Burnt Drags

Tougher Pennsylvania fish poaching laws

2012-10-25T14:31:00.004-04:00

Pennsylvania has a new, tougher fish poaching law

Gov. Tom Corbett has signed into law tougher anti-poaching legislation which increases the maximum fine for illegally harvesting fish from $200 to $5,000 and extends the period the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) can revoke fishing and boating privileges from two to five years.

“This new law will have an immediate impact on our ability to deter large-scale poachers from illegally taking fish,” said PFBC Executive Director John Arway. “These are the individuals who deliberately come in after dark and take large amounts of game fish, often by using illegal methods such as netting or spearing in the streams. In the past, poaching was subject to a $200 maximum fine. Now we can hit violators with up to $5,000 in fines, as well as the cost of replacing the fish they illegally harvest.”

The legislation was signed into law by Gov. Corbett last night and took effect immediately.

“Weak laws made our waterways extremely vulnerable to poaching, with highly sought-after trophy species of fish repeatedly stolen from our waterways and sold on the black market,” said Rep. Michael Peifer (R-Greentown), who sponsored the legislation as House Bill 2293. “This is a serious problem that has a detrimental impact on our regional economy. Under this law, we finally have a punishment that fits the crime."

The law creates a new section in the Fish and Boat code for “serious unlawful take,” which increases the penalty for harvesting more than the legal daily limit of fish from a summary offense of the first degree to a misdemeanor of the second degree. It also allows the PFBC to collect from violators the costs to replace the poached fish, and it increases the amount of time a violator can be sentenced to prison from a maximum of 90 days to two years.

The law will be particularly beneficial in the Erie watershed, where the annual steelhead season is just beginning. Annually, PFBC waterways conservation officers (WCOs) apprehend and cite 5-6 individuals for large cases of poaching. These individuals typically have in their possession dozens of fish over the legal creel limit.

“We’ve had violators in the past who have simply handed the WCO cash to pay the small fine,” added PFBC Commissioner Glade Squires, who represents the agency’s southeast region and chairs the Law Enforcement Committee. “Now our WCOs have the tools to hit them hard in the pocketbook and to send them to jail for a longer time. And if a poacher has a current license, we can suspend that license for up to five years.”

The law also substantially increases the penalties for individuals who fish while their license is suspended. Previously, that violation was a summary offense of the first degree, subject to a $200 fine. The penalty is now a third degree misdemeanor, subject to a fine up to $5,000.

Also last night, Gov. Corbett signed into law House Bill 1417, another piece of legislation sought by the PFBC to better protect and equip its WCOs for the challenges they face in the field. The new law adds waterways conservation officer and deputy waterways conservation officer to the list of individuals who are protected under the aggravated assault provisions of the Pennsylvania Crimes and Offenses code. It takes effect in 60 days

The Fly Fishing Show 2012

2012-01-21T09:16:00.002-05:00

The Fly Fishing Show 2012 Somerset NJ and Lancaster Pa.
January 27- 29th Somerset NJ

The excitement is building as I am getting ready for the biggest fly fishing show in the country the last few weeks. The feathers have been flying here so we can cover the table with some great patterns for you all. I will be tying spey flies at the show, so if you have any questions on how to set bronze mallard tented wings feel free to stop by and ask..I'll have a good supply of hooks and materials on hand to tye many different patterns, from streamers to wet flies as well as dries ,if you there are any you would like to see a different pattern tied let me know.We'll see you at the show!! Stop by and say hello !!

Dog Day Fly Fishing

2011-08-30T09:35:00.002-04:00

Here are some helpful suggestions to fishing through the dog day's of late July and into August.Some of you may already know and some of you may not.If practicing C&R please be mindful of the water temps I will not fish once the water hits above 67 degrees.

When the water warms up like this my tactics change due to the fact the trouts patterns change as well. When the water is cooler the fish are more active in the calm flat traditional dry fly water and spred out pretty much all over the stream but as the season wears on and the temps rise this all changes. The trout move to faster broken water where there is more oxygen and the broken water provides cover for them.Not only this but the hatches start to wane so what better place to be where the food is brought to the trout by the fast moving water in the form of nymphs and drown insects. The trout will choose a good lane and hang out there to ambush anything that comes their way. In the evening the trout will stay much in the same place as about the only hatch going on will be caddis at least in my area and they return to the riffle to drop their eggs so what better place to be than fishing here.

Now that we have determined where the fish are, how are we going to fish for them. If you are looking to dry fly fish and there are no risers pick a likely looking piece of water approach it with care.I like to use a size 12or14 caddis pattern or adams parshute to do this because they float very well. Start fishing it from the edge nearest you placing each subsequent cast a little closer to the center. Fish in this manner until you have cast over every likely holding spot in the section of water you are fishing.Most takes occur on either side of the fast water and behind or ahead of large submerged rocks or at a sharp drop off. These are the soft spots in the fast water that trout like to lay and wait.If you like to shoot for risers then late evening and early morning are your best bet.

