Question:

The Mid-Willamette Fly Fishers (MWFF) have their monthly meeting this July 9, with Jeff Morgan giving a show about the Yellowstone area as the featured presentation. Jeff gave an excellent presentation about fishing the Cascades to the MWFF about 1 year ago, and has been getting around to many Oregon fly fishing clubs. For more information, please see:      http://www.ovra.com/mwff and grab our July newsletter and club brochure (for time/place/directions info). Thomas Gilg

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Jeff’s presentation on Yellowstone is outstanding.  He put it on up this earlier this year.  It would be worth the drive to see it again.   He talked about  the smaller streams and waters off the tourist path waters in Yellowstone.  Anyone (  even if you think you may never go to Yelowstone ) around that part of the world should show up for his talk.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – The Mid-Willamette Fly Fishers (MWFF) have their monthly meeting this July 9, with Jeff Morgan giving a show about the Yellowstone area as the featured presentation. Jeff gave an excellent presentation about fishing the Cascades to the MWFF about 1 year ago, and has been getting around to many Oregon fly fishing clubs. For more information, please see:      http://www.ovra.com/mwff and grab our July newsletter and club brochure (for time/place/directions info). Thomas Gilg

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Question:

I’m just trying to figure out where there’s *any* flyfishing near the Frying Pan river. I lived there for 15 years and all I ever saw was a liquid golf course. — TBone Walker The Halfordian Golfer

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The Green through Wyoming has far fewer fish per mile but the fishery is much more wild and in many stretches there are very few anglers.

I would humbly suggest a copy of the book "A River No More" so you can appreciate fully your understatement. Your pal, — TBone Walker The Halfordian Golfer

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I’m just trying to figure out where there’s *any* flyfishing near the Frying Pan river. I lived there for 15 years and all I ever saw was a liquid golf course.

Liquid Golf Course, eh?  I suppose to each is own!  I admit I was never crazy about fishing the Frying Pan right at the dam.  You almost spend more time cleaning up trash than working the river.  Some good size fish that have been hooked to death.  But then again any tailwater that has such a limited flow will exhibit such problems to the fish.  The Taylor, Frying Pan, Williams Fork, and the South Platte all come to mind.   Let’s not forget the great opportunities Colorado offers for the fly fisherman.  So many fisherman drive past some incredible freestone rivers to get to what some call the Disney Parks of fly fishing.  But to each is own and who am I to judge?  I fished as many rivers as possible and I enjoyed the unique view each one had to offer. A liquid gold course to one guy is a dream vacation to another… — remove all x’s for reply email. To worry is folly so let us be jolly.

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A liquid gold course to one guy is a dream vacation to another…

That, my friend, was a ‘precious’ misspelling. — A Cash Flow Runs Through It

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A liquid gold course to one guy is a dream vacation to another… That, my friend, was a ‘precious’ misspelling.

Very metallic to say the least. — remove all x’s for reply email. To worry is folly so let us be jolly.

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Willi would have us believe: The tailwater section below Flaming Gorge is a "destination" fishing area. Many fish per mile, large fish, but lots of people. The Green through [some godforsaken wilderness] has far fewer fish per

mile but the fishery is much more wild and in many stretches there are very few anglers.

The Flaming Gorge section of the Green is the best part of the river and that’s where Everyone should go. There are other parts of the Green that you’ll hear (tormented) people discuss once in a while, but all the fish are long gone. A bunch of white bastards showed up from Montana and loaded them into ice chests and hauled them away in their pickup trucks. — Rusty Hook Laramie, Wyoming

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The Flaming Gorge section of the Green is the best part of the river and that’s where Everyone should go. There are other parts of the Green that you’ll hear (tormented) people discuss once in a while, but all the fish are long gone. A bunch of white bastards showed up from Montana and loaded them into ice chests and hauled them away in their pickup trucks.

Rusty,   Information just in the nick of time.  I was planning on going to those "other parts" but, now that I know there are no fish there, I’ll go to the Flaming Gorge section instead:) Snoop —–= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =—– http://www.newsfeeds.com – The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! —–==  Over 80,000 Newsgroups – 16 Different Servers! =—–

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That section of the gorge supports boating, does it not? I have a 20′ whaler I want to boat with, camp. cruise..etc.. is it possible to camp this section, and hike to the good fly spots?….How far away would you estimate the loading ramps & parking lot for trailers to be? thanx for info… richard colorado – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – The Flaming Gorge section of the Green is the best part of the river and that’s where Everyone should go. — Rusty Hook Laramie, Wyoming

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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Willi would have us believe: The tailwater section below Flaming Gorge is a "destination" fishing area. Many fish per mile, large fish, but lots of people. The Green through [some godforsaken wilderness] has far fewer fish per mile but the fishery is much more wild and in many stretches there are very few anglers. The Flaming Gorge section of the Green is the best part of the river and that’s where Everyone should go. There are other parts of the Green that you’ll hear (tormented) people discuss once in a while, but all the fish are long gone. A bunch of white bastards showed up from Montana and loaded them into ice chests and hauled them away in their pickup trucks. — Rusty Hook Laramie, Wyoming

Absofragginlutely.  Once you cross into Wyoming, there is narry a fish to be seen in the Green. Craig A. Gullixson National Solar Observatory/Sac. Peak    PHONE: (505) 434-7065 Sunspot, NM 88349 USA                   FAX: (505) 434-7029

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That section of the gorge supports boating, does it not? I have a 20′ whaler I want to boat with, camp. cruise..etc.. is it possible to camp this section, and hike to the good fly spots?….How far away would you estimate the loading ramps & parking lot for trailers to be?

I don’t know what a 20 foot whaler is but it sounds like it would be overkill on the river. There is alot of floating done on the river in drift boats, rafts and even some bellyboats. There are several campgrounds in the area but I believe that in that section of the river, camping is only allowed in the designated campgrounds. There are easy trails up and down the river. Willi

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is the section you are referring to "below the dam" or "above the dam" ? the 20′ whaler is a pretty big, heavy boat…not for small to med streams…more lakes & large rivers…(& ocean).. thanx.. richard colorado – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – That section of the gorge supports boating, does it not? I have a 20′ whaler I want to boat with, camp. cruise..etc.. is it possible to camp this section, and hike to the good fly spots?….How far away would you estimate the loading ramps & parking lot for trailers to be? I don’t know what a 20 foot whaler is but it sounds like it would be overkill on the river. There is alot of floating done on the river in drift boats, rafts and even some bellyboats. There are several campgrounds in the area but I believe that in that section of the river, camping is only allowed in the designated campgrounds. There are easy trails up and down the river. Willi

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is the section you are referring to "below the dam" or "above the dam" ?

Below the dam. You like Cheeseman, so I think you’d really like the fishing there. Plentiful, big fish that you can usually sight fish. I’ve only fished it once and that was late Fall. I was able to get water to myself. From what I understand, it’s not as crowded as Cheeseman but close, especially during prime time. Hatches are much more varied than Cheeseman. The canyon is quite scenic and there quite a few miles of "quality" water. Willi

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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hey group just a friendly question, I will be driving from Klamath Falls Oregon to Colorado Springs Colorado in late May and have several days to fish in route. Where would you fish? I would suggest a stop at the Green River and then the Glenwood Springs area where you could fish the Frying Pan and Roaring Fork. And in your last post you were commenting that the Bighorn wasn’t so bad…. no wonder. Not sure I follow you…  I wouldn’t drive from Klamath Falls to Colorado Springs via the Bighorn. You commented on the crowds not being too bad on the Bighorn. Then you picked what are probably the two most heavilly fished rivers between Klamath Falls and Colorado Springs for the guy to fish.

