The River's Course

Flourescent Floss Test Yields Unexpected Results!

2012-02-19T09:37:00.000-08:00

My title makes me laugh...I feel like I should be shouting "Extra, Extra, Read All About It!"

Don't forget, you can click on the pics to get the, er, big picture.

Here's the deal: my good friend and incredible Miramichi River guide Renate Bullock (http://www.bullockslodge.com/ ) sent me a new fly she found out about recently, the Christmas Tree. No, not the big spring streamer, this is a very interesting looking hairwing for summer. Here's Renate's tie:

Obviously, the multi-floss butt has to be a big selling point to discriminating atlantic salmon, so, what with my penchant for buying and hoarding every salmon fly tying material known to humanity and all, I decided to let the aging scientist in me have a go at determining the best brand of floss for the job. I chose three brands, including my fav, Gordon Griffiths SuperGlo:

I tied up three flies, one with each brand, minus the wing and hackle. The body is peacock herl ribbed with oval silver floss (more about the body later):

They all look pretty similar to my eye, especially the Griffiths and the UNI. Time to soak them all for a few minutes:

Hmmmmmmm, something's happening. What is that bluish stuff surrounding the bodies??

Flies out of the bath:

I'll let you, dear reader, decide which floss looks best to you after a soak, but here's a little tip and the best thing to come out of this experiment: DON'T BUY THIS STUFF:

I originally bought it because I like how the dyed herl really "popped" when tied on as a body. I didn't know then that whatever company supplies BassPro with this stuff doesn't know doodly about dyeing materials! The dye essentially all comes off the herl:

So...Gordon Griffiths is still my fave floss - although I wish they had a hotter red (I may try the pink, it really pops), but my three packages of BassPro's dyed herl are going in the trash.

This has been a public service announcement.

Grousing instead of Trouting

2012-02-18T07:23:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was another fishable day over in New York. The Batten Kill was running a little high, but it was a doable deal:

That's the good news. The bad news is that after I got all wadered up and took a few steps and casts into the river, I realized that I just wasn't into the swing of it (all puns intended, as usual). Hmmm, what to do?

Earlier in the morning, I had been emailing with a "forum friend", artist Bill Elliott, who I met through the Nova Scotia salmon fishing forum (http://www.nsflyguy.ca/) about ruffed grouse.

It's been two seasons since I stepped foot into a grouse covert due to those oft-mentioned pesky surgeries. It was mid-morning, mid-40's temp and I was pretty handy to about 8,000 acres of New York State public land (those of you that don't know New York...it has an awesome amount of public hunting land for a state of its size and human population). So, street shoes, legs in horrible shape and all, I decided to go for a walk up into the woods, in search of a grouse.

I started up following a little brook, all very grousey:

The sun was out. I liked the way it lit up the water droplets hanging from the multiflora rose:

No grouse yet, but up on top of the ridge, the view was pretty darn good, big dairy farm in the distance (and still in grouse cover):

Hmmmm, I'm not the only one that's been up here looking for grouse:

When I was doing graduate research on ruffed grouse on public lands, I used to quantify (to myself, not the university) grouse coverts by what I called the "shot shell quotient". The better the covert, the more shells littering the ground. I picked up buckets full of them over the years. Still do. Do you pick up yours?

Ah, finally, a grouse! OK, what's left of one:

Hard life that, being a grouse. Everybody wants to eat you. Including me. Grouse sauteed in white wine, mushrooms and scallions. Yum.

But, legs starting to let me know they haven't gone walking for more than a year, time to head back down. Followed another little brook back down. These brooks all end up in the Batten Kill.

It was a fine walk. Far too long since I've enjoyed the smells and sights of a grouse woods. I'll be back; maybe tuned up for a longer stay.

Over-Gunned (and under-manned!) on the Batten Kill

2012-02-16T06:46:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, for the first time since I got my new hip last November, I took myself fishing. I went to a stretch of the Batten Kill (or Battenkill for the less pure of heart) that is open year 'round, catch and release only. There is no snow on the ground, the temperature was in the mid-40's, there was no wind and the river level was perfect. It simply does not get any better than that in mid-February around here!

Don't forget - you can click on the pics for a larger version.

Emailing back and forth with a couple knowledgeable friends about equipment, and since I hate casting heavily weighted flies (chuck and duck, yuck.), I decided to use a Teeny T-300, 24 foot sink tip on an 8 weight Loomis NativeRun GLX (paid political announcement? Not.). Normally I'd never use an 8wt on that river, but I figured to get down deep I'd need that weight rod to fling the T-300 around. I've used that set-up on atlantic salmon springers to good effect, so why not?

Well, the "why not" turns out to be because its way too much weight for the current river flow (note to self: do not use Teeny T-300 when Batten Kill is flowing at 600cfs). I was snagging rocks on every cast. Lost a nice expensive-to-tie Deep Green Beauty on the first cast. (Another note to self: always bring more than one line with you when experimenting in new circumstances). Hence the over-gunned.

All was not lost, however. I got to take a nice fly pic (the fly fishing fashion police will be pleased to note the color coordination between fly and rod, no doubt):

And some very pleasant river shots:

And even a buck rub:

Now, about that "under-manned" in this post's title: that would be me. I haven't worked, hiked, hunted or fished in about a year and a half due to some pesky surgeries. This was my first foray back where I belong since late last September. All I can say is its a good thing Bridget gave me a gym membership (subtle message, that, eh?) for my 62nd birthday the other day. My legs were really aching when my truck finally came back into view!

In spite of the aches and pains, it was a joy to get out again. I saw a bald eagle, too.

Dyeing and Tying a Simple Sunburst Cascade

2012-02-09T07:20:00.000-08:00

I started dyeing my own materials a year or so ago after reading about the process on several forums, particulary http://www.speypages.com/ (if you go there, search out especially posts by "flytyer"; he knows what he's doing) and on Bryant Freeman's website, http://www.salmonflies.com/traditionals/dyes.htm. There's a wealth of information on both of these sites. I've found that dyeing my own materials adds delightfully to the satisfaction I get from fly tying. Recently, I saw some flies tied using Sunburst-colored materials, including several Cascade-style flies. I've had luck with Cascades on the Miramichi, so I decided to mix up some Sunburst, and give it all a go.

First, a little about my dyeing equipment. I use a hotplate purchased on eBay, where I also purchased a set of 3 stainless steel pots. If I recall correctly, each purchase was in the thirty five dollar range:

I do know, from my visits to the forums, that some folks do their dyeing in the kitchen. I believe it would be likely I'd do my dying there if I tried that. That's the infeed table to my radial arm saw under the hotplate. Think I could keep the kitchen counter free from new colors?? nah.

The process is fairly straightforward; one merely tweaks it as one's experience with the process grows. Essentially, you pre-soak the materials to be dyed in a detergent bath, using either a detergent like Dawn, or the more professional strength Synthrapol for an hour or so (maybe more for greasy stuff like duck feathers):

The Sunburst color is achieved by mixing two colors, a fuschia and a yellow:

I heat a gallon or so of tapwater depending upon how much stuff I'll be dyeing, and add the dyes. I started with a 50:50 mixture of the two dyes, and then, using rolled paper towels, I kept checking the color until its where I thought it should be. My Sunburst dye ended up being essentially a 2:1 mix of yellow to fuschia. These towels show the progession from "way too orange" to "way too pale" to back to where I figured I wanted the dye to be:

I like to get the dye bath's temperature in the 175-185 degree range and then add the materials. A candy-style thermometer is critical to the process:

These dyes are called acid dyes for a reason: an acid must be added to the bath to "fix" the dye in the materials. These dyes are also specialized to dye protein-based (e.g., feathers and fur) materials. So after a few minutes in the bath, I add some (I know, I know...how much? A splash?) white vinegar. Oh, and a few drops of that Synthrapol stuff helps disperse the dye evenly too.

Some colors, especially the deep dark green I like to dye for my Celtic Beauty, take quite awhile in the bath. I achieved the Sunburst I was looking for in about 15 minutes. The silver badger cape took the color quite differently than the three Whiting American capes (rooster cape, rooster saddle, hen cape, which all started life in white):

Jacquard's dye can be purchased through http://www.dharmatrading.com/ . They are a great company to deal with, and also have a house brand dye that is excellent, and comes in a larger portion than the Jacquard's.

So....on to the simple Sunburst Cascade! REMEMBER YOU CAN CLICK ON A PIC TO ENLARGE!