When nymphing you will be looking for the same water as described above and fish it much the same way you would with a dry fly only subsurface. Be sure to fish the drop off especialy the trout tend to hold in the dark edge or deep side of the drop off just out of sight watching for any morsels going over their head. Fish the riffles carefully starting always closest to you and then working your way across the stream.

Give it a try on your next outing you'll be surprised at what you find in the riffles shallow and deep.

Fly Fishing Tattos

2011-08-29T09:47:00.001-04:00

While I admit I am not a big fan of needles ..... I have been contemplating a tattoo or two of a favorite fly that I tye. I went through my collection of fly photos and picked out a few that I would like to see drawn up. After picking the ones that looked good I went over to see my friend Chatz Kresge. He runs Freehanman tattoo shop near me and is a great artist.
I arrived at the shop pictures in hand and showed them to Chatz he said no problem and off to the drawing table he went.While waiting for him I took a look at all the pictures of other great work he has done. This instilled more of a desire to have a tattoo done by him.After about a half hour he emerged with a draft of my new tattoo. He captured the flow of the hackle and more importantly the point and bend of the Alec Jackson hook it was tied on. I told him I loved it .. So the next question was when will I be getting it done ? The answer was now as there is no time like the present.
So off to the chair I went ... Chatz prepped the area where the tattoo was going and began to go to work. After about 45 minutes or so he was done and I have to say I was amazed at how it came out.I could put the actual fly next to it and you would be hard put to pick out the real one. Barring the fact that one of them was inked into my arm. What an awesome job he did and I must say it didn't hurt all that bad either.
If you are contemplating getting a tattoo Chatz would be your man he is a fantastic artist and goes out of his way to make you feel comfortable while getting your new piece of art. You can visit his website at http://www.freehanman.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=frontpage&Itemid=1 ... You won't be disappointed !

Here is a picture of the actual fly that Chatz did for me so you can compare..

Now to decide on the next one .......

The Lure Of Wild Trout

2011-05-05T19:32:00.002-04:00

I haven't been able to fish a lot lately but when I do get the chance I like to fish over wild trout. There is something to be said about the beauty of these creatures . From the bold red spots to the beautiful buttery yellow color and lest we forget those full rudders.

Being at the point in life where one fish is enough I went out in true fashion. One fly and only a few moments to fish I headed out.The water was a little high and slightly off color due to the recent storms.As I got close to the water I began to look about and take in all the splendor of spring.The smell of fresh blossoms in the air and the newly opened leaves giving their promise of the summer to come.

I settled into a likely looking spot below a riffle and stripped some line from the reel.Picked up the fly to see that it was attached securely and made my first cast . Close to the end of the swing I felt that familiar tug and was a bit late on the set, swing and a miss .... I continued with a few more cast in this spot with no more takes.

Headed down stream a few paces to the next hole and put a well placed cast into the foam just where the water dumped in at the head of the pool. There was no tug just a complete stop in the line.. As the line came tight it became apparent there was a fish at the end.After a few good runs the heart pounding battle came to an end as this beautiful brown trout slipped into the net.A full 12" of mother natures beauty adorned with the largest bright red spots I'd have ever seen.

I don't know about you but it's moments like these how ever brief that keep me coming back again and again . If it's one fish or ten it's a good day in the old book. The hunt for wild trout continues....

Blue Winged Olive Step By Step

2011-04-25T00:29:00.002-04:00

   Today we'll show you another one of my favorite ties.This one matches the hatch for the blue winged olives here in the Northeast or anywhere for that matter.This pattern can be tied in sizes 14 down to a 24 and works particularly well in a size 20.

   The one I'm showing you today is tied on a size 20 TMC 100.
Place your hook in the vise and start the thread , We are using Uni olive 8/0 to avoid build up.

Next pick two nice medium to dark dun cdc feathers and tie them in.These will be your wing post when finished.

A couple of firm wraps to hold in place and trim the waste.

Now you are ready to stand the post up , take the cdc and pull it straight up . Make several wraps in front of it building a dam of thread up to hold it up.

Now that the your post is standing upright we'll take several wraps around it to reinforce it.

Continue with nice even wraps to the back of the hook. At this point I like to add a touch of head cement to stiffen the post up.

Take a Coq de leon feather in the appropriate color and take a eight to ten long glassy fibers for your tail , measure up your tail it should be about the length of the hook.

Finish neatly tying in your tail and then we are ready to tie in the porcupine quill for the body.

Now if you have porcupine quills choose one that will be the proper size to create your body . If you do not have porcupine you can use an stripped hackle quill dyed olive or dubbing.

Tye in the quill by the tip then wrap up to the thorax and tye off.