Well I didn’t suggest the South Platte!  That would rank in the top 3, for sure.  I also didn’t hot spot some other quality areas that fish really well that time of year.  A couple of spots in Utah and a number of areas in Colorado. The Arkansas and Eagle are most likely blown out during that period of time, so suggesting those rivers would be pointless.  The Raddy, Poudre, and Big T, might also suffer from runoff problemos. What else?  Well he could make a trip over to the Taylor River, the Yampa below Stagecoach reservoir, and a final stop at the Williams Fork and/or Blue River.  Steamboat would be beautiful in late May and worth a night of relaxation. He could also take the very southern route and hit Lee’s Ferry and the San Juan!  Two great tailwaters.  The San Juan might have a good flow during late May, but that of course depends upon the final snowpack which isn’t looking so hot in that area right now.  Durango would make a fine stop for a night.  The Animas in Durango is a great fishery, but once again that May runoff could be a problemo. Want to stay north of 40 Lat?  OK.  Try the Henry’s Fork, Snake, Beaverhead, Missouri, or the BIGHORN!  Heck, If I have a drift boat by then(doubtful) I will even take you down the river!  We could split the rental on drift boat if you would like.  $100 a day.  Drop south on I25/I90 and hit Grey Reef and the Miracle Mile before you reach the metro area cooridor from Ft Collins to Pueblo. So many hatches, so many rivers, and such little time! — remove all x’s for reply email. To worry is folly so let us be jolly.

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thanx for the info…i’ll get a map and check it out… richard – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – is the section you are referring to "below the dam" or "above the dam" ? Below the dam. You like Cheeseman, so I think you’d really like the fishing there. Plentiful, big fish that you can usually sight fish. I’ve only fished it once and that was late Fall. I was able to get water to myself. From what I understand, it’s not as crowded as Cheeseman but close, especially during prime time. Hatches are much more varied than Cheeseman. The canyon is quite scenic and there quite a few miles of "quality" water. Willi

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Hey group just a friendly question, I will be driving from Klamath Falls Oregon to Colorado Springs Colorado in late May and have several days to fish in route. Where would you fish? I would suggest a stop at the Green River and then the Glenwood Springs area where you could fish the Frying Pan and Roaring Fork. And in your last post you were commenting that the Bighorn wasn’t so bad…. no wonder. Not sure I follow you…  I wouldn’t drive from Klamath Falls to Colorado Springs via the Bighorn.

You commented on the crowds not being too bad on the Bighorn. Then you picked what are probably the two most heavilly fished rivers between Klamath Falls and Colorado Springs for the guy to fish. Willi

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Hey group just a friendly question, I will be driving from Klamath Falls Oregon to Colorado Springs Colorado in late May and have several days to fish in route. Where would you fish?

In the water, of course. /daytripper (This ain’t no shuttle launch.  ;-)

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Hey group just a friendly question, I will be driving from Klamath Falls Oregon to Colorado Springs Colorado in late May and have several days to fish in route. Where would you fish? I would suggest a stop at the Green River and then the Glenwood Springs area where you could fish the Frying Pan and Roaring Fork. And in your last post you were commenting that the Bighorn wasn’t so bad…. no wonder.

Not sure I follow you…  I wouldn’t drive from Klamath Falls to Colorado Springs via the Bighorn.   — remove all x’s for reply email. To worry is folly so let us be jolly.

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what part/or location is good on the green river? anyone fished up near flaming gorge nat’l park? good fishing up that way? thanx… richard colorado

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hey group just a friendly question, I will be driving from Klamath Falls Oregon to Colorado Springs Colorado in late May and have several days to fish in route. Where would you fish? I would suggest a stop at the Green River and then the Glenwood Springs area where you could fish the Frying Pan and Roaring Fork. Paul — remove all x’s for reply email. To worry is folly so let us be jolly.

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what part/or location is good on the green river? anyone fished up near flaming gorge nat’l park? good fishing up that way?

Depends on what you call good fishing: The tailwater section below Flaming Gorge is a "destination" fishing area. Many fish per mile, large fish, but lots of people. The Green through Wyoming has far fewer fish per mile but the fishery is much more wild and in many stretches there are very few anglers. Willi

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Hey group just a friendly question, I will be driving from Klamath Falls Oregon to Colorado Springs Colorado in late May and have several days to fish in route. Where would you fish?

I would suggest a stop at the Green River and then the Glenwood Springs area where you could fish the Frying Pan and Roaring Fork. Paul — remove all x’s for reply email. To worry is folly so let us be jolly.

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Hey group just a friendly question, I will be driving from Klamath Falls Oregon to Colorado Springs Colorado in late May and have several days to fish in route. Where would you fish?

One more thing!  Be aware of runoff in late May!  Depending upon the final snowpack, nearly all the non-tailwater fisheries will be blown out. Paul — remove all x’s for reply email. To worry is folly so let us be jolly.

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Hey group just a friendly question, I will be driving from Klamath Falls Oregon to Colorado Springs Colorado in late May and have several days to fish in route. Where would you fish? I would suggest a stop at the Green River and then the Glenwood Springs area where you could fish the Frying Pan and Roaring Fork.

And in your last post you were commenting that the Bighorn wasn’t so bad…. no wonder. Willi

Response:

Hey group just a friendly question, I will be driving from Klamath Falls Oregon to Colorado Springs Colorado in late May and have several days to fish in route. Where would you fish?

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Question:

found his home page…. http://pavonpayara.com/ john

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What a wonderful country full of pleasant people who love to fly fish. I spent three weeks in country on both islands and would go back in a heart beat. The exchange rate is close to 2-1, I found that lodging, food, guides, most services are where you will save money, it’s the airfare that hurts. I hired a guide in the Toupo area who got me into large fish and gladly instructed me on the local waters. The currency denominations are the same, they speak english, there is almost no crime, and there are no native or wild mammals or reptiles to spook you in the bush. GO TO NEW ZEALAND AND YOU WILL WANT TO MOVE THERE!!!!!!! – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – My wife, of 27 years, has expressed interest in a fly fishing vacation at the end of this year.  Although she has tied flies for years, she finally got the serious fly fishing bug (pun intended) this season and we fish, at least, one evening a week and 2 weekends a month (weather permitting).  For our vacation, she wants something warm and fly fishingish…With all your world travelers in ROFF maybe you can give some suggestions.  Money, of course, is an issue, but we could come up with somewhere around a total budget of  $3000-$4000 USD (for the both of us, air fare included) and we live near Portland, Oregon (indian for "it rains all winter") <G Any and all suggestions would be appreciated…Salt, fresh it doesn’t matter…(I have only fly fished salt water a few times in San Diego)… Padishar Creel — Alive and well and fully employed…

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That’s one of the prime times of the year to fish for Peacock Bass. You can actually negotiate better deals due to the season…..Americans stay home at Christmas. . . usually.

