Inchworm Trash Fly Style

Hook: #14 Dryfly
Body: Green 'Headphone Wire Insulation'
Head and Legs: Tan Dubbing

Spring Break 2011

Spring Break on the SoHo Day 1

We picked a really great time to come over. High water out the butt. Came anyway. We got to the house as soon as the owner would let us in. That gave me about 1 1/2 hours of wade-able water. Got ridge and down to the edge of the property. Not a bottom I wanted to wade. I remembered a friend and the rope  I cast from the edge. Slow nymphed. That was the ticket caught fish. Good sized fish.

The water finally broke up that party. Noticed some school of big carp and we know I have no self respect when it comes to fishing a fly. Went and got the streamer rod. Rigged a streamer and a egg. The carp fancied it. Dang hard fish in high water. Fish between 10-20 lbs. I couldn't get a good spot to land them. No really good pics except for this guy resting after the battle.

Now you know your messed up when you are carp fishing in a world class trout stream and sort of pissed this guy out run a hugh carp for the fly.

Caught several nice trout while the carp thing was happening 

Spring Break on the SoHo Day 2

The generation schedule sucked again today. I had about two hours before bottom dropped out and the flow killed wading altogether. From light enough to see the indicator till flow the bite was really great along the grass edges. Here's a few pics.













The carp were a little harder today. Clouds made sight fishing tough. Got two to leader. No good place to get a pic without falling up to my a$$ in the mud. Got a few bites I never saw. All in all a pretty good day.

Saw a brown across the river free jump. That was the biggest brown. Dang maybe another day.

Spring Break on the SoHo Day 3

Still less than desirable generation schedule. I got a few hours early that were wade-able. Slow on the nymphing today. The weather was still and over cast. Not a rise to be seen for the first hour. A lot of casts that went unanswered. Started noticing a few BWO pass by  That raised my spirits some. It also started raising some heads. As the hatch began they were seriously selective. No joy. A lot of rejections. As the pitch built up they started giving my BWO a little more love. It wasn't a lot to hand and they were everyone earned. No pics. Sorry. 

The carp were picky as all get out today too. They didn't show up in good numbers either. The weather is about to change around here and I'm going to use that as my excuse for a slow day. 

We had Riverman over last night for a burger and catching up. He's still alive. If you need a shuttle here email me and I'll give you the contact number. I can't think of a better and more knowledge hand on this or any other river.

One more day and back to the other side of the mountain.

Spring Break on the SoHo Day 4

Well the storms found us this morning. Tornado watch for the immediate area. Lots of bright colors on the radar maps. I almost talked myself into having another cup of coffee and packing for home. Really glad I didn't 

The mud has been pretty bad in the area where I was fishing all week. Today as bands of rain came thru it was worse.



The rain would pause or slack and the BWO's would fire up the fish 



Caught a lot of fish in the slack periods. Got to sit and listen to the rain on my jacket a lot too.





When it stopped periodically it stopped. Not upside down 





While it was raining I swung a pair of softhackles. No pic's of those fish due the hard rain except this monster around stopping time.





Time to pack and head back across the the mountain.

The End

Boot Lace Stonefly Nymph

Hook: #6 DiRiki 2x Nymph Hook
Thorax: Sulfur Fine and Dry Dubbing
Abdomen: Yellow and Orange Boot Lace String
Tail: Yellow Biots
Legs: Yellow Biots
Antenna: Yellow Biot
Wing Case: Turkey Tail Fiber

It will darken up a good bit when It gets wet. I saw this in Fly Tyer a few years back and wanted to try it. One 'boot lace' would make a lot of nymphs. This is a prototype. It has a lot of refinement ahead. But I believe it will be worth it.


Like to hear any comments or suggestion you all would like to make.

Tightlines: N. Mills River fence

Tightlines: N. Mills River fence: "Folks--we are going to be building the last 100 feet of fence on the N. Mills River this coming Wednesday April 20. We signed up a few volun..."

Drug Store Fly Tyer

Now we’ve all done it. Well, I know a lot of you have. A quick trip to the drug store for a tube of toothpaste turns into a wandering adventure through a mystical land of fly tying materials. The strange thing is that all these great materials are disguised as other things. Now don’t get me wrong as a take off on a currently popular TV commercial for Ally Bank. I love my fly shop! and I’ll go every chance I get.

What comes over us when we get into these realms just outside of the fly tying lines? Remember we just wanted a tube of toothpaste. But we start looking at all that cool, shiny, cheap fly tying material hiding in plain sight. The goal of this piece is to show you, if you have not already found them, the wonders of tying materials available at your local drug store.

