Archive for the ‘Trout Flies’ Category
June 29th, 2009 | 
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Fly-fishing is a form fishing that uses a different method of catching the species that live and breathe under water. The method is referred to as angling. This method is used to target mostly trout and salmon. Recently the target list has extended to fish like bass, pike and carp. Historically fly fishing an ancient method of catching fish that originated in Scotland and Northern Europe.
There are many and various types of flies being used in fly-fishing. In modern fishing methods there are various types of fish being used to catch the designated target. The following is a list of types of fish; dry flies and emergers (for example midges or stoneflies), nymphs (for example mayflies or eggs and worms), streamers wet flies (for example buggers and leeches), saltwater flies (for examples sailfish and marlin), bass and panfish flies (for example crawfish and eels), salmon and steelhead flies (for example Atlantic salmon flies).
Certain gear is needed when fly-fishing. The first item on the list is fly rods, in which size and usage is important. It is important to match the fly rod with the fly line according to weight. Matching the weight of the two items is important to have positive casting results. The size of the fly rods can be anywhere from #0, #1, #2 and are used for the lightest trout and panfish rods up to powerful and heavy #16 rods for the largest saltwater game fish.
Another item needed for fly-fishing is a bamboo split cane. This allows for a better performance in the freshwater trout fishing situations. Synthetic fly rods are usually used and offer a greater versatility, stiffness, power and performance than a bamboo split cane. The advantages are that they are less expensive and require less maintenance. Finally, fly reels are manually operated. Although in recent years, more advanced models have been developed to deal bigger fish and more demanding situations. These models increase the drag and retrieval performance.
Fly-fishing is an ancient method of catching fish. It is more demanding because you are limited to the types of fish you can catch. You need the appropriate gear to catch the trout or the salmon. Today’s modern techniques used in fly-fishing have been developed to meet more challenging situations, such as bigger weight of the fish. These modern advancements prepare the fly fisherman to successfully meet his quota by using the methodology appropriately.
There are many popular locations for fly-fishing mostly in the Northern United States and Canada. Alaska is another popular place for the activity. Some places in the United States are Utah, Idaho, Colorado, Montana and California are just a few places.
So you want to go Largemouth Bass fishing with a fly rod. Well put away those trout flies 10 to – whatever. This isn’t spring sipping. No afternoon sunlit hatches. Little Baetis (Blue wing olive) or Heptageniidae (Light Cahill) match the hatch with 14s – 22s.
We’ll be throwing size 2 black deer hair mouse patterns, flashing a hen and peacock tail . Splashing down like an Apollo space capsule. Looking like dinner for a week.
In my Bass years I have found that when top water fishing “Bass like big meals” Although Bass generally hunt by sight they are aided by a unique ability to feel small vibrations through their “lateral line” a sense organ that runs just under their skin down each side of their body.
When fishing a mouse I want this organ to vibrate like my cell phone. Then the Bass will take a look around and see the meal just sitting there looking tasty.
Bass are not timid little fish. I’ve caught little ones no bigger than the mouse almost. Every time I do I tell it “go tell dad your mad”.
The point is be ready. a lot of the time the mouse barely hits the water and “bam” you’ve got a fight. But when this doesn’t happen let the mouse sit there for a moment. Stunned, “what happened”, “gotta get to land”, “I’m in the wrong place at the wrong time”. Short jerks enough to put the water in motion then sit. I call it “jerk, motion and sit”.
This is a big fly and I don’t mind a splash down, but I want a less noisy lift off. So when picking up, lift your rod tip high and get some line off the water. Slowly pull back your rod then life the fly out with a quick back motion. Its a technique but it will allow you to make a quieter exit.
Some of the patterns I use for spring Bassing:
Hook size/Pattern
2 Mouse, black or purple
2-6 Dahlberg strip diver, chartreuse
2-6 Near nuff frog
2-6 Sheep/rabbit streamer
2-6 Bumble bee popper
6 Peacock woolly bugger
2-6 Electric leech
6 Fruit cocktail
2-6 Mickey Finn
There are dozens of patterns. These are the ones that work for me in the North East. But I think they would work almost anywhere.
