As many may know I started up an online Fly Shop in the last couple years, and I recently redesigned the website. I believe the new design is a big improvement and offers much more room for expanding my inventory of products. So head on over to www.jumpcreekflies.com and check out our new look, and while your at it, take advantage of our Grand Opening Special. With any purchase of a dozen or more flies get 6 more flies of your choice FREE!
It's never too early to start thinking about your next trip to the river!
Showing posts with label Jump Creek Flies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jump Creek Flies. Show all posts
11.26.2012
4.03.2012
3.09.2012
What I Learned This Week on the River - Episode #1
Most weeks I get out fishing at least once. And every time I go I learn or in some cases relearn something. So I hope to pass on these little items on a somewhat weekly basis. These tips can be about pretty much anything related to fly fishing and some may help you, some may not. Take them for what they are worth.
So on to this weeks items. Two things happened that were "light bulb" moments when I was on the water this week. Lets start with an, "oh duh" moment to establish that I can be pretty blockheaded at times.
#1)For a long time I have fished with fly patterns that use CDC and thus my favorite floatant to carry on the water is of the powdered desiccant variety, such as Frogs Fanny or Doc's Dry dust. These types of floatants do a great job with CDC, but when you open the bottle and apply it to the fly, the fine powder tends to stay airborne a long time. To avoid inadvertently breathing any of this stuff in, which I can't imagine would be good for you, I have always turned my back to any wind or breeze, and applied the powder to the fly, thinking the breeze would carry the powder away from me. However, I still managed on occasion to somehow breath a little in and it was getting old. Finally I realized the swirling current coming around my back was not always carrying the powder away from me but in fact sucking it right back into me. I was creating an eddy and we fishermen know what eddies do. Well ***ding*** the light bulb went on yesterday, and I figured out that the best way to make sure the excess powder gets blown away from me is to turn sideways to the wind when applying this product to a fly. It works much better.
Well now I feel silly as that was probably pretty obvious, but my lungs thank me today for finally thinking of this.
#2)Now on to an a actual fly fishing item. Fish can be feeding in a spot, but it's good to ask yourself, where is the food they are eating coming from? Another pretty obvious tip, but one that is good to remember on the water, so I don't feel bad bringing it up. Here is what I mean by that.
 |
| Exhibit A |
Refer to the above rudimentary drawing to visualize this scenario. This week I was fishing to a lonely riser that was feeding in the very center of a 2 foot by 2 foot area in the midst of three boulders in the stream. My only real approach to the fish was from the rear right of the fish, just because of the way the rocks were situated. Because I had this defined area that the fish was in, between these rocks, I just assumed that any fly that flowed through this area would be on the fish's radar. The way the rocks were situated, and the way I had to approach the lie, the easiest way to fish this was going to be to cast just to the right of Rock 1 in the picture, and let the current push the fly through the middle of the area. It seemed logical that if the fly floated right through the center of the area the fish was rising there was a good chance it would see my fly and hopefully rise to it. After making several fruitless casts I wondered about my fly selection, but as is usually the case, it is often more about our presentation than it is about the fly we are using, so I stuck with it.
Then I noticed that while the fish was in fact feeding in the middle of this area, where my fly had been floating directly over, there were two currents coming together here, and it occurred to me the fish may be positioned to feed on bugs coming from the current pushing off of the left shoulder of Rock 2 (again see above picture). I had cast to the current flowing off the lead rock because it was easier to get my fly drifting from there, to where the fish was feeding, and this current coming from the right was a much tougher cast. The window of where my fly could land without spooking the fish on one side, and getting caught up on Rock 2 on the other side, was much smaller. It was worth a shot though. I loaded the rod and some how managed to drop the fly in that little window on the first cast, and sure enough the fish was all over it. Lesson learned, or relearned, and I will probably have to be reminded of it again one of these days.
It was a rewarding week on the river and with these reminders I hope we all can keep our lungs clear of "Frogs Fanny" and our flies in the correct feeding lane of hungry fish.
Tight Lines.
