Caddis Chronicles

The International Fly Tying Symposium will take place next weekend November 23 & 24 at the Parsippany, NJ Sheraton Hotel.  I'll be there all weekend as will my son, Hunt, tying some of our favorite trout flies.  I'll also be presenting a seminar on Sunday morning at 10:00AM - "Effective Flies for Northeastern Hatches.  

As usual there will be many other seminars and fly tying classes, and of course, dozens of very talented fly tyers showing their tying skills and sharing techniques and tips on tying trout flies, salmon flies, bass and panfish flies and  saltwater flies.  For more information, hours and details of seminars and classes, click here: International Fly Tying Symposium 2019

When we get some water in our rivers and streams, the Conehead Bunny Leach will get down to the fish holding near bottom looking for a hearty Autumn meal. As Tim says here, it's easy to tie and has lots of action in the water.  Tie some up in the olive shown here, black, brown and even white.  Be sure to tie some smaller ones like this size #8, and also in larger sizes.  I like patterns like this that have some weight as I can feel what they are doing on the end of my line as I retrieve them.

Come on up and see us at the Dette Flies Open House in Livingston Manor, NY on October 12 - noon to 4:00pm.  The shop is 5 minutes off  Route 17 Exit 96 to 13 Main St.  I'll be tying Hendrickson and Light Cahill mop flies in the traditional Catskill style - there's nothing like matching the hatch. 

This is the Hi-Vis Rusty Spinner complete with egg sac that worked so well, particularly during morning spinner falls.  This pattern has several versions, some with a cdc wing and rusty goose biot body, and often it is tied without the egg sac.  This one is tied with a zelon wing and dubbed body - I tie it this way because I like the look and using zelon for the wing makes it a quick, durable tie.  I don't have any well-chewed versions of this fly because by the last day I had lost all of those I had tied. (Note to self; tie more of these before you go fishing anywhere.)     

As I said in my Montana post we only fished a few flies on the Madison River during the week, and in fact, these are pretty much the same flies I have been using the last week of July on this river for years. This year the river was in great condition thanks to a good snow pack in the drainage, and since Hebgen dam has been repaired, the steady flows and cooler water temperatures have resulted in better than average hatches the last couple of years.

First up is the Missing Link Caddis.  In this case a size #16.  I think I fished the fly shown below every day that week.  It may be the first time I have fished a fly successfully over many days without loosing it, or having it get chewed up beyond use.      

As most of you know, the Iris Caddis is one of my all-time most successful emerger/dry patterns over the last 25 years or so.  In the evening, as dusk fell over the valley this pattern produced night after night when the trout were on caddis.  I fished this pattern the most and lost probably a dozen or so over the 6 days of fishing.  This one is well-chewed from the final evening of fishing.  

At various times during the morning hours and again in the evening, the trout were on spinners and all you needed was a rusty spinner.  This one is tied using a single strand of clear zelon, and the next one it tied using two strands of clear zelon.

This is the rusty spinner with two strands of zelon tied in for the wing.  On the Madison River, some stretches of the riffles are fast and choppy, so we fish a two strand zelon wing spinner.  It floats well and it is very visible right up until dark.  The fish are seeing it from below and don't really seem to see the thick wing above water - this one got chewed pretty well and still held up.  

And here's Kelly Galloup's improved Blue-winged Olive nymph.  The one shown here uses Senyo's lazer dub for the gills, however, we also tied and fished some that uses pearlescent ice dub for the gills.  Both seem to work just fine.

A couple of weeks ago I spent a week in Montana with my son, Hunt, who is getting married in early September to a wonderful women who also fishes.  We rented a small cabin that sat on a high bank over the river near West Fork.  The location was ideal as we love fishing the section of river from Quake Lake to the Palisades and here we were right in the middle of the this stretch.  And at night we got to fall asleep to the sounds of the rushing river below the cabin.  The weather was consistent throughout the week with highs in the mid 80's during the day with late day thunderstorms followed by clearing the last few hours of daylight.  And the fishing was great; during the day we had pulses of hatching mayflies, fallen spinners and hatching caddis with the trout eager to take them off the top.  Midday, when top water action fizzled, we switched to subsurface flies like serendipities and pheasant tail nymphs and cintued to catch fish.  And late day into dusk, after heavy thunderstorms ripped through the valley chasing most anglers off the river for the balance of the day, was when the best dry fly action occurred.

