Punching Samantha

Sometimes, when I am frustrated and am having a bad day, I will punch Samantha right in the eye. Not technically, but in some un-written guy code she belongs to a good friend of mine…but he is usually off running a Mexican roofing crew up in Cheyenne or somewhere. He leaves her alone and unattended. So, I slip in on a week day and look for her out back behind all the apartment buildings…minding her own business somewhere along the bike path. I already have my carp rod strung up and riding in the bed of my pickup truck—so I jump out and sneak up without her knowing. She is small. Petite, I like to think. And the carp that live in her water are numerous, but small in frame as well. But I am there because I have been shot down at other, larger and more challenging lakes. I am at Samantha’s Pond to somehow make myself feel better about myself in some weird, dirty-trailer court-domestic violence sort of way. So I sneak in while my buddy Patrick is away at work and I punch her in the eye! Then I cackle and punch her in the eye again! The small carp there are so gullible and they will eat a fly almost every time. It just ain’t fair. So I catch a few, reel in and do my best to apologize. It’s been a long day. You know I don’t mean it. Really…I love you. Now go wash up and put some ice on that eye…

Sunday Morning Movies

exploration to culmination from My Leaky Waders on Vimeo.

Tip of the Week

When you are fly fishing...watch out for loose rocks!

Koke Head

Kokanee are a land locked version of the sockeye salmon. They are stocked in many Colorado reservoirs (including Elevenmile, Gross, Blue Mesa, Green Mt. and Dillon). The Kokes make an unsuccessful spawning attempt up inlet rivers this time of year. They move up the creeks and rivers in very obvious waves...hence the term "salmon run". Bright pink streamers, San Juan worms and egg patterns are the most commonly used.

Pimp Your Lanyard

Many fly fishermen have taken to wearing lanyards these days. They are a convenient way to carry the bare essentials for a quick trip to the local creek (some keep one permanently behind their car seat) or as an added convenience to be worn with a satchel/waist pack. I also like to wear one when the weather turns cold. I can adjust it to be worn over as many layers of clothing I happen to need that day. But, like all things fly fishing...you can take a simple thing and over-complicate the piss out of it! I have recently taken two old, broken lanyards of mine and Frankensteined them into one Ultimate Lanyard!

1. Nippers
2. Fly Floatant
3. Foam Fly Box (light weight & color coded)
4. Forceps
5. Heavy Leader-Building Material
6. Finer Tippet Material
7. Wetting Agent (fly sink)
8. Split Shot
9. Foam Fly Box (light weight & color coded)
10. Braided Spiderwire tied extra long to adjust to wear over heavy clothing

Another Backstabber Success Story

This is Mark, from Dharma of the Drift. Just had to send you an email about this..

A friend of mine, a hard core carp angler (in the euro bait fishing style) invited me to come carp fishing with him next week, in a place that he said I was likely to be able to take one on the fly. Having never hooked a carp before, I eagerly accepted.

In anticipation, I started tying some carp flies today, and remembered your backstabber pattern. So I pulled up your blog and got the step by step on the screen and tied up a half dozen or so. As I was tying I couldn't see any reason why they wouldnt work for other species too, so I decided to take them out and give them a try. A few hours later and I hooked and landed my first fish on a backstabber...and what a fish it was. A big beautiful tiger trout, easily my best trout of 2011, and maybe ever (gotta measure the rod in the picture as a reference and see if it's at least 20").

Anyway, I just wanted to let you know about another backstabber success story!

Thanks, Mark

Thanks for the note, Mark! Stories like this make my day...hell, they make my year! I'll take this over Umpqua royalty checks any time! (well...until bills are due...)
--Jay

There May Be Some Sketch Involved

That is how he prefaced the trip once I had agreed to join him. There may be some sketch involved. Well…I ain’t scared a no ghost. I eat sketch for breakfast—I convinced myself. So, my friend Peter successfully convinced me to go on a wild goose chase of sorts. Parking along a road in a non-descript, but very particular, gravel pull-off and bush whacking strait down into a narrow canyon. There was a stream down below and if it held trout they could be big and plentiful and untouched. You know…could be. I could not pass on the opportunity. I had known Peter for over a year and never fished with him. Long time coming. Besides, he was a long-time Nederander and I am a recent Coal Creek Canyon Dweller. I felt like this invite had something to do with that. We were neighbors now. I was finally one of the cool kids shivering and smoking cigarettes out behind the BFI dumpster. I had to go. Sketch and all. Bring it.