Um, so did you actually *catch any fish* on your recent Peacock Bass trip? I recall seeing a short trip report outlining your drinking endeavors with the promise of more info to come, but then I never saw anything else. I completely forgot to ask you about it at the Penn Clave. –Steve

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Welll….I was actually there in there slow season, if there is one. My best was a twelve and a half pounder (peacock).  I was a trifle unprepared for the payara. john

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – That’s one of the prime times of the year to fish for Peacock Bass. You can actually negotiate better deals due to the season…..Americans stay home at Christmas. . . usually. Um, so did you actually *catch any fish* on your recent Peacock Bass trip? I recall seeing a short trip report outlining your drinking endeavors with the promise of more info to come, but then I never saw anything else. I completely forgot to ask you about it at the Penn Clave. –Steve

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That’s one of the prime times of the year to fish for Peacock Bass. You can actually negotiate better deals due to the season…..Americans stay home at Christmas. . . usually. Scour the net (minor searching) for Peacock Bay Lodge and check out what there is to offer, follow a link or two and see what there is in the way of Payara fishing ( big rods, deepsinking lines and gigantic streamers….) If you like what you see, then contact the owner of Peacock Bay Lodge, Harley Lezama. His brother owns Indian Camp for Payara (that camp currently has the worlds record.) You can get a much better deal by dealing direct and avoiding the outfitters who charge roughly 30 to 40 percent mark up. telefax 58-854629. john (ps. I plan on going back there with the Mrs.)

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – My wife, of 27 years, has expressed interest in a fly fishing vacation at the end of this year.  Although she has tied flies for years, she finally got the serious fly fishing bug (pun intended) this season and we fish, at least, one evening a week and 2 weekends a month (weather permitting).  For our vacation, she wants something warm and fly fishingish…With all your world travelers in ROFF maybe you can give some suggestions.  Money, of course, is an issue, but we could come up with somewhere around a total budget of  $3000-$4000 USD (for the both of us, air fare included) and we live near Portland, Oregon (indian for "it rains all winter") <G Any and all suggestions would be appreciated…Salt, fresh it doesn’t matter…(I have only fly fished salt water a few times in San Diego)… Padishar Creel — Alive and well and fully employed…

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Mark, Any or all…doesn’t matter would enjoy any of those species.  Deb is a novice and I am an intermediate fly fisherman…so probably the least challenging of the species would be a better choice…but I enjoy fly fishing, not just catching…so we be game for anything…I assume snook would be the least challenging fish on your list… Padishar Creel

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. "New Zealand On A Budget"  And in that vein, I would be contacting fellow Roffian, (and my adopted brother), Clark Reid.  He’s a guide down there.  Evidently, not too bad a fly tyer either.  His cicada pattern is in Umpqua’s book "The World’s 1,100 Best Flies."     I gotta agree with Trip.  Airline price wars, perfect time of year, New Zealand economy right now, it all points to a trip to a faraway land, where the "speaka da English," but have some incredible, unspoiled fishing in incredible, unspoiled surroundings.     For most of the same reasons, Argentina would also be wonderful. Hey, if you believe the press, one out of 25 sea run browns CAUGHT in late November is over 20 lbs.  Now that would be fun.        Frank R.

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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – My wife, of 27 years, has expressed interest in a fly fishing vacation at the end of this year.  Although she has tied flies for years, she finally got the serious fly fishing bug (pun intended) this season and we fish, at least, one evening a week and 2 weekends a month (weather permitting).  For our vacation, she wants something warm and fly fishingish…With all your world travelers in ROFF maybe you can give some suggestions.  Money, of course, is an issue, but we could come up with somewhere around a total budget of  $3000-$4000 USD (for the both of us, air fare included) and we live near Portland, Oregon (indian for "it rains all winter") <G Any and all suggestions would be appreciated…Salt, fresh it doesn’t matter…(I have only fly fished salt water a few times in San Diego)… Padishar Creel — Alive and well and fully employed…

That time of year? Permit? Tarpon? Bone fish Snook? M. Wm.

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"New Zealand On A Budget" /daytripper (That’s where I’d be headed, anyway! – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -My wife, of 27 years, has expressed interest in a fly fishing vacation at the end of this year.  Although she has tied flies for years, she finally got the serious fly fishing bug (pun intended) this season and we fish, at least, one evening a week and 2 weekends a month (weather permitting).  For our vacation, she wants something warm and fly fishingish…With all your world travelers in ROFF maybe you can give some suggestions.  Money, of course, is an issue, but we could come up with somewhere around a total budget of  $3000-$4000 USD (for the both of us, air fare included) and we live near Portland, Oregon (indian for "it rains all winter") <G Any and all suggestions would be appreciated…Salt, fresh it doesn’t matter…(I have only fly fished salt water a few times in San Diego)… Padishar Creel — Alive and well and fully employed…

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My wife, of 27 years, has expressed interest in a fly fishing vacation at the end of this year.  Although she has tied flies for years, she finally got the serious fly fishing bug (pun intended) this season and we fish, at least, one evening a week and 2 weekends a month (weather permitting).  For our vacation, she wants something warm and fly fishingish…With all your world travelers in ROFF maybe you can give some suggestions.  Money, of course, is an issue, but we could come up with somewhere around a total budget of  $3000-$4000 USD (for the both of us, air fare included) and we live near Portland, Oregon (indian for "it rains all winter") <G Any and all suggestions would be appreciated…Salt, fresh it doesn’t matter…(I have only fly fished salt water a few times in San Diego)… Padishar Creel — Alive and well and fully employed…

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Question:

 Thanks for the great post! -Muskie

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Thanks Sid, I could use a little fishing too. This was almost as good. Herman

<great report snipped —         Cheers, Herman         Herman Nijland         Daytime webmaster         Lifetime flyfisher

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Work sucks. I mean, let’s face it — unless you’re…. 8<

Thanks Sid for making my first cup of coffee this morning taste so damn good! Tight lines, Walt

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Thanks Sid. I needed that. Big Dale

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Good way to start my day Sid…are you by any chance a "published" writer? Frank (I wuz published once, on a wanted poster) Church – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Work sucks. I mean, let’s face it — unless you’re…. 8< Thanks Sid for making my first cup of coffee this morning taste so damn good! Tight lines, Walt

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I didn’t need that. I’ve got a pile of things to do today and I’m gonna be thinking about this trip all day and not get a damn thing done. Paul

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Thanks Sid. I needed that. Big Dale