Hi folks, hope you are still with us.  Sorry for the long break; a lot of life events have happened to us since my last post, some good and some just part of life's ups and downs.  Without going into details on most of the stuff, I will tell you that in May I had one of the happiest days of my life - my oldest daughter Megan got married.

All the rain we've had this spring and early summer put a damper on fishing as most of you know, and we haven't been fishing as much as we would like; this isn't a complaint, just a statement of fact, as the water levels have improved the overall health of the fisheries.   When the water levels have cooperated, the fishing has been very good.  In New Jersey and in the Catskills, we had some of the best hendrickson hatches we've seen in a bunch of years.  The fishing during the hatches varied - one day we saw lots of fish taking the adults, and on another day hardly any fish rose.  In fact, I was on the Beaverkill River one day and thousands of hendricksons covered the water and I saw exactly one fish rise.  I did mange to catch it, but that was it for roughly 2.5 hours of frustrating watching and wishing it would "happen".

In recent weeks the slate drakes/isonychia have replaced the march browns and on the upper Delaware system rivers the sulphurs continue to hatch daily.  Last Friday we floated the West Branch with Stephen Sautner, author of "Fish On, Fish Off" and "A Cast in the Woods", with Captain Joe Demaldaris - Cross Current Guide Service - on the oars. The day was hot with bright sunshine, but the water was a cool 52 degress.  I wet waded despite the water temps and was actually pretty comfortable as long as I didn't go in too deep (up to my crotch, which I managed to do only once and it wasn't fun).  Hatches of isonychias and sulphurs pulsed throughout the day and the trout followed suit.  We took some nice fish and had a great day on the water.

Be kind and sharpen your hooks!

Yesterday morning I returned from my trip to visit my grandsons in South Carolina and after unpacking and mowing the lawn for the first time this year, I set out for the South Branch to get some time on the water before going back to work today.   When I got to the river the skies were dark, spitting rain with a stiff breeze making things interesting.  The river was up a little and clear and trout rose randomly but with purpose.  I scanned the water surface and saw caddis shucks drifting along in the film.  When the wind calmed I noticed downed caddis, grannoms and apple caddis, struggling to become airborne.  They skittered along the surface in circles and zig-zags, but they went ignored.  Trout still rose, but not to the adults scrambling haplessly.

I had been fishing an adult caddis as I observed the caddis activity and rising fish.  I dead-drifted it, skittered it, and skated the fly just as the naturals were doing.  Then the light went on.  The fish weren't rising aggressively, they were rising quickly and taking their prey without much of a commotion....they were taking the pupae in the film just before they broke free of their nymphal shuck.  I tied on a size #17 (TMC102Y) Iris Caddis and dropped the fly just above a fish after it rose.  The fly drifted a foot or so and then was sipped in with confidence.  After a brief battle I netted a nice 13 inch rainbow.

Shannon's Fly & Tackle Shop in Califon New Jersey will be offering their beginner fly fishing class on Saturday April 27, 2019.  The class is a one day affair that starts at 8:00AM and goes to 4:00PM or so.  The morning session we'll be covering equipment, essential knots, basics on hatches and flies, casting, wading & safety with the focus on fly fishing for trout and their environment. Following a grilled lunch, students will hit the water with our guides for a few hours of on the water instruction.

The event will be held on Shannon's club waters at the Raritan Inn. The cost is $200.00 per person and $375.00 for couples and two person family groups. 

Sharpen your hooks.

In this video Tim ties the Half Pint Midge, which was created by Aaron Freed of Blue Ribbon Flies in West Yellowstone, MT.  The fly is similar to the Zebra Midge, but with flash and a dubbed collar. I've fished it for a few years, and I find it works quite well tied in dark brown with gold wire rib in addition to the standard black shown here.  Tie some up!


Sharpen your hooks.