I start with a shorter shanked hook because I think Cascades look better on these than they do on more typical salmon irons like the Daiichi 2441. This hook is an english-made hook, size four, that I filched from my friend Wally. It is 2X Stout. Begin by tying the thread in at the butt - and please do remember - there are at least a million ways to tie this fly, your mileage may vary:

Now, tie in your Lagartun gold oval tinsel, size small:

Make three or four wraps, depending upon how many you think salmon like to see, to create the tag; the remaining tinsel will be used to rib the fly eventually. Pull it out of the way for now:

Now we need a Sunburst-colored tail. You could use a fine bucktail, or other hair...I chose a nice, translucent mammal hair that was legally obtained:

Now trim that off at a taper so the body will have same:

After adding 3 or 4 strands of your favorite bling (in this case, Cascade Crest Tool's Crystal Mirror Flash in Orange..neat pearly stuff!), bind the tail down, keeping everything nice and tidy:

Tie in a length of gold holographic mylar tinsel (or whatever you think will be the rear body du jour for salmon palettes when next you go fishing) and wrap the thread forward to mid-body:

Now wrap the mylar forward to mid-body and tie off. Leave the waste end a little long and run the thread down it to the head, maintaining that nice taper:

Tie in a length of your favorite brand of black floss:

Wrap it back to meet the mylar and then forward to the head and tie off...always leaving plenty of room there for the wing and a pair of hackles, and wrap the oval tinsel forward, creating the rib:

Time to tie in a wing. I used black kid goat hair:

Trim the wing, and add a little bling (pearl midge flash here):

Hackle time. I used a feather from a Whiting American rooster cape, dyed, of course, Sunburst:

Tie it in by the tip, and make three or four wraps, depending upon the feather and upon how sparse or full you want the fly to be:

Tie it off:

Now select and tie in a Badger dyed Sunburst for the front hackle:

Make 3 or 4 wraps of the badger, tie off, finish wrapping the head, and voila', a simple and sparsely- tied Sunburst Cascade:

The list of materials:

Tying a Thoroughly Modern Magog Smelt

2012-01-28T09:15:00.000-08:00

Over the past several years, my experiences on-stream, river and lake indicate to me that flash works. Doesn't have to be a lot of flash, probably even shouldn't be a lot of flash, but my flash-added streamers are just more effective. And for the material hoarder in me, there's so much in the way of flash out there. Name your poison.

Here's the venerable Magog Smelt all dressed up in modern materials as I tie it:
Thread: Black Gordon Griffiths 14/0
Hook: Daiichi 2271 size 2
Body: Orvis E-Z Body Braid, size extra small and in natural pearl with lateral line with silver mylar underbody
Wing: Hair of your choice. Purple over yellow over white, flash mixed in and over to whim.

Don't forget you can click on the pics to see a larger version!

1. Tie in thread about 1/4" from where you want the body to end and wrap back to that end point:

2, Now wrap forward half the distance to the tie-in point. That rear portion of thread is important; it will give you, your thread and the E-Z body braid something to grip when you tie it down:

3. Cut a length, maybe 7 or 8 inches, of wide silver/gold mylar. Taper the end that you will be tying in:

4. Tie in the mylar with the silver side facing the hook. This somehow magically allows you to wrap the mylar with the silver side facing out. Intuitively, that just seems wrong. Wind the thread to the head. You don't have to be wickedly careful about how you do this...you'll be wrapping the mylar tightly and the little ridges formed over the thread just give the fly that much more star power.

5. Wrap the mylar forward in tight, touching turns (as Scottish tyer Davie MacPhail likes to say with a brogue so thick it took me about 10 of his videos to figure out what he was saying). Tie off and remove thread:

6. Find the E-Z Body Braid under the pile of materials on your bench:

7. Measure twice and cut once as carpenter extraordinaire Norm Abrams likes to say, and slide your segment of body braid over the hook:

8, This is where you're going to be really glad you left that 1/8" of thread wraps at the rear of the hook. If you don't, the body braid will just slip and slide and elude your every effort to tie it down. Trust me on this one. Start the wrap maybe a 1/6" back from the butt of the E-Z Braid, making sure the lateral line in the braid runs straight down the side of the hook like a good lateral line should:

9. Wrap back over the Braid just like you were finishing the head of the fly:

10. Tie off with a couple half hitches where the thread meets the braid and hit with your head cement of choice. I like this butt to look as good as the head, so its 3 to 4 coats of Cellire Clear Varnish for me (which mean several days of application and drying, but who's in a hurry, anyway?):

11. Time to finish the fly. Tie in your thread - and this is why I like Gordon Griffiths 14/0 so much...it is incredibly strong and with the Braid you've already got a pretty big head developing; heavier/thicker thread isn't going to help matters one bit - securing the forward portion of the Braid.

12. Tie in the first batch of hair, which for the Magog is white:

13. The nice thing about tying on a down-eye hook like the 2271 is that you can trim the hair from the front of the hook rather than the side. You get a much better taper going this way, which is important to keeping it so it doesn't look like you've got a black block of cement on the front of your hook when you're done:

14. I add a dab of head cement and make a bunch of wraps on each layer of hair...helps keep the head small (because remember I'm using that 14/0 thread and can get away with it) and helps keep the hair on the fly when you're fishing it, which is a good feature of any fly. I tossed on several strands of pearl midge flash at this point, too:

Tie on the yellow and purple layers, always trimming off from the front to keep that taper thing going:

Traditionally, there's some peacock herl topping the Magog Smelt. I use peacock krystal flash. It's all about the flash after all, ain't it? Voila, a thoroughly modern Magog Smelt:

Wait'll the landlocks and atlantics get a load of this little darling this coming May!

ADDENDUM:

Todd Towles of Kingfisher River Guides (http://www.kingfisherriverguides.blogspot.com/) suggested tying this smelt up with blue in place of the yellow. I had just gotten some blue dye in, so this morning I dyed up a pile of hair. There's a spring atlantic salmon fly called a Blue Smelt...this beauty has got that beat for looks by a mile. I will definately be giving it a swim in May on the Miramichi!

Building a Furniture-Grade Fly Rod Rack

2012-01-19T11:47:00.000-08:00

Some years ago I built a rack for my fly rods out of leftover flooring from my house in South Carolina. Two hundred year-old Longleaf heartpine:

My good friend Jamie was down in my cave recently and said he'd like one just like it, so, since I can actually move around again pain-free (thank you new hip!) it was time to see if my saws still worked after 15 months of inactivity (read: no income). So off to The Big Box Lumber yard I went (I know, I know, but it was Sunday and the good lumber yard was closed and I wanted to get started!)

I thought it would be fun to document the building process. All Jamie's 18-rod rack requires in the way of lumber is four 1"X5"X8' premium white pine boards:

I suppose a person could use plywood for the top and bottom of the rack, but I prefer to glue up my own wide board. I get pretty obsessive about matching up grain patterns so that its pretty tough to tell it isn't just one big board. I take the long boards and slide them around to make matches, or cut a long board to see if it will match up with itself:

Once I get the matches figured out, I cut to approximate final size. I cut maybe 4 inches longer than I need to account for possible sniping (a funny thing that happens sometimes to boards being run through a joiner) on the ends of the boards. I usually use my radial arm saw:

Things look pretty good for creating a nice wide board:

To get perfect edges with no gaps for the glue-up, I run the boards through my joiner:

Makes for nice, tight, no-gap edge. I like to use a plate (or bisquit) joiner to strengthen the bond between individual pieces of wood. The bisquits also help with alignment during the glue-up process. Here I've got the locations marked for the bisquits:

It's a handy tool to have.

Here's what a bisquit looks like:

Bisquits and glue, ready to go:

All clamped up for about 24 hours:

Attention to grain lines makes for a nice board:

Out of the clamps and getting a first coarse sanding (I love that Bosch sander, it is a hog!):

Nice!

Back to the table saw to rip material for the legs and trim:

The legs are made kind of like corner boards on a house...but you can see both sides of these legs, and the inside corner is a bear to sand, so it pays to be careful and wipe up and squeezed-out glue very carefully:

Legs, trim and top and bottom in the rough:

Time to layout the 18 holes on the top and bottom:

Over to the drill press to cut out a total of thirty six 2.5" holes (oh, so boring, all puns intended):

Then the router comes out to chamfer each hole with a 1/8" roundover bit:

Chamfered and not:

Time to pick out a stain. I gave Jamie 4 choices from my Bag O' Stained wood:

He picked Min-Wax's English Chestnut. A good choice on pine.

Back to woodworking. Time to install the trim on the top and bottom. I get to use my favorite tool for this, my nice big 12" Milwaukee Sliding Compound Mitre Saw (this is starting to sound like one of those outdoor writer's testimonial tales of a fishing trip, naming names of every single piece of equipment. Hey, Milwaukee, you listening??):

It makes mitering a breeze. Here's the top ready for trim installation and clamping:

And glued up:

I am the worst when it comes to cleaning up every night. After just three days, the place is a disaster area:

So after a little policing of the area, all the pieces of the rod rack are completely sanded (I start with 100 grit, then 150, and I final-sand with 220) and ready for stain:

So I don the rubber gloves, grab a staining pad, and get it on:

All stained and ready for top coats:

I have been using Chem-Pak's Gun Sav'r Hunter Satin Gunstock finish on my projects for years. I love this stuff (ok, ok, another testimonial. Bear with me. And Chem-Pak, are YOU listening, LOL). It lays on beautifully, and dries within a couple hours. It sands like a dream, and the final coat is tough and beautiful. They have a gloss finish, too, but I've never used it. The satin finish is just so warm and nice.

