Flies

The Troutnut Site: Welcome to Bug Central

August 20, 2006, by 1 comment

Every once in a while I stumble across a site that represents so many hours of work that I wonder at the sanity of the builder.

The Troutnut is just such a site – a compilation of a mind-boggling 2392 stunning photographs of trout food (bugs), and truckloads of information about those same critters. The builder’s also a pretty good landscape photographer, and his underwater pictures are equally interesting.

It’s everything you ever wanted to know about bugs. And way more. Visit it. Bookmark it. Visit it again…

[tags]troutnut, mayflies, caddis, fly fishing blog[/tags]

Underground Tip: The Last Fish of the Evening

August 18, 2006, by 8 comments

It’s growing dark and your dry fly is getting very hard to see. But there’s one good fish rising in that far seam.

Under these conditions, even setting the hook is difficult – but you won’t get the chance until you get the drift right. And the odds of that are pretty slim if you can’t see your fly.

Frog'sFanny not only floats - it helps you seeLike a lot of others, I use Frog’s Fanny (a white dessicant powder) to revive soaked flies, but it’s also a great “highlighter.”

Frogs Fanny normally works best when used sparingly. Under normal conditions, I blow away excess dust, returning the fly to its normal color. But when I’m after one more fish at dark, I go a different route.

I apply a small amount, work it in, and then apply an extra coat to the top of the fly. It typically won’t float long (AK Best suggests leftover dessicant absorbs water and actually sinks the fly), but for a couple casts, the whitened top of the fly stands out like a beacon.

Cast, drift, bingo. See you at dark, Tom Chandler.

Tonight, a fishing report…

August 8, 2006, by No comments yet

Undergrounders! I’m sorry for the lack of posts. My dog ate my computer.

OK, truth is I’m the Ride Director for the Shasta Summit Century bike ride – a very challenging fundraiser that a few of us conduct each year. For a few days, the job that becomes more than a fulltime endeavor – this year made more so because we were absolutely overrun by riders.

Last year, 475 riders made the trip, but this year we had 630 riding up and down the mountains surrounding Mt. Shasta. Keeping them fed and watered is a challenge, but the payoffs are immense. Last year we granted $6000 to under-supported youth sports in this area, including our championship high school cross-country team and a bunch of others.

I’m proud of the work we do, but I’m also glad it’s over. Tonight, I’m hitting the river! Tomorrow, I’ll be back in the swing here at the Underground. You’ll be reading the same largely fictitious fishing reports, odd fishing links, and general weirdness that comprises life here.

It feels a little like we’re entering the dog days up here, but there’s still a lot of fishing to be done. If anyone’s been fishing, I’d love to hear about it. Post a comment, and I’ll see you on the river, Tom Chandler

fly fishing flies dry on a patch

Fly fishing envy…

June 23, 2006, by 9 comments

Fly fishing isn’t exactly life or death (though the trout might disagree), but sometimes it can seem that way. At least it can when the fish are eating dries and for some unimportant reason (and they’re all unimportant when the hatch is on) you’re not out there trying to catch a few.

It’s OK; there’s another hatch on the calendar, but rather than count on the passage of time to create more dry fly fishing, I’m going fishing this evening. Staying in and catching up isn’t a bad idea, but the concept of my not catching fish while Raine cavorts on the Henry’s Fork is a little hard to take (you see, living on a good trout river is not protection from an attack of envy).

Fly fishing the Firehole
A 14″ Firehole bow. Fly fishing’s beautiful even when you’re not casting… (Jack Raine photo)

And speaking of Raine, he and Jack had an excellent time on the Firehole (as predicted by the Yellowstone Fly Fish blog) and are on their way back to the Henry’s Fork (or “Fork” if you’re into fly fishing hip). Jack continues to admirably fill the trip photojournalist role with another nice picture.

They’re both enjoying the hell out of themselves (the goal of the trip after all), but they seem to be running into a certain kind of person – fly fishers with logos on their hats, grimness on their faces, and an approach to fly fishing that suggests all kinds of mental pyrotechnics occuring beneath the surface. My advice? Don’t be one of those guys.

The Beetle Bug busts out
Every time I mention the mighty Beetle Bug I get e-mails about the fly. I love the pattern, but no – I wouldn’t necessarily recommend fishing it through a BWO hatch. Still, as far as attractors go, it’s a confidence fly – something I know has worked in the past, will probably work again, and could conceivably work work on the next cast. For those willing to slave over a hot vise, here are some excellent directions for tying the Beetle Bug from the eflytyer site, which is also an interesting online shop specializing in fly tying materials. Given my prediliction for the underdog, I suggest giving this shop a try, if only because they’re not one of the monster retailers.

