Pizza is your friend: Thanks to CVTU for hosting Wet Flies 101

Feb12

When you travel around the northeast making evening presentations to fly fishing clubs, you learn to keep a stash of protein bars in your case. Especially if you get grumpy when you’re hungry.

Or, you could just present to the Candlewood Valley Trout Unlimited Chapter. They trot out a spread of cheese pizzas, and invite you to have at it. So, thank you, CVTU for being such gracious hosts. I really enjoyed presenting “Wet Flies 101” to such an engaging group.

One of the many gorgeous creatures you can expect to catch with wet flies.

I also thought I’d make this thank you note a little more appealing to those who weren’t in attendance. At the end of each presentation, I open the floor to questions. Here are a few topics we covered.

Q: Where do you attach weight to the leader if you want to quickly sink the flies?

A: One BB shot to start, just above the knot that forms the middle dropper.

Q: When your team of wets is downstream, how do you re-cast them? Do you water load the rod and shoot them upstream?

A: It depends on where I want to make my next cast. If it’s upstream, and doesn’t require a precision or a long cast, yes, I’ll water load the rod and shoot the whole works. But mostly, I like to aerialize the line before I cast. Still, I like to keep false casting to a minimum.

Q: How long do you dangle?

A: Shocking! I can neither confirm nor deny the rumors. But seriously, the issue is how long do I leave the flies dangling in the current below me? If I know a fish is there, I might leave it for several minutes. I might also animate the flies by slowly raising and lowering the rod tip, perform a hand-twist retrieve (with the rod tip raised), or sweep the flies back and forth in the current with side to side mends.

Just a reminder that my next presentation (also Wet Flies 101) is to the Narragansett (RI) TU Chapter, Thursday, February 26. You can get directions at their website, tu225.org.

Saturday, March 1, I will be doing a small stream tying demo at the Compleat Angler in Darien, CT. Their website is compleatangleronline.com

Thanks to today’s “Wet Flies for the Farmington River” class at UpCountry Sportfishing

Feb10

We had a sellout crowd at today’s class — thanks to everyone for taking the time to come. Really good group, very enthusiastic, and we spent as much time talking about wet fly tying, theory, and fishing as we did tying. I had fun, too — so much that I couldn’t believe it when I looked at my phone and it was 1:40pm. Like a soccer match, we added some extra time, and in the spirit of one more cast, squeezed in another tie. I’d also like to take this opportunity to formally warn the trout in the Farmington River: there are now five more anglers who are going to be fooling you on regular basis. For your own safety, stay within the TMA.

Busy, busy, busy. Time flies — did I really just write that? — when you’re tying soft-hackles.

Tying and talking. Do not try this at home.

Just a reminder that I will be giving a presentation, “Wet Flies 101,” Tuesday night, 2/11, at the CVTU meeting at 7pm at Armando’s Restaurant, 47 Stony Hill Rd, Bethel, CT. Hope to see some of you locals there!

Currentseams one year later: where we’ve been, and where we’re going

Feb3

January 31 marked the first anniversary of this website. WordPress sent me a little reminder valentine, which is nice because it had completely slipped my mind.

I was unsure what to expect when I started currentseams. People had been suggesting to me that I start a blog, but I hated that word. Blog, to me, sounded like some affected entity that had the massive potential to come off like, “Dear diary…today I went fishing!” Not for this man. I knew I needed a website for my guiding, fly tying, writing, and speaking business; I was blowing it off because there was no way I was going to put a out sucky product. Finally, I ended up at WordPress, found a format I liked, and waded in.

And here we are, 112 (Really? Wow!) followers later. I want to say thank you to all of you. I appreciate your readership.

Looking to the present and future: in addition to the more of the same high-quality content, I have some new ideas for currentseams. One of those is that I am starting to add outside links to other sites. These will be fly fishing industry-related, anything from shops to magazines to other blogs. I’m starting with UpCountry Sportfishing and Great Feathers. UpCountry is the primary shop I teach out of, and your single source for all things Farmington River. Great Feathers has a comprehensive selection of wet fly tying materials, including some harder-to-find hooks. You can find the links in the right hand column of currentseams.