True to plan, I met Peter at a pre-designated mountain bar and he jumped into my truck with an arm-load of fishing gear. “How many rods ya bringin’?”

“Just the one. A three weight?” I said.

“Cool. We good? Lets go!”

Sweet. Let’s do it!

And there was, no kidding, some sketch involved. A drive-by:  yeah, that was the spot! Swingin’ a u-ey on a mountain highway. Skidding to a halt on a narrow gravel shoulder. Dashing across previously mentioned highway in half-donned waders and clutching rod parts. And then an Apollo 13-esk descent down an un-trailed rocky gorge into the promised land. Yes…plenty of delicious sketch. And the stream below was, also, as Peter had promised. There was hardly sign of any others before us, the trout were plentiful/good-sized/ gullible (they loved a #12 Banksia Bug!) and we each were able to get our fill…our fix…with still enough time to turn back and hike out before dark.

Then, back at the mountain bar we came to the realization that neither one of us had our wallets with us. I had a check book (bar don’t take checks…sorry) and Peter had his AmEx (Visa or MC only…sorry). So we scrounged our vehicles and came up with a five spot and some change. What’s yer cheapest beer? PBR? $2.50 each? Sweet! Even got enough for a tip! And we nursed those two and tried to guess how many trout we had landed…

Frying Pan Report

The Frying Pan River is low and fishing well. It is at  90cfs last I checked (but click on it to see an up-to-date flow). This big rainbow was caught on a size 22 top secret midge with 6x, by Ben Schloesser. He was sight fishing the flats up from the bend pool.  There were definitely a handful of other 20"+ fish out there, he said. Great fishing, beautiful day and light crowds (it was a Thursday).  

 

Sunday Morning Movies

Carpaholic from 7 Weight on Vimeo.

The Save Bristol Bay Road Show

The Save Bristol Bay Road Show is coming to Denver in just 6 days!
This Thursday, Oct 27, 7pm at the Oriental Theater in Denver.

This promises to be a great event. Come learn about what's happening in the world's most valuable Salmon fishery in Bristol Bay, Alaska.  See the award-winning documentary "Red Gold" and hear first-hand accounts from Alaska natives, fisherman and guides. Plus enter to win over $500 in outdoor and fishing gear!  Be sure to RSVP and get free admission...(Corvallis, OR sold out!)

• FREE appetizers of Bristol Bay Sockeye Salmon, prepared by Wild Catch Restaurant's Chef Justin Brunson
• Screening the award-winning documentary "Red Gold" and holding a panel discussion with commercial fisherman, natives, and sport guides from the Bristol Bay Region.
• RAFFLE for over $500 in outdoor and fishing gear including a Scott fly rod and reel!

RSVP HERE: http://denverredgoldroadshow.eventbrite.com/

Tip of the week

When you lose a nice trout, don't pout...it makes you look silly.

Saturday Tying Demo In Longmont!

The Longmont fly shop The Laughing Grizzly will be kicking off their free Saturday morning fly tying demonstrations this weekend! Come on up and visit with Mike, Dick and Frank in north Longtucky from 10:00 'till linch time. There will be bear bait (doenuts) and hot coffee for sure. I will be tying some new stuff, too...some Booby Frog action and some Clownshoe Stone Flies. Maybe this time I will even keep my clothes on...but all bets are off.

Pretty Red Poison

I grew up playing outside bare foot and shirtless, but always aware of rusty nails, armed farmers and poison ivy. I would usually make it through summer vacation unscathed, but come October...I was an itchy, swollen and miserable mess! I guess I could never overcome the urge to play with the pretty red leaves!

Being fly fishers and fairly outdoor savvy, I suspect most of you can identify poison ivy along the banks of your favorite creek or pond, but let me warn you all (from experience!) if you take young children fishing with you... Poison ivy turns almost poinsettia red in the fall. Do not be tempted to build a dinner table center piece!

