Fly Fishing

Cubic Feet Per Second (CFS) Tip

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It occurred to me that I have never mentioned CFS before.  CFS stands for cubic feet per second.  It is a very simple thing, but CFS is very important aspect of my fishing preparation.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS), https://www.usgs.gov, has put flow meters in many of the main rivers and tributaries within American watersheds.  I personally use check these almost every week for my local waters to get a good feel for how healthy the streams look.  Add in my prior experiences, and I can estimate whether or not a particular day will be easy or hard to fish.

This past week, we had so much rain, I thought my local waters would be unfishable.  Driving an hour, only to find out a river is blown out, is not my idea of fun.  So I went to the website to check the CFS, and here is what I found:

CFS Kinni

Notice the flow peaked on 10th, and then had another peak on the 11th.  This was due to the rain storms we had.  Fortunately for me, the river recovered very quickly, and by the 13th, it was ready to be fished again.  Some of the best fishing I have experience has been during the downward progression about 10-20 CFS above average,

Without this tool, I would have decided not to fish this weekend.   Even though it is slightly above average, this looks very fishable to me, but I will let you know how it goes.

If you are not using the USGS water flow readings, maybe it’s time to start.  You can easily enter a google search with your river name and the words USGS and CFS.  And if you really want to improve your “fly fishing IQ”, keep track of which water levels produce the most amounts of fish at certain times of the year and maybe you will be able to duplicate your successful days.

 

The Trico Hatch

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Every year from starting in late July through the end of August, I head out to Wisconsin’s Rush River to fly fish during the Trico hatch.  This amazing hatch can be brilliant when you catch it right.  Thousands of small insects (smaller than 1/2 a finger nail) flit about in the air, mating and then becoming part of the great circle of life.

Eager trout start rising everywhere like water boiling.  It is quite a scene to witness. However, fun and frustration are two adjectives that quickly blur together while fishing. Due to the tremendous amount of available food on the top water, my fly offering is more likely to be taken randomly than due to my own skill level.

With that in mind, over the years I’ve developed some techniques that seem to work well for me:

  1. Stay low and quiet. This is true for all fly fishing, but even more so for this hatch.
  2. Start with nothing bigger than 5x tippet.  If 5x isn’t working, go to 6x tippet.  If 6x isn’t working, then go to 7x tippet.  There’s a company that makes 8x tippet . . . (http://www.shop.trouthunt.com)
  3. Keep your leader long, at least 12 – 15 feet.
  4. Size 22 flies are NOT too small.  In fact, they may be too big.
  5. There are actually quite a variety of tricos in the air, so grab some out of the air and find your best approximation.
  6. Don’t be afraid to drop something really small off that trico, like a size 22 emerger with a little sparkle in it.  Sometimes, a smart trout will take that offering to conserve energy.
  7. If you are targeting rising fish, as opposed to prospecting, then try to time your cast to land in the feeding lane when you think the trout will be ready to eat again.
  8. Have fun, try not to get frustrated, and change your setup frequently until you find what the trout are looking for.

I’m off to the Rush River tomorrow to go after one of my favorite hatches.  What’s your favorite fly hatch?

IMG_6817

Maybe I’ll get one of these colorful brook trout tomorrow . . .

Spring Steelheading

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Where to begin? I’ve had so many good fishing trips since my last posting, it’s hard to break it all down. Well, we’ll start with the last Steelhead trip of the year.  Each year, my buddies and I venture into the wilderness of Brule, Wisconsin to fish for the magnificent Oncorhynchus mykiss. A steelhead is essentially an anadromous rainbow trout. That’s biologist-speak for a fish that migrates up a river for spawning from a lake, ocean or other large body.  Steelhead are known for their challenging fight and acrobatics. They generally drive fly anglers nuts because of how hard they are to catch on an artificial fly. For a fly fishing fanatic, there is no greater challenge than landing a fresh chrome steelhead.