To get these flies out there you will need to know what kind of water you will be fishing. For Largemouth Bass fishing on medium sized lake or pond. You will want to use 8 foot to 9 foot medium action to fast action fly rod. A 6wt or 7wt will do the trick. These rods will have the power necessary to throw and lift a large fly. Remember will are throwing flies the size of motor homes.
Your fly line should be a matched 6/7 weight, floating, and weight forward. Forget about Bass tapers for now.
For a leader you want 9 foot knotless taper 1x. When you get your leader. Tie on a piece of 1x tippet about 15 inches long to your leader. The added length will give something to tie your fly to without shorting your leader each time you change flies. This also protects your leader because it’s the last 12 – 18 inches of leader that takes the most abuse.
For a sinking fly use a 6 foot knotless sinking leader with a 1x tippet. Same deal tie on a piece of 12 inch 1x tippet as well.
With the 1x tippet you are fishing at about 12 pound test and you can fish size 2 – 6 with it. You can also ties on 2x – 3x this will extend your fly size range 2 – 12. A good rule of thumb for tippet size to hook size is divide the hook size by 3 and that’s the tippet size to use. So take a hook size 12 divide by 3 and get 4 so 4x is about right for this fly. Take it with a grain of salt and use experience and judgment.
Also remember a knot weakens the line strength and decreases the pound test of the line.
This is a basic setup and will get you started on top water Largemouth Bass fishing.
Flies sure have come a long way. Today there are dozens of specialized vices and tools as well as hundreds of supply outlets. And of course you can buy ready made fresh or saltwater fishing flies from anywhere in the world, with the click of a button. But one thing remains the same; the best flies are hand tied by people who tie from experience. And that’s what this article is about. We’re going to take a look at some of the best flies, for any fishing conditions and locals, hand tied by the true masters.
Let’s do this by region. If you are planning a fishing getaway this will give you time to get the best flies you need for where you want to go. And of course, it never hurts to try a new fly at you favorite local spot. You never know…
Starting in the northeast I bring your attention to Joe “Flycatcher” O’Clair. If the name sounds familiar, you might have heard it mentioned by fly tying legend and editor of Fly Tier Magazine, David Klausmeyer. David featured Joe as one of the “top 13 US fly tiers” in his fly tying hardcover classic; “Striped Bass Flies: Patterns of the Pros.”
A saltwater fly tying innovator, Joe has designed some great flies for fishing conditions common to many coastal anglers. Located on Cape Cod, he caters to the need for distance casting by beach bound anglers and saltwater flies that are visible, but natural looking, in the cloudy Atlantic waters of New England. Joe’s “Cone Head Deceivers” make the distance and sink rapidly. They do the trick nicely, working especially well on Striped Bass and Bluefish. http://www.FlycatcherFlies.com
If you’re looking for saltwater flies that work like magic from the coast of Nova Scotia down to the outer banks of Carolina, FlycatcherFlies.com should be your first stop.
Now we head down south to St. Petersburg, Florida and fly tying great Danny Sauvageau, of DansCustomFlies.com.
We visit with Dan for one of his latest creations, “Dan’s Weedless Shrimp” http://members.ij.net/danscustomflys/WeedlessShrimpPage.html. This little beauty is virtually snag proof and great for Seatrout, Snook, Bonefish, and just about anything else that will eat shrimp.
Dan has been designing and selling his award winning flies for over a decade. Next time you find yourself in his neck of the woods, a visit to his online store is a must.
Now let’s head over to the Pacific Northwest and http://www.adiposflytying.com. If you’re looking for great Salmon, Steelhead or Trout flies, look no further. The pros at Adipos got their experience fishing the best that British Columbia, Alaska, Washington, and Oregon have to offer.
These are rugged flies for hearty fish that are as at home in the Washington as they are west coastal Canada.
We finish our online pursuit of great saltwater fishing flies in Southern California with a visit to Gary Bulla of http://www.garybulla.com. Gary is one of the foremost experts in designing flies that work especially well for kayakers and surf casters going after Yellowfin Tuna and Roosterfish.