After one coat (oops, should have used the tack rag a little more, lots of dust to be sanded out):

I apply a total of three coats, sanding the first two coats with 220 grit sandpaper:

Three coats complete and the rack is ready for assembly:

I rabbeted the tops of the legs so that they would sit on the base correctly:

The legs get screwed to the top from the inside; the screws don't show (it pays to pre-drill everything):

Installing the base:

There's a stained board that goes on the underside of the base that I forgot to get a photo of. Darn.

Anyway, all dressed up and ready for its spot at Jamie's house. Now, wasn't that easy??

Hopefully, Jamie's won't look like mine usually does:

2011-12-25T07:13:00.001-08:00

Celtic Beauty...Doubles Destined for the Dee

2011-12-10T08:14:00.000-08:00

A fellow from the SalmonFishingForum requested some Celtic Beauties, tied on double hooks, for his trips next year to the Dee as well as to the Findhorn. Sizes 8 to 14, please. Yikes! I've never tied on doubles before and they took a little getting used to. Half way through the first fly I felt like I needed to install a blood gutter below my vise! And cut thread much??? However, after about the third fly (good thing I started with the 8's first) I got things under control and quit stabbing myself and cutting the thread on the rear hook every third wrap.

Doubles are hard to find over here. Only my friend Wally would have a stash, though, that included everything I needed down to the #14. His fly tying materials closet is a bottomless pit! Also bought a few Daiichi 7130's; they have a longer shank than the Partridge Double Wilson's Wally had. Daiichi is pretty proud of those hooks, apparently, at a cost of more than a dollar each!

All told, a learning experience! Click on the pic for a larger view.

Holiday Beauty

2011-11-25T10:42:00.000-08:00

Trying to work myself up for a more festive season and throwing the crutches out the window, I sat down at the vise and came up with my holiday (I'm getting so Politically Correct in my old age) fly, The Holiday Beauty:

The Famous Grouse Fly

2011-11-04T10:14:00.000-07:00

One of my oldest friends, Bill H., sent me a ruffed grouse tail feather sometime ago. A momento of a long ago hunt, he asked me if I would make a fly out of it. I've always wanted to tie a fly called "The Famous Grouse" after my blended scotch of choice, and here was the ideal opportunity. I knew I wanted to make it - from a feather standpoint - exclusively of ruffed grouse feathers. I have a fairly healthy stash of those, having been a hardcore grouse hunter for many years. Oh, for those years in the mid-1980's when I hunted 100 days/year over my little string of 3 great english setters! LOL, oh to be able to hunt at all last year or this year! Health problems keep getting in the way.

Anyway, The Famous Grouse (don't forget to double click on the pics to supersize):

The taill is from any part of the bird that looks good to you (I think I used a back feather), the hackle is an upper tail covert, and the wings are a tail feather. I would use paired tail feathers in the future, but I need to make the wings on Bill's fly out of just the one I had.

The body material is some stuff I had stashed in a drawer. It came as a freebie in an order from Scott's Fly Shop on Ebay (not sure that exists anymore). It strikes me as perfect for this fly; I like the touch of claret that runs through the brown:

I'm pretty happy with this fly...it reminds me of a ruffed grouse. I got pretty up close and personal with them for a few years doing grouse research in grad school:

Man, that was a lifetime or two ago, eh? Well, it will be fun to find out what this fly does next season. Looks great for trout, salmon maybe not so much. Time will tell!

It's All in the Hat!

2011-10-24T14:21:00.000-07:00

Several weeks ago I fished for landlocked salmon in northern New York State with my friend John, who hails from Montreal. As I noted in an earlier thread, we had a great day. I gave him one of my hats (the logo is based on my Celtic Beauty):

Well, the hat is still working! He landed 3 fish just the other day, including a 6 pounder, and gives credit to the hat. Here's a pic he sent me, taken by another fellow SpeyPages forum user:

AND, I caught my largest atlantic salmon to date wearing one last month, so they gotta have what it takes!

Oh, wait, that's right, Linda got her top fish of the week wearing one, too!

Oh, yeah, it also works in tan!

Don't you wish you had one, too? LOL

When New Friends Get Together

2011-10-09T06:22:00.000-07:00

You can just tell when you've met a kindred spirit. I frequent the Spey Pages forum, and have learned a lot, particularly about fly tying and materials dyeing there...plus I've met, electronically, some interesting folks. On Friday, I finally got to meet and fish with a fellow I've corresponded with over the past year. John lives in Montreal and of course, I live in southern Vermont. He invited me up to fish with him for landlocked salmon on a river he visits often.

It was a beautiful Friday, lots of sun - not always the best weather for fishing - but winter's coming, enjoy it while we can! John suggested using my Deep Green Beauty, and it was moving fish and making them roll, but no hookups.

We were fishing a pool where you can see the fish come to the surface quite clearly; John watched for fish while I cast. After rolling several fish, he said, "Quick, put on something with some color and flash!" So I reeled in and tied this on, my take on the Mickey Finn:

I cover the hook shank with silver mylar, then create the body out of natural pearl E-Z body braid. The wing is that lovely translucent polar bear.

Well, on the second cast (I flubbed the first one), it was fish on! The fish didn't realize it was hooked for a few moments, but when she did, she was quite the acrobat. It pays to know the river and its fish, and John certainly does! Note that #2 Mickey Finn (click on the pic once to enlarge, click again to supersize)!

John also landed a fish, and we rolled a bunch more. AND I got some great tutoring from him on two-handed casting, using my switch rod. All told, it was a great day. I had a blast, and I don't think John minded lugging me around...I'm easily old enough to be his father (ugh.).

Earlier this year, I also got to fish with "forum friend" Rob up on the Miramichi...I think another good time was had by all. And that's what I think fly fishing forums should/could/wish they would be all about: making new friends and learning new things. I know I do!

Autumn in Vermont

2011-10-03T11:41:00.000-07:00

Sure, some of it's about those calendar shots of the Green Mountains in blazing fall color, but it's also about a cool damp morning with the sounds and smell of splitting wood, Canada geese honking overhead.

An Autumn Week on the Miramichi

2011-09-29T08:20:00.000-07:00

Finally - after missing the best July on the river in years and a quick trip up in August that was mostly sightseeing and casting practice - our September trip to the Miramichi was here. We arrived on 9/18 to beautiful weather and plenty of water in the river.

We're fishing out of Bullock's Lodge, formerly known as Tuckaway Cabins, in Boiestown, New Brunswick. Booting up the first morning, Bridget, Linda and myself:

Fly selection was a no-brainer for me the first morning out. Back in July, I sent a batch of my new fly, the Celtic Beauty up to Renate Bullock, guide extraordinaire and a principal in Bullock's Lodge. As I've noted before, its first morning out of the fly box, 3 anglers hooked 14 fish with it. Now its my turn!

The lovely and talented Celtic Beauty:

I cast my way down through Home Pool, and when I got to the end of the pool, at a spot variously called Dreyer's Point (by Bill D.) or Tanner's Point (by yours truly), I got a massive grab and, as they say, it was "game on!" Dan Bullock came quickly with the net...this was a good fish.

This was a very big fish. He wasn't a leaper, but when he boiled on the surface, it was easy to see he was a force to be reckoned with. Finally, taping at 37 inches, if you check your salmometer, you'll find that he's a twenty pounder!

During my rest from the big fight, Bridget hooked up with a feisty grilse:

Dan Bullock doing the guiding/netting chores:

Success! First fish of the week for Bridget:

Linda Warren, the FAR better half of fly tyer and good friend Bob Warren, hooked up Monday morning, too, with a nice male grilse. She was fishing Bob's Golden Pheasant Spey fly:

It was a beautiful morning on the Miramichi with good friends swinging through the pool together:

Tuesday morning and I'm still fishing my Celtic Beauty at, if memory serves (and it usually doesn't), Elbow Pool. It was another gorgeous day, still plenty of water in the river, water temp 50 degrees first thing in the morning. Suddenly, a great pull and we're off and running with another big fish.

My, uh, fish-playing technique has been variously described as either odd, unusual, or ridiculous:

However, it does get the job done. A fine 12 pound hen:

Not to be outdone, Bob got into a nice fish, too:

But wait, it's my turn again! Nice male grilse:

At this point, the days start to run together for me. I've never been any good at keeping a daily journal, so photos tell the story, regardless of the exact day and time.

I believe it was Wednesday, though, the Bridget landed another grilse, with a big assist from Bob:

I believe it was also Wednesday that Linda trumped us all with this 22 pounder with great friend and guide Vin Swayze at the net:

Bob's Golden Pheasant Spey does it again!