With the usual suspects (Adam, John D. and John M.) visiting me to take a chance at fly fishing glory, we headed to our usual steelhead hunting grounds on the Bois Brule River in Wisconsin. This year had been a particularly good year already for us steelheading, as shown in this picture of John D. landing a nice steelhead in the early season (he landed another large one later that day as well).

john steelhead 2016

The real hero of this story though is my brother Adam, who broke his 5 year long skunk of not catching anything on the Brule River, and brought more fish to hand than I can count. This year was unique because we caught some browns and brook trout in addition to the skip jacks and chromes. The highlight was when my brother had his first “real steelhead” tighten his line.  This is the type of fish that is at least 20 inches and pulls out your line so fast, you barely have time to check if you remembered to set your drag.  Unfortunately, it outsmarted him before landing it, but now he knows what we mean when we say we’ve got “steelhead fever”.  As for the rest of us, we landed plenty of large brooks, browns, smaller rainbows, and plenty of skip jacks (teenage steelhead), and I had two chrome brutes on that danced in the air, winked at me and loosed my barbless hook.  It was disappointing not to land a big one on this trip, but a few dozen fish later, we had plenty of stories to share with each other at the “Crow Bar”, the local watering hole.  Now it’s time to start getting ready for the fall run!

The Rainbow Warrior Give-Away

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This blog post is long over-due.  Thanks to my friend and fishing buddy, John Matulis, I finally landed my first rainbow trout (non-steelhead) in Minnesota.  And then I proceeded to land a few more!  John moved to Rochester, Minnesota from New Hampshire just recently, and he has been exploring the driftless area in effort to give me a reason to drive down to visit him.  He’s been scouting out the White Water River, and I finally found some time to join him in our pursuit of tight lines this past fall.  Well, the river did not disappoint.  After showing me around, John placed me right into his “pot ‘o gold hole” (affectionately now called JPOG) and with the help of a Rainbow Warrior fly, rainbows started crushing my flies.  I joked that I found rainbows at the end of the pot o’gold, rather than the other way around.  It was a great outing for my first time fishing in southeast Minnesota.

Lance Egan, a competitive fly tier from Utah, has invented many flies that produce staggering amounts of fish.  Two of his flies that I fish the most are the Frenchie and the Rainbow Warrior.  In particular, the Rainbow Warrior has been a deadly fly for me wherever rainbow trout are around.  There’s something about the flash and color scheme that seem to drive these fish bonkers.  Here’s my favorite video for how to tie the Rainbow Warrior by Tim Flagler at Tightline Productions:

As an added bonus this week, I’m giving away five size 16 Rainbow Warriors to one person drawn at random (tied with a tungsten bead, and the barbs mashed).  Post a comment on my blog and you get entered into the drawing.  Post a comment on multiple blog posts and you get two entries (maximum of two entries).  In my comments section, leave a comment and your email and I’ll announce the winner one week from today.  The winner will have five Rainbow Warriors mailed to the address of his or her choice.  Happy commenting!

 

RainbowWarriors

Rainbow Warriors

Land of the Noonday Sun

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I’ve now been to the Nantahala River in North Carolina three times.  It definitely won’t be the last.  This time I had the pleasure of fishing with professional guide, friend and fly fishing enthusiast Clint DePriest.  Watching Clint fish reminds me how much I still have left to learn. You can check out his website here: https://www.facebook.com/noondayfishphoto

And go ahead and look him up: Noon Day Fly Fishing on http://www.tripadvisor.com.

The weekend marked another trip full of amazing fish, good food and relaxation.  Of course, some people wouldn’t call standing in cold water, climbing incredibly steep cliffs, and hiking around a valley relaxing.  Plenty of fish were landed, and new scotch was sampled!  I was fortunate to be able to shoot enough video to capture the weekend.

One of my favorite parts about fly fishing is exploring the unknown in search of those more challenging fish.  What do you like most about fly fishing?  Post it in the comments section below.

Rush River: Brown High Water Yields Big Brown

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When I moved to Minnesota, I started fishing the Kinnickinnic River in River Falls, Wisconsin (the Kinni, as the locals call her).  This is a typical Midwest small to medium stream in the heart of the northern driftless area with beautiful, naturally reproducing brown and brook trout.  It wasn’t until after a couple years of exploring the Kinni that I realized there was another gem about 15-30 minutes further east called the Rush River.  From Baldwin all the way through Martel and Ellsworth, the Rush River winds through beautiful farmland with ample natural trout and seasonal hatches.  In particular, the Trico hatch, BWOs and Sulfurs are very healthy hatches on this river at various times.  Both the Kinni and the Rush are subject to large changes in water flow following rain storms and showers.  This brings me to the point of this post.

