Fly of the Week #8

My fly photos are slowly getting better. I still have a ways to go until I'm happy with how they come out, but at least I'm making progress.

"Blue Bead Dry / Soft Hackle" - Size 12
(click for larger picture)

Here is another fly where I combined dry fly and wet fly hackle together. The dry stiffer hackle behind the blue glass bead and the partridge hackle in front. The whole thing is tied with unwaxed brown thread. Although untested at this point, I'd imagine it would do pretty well given the buggy look of it. Similar flies have done well on the Lower Stan.

Fly of the Week #7

This has been a rather busy week and as a result, I did not have time to tie anything new. So, it was a trip to the computer to find a previously photographed fly to post here. This one was used on the North Fork of the Stanislaus last week and did well. It produced a few bites and one trout that stayed on for only a minute while trying to bring him to hand. At least we know that they were interested in it.

Golden Stone Soft Hackle - Size 12
(click for larger picture)

This guy was tied on a size 12 hook with creme colored unwaxed thread. Very light golden stone dubbing and Hungarian partridge hackle. Since I had no tinsel laying around, I used some copper wire for ribbing. Two wires were braided together before tied around the body for something a little different.

I've got about a half dozen flies lying around that haven't been photographed yet. I hope to get on the ball and do that shortly. The plan is to spend more time figuring out how to get those crystal clear photographs that some people are capable of. Hopefully I'll be successful and we no longer have to look at blurry images.

Trip Report: North Fork - Stanislaus

I was able to sneak out for some fishing on Saturday. This time around, I visited the North Fork of the Stanislaus. Initially, I tried to find a road called “Ramsey” that, according to Google maps, looked to move down right next to the river. Unfortunately, I never found it and ended up going back to my standby: the Sourgrass Recreational Area.

I was out of the car and in the river by 9am. The weather was overcast and a brisk 40 degrees. I wrapped up complete with fingerless gloves and took off upstream of the parking lot. It was my goal to get a little bit away from where the crowds normally fish. So, I stopped only briefly until I got about ¼ or ½ mile up river. The water level was lower than my previous trip, so it made it easier to move along. There were still some really tough spots that caused a few close calls as I scrambled on some very slippery boulders. Felt sole wader boots can be treacherous. Luckily nothing happened except for a few scares.

The setup started out as a three rig system consisting of a size 12 Hare’s Ear Soft Hackle as the anchor, my “brown mess” soft hackle size 14 as the middle, and a blue wing olive wet size 14 as the top fly.

The river was crystal clear and I could see a few fish. However, there weren’t nearly as many as I expected. The number of bites reflected this observation. I was able to catch a small 10 inch rainbow on the Hare’s Ear within about an hour of tries. The river level was perfect for wading or simply casting from shore. Plenty of room for back casts. The low level also made for less flow. My first experience with this river was that it was a very fast and almost dangerous current. Not so much this time.

Incredibly enough, I was the only one fishing this Saturday, I’m not sure if it was because of the cold weather or the coming rain/snow storm. Whatever the case, I was all alone.

As the day wore on and the bites were few, flies were swapped often. I went through many of the ones I’ve tied and many that I bought. At the end of the day, one was caught on that Hare’s Ear; the other three were caught on the ones I tied (the successful flies that I tied and caught fish with are pictured in this post).

All in all, I traveled probably ¾ of a mile upstream and caught a total of 4 wild rainbows. All of them were less than 10 inches. It was incredibly beautiful out with the falling leaves and peace and quiet. The river was clear and accessible. The chilly weather made the experience much different than the hot Summer days that I’ve become accustomed too. Unfortunately, the number of fish was a bit of a disappointment.

Even with only four caught, this was a great day. Stunningly beautiful as the leaves were falling on me throughout the day and the smell of a coming storm filled the air. As the rain started to fall and the sun was setting, I packed up and headed back to reality.