Ok looking pretty good .Now it's time to tye in the hackle to be wound around the post. This is a size 20 so we can safely use up to 1 1/2 times larger hackle then the hook calls for.

Take the hackle cut off the webbed portion on the bottom and strip the base of the feather to prepare to tie in.

Tie the hackle in and then secure it to the post taking a few wraps up and the back to the base of the post.

Once you are done securing the hackle it is time to dub the thorax.For this fly I used Nature's Spirit BWO dubbing as it has a good color and texture to it.

Now that the thorax is dubbed take your hackle pliers and wrap the hackle around the post 4 to 5 turns will be fine.

Tie off the hackle behind the hook eye and trim waste.

Finish the head with a couple of half hitches and a drop of head cement .And your ready to fish!

Tye a few of these up for the olive hatches in your area you'll be glad you did.

Trout Fishing Old School..

2011-04-22T21:20:00.002-04:00

Paul called me today and said he would like to come up and fish. His first question was, how is the water ? I said a little high but we should have no problem finding fish.He said good I'll be up in an hour .

So while I was waiting for him to arrive I went to my tying desk and picked up a half dozen Picket Pins I tied up last night.When Paul got here I went out and greeted him and gave him his flies for the day . I told him they are Picket Pins a fly that was developed back in 1915 by Jack Boehme . The only difference between mine and Jacks is the wing, I used raccoon instead of squirrel .This would be the fly of choice for the day as it was still pretty cold out and there were no hatches going on.

We got to our destination in no time. Put on the waders strung up the rods and headed off.The first pool we hit is a nice one with a deep cut on the far bank and some large rocks scattered a long the edges .

Paul asked how to fish this fly because he had never fished it before . So I said to him we'll be doing the old wet fly swing across and down. I had him make a cast across stream throw a little up stream mend to get his fly down and then come tight to the fly and follow the drift.It wasn't long before he mastered the technique and had a fish on . Paul was well under way for the day with a nice rainbow to hand in the first 15 minutes of fishing.

We fished all total and hour and a half or so moving from pool to pool with much the same results . Paul landed two more on our way down and I had a half dozen total to my credit all bows.

And all caught on the Picket Pin a fly developed 96 years ago. I would say it works just as good now as it did then.

So the word for trout fishing this year is Old School . We are going to fish as many old patterns as we can this season.Meaning patterns that were introduced 50+ years ago and have since been forgotten or rarely fished.

Patiently Waiting....

2011-04-21T09:43:00.001-04:00

   It is early season yet here in the Northeast and I am patiently waiting for the water to recede and warm up just a bit.While trout season has already began the fish are not actively feeding on top just yet due to the high water.So in the interim I've been scouting out some new spots and tying flies.

   While out on my walks I am looking for pools, runs and riffles that may hold fish. I liken it much the same a scouting before a hunt you look for areas where your quarry inhabits, roams and feeds. This way when you set up your stand you have a relatively good shot at bagging a deer,bear,turkey or what ever you may be hunting.While doing my recon I make mental notes of these spots to come back to . It's best to do this type of work with out a rod in hand so you get to see as much of the stream as possible.

   I fish a lot and when I say that I mean every fishable day of the year. That's the reason I'm always looking for different water to fish.When you are seen fishing the same spot day after day other fisherman become attracted to it, so it's best to have several spots that way you are covered when this happens.

   Once the water calms down a bit it's time to go back rod in hand. If I don't see any surface activity or hatches I'll start by searching with a streamer . My go to flies for this are the mickey fin or a olive woolly bugger in my opinion the two deadliest streamers of all time. If there are fish present they will usually let you know with a vicious strike.If I intend to fish this area with a dry fly I won't pressure it, so when I get a few hits or catch one I move onto the next the next spot and so on.

By doing this research I have found many new spots to fish and most of the time all by myself with rarely another fisherman in sight.I approach most streams with the thought if there are fish in one popular spot there have to be fish all through out the stream.. So why not challenge yourself to find these spots take a walk observe and do your home work and it will all pay off ! Sometimes with the fish of a life time is in a place no one ever thought to wet a line.....

Tying The Quill Gordon

2011-04-15T16:33:00.002-04:00

This is a step by step on perhaps one of the most well know dry flies ever tied and fished. Thanks to Theodore Gordon whom brought this fly to light in the late 19th early 20th century.

You can tye this fly on any standard dry fly hook in sizes 12 down 18 are the best.First start by putting the hook in your vise and start the thread.For this one this one I am using 8/0 black uni thread and tying on a size 12 Mustad dry fly hook. Note the start position of the thread I always start my thread here to set my wings by doing so will keep your wings a consistent hight and will prevent you from crowding the head.

Next choose a nice lemon wood duck feather strip all the fuzz off the bottom half till you are left with the nice even tips.

Now stroke all the fibers together to prepare to tye in.