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Absolutely excellent.  Hope it earns you more time on the river too ! TL MC — "Where fishing is concerned, most anglers are basically manic excessives" http://www.mikeconnor.de – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Work sucks. I mean, let’s face it — unless you’re Tiger Woods or actively employed by Van Halen, work pretty much just sucks. Oh, sure, I suppose you could be one of those namby-pamby "fulfilled" people you read about sometimes — you know, the ones who read that "Do What You Love, The Money Will Follow" book and are now out there carving handsome duck decoys that cleverly double as toilet paper dispensers, selling them out of their RVs at craft festivals up and down the coast. Sadly, those people never saw the subtitle for that book: "Do What You Love, The Money Will Follow That Guy In The Suit On The Way To His Job At Salomon Brothers, Leaving You Penniless And Hungry And With No Toilet Paper To Put On Your Handsome Duck Decoys.. .Dumbass." Hmm. What, if any, was my point? Merely this, I suppose — today, I went fishing. Not just any fishing, either. This was the kind of fishing born of resolute necessity. The kind of fishing that nourishes the soul, makes full the heart, and kindles the spirit. The kind of fishing that sings John Denver songs with nary the faintest trace of irony. The kind of fishing you do when the only thing that’s gonna make things right is the sound of moving water, the crispness of a winter’s afternon, and the absolute certitude that your 4x leader spool is gonna be in your vest’s right front pocket ’cause that’s by god where you keep it. Do you ever set aside trips to the river for experiments? Say to yourself things like, "Today, I will only fish soft hackles downstream regardless of the outcome," or, "Today, I will restrict myself to dries larger than a #8," just to see what happens? I do half-assed versions of this all the time, usually caving in when I see that it would be only too easy to catch fish with techniques I’ve foresworn for the day. I usually rationalize the whole thing by saying things like, well, shit, you still haven’t read the complete novels of Tolstoy…how the hell are you supposed to stop using a strike indicator? This particular tactic works surprisingly well and will undoubtedly always be there as my go-to rationalization. Russians write some big-ass books. Still, my resolve seemed to be steady today. Halfway to the river, Townes Van Zandt on the stereo, and I’m still sticking to my original intention of fishing traditional steelhead tactics on the Yuba. Hmm. Maybe I should backtrack. See, I’m a transplanted Washingtonian, recently relocated to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Nevada City, to be exact. California. A place where traditional steelhead tactics are pretty much reserved to coastal streams (the Smith, the Klamath, the Mad, Mattole, Gualala, and so on).  Here in the foothills, whatever steelhead are lucky enough to swim their way through San Francisco Bay, up the Sac, taking a left at the Feather, and then a right at the Yuba (with a fish ladder on the way), are usually treated to a barrage of trout tactics — smallish nymphs, floated drag-free under an indicator. I miss the traditional steelhead tactics of my native Northwest. I miss booming out big casts, quartered downstream with sink-tips or shooting heads, and swinging chunky marabou flies through holding water. I miss the ruminative reverie of cast, swing, step…cast, swing, step. I believe it was either Nigel Tufnel from Spinal Tap or Tom McGuane who said something along the lines of "All that is required of flyfishing for steelhead is a room temperature IQ and a capacity for repetition." This is missing the point — the beauty is in the repetition. It’s mantra, koan, and enigmas wrapped in riddles all in one…pure therapy. So, today’s escape from the workplace was to be performed as an experiment. I fish the Yuba fairly regularly — living in Nevada City, it’s my home waters — and have always marveled at some of the absolutely classic steelhead runs it features. You take away the mining tailings, and the runs are straight out of a Trey Combs book. So, today was to be the day I put aside the #18 flashback pheasant tail nymphs and picked up a #6 Skykomish Sunrise and put it on the business end of a 25 foot sinktip. At least that’s what it was supposed to be. When I finally arrived at the Yuba, blissfully free from work for a hard-earned two hours, there were only two cars parked at the usual pullout. Much to my chagrin, each of these fellows had decided to fish the very run I had my sights on — the most cherry run in the area for traditional steelhead tactics, and a run that is rarely fished at all on the Yuba. Quoting lines from "War and Peace" in my head, I decided to leave my floating line on and head up to the usual trout holes instead, nymph box in hand. A couple trout and a Dostoevsky later, the sun was nearly gone and I was ready to head home. Walking past the now-empty run I’d meant to fish earlier, I couldn’t help but think to myself things like, "Carver is way better than Chekhov, "Somebody oughta bitchslap that punk Raskolnikov," and, most importantly, "Well, shit, it ain’t that dark." Off with the small stuff and on with the large. Time was too short to switch spools, so I left my floating line on and just hitched on a fat Comet, instead. I’ve always liked Comets — they used to be very popular in the Northwest for steelhead flyfishing but have fallen out of favor. Too bad — they get down like Rick James on a two-day crack binge. The first two casts produced nothing but the sweet feeling of anachronism — reward enough in of itself — but the third produced a solid, undeniable take. Reverie over. Ten minutes of cathected concentration later, it was over — the steelhead back in the water, and me blissfully free of mind for a lovely moment, thoughtless, weightless, and just ever so slightly slipped of these earthly bonds. Steelhead will do that to you. more time on the river to all of you, – sid —–= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =—– http://www.newsfeeds.com – The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! —–==  Over 80,000 Newsgroups – 16 Different Servers! =—–

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Thanks Sid, Especially in the Winter, a good report is a great release. Willi

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<snip Awesome prose Sid! Wolfgang breathless

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Work sucks. I mean, let’s face it — unless you’re Tiger Woods or actively employed by Van Halen, work pretty much just sucks.

Great story Sid; thanks. Joe F.

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Work sucks. I mean, let’s face it — unless you’re Tiger Woods or actively employed by Van Halen, work pretty much just sucks. Oh, sure, I suppose you could be one of those namby-pamby "fulfilled" people you read about sometimes — you know, the ones who read that "Do What You Love, The Money Will Follow" book and are now out there carving handsome duck decoys that cleverly double as toilet paper dispensers, selling them out of their RVs at craft festivals up and down the coast. Sadly, those people never saw the subtitle for that book: "Do What You Love, The Money Will Follow That Guy In The Suit On The Way To His Job At Salomon Brothers, Leaving You Penniless And Hungry And With No Toilet Paper To Put On Your Handsome Duck Decoys.. .Dumbass." Hmm. What, if any, was my point? Merely this, I suppose — today, I went fishing. Not just any fishing, either. This was the kind of fishing born of resolute necessity. The kind of fishing that nourishes the soul, makes full the heart, and kindles the spirit. The kind of fishing that sings John Denver songs with nary the faintest trace of irony. The kind of fishing you do when the only thing that’s gonna make things right is the sound of moving water, the crispness of a winter’s afternon, and the absolute certitude that your 4x leader spool is gonna be in your vest’s right front pocket ’cause that’s by god where you keep it. Do you ever set aside trips to the river for experiments? Say to yourself things like, "Today, I will only fish soft hackles downstream regardless of the outcome," or, "Today, I will restrict myself to dries larger than a #8," just to see what happens? I do half-assed versions of this all the time, usually caving in when I see that it would be only too easy to catch fish with techniques I’ve foresworn for the day. I usually rationalize the whole thing by saying things like, well, shit, you still haven’t read the complete novels of Tolstoy…how the hell are you supposed to stop using a strike indicator? This particular tactic works surprisingly well and will undoubtedly always be there as my go-to rationalization. Russians write some big-ass books. Still, my resolve seemed to be steady today. Halfway to the river, Townes Van Zandt on the stereo, and I’m still sticking to my original intention of fishing traditional steelhead tactics on the Yuba. Hmm. Maybe I should backtrack. See, I’m a transplanted Washingtonian, recently relocated to the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Nevada City, to be exact. California. A place where traditional steelhead tactics are pretty much reserved to coastal streams (the Smith, the Klamath, the Mad, Mattole, Gualala, and so on).  Here in the foothills, whatever steelhead are lucky enough to swim their way through San Francisco Bay, up the Sac, taking a left at the Feather, and then a right at the Yuba (with a fish ladder on the way), are usually treated to a barrage of trout tactics — smallish nymphs, floated drag-free under an indicator. I miss the traditional steelhead tactics of my native Northwest. I miss booming out big casts, quartered downstream with sink-tips or shooting heads, and swinging chunky marabou flies through holding water. I miss the ruminative reverie of cast, swing, step…cast, swing, step. I believe it was either Nigel Tufnel from Spinal Tap or Tom McGuane who said something along the lines of "All that is required of flyfishing for steelhead is a room temperature IQ and a capacity for repetition." This is missing the point — the beauty is in the repetition. It’s mantra, koan, and enigmas wrapped in riddles all in one…pure therapy. So, today’s escape from the workplace was to be performed as an experiment. I fish the Yuba fairly regularly — living in Nevada City, it’s my home waters — and have always marveled at some of the absolutely classic steelhead runs it features. You take away the mining tailings, and the runs are straight out of a Trey Combs book. So, today was to be the day I put aside the #18 flashback pheasant tail nymphs and picked up a #6 Skykomish Sunrise and put it on the business end of a 25 foot sinktip. At least that’s what it was supposed to be. When I finally arrived at the Yuba, blissfully free from work for a hard-earned two hours, there were only two cars parked at the usual pullout. Much to my chagrin, each of these fellows had decided to fish the very run I had my sights on — the most cherry run in the area for traditional steelhead tactics, and a run that is rarely fished at all on the Yuba. Quoting lines from "War and Peace" in my head, I decided to leave my floating line on and head up to the usual trout holes instead, nymph box in hand. A couple trout and a Dostoevsky later, the sun was nearly gone and I was ready to head home. Walking past the now-empty run I’d meant to fish earlier, I couldn’t help but think to myself things like, "Carver is way better than Chekhov, "Somebody oughta bitchslap that punk Raskolnikov," and, most importantly, "Well, shit, it ain’t that dark." Off with the small stuff and on with the large. Time was too short to switch spools, so I left my floating line on and just hitched on a fat Comet, instead. I’ve always liked Comets — they used to be very popular in the Northwest for steelhead flyfishing but have fallen out of favor. Too bad — they get down like Rick James on a two-day crack binge. The first two casts produced nothing but the sweet feeling of anachronism — reward enough in of itself — but the third produced a solid, undeniable take. Reverie over. Ten minutes of cathected concentration later, it was over — the steelhead back in the water, and me blissfully free of mind for a lovely moment, thoughtless, weightless, and just ever so slightly slipped of these earthly bonds. Steelhead will do that to you. more time on the river to all of you, – sid —–= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =—– http://www.newsfeeds.com – The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! —–==  Over 80,000 Newsgroups – 16 Different Servers! =—–