A lot of fishermen shy away after a rain storm, but I’ve found that sometimes I can have a wonderful day on the river after a storm with a little strategy and the right flies.  After the most recent Minnesota and Wisconsin deluge, I decided it was time to put thoughts into action.  The river was running higher than usual, and was fairly ruddy, but it was not dangerous to wade (I hear my dad in my mind saying “safety first Michael!”).  At the first hole I went too, I struck out big time, including losing my whole rig within five casts.  Not the epic night I was hoping for.  However, after adjusting my rig a little, I started catching fish after fish as I went upstream from hole to hole, with virtually no one else on the river (ostensibly scared off by the recent storm).  After all, the fish do have to eat, regardless of the weather.  I was already into double digits for the night, and then the fishing got relatively quiet.  The biggest trout I had released so far was 10 inches (with a range of fish caught from 4 inches to 10 inches, both brookies and browns).  I had about a quarter mile walk back to the car, so I figured I would tie on a Stimulator and hit the same pools and riffles on the way back.  On my way back, I noticed a section of river I had previously ignored because it was difficult to get too, but the storm had padded down all the grass and made access much easier.  No sooner had I made a few casts then I was doing my best to pull in a nice 15 inch brown, which is more of a rarity on the Rush.  This was a fun fish to land on my newly minted Helios-2 (4-Weight) with CFO reel; this was really the first fish to challenge this rod.  A lot of people shy away from Orvis for a variety of reasons, but Orvis makes fantastic gear, is committed to environmental conservation and their customer service is superb in my experience.  I have products from Orvis that are over 20 years old, so I am a loyal customer.  I released this brown, as I do all my fish, counted my blessings and continued my walk back to the car, grinning from ear to ear about the last fish of the night.

Caught this beauty on the Rush River before dark after a stormy couple days.

Caught this beauty on the Rush River before dark after a stormy couple days.

The Fish of 10,000 Casts – Muskie on the Fly

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This past weekend, my brother and I, along with two of our best friends, went on a guided drift boat trip in search of the “fish of 10,000 casts”, also known as the Muskie.  We headed to musky territory in Wisconsin, really the epicenter for this type of fishing.   Muskellunge (Esox masquinongy) is part of the same family as pike.  Its genetic lineage is unchanged dating back to prehistoric times, so you feel like you are hunting something fierce.  The Muskie is the apex predator in its environment, and to catch one on a fly rod is truly an awesome feat.

The name, Muskie, comes from the Ojibwa word for “ugly pike” (maashkinoozhe).  It’s definitely an ugly fish.  But it’s also extremely hard to catch, puts up a good fight, and makes for fantastic photos.

This is the background for the epic trip I had in store for myself and my friends.  We were all fired up, none of us ever having been in a drift boat with fly rods.  Our guides were Brian “Lucky” Porter (www.faroutflyfishing.com) and Chris Willen (chriswillien.com).  Lucky has guided us before, and it was our first time meeting Chris.  Derek and John went into Lucky’s boat, and Adam and I went into Chris’ boat.  This is our typical Davies versus Coleman competition of course, albeit a friendly competition of pride and honor.  With regards to our hosts, I have to say that both of guides were amazing, and they really know their stuff.  After a brief introduction to the world of Muskie casting (with heavy rods, and special bank shot lines), we shoved off the shore looking for glory in the depths of the river.

OK, full disclosure: we got several Muskie eats but we did not put one in the boat.  This is apparently very common in Muskie fishing (hence, the fish of 10,000 casts).  At least, this was what I kept telling myself.  My ego and pride were definitely hurting despite the good luck with the bass.  It was a beautiful summer day though, with great friends and good conversation.  Just because we weren’t able to catch any Muskies though didn’t mean we weren’t able to catch some awesome fish.