The first time I decided to try a Sally Hansen product I was actually a little nervous. What would the clerk think if all I bought was a bottle of nail polish? I could just imagine the rumors that might start going about. I got my courage up and bought some clear. Clear Sally H’s is pretty close to the cheapest head cement substitute around. I also have suspicion that Sally’s Hard as Nails and a popular head cement Hard as Hull might have something in common. It also makes an excellent cover coat for poppers and similar flies.

On the dental care aisle there’s an over looked product that a friend told me of. He showed it to me at a group informal tying gathering. A little blue mono loop that just seemed more suited for fly tying than your mouth. The gadget is used to thread dental floss between teeth and braces hardware. So it certainly works with tying threads, floss, rubber legs, and anything else you need to thread. The thickness of the mono is a great tail boom for the adult damsel fly as well.

I buy all my super glue products at the drug store. The price is right. They sell enough that I am pretty confident that it’s not flat. The personal choice I make is the kind that brushes on. The brush makes a great applicator and/or smoothing tool.

One day I was in for something actually drug store related and found myself cutting down the eye make up aisle. I stopped at the sight of a little box of eye lash extensions. They were perfect, perfect for nymph legs. I am not sure what they are made of. They have the perfect length and curve when tied in to make outstanding legs. Pun intended. The clerk that day was one of my students. She knew where they were going and just laughed.

When it is popper season the local drug store becomes a key stop for two great products to color bass and bluegill noise makers. Sally Hansen products, after buying it for head cement, caught my eye for all the wild colors. In the past attempts with popper paints seemed to be overly messy and and the paint did not last long due to the container drying out. Nail polishes have their own brush that does not have to be cleaned. They dry relatively fast and just need to be allowed to air out before storing away for the trip. Also, since our little town has a college, our drug store always seems to have a aisle of art related products. Permanent markers of a wide range of hues await the popper season. I am not sure what the college students do with pale yellow but it makes some really kicking shade accents on those top-water flies.

Around Christmas or more exactly the week after there is an usual ritual of the seasonal sale. Bows and tinsel are marked way down for quick sale. The bows are usually made of Mylar and often prismatic colors. Cut thinly a flashback pheasant tale gets some sparkle for 50 cents or less. Ten dollars sets you up for the next twelve months. The tinsel or icicles come down in price. Usually silver or gold. I take them from the package and put a zip tie on them soon as I get home. That makes them look like they were bought from a fly shop and not the bargain bin. The tinsel makes awesome Clouser Deep Minnows and other streamers that need flash.

One last tip that might help the fly fishing budget is that Albolene make-up remover in the one pound tub makes a great substitute for fly floatant oils. No scent or color. One tub will last you and your friends for years. Warm it up in the sun and refill your floatant bottles. Or better yet pick up the empties from the streams you fish and refill them.

Next time you go to the drug store give yourself a little more time and bring your imagination along. Don’t abandon your local fly shop but just add some tricks that will broaden your tying options and save some money to be spent on maybe the less available fair a fly-shop offers.

Todd's Wiggle Minnow gets the Trash Fly Treatment

We’ve all sang to “Margaritaville.” Have you ever wondered what happened to Jimmy Buffet’s flip flop after he blew it out and cut his foot on the pop top? It seems that a lot more folks than Jimmy have had that problem. Every time I pick up trash on a stream clean up day or pull a boat into a cove there is a flip flop bobbing along or washed ashore.

There seems to be an endless supply of good previously used foam out there. I have been keeping those I find for a long time. I have a large tote box that is full to running over. There’s a reason for the hoard of broken or single flip flops. I have several fly patterns that flip flops are the key material.
The most common and more written about fly that is made with foam is the popper. Sharpened copper tubing in a drill and in my case a small engine lathe cuts perfectly cylindrical blanks. These blanks can be punched with a bodkin or spilt with a razor knife. The flip foam works well with super glue.
A pattern that recently caught my attention was a Todd’s Wiggly Minnow. It is a great small mouth bass fly and is readily eaten by a long list of other fish. Here’s the Wiggly Minnow meets Trash Flies.

Hook: #4 Diriki

Tail: Craft Fur

Tail Support: 20 lb mono

Body: Foam cylinder cut from recycled Flip Flop (white) Colored with sharpies. Eyes: 3D Eyes

Tightlines: Spring Forest Festival

Tightlines: Spring Forest Festival: "Fly casting and tying representing Land O' Sky Trout Unlimited. Check out the event at: http://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/news/final-bentcreekbro..."

Spring Forest Festival

I will be tying and representing Land O' Sky Trout Unlimited. Check out the event at:

http://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/news/final-bentcreekbrochure_Festival2011.pdf

Come by a say hello if your out that way.