Surface Film (Potential Date Night?)

Free beer! Live music! And it is being held at a bonafide art gallery…so, you know, possible double-word-score with your significant-other! On Thursday, February 3rd at 6:30 pm at the Anthology of Fine Arts (635 Santa Fe Drive, Denver) there will be an open-to-public display showcasing the works of 20 of the best fly fishing photographers in the business. You can go have a free beer, stimulate your photographic creativity…or just get yourself all worked up for this fishing season. Plus it is the perfect opportunity to get your non-fishing S.O. interested in the sport. Or at last a chance for you the show them how bad ass you look while you’re out on the water. See? That could be me in that photo up there… Nothing like a breath-taking painting or photograph to lend credibility to you and your sport! Perceived total awesomeness is the best cologne, after all! So, pull out your clean jeans and nicest fishing shirt, call up the gal (…or dude?) who hates you the least and I’ll see ya down there!

RSVP Right Now!

Zimmerman Tying at Anglers All (Denver)

Alrighty then...If I missed you all at my new shop a couple Saturdays ago, then hope to see the Greater Denver fly tyers down in Littleton at the Anglers All fly shop this coming Saturday! I will be there from 10am 'till Noon on the 29th of January. It would be great to see some faces I know...makes my time go easier. And, yes...feel free to heckle to your hearts content. Also hope to meet some new tyers. Anglers All Home Page Tying Demo!

Tom Ziegler to Tie at Rocky Mountain Anglers!

Tom, a transplant to the Colorado Front Range, cut his fly fishing teeth on the crystal clear spring-fed streams of the Missouri Ozarks fishing for both wild trout and, in the warmer streams, the wild and native smallmouth bass. His love of warmwater fishing was mated with tying bass bugs after watching a deer hair spinning demonstration at a local fly fishing club as a teenager. The method he witnessed, and eventually learned, was the Lacy Gee method (aka the Wapsi method) of spinning hair. In combination with demonstrating this method, Tom will discuss its history and the use of the final product on local ponds and streams.

Tom has enjoyed fly fishing since his Dad handed him a fly rod at age 10. He is a Federation of Fly Fishers (FFF) Certified Casting Instructor, has won the casting competitions at both the Southern and International FFF Conclaves, and has managed a fly shop (Clearwater Fly Shop in Columbia, MO). He has also demonstrated fly tying at numerous national and regional shows and published a fly tying article nationally in Warmwater Fly Fishing magazine.

Tom will be at Rocky Mountain Anglers in Boulder, CO tomorrow from 11 'till 1pm...there will be free lunch and maybe a stripper pole. We will try to get some of the older gentlemen up in the pole...dolla' dolla' bill, ya'll!

Learn to tie the Clown Shoe Caddis

Hook: TMC 2487 (#12, #14 and #16)

Abdomen: Medium Lt. Olive D-Rib

Thread: 6/0 Olive and 6/0 Black

Wing: Dun dyed elk hair

Hackle: Dun saddle hackle

Post: Flouresant Cerise McFlyfoam

Thorax: Black Superfine Dubbing

Learn More About Clown Shoe Caddis

Step 1: Using 6/0 Olive thread, tie in the olive D-Rib at the rear of the hook and wrap forward to the mid-way point. Tie off and trim.

Step 2: Switch to 6/0 Black thread. Stack and tie in liberal clump of dun elk hair. Trim butt ends of hair.

Step 3: Tie in post of Fl. Cerese McFlyfoam.

Step 4: Tie in saddle hackle.

Step 5: Create dubbing rope using black superfine dubbing. Create black thorax on either side of post.

Step 6: Wrap hackle forward, over the black dubbing thorax. Tie off hackle at eye of hook. Whip finish and trim.

Step 7: Trim all hackle from bottom of thorax.

See Charlie Craven Tie This Fly Step By Step!

Watch the fly tying video

Click Here To Watch

Fly Tying Demo

I am excited to announce the kick-off of my fly-tying demo tour! I love doing these demonstrations for a few reasons…paramount being the chance to spend some time in other fly shops in other towns. I get the chance to catch up with old friends whom I may not have seen in awhile. And meet knew fly tiers and somehow negatively influence them! To start off my multi-city romp I get to tie at my new home shop (Rocky Mountain Anglers) in Boulder this coming Saturday. For lunch we will have several big crocks full of Buffalo Chili…as well as all the awesome accoutrements that go along with a meal like that! I will start tying about 11:00 and go ‘till about 1:00. I will be at the shop all day (not just for the good food, but I will actually be on the clock) so feel free to bring your vises and stay later…we can go over some of the patterns I tie on a more one-on-one level, or any other tying help anybody may need. Would love to help work out some early-winter tying kinks. That is what a home-town fly shop is for, ya know!

Of course I will be doing some of my warm-water bass and carp flies…those are sorta my staples. One new bass fly I will be doing is the Booby Frog. This is a fast and easy to tie top-water from pattern that rides hook-up and totally snag and muck free. I use it on all the little bass gravel pits here on the Colorado Front Range during the hot summer months. The little bass ponds have a tendency to moss over just as the bass fishing is hitting its prime. This frog is an absolute killer! I will also be doing some trout flies. To keep the mob at bay… I will tie the Banksia Bug, Clown Shoe Caddis and couple others such as the UV Asher and the Iceman Midge Pupa. I will do my best to be entertaining…informative…helpful…with minimal profanity. See ya there!

How to tie the Banksia Bug

Banksia Bug

I began tying this fly to imitate the masses of free-living caddis larva in all my home waters here in Colorado and elsewhere in trout streams all over the West. I have rarely found good commercially available flies that can fill this niche. And it’s a very productive fly…probably because this particular caddis larva is a notoriously poor swimmer, often getting swept away in the current, making it an easily recognizable food organism and makes up a large portion of a trout’s diet.

I have found this pattern to work well in rivers with an abundance of small to medium-size stonefly nymphs…leading me to believe my fly is suggestive enough for trout to mistake it for any number of long-bodied aquatic insects. With this in mind, I am now using this fly in lakes…with equal success! I was hoping it could double as a case maker caddis larva, but have found it works exceptionally well in lakes with a lot of active damselflies.

Banksia Bug Tying Instructions

Step 1: Put appropriate sized black tungsten bead on TMC 200R hook (size 7/64 bead on #14 hook). To tie the Basalt version use a TMC 2499SP-BL hook.

Step 2: Using Lt. Cahill 6/0 Uni-Thread tie in both X-Small black UTC Ultra Wire and Small olive UTC Ultra Wire. Apply small amount of head cement to the wires to “marry” them together.

Step 3: Build a fat butt of the abdomen with the Lt. Cahill thread, then tie off and trim.

Step 4: Switch to olive Lagartun or UTC thread and continue building up the tapered abdomen, leaving a small amount of the light yellow butt exposed.

Step 5: Wrap the duel wires forward and tie off behind the black bead and trim both thread and wire.

Step 6: Coat entire abdomen with a liberal amount of Loon UV Knot Sense and set using UV light. This will immediately set up hard, but may have a slightly matt finish, so coat with thin layer of Hard-as-Hull head cement.

Step 7: Tie on legs using 3 or 4 fibers of Gadwall flank feather on either side.

Step 8: Tie in some exceptionally bushy, dark grey ostrich herl and wrap forward.

Step 9: Create small dubbing rope using Dave Whitlock SLF Hellgrammite.

Step 10: Wrap dubbing rope up to the black bead and whip finish. Apply small amount of head cement over knot.

Watch the tying video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZG8He3mpa7k

Banksia Bug Tying Instructions

Banksia Bug

I began tying this fly to imitate the masses of free-living caddis larva in all my home waters here in Colorado and elsewhere in trout streams all over the West. I have rarely found good commercially available flies that can fill this niche. And it’s a very productive fly…probably because this particular caddis larva is a notoriously poor swimmer, often getting swept away in the current, making it an easily recognizable food organism and makes up a large portion of a trout’s diet.

I have found this pattern to work well in rivers with an abundance of small to medium-size stonefly nymphs…leading me to believe my fly is suggestive enough for trout to mistake it for any number of long-bodied aquatic insects. With this in mind, I am now using this fly in lakes…with equal success! I was hoping it could double as a case maker caddis larva, but have found it works exceptionally well in lakes with a lot of active damselflies.

See Step by Step With Photos!

Step 1: Put appropriate sized black tungsten bead on TMC 200R hook (size 7/64 bead on #14 hook). To tie the Basalt version use a TMC 2499SP-BL hook.

Step 2: Using Lt. Cahill 6/0 Uni-Thread tie in both X-Small black UTC Ultra Wire and Small olive UTC Ultra Wire. Apply small amount of head cement to the wires to “marry” them together.

Step 3: Build a fat butt of the abdomen with the Lt. Cahill thread, then tie off and trim.

Step 4: Switch to olive Lagartun or UTC thread and continue building up the tapered abdomen, leaving a small amount of the light yellow butt exposed.

Step 5: Wrap the duel wires forward and tie off behind the black bead and trim both thread and wire.

Step 6: Coat entire abdomen with a liberal amount of Loon UV Knot Sense and set using UV light. This will immediately set up hard, but may have a slightly matt finish, so coat with thin layer of Hard-as-Hull head cement.

Step 7: Tie on legs using 3 or 4 fibers of Gadwall flank feather on either side.

Step 8: Tie in some exceptionally bushy, dark grey ostrich herl and wrap forward.

Step 9: Create small dubbing rope using Dave Whitlock SLF Hellgrammite.

Step 10: Wrap dubbing rope up to the black bead and whip finish. Apply small amount of head cement over knot.


Watch the Tying Video!


(Note…the Banksia is a knarly tree native to eastern Australia, named after Sir Joseph Banks (botanist cir. 1800’s). A very popular children’s book “Snuggle Pot & Cuddle Pie” an Australian version of “The Wizard of Oz” features a creepy, evil character called a Banksia Man…that looks like the cone from the Banksia tree.)



Wanna go to Belize with us?

Rocky Mountain Anglers is excited to host a week of fishing at Turneffe Flats Lodge in Belize. Located on The Turneffe Atoll, 90 minutes from the mainland, the lodge is surrounded by 250 square miles of flats and reefs rich with marine life adding to your overall experience. The fishing here is world class with the possibility of a grand slam on any given day of the year. The permit fishing has been written to be the best anywhere, and where else can a new saltwater angler catch so many bonefish that their arms start to ache. A terrible problem to have!!

Turneffe lodge has experienced, English speaking guides, and luxurious accommodations to make your visit one to remember. Rooms are double occupancy with air conditioning, with beautiful views of the ocean just a few steps away. There are beautiful flats teeming with bonefish right out your door. The friendly staff prepares excellent meals using local produce, freshly baked breads, and of course seafood. Meals are served family style in the main lodge, where the bar, gift shop, and fly shop are also located. Special dietary needs or restrictions can be accommodated and the excellent meals reflect Belizian

and international influences. Dinner is a very social event following drinks and hors d’oeuvres, and includes a soup or salad, a delicious entrée of chicken, pork, beef, seafood, or a combination. Desserts are to die for as are the fresh breads and pasteries for breakfast.

Three meals are served daily, and fisherman have the option of returning mid day for lunch at the lodge, or taking it on the boat.The views and vistas as well as the diversity of wildlife have made this a truly special salt water destination. The lodge also offers scuba diving and reef or eco-tours as well as the world class flats fishing. This is a great spot to come with a significant other to relax and be pampered in the warm waters and white sands of the Caribbean.

Turneffe Flats Lodge is the best saltwater destination for anglers of all experience. The sheer numbers of fish allow repeated shots for anglers first stepping in the salt. And for anglers wanting more of a challenge there are larger fish, as well as tarpon and snook in the area. While present in fewer numbers the tarpon are around 100 pounds with fish closer to 200 pounds caught each year. The best permit fishing anywhere, schools of bonefish out your front door, and the chance of a tarpon or snook as well. This place rocks!!! Anglers are often limited to only a single species on their excursions, but not here! The diversity of gamefish means you may catch all bonefish one day, permit the next, and a tarpon on the third.

Many friends have traveled to Belize, coming back with photos that will make you envious. I never like to say anything is easy, but Turneffe Lodge is as close to a sure thing as you will find. The fishing here is world class and the lodge has made a name for itself as one of the best in the business. When the snow is flying in Colorado think how relaxed you could be south of the border. Come join us in paradise for a saltwater experience to remember. (Call the shop, 303-447-2400 and talk to Randy to get more info!)

Trip dates: March 12-19, 2011.

Price $3883.95(does not include airfare, tips, alcohol or purchases from the gift or fly shop)

Tying Flies with Loon Outdoors UV Light

I made this 10 min YouTube video demonstrating five different ways to utilize the Loon Outdoors UV Knot Sense and Fly Paints. Tie an Egg Sucking Leech, Olive UV Back Scud, Iceman Midge pupa, Bellyache Minnow Streamer and the UV Asher dry fly. You are bound to learn something new and cool!

Watch The Video

See More On You Tube

Egg Sucking Leech: Hook—TMC 3761, Tail—black arctic fox, Body—Simi Seal dubbing, Egg—Orange UV paint,

Olive UV Back Scud: Hook—TMC 2487, Wire—UTC small black and ginger, Dub—Lt. olive UV Ice Dub.

Iceman Midge: Hook—TMC 2488, Thread—Uni-Thread red and olive dun, UTC Wire x-small silver (2 strands) and one strand x-small black.

Bellyache Minnow: See additional fly tying video— BellyAcheVideoUV Asher (Orange): Hook—TMC 100, Grizzly hackle, 6/0 fire orange Uni-thread, and black, Lateral Scale (Orange Dyed Pearl).

The Male Ego…

A young woman in her mid-twenties told me I was the most incredible man she had ever met. And…for a few hours I actually believed. I stood in a strange shower the next morning squeezing oddly scented shampoo onto my head, basking in hot water and my own awesomeness…deliberating whether I should go ahead and wash my hair along with the rest of myself, or forgo the hair and not risk freezing my ass off on the winter morning drive down the icy canyon and into work at the fly shop. I decided against it…left my hair dry. Rode down to Boulder in comfort, with a dry head and hot travel mug of coffee handed me by the previously mentioned young woman as I headed out the door. At the shop I was confronted by close friends curious of my mysterious vanishing the previous evening as well as a newly arrived fishing magazine with a big center-piece article about me. An innovative fly tier with deadly and artistic prowess the article claimed. I dodged the questions about my ware bouts the night before and nodded nonchalantly at the magazine, as though it all were fairly commonplace in my life. I am kind of a big deal, I thought to myself. All these people are right. Handsome. Incredible. Talented. And oozing prowess. Then I scratched my head and realized my ball cap had adhered to my scalp. Not due to an ever swelling ego…but because the un-rinsed shampoo from earlier in the morning had hardened and fastened my hat firmly to the top of my head. The guys all pointed and laughed. Aaaaah…the un-graceful crash back to reality!

Winter Carp Fishing

Happy new year all you fly fishing junkies! I know it’s cold. I know…all the leaves are brown. And the sky is grey. And you are probably thinking to yourselves… “I’d be safe and warm…if I was in L.A.” But you ain’t! So suck it up and go fishing. You can even get out and get your first carp of the year! The reservoirs are still under a heavy layer of ice, but some of the creeks are open. The fish will not be super aggressive, but they may have their heads down looking for easy food. Put on some warm camo and look for big carp circulating in the deeper pools and tailouts…or, just sit back and watch this sweet video instead!