As winter turns to spring, the early morning sun bounces off our pond and shines in on the bedroom ceiling.  In the reflected light, dull shadows of rising water vapor dance through the rectangles, yet when I look directly at the pond, the vapor is all but invisible.  On the hill above the pond, daffodils push through the carpet of decaying leaves, their bright yellow blooms undisturbed by the deer that come for a drink.  These are my annual clues that our beloved spring hatches are waiting in the wings.

Over the last few weeks the little black stoneflies have been hatching in good numbers in our region.  They range in size from #18's to #12.  On bright days the females can be seen skittering across the water surface as they use the surface tension to pull their egg sac off the end of their abdomen.  If you are lucky, you may even see an egg-laden female crawiling on riverside stones or bridges. The white egg cluster sits under the end of the wing over the end of the abdomen, which has turned a bright red color on the dorsal side. When the trout are hitting the skittering females, tie on a dark caddis dry or stonefly pattern and gently pull it across the surface where the trout have shown themselves.  Often the trout will nail it in a violent take - don't use a light tippet for this exercise.


Our rivers have also been chock full of the bright orange, free-living chimarra caddis larva.  These larvae are a true size #18, and the trout are fully aware that they are available to them.  Fish a small orange caddis larvae behind a larger nymph for the next couple of weeks to "match" this now abundant trout food.


The first mayfly hatch of the season, the Blue-winged Olives, started to hatch a few weeks ago and will continue through most of this month.  Typically, these insects hatch best on warm, overcast days for a few hours at the warmest part of the day.   We've seen good numbers hatching on some days, and on others they're making themselves scarce.  We prefer to fish a low riding imitation - an Improved Sparkle Emerger - in sizes #18-22.  On Saturday there was a decent hatch on the PA limestone creek I was fishing in the late morning and we took a few nice browns on top. Once the wind kicked up, the hatch and the fish disappeared for the rest of the day.

The Rahway River Trout Unlimited chapter hosts this annual event to benefit Casting For Recovery, Wounded Warriors, and Project Healing Waters. This year's event will once again be held at the Pequest Trout Hatchery's education building on Sunday, March 24th @9am.  All 10 NJTU chapters as well as CFR and PHW members will be on hand to tie flies to donate to these excellent organizations. RRTU will prepare lunch and have gift bags for all and raffle drawings every fifteen minutes throughout the day. Come out and work off those winter blues and get your tying game on for a great cause!
 

Some excellent prizes this year, breakfast and lunch provided, and you don't have to be a TU member to participate , just tie some flies and donate them to our friends at Casting for Recovery, Project Healing Waters and TU veteran program.

 

The Pequest Trout Hatchery is located at 605 Pequest Rd, Oxford, NJ 07863

                                                                            Photo:@dutch_wildlife_photographer

Isn't it amazing how I've been pumping out blog posts lately?  It's been a few interesting months, and since the fishing has been a wash-out out more often than not, life kind of takes over before you know it.

Recently I managed to get out on the water and fish for a few hours.  I met Stephen Sautner, the author, on the Musconetcong River and had a great time despite not catching a damn thing.  The river was clear but a little high and quite cold - 36 degrees F.  The air wasn't much better at about 41 degrees F with a light breeze.  I was warm and comfortable except my toes.  It seems no matter what I wear on my feet to keep them "warm", the cold water always manages to win the battle of temperature rights.  The good thing is that I didn't notice until I got out of the water and started back to the car.

Stephen was fishing Tankara for the very first time, and I was fishing with a traditional set-up. If you aren't familiar with Tenkara style fishing, it's essentially a long limber, telescoping rod (13 feet long in Stephen's case), to which a long length of line (10' to 12') is attached to the tip.  To the end of the line a length of tippet material is attached and a fly or two.  On this occasion, Stephen had two flies tied to the tippet - an egg pattern and a zebra midge along with some split shot.  

