Fin and Feathers

Congo Crab

2012-03-03T20:58:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of February, I ordered some Congo Hair from Fly Tyers Dungeon for the first time. I've read some good reports, and seen some great flies with it, and just had to give it a go. It's a poor man's EP fiber.

So the first fly I tried this on was a version of the EP Crab, which, obviously, is tied with EP fiber. This is only the second crab I've ever tied, the first was with Sparkle Emerger Yarn and just didn't look right. There's some issues with this version, but I learned some things as I tied it, and the next one will be much better. But I thought I'd share this with you anyway.

Materials:
Hook: Mustad 34007 - #2
Thread: Danville flat waxed nylon, 210 denier, chartreuse
Tail: Rainbow Krystal Flash, 3 strands
Legs: FTD Congo Hair, Caddis Tan
Body: FTD Congo Hair, Caddis Tan
Legs: MFC Centipede, Speckled Charteuse, Medium
Eyes: Medium black bead chain

Update

2012-02-20T11:45:00.000-08:00

Yea, I know... it's been awhile since I updated. But it's not from lack of bench time! It's from lack of quality pictures. This is now my new priority - getting better pictures of my flies. This Saturday I'm in an all day Nikon school with my dad, and hopefully we'll be able to cover some techniques for macro photography and proper lighting.

Back to the flies....

I placed another order with J Stockard last night. I love them! This month they have hair and fur 20% off. You won't find a better price on bucktail, rabbit strips, squirrel strips any where or any time!! Get it before the end of the month!

(No, I don't work there, not affiliated, they don't pay me.... just a big fan, that's all.)

Now, for some flies....

First on today's menu is a little saltwater action. This is from "Essential Saltwater Flies", which I got for Christmas.

Surf Candy

See, I need to improve my photography!

Next up are some soft hackles. I'm not sure what it is about soft hackles, but I just love them. LOVE THEM! They are easy to tie, the possibilities are endless, and they catch fish. So here's a few I've tied so far this year.

Exploding Caddis

Biot & Ice

Brown Antron

Christmas

2011-12-27T07:56:00.000-08:00

How was Christmas at your house? Lots of great food, fun family times, and some fly tying "stuff" here. And, some time off of work to spend at the vice.

I've been interested in saltwater flies lately, and my wife picked up Essential Saltwater Flies for a Christmas gift. There's some great patterns, with variations for everything from bonefish to tarpon to striper. It will definitely keep me busy for a while.

Here's my second attempt at a bendback. The first was pretty plain, so I won't share it here.

This morning I ordered a bunch of new material, along with heavy saltwater hooks, from J Stockard. So once those come in I'll post more pictures of flies, like Surf Candy, Deceiver, and some sand crabs for redfish and permit.

Zebra midges

2011-12-14T06:33:00.000-08:00

Is is possible to have too many zebra midges? From #16 to #22, from black to rust to brown to red to tan. I have a whole box dedicated to these simple little flies and I've probably caught more trout on these than any other fly.

My favorite are with a tungsten bead, to help get these down to the bottom quickly. It seems finding the bottom is where I catch fish with a zebra. Your mileage may vary. It also helps when fishing a tandem, with a Copper John or Pheasant Tail as the first fly, and a zebra hanging below it. Helps pull the entire rig down into the water column.

Catching up

2011-12-13T12:25:00.000-08:00

After a couple year haitus, I've revived this blog to focus almost solely on all things related to fly tying and fly fishing. That's not to say something unrelated might not sneak it's way in....

So, what's new? Well, just in the past month, I've purchased a brand new Sage Z-Axis 9'6" 8wt which will be my largemouth bass and redfish rod. I contemplated many rods, from the TFO BVK (great rod, by the way!), the Orvis Hydros, and some of the mid-priced offerings from the premier brands. But the closeout price of the Z-Axis was just too attractive to pass up, and it's one of the sweetest rods ever made.

On the tying front, I've been on a tear just in the past week. 3 dozen flies total since Saturday. Red zebra midges, Copper Prince and Rubber Leg Hare's Ear make up the bulk. I really need to improve my photography skills but here are some pictures from my cell phone.

Copper Prince:

Rubber Leg Hare's Ear

I'll continue to post more pictures of flies, and as a teaser, there's a fishing trip planned for the near future I'll post about later.

Just one of those days...

2009-12-29T09:39:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Monday, was one of those days that don't come along very often and which one looks forward to with excitement. A full day, all to myself, fly fishing. Just me, the beautiful outdoors, the sound of the river, and rainbow trout. It was going to be cold, but that's what layers are for. And a day to try out the Cabela's waders and wading jacket that I got for Christmas.

I left the house at about 6:45am and it was showing 23 degrees according to the trusty thermometer in my Jeep. But I knew with clear skies it would warm up, and no wind it wouldn't be too cold. But I was a little concerned about water clarity on the Blue; with all the rain and snow over Christmas, there was a chance the water might be a little muddy. So after a uneventful couple of hours, I arrived at the parking area and suited up to take on the fish.

Sure enough, the water wasn't very clear. It clear for about 18 to 24 inches, so any wading more than knee deep was done purely by feel. Not fun! I knew fishing would be challenging, and something with some flash would be necessary. So first an olive beadhead krystal bugger, then a pheasant tail, then back to the bugger. Nothing. No bites, no sign of fish. Tried a couple more spots, and added a red copper john to the mix, and nothing.