Once you are done making a nice little bundle of fibers it's time to measure your wing up and tye it in. Leave the tips of the feather hang out past the hook eye 3/16ths to 1/4 of an inch.

After you have tied the wing in with a few secure wraps trim the waste and finish neatly tying it in.

Now it's time to get the wing standing upright.This is accomplished by grasping the wing and pulling it straight up and wrapping your tying thread in front of the wing . This creates a small dam of thread which helps to hold the fibers up.

Now that you have your wing standing up it is time to separate the fibers to create two wings.By pulling the wing fibers into two some what even bunches . Pass your tying thread between them using the figure 8 method. This will keep them separated into two wings.

Once you have your wings divided wrap your thread in nice even wraps towards the bend , stop your thread between the barb and the point of the hook.

It's time to tye in the tail good stiff tailing hackle is imperative to get that nice straight tail.I have started using Coq De Leon it comes in an array of colors and provides a nice stiff hackle for tailing dry flies.On this fly I used a dark dun Coq feather and it matches up pretty nice with the hackle I used to tye this fly. Take your feather and pull off enough fibers to create a nice tail.

Measure up your tail it should be the length of the entire hook.

Now that you have measured it up trim off the waist end and tye in. When you tye it in hold it up to the fly and tye in so the butt ends blend into the butt of the wing tye in point ,this will give you a nice some what even body profile.

Now that the tail is tied in it is time to select prepare and tye in a stripped peacock quill. Choose a nice quill from close to the eye of a quality peacock eye feather.To strip these I use my thumbnail and index finger . I pull the quill between them untill all the fibers are removed. You can also use a rubber eraser to do this as well.

Once your quill is stripped it is time to tye it in and wrap your body.Tye in nice and neat and wrap forward to the thorax area in nice even touching wraps. Tye off and clip the waist end close and there your body is complete.

Now that the wings , tail and body are done it is time to complete the fly by tying in the hackle.Choose an appropriate size hackle for your fly.If you are not sure of the size use your hackle guage. I am tying on a size 12 hook so I usually use a hackle 1/2 to one full size larger than the hook calls for. In this case a size 12 1/2 to 13 hackle.

Strip the end and tye in, I like to leave the exposed stem a little long so when you tye it in you catch a little more of it making your fly durable .

Now it's time to wrap the hackle three to four wraps behind the wing is about right.

And then two to three turns in front or the wing and tye off. As you tye off hold the hackle vertical to the hook shank this helps to eliminate trapped hackles.

Trim the waist end and whip finish.

To finish fly add a touch of head cement to the body and head . Let dry over night and your ready to go fishing.

Easy Stone Fly/ Caddis Dry

2011-04-11T19:01:00.002-04:00

   Here is a step by step to one of the easiest and most productive flies I have ever tied . The CDC easy Stone Fly and Caddis imitation all in one. It consist of a nice tapered body of the appropriate color dubbing you need to match the hatch, natural cdc for the wing and dark or rusty dun dry fly hackle for the collar .

   You start by placing the hook in the vise and starting your thread where you want the body to end, This way you won't crowd the head when you complete the fly.

Now you are ready to dub the body in this case I used dark olive as it matches or mimics the naturals found on my stream.

Build up a nice tapered body so it appears carrot shaped.

Now you are ready to set the wing , choose to nice natural color medium to dark gray cdc feathers and match the ends up.

Now measure the wing up to the hook you want the wing to extend slightly beyond the bend of the hook . If its a little long you can adjust it once you have a couple of good wraps on it to hold it in place.

Now a couple more good wraps to secure the wing and trim off the waste ends, then a few more wraps to create a platform for your hackle.

Now it's time to select your dry fly hackle ,usually I will use a hackle that just covers the hook gap for any given size hook I tye this fly on.In this case the hook is a size 16 so a size 14 or a true 16 hackle would be fine.

Tye the hackle in and put three or four turns of it on starting at the back of the head space and working forward . Leaving enough space to tye off the hackle and finish the head.

Tye off the hackle, trim the waste give it a few turns to build up the head and whip finish.And you have yourself a super productive fly to fish for either a caddis or stone fly hatch..

   If the fish get picky I will trim the bottom out of the hackle to allow the body to ride flush in the film leaving the wing setting on top.This usually does the trick and induces a take.
   The beauty of cdc is you can pull it under and let it pop back to the surface like an emerger,or you can pull it under and the fish will take it as a drown or emerging insect.

   I like to tye these in sizes 14 down to 18 on a standard dry fly hook , you can change the color of the dubbing as well. The colors I like to use are olive,dark olive , black, cinnamon and yellow olive . Tye some up and give them a go you'll be glad you did as these flies just flat out fish!