Bob Warren's Golden Pheasant Spey, waiting to get back in the game:

Thursday, good friends Wally Murray, Renate, Bridget and I:

head down to Camp Pool:

My very good friend, excellent fly tyer and wonderful guide, Renate Bullock:

Walt Scheffler and a couple of his friends were in camp fishing as well. And occasionally, Walt actually gets out of his riverside easy chair and lands a fish! (on a Celtic Beauty, of course)

Bridget hooked and landed a couple nice brook trout:

Fly-wise, I ended up landing a 20 and a 10 pounder, plus a grilse, on the Celtic Beauty. I hooked and landed a 12 pound hen on the Golden Pheasant Spey. I also fished, and had a hook-up and several grabs, on a McCormack's Shrimp. Don't forget you can click on these pics and enlarge them, click again and they'll fill your screen:

We hooked several more fish than I've shown, and had a great week on one of the treasures of this planet.

Many of the photos in this post are courtesy Renate Bullock and I thank her dearly for supplying them.

A fellow name of Brendan from County Waterford, Ireland, recently sent me this thought:

The great thing about about salmon fishing is its a great leveller, young or old, prince or pauper, the salmon doesn't care and when you are in the water you get totally immersed everything else just fades into the background until you get that jolt...
then there is the fishing hut and meeting guys that are passionate about their sport; enthusiasm rubs off and you end up spending half of your allotted fishing time chatting. You are right - life with salmon fishing is good.
Cheers.

Gordon Griffiths Floss...just call me the Flossman!

2011-09-08T11:34:00.000-07:00

I'm happy to announce that I've cornered the market for Gordon Griffiths SuperGlo Floss in the known universe. Or North America, anyway, and its for sale, you betcha.

SuperGlo floss is absolutely electric stuff. There are 5 colors: Flourescent Orange, Green, Yellow (really more of a chartreuse), pink and red. Click on the pic to supersize, click again to REALLY supersize:

This floss is a 2-strand floss that is easily divided for smaller flies or smoother bodies. It makes an absolute knockout butt on flies like the Black Bear Green Butt or Bob Warren's Cutty Sark.

I'm selling these in packs of five for $12.50, first class mail included, to the U.S. We'll have to figure out shipping to other countries on a case by case basis. You can mix and match colors; take one of each or all five in one color. That's up to you. We'll just sell these via paypal; email me at Gary.Tanner117@gmail.com to get my paypal account number. Thanks!

The Park Shrimp

2011-09-02T11:53:00.000-07:00

The Park Shrimp was designed by Ross MacDonald, as near as I can tell around 2009. I'm getting ready for a trip to the Miramichi the week of September 18-25, and this shrimp feels like it just might work.

The pattern, which I found on both http://www.salmon-ireland.com/ and http://www.salmonfishingforum.com/:

Hook:           Salmon hook, single or double, du jour
Tag:             Oval gold tinsel to suit hook size
Tail:             Bottom layer: Orange Arctic Runner about hook length with two strands orange flash
                     Middle layer: Yellow Arctic Runner twice as long as bottom and top layers with a few
                         strands of gold flash (I used Yellow Polar Bear)
                    Top layer: Orange Arctic Runner equal to bottom layer
Rear Body:   Gold Lite Brite
Front Body: Black Seal fur (I used black uni-stretch)
Rib:              Oval gold tinsel to suit hook size, across both rear and front bodies. Original recipe appears
                         to call for pearl tinsel.
Wing:            Black fox (I used goat) with gold flash over
Hackle:         Yellow wound on first; tie on Jungle Cock eyes, wind on Silver Badger dyed orange.
Head:             Red

Notes:            I've never used Arctic Runner before; pricey stuff, that! It has some of the same transluscence as Polar Bear, really lovely stuff. Also never used Lite Brite dubbing before. It doesn't look like its going to cooperate at all, but in fact twists onto the thread very easily and nicely.

I'm looking forward to swinging this shrimp and reporting back after the trip!

Salmon Fly Hooks...or when is a 10 an 8?

2011-08-29T15:50:00.000-07:00

With, as usual, too much time on my hands, I began looking at my boxes...and boxes...and boxes of up-eye salmon fly hooks. I'm tying small shrimps particularly at the moment, in anticipation of my September trip to the Miramichi, and was struck by the variance in actual hook size among manufacturers for the same numbered hook. I thought this little photo might be instructive to some as they cast about (great pun, eh?) for the appropriate size hook for the fly they're tying. Tomorrow when I'm bored some more, I'll see how the larger sizes compare among manufacturers and report back. Click on the pic to get the big picture.

And when is a #7 a #4?

And finally, my stash of #3 through #2/0's. New York State Salmon River fisherman might be happy to note that all of these hooks appear to fall within the one-half inch maximum hook gape for flies used on that river. And again, the grid is 1/4" squares, and you can click, then click again, to supersize the pic:

Ready to Ship

2011-08-26T05:57:00.000-07:00

For a customer in downstate New York, Gray Ghosts and Deep Green Beauties from #1 to #8 hooks. Fun to tie, fun to ship, hopefully fun to fish!

The Long & Short of It - Deep Green Beauty wingsets

2011-08-23T08:16:00.000-07:00

Those little size 6 and 8's are tough to make up for my old beat up fingers!

The Miramichi's Tributaries - Beautiful Pools, Beautiful Places

2011-08-20T10:49:00.000-07:00

At the Miramichi Salmon Association's "IceBreaker" fundraiser back in May, 2011, friends Allan Wilson, Stan Hunter, Vin Swayze and I went together to purchase a sightseeing trip hosted by donors Debbie and Dale Norton, owners of Upper Oxbow Outdoor Adventures on the banks of the Little Southwest Miramichi in Sillikers, New Brunswick. On August 17, 2011, we took to the roads of Northeast New Brunswick with Dale to see spots on the Northwest, the Sevogle and the Little Southwest that even Vin, with nearly 70 years on the Miramichi, had not seen.

First stop on our way to look at some of the Northwest's finest crown reserve camps and pools was at Syd Matchett's Trout Brook Fly Shop. Beautiful flies, incredibly well-equipped with fly tying materials.

Syd (plaid shirt) and Dale at the counter:

Stan, Allan and Vin (l. to r.) check out the vast fly selection:

Syd's Trout Brook Fly Shop is probably the most well-stocked small fly shop I've ever been in.

Our first look at a Crown Reserve salmon camp was the Cruickshank Camp. Beautiful looking water. With my hip still in recovery phase, though, I didn't make the steep 62-step descent to the pool's edge. Looked nice from high above though.

The best I could capture with the camera was the fast run between pools (Trust me, its a long way down to that water):

Next stop was the Square Fork Camp, where the north and the south branches of the Sevogle smash into each other (that's the only way to put it. This is no gentle y-shaped meeting of river branches) to form the main Sevogle. It's an incredible pool, with a privately-leased camp hard by it. The branches and the main channel have really cut through some rock over the years!

Where the branches meet (head-on):

The South Branch as it enters the pool:

And the North Branch (I've got to get there some early July to watch salmon jump those falls!)

A beautiful stretch of river farther up the North Branch:

Conservation efforts are never very hard to find near New Brunswick's salmon rivers:

Let it never be said the New Brunswick does not have long, straight dirt roads!

We made a quick stop along one of these roads when we spotted a young bull moose just off the road. We backtracked quickly, but he was gone. However, I learned of a custom among New Brunswick moose hunters - at least in this area - where, even though its crown land, hunters "mark" their territory for the coming season's hunt with homemade signs, hoping to keep the "other guys" out. These fellows got it right; their sign is 10 yards from where the bull had been standing!

Clear cuts are easier to find than moose:

The Miramichi's watershed is a magnificent place. My thanks to Debbie and Dale for their gracious hospitality, and especially to Dale for putting up with the four of us for an entire day!

Floss Flavors

2011-08-07T15:33:00.000-07:00

Being kind of a fly tying material junkie (gross understatement, that), I've gotten a fair smattering of flosses over the years. There's been a lot of traffic to my post about the differences you see in floss when it gets wet, based on what you underlay the floss with, so I thought it would be fun to look at the color variations among several floss suppliers. I must admit to being partial to Gordon Griffiths floss for my salmon flies, although I use Uni's bright yellow for the Celtic Beauty. I didn't photograph any Japanese silk or even Pearsall's stuff; I don't have any to speak of, and I only use Pearsall's on soft hackles. Please note there's no color correction involved here, but the colors in the pics give you an idea of the basic differences in color and the pics are close up enough so you can get an idea of texture variations. Gordon Griffiths is a 2-strand floss; I separate the strands when I'm tying the butts on salmon flies.

So, the colors (click on the pics to enlarge. Two click makes a REAL big pic):

Red

"Burnt" Oranges:

"Hot" Oranges:

Yellows:

Chartreuse:

Hot Greens:

If a spool just says FLOSS or has no label, it's Gordon Griffiths floss. There's a microbraid or two thrown in, since they make a pretty flashy butt. I also included a couple heavy threads, too; several friends wrap their butts with it, rather than floss. I can't believe that I didn't take the opportunity to say that I know people that don't floss their butts!