Visa State of Mind (Or: The Grand Journey of My Fishing Licence)

So, yeah...I dropped my wallet into a river awhile back. I had it tucked into my fishing pack next to my camera—in a little padded, waterproof compartment. As we were de-wadering and loading up at the end of the day I realize I had no billfold. Not too big of a deal...'cause I have a terrible short-term memory and I misplace important items daily. Probably just forgot it at the house. Right? But no such luck. And I had no idea where to start looking. So, I did all the responsible things one must do when misfortune such as this befalls. Cancel the credit card, buy a replacement fishing license and take a weekday off work to spend at the DMV to get a new "convict/pedophile” photo taken and a new driver license sent out to me. Done. Survived.

I printed myself a new fishing license on day one. Simple, I spend most days in a fly shop that sells them anyway. Day five I had off so I went in and sat on the Group W Bench alongside all the mother rapers and father stabbers (and father rapers, too). Day ten I receive my brand new license in the mailbox—sweet—even though the new photo is straight out of the D.O.C., minus the orange jump suit. Then, day twenty after the billfold went missing, I receive a funny letter from Lois Ott at the Nederland Police Department. The letter contains my old fishing license and my old driver license…as well as a little blue post-it note wishing me a great day! Apparently James Stevens—a Ned resident (and fisherman)—had attempted to send me these missing items, but had sent them to my old address which appears on my licenses. Included in the original envelope was a note from James: “I found these in the N. ST. Vrain in Rocky Mountain Nat. Park. Hope you are OK.”

Now, let me recap. My billfold fell out of my pack and into the stream where it drifted for days, eventually empting its’ contents to include my licenses. Then they are discovered by another fisherman who takes the time to mail them to me, but they come back to him Return to Sender. (You know how long that turn-around time usually is!) So eventually this Good Samaritan decides to drop his returned letter off at his local police department. Then the days of investigative work began…and they track me down! And send me my licenses with a nice post-it note! Wow!

Now to the point of this drawn-out story. It has been a month now since I lost my stuff. All the above drama has unfolded. AND I STILL HAVE NOT RECEIVED MY VISA CREDIT CARD REPLACEMENT! Yo Visa. Pull your heads out, will ya? WTF? (yes, Miss Sue…the F is for fiddlesticks!) I mean, thanks for the month-long forced savings plan, but seriously…

Love me them Sonic Pros

Sound out the word, Jay…Not Gni? No Tgnid… Oh, wait! I gotta say, I have not raved about a pair of waders in a long time. I have worn all the fancy, high-priced breathable chest waders—the $700 Simms. And they all have leaked by the end of their first season. Every single one of ‘em. Sometimes they would leak after month one on the front lines! Sure, I am rough on my gear. I throw temper tantrums and snap high-end rods on snags. I drive over reels and use fly boxes as hammers. And slide down canyons and body breach mined-wire obstacles in brand new waders. But that’s my job. What I am paid to do. Yup…be dumb with expensive stuff. Now when a customer comes into the fly shop and asks, I can tell them. Nope. Not worth the price tag. Bloody things have nothin’ but tape on the inside…

So that is how I found myself in a pair of $250 Redington Sonic Pro Waders this season. My thinking was this: If $700 waders leak after one year, then why not get less expensive ones and beat them like a farm truck and be done with them?  Conclusion? Season One…NOT EVEN A PIN PRICK LEAK!

Just One More for the Road

We ran into Sean Hudson near the parking lot. “Only saw the one pike,” I reported. “And he was headed the other way! Other than that, not a bump.”

“Huh,” Sean said. He had landed four pike. And he had gotten to the lake after us.

Erin looked down at her wading boots and kicked at a loose rock. “We suck!”

“Well…shoot!” I surmised.

“Gotta go to work now,” Sean said. “I’ve been irresponsible enough for one morning!”

Well shoot…

So we didn’t quit…Erin and I. We buggered on into the mid-day—heaving pike streamers. Trying not to suck so bad. This was very possibly the last day of the season for us to chase down these toothy critters. Too much other water. Too may other fish. Not a long enough year. No nine-day week and 14-month calendar. So this was our last shot at one for the road. Besides, it is brutal to wake up at 4am on your day off, leave the house by 5 and be on the water half an hour before sun up and be fishless by noon…yes, brutal. But we persevered. Kept on keepin’ on—driven by the memory of our friend Sean’s casual Yeah, got four pike and one nice bass…

And, yeah…we finally got some. They were small. Hammer handles—but pike none-the-less. One was even good enough to take a photo of. Sure, I had to hold it way out to the camera so it wouldn’t be embarrassed…

Sunday Morning Movies

Tip of the week

Even when the fishing gets slow...don't get caught poaching the kiddie pond!

