As I have said during this two year high water event tying flies has replaced fishing for a lot of us and during that time I have been trying new hooks from some different sources. I really like the new Fulling Mill hooks and find them to be really good quality as are some of the newer Tiemco jig type hooks BUT with the new black nickel finish comes a problem- thread turning! I have been using 6/0 Herd Howards prewaxed thread for most of my tying like (like 60 years) and have found it to be one of the best ever made but with the newer hooks I now find that I have to use Zap-A-Gap on the thread base just to make sure it is secure before adding any materials to the fly. I also have seen the same with some of the stronger power threads that I use when I'm tying big streamers or intruder style flies. I do think that it makes for a better lasting fly but who cares, hell I have too many now so if you loose a few or they come apart no big deal but for my own satisfaction I have begun to use the Zap on my flies. The only problem that I have found with using it is the dam bottle is hard to open after you have used it for a while, it builds up as you wipe the excess liquid off the brush- the stuff is hard to clean and if your not careful you'll glue yourself! Another problem is the fact it's not that easy to find in craft stores, they sell off brands and not real Zap-A-Gap, plus if you put too much on it takes a while to dry. Almost all new tying videos feature it at some point in the tying process, so if you have not used it give it a try, make sure you get the brush applicator for ease of use. I also have used it when I'm adding wing material to my intruders just to keep thread bulk to a min.
Go ahead and keep tying, this moisture has got to stop at some point?
Thursday, June 20, 2019
Thursday, June 13, 2019
It's Olive time
OK the stupid Green Drake is over and so are the hoards of idiots running all over the place, time to get down to business. Fished Spring over the weekend and it was OK not bad but not great, all deep scuds! I took fish were I saw guys standing the day before? Not much surface going on, it was all later evening Sulphur duns and spinners BUT take a number or find a spot no one else liked! The fish there are nice and fat from the higher than normal rain fall. If you go remember to take two flies, #1. a size 16 tan/gray scud with a mono rib, #2 a size 16 lt. tan caddis either an emerger or a dry, you will do well. Think raspberry time as tan caddis time.
Penn's is going crazy now with the Cornuta (now called Drunella) emergers and of course spinners. As I was leaving driving down the Weikert Road you could see just millions of spinners over the road and you can imagine just how many of these guys hatch, we never see a great enmass hatch of them, it must be all nite. The fish are keying in of the spinners just at about 7:00 PM which is about right but you will see many fish up in the pools before that, use an emerger either an olive or a light cahill type will work. Saw no ISO's last nite, but on a good cloudy day you'll see them. The olives are solid size 15 and the ISO's are a size 10 or a 12 3x long. Be aware that the most heavely fished areas the trout have become very slick and have learned to open their mouth and shake if they refuse your offering at that last second. Same MO as other years, olives beat their wings at the riffles and as they go down the pool expel their eggs and then float without motion- fish mid pool to tail out. Most fish last nite came to a size 16 tied short darker olive floating nymph or a 14 cahill color floating nymph tied with a loop wing of grey poly and split legs, just get it to float well or time the trout with your offering. None of this is easy, it just takes a while to spot the good targets ( find the ones that push a good amount of water) and wait till they get in some kind of rhythm, if not you'll screw them up before you have any chance.
One good piece of advice is to find water that has not gotten the piss pounded out of it, take a walk but remember not all pools will have good population of olives, you need a good long riffle leading into it or a pool that has a good amount of under water vegetation in it. Take a walk and just watch an observe before you commit to a pool for the nite.
Get you ants and beetles ready but some years are better than others for beetles, I remember a few years ago the conditions were perfect for them but the trout said a loud NO, could not figure that one out.
Penn's is going crazy now with the Cornuta (now called Drunella) emergers and of course spinners. As I was leaving driving down the Weikert Road you could see just millions of spinners over the road and you can imagine just how many of these guys hatch, we never see a great enmass hatch of them, it must be all nite. The fish are keying in of the spinners just at about 7:00 PM which is about right but you will see many fish up in the pools before that, use an emerger either an olive or a light cahill type will work. Saw no ISO's last nite, but on a good cloudy day you'll see them. The olives are solid size 15 and the ISO's are a size 10 or a 12 3x long. Be aware that the most heavely fished areas the trout have become very slick and have learned to open their mouth and shake if they refuse your offering at that last second. Same MO as other years, olives beat their wings at the riffles and as they go down the pool expel their eggs and then float without motion- fish mid pool to tail out. Most fish last nite came to a size 16 tied short darker olive floating nymph or a 14 cahill color floating nymph tied with a loop wing of grey poly and split legs, just get it to float well or time the trout with your offering. None of this is easy, it just takes a while to spot the good targets ( find the ones that push a good amount of water) and wait till they get in some kind of rhythm, if not you'll screw them up before you have any chance.
One good piece of advice is to find water that has not gotten the piss pounded out of it, take a walk but remember not all pools will have good population of olives, you need a good long riffle leading into it or a pool that has a good amount of under water vegetation in it. Take a walk and just watch an observe before you commit to a pool for the nite.
Get you ants and beetles ready but some years are better than others for beetles, I remember a few years ago the conditions were perfect for them but the trout said a loud NO, could not figure that one out.
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