And don't forget, if you can't find the shade you want, you can blend flosses for flies like the Cutty Sark:

Happy flossing!

Got Shrimp?

2011-08-05T08:19:00.001-07:00

Posters R Us

2011-08-03T07:15:00.001-07:00

Click on the pic for larger size!

New Logo!

2011-08-02T08:52:00.000-07:00

Well, since I haven't worked doing renovations but 10 days since October of 2010 due to first shoulder and then hip surgery, I figure I better sell some flies. To that end, my new logo, thanks to my old friend and art director from my AMFF days, John Price. Thanks, John!

A New Shrimp Pattern for Atlantic Salmon

2011-08-02T08:19:00.000-07:00

The Beauty Series continues with this new shrimp pattern that I look forward to trying out on the Miramichi this September. It shares the color scheme of my Deep Green Beauty and the Celtic Beauty, essentially a bright yellow body, a deep green tail, and claret hackling. Those two flies were successful beyond my dreams, so this shrimp pattern seems a logical extension of the color concept (click on pic to enlarge, click again to fill your screen with fly):

TAG:                             Oval gold tinsel to suit hook size
RIB:                              Same as tag
BODY:                          Uni Bright Yellow floss
CENTER HACKLE:   Claret cock saddle
WING:                          Deep Green hair of your choice, a few wisps of Peacock Angel Hair
                                       and 2 strands of pearl midge flash
FRONT HACKLE:      Claret cock saddle
EYES:                           Jungle cock
HEAD:                          Black

For quick reference, here's the shrimp's antecedents:

The Deep Green Beauty:

which begat the Celtic Beauty:

which begat all these Beauties:

And just for good measure, lots o' shrimps, ready for September!

The Only Difference Between Men and Boys...

2011-07-26T10:25:00.000-07:00

is the size of their toys. OK, their fish.

1957, Haliburton, Ontario, smallmouth bass - 7 years old

The middle years seemed to be fishless, and haircuts were too expensive:

Ithaca, NY area, circa 1980:

Things started looking up as I enter the "Golden Years (LOL):

2011, Boiestown, New Brunswick, atlantic salmon - 61 years old

Time sure does fly when you're having fun.

A cooler evening

2011-07-21T13:24:00.000-07:00

Click on the pic for a larger version

The Celtic Beauty - a new atlantic salmon fly proves its worth

2011-07-09T05:39:00.000-07:00

Yesterday (July 8, 2011) was a very satisfying day for me. My good friends Renate and Dan Bullock, principals and guides at Bullock's Lodge (formerly Tuckaway Cabins) called at noontime to let me know that fourteen salmon had been hooked that morning on the fly I developed earlier this year. They are located right on the Miramichi in Boiestown, New Brunswick.

An earlier post on this blog, "Converting a featherwing streamer to a hairwing salmon fly" documents the process of developing this fly. Since I can't fish this summer, I sent Renate a batch of the fly, and she's been passing them out to her sports as the opportunity arose. I guess yesterday the stars all lined up, and the fly did its thing. It hooked two more fish last night.

The Celtic Beauty (click to enlarge, click again to really enlarge):

The recipe:

Tag: Gold oval tinsel to suit hook size

Butt: Dubbed black beaver underfur

Body: Uni Bright Yellow floss

Rib: Gold oval tinsel

Throat: Hareline UV minnow belly flash under claret hen

Wing: Dark green flash under deep green hair of choice (mine is Polar Bear)

Head: Black

I named this fly for its rich Celtic colors, and for its roots in Carrie Stevens' Green Beauty streamer.

My thanks to Renate and Dan for getting this fly in the water in their pools!

A Small Summer Bug for Small Summer Streams - Step by Step

2011-07-05T07:47:00.000-07:00

This little fly, which I figure I derived some years ago from the Letort Cricket, is a small wonder, especially on small streams and creeks. Brook trout, rainbows and browns all love it; it fairly dances on the surface, enticing them up from their holding spots for quick, delightful grabs. It's easy to tie, and takes just a few materials. It doesn't have a name...it's just a little green bug (click on the pics to supersize them - two clicks will fill your screen with fly!):

The materials list is short and its all olive. I'm sure it would work in other colors, I've just never tied it other than olive. If it ain't broke...

Thread: Olive thread du jour

Tail: Olive bucktail

Body: Olive whatever dubbing you got that floats

Wing: Olive mottled turkey

Head: Olive elk or deer (as fine as you can find)

Hook: Mustad 94840 #10 (or whatever dry fly hook you like...as long as its small)

1. Wrap the hook shank with thread:

2. Tie in the bucktail, well, tail:

3. Trim the bucktail tail:

4. Form a dubbing loop and spin the dubbing (I stole some crochet hooks from my mother years ago for this purpose. They work great. Or you can spend 25 bucks for some widget that does all the work for you.)

5. Wrap the body:

6. Tie in the wing and trim to look cool:

7. Spin the elk/deer/whoever head (hint hint: use two small batches and pack them together for a neat little head):

8. Trim the head (another hint: steal somebody's good little scissors from their makeup bag for this job):

Now I strongly suggest, after tying a few of these up, that you hit the nearest cool little creek you know of and have a ball with 'em. Lemme know how you do.

Summer means Bombers for Atlantic Salmon!

2011-06-28T06:35:00.000-07:00

Early last August, I got a call from my friend Dan Bullock, manager of Bullock's Lodge (formerly Vin Swayze's Tuckaway Cabins). Dan related that water and weather conditions were just right for Bomber fishing in his pools on the Miramichi...did I want to come up for a few days? I was there 24 hours later.

I love Bomber fishing for atlantic salmon. When a big, bright salmon comes up to my drifting Bomber, you can hear my shouts and laughter a mile downriver, I bet. Even a grilse rising to a Bomber fished dry is quite an event in my eyes.

My first morning on the river was warm, but it was drizzling rain off and on. No real need for rain jacket; it was a warm summer rain. Rummaging through my Bomber box, I decided to tie on the smallest fly in the box, one of a few I hung on to after tying up a bunch at the suggestion of my fishing and bird hunting buddy Jamie Woods. With a natural tan deer hair body, white tail and split horns, and brown hackle, Jamie liked to think of this version as a "locating" fly. One thing is for sure with a Bomber this small: if it only located fish, it would be easy to move up in size to entice a strike!

(CLICK ON PHOTOS TO SUPERSIZE)

The little brown Bomber (tied on Mustad 3906B number 6 hook):

Dan was right about it being great conditions for dead drifting a Bomber. Within minutes, it was fish on!

As much as I love connecting to a nice salmon, somehow this feisty grilse fit the morning's mood. Dan, his mom Renate, Vin Swayze and I all seemed to be in light-hearted, "let's just have fun" mindsets, and a jumping, running grilse fit right into the picture. I tend to laugh a lot when I'm into fish and with good friends; this morning was no exception.

The grilse did not appear to find Dan and his net all that welcoming:

I guess the action and my usual fumbling was enough to get Vin to reel in and come downriver for a little kibbitzing:

Vin must have gotten Dan and I on our toes; within a minute or so the grilse was happily (for me, if not for the grisle) in hand:

And while much of the fun for me is in the fishing, it's the releasing that's best of all:

There'll be no summer fishing for me this year, but photos like these will carry me along 'til September when I can fish again. And unable to do much else besides tie flies, you can bet the boxes will be full!

River photos courtesy Renate Bullock

What's Under Your Floss?

2011-06-14T08:11:00.000-07:00

A recent Speypages thread concerning floss had the usual array of differing ideas on how to apply floss, and more importantly for the purposes of this post, what underlayment for floss bodies and butts gives the best results. "Best results" usually meaning "most satisfying to the tyer's eye". But occasionally, and hopefully, meaning "best for fooling fish." Well, the old researcher in me got the best of me, and I decided to try a little test: put the three most commonly mentioned underlayments individually on hooks and wrap with (in this instance) my favorite floss, Gordon Griffiths. I used flourescent orange and green (click on the pic to supersize the image):

The top hook has a silver mylar base, the middle a white thread base, and the bottom hook has a black thread base. Dry, they all look pretty much the same to my eye.

So next, I soaked all three hooks in a cup of tapwater for a few minutes. The results:

Pretty obviously, the floss with the mylar underlayment really "shines" over the flosses underlain with thread. For my money, floss butts and bodies create a "target of opportunity" for the fish you are after; might as well give them as glowing a target as you can!

FISHING SEASON IS CANCELLED!

2011-06-07T13:03:00.000-07:00

It's true, might as well hang up all your rods and reels, put the waders away appropriately, and get settled back at the tying bench, because fishing season has been cancelled!!!