Conventional Wisdom Stumbles into a Room of Fly Tiers

The Geezus Lizard and Texas Ringworm are two bass flies that have finally evened the playing field. They have allowed fly fishermen to dabble into the not-so-secret voodoo world of conventional bass anglers worldwide. Their existence is born from a frustrated desire to turn what I had learned in my youth about bass and bass lures into a viable fly rod option, without loosing the life-like and traditional advantage of a hand-tied fly. Their conception consumed a large part of my adolescent and adult life. As a kid in rural Ohio and Pennsylvania, I grew up with an easy understanding of fish that liked to eat small bugs. I got trout. I understood bluegill, because they had an affinity toward bugs which were an easy size to cast with my noodly fiberglass fly rod. I even felt comfortable with the smallmouth bass in our local rivers…they at least liked to eat little soft-shell crayfish. I could easily tie and cast a slightly weighted brown woolly bugger! But the part of the Mid-West I grew up in was filthy with farms and fields and old barns…and behind every dilapidated old barn or back in every “Back 40” was an equally neglected farm pond full of largemouth bass! I would catch them easily on sparse bucktail streamers and small cork poppers, but the ones that ate were always the young ones…the one and two pound farm-ponders that were still small enough to get excited about a juvenile crayfish or crippled damsel fly. The big bass seldom showed any interest in my flies. To my great disappointment.

I joined the Army and left Ohio when I was eighteen years old. During the years that followed I spend a large amount of my time in training or deployed overseas, but was stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina were I was introduced to Southern Bass and a much more technical and refined way of fishing. And it wasn’t fly fishing. I learned about the Pig-n-Jig, the Zarra Spook and the weedless rubber worm…both Texas rigged and Carolina rigged. It was a bass-fishing rebirth for me! I found many largemouth bass…and large ones! But, when I got out of the service (the life of an infantry paratrooper is not kind on the body!) I hung up my spinning rods in favor of, once again, the fly rod. Since then I have lived and guided throughout Alaska and the Rocky Mountain West…chasing salmon and trout, but never ignoring my original love of the warmwater species. I would still sniff out a hidden bass pond any chance I got, regardless of the magnitude of the hatches on any local trout streams. And every season my flies would come closer and closer to matching the deadliness of those jigs and worms I used all those years ago.

The Geezus Lizard The creation of the Geezus Lizard hinged entirely on the conception of the ferruled dubbing loop tail. I have tried for years to build a worm-like fly, or fly appendage, to mimic the rubber worms conventional bass anglers have in their arsenal. The long, narrow look of a worm undulating and jerking near the bottom of a pond or lake is well known for triggering big bass strikes…conventional bass fishermen have know this for decades, one of the reasons long, soft plastics are one of the most frequently used lures. I tried chenille, rabbit strips and a whole assortment of other tying materials…but the end result always looked like a bag of chopped assholes leaked onto my tying desk. Once I grasped the concept of ferruling a long dubbing loop, it all fell into place. I used durable thread and dubbing wax and some real nice, long fibered dubbing that I could rake out. Then I sexed it up a bit by using two separate colors on either end of the dubbing loop, giving the worm a segmented look. The yellow tip on the tail was a nod to all the old “Mister Twister” tails on the jigs and soft baits. The rest of the Geezus Lizard is modeled after conventional lures like the Pig-n-Jig, only using crosscut rabbit strips and rubber legs. The only slight modifications were the true jig style hook and the wire ribbed scud back on the underneath of the fly. This does two things, it makes the fly look a lot cooler…and, on the practical side, it allows the fly to zip right back down to the mud after it has been jerked by the angler. This gives the Geezus Lizard a very unique action it the water, very closely matching the way a spooked crayfish darts out, then immediately tucks back to the bottom. This action has the same effect on bass as a four inch, wounded bluegill listing to one side and darting about erratically! The bass just have to pounce! I have fished the Geezus Lizard primarily for largemouth bass, but it has been a devastating fly for smallmouth bass, large trout, northern pike and some friends have even used it for reds off the coast of Texas ! It can be fished deep and slow, or fast and shallow…in rivers or stillwater!