16 inch small mouth bass

16 inch smallmouth bass

I landed a 16 inch smallmouth bass to break open the skunk, and both my brother and I had a few more eats without setting the hook.

This helped us ease into lunch time, and we finally felt we were getting the hang of the new casting style.  There is a figure eight maneuver you are supposed to do with your rod at the end of the line strip to try to entice a Muskie to strike, and honestly, my brother and I thought this was somewhat comical.  That is, until a Muskie came out from the depths of the water like the movie Jaws, causing me to forget all my knowledge, jump back, and pull my rod upwards, removing the hook from the musky’s mouth without setting the hook.  The guide was right to chastise me, but that moment in an of itself was enough to get me hooked for life.

I have to say a few things about our guide, Chris Willen.  This guy is amazing.  He was great company in the boat, extremely knowledgeable, and he gave us great direction and put us in the best position to catch fish.  I highly recommend him to anyone interested in testing their mettle with big game fish like Muskie.  Brian “Lucky” Porter also did an amazing job for my friends John and Derek, and having known him from our prior steelheading trip, I highly recommend him as well.

The next part of the story is really what elevated this trip to epic status.  Chris told us a story about some awesome fish previously hooked at the next hole, and sure enough, right after my fly hit the water, something big and fierce attacked my fly.  In my shock, I didn’t quite strip set the hook properly, but to our amazement, the fish then proceeded to follow the fly again, and Chris started yelling: “it’s a hot fish, get your flies back in the water quick!”.  The fish skirted away, but Chris told us we were going to have a do over with this fish, and we reset, rowed backwards, and informed the second drift boat behind us (Derek and John) that we were waiting to give it another go.  After ten minutes of chatting and planning, we were ready to get serious.  Sure enough, within five casts to that same exact hole, BAM!, a huge northern pike flew out and grabbed my fly.  This time, I stripped like a mad man and we brought a 35 inch pike right into the net.  We went ashore and got some amazing videos and photos.  It was truly an epic catch.  We released this apex predator back into the river, so it could continue to live its life at the top of the food chain.  A pike that big doesn’t even need to worry about Muskie since it’s almost as big as them now.

Here I am with guide, Chris Willen.

Here I am with guide, Chris Willen, holding the prize!  That’s 35 inches of Northern Pike there.

I landed another smallmouth bass, and we had a couple other Muskie eats with no hook sets later in the day.  We think a small northern pike also took a pass at one of our flies, but that would be it for the fishing.  After we brought the boats in, we all got to reminisce and recount the tale of the large Pike we were all privileged to see.  The story lost none of its gusto when we added a couple Old Fashioned’s, some Single Malt Scotch and a ton of Bavarian food to ease ourselves back into the real world.  Stay tuned for the video I’m editing, and remember to SET THAT HOOK!

Fly Fishing Purism

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My grandfather fished dry flies, wet flies and streamers.  And he was deadly at it.  The same goes for my father, although he incorporated nymphs and emergers in his own arsenal.  Always on the artificial fly.  Always barbless hooks.  I think something about this technique makes you a better fly fisherman.  You develop that sixth sense that tells you when to set the hook at the faintest line twitch, the softest shudder, or that quick flash in the water as the fish turns over.

This is what my father always referred to as purism or “being a purest” when it came to fly fishing.  No strike indicator or split shot was needed.  No hopper-dropper, thingamabobber, Czech lines, or drifts boats.  It would be man (or woman) wading into nature’s home court, with the most primitive tackle handled in the most elegant way.  I was brought up learning to fish this way, and I think it really helped my brother and I hone our skills before we started introducing newer technical aspects of fishing for our own personal arsenal.

I’ve got to be honest though.  There’s nothing like making a trout rise to a single dry fly.  But then again, I’ll do everything I can to catch a steelhead or that “fish of 10,000 casts” . . . muskellunge.  These fish are so hard to catch, I’ll take any advantage I can get.  For me, I just love being out on the river, with dreams of the last fish and thoughts of the potential next fish drifting through my thoughts.  Whether it’s with split shot and jig hooks, or with a single barbless #12 Hendrickson (tied Catskill style of course . . . ), the way that you fly fish says a lot about your personality and style.