Material List;

Hook size 14-18 standard dry fly hook
Thread 8/0 black uni thread
Body Super Fine dry fly dubbing olive / dark olive
Wing two natural medium to dark gray cdc feathers
Collar dark dun or rusty dun dry fly hackle 3-4 turns

Spring Steelheading The Salmon River

2011-04-10T11:53:00.001-04:00

John K.,Rich ,Joe s. and myself headed to the Salmon River last weekend to get into some spring steelhead before the regular trout season begins . Rich was super excited as the last we fished he picked up my spey rod to cast and discovered he liked it a lot. So much that when he returned home from the trip he purchased a blank and built himself a beautiful spey rod.

   We all met at my house on Friday evening and departed from here . When Rich pulled in we loaded up all our gear and hit the road and arrived in Pulaski at 2:30am.We moved our gear into the room and set up our rods so we were ready to hit the water in the morning.As you can imagine 6am came rather quick , no sooner my head hit the pillow the alarm went off.

   After everyone was finished with the morning duties we got our waders on and headed out. It was a beautiful crisp morning with lots of sunshine and a distinct chill in the air.We walked across the field and down to the first spot of the day located in the upper fly zone.When we got to the water I was surprised to see no one was fishing the tail out so we set up shop here.

   Rich was itching to cast his spey rod so we let him step in first on the hole this would allow him first shot on any players in this spot. After making two or three cast Rich was hooked up with a beautiful male steelhead in full spawning color. It took him a few minutes to land and was well worth the wait! He was so stoked breaking in his new rod in this quick on such a gorgeous fish.It came to a black and chartreuse marabou spey .And as you can see in the picture the smile says it all.. He's hooked on spey fishing !!

Joe was next up to bat and caught several nice steelhead swinging olive woolly buggers . He is relatively new to the spey game and is doing quite well with it. He is making beautiful cast and hitting all the productive water resulting in a number of hook ups and landed fish.Below are some pictures of the steelhead he took on the trip .Way to go Joe !

We all watched as John methodically worked his way through all the pocket water which he enjoys doing . But I think he will soon be picking up a spey rod upon seeing how productive it can be.John hooked into numerous fish but all came unbuttoned before coming to hand. As he said it was still a great time and this is why they call it fishing not catching..... Can't wait to do it again as I know John will be holding more than his share of fresh caught steelhead, this guy is a fish magnet

I managed a few hook ups and landed one fresh hen steelhead for the trip . I for one wasn't expecting a lot because the spawn was beginning and the fishing gets tougher as it progresses.The fish are just not that interested in feeding so you have to fish hard to find the aggressive ones, or some fresh fish that moved in to spawn that haven't gone into full mode yet.

What a great time we all had with the jokes, friendly banter and a beer or two cases. Throw in some sweet water a few fish and you've got the makings of a well spent weekend! It surely doesn't get any better!!

For the win Jim Beam and Yuengling Black and Tan!

Tying with Matt Grobert at Shannon's Fly Shop

2011-03-21T12:14:00.001-04:00

Took the opportunity to tye with fellow fly fisherman and friend Matt Grobert today at Shannon's fly shop in Califon NJ. He came armed with a great line up of flys that not only fish well but are easy to tye..

First up to bat was a great little larva pattern the Chimarra Caddis Larva. It uses three tying materials well four once you count head cement or hard as hull to finish the fly.Tying the fly is rather simple and is done with the following materials; hook size 18 , thread yellow or bright orange for the under body, uni-flex in a red orange and brown or black thread to finish the head.When you are finished tying the fly coat the entire body and head with hard as hull to give it that great translucent look .

Next was one of Matts favorite flys to fish the Sparkle Caddis pupa. This was good as I have never tied this fly, I have a few in stock given to me by Matt and Jessy whom tye these beautifully.
I can vouch for the effectiveness of this fly it just down right produces. I have taken many fish with this fly on top as well as pulling it under and letting it pop back to the surface.These are typically tied on a size 14-18 dry fly hook.

And last but not least the Snow Shoe Hendrickson emerger . Which is a great early season pattern here in the Northeast as it is one of the first and best mayfly hatches of the year. These can be tied on a curved or straight shank hook in sizes 12-14.

All I can say is we had great time tying with Matt and learning a few of his tying tricks along the way . He also shared a few fish tales with some funny jokes peppered in that got everyone going.It was definitely worth getting up early Sunday morning and driving down to Shannon's Fly Shop in Califon NJ for their free fly tying class. I know I walked away with some newly gained knowledge and had fun to boot!

If you would like the recipes for the patterns above they can be found in Matts book Fly Fishing New Jersey Trout Streams. It can be purchased online at Shannon's Fly Shop.

Tying The Perfect Wing

2011-03-19T11:11:00.003-04:00

If you are a seasoned tyer or just beginning, winging a fly consistently can be difficult. Here are a few tricks that I have learned from years of tying dry flies.
The first being where to start your tying thread on the hook . I like to get it started where I am going to mount the wing or post on a fly.As you can see in the picture below it is generally one to one and a half hook eye widths behind the eye of the hook . If you do this each time your wings will become consistent .