Oh, wait, that's right. Just MY fishing season has been cancelled. I have to have a core decompression done to my left hip while YOU guys are out there flailing the water to a froth. Fine, be that way. But send me pictures. I'm out of commission until September. No, no biggie...only had to cancel one week in Maine and three different weeks in New Brunswick. I can handle it. Not depressed. Why, think of all the money I'll save! And I'm happy to put my boat back in mothballs again. Usually its all cold and uncomfortable when I do that. Tomorrow its supposed to be a sunny 90 degree Vermont day; perfect day to put the boat away.

Yup, you guys have fun out there and don't worry one little bit about me. I'll just be sitting here taking percocet and surfing the fishing forums. Another perfect summer.

Tying the Deep Green Beauty - A slide show

2011-05-24T12:13:00.000-07:00

Click on the slide show to see full size (I'm still getting this sorted out!).

Good Places to Shop - Online and Otherwise

2011-05-22T09:51:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd list some places where I've had exceptional service and purchased quality goods relating to my fly fishing adventures. I recommend them all highly. And no, I don't get any free stuff for doing this!

McCloskey's General Store, Boiestown, New Brunswick.  Great bacon, the best socks I've ever bought, and the only place in town to buy adult beverages. I wish it was closer than 560 miles from me.

http://www.feathersmc.com/   John McLain's online store. Excellent feathers, and its where I buy my legal seal fur. John is a genuinely nice man.

http://www.scottsflyshop.com/   A good place to find good stuff at a discount.

http://www.dharmatrading.com/   I buy my dyes here.

http://www.feathersideflies.com/ This is Ron McKusick's online store. Lots o' stuff.

http://www.doak.com/    If Jerry Doak's fly shop doesn't have it, you probably don't need it.

http://www.eskapeanglers.com/ Bryant Freeman's great fly shop in New Brunswick

Converting a Featherwing Streamer to a Hairwing Salmon Fly

2011-05-18T12:59:00.000-07:00

Last month, I was extremely pleased to find that my Deep Green Beauty featherwing streamer, tied along the lines of a classic New England streamer, is an effective fly. As I noted in an earlier post, Miramichi atlantic salmon really liked it as they were heading back out to sea in early May. Ever the adventurer, at least as far as fly tying goes, I've been wondering if the makings of a new summer/fall hairwing salmon fly are lurking in the colors and materials of the Beauty.

The classic New England lines of the Deep Green Beauty (click on the pics to fill your screen with fly!):

The essential colors of the fly are that lovely deep green, the burgundy of the underwing, and the bright yellow of the body. I've certainly seen the deep green and the bright yellow in Miramichi salmon flies, but the burgundy...not so much. And just as there is a definate format to what I'm calling the New England-style streamer (thank you Carrie Stevens, Herb Welch, et.al.), there is a fairly definate overall format to atlantic salmon hairwing flies, tails and butts and such notwithstanding.

So I've set out to create a new salmon fly... all the while recognizing that there is likely nothing new under the salmon fly sun. Kind of a Don Quixote sort of a situation, but what the heck. Having said all that, here's my first iteration of the fly. It bears no name. Won't get one unless it hooks a few fish. But I already know the name. Not telling. But here's the fly:

Come July, we'll see how she flies. Or swims, I suppose.

ADDENDUM: Today I dyed up some legal polar bear in the same dye batch that I used for the streamer's saddle feathers and used that for the wing in place of the squirrel tail. I like it better. Head still needs one more coat of Cellire:

A full complement, sizes 4 through 10, regular and low water:

A Few Days in May on the Miramichi

2011-05-07T06:25:00.000-07:00

For the last couple years, I've been pleased to be the auctioneer for the Miramichi Salmon Association's spring fundraiser, The Icebreaker, held at the Woodmen's Museum in Boiestown, New Brunswick. I have a grand time doing it, and it gets me up on the river for a few days with my good friend Vin Swayze. Vin has been guiding and outfitting on the river for longer than I've been alive...let's just say he knows a thing or two about salmon fishing and the moods of the Miramichi.

Spring fishing on the river (April 15 - if the ice is out - to May 15) often means fishing from a boat. The water can be many feet above summer levels, and wading can be next to impossible. Vin has a great boat for spring fishing and general transport on the river. Its a semi-V with a 20 horse jet drive; he can go where prop boats can't. The boat has an interesting name, which I can say with some pride I had a hand in producing. Vin was asking me about windshields for it several years ago, but was just talking about one for the driver's side of the boat, leaving the passenger (that would be folks like me) to brave the weather. I kiddingly said to him , "Oh, sure, f#@k the guest!" And that became the boat's name. In polite company, the boat is just referred to as FTG. And most importantly and for the record, FTG is something Vin would never do.

Vin getting ready to head out in FTG:

Tuckaway Cabins, where I stay, was started by Vin's father. Vin has retired from active outfitting, and the day to day operations have been assumed by the Bullock family operating as Bullock's Lodge (http://bullockslodge.com/index.html). The camps make perfect salmon fishing "homes away from home":

I hit the river at a perfect time this year. Water levels were up so we could motor to any spot we wanted, and the river was cold, keeping the fish around the Boiestown area during my trip rather than heading down to the sea to rejuvenate after a winter under the river ice. Trees were beginning to bud out in Vermont when I left; not so in New Brunswick:

Fishing is by casting, long lining or trolling. There's quite a tussle going on at the moment about whether trolling should be allowed on the river at this time or not. Let me just say that if a gale is blowing, casting a sinking or sinktip line into it can be downright dangerous, if not impossible, so I say "troll on" in that instance. The equipment I used this trip consisted of a 9wt Loomis NativeRun rod, a Battenkill Large Arbor V reel and a Teeny 400gr. sinktip line. I tie my own leaders; a 9 footer tapered to a 10 pound tippet (constructed of Maxima "brown" material) allowed me to put real pressure on fish to get them landed quickly for a safe release.

Flies for spring salmon fishing on the Miramichi are pretty healthy in size. I was casting streamers like the Mickey Finn and Gray Ghost tied on #1 Daiichi 2271 hooks.

We were doing pretty well on those flies, but things really started to get interesting when I switched to what I'll call a Deep Green Beauty:

The Deep Green Beauty is tied like any of the other flies in the Ghost/Beauty series created by Carrie Stevens, but instead of peacock herl in the underwing, I've used Claret polar bear. And instead of white bucktail as the throat, I've used UV Minnow Belly material. The wing is a deep forest green, no hint of olive at all. It is a very rich looking fly! And it works:

I retired the fly after landing 7 fish on it, including the big 36 incher above. That beautiful big boy jumped 15 times, and considering it spent about 35 minutes in his jaw, the fly doesn't look too much the worse for wear:

I lost the only other copy of that fly I had on the last hit of my trip. The most vicious strike I've ever encountered separated me from it at the tippet. The fly was out about 100 feet from the boat, and we got splashed by the big fish's tail! No, really, we did!

Earlier in the trip, we were working the shoreline near Wendy and Shane Clowater's rental Moonshadow Cottage (http://www.moonshadowcottage.ca/) when Shane came out on his riverside porch with a coffee. He suggested we needed to move upriver about 100 yards - I mean meters. We did so and within 30 seconds I had a grilse on. Talk about knowing your river! Thank you, Shane!

It was a delightful trip. The weather and the river were perfect for Spring fishing on the Miramichi, and it was great to be with my growing group of friends on the river. I can't wait to go back.

Miramichi Sunset

2011-04-26T15:04:00.000-07:00

My Favorite Martian (and other little shrimps)

2011-04-23T14:43:00.000-07:00

Over the past tying season (that would be the 8 month Vermont winter), I developed an interest in Irish shrimp flies. The fly that piqued this interest, created by Peter Kealey of Northern Ireland, is the delightfully named Life on Mars:

I've no doubt that I like the shrimp flies because they are fairly easy to tie, and just like every other kid on the block, the colors speak to me...especially the clarets. The recipe for Life on Mars as I tied it:

Tag: 3-4 turns Fine Oval Silver Tinsel
Rear Body: Holographic Silver Mylar ribbed with 3 turns Fine Oval Silver Tinsel
Center Hackle and Wing: Hot Orange Cock quite long over which is tied 12-15 strands of hot orange Polar Bear and 4 strands of Pearl Krystal Flash (the original uses bucktail)
Front Body: Ruby Claret Floss
Head Hackle: Claret cock)
Eyes: Jungle Cock
Head: Fire Orange

If you get seriously into Irish shrimp flies and would like to learn more about them than just the recipes to tie them, I strongly recommend Peter O'Reilly's Trout and Salmon Flies of Ireland (Merlin Unwin Books, 1995, with subsequent reprints). From it, I learned that the first Irish Shrimp pattern, Curry's Red Shrimp, was created by Pat Curry of Coleraine, Ireland. I'm not too sure the colors are right for the Miramichi, but it was fun to tie (and I'll find out about the "rightness" of the colors later this year):

Curry's Red Shrimp pattern:

Tag: Oval Silver Tinsel

Tail: Golden Pheasant red breast feather

Rear Body: Red floss or seal's fur (I tied the example above with seal. So much more lively than floss!)