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Question:

Hello all; I find myself in the Fargo, ND area next week and I have pretty much all day on Friday to fish.  Can someone please provide suggestions for an easy day on the water – be it trout, smallmouth (my favorite), pike or panfish?  I will be fishing solo and would prefer to either wade or rent a small boat or canoe.  Thanks in advance for the response. Joe C.

Response:

Joe,    You could fish the tail water of the Garrison Dam, I think there are trout there.  Or fish the river anywhere for other species. Ernie

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hello all; I find myself in the Fargo, ND area next week and I have pretty much all day on Friday to fish.  Can someone please provide suggestions for an easy day on the water – be it trout, smallmouth (my favorite), pike or panfish?  I will be fishing solo and would prefer to either wade or rent a small boat or canoe.  Thanks in advance for the response. Joe C.

Response:

Hello all; I find myself in the Fargo, ND area next week and I have pretty much all day on Friday to fish.  Can someone please provide suggestions for an easy day on the water – be it trout, smallmouth (my favorite), pike or panfish?  I will be fishing solo and would prefer to either wade or rent a small boat or canoe.  Thanks in advance for the response. Joe C.

The Red River flows right through town, and has smallmouth, pike, walleye, and extremely large channel catfish.  I don’t think I would try to wade it, I think the bottom would be pretty soft. Here is a link to an article about the Red from the ND Game & Fish website: http://www.state.nd.us/gnf/divfish/Redbro.html Also try browsing around their fishing page (http://www.state.nd.us/gnf/fishing.html) There is a county-by-county listing of all of the lakes in the state, showing what fish are in each lake, and contour maps in PDF format for most of the smaller lakes. The Sheyenne River has pike and smallmouth (and a variety of other fish), and is small enough to be wadable, but it is a beautiful canoe river, especially in and aroung Ft. Ransom State Park. You can find North Dakota fishing reports at: http://www.fishingbuddy.com/ Hope this helps, Kevin

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Joe,    You could fish the tail water of the Garrison Dam, I think there are trout there.  Or fish the river anywhere for other species. Ernie

There are in fact brown, rainbow, and cutthroat trout and chinook salmon in the Garrison Tailrace, and pretty damn big ones too, but it isn’t exactly tailored for fly-fishing.  Occasionally you will see them feeding near the banks and you can catch them on dries. More typically, they are way down deep, and real hard to get to. Todays average flow is 23,000 cfs (way low, 40,000 would be more typical) and it is very deep, so wading is, well suicidal, and you are required to have a 10hp minimum motor to fish in a boat.  A productive strategy is to fish a crankbait (you could probably substitute a streamer) on heavy mono, with a 2 oz. lead sinker tied on a 4 lb. mono dropper.  The sinker gets it down and holds it where the fish can see it, and the light mono dropper is to make sure if the sinker hangs up on the bottom, then you only lose the sinker. Plus, it would be about a 4 to 5 hour drive from Fargo. Kevin

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leaders, keep your backcast low or you’re apt to snag one of those B-52’s flying their VFR low level route right over your head. Frank (love them BUF’s!) Church

|Joe, |   You could fish the tail water of the Garrison Dam, I think there |are trout there.  Or fish the river anywhere for other species. |Ernie |

| Hello all; | | I find myself in the Fargo, ND area next week and I have pretty much |all day | on Friday to fish.  Can someone please provide suggestions for an |easy day | on the water – be it trout, smallmouth (my favorite), pike or |panfish?  I | will be fishing solo and would prefer to either wade or rent a small |boat or | canoe.  Thanks in advance for the response. | | Joe C. | | | |

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The  east side of the Red River is Minnesota.  Check out the Minnesota DNR below.  It’s september now so it could snow any time. I think it was about this time of year the Chinooks & Cohos in Lake Sacajawea ( spelling is bad but it’s the lady on the new dollar coin). would show up in the lake at the east end of the dam.  I have always wondered if they could be caught on a fly.  They didn’t have a stream to spawn in but for some reason they would show up there. Probablly where they were dumped  in.   I would like to try it.  So many places, so many fish – so little time. Watch the B-52s.  There was a target range north of Bismark and they scored the BUFFs as they "bombed: Garrison Dam.  Tehy fly all over at tree top height, that if there were trees in NoDak. http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/fishing.html – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hello all; I find myself in the Fargo, ND area next week and I have pretty much all day on Friday to fish.  Can someone please provide suggestions for an easy day on the water – be it trout, smallmouth (my favorite), pike or panfish?  I will be fishing solo and would prefer to either wade or rent a small boat or canoe.  Thanks in advance for the response. Joe C.

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Any opinions about Detroit Lakes?  I am staying at the Holiday Inn there – a lakeside room.  I figure that must mean water and perhaps a shorter drive to find a spot to fish?  Anyone know the area??? Joe

Response:

Question:

Just updating the info I have found out.  Martin is now owned by Zebco (ARGH!) and they *DO NOT* allow the purchase of the top half of a rod to replace a broken one…. I guess I’ll just be buying another top guide instead…  : (

        Damn alter ego…  : ) Paul

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The 1999 address I get is: Martin PO Box 270 Tulsa, OK  74101 918/ 836-3542 Sales manager:  Ray More

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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I went fishing the other day and I broke the tip off my new fly rod. Anyone here who has done it knows how close it can make you come to weeping…  While I could just pop another tip ferrule (?) on there I wanted to have the rod perform exactly like it has in the past.  It is a Martin Classic graphite rod and it broke in two places; just above and just beneath the second eye.  I want to find out if the company might be able to send a replacement top section of the rod. Previously on this group someone mentioned that St. Croix (I think) sells rods with lifetime warrenties and  would provides replacements for for $5 per accident.  I bought mine at a going out of business sale so It did not have the warrenty card attached when I bought it. Therefore I don’t know whether they have some kind of arrangement for this.    I would really appreciate the snail mail address, their web page URL, email address, and phone number.    Could someone give me this information as I have had no luck finding it in seach engines on the Web.      I have thought that they might be a subdivsion of a larger company and that might have foiled my attempts to find them as well. If this is the case could you also tell me who they are associated with?                            Thanks in advance!                                 Paul Porter

Just updating the info I have found out.  Martin is now owned by Zebco (ARGH!) and they *DO NOT* allow the purchase of the top half of a rod to replace a broken one…. I guess I’ll just be buying another top guide instead…  : ( Paul

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Martin is not Martin anymore. It’s owned by someone else. I’m not sure who.