2.10.2012
Still got it and, I (heart) dual purpose flies
I went a whole month without fishing. Yes it's true. I didn't like it either. Actually the drought stretched almost two months. The last time I was on the water was around my Birthday in early December. So for the first month in almost three years, I did not catch a fish in the month of January this year. That's my sob story, but there is only one way to fix this problem. It was time to take action.
This winter has been fairly busy, but still there is no excuse. My fly tying has taken off and really kept me busy but that is definitely not an excuse. Honestly I do enjoy tying a good fly almost as much as fishing, so the time spent at the vise these last couple months has been very enjoyable. Maybe that's one reason I haven't fished as much. Keeping busy tying scratched that itch just enough. But still there comes a time when a person just has had enough and needs to hold the cork,waive the stick, and put some of those creations from the vise in front of some fish.
There is a moment of self doubt when I pick up an activity again after a little time off. Each winter the first time I hit the ski slopes, I always wonder on the lift ride up the mountain for that first run if I have completely forgotten how to ski. In the case of skiing my fear is often very legitimate though as I take my first run of the year tumbling down the mountain. So as I drove up the road to the river yesterday I wondered if in two months off from fishing I had forgotten how to properly present a #22 midge to a wily brown trout.
However as I pulled up to the first run I wanted to check out and looked down into a stretch of water filled with rising trout, instinct took over and I became a flurry of activity. Waders on, Boots, Fly rod rigged, off to the water without even a second thought of how well I would be able to present a fly to these fish. Then as I reached the edge of the water it hit me. This is real. The frantic pace at which I had gotten ready quickly shifted to a much slower gear, and every step in the calm section of river was made with extreme caution not to make any sudden movements that throw ripples over these fish, and tip them off to my presence. Getting my wading legs under me proved interesting. In my eagerness I placed a boot on the side of a hidden rock and slipped a bit. Careful. Pausing to give a chance for the slight disturbance this caused to subside I saw the fish were still slurping away. No harm no foul. But now the doubts were back.
These fish were not going to just come to the net. They were feeding in a calm slow moving section of river on midges, and from my experience, more likely half emerged midges, not the fully hatched adults that littered the surface. I tied on a Harrops Transitional Midge, one of my favorite midge patterns and took aim at the closest snout.
First cast, you guessed it, the back cast got caught up in a bank side willow I had misjudged my proximity to. After slipping a few times getting in, and not wanting to wade back to the shore if I could help it, I took the lazy route and tugged on the fly a few times and was pleasantly surprised when it popped free still attached to the tippet. Without examining the fly I loaded the rod and dropped a fair cast in the feeding zone of the nearest trout. Sure enough, my fly selection had been spot on, as if on cue the trout rose and grapped the bug. I set the hook, but it popped free. Oh well I had got a take, my confidence was improving. But it quickly turned to frustration.
The next three fish all had the same story. I would finally get a good drift, have them take, and have the hook come free on the set. I am just rusty I thought. But I decided to take a look at the fly. Well it seems the fly I was using was missing a key ingredient. The hook point. Apparently popping the small fly out of the willow, had broken the hook at the bend, so I was practicing the ultimate in catch and release techniques. As I examined my fly box for a replacement I realized that this had been the only transitional midge pattern in my box. So much for all that time at the vise, apparently tying every pattern but the Harrops Transitional midge.
So I resorted to trying out several patterns over the next 15 minutes, mostly they all were meant to mimic the adult midge, but I tried to modify and fish them as much like the transitional as possible. It wasn't working. The fish ignored every other fly. Then I had an idea. I have a mayfly emerger pattern I tie that uses a similar CDC bubble on the back of the fly that really works well during the appropriate mayfly hatch. The Bubbleback Emerger.
This picture is of the PMD version of the fly, but I tie a BWO version that is darker and on the whole I tie it in smaller sizes. So I wondered, even though there were no BWO's to be seen, if this pattern would pass well enough for a transitional midge. I tied on the smallest one I had, and made my approach to a big snout rising regularly just off the bank along a partly visible boulder jutting from the water. It didn't take long to find out if the fish would take this fly as a midge. The fly landed and wasn't on the water for more than a couple seconds when that fish rose and engulfed it. And with the help of an actual hook point on this fly, I was connected to my first fish of 2012.