Fish Count: 4 Rainbows

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Fly of the Week #6

This one is made from unwaxed green thread, a glass bead for the thorax, and partridge feathers for the hackle. The whole thing is tied on size 12 hook.

"Green Thread / Glass Bead Soft Hackle" - size 12
(click for larger picture)

Note: I had a chance to fish this fly a few days ago (report coming soon) and it attracted quite a bit of attention. Unfortunately, it didn't lead to a trout up to my hand.

Three Rig Wet Fly System

Want to increase your chance of catching trout? Try multiple flies at once. I will often fish three at a time to quickly see what they are interested on that day. By mixing different sizes and patterns, you'll know really fast what will work. The method I use is a three fly rig.

There are no real rules to this method, except for maybe one. Put the heaviest fly as the anchor fly, the fly that is furthest from the fly line. As suggested by someone else, this may also be the place to put an attractor pattern. When I'm searching, I'll often put a larger size 10 winged wet as the anchor that may have some brighter colors, a soft hackle size 12 or smaller as the middle fly, and another soft hackle or perhaps a winged wet size 12 or smaller as the top.

Building the rig can't be easier. Cut three pieces of two foot long tippet material (you pick the size), take two of those pieces and overlap the two ends by 7 or so inches, place your thumb at this spot and knot them with a double overhand. Refer to the diagram for a little better explanation. After the two are knotted, then add the third in the same overlapping fashion. The end of the rig is tied to a leader or you can simply use longer tippet material and tie it directly to the fly line. Having an actual tapered leader is not necessary. The basic idea is to have each fly approximately separated by the same amount of space when in the water. The top and middle position hanging off about 6-7 inches of line.

You would fish the three rig the same way you fish a single fly. Dead drift, up and across, across, down and across, or directly down. It doesn't really matter. The idea is to get the flies in the feeding lane and keep it there as long as possible. Dead drift is my favorite, but swinging it is fine. If you do swing it, try and slow it down a little with line mends. Before casting back upstream, be sure to let it dangle below you for a while and maybe go as far as dancing it around. You'll catch fish here as it rises and falls.

If you see one fly is getting most of the attention, you can swap your other flies for the similar working patterns.

Fly of the Week #5

This week, I've decided to upload a few images. I'm still playing around with the camera settings to get the best image quality possible. Unfortunately, I haven't quite got it figured out yet.

As always, you can click on the images to get a higher resolution version.

"Brown Mess #1 Soft Hackle" - Size 14

Golden stone dubbing with Hungarian Partridge (died brown) for the hackle. Brown thread holding it all together.

"Blue and Yellow Soft Hackle" - Size 14

Creme colored thread on the head ties down the partridge hackle. Yellow thread on the body holds both yellow and blue embroidery floss. The body has a light coating of "Hard as Nails" to give it some shine.

"Blue Soft Hackle" - Size 12

This one is simply thread and hackle. The unwaxed thread was not taken back very far to keep it minimal. Next time, I'd like to use even less hackle.

A slow down in fly fishing trips.

I had hope that I would get a chance to fish the Lower Stanislaus before the closure on October 31st. It just wasn't in the cards. Work has been busier than expected and my usual weekday trips aren't possible and weekends are currently too busy with everything I couldn't do during the week.

Cherry Creek - August 14th, 2007

When this current project ends, my wife and I are expecting a baby, so I'm not sure when I'll be able to get out to a river. Needless to say, actual fly fishing will be temporarily set aside. I'll still continue with posts as I can always find time to tie flies or write about something other than river trips.

Basically, it comes down to the near future being more fly tying and technique posts rather than actual trip reports.

Why soft hackle wet flies?

If you haven't figured it out by now, I'm a big fan of Soft Hackles and to a lesser degree, regular winged wets. They're so easy to fish and are very productive at any time of day, in any weather, and at all depths from just under the surface to down deep.