Does anyone know??  Help a fellow angler out people! Paul  

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Martin is not Martin anymore. It’s owned by someone else. I’m not sure who. Good Luck! Joel Axelrad

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Does anyone know??  Help a fellow angler out people!

try Martin Reel Company, 30 E Main ST PO Box Drawer 8 ,Mohawk, NY 13407, USA, 918-831-6857 not sure if it’s still good.

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I went fishing the other day and I broke the tip off my new fly rod. Anyone here who has done it knows how close it can make you come to weeping…  While I could just pop another tip ferrule (?) on there I wanted to have the rod perform exactly like it has in the past.  It is a Martin Classic graphite rod and it broke in two places; just above and just beneath the second eye.  I want to find out if the company might be able to send a replacement top section of the rod. Previously on this group someone mentioned that St. Croix (I think) sells rods with lifetime warrenties and  would provides replacements for for $5 per accident.  I bought mine at a going out of business sale so It did not have the warrenty card attached when I bought it. Therefore I don’t know whether they have some kind of arrangement for this.         I would really appreciate the snail mail address, their web page URL, email address, and phone number.    Could someone give me this information as I have had no luck finding it in seach engines on the Web.           I have thought that they might be a subdivsion of a larger company and that might have foiled my attempts to find them as well. If this is the case could you also tell me who they are associated with?                                 Thanks in advance!                                      Paul Porter

Response:

Question:

Dear flyfisher, I am building a free-ware database on behalve of the mail list. Allthough there is lot’s of support from the group, it is not easy to get original pictures. Therefore I need somebody who is willing to make pictures of very nice hand-tied flies and send me the digitized pictures. Reward: very high quality hand-tied flies, and your name mentioned in the database. Erik Bosters

Response:

I am building a free-ware database on behalve of the mail list. Allthough there is lot’s of support from the group, it is not easy to get original pictures.

 I’ll agree it’s not easy. But here’s how I do it: 35mm camera with bellows and tripod, 200mm lense This way you can completely fill a 35mm slide with a #20 nymph, or back off and shoot a 4" long streamer. Build a light tent with translucent, synthetic fabric, like "gloryosa cloth" sold at women’s fabric store. Use a medium blue background, with construction paper or whatever. Illuminate the tent with two 500 watt blue bulbs, to balance with exterior film, of whatever speed. The slower the sharper. Use the light meter for a starting point, but bracket each shot 1 stop in each direction (three exposures per shot). Use f22 or f32 for maximum depth of field. Use the timer, as your exposures will be long. —  * Center for Computational Biology  * Montana State Bozeman  (406) 994-7061  * http://www.nervana.montana.edu/~sandy */

Response:

I’ll agree it’s not easy. But here’s how I do it: 35mm camera with bellows and tripod, 200mm lense This way you can completely fill a 35mm slide with a #20 nymph, or back off and shoot a 4" long streamer.

[deleted] I absolutely concede to you expertise on this subject, Sandy,  but there is one observation I’d like to make. On photographing fishing flies. The odd thing about these photographs is that the critical component seems to be not necessarily in quality of photograph for enlargement.  It seems like when you enlarge anyones flies, the bigger they get, the more defects you notice…which distracts from the quality of the photograph in a way that is really unique to this subject, I feel. Once you start noticing thread overlaps in the head and nicks in materials and stuff, the quality of the photgraph becomes secondary. I recently (foolishly) purchased (I’m not sure of the exact title…) "The Flies of the Umpqua Feather Merchants" which has 1100 color photographs in it.   I have studied it intently.   It’s bizarre to see an Umpqua tied #20 AK Best quill that looks like *complete* crap in the (whatever size they are) photographs.   The quality of the photo is there, but the fly itself [when enlarged] doesn’t cut it. In other endeavours, like in the Macrophotography of the naturals themselves, the quality of the photo is paramount and as you get up in the enlargement range, the beauty of natures work is more revealed.   As you get up in the enlargment range of an imitation, the ugliness of mans hand becomes more revealed. Thus, I posit that a much less expensive 35SLR/80mm with a cheap macro filter will suffice quite nicely for JPG bound fly images providing the lighting, exposure and focus are reasonable.   It might be interesting to compare notes in the images group. — TimW Halfordian Golfer

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  Thus, I posit that a much less expensive 35SLR/80mm with a cheap macro   filter will suffice quite nicely for JPG bound fly images providing the   lighting, exposure and focus are reasonable.   It might be interesting to   compare notes in the images group.   —   TimW

Or, I’d be happy to host these images on my web site.  Many of us can’t access the binaries groups.  I too am curious. I have had very limited success taking pictures of flies, and it is not because of a lack of equipment… For this experiment, I’d suggest the GIF format for uniform and virtually lossless compression. -tgades — Tony Gades. Seattle, WA.  USA http://weber.u.washington.edu/~tgades http://weber.u.washington.edu/~tgades/Fishing/fish_page.html NOTICE: DO NOT ADD MY NAME TO _ANY_ MAILING LISTS.  

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The problem with GIF is it is limited in its color palette.  JPG has an unlimited color palette so reproduced most photographs better.  Also when scanning for publication on the web it is necessary to reduce the resolution of the scan so the resulting image is reasonable to download so lossless compression  is not nearly as important as reproducing the entire color range of the object being photographed. Also for scanning for the web it is really not important whether the image is a slide or a print.  A print will work just as well because of the lower resolution of the scan.  Those of us with some experience in reproducing photos for print media have had to relearn some things when it comes to the web.  It is a good idea to use a single-color, non-textured background in the photographs because that type of background compresses best without loss of detail (there is no detail to lose). With all the digital cameras available I still think that 35mm is the way to go for most macro shots.  I have tried using a macro digital camera, a digitizer attached to a macro-capable video camera and direct scans of the flies.  Film still works best at this point. Having said all that I am also still in the process of getting the quality of image I need for fly photos on my own site.  A professional fly-tyer and photographer has kindly sent me some excellent quality scans of some of the flies.  These have a textured background which looks stunning at full resolution but compression isn’t as good as it could be and the file sizes tend to be a little larger than I would like.  His background is also in print where image quality and sharpness is everything and the size of a file doesn’t matter.  He has agreed to try a solid background on his next shoot to compare file sizes and resolution at each size. — — Sherman www.flyfishingjournal.com – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text –   Thus, I posit that a much less expensive 35SLR/80mm with a cheap macro   filter will suffice quite nicely for JPG bound fly images providing the   lighting, exposure and focus are reasonable.   It might be interesting to   compare notes in the images group.   —   TimW Or, I’d be happy to host these images on my web site.  Many of us can’t access the binaries groups.  I too am curious. I have had very limited success taking pictures of flies, and it is not because of a lack of equipment… For this experiment, I’d suggest the GIF format for uniform and virtually lossless compression. -tgades — Tony Gades. Seattle, WA.  USA http://weber.u.washington.edu/~tgades http://weber.u.washington.edu/~tgades/Fishing/fish_page.html NOTICE: DO NOT ADD MY NAME TO _ANY_ MAILING LISTS.