After you start your tying thread it is time to measure up your wing material . No matter what you are using for the wing it is the same procedure . I hold the material to the hook to see that there is at least about 3/16 of and inch of the wing past the hook eye.In this case it is CDC for a parachute fly. If you do this it will give you a perfect wing height every time.

Now it's time to tye your wing in, hold it firmly between your thumb and index finger. Bring your first wrap of thread loosely up and over your wing material . Once you make this wrap tighten the thread buy pulling your bobbin straight down and slightly to the rear of the fly.This will keep your wing material on top of the hook.Now make a few more tight wraps to hold it in place.These wraps always go right over the area that you started your thread to tye the fly.

When you are finished securing the wing trim off the waist . Tye down the exposed wing material and wrap your thread back to the starting point. Now stand your wing up and wrap your thread in front of the wing tightly several times to build a little dam of thread to hold your wing upright . This is done the same for Catskill winged dry flies as well.

The final step is to wrap the post and place a drop of head cement to keep it in place and make it a more durable fly.

Now you are all set with the perfect height wing and ready to finish your fly.Again this process will work with any dry fly you tye,be it a hackle tip,CDC or what ever you choose to wing your fly with.....So give a try next time you sit down to tye...And happy tying !!

Partridge And Orange

2011-03-13T13:36:00.002-04:00

   I was tying a few of these age old patterns today , The Partridge And Orange . This simple little soft hackle fly has accounted for many a saved day for countless fly fisherman over the years.
   This fly was brought to my attention about 10 years ago by my good friend and fishing partner Nick . We were fishing the Little Lehigh and we were both having a tough day. We knew the fish were there but they didn't want anything to do with our offerings.
  So we do what you do when this occurs start changing flies .. It wasn't long till I heard that inevitable war cry from Nick fish on! I looked up and he was into a very nice rainbow trout . He had that giddy look on his face you know the one ... He was proud of beating me to the first fish of the day, as there is always a little friendly competition between fishing buddies.
   When he was done playing , landing and releasing his catch , I asked the the question . What fly did you catch it on ? And his reply was the partridge and orange and offered me one in the same breath.I cut the fly I was using off the tippet and tied on his partridge and orange and began to fish. As we worked our way down the stream casting and swinging , I finally got into a fish of my own a nice little brown that was full of fight.
   Needless to say Nick proved his prowess on this stream as he's fished it many times before. It showed in the days tally, he landed 8 fish or so that day to my two.And they were both on a fly he had given me!
   When I arrived home I headed straight for the vise and tied up a bunch to put in my box for the next trip. Since then I have fished the partridge and orange and found it to be effective on most every stream I fish . It has found a permanent spot in my fly box.
   There are many ways to fish this fly and they all produce. You can swing it just like a wet fly,put a little weight on and roll it on the bottom like a nymph or trail it in a tandem tied off the bend of your favorite dry fly.Tye a few up and give them a shot you will be glad you did..

Recipe for Partridge and Orange
Hook wet fly nymph hook of your choice sizes 12 -20
Thread orange 6-8/0
Body orange silk or floss
Ribbing fine gold or copper wire
Thorax a small amount of dubbing if you like
Hackle one or two turns or partridge

Snow Shoe Emergers

2011-03-11T11:41:00.002-05:00

As most people know Snowshoe Hare emergers are very effective . The first ones brought to my attention were a hand full of Fran Betters pattern know as the Usual.I fished these neat little flies and had great success with them. Catching trout on every stream that I fished them from the small streams to big open rivers, they worked everywhere.

This in turn got the creative juices flowing, so myself along with many other tyers began to experiment with different hook styles and dubbing colors . To come up with some cool fish catching snowshoe hare patterns..I tye them dubbed mostly in these three colors olive , golden yellow and natural gray or dun . In sizes 12 down to 18, The fly in the picture above is tied on a Dohiku 301 size 14.

Depending on how you want your fly to present you can fish totally dry on top , or you can sink the body under the film which is deadly.You accomplish by taking some of your saliva and apply it to the body and shuck only while keeping the wing dry.This allows the shuck and the body to sink into the film leaving just the wing on top.If you have never tried this give it a go on a fish you pass this fly over and it doesn't take.You will be pleasantly surprised as this presentation usually gets a picky fish to come to the fly. The fine brown trout in the picture below was taken using this method.

My friend Joe and I hit the Farmington River in Connecticut and the fish refused to take a standard dry or even a parachute pattern. So we switched up to the very fly above and it saved the day ! We each caught several beautiful Farmington River browns.If it weren't for this fly I'm convinced we would have returned home with the skunk.

   Above is Joe with another beautiful Farmington River brown taken the same day as mine on a similar fly as you can see the snowshoe emerger is a productive fly.... I have provided below the recipe for this emerger so you can tye some up for your next outing..

   Recipe for the snowshoe emerger is as follows ;

Hook Dohiku 301 size 12-18 (or hook of your choice)
Thead 6 or 8/0 black uni
Shuck antron or snowshoe
Dubbing olive seal (You can sub any type of dubbing and color you would like to match the hatch)
Wing snowshoe guard hair taken from the rabbits foot
Dubbing in front of wing natural under fur from a snowshoe hares foot

Small Stream Fishing WTS At Their Best !

2011-03-04T11:37:00.008-05:00

   So you want to have some fun ? Break out your short rod and do some small stream fishing for wild trout..


   Last spring I got a call from my friend John Parise to go fishing.He said he was looking do something a little different and asked if I would take him to one of my favorite small streams.
   Me being me said yes,at which point I told him that he would have to be blindfolded for the ride to this little gem.And if he told anyone about it he would have to be shot.
   After a brief moment of silence he agreed to the rules and said he would meet me in a hour or so.
   While I was waiting for him I got all the necessary gear together for our trip. Consisting of a 6'6" 5wt fly rod and a bunch of flys and tippet as you tend to get hung up a lot on these brush and tree choked streams.When John arrived we loaded up and headed out with an air of excitement . It couldn't have been a more beautiful day to be out,early spring on a sun bathed wild trout stream. What more could you want it was perfect..
   On the way to our destination we stopped and picked up some usual supplies coffee , candy and a few bottles of water.You need this to keep you going when fishing these types of streams because there is generally a bit of hiking involved.The stream we fished is tucked away in a state park and requires a 15 to 20 minute walk to where we were going to begin our day.
   As we were walking in I described to John how we would approach this stream and fish it. There is some stealth involved in this type of fishing ,due to the spooky nature of wild trout.So explained to him we will be keeping a low profile and do all our fishing upstream to maximize our efforts.

Above you can see John in position and fishing upstream. You can break the water down into three categories much like their big stream counterparts. Pockets , pools and riffles and despite the size of the water you still fish them same as you would on a large stream.Here John is fishing the riffle even though is about 6 inches deep here it still holds fish .In this riffle he picked up a nice little brown trout which he was ecstatic about as we had just began.He couldn't get over the fact that these fish would hold in water this thin,,

John had a blast the fishing was great!As we continued on every stop we made was much the same beautiful water and willing wild brown and brook trout pouncing on our offerings.We fished dries and nymphs as well as dry dropper combinations and all produced.

Needless to say John will be back, he couldn't believe how much fun this type of fishing could be ! He talked about it nonstop on our trip home. I couldn't think of a better way to begin the season then this.So next time you are looking for something new to try out make it a small stream adventure for some wild trout.You'll love it!

Give Away

2011-03-03T13:24:00.002-05:00

   An idea sprung into my head yesterday to give a gift at each stage of growth to this blog. So for the first give away it will be to the 50th person to sign on as follower . And the prize will be a custom tied trolling streamer suitable for framing . You can choose the fly you would like from the fly gallery on the right and I'll mail it out to you . Simple as that!! So keep checking back and I will continue to do give aways at every interval of 50 there after so the 100 follower will get a gift as well .

   While you are visiting here please check out the other great blogs and fly shop links ! As well as getting the local weather and up to the minute water levels from USGS !

Tying with porcupine quills

2011-03-02T16:45:00.000-05:00

     A little on tying with porcupine quills natures answer to a beautiful quill body fly.
   The cute little rodent in the picture to the left known as a porcupine. The porcupine inhabits most of the upper regions of North America and can be seen roaming about usually in early evening and morning hours, as it is mostly a nocturnal creature .
   I learned sometime ago about tying with porcupine quills reading an article about extended body flys . But was more interested in tying with the much thinner guard hairs and smaller quills to create segmented bodies on small dry flys.
   So I set out on a hunt to find if there was an available source for these quills online. The only source for dyed porcupine quills was from Rob McLean in the form of McLean's Quills. Which are great quills to tye with but got costly quick as I was tying dozens of flys with them.

One day my fellow fly fisher,fly tyer and friend Jessy tossed out a great idea.. To keep a eye out for some road kill rodents of the porcupine persuasion . We were on our way to fish Catskills and it was in early spring so a perfect time to find one roadside, as they are stretching their legs from the long winters nap. It wasn't long before we found one Jessy was driving so she pulled over, we both got out and ran like little kids running to pick up the candy as if it were falling from a piñata.

   When we got to the little guy that found his fate beneath the wheels of a car , we each got out a zip lock bag which we were carrying for just such an event. We each plucked the quills we wanted to tye with, there are many different sizes and lenghths and hundreds of them , so it wasn't long before we had our fill of porcupine quills.

I decided I would like to dye mine different colors to match the hatch . So I got out the Rit and mixed up a few dye baths in the colors I wanted to do. I dyed them in the following colors with good results, golden yellow,olive green , wine and orange yellow. Dying them requires a little time and patience as it takes more than just a few minutes for the dye to penetrate into the quill. I like to put the quills along with the dye into a small bowl with a lid and heat it every so often to keep the dye bath warm.This enables the quills to absorb the dye a little quicker. Be sure the bowl you use is only to make dye baths in as you do not want to eat from it .

Once they are dyed and dried it's time to tye ! I use porcupine quills in many of my standard dry fly patterns as well as parachute flys. I have posted here a few examples of my favorites to tye sulphurs and olives.

As you can see porcupine quills create a beautifully segmented body with a great two toned appearance. They are very durable as porcupine quills are very strong and bite resistant.They float like a cork and the fish love them!

Finishing Touches

2011-03-01T16:06:00.006-05:00

As I write this I am putting the finishing touches on my first presentation of the year Fly Fishing The Brodhead Creek.I ventured out today to take a walk and get some pictures to add to the presentation . As you can never have enough a good photograph speaks volumes.

My first stop is a story in and of it's self the original home of the Henryville Fly Fishers Club .Now know as the Henryville Conservation Club which is one of the oldest fly fishing clubs still in existence in America today. Many of fly fishings greats have strolled the banks to enjoy the fantastic hatches and fishing this club water provides. Some of them to include Ernie Schwiebert , James Lisenring and Eric Leiser among some of the best known fly fisherman and fly tyers of the day.

I took a few shots of some of the most mouth watering water that I could access with out trespassing. This group really works hard to maintain their water and create habitat for its many inhabitants.It has great characteristics lots of runs , riffles , pools , pocket water and bends. Just great classic water for sure ! Ask how I know? I am fortunate to have some great friends who belong to the club and take me as a guest each year to fish it . After which usually follows a great cigar four fingers of fine single malt and dinner. Couple that with some great fishing stories from all over the world and you've got yourself one superb day.

Needless to say it was a beautiful day out of doors today ! It was good to get out and take in some fresh air and hear the water run by . It got the fond memories rolling in my head and the juices flowing to tye on a dry fly after a long winter of nymphing. I am now poised and waiting for the first hatches of the year to occur, with the same excitement of my youth.

Fly Tying at the Sparse Grey Matter event Feb. 27th

2011-02-28T19:04:00.001-05:00

Headed down to Califon NJ for the SGM event held at the Califon fire hall. This event was put together by Jim Holland of Shannon's fly shop , Dan Ansbach, Joe Fox and Catskill John.

What a inaugural event it turned out to be with somewhere between 25-30 tiers coming to the show. And a good size crowd was in attendance to boot looked to be 75- 100 guest checking out the tables. Looking to pick up some of the tiers tips and secrets.As well as discovering a new pattern or two to twist up for this season.

It was a pleasure sitting next to and tying with John Bonasera aka Catskill John. He was tying up some beautiful classic salmon flies for all to see.Needless to say he ties an awesome salmon fly true to the tradition and his flies possess that antique look of days gone by. He put a box of flies out for display that were out of this world so I took a picture of them to share with you here.

Steelhead & Salmon Fishing

2011-02-28T17:20:00.000-05:00

Being Prepared
Winter steelhead fishing is not for the meek for sure. Being dressed properly is the key to fun and success . Being able to enjoy yourself with out the burning cold feeling has been on many a steelhead fisherman’s mind for decades now.

Here are a few tips to get you started, these are some great things I have learned along the way.Don’t get dressed to fish until you are ready to hit the water. If you get dressed to soon you will get way to warm and begin to perspire thats the last thing you want to happen.When getting ready to set out on a cold blustery day be sure to dress in layers. I like to start with a nice thin tee shirt with a long sleeve tee or thermal top depending on the day. Then put on a hooded sweat shirt as the final layer as the hood acts as a wind stop . On super cold days I will wear all of this and top it off with a nice fleece jacket. The final and most important part is a quality rain jacket with plenty of storage for fly boxes , leader and tippet material. And of a breathable quality as this lets the air move around on the inside to release the trapped moisture.

If you find that your hands get cold here is a suggestion on keeping them warm. I never fish with gloves and this has worked tremendously for me . What I do is 2 hand warmers in each pocket after which I insert one on each wrist . How I do this is place them between the sleeves of my sweat shirt and long sleeve shirt , this holds them in place and keeps them away from the skin so you won’t get burned. The purpose is to warm the blood as it enters your hands. I’ve been doing this for some time now and never have cold fingers. And if they do get a little nippy I just put them in my nice warm hand warmer laden pockets. That concludes what you will need for the top half we’ll do the bottom in the next post.