Fly Fishing

Fly Review: Le Bug

2012-08-02T17:31:00.002-07:00

This is a productive pattern to have in your fly box. I've had hits on this all year round. I'll never forget the huge hit i had on this fly in the middle of winter. The trout ended up getting off before i could land it, but it looked like a nice football! Use this as a dropper and the trout will be all over it. I have a few in the black and orange colors in size 18 that seem to work well for me. The Le Bug works best when fished right off the bottom.

Quick stop at the EB

2012-08-02T13:58:00.001-07:00

I fly fished the east branch for 2 hours today. I landed one feisty brown on a white bugger and a nice rainbow on a midge size 18 dropper nymph. I had one big brown that looked to be 16-17" chase my bugger but that is as far as he wanted to go. I tried dry fly fishing for about 20 minutes and missed 2 nice hits somehow!

Fly Review: I can see it midge

2012-08-01T19:57:00.000-07:00

Another productive pattern to have in your fly box. I recommend having at least a few of these in your fly box. Works best during a midge hatch but still productive without a hatch occurring. The orange post really allows you to follow this fly. Fish it on a dead drift and see if the trout reacts. If after a few casts the trout you are casting to continues to ignore this pattern, try a different size or another dry fly.

East branch

2012-08-01T11:27:00.000-07:00

I picked up a small rainbow and two decent browns. The first brown crushed a size 18 black midge (I can see it midge from orvis) on the surface. The two browns put up a nice fight for their size. The second brown hit a white streamer. I really enjoy catching these browns on the surface, a lot of fun!

Product review: Orvis Ripcord Wading Staff

2012-07-31T18:36:00.002-07:00

When fly fishing, it is very important that you carry a wading staff with you. It could save your life. It aids you in keeping your balance and helps you gauge how deep the water is. I highly recommend the ripcord wading staff. It is the only one on the market that does not pull apart if it gets stuck in mud/rocks. This is because it has an internal cord that locks the staff together.

Tippet Size Chart

2012-07-30T16:31:00.000-07:00

*From Orvis

Nice red spots

2012-07-30T15:58:00.002-07:00

Here are some of my most recently caught browns from the east branch croton river. I lost count of the amount of trout i caught in the short 2 hours I fished. I managed a bunch of smaller rainbows and browns today. The beauty below was caught on a streamer. The last picture is another brown that i caught using a size 18 parachute adams. This smaller brown crushed this dry fly!

Flying Mako

2012-07-30T08:53:00.003-07:00

Cool video!

Great video to watch

2012-07-30T08:45:00.000-07:00

I highly recommend watching the Heart of the Driftless DVD. It is a great video that deals with small stream fishing. If you enjoy small stream fishing, you will enjoy this DVD!

Fly Review: Adams Parachute

2012-07-28T07:45:00.001-07:00

I would highly recommend having a few of this pattern in your fly box. It is such a fun dry fly to use. It is most effective when you see trout hitting the surface. This is an effective pattern that you can use in a lot of different conditions. It is best fished dead drifted. If you enjoy dry fly fishing, pick up a few of this pattern in sizes 12-26 and you wont be disappointed. The Adams parachute is such a productive pattern. When you have this fly on, hold on tight. This is a very popular pattern for a reason!

East Branch Beauty

2012-07-27T14:53:00.001-07:00

I managed to pick up this pretty looking brown in the east branch today. It had really amazing colors, it could even be a native brown. I caught him using a streamer. The first time he hit, I did not set the fly right, i left the streamer there and he hit it again! I managed to pick up another brown on a size 18 adams. He turned down 5 dry fly patterns before i picked the right one. Pretty nice battle with this guy, jumped clear out of the water. It is such a great feeling landing a brown on a dry fly.

Helios 2 Video

2012-07-26T20:52:00.002-07:00

Can't wait to try one of these in the future!

Fly review: Fly Formerly Known As Prince

2012-07-26T14:05:00.002-07:00

This is my go to nymph pattern. It is a huge trout producer for me. I like to fish a size 16 or 18 as a dropper off a larger prince or a copper john. The trout really eat this one up. It works best in faster current. Just dead drift this pattern with minimal drag and you surely will connect with a nice rainbow or brown. This is a must have nymph pattern.

Avoid the east branch crowds

2012-07-25T16:05:00.003-07:00

If you want to avoid the crowds at east branch, there is a nice section with plenty of willing trout. It is the section right below Borden bridge. There are two nice runs that hit deep pools. I recently landed 4 cookie cutter rainbows in an hours time using a double nymph rig. It is a pretty peaceful section of the EB that rarely gets fished.