These are just a few of the great saltwater fly tiers out there. Most of them and countless others sell out of local bait and tackle shops as well so look around the next time you take a last minute fishing trip. There’s bound to be a local legend fly tier that has just the right fly for what you’re after.
Keep those lines tight!
Fly Fishing is such a traditional sport many refer to as an art form, and compared to other modes of fishing, incorporates so much to learn in terms of casting technique, and more particularly the study of the trout’s diet, and their imitations, that it can distract anglers from focussing sufficiently on their quarry’s habits and behaviour. If you want to catch more Trout, and particularly larger Trout, you need to know more about the Trout than you do about casting and their diet.
The deeper I looked, the more things just didn’t make sense. I reared both Brown and Rainbow Trout in my lounge room aquarium and studied them closely. From atop steep banks of clear pools on the stream, I experimented and studied them.
There was finally but one conclusion I could make. We, as fly fishermen, to a large degree, have been kidding ourselves for a very long time. Looking realistically at many of the trout flies, it seemed that the trout must either be half blind, or quite stupid, to accept many of them as the insects being imitated. Either way, it detracted from the achievement of having deceived them.
The more I critically analyzed the whole routine of fly fishing, the more assumptions I recognised as having been made to compensate for our lack of understanding. At best, some of the assumptions may have been correct to some degree, but could never be proven or confirmed. At worst, some were just blatantly wrong.
These assumptions have been cycled for so long they have just been accepted as fact. The Trout have been considered ‘Unpredictable’ because their behaviour or actions didn’t always fit what we would have expected when fly fishing. No-one, it seems, had ever thought about the possibility of their actions not matching our expectations because our beliefs could be flawed.
I started evaluating alternative possibilities. Gradually I put the puzzle together. Eventually, those long standing questions had answers. The trout behaviour then became extremely predictable. I started taking advantage of these findings. Having realized I didn’t need to imitate anything to induce takes, I was able to construct flies which could do specific jobs for me rather than imitating anything.
With each of the situations I encountered on the water mastered, the results just automatically followed. I had seemingly mastered the sport of fly fishing.
The Allan Water is controlled by the Allan Water Angling Improvement Association, you can buy permits by the day from the Dunblane post office or join the waiting list for the association. The waiting list to join is a about a year but this venue is members only on a saturday.
We fished the upper pools on beat 1. The pools are up near braco just before the hotel. We only used Fly Fishing as our method although you can spin for Salmon and Trout
Salmon Fishing
Equipment – Single Handed AirFlow, SLS Fly Rod.
Location
There is no need for wading at this location as the river is not a large river. You can fish from the Far bank with ease. However this water really needs to have a lot of rain before it fishes well. The banks are clean and well maintained and the water quality is excellent
Flies – Stoat Tail and Pot Belly Pig.
We fished for a number of hours, without much luck and decided to change fly to a pot belly pig, within half an hour I had managed to land a 6lb Grilse. It took me over half and hour to land the fish. (We returned the fish safely to the river) I can see now why the Pot Belly Pig is such a popular fly.
Trout Fishing
Equipment – 6/7 9ft 6 Trout Fly Rod with Floating Line
Flies – Dry Fly and Wet Flies (the day we fished just about anything was catching)
The Fishing
We found this river to teaming with lots of small brown trout about 6inch long which must be viewed as an encouraging site, in fact we managed to catch around 20 (all of which were safely returned to the water)
We found We had Great Success with Wet Flies and Small Size 16 Dry Flies. We generally had the dry fly on the top dropper and the wet on the point.
Overall
A nice clean venue, ideal for in-experienced Fly Fishing, Easy Access and Depending on the weather a good chance of a salmon. This is a great place to learn how to fish on a river.
On the things to note about this venue is the fact that they actually stock the river with brown trout to supplement the natural fish stocks. I did notice large amounts of small brown trout about 1 – 2 inches in size, which is a real positive as it means the the natural fish are spawning and this can only result in making the venue and even better trout fishing mark.