Response:

Sherman, Thanks for the information, does taking slide pictures with a regular 35MM and sending the film to a developer like Wolf  Camera and Video at http\www.wolfcamera.com give a satisfactory result? — Ernie Harrison Remove NOSPAM to send E-mail GO TO http://users.ccnet.com/~emh FOR TRAVEL TIE BOX PLANS – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – The problem with GIF is it is limited in its color palette.  JPG has an unlimited color palette so reproduced most photographs better.  Also when scanning for publication on the web it is necessary to reduce the resolution of the scan so the resulting image is reasonable to download so lossless compression  is not nearly as important as reproducing the entire color range of the object being photographed. Also for scanning for the web it is really not important whether the image is a slide or a print.  A print will work just as well because of the lower resolution of the scan.  Those of us with some experience in reproducing photos for print media have had to relearn some things when it comes to the web.  It is a good idea to use a single-color, non-textured background in the photographs because that type of background compresses best without loss of detail (there is no detail to lose). With all the digital cameras available I still think that 35mm is the way to go for most macro shots.  I have tried using a macro digital camera, a digitizer attached to a macro-capable video camera and direct scans of the flies.  Film still works best at this point. Having said all that I am also still in the process of getting the quality of image I need for fly photos on my own site.  A professional fly-tyer and photographer has kindly sent me some excellent quality scans of some of the flies.  These have a textured background which looks stunning at full resolution but compression isn’t as good as it could be and the file sizes tend to be a little larger than I would like.  His background is also in print where image quality and sharpness is everything and the size of a file doesn’t matter.  He has agreed to try a solid background on his next shoot to compare file sizes and resolution at each size. — — Sherman

Response:

  The problem with GIF is it is limited in its color palette.  JPG has an   unlimited color palette so reproduced most photographs better.  

and the problem with jpg is that most all of the software packages do the compression differently for a given compression ratio. if the goal is to compare photo methods, then eliminating the variable of the compression routine is desirable – THAT’s why I suggest GIF. As for slides vs/ prints… comparing a scan of a slide to a scan of a print introduces all sorts of additional variables. -tgades — Tony Gades. Seattle, WA.  USA http://weber.u.washington.edu/~tgades http://weber.u.washington.edu/~tgades/Fishing/fish_page.html NOTICE: DO NOT ADD MY NAME TO _ANY_ MAILING LISTS.  

Response:

I’ve seen photos of actual insects taken using two flash guns of decent power (guide N0 100) one either side of the lens, fired simultaneously, with the camera and flash guns mounted on a kind of T structure all fired simultaneously by cable release.

For more info on a similar device, see John Shaw’s book – Closeups In Nature (a photographer’s guide to techniques in the field). I built one of his "butterfly brackets", as he calls it, and it works quite well. You can hand hold this affair, shoot excellent closeups of moving insect, and get sharp, well exposed photos. You can find the book inphoto  pro shops or catalog supply houses- usually. From the minute we’re born we all start dying;some of us just take longer than others. Me? I’ve been dragging my feet, but it doesn’t seem to help much.

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You can hand hold this affair, shoot excellent closeups of moving insect, and get sharp, well exposed photos.

Apparently the trick is (i.e. with live insects at least) to point your rig at the beast then move in slowly towards it, and when the image becomes sharp, fire!  The flash exposure will "stop" movement.  This way you do not have to hunt for the subject in the viewfinder – it would have probably gone anyway! This technique should work just as well for artificial flies, and they won’t fly away – unless your tying is particulary lifelike Regards, — Bill

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Apparently the trick is (i.e. with live insects at least) to point your rig at the beast then move in slowly towards it, and when the image becomes sharp, fire!  The flash exposure will "stop" movement.  This way you do not have to hunt for the subject in the viewfinder – it would have probably gone anyway!

That’s pretty much the way it works. You’ll find you need to stop down to at least  f-16 – f-22 at these ranges assuming relatively slow film, say 50 to 100 ASA. That will give you "pretty good" depth of field, depending on your lens, and the output of your flash. Best to shoot a test roll first, write down your exposures and then select the f-stop that gives you the result you’re looking for. This technique should work just as well for artificial flies, and they won’t fly away – unless your tying is particulary lifelike

Exactly. From the minute we’re born we all start dying;some of us just take longer than others. Me? I’ve been dragging my feet, but it doesn’t seem to help much.

Response:

se f22 or f32 for maximum depth of field.

Presumably this is the "camera" stop – the effective stop will be more like f64+, I forget the formula but I think the effective aperture is the lens to film distance divided by the diameter of the lens opening. Check this out as it may help you to calculate the correct exposure. I’ve seen photos of actual insects taken using two flash guns of decent power (guide N0 100) one either side of the lens, fired simultaneously, with the camera and flash guns mounted on a kind of T structure all fired simultaneously by cable release.  This makes the whole cinstruction more mobile – if mobility is needed. Regards, — Bill

Response:

Question:

Planning a mid October trip and havent’t yet decided between: A) Green River in Utah B) San Juan in New Mexico The trip would be approximately 1 week with two other guys. We are just not sure based upon the weather and fishing conditions. Our budget precludes the possiblility of hiring guides. We are best described as "intermediate"; I guess. Need to get tickets very soon. Appreciate any informed advice. Thanks in advance!

Response:

Planning a mid October trip and havent’t yet decided between: A) Green River in Utah B) San Juan in New Mexico The trip would be approximately 1 week with two other guys. We are just not sure based upon the weather and fishing conditions. Our budget precludes the possiblility of hiring guides. We are best described as "intermediate"; I guess. Need to get tickets very soon. Appreciate any informed advice. Thanks in advance!

Hiya Jerry, I know its way off what you’re talking about … but – ever thought of fishing in southern Africa?. We’ve got probably the strongest, fastest, freshwater fish on earth – the tiger fish – as well as some outstanding saltwater sport. Trey Combs thought Mozambique was real special in his book Bluewater Fly Fishing. Our fully-inclusive Orvis-Endorsed expeditions start from around $3200 for an eight night tour: flights, guides, accommodation, boats, fuel, taxes – the whole thing except for booze. You can call me Toll-Free in Johannesburg on 888 2461750 or e-mail to: details. Tight lines Mark

Response:

Question:

Hi, I saw some very small cream colored insects hatching from a resevoir in April.  The trout were going wild about them.  I didn’t pay too much attention to them at the time, though.  They looked all the world like minescule moths to me.  Someone suggested they may be midges.  I though all midges were black.  First, do you have any idea what was hatching? And second, are all midges black?  or do they come in other colors? Thanks, Nicolo

Response:

Hi, I saw some very small cream colored insects hatching from a resevoir in April.  The trout were going wild about them.  I didn’t pay too much attention to them at the time, though.  They looked all the world like minescule moths to me.  Someone suggested they may be midges.  I though all midges were black.  First, do you have any idea what was hatching? And second, are all midges black?  or do they come in other colors? Thanks, NicoloMidges come in a variety of colours with black as only one of the more

common.  If you wish to fish these activity periods whihc I strongly reccomend read lake fishing by kaufmann tie up a bunch of pupae, some long leaders and sit back and wait for the freight train!!! Be very careful, midging has some strong parallels to cocaine… Ian

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Hi, I saw some very small cream colored insects hatching from a resevoir in April.  The trout were going wild about them.  I didn’t pay too much attention to them at the time, though.  They looked all the world like minescule moths to me.  Someone suggested they may be midges.  I though all midges were black.  First, do you have any idea what was hatching? And second, are all midges black?  or do they come in other colors? Thanks, Nicolo

Hi Nicolo Midges comes in a variety of colors including cream/tan and black. Take care and … — Tight Lines ….. Al Beatty BT’s Fly Fishing Products On line catalog – tips & tricks at: http://www.btsflyfishing.com

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As you discribe the hatch as small moths It sounds like small Caddis not midges. You might look in you local fly shop at a book about the Hatch. I’ve got a small book put out by Orvis that works well to define the hatch. — Larry D. Madison Quote of the week: Life without Black would surely make White blind You. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi, I saw some very small cream colored insects hatching from a resevoir in April.  The trout were going wild about them.  I didn’t pay too much attention to them at the time, though.  They looked all the world like minescule moths to me.  Someone suggested they may be midges.  I though all midges were black.  First, do you have any idea what was hatching? And second, are all midges black?  or do they come in other colors? Thanks, Nicolo

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Hi, I saw some very small cream colored insects hatching from a resevoir in April.  The trout were going wild about them.  I didn’t pay too much attention to them at the time, though.  They looked all the world like minescule moths to me.  Someone suggested they may be midges.  I though all midges were black.  First, do you have any idea what was hatching? And second, are all midges black?  or do they come in other colors?