Rear Rib: Oval Silver Tinsel

Rear Veils: Red hackle tips or similar (often tied, as I did, without veiling)

Center Hackle: Silver Badger

Front Body: Black floss or seal (again, I used seal)

Front Rib: Oval Silver Tinsel

Front Veils: Red hackle tips or similar (again, not often employed these days. We're cheap and lazy.)

Eyes: Jungle Cock

Head Hackle: Silver Badger

Head: Red

Most Irish shrimp flies are characterized by their tails of red Golden Pheasant breast feathers. As I zoomed around the internet, I found that they are either tied in by tip or butt and then wound. Seems like personal preference reigns in that department...I like to tie them in by the tip.

The Faughan Shrimp gave me another opportunity to use claret materials. It's such a rich color...and it does have some history in flies on the Miramichi; the Logie comes to mind. But that's another story for another day! Speaking of "other stories", claret materials for tailing are hard to come by, and good hackles are in short supply ("hair extensions". ugh.), so I got into dyeing my own materials, and that's a lot of fun! I dyed a Golden Pheasant skin claret; it is amazing, and I used the "claretized" breast feather for the tail on this fly instead of the standard red breast feather.

Anyway, the Faughan Shrimp:

I don't know if salmon ever get the head-on view, but its pretty cool:

The Faughan Shrimp pattern:

Tag: Oval Silver Tinsel

Tail: Golden Pheasant red breast feather wound

Rib: Oval Silver Tinsel

Rear Body Half: Orange floss

Center Hackle: Orange cock

Front Body Half: Claret floss

Head Hackle: Dark claret saddle

Eyes (wing): Jungle Cock

Head: Claret

The McCormick's Shrimp really got the claret flowing:

McCormick's Shrimp pattern:

Tail 1: Claret Polar Bear or bucktail with 6 or so strands pearl Krystal Flash

Tail 2: Long claret hackle wound 3ish turns and tied back to cloak Tail 1.

Rear Body: Claret floss

Rear Rib: Oval gold tinsel

Middle Hackle: Long claret

Front Body: Claret floss

Front Rib: Oval gold tinsel

Wing: Jungle cock

Front Hackle: Hot orange

Head: Black

Lots of other shrimp to come!

The Cutty Sark

2011-04-19T13:03:00.000-07:00

Bob Warren of Princeton, Massachusetts developed the Cutty Sark (named for Bob's beverage of choice) over a period of years, starting, I believe, in the early 1990's. According to Keith Fulsher in his memoir, Atlantic Salmon Fly Tyer (Fly Fishing University Press, 2008), the fly started out as a hairwing, but Bob converted it to a featherwing fairly early in the fly's development.

You can see Bob's tie of his creation and his original recipe for the Cutty on pages 100 and 101 in the incredible Fishing Atlantic Salmon; The Flies and the Patterns, authored by Joseph D. Bates, Jr. and Pamela Bates Richards and edited by Bob Warren (Stackpole Books, 1996).

The pattern for the Cutty as I've come to tie it:

Thread: gordon griffiths 14/0 Claret

Tag: fine copper wire or oval tinsel - sized to suit fly size

Tip: either the floss blend (see below) or your orange floss of choice.

Tail: same floss as tip

Butt: black beaver dubbing

Rib: fine copper wire or oval tinsel - sized to suit fly size

Body: rear half flourescent green floss, front half peacock herl

Hackle (throat): black hen

Underwing: floss blend or peachy orange floss to tag under green flourescent floss to tip of tail

Wing: tented teal

Head: claret

Bob's original recipe calls for a blended floss in the tip and tail. I had never blended floss (nor even thought of blending floss!) until I met Bob and the Cutty Sark on the Miramichi in the late 1990's. When I was first figuring out how to tie the fly, I relied heavily on Renate Bullock (http://www.bullockslodge.com/) for help. She told me about Gordon Griffith's floss, and about the blend Bob uses on the fly. Using all Gordon Griffith's floss, the blend is 4 parts orange, 2 parts yellow, and 1 part green. Fortunately, Griffith's floss divides easily into 2 strands; if it didn't, you'd end up with a clothesline if you blended "full strength" lengths of floss. I do use it in the underwing, topped by a strand of green floss.

The ingredients and the blended floss:

The blend tied in (view of underside of fly):

I have a favorite orange floss for butts or tips on atlantic salmon flies - it's an old and discontinued (as far as I can tell) Danville floss. It comes on a wooden spool and is labeled Danville Depth Ray Nylon Flourescent. I use it on the Cutty Sark rather than the pale orange floss that Keith lists for the pattern in his book referenced above. And it seems to work. This 18 pound hen was swimming innocently enough in the Northwest Miramichi when my number six Cutty Sark swam by and grabbed her attention. My guide looks a little goofy but he was a nice fellow donating his time to the Miramichi Salmon Association's Classic, a delightful couple days of fishing that benefits that organization. It is NOT a competition. (photo by Wally Murray):

Bob's experience with the Cutty Sark indicates that it is most successful as a size 6 fly. I'm a believer!

Is your butt dragging?

2011-04-17T11:28:00.000-07:00

My friend Bob Warren showed me this nifty trick several years ago. Its a great way to prevent a drooping butt...at least as far as salmon flies go!

First, after tying in the tinsel tag, run the thread (I always use white thread when I'm using flourescent floss) to the forward-most point of what will become the butt and tie in the floss like this:

I use Gordon Griffiths floss for my flies. Its hard to come by, so I'm always on the lookout for it. I think its depth of color is unparalled and that alone would be reason to use it, but its also easily split into two halves. I think I get a smoother, sleeker butt or body by just using a half. If you like ridges in your butt or body (keep your mind on the fly), then don't split the floss. I do know some tyers that like that look better.

Well...wind the floss back to the tag and forward again to the tie-in point and tie off with a couple thread wraps:

Now bring that little bit of floss up over that tag, make a thread wrap, give the floss another little snugging tug, and tie it in:

Now your butt won't drag!

I can't keep myself from adding a little extra note to this post. On one of the internet forums I frequent, some fellows were extolling the virtues of cheap flies recently, as low as 50 cents each on the internet's most popular auction site. They even mentioned a couple of that site's online fly shops that had "great, cheap flies". Well, speaking of dragging butts, here's what those guys thought were a good deal (photos from the auction site...THESE ARE NOT MY FLIES!!!)

Some folks are easily pleased, I guess. I sell my hairwing salmon flies for four dollars each. At least they don't start out looking like they've been fished for a hundred years! Never was this more true, in my opinion: you get what you pay for, fly-wise. And finally, as Jerry Doak says on his website (http://www.doak.com/), "...the fly is the only part of your tackle that a salmon sees, so isn't it the last place you should cut corners?"

A couple for spring on the Miramichi

2011-04-17T10:50:00.000-07:00

My fly box for Spring fishing on the Miramichi is my most colorful fly box of all:

These flies are the largest I fish on the Miramichi for the year, and easily the gaudiest! Kelts (salmon that have wintered under the river's ice and are heading back to sea at ice out) are actively feeding at this time; other than perhaps the Blue Smelt, there is certainly no "matching the hatch" going on here!

A couple from the box:

Blue Smelt ( I found a photo of this fly on Miramichi outfitter and lodge Country Haven's website; it looked to good not to copy):

The Golden Eagle (a pretty traditional Miramichi Spring fly):

I look forward to reporting on my trip!

I just read Keith Wilson's Miramichi river report (http://www.wilsonscamps.nb.ca/) for today, April 18, 2011, and notice he mentioned that the Christmas Tree is the fly of the moment for his sports on the river, so I thought I'd add one to this post for you:

Here's hoping Christmas comes early for me in two weeks up in New Brunswick!

Streamer Time

2011-04-15T07:53:00.000-07:00

Spring means streamer fishing to me, whether its swinging for browns in the Batten Kill, swinging or trolling for landlocks and brook trout in the Rangeley region, or casting for kelts on the Miramichi. I spend many winter hours tying streamers, and this past winter was no exception....with one exception: for a couple months I couldn't tie due to rotator cuff surgery. But I found I could make wing assemblies for Gray Ghosts and Green Beauties, to name a couple favorites. Unable to do much else, I made a lot of wings. (click on any pic to get a full-sized image)

I make my wing assemblies the same way Carrie Stevens is reported to have done it: each wing "side" consists of matched chicken feathers (usually from Whiting American saddles or capes), plus a cheek of either silver pheasant or a duck species, and a jungle cock eye. So there are a total of 8 feathers in a complete wing. I used to use old, thick head cement as glue but have switched to Flexament for its, well, flexibility. Just a small line of it on each feather shaft gets the job done for me.