Texas Ringworm This fly was designed for one simple purpose…to completely revolutionize the way we fly fish for bass in this country. To put fly fisherman on the same playing field as every conventional gear bass fisherman from southern California to the famous lakes in Florida. Every warm water fly tier has claimed to invent a fly that is the equivalent to the Texas-rigged rubber worm (one of the most commonly and effectively used tricks in conventional bass fishing). But almost all of them are no more than a ratty piece of chenille with some misshapen piece of rabbit hide glued to the end of it. But, once I had perfected the ferruled dubbing loop tail of the Geezus Lizard I had a decent “worm” taken care of…all I needed to do was to create an effective internal hook mechanism. This fly is absolutely deadly. I prefer to fish it with floating line when on small bass ponds and on a sink tip fly line when on a river or larger reservoir. The sink tip treats the fly just like a “Carolina rigged” plastic worm. In conventional bass angling the weedless-rigged rubber worm is such a mainstay because it is simple and easy to rig, appears natural and unhindered in the water and—most importantly—seldom fouls or snags. A fly equivalent to this lure is not commercially available. Whereas many hard-core conventional bass fishermen tend to fish larger bodies of water, the vast majority of the weekend worrier warm-water fly fishermen across the country spend their Saturdays not astride a Hunter bass boat on a large reservoir…but behind a neighbors’ barn harassing the farm-pond bass. The major handicap these fledgling fly casters have burdened themselves with (and what will, in the end, keep them forever loyal and tethered to the spinning rod) is a severe lack of proper fly-replacements for their go-to conventional lures and rubber baits. The Texas Ringworm is a simple fly to rig and fish when compared to its rubber-worm contemporaries. The hard-mono loop keeps the large TMC 8089 hook facing up and snag free. It stays in place even through the longest or brutal casting, but detaches immediately once a bass eats and the hook is set. Once the fish has been detached, the hard-mono loop is easily re-attached.

How To Tie The Geezus Lizard

How To Tie The Texas Ringworm

Buy These Flies Online!

Hatches Fly Tying Magazine

Hatches 2011: Geezus Lizard and Texas Ringworm by Jay Zimmerman

The Geezus Lizard and Texas Ringworm are two bass flies that have finally evened the playing field. They have allowed fly fishermen to dabble into the not-so-secret voodoo world of conventional bass anglers worldwide. Their existence was born of a desire to find a viable fly rod application for lessons I’d learned in youth about [...]

Hatches 2011: Emerging Patterns – Tying the Missing Link by Russ Forney

For some, a flurry of mayflies hovering over the water is the initial sign of a hatch. In reality, though, insect activity might have been churning frenetically below the water’s surface for many hours before. Emergence begins well before the first dun pops off the water, and so does some of the most productive fishing. [...]

Hatches 2010: A Midwinter Refection on Flies by Bob White

It was my first season in Alaska, and I was one of several new fishing guides that had gathered around the bonfire to unwind, review the day, and listen to Rusty. The old guide was the consummate bush rat, and had forgotten more about living and working in the North Country than many of us [...]

Hatches 2010: Tying the Devil’s Reject by Brent Drew & Alex Cerveniak

A deceptive calm fills the air. The river gurgles. A light breeze whispers like a witch’s spell, enticing the angler to take a nap at the water’s edge. But even as he dozes off, he senses that something isn’t quite right. A sixth sense has his subconscious on guard. He glances uneasily over his shoulder [...]

Hatches 2010: Covering the Hendrickson Hatch by Nick Pionessa

My mind leafed through the pages of a crumbling paperback to drawings made by a master with whom I was barely familiar. “This must be a Quill Gordon,” I said. “No, I think it’s a Hendrickson.” I remember the day as if it were yesterday because it was my birthday and that Hendrickson was one [...]

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Heavy JuJu (Oooo Weeee Ooooo!)

My favorite small mayfly nymph just got better. The Juju Baetis has always been one of my Big Thompson go-to flies (as well as many other local rivers thick with the BWO) but rarely use it on smaller water like South and Middle Boulder Creeks...mainly because I am fishing a two-fly dry/dropper rig and I need the nymph to sink fast...on its own. This is important when fishing smaller pocket water, you don't have that much time for the dropper nymph to sink if the TOT (Time On Target) is a mere three seconds! So thanks, Charlie...even bigger fan now.  