Howdy Nicolo, "Minescule moths…" sounds like MicroCaddis ? Were the fish plimpin’ or floppin’ after these bugs ? Any small elk hair caddis would probably work if they were MC… To answer your other question… Midges can be grey, black, tan, red, green and probably many others. Effective midge ties can be devastatingly simple. Here is a tie that I have refined over the winter…it is called: You Can See The Damned Thing Biot Packing Midge #18-#22 TMC200 Tail: 2 fibers of fine crystal flash Body: Natural Grey Goose biot ribbed with crystal Legs (hackle): One or Two turns Grizzly dry fly tied shoulder style Wing: Thin strip of closed cell foam (used in shipping electronics)       folded and tied up and out.  (You could color this with       your fav flourescent marker if you had absolutely no pride…) You can see the fricken’ thing because of that unsinkable foam flag… the crystal in the rear looks like a shuck, adds some attraction and the weight of the bend will pull the sparse biot body under a la   natural…drinking glass testing has been encouraging… The first prototype used NewDub instead of crystal for the shuck, but then this would have been a Palamino Midge Variant. Also, pheasant is excellent as midge body material and a very simple fly is nothing more then a small hook wrapped sparsely with a couple of pheasant fibers and a little ball of well waxed dubbing up near the eye…way easy to do… Good luck solving your mystery hatch… — TimW Halfordian Golfer

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: Be very careful, midging has some strong parallels to cocaine… No way, man.  I was always way to shaky to tie one of those little buggers on.   But I found I could tie a lot of them, very quickly. — Rick T. Rick Fletcher   –   http://www.chem.uidaho.edu/~fletcher/

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Midges come in lots of colors, but mainly red ones and black ones. White, too. You also could have seeing very small mayflies, down to size 22–tricorhythodes and pseudocolen (I may have misspelled these). Next time, grab a few and see if they have mayfly like tails and wings. toney – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi, I saw some very small cream colored insects hatching from a resevoir in April.  The trout were going wild about them.  I didn’t pay too much attention to them at the time, though.  They looked all the world like minescule moths to me.  Someone suggested they may be midges.  I though all midges were black.  First, do you have any idea what was hatching? And second, are all midges black?  or do they come in other colors? Thanks, Nicolo

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Hi Nicolo, It sounds like what you saw were Caenis, or as they are commonly termed ‘Fisherman’s Curse’ . It’s a very small fly, and when they hatch off they can do so in their millions, and the trout can become totally preoccupied with them. You can try fishing an imitation pattern, but this is a bit ‘needle in a haystack’, although there are some patterns that look like two or three Caenis tied on one hook. Try picking out an individual fish, (they are usually right up in the surface film, supping them up) and see if you can’t drop your imitation about a foot in front of it. It may take, but it’s a very frustrating business. Alternatively, you could try stripping a brightly coloured Muddler or such like across their noses, and see if you can provoke a take like this! As for midges, they are in the family of Chironomids, commonly called ‘Buzzers’ among other things ( for the noise they make when they fly into your ear!), and they live as bloodworms in the silt of lakes and rivers for a year or two, before eventually turning into pupae, and gradually making for the surface, where they hatch out as the adult ‘Buzzer’. Contrary to popular belief  they don’t bite or suck your blood, like Mosquitos do, as they have no mouth parts as such.They are a staple diet of most trout, and you can always catch a trout or two on them when all else fails. They come in various colours, ranging from black through to green, red, even orange, although if you have a chat with a local at your reservoir, they tell you the commonest colours there, as they vary around the country. I’ve caught the majority of my fish on the buzzer, and it’s a very rewarding way of fishing. Hope this is of some help.

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Hi Nicolo, It sounds like what you saw were Caenis, or as they are commonly termed ‘Fisherman’s Curse’ . It’s a very small fly, and when they hatch off they can do so in their millions, and the trout can become totally preoccupied with them. You can try fishing an imitation pattern, but this is a bit ‘needle in a haystack’, although there are some patterns that look like two or three Caenis tied on one hook. Try picking out an individual fish, (they are usually right up in the surface film, supping them up) and see if you can’t drop your imitation about a foot in front of it. It may take, but it’s a very frustrating business. Alternatively, you could try stripping a brightly coloured Muddler or such like across their noses, and see if you can provoke a take like this! As for midges, they are in the family of Chironomids, commonly called ‘Buzzers’ among other things ( for the noise they make when they fly into your ear!), and they live as bloodworms in the silt of lakes and rivers for a year or two, before eventually turning into pupae, and gradually making for the surface, where they hatch out as the adult ‘Buzzer’. Contrary to popular belief  they don’t bite or suck your blood, like Mosquitos do, as they have no mouth parts as such.They are a staple diet of most trout, and you can always catch a trout or two on them when all else fails. They come in various colours, ranging from black through to green, red, even orange, although if you have a chat with a local at your reservoir, they tell you the commonest colours there, as they vary around the country. I’ve caught the majority of my fish on the buzzer, and it’s a very rewarding way of fishing. Hope this is of some help.

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Question:

We need your contributions to a new website for Mid-Atlantic flyfishers! I live in Bethesda, MD, right next to the Potomac River. I am an avid smallmouth/blugill flyfisherman, but I also enjoy fishing for trout. Like many of you, I’m feeling the Spring urge to start fishing again. Nobody likes their favorite fishing spots given away or mobbed. Having said that, there is enough good water to fish in the Mid-Atlantic area for us to share some information. To that end, I have published a website solely for purposes of exchanging information. (I do this sort of thing for a living.) I have absolutely no other interest than, like you, to know where conditions are good, where fish are caught, etc. The website is up and running now. Here is the URL: http://www.erols.com/sierra1/flyfish/midfly.htm The site isn’t fancy, but contains quality information based on first-hand knowledge. My goal is to make this site timely and functional. It will improve over time, and I will update it every time I receive information. All I ask is that you send me a brief message—at your convenience—with a few words on conditions in your area, a recent outing, successful fly patterns…or anything else that might be of use to us all. You’re welcome to give me a call too. I’ll post my home phone number below. Please take a look at the site. It is divided into areas for Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. There are also areas for fly patterns and stories or anecdotes. I’m committed to doing the work on my end. The site’s success will be determined by your willingness to contribute info, trip reports, etc. Thanks, and I look forward to hearing from you! Scott Wilkinson Bethesda, MD h: (301) 229-2863 w: (301) 229-9585 f: (301) 320-6154 Mid-Atlantic Flyfishing page: http://www.erols.com/sierra1/flyfish/midfly.htm

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