The second bit of news is that I am close to (finally!) doing a some tying videos. I think the wait will be worth it.

That’s all for now. Thanks again for reading.

P.S. When I ran the 100th Follower contest, I really enjoyed hearing from so many of you. Feel free to leave a comment (especially some of the new folks). I read them all.

I’m way happier about the one-year anniversary of currenseams than I look here. Really. Honest.

Thanks to everyone at the CFFA Show

Feb1

I was humbled by the number of people who stopped by my tying table today. Old friends, new introductions, online names to connect with faces, an excess of positive energy, talking fishing and tying, and some really good questions. I’ve been going to the CFFA Show for years; this was my first time as tyer/exhibitor. The CFFA was a terrific host. I value the little things in life, like finding out that they had a spiffy little box lunch set aside for me. Feed me, and I’m happy.

I did manage to sneak away and do a little shopping (thanks, Gary and Todd for watching my swag). Found some goodies like a bag o’ wood duck feathers, an el cheap jungle cock neck (the nails need some work, but a little wax and some flexible cement and they’ll be quite passable). My master score was two large white bucktails with scads of straight fibers over 5″ long. $5 each!

I just know there was a saddle suitable for flatwings hiding somewhere in that room. Perhaps next year.

Pardon my humble setup: some MDF screwed to 2x4s and my Universal No. 2 clamp vise that I bought from Clapp & Treat in 1976 for $13.95. Sadly, it’s on its last legs. There’s a new toy on the way, but nothing will ever replace my baby who has served me faithfully for so many years. “It’s not the arrow, it’s the indian.”

Slight change in plans for the CFFA Expo this Saturday

Jan28

I just learned that UpCountry Sportfishing had to pull out of the show; I’m still going to tie, but obviously not at their table. I had planned on focusing solely on wet flies for trout, but I’ll probably do a little saltwater, too. You can find me on Tyers Row.

Also, due to some prior commitments, I won’t be able to tie the whole time. Figure something like 9am to 1pm-ish. Hope to see some of my local followers there.

The CFFA Expo is held at Maneeley’s, 65 Rye Street, South Windsor, CT, 2/1/14.

January thaw on a small stream

Jan15

I broke one of my cardinal rules today: never go into the woods if you’ve recently watched Deliverance. There were no mountain men bent on buggery — and sadly, precious few bugs. I was hoping a near 50-degree day and some sunshine would trigger a hatch, but all I saw was one lonely grey big midge/small stonefly thingy flitting over the water. Although the creek was up due to yesterday’s rains, the water had cleared nicely by the time I threw my first cast, around 1pm.

I did the upstream dry thing, then the downstream subsurface thing. No takers on the dry. I wasn’t surprised, given the height of the water and its temperature. (I forgot my thermometer, but I experienced the sting when I had to go up to my elbow to liberate a fly from the bottom.)

A satellite image of the Chesapeake Bay’s frozen tributaries. Well, it could be.

More fun with photography. See if you can find the duck’s head and the hawk’s head.

My only strike of the day came on a downstream presentation with a weighted wet/streamer. A fine brown hen, long and lean, a good size for a brook this small. She was hiding in a deep pool that courses between two boulders. One touch was all I needed, and releasing her was almost as gratifying as catching her.

Your first trout of the year should be a memorable one. What a staggering array of colors on her gill plate. Also note the blemish on her nose. I couldn’t tell if it was an old wound or just a cosmetic oddity. I had not caught her before today.

The winning fly. I like to fish small hybrid wet/streamers with tungsten heads on small streams. It’s a simple fly, easy to tie, and it uses a mix of natural and synthetic materials: A copper tungsten head, some weighted wire on the hook shank, black Krystal Flash tail, black Ice Dub body, palmered then hackled with grizzly hen. This fly is unnamed. (For you detail-oriented folks, that’s not ice. It’s a big chunk of stream side quartz.)

Wet Fly Tying Demo at the CFFA Expo

Jan14

I will be tying wet flies at the UpCountry Sportfishing table at the CFFA Expo, Saturday, February 1. The event runs from 9am-3pm; unfortunately, due to some prior commitments, I won’t be able to tie the whole time. Figure something like 10am to 1pm-ish. Hope to see some of my local followers there.

The CFFA Expo is held at Maneeley’s, 65 Rye Street, South Windsor, CT.

Steelhead streamer: The Grapefruithead Leech

Jan10

The Grapefruithead Leech is the creation of steelhead guide Kevin Feenstra out of Michigan. I first saw this pattern a couple years ago in John Nagy’s Steelhead Guide. I remember thinking it was a horrible fly. You know, over-the-top, unapologetic, in-your-face, clearly inspired by the egg-sucking leech. I was thumbing through the book this past fall, looking for some ideas, and there it was again. Over the next few weeks, I kept coming back to it. It was kind of like drinking a new bottle of wine that you’re not sure you like; as you’re trying to decide, you realize the bottle’s nearly empty. So I tied some up for my November 2013 trip. Wouldn’t you know, I caught my first steelhead on the swing on this horrible, beautiful, wonderful fly. Feenstra says he likes this pattern whenever there’s snow on the ground. I can tell you that steelhead also like it near dusk on a snowless day, dangling in the current near the tailout of a shallow run.

The Grapefruithead Leech

Hook: Daiichi 2461 or 3XL streamer hook, size 4-2/0

Tail: Black Marabou with sparse red flash
Body: Black marabou, palmered

Overbody: Black or purple schlappen, palmered

Collar: Mallard flank, one turn
Flash: Green, silver, and blue flashabou
Head: Large fuchsia cactus chenille with a veil of chartreuse ice dub

Tying Notes: This fly looks huge out of the water; however, the lion’s share of the bulk comes from soft-hackled feathers, so it will slim down dramatically when wet. Before you tie the body, remember to leave enough space for the head. I left a good 1/3 of the shank. To make the body, first tie in a large blood marabou quill by the tip, and a schlappen feather by the tip. Palmer the marabou up the shank; leave enough space between wraps so that a single feather covers the shank. Be sure all the marabou fibers are floating freely. Wrapping the schlappen is the hardest part of tying the fly; take care to mat down as few of the marabou fibers as possible. I used a swaying, back-and-forth motion with the feather as I wrapped, and a bodkin to pick out the marabou when necessary. This fly has way more flash than I typically use in my ties, but subtlety not being its strong point, what the heck. I used 3-4 stands of each color, cut them in half, then tied them in one color at a time. Three turns of cactus chenille, then cover the head with a sparse veil of chartreuse ice dub. (Get it? It looks like a slice of grapefruit.)

New Tying Class: Wet Flies and Fuzzy Nymphs for the Farmington River

Jan9

This is one of my more popular tying classes. We explore buggy, impressionistic wets and nymphs geared toward fishing the Farmington, but the patterns and skills you’ll learn will serve you well on almost any trout stream. The class places an emphasis on using natural materials to create flies for specific hatches, as well as attractor patterns. Participants will need a vise, thread and tools. All other materials will be provided from my magical, mystical stash. The cost is $50.

Learn to tie the Squirrel and Ginger, and many other patterns that trout won’t be able to resist.

When: Sunday, February 9, 2014, 9am-2pm

Where: UpCountry Sportfishing, New Hartford, CT

Sign Up: I can’t enroll you; you can sign up by calling UpCountry at 860-379-1952.

“Wet Flies 101” Presentations in February 2014

Dec29

If you’re interested in wet flies and are within driving distance of Danbury, CT, or Coventry, RI, mark your calendars for February 2014. I’ll be making my presentation of “Wet Flies 101” to the Candlewood Valley TU chapter (cvtu.org) on Tuesday, February 11, and to the Narragansett, TU chapter (tu225.org) on Wednesday, February 26. You don’t need to be a member to attend, and you can get directions and times from their respective websites.

Wet flies have been fooling trout for centuries — and the fish aren’t getting any smarter. While the wet fly fell out of favor in America decades ago, more and more trout anglers are discovering that the best match for a hatch is often a wet fly. “Wet Flies 101” is a basic overview of the method. I cover history, fly styles, leader construction, where to fish wets, and presentation. Hope to see you there!

This big summertime brown took a Drowned Ant soft-hackle on the Farmington River.