October Largemouth

Autumn bass ain’t like summer bass. The water levels have all dropped as well as the water temperatures—and the bass metabolism. With the cold snaps and cool nights we have seen an end to the thick beds of aquatic vegetation crawling with bug life…no more crazy summer nights with damsels zipping about every which way and young largemouth popping out of the water after them. No more making love in the green grass behind the stadium—sorry Van Morrison. The cattail’s are more gold than green, the lily pads have died and the grass is brown. But the bass are still there…just not as gung-ho as they were a couple months ago. Cold water hits these fish like a prison sentence or combat tour hits a 19-year-old…kinda sucks out the piss and vinegar. So fish slow and deep and choose your flies accordingly. Pick bass flies that have the best, life-like action even “on the drop” or when crawled painfully slow on the bottom or through the last remaining weed lines. I have been using a black Texas Ringworm on some of my local ponds recently. I use a long, but stout leader (9ft 1x) most times. Tie the fly on using some sort of loop knot, as this greatly increases the back and forth “walk-the-dog” action of the fly…even when fished slow. I tie the Rapala knot because my go-to has always been the clinch (or improved clinch) so making the transition is simple. Look up the two knots online and you will see. The Texas Ringworm is technically an articulated streamer, so the action is borderline schizophrenic and the hook rides up and is buried so the worm is virtually snag free and weedless…so toss it into all the nasty slop!

Big Thompson River October Report

October is officially the off season up at Fun City…and the town actually reverts back to Estes Park. The tourist traps have closed until next year. And you can even find a spot on the Big Thompson to fish. The river though the canyon (between Estes Lake and the town of Drake, along RT 34) is low and clear (about 70 cfs) and the fishing has been good…is good…and will be good. My recommendation is to go early (not crazy early, just be there before ten) and start below the dam at Estes Lake. If you go on a Monday through Thursday there may only be one or two other dew bags to fight with… You will likely find some 12 to 16 inch browns rising to midges. Scale back to 6x and try the size 22 and 24 midge dries. After 15 minutes working one fish a #24 rusty RS2 took my best fish the other day. Now, once you migrate farther down the canyon things start to loosen up a bit. I got away with a #14 Clown Shoe Caddis (there will be caddis around at some point in the afternoon) on a 9ft 5x leader with a #20 Black Poison Tung nymph dropped off about 16 inches with 6x tippet.

Sunday Morning Movies

Tip of the week

Yeah, some fishermen don’t know…but fish like, need water to live, man. So if you hold them out of the water for too long…you know, to get that cool picture, they will totally dry out. Then they like, die and shit. And they look all weird…

A Good Old Fashioned Fish Killin’

The fishing the day before had been brutal. It was a good day, mind you…just tough on the body—like a good night drinking. But I don’t do that to myself anymore. The reward for surviving ones youth is to take better care of yourself, I suppose. So I slept in and did not pry myself out of bed until late morning. The lure of caffeine and the head was far too strong. I am getting old, I thought as I sat at the dining-room table with a mug of coffee and a laptop computer opened up in front of me. Yesterday’s fishing was more of an adventure than a fishing trip…very much deserving of a story. And my back still pained me because of it. But I could not concentrate on the keyboard. I sat, enjoying the peace and the warming effects of the coffee, and gazed out the big plate glass windows with a view up my steep side of the mountain as the parade of mule deer came down. It is fall up here in the canyon. It comes a bit earlier than down in the flat land. The mornings are frosty and the aspen leaves are turning yellow. The weirdo tourists will be coming soon.

This is the time of year I miss where I come from. Miss my first family. Because this is the time of year when we would set aside all of life’s nuisances in favor of real things. It was hunting season. The time to fill the freezer with meat. A time for some killing. I was reminded and sidetracked by this as I sat, alone, at the heavy wooden table and watched the deer. They were close…mere yards away. Only heavy glass and some tall grass separated us. I had to move the mouse and type slowly…as not to spook them. In my youth, on deer stand, I had to raise my bow slowly, take aim slowly…never had to worry about moving my bloody mouse slowly! This all made me feel a bit soft and pathetic. And hungry. But too lame to put food on my own table. So I got up off my ass (spooking all the deer) rounded up a six weight and a soft cooler and drove out of my canyon on a mission. I was in the mood for a good old fashioned fish killin’. I knew of a lake overcrowded with crappie and yellow perch—to the point that a little “thinning of the flock” would actually do its inhabitants some good. And that is the lake were I found my fresh fish sandwich…which I enjoyed hours later back at the heavy wooden dinner table!

Connect (The Colorado Premiere)

Did you like the film trailer I posted as the Sunday Morning Movie at the start of the week? Well, you can go see the entire production at the Oriental Theater (4335 W 44th Ave. Denver, CO 80212) on thursday, October 20th at 7:00PM. To learn more go to: www.thegreenbacks.org  To buy tickets ($12) Click Here!

See you all there!

Our Creek Gives Back

You will hear me yammer away about how often I fish Boulder Creek and how dearly I love this particular body of water. I hope I don't get to sounding like a broken record. September and October are my favorite times to be on the creek. The water levels are at 25 cfs (low) clear and cold. The water will be at about 52-54 degrees in the morning and, on sunny days, rising to 56-58 degrees by late afternoon. If you find yourself up Boulder canyon in the morning you may have to use small midge or Blue Wing Olive mayflies (size 20/22). The cold nights keep the water temps low, the larger caddis dormant and cause the leaves and apples to drop. In the afternoon you will be able to get away with bigger bugs (size 16/14 caddis dries and size 18 nymph droppers).


If you happen to stumble onto a cluster of apples in a back eddy of Boulder Creek this Fall don't be scared to make them a stream side meal! I have no idea what breed these creek apples are, but they are sweet, delicious and usually only half bruised. (And they ain't road apples, I know that much...)

How to Tie the Texas Ringworm Fly (Step by Step)

This fly was designed for one simple purpose…to completely revolutionize the way we fly fish for bass in this country. To put fly fisherman on the same playing field as every conventional gear bass fisherman from southern California to the famous lakes in Florida. Every warm water fly tier has claimed to invent a fly that is the equivalent to the Texas-rigged rubber worm (one of the most commonly and effectively used tricks in conventional bass fishing). But almost all of them are no more than a ratty piece of chenille with some misshapen piece of rabbit hide glued to the end of it. But, once I had perfected the ferruled dubbing loop tail of the Geezus Lizard I had a decent “worm” taken care of…all I needed to do was to create an effective internal hook mechanism. This fly is absolutely deadly. I prefer to fish it with floating line when on small bass ponds, on a sink tip fly line when on a river or larger reservoir. The sink tip treats the fly just like a “Carolina rigged” plastic worm.

In conventional bass angling the weedless-rigged rubber worm is such a mainstay because it is simple and easy to rig, appears natural and unhindered in the water and—most importantly—seldom fouls or snags. A fly equivalent to this lure is not commercially available.

Whereas many hard-core conventional bass fishermen tend to fish larger bodies of water, the vast majority of the weekend worrier warm-water fly fishermen across the country spend their Saturdays not astride a Hunter bass boat on a large reservoir…but behind a neighbors’ barn harassing the farm-pond bass. The major handicap these fledgling fly casters have burdened themselves with (and what will, in the end, keep them forever loyal and tethered to the spinning rod) is a severe lack of proper fly-replacements for their go-to conventional lures and rubber baits.

The Texas Ringworm is a simple fly to rig and fish when compared to its rubber-worm contemporaries. The hard-mono loop keeps the large TMC 8089 hook facing up and snag free. It stays in place even through the longest or brutal casting, but detaches immediately once a bass eats and the hook is set. Once the fish has been detached, the hard-mono loop is easily re-attached.

Texas Ringworm Recipe (Or buy online for $5.99 each)

Black Eel

Tail
Hook: TMC 105 #4
Thread 1: Daville’s 3/0 waxed monocord—dark brown (used as main dubbing loop)
Thread 2: Uni-Thread 6/0 black (used as small finishing dubbing loop)
Tip: Fluorescent Green Chartreuse McFlyfoam
Dubbing 1: Poul Jorgensen SLF Salmon & Steelhead dubbing “claret black”
Dubbing 2: Poul Jorgensen SLF Salmon & Steelhead dubbing “peacock”
Gangion: Hard Mono or Fluoro (.017) and Hareline Dubbin standard tubing “brown”

Body
Hook: TMC 8089 #2
Thread: Uni-Thread 6/0 olive
Throat 1: Fluorescent red marabou
Throat 2: Golden olive marabou
Main Body: Magnum rabbit strip “black”
Topping: 3 feathers Hareline Dubbin “Grizzly Marabou Olive” (GRIZM263)

Head
Core: Loon UV fly paint “yellow”
Eyes: Hareline Dubbin 3/16” Oval Pupil 3D Eyes Red/Black Pupil (OP3310)
Bottom: Loon UV fly paint “red”
Top: Loon UV Knot Sense
Outer Coating: Loon UV Knot Sense, then final coat of Hard-as-Hull

Sunfish

Tail
Hook: TMC 105 #4
Thread 1: Daville’s 3/0 waxed monocord—white (used as main dubbing loop)
Thread 2: Uni-Thread 6/0 olive (used as small finishing dubbing loop)
Tip: Montana Fly Frog’s Hair golden yellow
Dubbing 1: Dave Whitlock SLF dubbing “minnow belly”
Dubbing 2: Dave Whitlock SLF dubbing “dragonfly nymph olive”
Gangion: Hard Mono or Fluoro (.017) and Hareline Dubbin standard tubing “light olive”

Body
Hook: TMC 8089 #2
Thread: Uni-Thread 6/0 olive
Throat 1: Fluorescent red marabou
Throat 2: Shell pink marabou
Main Body: Olive Barred Magnum rabbit strip “light olive” (Hareline BMR212)
Topping: 3 feathers Hareline Dubbin “Grizzly Marabou Olive” (GRIZM263)

Head
Core: Loon UV fly paint “yellow”
Eyes: Hareline Dubbin 3/16” Oval Pupil 3D Eyes Orange/Black Pupil (OP3271)
Bottom: Loon UV fly paint “red”
Top: Loon UV Knot Sense
Outer Coating: Loon UV Knot Sense, then final coat of Hard-as-Hull

Tying step 1 Create 8 inch dubbing loop using 3 strands of 3/0 waxed monocord. Dubbing 1: Dave Whitlock SLF dubbing “minnow belly”, Tip: Montana Fly Frog’s Hair golden yellow, Dubbing 2: Dave Whitlock SLF dubbing “dragonfly nymph olive”. Twist and create Geezus Lizard tail by allowing twisted dubbing loop to furrel back over itself.
See More on this Method!

 

Tying step 2 Mount tail onto TMC 105 size 4 hook using Zap-a-Gap to reinforce hold to the hook shank. Then create small three-tone dubbing loop to cover junction and continue tail variegation

Tying step 3 Apply very small amount of Zap-a-Gap to junction of tail tip

Tying step 4 Trim and taper tail tip, also brush out entire tail using dubbing brush. The finished tail should be 2 ½ inches long. Cut the hook point off with heavy wire cutters.

Tying step 5 Cut a 6 inch piece of .017 hard mono or Rio Fluoroflex tippet, loop through eye and slide on a quarter inch of Hairline Standard Tubing

Tying step 6 On a TMC 8089 #2 tie in two throat tuffs of marabou using olive thread

Tying step 7 Double-thread the mono into the magnum rabbit strip

Tying step 8 Slip mono loop over hook point and over the bend

Tying step 9 Thread mono into hook eye and then tie down and adjust length of mono so hinge works correctly. There should be a slight “click” when the loop is properly engaged

Tying step 10 Once mono is adjusted correctly, finish tying it down and trim off tags on the underside. Apply some Zap-a-Gap to insure that it is secure and will not move or slip

Tying step 11 Bring the rabbit strip over and tie down at head of fly

Tying step 12 Tie in 2 or 3 pieces of olive grizzly marabou on top of the rabbit strip

Tying step 13 Trim marabou and whip finish...once tall, but narrow head has been built

Tying step 14 Coat head with yellow UV fly paint. It will appear green when applied over the green thread

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Tying step 15 Stick on eyes

Tying step 16 Flip upside down and apply red UV fly paint

Tying step 17 Fill in top of head with clear UV knot sense, also cover entire head with thin coating of the knot sense. Then apply a final coat of Hard as Hull or some other head cement. This final coat will leave the head with a super clear finish