Finally I worked up river to "The Spot". Well, it's the spot I caught fish last time, so by my logic there would be fish waiting for me again this time. It's right below a small waterfall (only a few feet tall, like most on the Blue River), but it's maybe 100 feet wide. Within 5 minutes with a red copper john I had a good bite but couldn't get him in. He shook off about halfway. At this point I was half-skunked, which is better than being full-skunked. The water being muddy, I didn't want to wade out as far because it was purely feel as to where the next step should be and there's deep holes all throughout the river. So I was limited on where I could cast and had a hard time getting a good drift. And no more bites. None.

So I decided to stand up on the waterfall and try getting a good drift from the waterfall out about 60-80 feet. I could cover a lot of different water from up there. The problem was the trees stuck across the water that would limit any casting. I made my way across the river along this rock ledge, ducking under and around the trees, and from there was able to get some good drifts down river. After 15 minutes or so, there was one more spot of water over to the left to cover, so I tried a little sidearm cast and, snag. Too much line out on the backcast, plus tree branches equals a snag. No problem, right? I worked my way over to untwist the line, and trying to hold the rod straight, I could barely reach the branch, and reeaaachhh....

SNAP!

My rod tip broke. It broke!! My Redington 5wt Super Sport, which I love dearly, is broken. Fishing has come to a crashing halt. That day that doesn't come along often and which I've been looked forward to has ended in a very bad way. Of course I didn't bother to bring my 6wt; it's sitting comfortably at home. I just reel in all the line, walk the mile or so back to the parking area, and head home. At least I got a few hours of fishing done, just not as many as I wanted.

Oh, and my cell phone won't take a charge from the car charger, so I can't call my wife and let her know I'm headed home early. And I know she's probably wondering why I haven't called at all.

I get home about 4:30pm, and one of my sons is running out of the house with a few neighborhood boys and he says "Mom needs you to go get Koda". Koda is our 5 year old full blood Chocolate Lab. I don't think much of it until I get inside and my wife tells me that Koda is at the vet, he threw up blood that morning, and the vet is concerned about something in his intestine. Uh-oh. He's only 5 years old! He's been healthy!

I head over to the vet, and after a visit there was some good news. Blood work was all clear, but the vet seems to think he got into something somewhere. He kept asking "are you sure he didn't get into anything?" Not that we know of. But the resulting bill was almost $600!! I could have bought a couple fly rods for that kind of money!

It was just one of those days. It started out with lots of promise, but fizzled out (expensively) at the end. Unexpected expenses from a broken fly rod and the vet bill, and concerns about health of our fantastic Koda, it was a day that needed to come to an end. Today's a new day, and we hope that it's not just one of those days. We can't afford it.

New waders!

2009-12-26T23:06:00.000-08:00

Finally, some new waders! Thanks to a nice gift card for Cabela's, I picked up their Dry-Plus Premium waders today. I've read a lot of good reviews on Cabela's waders, and these have 5 layers through the lower leg and seat. So they should stand up to a lot of abuse. I'm looking forward to trying them out Monday.

Orvis chest pack

2009-12-26T07:41:00.000-08:00

I mentioned before that it was a tough decision on which chest pack to get for fly fishing. Well, I found a great deal on the Orvis Safe Passage chest pack, so I picked that up. Several weeks ago I tried it out for the first time, fishing all day on the Blue River in Oklahoma.

Here's what I stuffed into it. In one front pocket, I stuffed two Irideus Kenai fly boxes, one with dry flies and the other with nymphs. In the other front pocket was a C&F box with wooly buggers and an Orvis streamer box. Then I had attached a hemostat, small scissors (I like this better than line nippers) and a Ty-Rite Jr (which is the best invention ever!). In the backpack I had a water bottle and small thermos of chili.

How did it work? Well, having 4 big boxes stuffed in the front was a bit much. The packs stuck out a little too much and at times got in the way when stripping in line. It didn't affect casting, though. So I realized I need smaller boxes, and put the bigger ones in the backpack.

Overall, I really like the pack. It's comfortable and stays balanced on my shoulders. I just need to get smarter about filling it, and not try stuffing so much.

Flyshack.com

2009-11-16T14:25:00.000-08:00

It's time to give some props to Flyshack.com. I've ordered flies from these guys several times, and every time the order was shipped quickly and accurately. The flies that were backordered were shipped as soon as available, and not once did I ever have to follow-up.

So, hat's off to Flyshack.com. I'll be ordering more and more flies over the winter.

Decisions, decisions...

2009-11-16T14:12:00.000-08:00

One thing I’ve come to realize I need for all-day fly fishing is a pack that can hold 2 or 3 fly boxes, tools, leaders, tippet, etc. And for a true all-day excursion, room for snacks and water.

So I’m looking at the Orvis Safe Passage Chest Pack, which has the backpack for snacks and such and room for a couple of fly boxes in front. The other options are the Orvis Complete Safe Passage Chest Pack or one of the Fishpond packs.

What makes the decision more difficult is that I’ve seen some comments that a chest pack will restrict vision and make it a little harder to navigate through a rocky stream. This makes sense, because if there’s a bulging pack then it’s harder to see where the feet are going. I guess I might just have to buy one – any one – and try it out. What works for one person might not work for another.

I’ll post an update when I finally make up my mind….