And then of course, as my family always says, it’s almost as much fun looking at all that cool fly fishing gear as it actually fishing with it.  I’ll continue to be an active participant as fly fishing evolves with new products and materials: bamboo, graphite, switch, Tenkara, anodization, disc drag, weight forward, sink tip, beads, flashback, tungsten, brassie, woven, jigged, choked, articulated . . . fly fishing is evolving like any other art form.  So embrace all the new tactics and toys, and fuel your fly fishing addition with the next big thing.

Wedding Boutonnieres and Fly Tying – A Match Made In Heaven

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When my wife and I were engaged, I was given one very important task (in addition to showing up): pick out the attire that myself and my groomsmen would be wearing.  That’s not entirely true, but for the most part, Katherine did an amazing job of planning all the other large and little details of the wedding as well as including me in the decision processes when needed, but this one task was my really responsibility.

She also knew how much fly fishing meant to my family and I, so she suggested tying some larger colorful flies, and matching them with a appropriate flower to create our own custom boutonnieres (clearly, I married the right woman!):

I did a little research and found these beautiful gold brooch fly hooks, designed with a cap over the hook point and an attached pin, perfect for using with a boutonniere once the tying was complete.  I highly recommend them.  They’re a little hard to tie due to the pin, but it’s worth it to have everything all-in-one and ready for attachment to whatever you want (boutonnieres, hats, vests!)

http://www.jsflyfishing.com/veniard-gold-brooch-pin

When I first scoured the world wide web for ideas about this style of boutonniere, there was almost nothing on the internet.  Now there are a few Etsy posts six years later that allow you to place orders, but there’s still not a lot of information out there.

Here are some of my own creations:

It really helped make our special and added a little touch of ourselves to the photographs.  If you love fly fishing, and want to include something like this in your wedding, I highly recommend it. And if you can tie your own flies, then it could be even more special for you.

The Coleman Special

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As with many childhood memories, they are often wrapped in myth and legend with morsels of truth sprinkled around.

For as long as I can remember, my dad espoused the virtues of our family fly: the Coleman Special.  Ostensibly named after the Coleman clan, and clearly a modification of the famous Woolly Bugger, the Coleman Special was the first fly I ever fished and it also became the most often utilized fly of my childhood.  Not only does it catch fish, but it happens to be an easy fly to cast under most conditions.  I learned to roll cast with this fly as well as the different nuances of retrieval to trigger a rainbow into an explosive strike.

As a child, I was enamored with the bright colors that appeared to drive Rainbow Trout crazy.  As an adult, I suspect this is why I prefer to experiment with such brightly colored flies as “The Fly Formerly Known as Prince” and the “Pink Squirrel”, even before they became mainstream in most fisherman’s fly boxes.  Not surprisingly, my own fly tying style often incorporates bright oranges and pinks due to my early influence from this fly.

Many fly fisherman I run into on the river tie their own flies, but it’s rare to find someone who experiments with their own patterns (or at least someone who is willing to share them).  One of my favorite past times is talking to fellow fly fishermen on the river and exchanging some flies, often with me handing over several of my own concoctions that they’ve never seen of before as well as some of my old standbys.  My family has given out plenty of Coleman Specials over time, and I hope the name sticks.  I like to think that a piece of my family history is lurking in fly boxes across USA and perhaps the world.

ColemanSpecial2

Pictured above is aforementioned “Coleman Special” originally designed by my father Michael and modernized by myself

Here is the original Coleman Special recipe:

Thread: Florescent Fire Orange,

Hook: Size 8-14, 2x Long Streamer Hook

Tail: Pink Marabou

Ribbing: Gold tinself or brassie (small or medium) ribbing for segmentation and hackle support

Body: Flourescent Orange Chenille

Body Hackle: Palmered Brown Hackle (may substitute ginger), use ribbing to secure

Optional Add Ons: Non-toxic Weight (8-10 wrapps pushed up against the bead), Brass or Tungsten Bead or Cone Head (rainbow colored or gold) matched appropriately to the hook, flashabou or crystal flash added to the tail section