If you read around the net, these flies can be called any number of things. Spiders, flymphs, soft hackles, and more. I'm not sure I always know the distinction, although some literature say that spiders are tied more sparsely. Whatever the case, they are all soft hackles to me.

For those of you new to SHs, you can just cast these out across the stream and let them "swing" in the current. You don't have to be perfect with a dead drift (although dead drifting a soft hackle upstream is a killer) and you'll still catch a ton of trout. Not to mention, when swinging, there is no mistaking when a fish is on!

Main Tuolumne - August 14th, 2007

Another trick I like to use is that in tight situations, I'll let the fly "swim" below me, directly downstream. I'll use the rod to put it beside boulders, under trees, along seams. Wherever you know fish are hanging out. Alternate lifts with short drifts. I've even caught fish while my fly was just dangling downstream as I was doing something else (digging out a camera, getting a drink of water, etc), not even trying to catch anything. In a small creek, this is a great way to go since trees make it hard to get a good cast in.

Soft hackles can be fished directly upstream, up and across, across, down and across, downstream, or all of the above. Dead drift, swing, or even pulled through the water, I don't think there is a wrong way to fish them. I've caught plenty of trout during the hottest part of the day deep down, or just below the surface when you may be tempted to put a dry on.

Lastly, I'd just like to say that I often rig together 3 flies at once. This gives you a great way to see what is working for that particular day. The heaviest fly goes on the tail, a medium sized soft hackle in the middle, and the front gets either a winged wet or another soft. If you don't know what fish are interested in, this gives you an excellent way to find out - quick!

I really think that the hackle, no matter how sparse it may be, gives extra life to any fly. I occasionally still fish nymphs or even tie one here or there, but I really think that putting the hackle on just makes it more interesting to the fish. Maybe I'm wrong, I don't know. As soon as someone interviews a trout to find out for sure, let me know!

Here are some great links to some sites with soft hackle/wet fly/spider/flymph info:

http://globalflyfisher.com/patterns/flymphs/
http://www.jackgartside.com/step_soft_hackle_flies.htm
http://tinyurl.com/35jqrp
http://flyfisherman.com/softhackles/

Summer / Fall Wrap Up

This has been a great summer of fly fishing. I became a little lazy and skipped the reports on quite a few outings. I tried to go at least three times a month, sometimes I'd go to the same place two or three times and it didn't warrant a new report, or I just plain skipped it entirely.

In a nutshell, my favorite spot has to be Tulloch Dam Rd and Two-Mile Bar of the lower Stan. You just can't beat the huge numbers of wild trout and limited crowds. Next Spring, I'd like to try Beaver Creek through Big Trees Park (enjoyed Beaver Creek but access was difficult where I went) and possibly the North Fork of the Stan while I'm there. The Merced river had good fishing spots and would be a nice place to visit again. Or perhaps Cherry Creek just for the fact that it was a 20+ fish day and there was plenty of river I didn't explore. Can't forget the main fork of the Tuolumne. Although I was skunked there, I want to try again.

However, I have a feeling that I'd like to try some new spots altogether next Spring. Not to say my fishing is done for the year. This winter, I'll try to shove in a few days at Putah Creek to see what it is like.

Fly of the Week #4

In honor of Halloween, I tied this orange themed soft hackle.. Unfortunately, the picture quality doesn't really reflect the coloring of the fly.

"Trick or Treat Soft Hackle" - Size 12

This guy is tied on a size 12 long hook. The three orange beads were bought at a craft store (bead making supplies). They are pretty light and won't add much weight. Orange thread keeps it all together.

Fly of the Week #3

I really like this one. It definitely has a buggy look. This guy actually has two sections of soft hackle making it look really messy. The first is in front of the thorax, the second behind.

"Rats Nest Soft Hackle"- Size 14

I'm using brown thread with golden stone dubbing at the thorax. If you haven't figured it out by now, soft hackles are my favorite flies to fish (and tie).

Trip Report: Lower Stanislaus #3 and #4

This has been a great place to fish. The proximity from where I live, combined with a large population of wild trout is hard to pass up. During these two trips, I've explored more at both Tulloch and Two-Mile bar while investigating new spots along the road.

After studying the Google satellite maps, I tried some different access points to the river along Tulloch Dam Rd. The problem is, there is a canal that runs the length of the river between the road and the river. Although there is a foot bridge at Tulloch access, I'm unaware of any others. If you live on the edge, I guess you could scale some cliffs where the canal goes underground, but otherwise it is not possible to pass. I'm still trying to find an access point that doesn't cross private property. I really want to get to the river between Tulloch and Two-Mile.

Since I cannot cross the canal, except at the footbridge. I walked along side the river side of the canal - both directions as far as you can go. The upstream side dead ends at the dam, the downstream side dead ends when the canal goes underground. Between those stretches, I've pretty much been there except at the steepest sections that would require a rope to get down.

The last time I went, the water level was much higher. So high in fact, that I could no longer cross the river safely at Tulloch access. I was looking at the sat maps, and there is a possibility if I can cross the river and follow the canal on that side, I may be able to access further downstream. I'm still not sure and won't be sure until next spring when the water level lowers again.

Speaking of high water, the river looked completely different the last time I went. All the good spots that worked so well last time were either unaccessible or there just weren't fish in there because the river was moving so fast. They all moved to slower spots. I found one area off Tulloch that had 25+ inch rainbows, but I was only able to catch the 15-17 inchers that were in there with them.

Trip #3 was my best chance to explore (#4 had the high water level) and I found some really good ones that I somehow missed the other times. One of them at Two-Mile was very productive and perfect holding water. I was looking forward to fishing it again on trip #4, but it was impossible to access during the high water. Funny thing was, I missed this area on trip #1 and #2. There are so many hidden little sections as the river splits and goes around several islands.

Two-Mile Bar is also filled with Salmon now (both #3 and #4 trips). These huge fish are amazing to watch. They rocket through the water so fast. It is quite a sight to behold. Below the spawning areas, I tried some egg patterns with no luck. Soft hackles, particularly hare's ears, march browns, or pheasant tails were very productive in sizes 12-16.

Fish count: More than 20
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Fly of the Week #2

This one is a little messy looking with the stray fibers on the head. You'll probably see that a lot in my flies. I actually think these strands help give them a more buggy look and probably more attractive to fish. Of course, we'll never really know.

"Yellow Canary Soft Hackle" - Size 14

The thread is yellow with yellow embroidery floss making up the body. Hungarian partridge makes the soft hackle.

Fly of the Week #1

I'm going to start a weekly post called "Fly of the Week". Simply put, a photo of a fly I tied and maybe something about it.

I just recently started tying flies. I played around with a few here and there over the years, but never took it seriously. There are a couple of reasons why I wanted to buy the proper equipment and start. First, I was tired of losing my flies after a snag and going through the trouble of buying online or paying three plus dollars at the shop. Second reason was that as I fished longer here in California, I started seeing what was working and wanted to mix and match some of those flies with my own ideas. And I guess thirdly, it is pretty cool to fish the flies that you make.

I'm still learning, but I'm getting better with each one. Hopefully you'll see an improvement as time goes on.

"Dry Hackled Soft Hackle (Bead Head)" - Size 14

It is weighted with a bead head to get it deeper and tied on a size 14 hook. If you look carefully, you can see dry fly hackle tied right behind the bead, and soft hackle partridge feathers (died brown) in front. Creme thread for the body and black for the head.

Trip Report: Lower Stanislaus #2

I enjoyed Two Mile bar and Tulloch access so much last time, I wanted to do it again. My experience was similar to last time. I just spent more time exploring and finding more nooks and crannies. This time, I went upstream of Tulloch access, which I didn't do last time. More good spots. You can't go wrong anywhere around here. Two-mile bar was productive as well.

Fish count: around 10
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