As the fish took to the air, then ripped up river, then back down, I simply put my head back and breathed a huge breath of fresh air, relishing the moment. The fish was a healthy 18 incher that didn't come in without a fight. Finally a fish to hand.
As the hour wore on I hooked and landed 5 more fish on the BWO Bubble Emerger in the midst of a blanket midge hatch, and discovered a new use for one of my favorite mayfly emerger patterns. Life is good, and I can still catch fish. Ahhhh.
This winter has been fairly busy, but still there is no excuse. My fly tying has taken off and really kept me busy but that is definitely not an excuse. Honestly I do enjoy tying a good fly almost as much as fishing, so the time spent at the vise these last couple months has been very enjoyable. Maybe that's one reason I haven't fished as much. Keeping busy tying scratched that itch just enough. But still there comes a time when a person just has had enough and needs to hold the cork,waive the stick, and put some of those creations from the vise in front of some fish.
There is a moment of self doubt when I pick up an activity again after a little time off. Each winter the first time I hit the ski slopes, I always wonder on the lift ride up the mountain for that first run if I have completely forgotten how to ski. In the case of skiing my fear is often very legitimate though as I take my first run of the year tumbling down the mountain. So as I drove up the road to the river yesterday I wondered if in two months off from fishing I had forgotten how to properly present a #22 midge to a wily brown trout.
However as I pulled up to the first run I wanted to check out and looked down into a stretch of water filled with rising trout, instinct took over and I became a flurry of activity. Waders on, Boots, Fly rod rigged, off to the water without even a second thought of how well I would be able to present a fly to these fish. Then as I reached the edge of the water it hit me. This is real. The frantic pace at which I had gotten ready quickly shifted to a much slower gear, and every step in the calm section of river was made with extreme caution not to make any sudden movements that throw ripples over these fish, and tip them off to my presence. Getting my wading legs under me proved interesting. In my eagerness I placed a boot on the side of a hidden rock and slipped a bit. Careful. Pausing to give a chance for the slight disturbance this caused to subside I saw the fish were still slurping away. No harm no foul. But now the doubts were back.
These fish were not going to just come to the net. They were feeding in a calm slow moving section of river on midges, and from my experience, more likely half emerged midges, not the fully hatched adults that littered the surface. I tied on a Harrops Transitional Midge, one of my favorite midge patterns and took aim at the closest snout.
First cast, you guessed it, the back cast got caught up in a bank side willow I had misjudged my proximity to. After slipping a few times getting in, and not wanting to wade back to the shore if I could help it, I took the lazy route and tugged on the fly a few times and was pleasantly surprised when it popped free still attached to the tippet. Without examining the fly I loaded the rod and dropped a fair cast in the feeding zone of the nearest trout. Sure enough, my fly selection had been spot on, as if on cue the trout rose and grapped the bug. I set the hook, but it popped free. Oh well I had got a take, my confidence was improving. But it quickly turned to frustration.
The next three fish all had the same story. I would finally get a good drift, have them take, and have the hook come free on the set. I am just rusty I thought. But I decided to take a look at the fly. Well it seems the fly I was using was missing a key ingredient. The hook point. Apparently popping the small fly out of the willow, had broken the hook at the bend, so I was practicing the ultimate in catch and release techniques. As I examined my fly box for a replacement I realized that this had been the only transitional midge pattern in my box. So much for all that time at the vise, apparently tying every pattern but the Harrops Transitional midge.
So I resorted to trying out several patterns over the next 15 minutes, mostly they all were meant to mimic the adult midge, but I tried to modify and fish them as much like the transitional as possible. It wasn't working. The fish ignored every other fly. Then I had an idea. I have a mayfly emerger pattern I tie that uses a similar CDC bubble on the back of the fly that really works well during the appropriate mayfly hatch. The Bubbleback Emerger.