What am I forgetting in this post? After averaging only a couple hours of sleep a night, I have no earthly idea. At this point, I can amuse myself for hours simply trying to spell my own name, and I wonder what the L&T Nancy is going to find by the time she gets back from her business trip on Sunday. Probably a gibbering idiot. But not tonight. Tonight I fish. See you on the river (literally), Tom Chandler.

Turning stones to steel…

June 6, 2006, by 9 comments

“You should have been here last week” isn’t exactly an original phrase, and in fly fishing circles, it’s as much a bad joke as it is a cliché. Last week the Upper Rogue’s stoneflies were thick in the bushes, and while the fish were clearly just getting onto them, it was promising.

On Monday (yesterday as I write this), I saw only three stoneflies all day (none in the bushes), but fortunately the fish were still on the dry. Dave Roberts, myself, Chris Raine, Mike Luccia and Dave Edmonson pushed away from the launch ramp in a pair of almost-identical Clacka drifters, eyes all glittery and hopeful like small children on their way to a candy store.

Ah, but innocence never lasts long; kids learn there is no Santa, and a random, unnamed fly fisher might make a beautiful slack line cast (complete with puddled leader and aerial mend), only to break off a big fish due to a moronically Bassmaster-esque hookset .

Chris Raine hooked up only a few minutes later, and because he didn’t try to launch his fish into Idaho (like some writer we could name), he landed a gorgeous 21” steelhead, though only after a real fire drill of a fight. At one point, Chris struggled to move the mighty beast upriver against a strong current while Dave Roberts stood by with the net. The fish wasn’t all that happy with any of it, and twice tried to wrap himself up in Roberts’ legs, leading to some amusing moments (at least from my perspective in the drift boat) while the two danced around.

Raine fights an Upper Rogue Steelhead
Chris Raine gets his butt handed to him by a big steelhead.

The Steelie Dance
Tango! Roberts and Raine do the two-step with a steelie. The opposable thumbs eventually won out, but just barely (see next picture).


The Beast in Question

Once the entertainment ended, the fishing settled down to a steady diet of fish intermittently slashing at the big dries. My biggest was 15”-16” with most in the 10”-12” range. Everyone landed fish, the weather was good, the sandwiches were tasty, and a good time was had by all.

Interestingly, the standby Rogue Foam Stone didn’t produce nearly as well as a Shane Stalcup pattern tied by Dave Roberts. Apparently, life moves forward for both fish and fly fishers. I fished a strong Thramer 5wt – discovering that proper leader design really is the key to throwing big, wind-resistant dries on lighter lines. Still, I preferred the comfort of my 6/7 wt Payne Canadian Canoe taper, especially since the next hookset could connect me to a pissed-off steelhead in fast water. Strong is good.

Is the stonefly hatch on the Rogue over? Dave Roberts doesn’t think so, but admits the possibility exists. Expect more news on this critical topic soon.

Because of an unhealthy level of deadline pressures today, only a couple links; The Fly Fishing Yellowstone blog is as current as always, and apparently the stoneflies are making an appearance out there too. And lately I’ve mentioned the rise of rubbery lips in the fly fishing zeitgest; Carp are big, and the Flytimes Blog adds even more informational fuel to the fire.

The Upper Sac is still running over 3,000 cfs, and with deadlines sprouting like weeds, it looks like anything that happens will happen locally (and quickly). See you at the keyboard, Tom Chandler

The Beetle Bug

May 20, 2006, by 4 comments

Work wrapped its sticky fingers around me yesterday afternoon and kept me away from the misleadingly named “Longshot Lake” (though with rain falling all afternoon, all evening, and most of the morning it’s not clear I missed a lot).

The river itself spiked over 8,000 cfs – an astonishing number for this time of year. As the river flows remain at largely unfishable levels, boredom creeps in and drives us to do things we might not normally do. Wayne proved this theory true by fishing the raging Upper Sac for an hour yesterday, actually landing a fish and losing two others.

Others engage in even more desperate behavior, like whipping up a Beetle Bug and photographing it (first fly photo ever) so his readers will know what the hell he’s talking about all the time. I get a couple e-mails every time I mention the oddly mis-named Beetle Bug, and while it’s hardly a magic fly, it is a very effective attractor pattern that’s fast fast fast to tie. This is my rough water parachute tie (I would tie a sparser pattern with a thinner body for slower water), and it’s equally effective as a Catskill tie with white hair wings.

The Beetle Bug Fly
Your basic Beetle Bug; easy, fast, and hot (which – if you think about it – is how most of us like our women)

The basic recipe is Moose body tails, bright red Hares Ear dubbing, turkey flat parachute post (white goat body hair for the Catskill), and Coachman brown hackle (though I use Cree hackle).

That’s all for today. The Lovely & Talented Nancy flies home today from a weeklong business trip, and between the bruised rib, the rampant sickness, and our end-to-end trips, I’m looking forward to actually spending some time with her. With everything running high, there’s no better time… See you, well, you won’t see me… TC.