I'd have to say that my favorite streamer, in both casting and trolling form, is Carrie Stevens' Green Beauty. It outfished other streamers handily last June in Maine. And I just really like the way it looks.

Streamer afficionados will note that there's no bucktail, no golden pheasant crest and no peacock herl in my tie of this classic. I now use Hareline's UV Minnow Belly flash for the, er, belly on the fly, and either of a couple dark flashes up between the wing that simulate the peacock herl in the original pattern. I've had great success with this combination tied on Daiichi 2340's, The Fly Shop's TFS 300 (a great bargain!) or old faithful, the Mustad 3665A. At Upper Dam, the brook trout and landlocks like sizes 4 and 6 quite a bit!

The Gray Ghost, maybe the most well-known of Carrie Stevens' creations, is another staple in my streamer stable (doncha just love alliteration?) And again, I abandon the traditional belly and wing add-ons, and just use the UV minnow belly and a dark flash.

I vary the wing color. Bob Hilyard reported, in his excellent book, Carrie Stevens, that she did too. Apparently she didn't have a consistent source for her wing feathers, and took what she could get.

Herbie Welche's creation, the Black Ghost, is another streamer favorite of mine. And yes, I tinker with the original pattern on this fly too. In place of the typical black floss body, I've started using Diamond Braid in black. Lots 'o flash!

I've given a little change-up to the venerable Mickey Finn. The wing is legal polar bear that I dyed using Jacquard acid dye from Dharma Trading. The body is EZ braid; I tie a silver mylar body on before the EZ braid to give it some real smash. The hook is a #2 Daiichi 2271.

Maybe my new best friend, I'm really happy with the looks of this streamer. Obviously, its put together like many of the Stevens-style streamers, and I'm happy to give all the attribution I can to the streamers that have gone before. I've merely changed up the colors and the "accutrements." I dyed a white Whiting saddle with a Jacquard acid dye combination, and came up with the color you see. The "underwing" is burgundy polar bear. My delightful (and very Irish) companion Bridget said, when she saw the chunk of polar bear and the saddle lying on the drying table, that they were great Celtic colors, and would look great together. Who am I to argue with that??

And finally - and I can't wait to get this one wet, hopefully in the next couple weeks up on the Saranac River in Plattsburgh, New York with my new forum friend John (Hitcher on SpeyClave forum) - what I'll call my Electric Magog. Its a flashier (you knew that was coming!) version of the Magog Smelt, an old New England favorite. I replace the bucktail wing with legal polar bear that I dye myself, and add a little of the flash du jour to top the wing off. This fly is tied on a Daiichi 2271 hook.

Well, those are my favorite casting streamers. Here's a little palette of their cousins, the trollers:

And then of course, there are the spring streamers for the Miramichi...but they're another story!

Here's hoping the rivers calm down soon, I want to go streamer swinging!

Golden Pheasant Spey

2011-04-04T15:45:00.000-07:00

The Golden Pheasant Spey fly was developed by my good friend and salmon fishing campmate, Bob Warren. Bob edited the beautiful Fishing Atlantic Salmon - the Flies and the Patterns by Joseph D. Bates, Jr. and Pamela Bates Richards. His flies can be seen in that book, as well as in Bob Veverka's Spey Flies and How to Tie Them, Dick Stewart and Farrow Allen's Flies for Atlantic Salmon and others.

It's primarily an autumn fly, created for the Miramichi, where Bob has been fishing for more than 30 years. In 2011, in very low water, we fished it down to size 10. In more "normal" (whatever that means!) water levels, sizes 4 and 6 work well. Its always good to have an assortment of sizes!

One of the things I enjoy most about the Golden Pheasant Spey, aside from the way salmon take it, is the beauty of the materials used to create the fly. Other than the thread, tinsel and floss, its a "natural" fly; I couldn't make myself add synthetic flash to the tail - and I often do just that to other classic flies. But not this fly. Just laying out the materials for the fly is a joy!

The recipe:

Hook: The G.P. Spey lends itself beautifully to hooks like Bob Veverka's Daiichi 2139

Tag: Oval copper tinsel, sized to suit hook size

Tail: Golden Pheasant crest over orange Polar Bear. I like the length just a bit longer than the fly's body.

Body: Rear half hot orange floss or silk, ribbed with oval copper tinsel and veiled with yellow Golden Pheasant rump feathers; black ostrich herl dividing the two body halves; front half oval copper tinsel wrapped in touching turns.

Hackle: Claret hackle (I like Whiting American hen; others may prefer cock.) Bob's original recipe calls for two Golden Pheasant breast feathers over the claret. I dyed a G.P. skin claret, and use those claret-dyed feathers....just looks so regal against the copper.

Head: Claret

I've found that its important to maintain a nice gradual taper on the front half of the body so that the copper tinsel lays down nicely with no gaps. Tinsel doesn't like steep tapers!

All told, its a beautiful fly created by one of the modern masters of the atlantic salmon fly.

The Sneaky

2011-04-03T07:35:00.000-07:00

I first ran into the Sneaky, in its blue morph, in 2009 on the Miramichi in Boisetown, New Brunswick. Great guide and good friend Renate Bullock had given one to my fishing partner, Wally. I didn't see the fly until after he had landed a grilse on it at Camp Pool. This was in July. I think my first reaction was something like, "What IS that thing?" Really unlike any atlantic salmon fly I'd ever seen. And for that week, it landed its one fish, and was put away.

During the following winter, always looking for tying projects, I remembered the blue Sneaky, and asked Renate to email me a photo of the fly. She did...and it looked worse to me - as a salmon fly - than it did the first time I saw it. I rummaged around my fly tying books, and found an orange version of the Sneaky in Paul Marriner's Modern Atlantic Salmon Flies. I "googled" the Sneaky, and found it nicely tucked away on a site, flyfishingns.com, owned, I believe, by Joel Sampson. He reported that the fly was designed by Mike Boudreau ca. 1996 for slow, low water conditions.

Well, cutting to the chase, I tied up a batch of Sneakies, both orange and blue, over the winter of 2010. Its a small fly; I tied a few in size 6, a few 8's, and a batch of 10's. Forward to September, 2011 at Tuckaway Camps (now Bullock's Lodge)...the water is low and slow. I landed fish first on an Ally's Shrimp, then switched to a Cascade - both flies mainly orange. But the fish were hard to come by. Sneakies and their little jungle cock eyes stared out at me from their fly box home; if flies could beg to be used, they were doing it. So I tied on a number 10, and things started to happen. The number 10 orange Sneaky became the fly of the week; one of the sports in camp landed 2 salmon and 2 grilse on it the last evening in camp.

Here's a little army of blue Sneaky's:

It's a simple little pattern (Orange morph):

Tag: oval gold tinsel

Tail: 2 or 3 strands of your orange flash du jour

Body: hot orange floss (I have a couple old wooden spools of a Danville orange that I can't find anymore that is awesome for this fly - or any that needs hot orange.

Rib: oval gold tinsel

Wing: tied in at the head, a small batch of polar bear and 3 or 4 lengths of flash

Eyes: JC

Throat: Orange or white or none at all hackle. I use Whiting hen hackle when I remember to put a throat on.

Head: Red (I love Gordon Griffiths 14/0 thread for all my flies, but especially for little jobbers like the Sneaky

And a little evidence of the power of the Sneaky! Walt Scheffler landed 2 grilse and 2 salmon, including this big boy, on number 10 Sneakies tied by great friend and wonderful guide Renate Bullock (http://www.bullockslodge.com/) the last night in camp (photo courtesy Renate Bullock). Looks like I was designated rod caddy that evening!:

Mike Boudreau's (the Sneaky's creator) brother Bob has a lovely website about fishing for atlantic salmon in Nova Scotia. Bob writes delightfully of the reasons so many of us fish for atlantic salmon. Check his site out: http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/salmon/ .

Following The River's Course

2011-03-13T07:26:00.000-07:00

Fishing for atlantic salmon and trout, and hunting ruffed grouse and woodcock are endeavors that have added immeasurably to the quality of my life...and if you're reading this blog, I hope yours too. I look forward to sharing thoughts and images of time spent afield, at the tying bench and with very good friends. Please do note that you may not copy the images or statements made on this Blog without my express written permission. Thanks for understanding and respecting.

Something for the coming autumn on atlantic salmon rivers, my tie of Emmett Johnson's version of the General Practitioner:

The Pattern:

Tag: Small flat gold tinsel

      Tail: Orange polar bear, 2 strands of pearl crystal flash and 1 strand
             of pearl flashabou
       Rib: Small flat gold tinsel with an orange rooster saddle hackle
              palmered from tag to the head of the fly.
       Body: Orange seal dubbing
       Underwing: Golden pheasant tippet clipped in a V shape to extend to the
                          bend of the hook.
       Wing: Red golden pheasant breast feathers (3) tied as a roof.

Head: Red

Waiting for Autumn: