Woven Anchor Nymphs

Well it is winter so that means I need to fill all the empty spots in my box.  When on the stream I am fishing a Euro nymphing rig more times than not.  I usually run two nymphs, one heavy anchor to get the flies down in the water column quickly and the other fly is a lightly weighted fly (or unweighted fly).  My anchor nymph box has a lot missing in it.  I decided to start working on some woven nymphs tonight.  I did three color combos: brown over tan, brown over yellow, and brown over olive. 

Woven Nymph

Hook: Size 8 nymph hook

Thread: Brown 6/0

Top: Brown DMC embroidery thread

Bottom: Tan/Yellow/Olive DMC

Rib: Various wire colors

Collar: Hare's ear plus or squirrel dubbing

Bead: Varies

Weight: Lead or non-lead underbody

Special Thanks go out to the guys who run Fly Guy's Guide Service for posting an awesome tutorial on how to do the shuttle weave that I used for these flies.  Also, thanks for Aaron Jasper for taking the time to show me how to do the weave in person.

IF4-International Fly Fishing Film Festival

Saw this trailer online today and it got me excited about the IF4.  I'll be checking it out after the Fly Fishing Show in Lancaster, but note that there is a showing the Friday of the Somerset show as well.  IF4 Schedule.

Winter Fly Fishing Shows

One thing I like to do to try to interrupt the cabin fever that sets in during the winter tying months is attend The Fly Fishing Show.  This year there are two shows that will be held in my vicinity and I plan on attending both.  The first is being held in Somerset, NJ as it has been for as long as I've been attending.  This is the biggest show I've ever attended.  One could stay all three days and still not see and do everything that there is.  My plan of attack is to pick out the seminars that I want to attend, this year I'm going saltwater heavy for this show.  I'm excited to hear the guys from Shore Catch Guide Services talk about bait and their profiles and also fishing from beaches and jetties.  I'm also looking forward to seeing Bob Popovics tie up some patterns and I'm going to pick up his book Popfleyes as well.  When I'm not in seminars, I like to walk around the floor and check out new gear and featured tiers to see what is new and exciting in the world of fly fishing.  I usually have a few things I'm looking to purchase and this year is no different.  In addition to Popfleyes, I'm looking to pick up George Daniel's book on Dynamic Nymphing, Aaron Jasper's new DVD European Nymphing A Strategic Approach, and a few small tying items.  Once I get these items and have a chance to digest them, look for reviews in future posts.

The other show I will attend is in a new location in Lancaster, PA in February.  This show will be more focused on PA and trout, which will be nice since that is my main focus in fly fishing currently.  Joe Humphries will be at this show and despite what you think about him or his affiliations, he is a great fly fisherman and I savor every opportunity to listen to the man that I can.  I will give more details on this show as it approaches.

Anyone know of any other shows happening this winter?

New Year's Eve Fishing

Wanting to get the last bit of value out of my PA 2011 fishing license, I decided to hit up White Clay Creek.  This stream was stocked by the White Clay Fly Fishers on the previous Thursday so I thought that I might run into a bunch of fish.  Well, I ran into something and it was a bunch of other fishermen.  Usually I will park in one lot and walk upstream, then fish back downstream to where I parked.  For whatever reason, I decided to jump in at my usual ending spot and work my way upstream.  Apparently everyone else decided to park at the lot at the top of the stretch and fish their way downstream towards the other lot.  I started off well and picked up a real nice rainbow trout in my first few casts on the brown over yellow woven nymph I was using as my anchor.

Then I moved upstream to the next holding spot.  I spotted a few fish laying in the slower current closer to the bank I was standing on.  Had a few hits, but for whatever reason was unable to close the deal on them.  Decided to move upstream to the next holding spot and I ran into the first of what would turn out to be many fisherman on the stream (I shouldn't have been shocked, it was 50 something degrees outside, plus it was New Year's Eve).  I walked back around him to give him room and to maneuver to the next spot I wanted to fish.  Again, more anglers.

I decided to hit the trail and move upstream to where I was going to finish at and see what was going on up there.  You guessed it, more anglers.  I took a break, fished a small riffle that had held fish in the past, but I was hemmed into a small space with anglers upstream and downstream of me.  On one of my casts I got stuck in a tree and ended up losing my tippet and flies below my sighter (yes, I fish Euro methods).  I waded out and picked my flies out of the tree (wasn't going to lose flies and I didn't feel bad wading into a spot where I had caught zero fish).  Sat down and took my time tying on new tippet and the same flies, hoping to give the guys downstream from me a chance to clear out.  This plan worked only a little.  I worked my way downstream and was able to get into a run that I had wanted to fish but had been occupied on my way upstream.  Settled in and caught another rainbow on a small caddis emerger type fly.  I'm not sure exactly what it was since I had received it in a fly swap at some point.

Hit a few more spots on my way back to my parking spot without catching anymore fish.  It was getting dark, and I needed to get home and get dinner, a shower and a shave.  I hadn't seen my wife all week since she was on vacation in Nashville, and I wanted to look presentable when I picked her and my daughter up at the airport.

All in all, it was a nice way to end 2011 and get ready for 2012 and the fishing adventures that await.

Father's Day Crabbing Trip

I apologize in advance since I'm bouncing around here right now in the beginning until I get in the flow of this blogging thing.

So for Father's Day this year (instead of playing baseball which I prefer to do) I went crabbing with my father-in-law.  He picked me up at 3:00 AM so we could head on down to the Chester River for our first crabbing run together.  We saw a beautiful sunrise over the water.

We then proceeded to set out the trot line.  For those who are reading who don't crab, a trot line is a length of nylon rope (in this case we were running 1250' the maximum allowed) with bungee cord snoods attached every so many feet (5-10 or so).  The snoods have a loop on the end so you can attach the bait (we were using chicken necks).  You anchor down the two ends of the trot line with a length of chain in the middle of the line to anchor that down.  As you run alongside the trot line, you pick up the line and net any crabs that are hanging onto your bait.  Pretty basic concept, takes a little time to get used to the execution.  When you get to the end of the line, you unhook the line from the boat and head back to the other end to do it again.  After a bushel of crabs, you head home.  We busheled out around 1000, took the boat back to its storage area, cleaned it off and headed home for some much needed rest.

That afternoon, we all got together for a crab feast!

Striper Charter with First Light Charters

Had a charter with Capt. Cook of First Light Charters on Saturday, November 26.  This trip was booked in the spring with thoughts of giant stripers and lots of them.  The fish didn't exactly cooperate but we had a good time and had a Captain that was willing to work and put in time to get us a keeper.

We met up with Capt. Cook at the dock at 300 PM to hit the water.  After launching the boat and talking a bit, we decided to head out to some rips in Delaware Bay to see if we couldn't entice some bigger keepers since Indian River Inlet hadn't been giving up anything.  After a 14 mile ride, we were on the first rip and experienced the most beautiful sunset ever.  I took a picture, but was unable to do Mother Nature any justice.

We worked hard drifting eels over rips anywhere from 60 feet of depth to 20 feet of depth and everywhere in between with only a dogfish of several feet of length to show for it.  After a couple hours of drifting, we decided to make the run back to the inlet and see what was happening in there.  Besides the delicious smell of french fries off the coast of Rehoboth Beach, the ride in was pretty uneventful.

We worked the new and improved bulkhead around the Coast Guard Station in the inlet with my brother-in-law picking up some schoolie stripers and some shad.  I didn't hit anything.  We then moved out and were casting plugs over the submerged end of the north jetty.  We almost immediately started hooking up with fish in the lower 20's (keeper is 28 inches).  The blood on the sides is from sea lice, these fish were fresh from the ocean and the sea lice were falling off as we were boating the fish.

My BIL hooked up with one that we thought might be a keeper, but came up short at 26 1/2.

The time for our trip was about to end, but since we were hitting fish and had spent a good deal of time out in the bay, Capt. Cook was willing to let us stay out longer to see what we were able to do.  Thankfully, we stayed and casted plugs over the submerged rocks.  I was able to bring in a 30" keeper that was our only boxed fish for the day.  I was pumped as this was my first keeper.

This was my second year in a row out with Capt. Cook.  He's a very knowledgeable Captain who will work hard to get you on fish and makes you feel very safe in his boat.  I'm looking forward to getting out with him again next year when we take on a new adventure for me, tautog fishing.  Get the tackle ready Capt. Chuck!

PA Fly Fish Saltwater Jam at IBSP

Ok, I'm a little late to the party on this post, but I'm trying to revive my blog after one mediocre post way back in May.  Saturday, October 22, I traveled to Island Beach State Park in Seaside Park, NJ to meet up with some guys from the PaFlyFish.com board for a saltwater jam.  I met up with three of the guys at Betty and Nick's for breakfast at 7AM to fuel up for a full day on the sand.  After a great breakfast, we split up and I headed to the first bathing beach with another member before we were going to all get back together at 10.  I geared up and hit the sand and almost immediately had an undersized fluke (we were fishing in NJ so trying to keep terms correct) with the other guy hitting a small fluke as well for almost a doubleheader.  After that, action slowed and the other guys started showing on the sand.  We had a talk from a more experienced saltwater fly fisherman (thanks FishIdiot) and then worked the area around the first swimming beach again.  I hit up with another small fluke, and that would prove to be my last landed fish of the day.  We decided to head to the southernmost post parking area and fish the beach on our way to the jetty at the inlet, which was about 1.5 miles from the parking area.  We worked the beach hard with nothing to show for it.  We then worked the jetty for a while and I connected with a much larger fluke, but lost him shortly into the battle.  That would be it for me.  Worked some areas around the jetty, then trekked back to the parking area.  Found an awesome shell for my daughter, then hit the road back home.  A great day spent making new friends, that's what fishing of any type is all about.