you ever want to try and steal some feathers from a duck?  I've come close to considering this one a few times.  Just imagine what all these feathers would look like on a fly.  If we could harvest these without killing the duck, it would be a great renewable source.  Instead of buying a bag of feathers, each tier would simply keep a small flock of various birds...  I'm sure someone would consider this cruelty to animals, but if I was this duck, I think this solution would be much preferred over getting shot...


Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

Hiking is one of my favorite activities, after fishing of course.  Hiking in the snow is always a blast, and with the fresh snowfall, I got out on Sunday to hike Mt. Sanitas in Boulder for the first time.  What a great hike!!!



Monday, March 25, 2013

More Water

We had more open water last week on Boulder Creek than I have seen since last fall.  Alas, ironically, more water over the weekend shut things back down at least a bit.  The frozen precipitation that fell this weekend locked some of the better pools down again temporarily.  I fished last Wednesday evening for an hour and a half or so.  The water was low and clear making the fish spooky.


The weekend lockdown, while frustrating in the short term, is a real blessing as we need as much moisture as possible looking towards the summer months.  Before the big snowstorm, the creek was waking up with good midge hatches.  I even noticed some BWOs in the air at one point although not many.  The fish were all sitting out in the open, obviously hungry after months of ice on the creek.  The fish were on the feed for sure!

While the stream was obviously begging me to fish a tiny dry/dropper rig, I willfully ignored that in favor of a small streamer.  These days I often find myself preferring the streamer over anything else.  Maybe on my next trip I'll bust out the 3 weight along with some small dry flies and midge droppers.

Several fish gave chase to the streamer, but overall things were slow.  Finally, one little brown rewarded my persistence.  Not a bad mid-week outing on the stream!!!




The PB&J

Several years ago, I was faced with a "shad" dilemma.  A recent post on the Little River Outfitter message board reminded me of the great fun of fishing shad patterns during shad kills.  I developed this pattern to not only imitate the size and color of the naturals but also to get down deep where the large fish often are.  For those of you interested in fishing on top during shad kills, I recommend taking a guide trip with me or with my buddy David Perry.  A favorite technique is fishing flies on the surface during this time. I can promise that there is nothing more exciting than a huge trout sipping a dying shad off the surface as delicately as it would a mayfly during a hatch.

This pattern has been one of my favorites for big shad-eating stripers.  In fact, I have caught more big stripers on this pattern than anything else.  This fly can be modified to use plastic eyes so it has neutral buoyancy if you don't want it sinking too far.  I call it the Puglisi, Bunny, and Jelly, PB&J for short.  The little bit of red near the throat gives it a wounded appearance.  I'm a firm believer in giving fish that extra trigger to induce strikes.

Hook:  Gamakatsu SL11-3H or similar hook (also use Mustad 34007)
Thread: White 3/0
Eyes: Medium Lead Eyes tied in on the BOTTOM of the hook shank (original) (or lead-free substitute)
Body (top): White Zonker strip (I personally like the magnum strips for extra bulk and movement)
Body (bottom): White Puglisi fibers
Throat: Fiery Blood Red Jorgensen SLF dubbing with a bit more Puglisi Fibers tied in in front of the red dubbing

Note that the eyes are tied in on the bottom instead of in the usual Clouser method.  I find that for this pattern, it rides better and gets better hookups when the eyes are tied on the bottom of the hook shank.  However, it is more likely to snag on the bottom this way.

This fly is one of my bread and butter streamers.  When all else fails, I toss some PB&J and the fish will usually eat!!!


Learn to tie this fly HERE

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Chasing Panfish

One of my favorite spring rituals involving fishing is chasing panfish as they put on the feed in preparation for spawning.  Bluegill, shellcrackers, and crappie all are perfect fly rod fish: they are aggressive and will readily eat just about any well-presented fly.  Here in Colorado I have focused mainly on trout, but hope to change that soon.

On my recent trip to Tennessee, I had to make a stop at the small lake near my parents' place that is my early season hot spot.  The stop turned out to be only about 15 minutes, both because I had friends along and because it was downright COLD.  Yep, I forgot how bone-chilling the humid air of the southeast can be.  The recent cold front had ushered in gusty northwest winds and after catching a fish, I was happy to head back home.

Catherine McGrath Photograph

The crappie are not exactly on fire yet, or were not on that particular day.  My educated guess says that the crappie fishing improved drastically this last weekend with the warm temperatures.  Hopefully I'll find a good spot or two to chase some panfish nearby soon.  Maybe, just maybe, even this afternoon...