As the fish took to the air, then ripped up river, then back down, I simply put my head back and breathed a huge breath of fresh air, relishing the moment. The fish was a healthy 18 incher that didn't come in without a fight. Finally a fish to hand.
As the hour wore on I hooked and landed 5 more fish on the BWO Bubble Emerger in the midst of a blanket midge hatch, and discovered a new use for one of my favorite mayfly emerger patterns. Life is good, and I can still catch fish. Ahhhh.
1.26.2012
11.04.2011
Rambling on about BWO's on Sunny Days
I live in a place with four distinct seasons, and for many reasons I
am glad for that. From a fly fishing perspective each season brings new
hatches, and a new approach to the rivers and lakes I love to fish. It
seems that every time the seasons change I catch myself saying "this is
my favorite time of year to fish." The changing seasons and their
effects on our favorite fishing waters have a way of keeping things
interesting. And it is true that each and every season is my favorite
one for fishing. If asked to pick one, I will pick whatever current season we happen to be in.
Now since we find ourselves smack in the middle of the fall, and around here that means BWO's in big numbers I figured I would touch on something I have notice this fall in fishing the small baetis patterns. It is fairly common knowlege amongst fly fishers that some of the worst fall weather is prime time for fishing these bugs as they seem to emerge in prolific numbers during those more adverse weather conditions. If you are lucky enough to be able to pick and choose last minute the days you are going to fish, it may be no problem to wake up, look out the window, see perfect BWO conditions and make the decision then and there that you are going to hit the water. But for others that may not be so lucky, it will invariably happen that the day you can fish is the brightest sunny day of the fall, and is not so ideal for a large BWO emergence. However BWO's still hatch on these days it just may require a little more effort to find them, and to find the fish up feeding on them.
It seems that the hatches are a bit shorter lived on those sunny days, but they do exist. From my experience it may happen a little earlier in the day than it would on the nastier days, but not always. It will require a little scouting and moving around, but often the bugs and the fish rising to them can be found. When I get to the river on those bright sunny fall days the first places I will look are the portions of river that will be the first to be shaded by the afternoon sun. I don't necessarily know if the sun is an aversion to the bugs themselves, but I do think that the fish will be more likely to rise for the bugs if the high afternoon sun is not beating down directly on the water.
For example on a recent trip to a favorite fall river in the area, on one of these sunny days, I drove into one of my favorite fall holes, that fits the description above perfectly. It is also a perfect BWO run. A nice moderate riffle, a perfect place for a BWO nymph to live it's pre-dun life feeds into a long, slow, and deep section of water with a lot of scattered boulders and structure. The bugs hatch up in those riffles then the sailboat profiled duns drift slowly along the slower stretch attempting to dry their wings enough to be able to take flight. The fish will often be in the tail of the riffles, and scattered through the slower water picking off duns, but also looking for any of those less fortunate bugs that have had difficulty emerging. Helplessly they too float along the current, powerless against the river, or the fish that lurk below. These cripple and stillborn bugs provide an easy target and the fish know it, and they do seek them out.
This run also happens to run against a steep hill side that casts a shadow on the river very early in the fall afternoon. On this particular day as I arrived at the run I jumped out of the truck and pushed through some bank side brush to get a peek at what was happening on the river. While I knew with the bright sun overhead there was a chance that not much would be happening I was pleasantly surprised when I noticed several fish feeding near the far bank. As I sat and watched the activity in the run for a few minutes it became clear to me there was a distinct pattern to where the fish were feeding. The pool was half in shade, half in the sun and a large pod of fish were feeding here, but they never fed out in the sunny portion of the river. As the sun moved slowly overhead, and thus the shadows crept down river, so did the feeding fish. Big trout would feed right up to the edge of the shaded section, but no further. There were plenty of bugs on the water in the sun, but it was becoming clear, it wasn't the bugs avoiding the sun, it was the fish.