All was going well until Stephen hooked a fish and suddenly realized that its a whole new ball game fishing without a reel.  The rod was bent deep into the butt and the fish ran back and forth and with the help of the swift currents pretty much did what it wanted.  He played the fish well - a bona fide trial by fire - and when he lifted the rod to bring the fish in to land it, the rod and the fish had other ideas. Since Stephen didn't have a net, he was left to land it by hand. He came close once or twice to grabbing the line with the rod high over his head, but the soft tip of the rod allowed it to rotate from the pressure and the line jumped all over the place just out of his reach. He also tried to back up to find softer water near the bank, but the overhead branches wouldn't allow it with the long rod held high. 

After a short while, what looked to be a respectable rainbow, managed to free itself. Perhaps this was a reminder that Stephen's first book, "Fish On, Fish Off", has innumerable chapters for all anglers. 

Over the next hour, Stephen hooked two more fish, both of which were long-distance releases.  They weren't on the line long enough for him to again try to land them, but I suspect if they were, he'd have figured it out.  He did say he enjoyed fishing Tenkara and looked forward to the learning curve of fly fishing with a fixed line and no reel.

Sharpen your hooks...and use a net! : )

* Stephen Sautner is the author of "Fish On, Fish Off", and more recently "A Cast in the Woods"      

The fly fishing show is this coming to Lancaster, PA this weekend - March 9 & 10 - at the Lancaster Marriott in Lancaster, PA.  I'll be there both days tying flies and doing presentations.  Show Hours are: Saturday 9:00am – 5:30pm and Sunday 9am – 4:30pm.

Here's my schedule for the weekend:

Saturday Seminar - 1:30 PM - Fishing Dry Flies and Emergers for Trout – Techniques and my most effective patterns for mayflies and caddis.

Sunday Seminar - 2:30 PM – Tying and Matching Northeastern Hatches – Common Eastern Hatches & Their Imitations

Sunday - Featured Fly Tyer - 12:30 PM - Tying My Favorite Mayfly and Caddis Emergers. I'll be demonstrating how I tie a few very effective emerger patterns.  

I'll be tying flies the rest of the weekend on the show floor.

For all the details, click here: The Fly Fishing Show Lancaster, PA

Hope to see you there.

Interesting article on the relationship between a guide and his clients from the Anglers Journal. 

The fly fishing show is this coming to New Jersey weekend - January 25, 26 & 27 - at the New Jersey Convention & Expo Center Edison, NJ. I'll be there all three days tying flies, signing books and doing presentations. Show Hours are: Friday 9am – 6pm Saturday 8:30am – 6:00pm and Sunday 9am – 4:30pm.

Here's my schedule for the weekend:

Friday Featured Fly Tyer - 10:15 AM -  Matt's Favorite Mayfly & Caddis Emergers. I'll be demonstrating how to tie some very effective emergers and showing tips & tricks to make tying them easier and more consistently.  Missing Link Caddis, Matt's Mayfly Cripple, Iris Caddis and BWO Improved Sparkle Emerger.

Friday Seminar - Catch Room 11:30 AM - Fishing Dry Flies & Emergers for Trout. Patterns and techniques on how to fish them most effectively.

Saturday Seminar - Catch Room 2:00 PM – Tying and Matching Northeastern Hatches.We'll go through the annual sequence of the most common Eastern hatches and the flies I use to imitate them as well as how to fish them most effectively. 

Author's Booth - Friday 12:30 PM, Saturday 3:00 PM, Sunday 12::00 PM

I'll be tying flies the rest of the weekend at Table #22 with Tim Flagler 

For all the details, click here: The Fly Fishing Show Edison, NJ

Hope to see you there.

In this video Tim Flagler ties a peacock herl body fish catching nymph designed by National Fly Fishing Champion Lance Egan.  Like all of Lance's nymphs, this one sinks like a cannonball so it gets into the trout's  "feeding zone" quickly.  Its tied with readily available materials, and if you don't have jig hooks and slotted beads, it can be tied on a standard nymph hook with a conventional bead.  

If you are in the New England area this weekend - Friday, Saturday and Sunday January 18, 19 & 20 - you may want to shake your winter time fishing blues off by attending the Fly Fishing Show in Marlborough, Massachusetts.  My son Hunt will be there tying flies on the show floor with Tim Flagler, along with a bunch of other talented fly tyers.  For more information click here: The Fly Fishing Show - Marlborough, MA    

Sharpen your hooks.