Product review: Mirage Flourocarbon Leaders

2012-07-25T07:12:00.001-07:00

I highly recommend these leaders for streamers and for nymphing. They are a little expensive but are worth it. They are highly abrasive resistant and have a low visibly in the water.

For streamer fishing and for single nymphing, I like to go with a 9 foot length. I've fished streamers with a 7 foot leader in the past and I noticed a better catch ratio with using a 9 foot length.

If you are fishing a double nymph rig, I would suggest using a 7 foot leader length with an 8-12 inch mirage tippet as a dropper. Using a longer leader length with a double nymph rig is not recommended because of increased chance of tangles.

Using a leader beyond 9 feet, makes casting a little harder and not really required for general trout fishing in this area. If the water conditions are super clear/low and the trout are acting spooky, a 12' leader length may be beneficial.

No fly rod required

2012-07-24T17:22:00.006-07:00

Some great shots a family friend took.

East branch

2012-07-24T16:24:00.001-07:00

I lost a really big brown today. Looked to be at least 20" in length. Almost had it in the net and all of a sudden my fly came out! I watched hopelessly as the big boy disappeared back into the river. It is such a disappointment when you see a monster brown like this without landing it and taking a few photos!

I did manage a small bow though.

Helios 2

2012-07-24T05:23:00.002-07:00

Wow, this rod is going to be sick!

West Branch

2012-07-23T15:04:00.000-07:00

The conditions at west branch were not the best. The water was warm, low and clear. The current was slow. No trout were interested in taking any nymphs or dry flies. Did manage to land one small brown with great color and a pretty big bluegill. Both took a size 10 streamer.

Stubborn trout

2012-07-23T08:52:00.002-07:00

Some tips to deal with stubborn trout:

Go down 1 size on your leader/tippet

If you are fishing a 5x tippet with no success and you see the trout are ignoring one of your top producing flies, try a 6x tippet.
Increase your leader length

Trout is ignoring your:

Nymph

Try putting on a double nymph rig with a big nymph pattern on top with a smaller nymph pattern as a dropper
Successful combo: Use a red copper john with a green copper john dropper, or a double prince rig.

Streamer

If you see the trout ignoring your streamer, try and change the color of your streamer before changing the size of the pattern.
If black, white or olive colors are not working. I like to toss a bright colored streamer such as a golden/tan or even a yellow streamer.

Dry fly

Most likely your presentation might be slightly off
Try and use a lower weight fly rod
Look for trout hitting the surface regularly
Try and match the hatch
If still having a problem, toss a big yellow humpy!

Casting to stubborn rainbow and brook trout in NH.

Fly Review: Little rascal

2012-07-20T10:31:00.002-07:00

This is one of my favorite streamer patterns I've come across. It has a little flash on the top which really provokes the trout to hit it on sunny days. My favorite color to use is black in size 12. This pattern holds up pretty well and will last a long time providing you don't cast into any trees! I have gotten rainbows, brook and brown trout using this pattern.

I cast this pattern downstream and slowly strip back my fly line. If you are having a tough day on the river, put one of these on and it surely will produce a nice trout!

Purchase the fly at orvis

2012-07-19T14:13:00.003-07:00

EB

EB was pretty active today. Landed a bunch of rainbows and small browns. Everything seemed to work. My favorite catch of the day was a cookie cutter rainbow that smashed a blue wing olive dry fly. Nothing really compares to catching a trout on a dry fly. It was hitting the surface like clock work, made for an easy target! Enjoy the pics

Blast from the past-My pride and joy

2012-07-18T19:33:00.001-07:00

On 9/24/11

I caught this 21" brown on a fly today. It hit a size 6 halloween streamer on 3x tippet. What a catch and fight. I barely got it to the net in time, the fly was just about played out by the time i reeled it in. It was a good 5 minute fight with this beauty. I landed it and managed to get a picture of it. I released it as good as new. It was caught lower east branch river.

East branch

2012-07-18T18:58:00.002-07:00

Was able to get out and fly fish EB for 3 hours. I had a great time out there, i wish i could of stayed longer. I hooked 2 monster carp. First one broke me off and the second one took me at least 200 feet up stream running under every fallen tree. The hook pulled out! These carp were to big to handle, both looked at least 3 feet long and 15-20 pounds.

I did manage to land a nice 17.5" rainbow and a 14" rainbow on nymphs. The 17.5" rainbow had a san juan worm fly in it's mouth. The fly looked pretty recent. I took it out and released the fish. The 17.5" rainbow nailed a size 16 phlamin nymph and the 14" took a size 14 brass a$$ as a dropper. The big rainbow fought really well, almost didn't land it!

Enjoy the pics.

Big brown

2012-07-18T18:53:00.003-07:00

Colchester CT-Salmon river

Caught using a size 8 ausable ugly nymph