In the fall many of our rivers are also at lower flows, and the water is usually very clear. The low, and clear fall water conditions, means fish have to be especially mindful of the threat of predators. The fish will be very careful to avoid the revealing light from above, and will try and stay close to deeper holes, and structure as they come out to feed. Finding stretches of river like this run is the key to finding fish up on BWO's even on sunny days.
On this particular day I landed several smaller fish in that shaded section of the pool, but as the hatch waned, the pool quieted, and the river that had just seemed loaded with fish, suddenly appeared deserted. But I knew there were still opportunities there. I carefully waded up the now completely shaded side of the river, tight against the bank, pausing to examine every little pocket, exposed rock, tiny current seam or other structure along it. Suddenly my eyes were drawn to a dark spot that barely made a ripple in the lazy current, just to the right of a small exposed rock. The naturally broken current as if flowed along the rock disguised a well hidden fish, sipping the scraps of dead, spent, and half hatched bugs being congregated along the bank, and then funneled off the current seam this little rock created. The rises were methodical, but so subtle they could easily be missed. This is when I often catch some of the larger fish during a hatch. After the frenzy has subsided, and the bigger fish come out to snack on the easy prey that the buffet of helpless scraps presents. They take the best lies where the wind and current collect the helpless insects and sip subtly to their hearts content.
I waded into position and made sure my CDC Wing Sparkle Dun was ready to go. I checked my knots one last time, and stripped out several arm lengths of line. Hoping to time things just right I waited for the fish to rise again before making my cast. His dark nose appeared once, then twice, and I knew it was time. A couple false casts to work enough line through my guides and I let it go. The line straitened perfectly dropping the small fly just ahead of the feeding trout. Sure enough as the fly pushed off the side of the rock floating with the current that gentle sipper took it just like he had been taking the naturals. Bringing up the rod I felt the heaviness of a big bodied trout that immediately bolted for the middle of the river. Slugging it out there and hoping to not let the big fish get downstream of me where it could really use the current to it's advantage I put a bit of extra pressure on. The fish was strong and surged against that pressure, but I managed to keep it under control. As it slid closer to the net I admired a hefty fall fish that would easily go over 20 inches. Exactly why fall is currently my favorite fly fishing season. But winter is on deck.
Now since we find ourselves smack in the middle of the fall, and around here that means BWO's in big numbers I figured I would touch on something I have notice this fall in fishing the small baetis patterns. It is fairly common knowlege amongst fly fishers that some of the worst fall weather is prime time for fishing these bugs as they seem to emerge in prolific numbers during those more adverse weather conditions. If you are lucky enough to be able to pick and choose last minute the days you are going to fish, it may be no problem to wake up, look out the window, see perfect BWO conditions and make the decision then and there that you are going to hit the water. But for others that may not be so lucky, it will invariably happen that the day you can fish is the brightest sunny day of the fall, and is not so ideal for a large BWO emergence. However BWO's still hatch on these days it just may require a little more effort to find them, and to find the fish up feeding on them.
It seems that the hatches are a bit shorter lived on those sunny days, but they do exist. From my experience it may happen a little earlier in the day than it would on the nastier days, but not always. It will require a little scouting and moving around, but often the bugs and the fish rising to them can be found. When I get to the river on those bright sunny fall days the first places I will look are the portions of river that will be the first to be shaded by the afternoon sun. I don't necessarily know if the sun is an aversion to the bugs themselves, but I do think that the fish will be more likely to rise for the bugs if the high afternoon sun is not beating down directly on the water.
For example on a recent trip to a favorite fall river in the area, on one of these sunny days, I drove into one of my favorite fall holes, that fits the description above perfectly. It is also a perfect BWO run. A nice moderate riffle, a perfect place for a BWO nymph to live it's pre-dun life feeds into a long, slow, and deep section of water with a lot of scattered boulders and structure. The bugs hatch up in those riffles then the sailboat profiled duns drift slowly along the slower stretch attempting to dry their wings enough to be able to take flight. The fish will often be in the tail of the riffles, and scattered through the slower water picking off duns, but also looking for any of those less fortunate bugs that have had difficulty emerging. Helplessly they too float along the current, powerless against the river, or the fish that lurk below. These cripple and stillborn bugs provide an easy target and the fish know it, and they do seek them out.
This run also happens to run against a steep hill side that casts a shadow on the river very early in the fall afternoon. On this particular day as I arrived at the run I jumped out of the truck and pushed through some bank side brush to get a peek at what was happening on the river. While I knew with the bright sun overhead there was a chance that not much would be happening I was pleasantly surprised when I noticed several fish feeding near the far bank. As I sat and watched the activity in the run for a few minutes it became clear to me there was a distinct pattern to where the fish were feeding. The pool was half in shade, half in the sun and a large pod of fish were feeding here, but they never fed out in the sunny portion of the river. As the sun moved slowly overhead, and thus the shadows crept down river, so did the feeding fish. Big trout would feed right up to the edge of the shaded section, but no further. There were plenty of bugs on the water in the sun, but it was becoming clear, it wasn't the bugs avoiding the sun, it was the fish.
In the fall many of our rivers are also at lower flows, and the water is usually very clear. The low, and clear fall water conditions, means fish have to be especially mindful of the threat of predators. The fish will be very careful to avoid the revealing light from above, and will try and stay close to deeper holes, and structure as they come out to feed. Finding stretches of river like this run is the key to finding fish up on BWO's even on sunny days.
On this particular day I landed several smaller fish in that shaded section of the pool, but as the hatch waned, the pool quieted, and the river that had just seemed loaded with fish, suddenly appeared deserted. But I knew there were still opportunities there. I carefully waded up the now completely shaded side of the river, tight against the bank, pausing to examine every little pocket, exposed rock, tiny current seam or other structure along it. Suddenly my eyes were drawn to a dark spot that barely made a ripple in the lazy current, just to the right of a small exposed rock. The naturally broken current as if flowed along the rock disguised a well hidden fish, sipping the scraps of dead, spent, and half hatched bugs being congregated along the bank, and then funneled off the current seam this little rock created. The rises were methodical, but so subtle they could easily be missed. This is when I often catch some of the larger fish during a hatch. After the frenzy has subsided, and the bigger fish come out to snack on the easy prey that the buffet of helpless scraps presents. They take the best lies where the wind and current collect the helpless insects and sip subtly to their hearts content.
I waded into position and made sure my CDC Wing Sparkle Dun was ready to go. I checked my knots one last time, and stripped out several arm lengths of line. Hoping to time things just right I waited for the fish to rise again before making my cast. His dark nose appeared once, then twice, and I knew it was time. A couple false casts to work enough line through my guides and I let it go. The line straitened perfectly dropping the small fly just ahead of the feeding trout. Sure enough as the fly pushed off the side of the rock floating with the current that gentle sipper took it just like he had been taking the naturals. Bringing up the rod I felt the heaviness of a big bodied trout that immediately bolted for the middle of the river. Slugging it out there and hoping to not let the big fish get downstream of me where it could really use the current to it's advantage I put a bit of extra pressure on. The fish was strong and surged against that pressure, but I managed to keep it under control. As it slid closer to the net I admired a hefty fall fish that would easily go over 20 inches. Exactly why fall is currently my favorite fly fishing season. But winter is on deck.
9.22.2011
A Morning on the River
Here is just a little sample of one of my usual morning jaunts up the river. I am still learning a lot when it comes to video but here it is:
1.01.2011
Jump Creek Flies
Welcome to the New Year and something new here on the blog. As of January 1st I will begin making a few of my best producing patterns available for purchase here. To the right you will see the storefront where fly patterns will be made available for sale. You can use that application to order, and pay for your flies. Also feel free to visit www.jumpcreekflies.com
All flies I sell will have been tied by me personally. Every pattern will also be one which I personally have proven. I will never sell a pattern that has not produced for me on a regular basis. I plan to offer a small selection of high quality, hand tied flies, with a personal touch, and at a very reasonable price.
Thanks for looking and hope you have a New Year filled with Tight Lines.
Benji Sorenson
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