Some ties, and a thought on catch and release

In my last post I showed a fly I "created" recently.  I say created in quotes because I'm sure someone else has tied it.

My favorite example of this is how, for about 15years I thought I had created a really cool fly that I called the ugly damsel.  The fly started as a cray fish, then turned into a damsel simply because the olive worked best... Then instead of a normal streamer hook that the fly started off of, I started using a short shank hook - actually a standard wet fly hook - and using extra long marabou for the tail.  This gave the fly great action, but the addition of dumbbell eyes and rubber "legs" made it likely a little more sculpin like.  Regardless, the fly is a total killer on most of the rivers I've fished, especially on the Millers River here in MA where I did much of the field testing for the pattern.

I figured I was a genius, until I saw Whitlock's Sculpin a few years ago and saw Sir Dave had created a very similar fly.  At least my creative process lead somewhere Whitlocks did - that's good company!

Here's the Ugly Damsel:

So, I'm sure others have done this, or nearly this, before.. but, I'm really digging this style midge.  I'm going to use some bleached tan peacock I have to tie some of these so they look like tiny scud's too.  Overall, this is a fly that just feels good... Here's a newer version of the pumpkin headed variety:

Here's a pic of the fly with a clear/silver center glass bead.  Both this one, and the one above are #22 scud hooks.

 I snapped this pic yesterday driving around running errands.  Fillet and Release is what the sticker says.  I found it funny in the same way I think the little "Christian Fish" with Darwin written inside and feet sticking out the bottom are humerus.  Creative is creative.

The following is stream of consciousness, so I apologize if it's tough to read :)!

In the name of full disclosure, I dont have any issue with folks keeping a fish or two... in general. Heck, I hunt - and that is not a catch and release activity obviously.  I also occasionally go panfishing for sunfish, crappies, perch through the ice or even during warm weather - and my wife has some magical methods for filleting those fish and creating amazingly delicious dishes that most of the north east US grew up calling "trash fish" and avoiding - or using for bait!

My snag though, is that some how seeing that sticker flashed in my head the image of a guy that one day showed me a stringer of awesome 12-18" brook trout he'd caught, then said he had to leave, and they'd go bad in his trunk, so would I like them?

Why the heck would you not just let them go?  You know your not going to get to eat them, so why even put them on a stringer?

It's amazing to me, that it feels as if even the most novice of bass fishermen today think nothing of catch and release - as if it's just expected.  But some how, the world of trout has not gone that way.  Despite the work of TU and similar organizations, it seems like cold water fish are either viewed as put and take, or snobby catch and release area fish.  "The state stocks em for us to eat em" seems to be a prevailing mentality.  Fine.  Then stick to that mentality on highly stocked river/lakes, and do not fish wild trout streams - those little fish have a hard enough time as it is.

It's really to bad.  Cold water fish are awesome - just like warm water.  And if someone wants to eat a few - do it!  But think long term.  Think about YOU fishing in 15 years... and your kids or grand kids fishing in 30-40-60+ years. While I suspect most reading this are strongly C and R, if your not, but are a responsible catch and eat fisherman, then pass the word - help remind people that catch and eat is ok, just not catch and eat em all!

Sometimes having this discussion, people suggest the fish wont survive a new england summer.  The water warms to much, and they will die of thermal stress.

Maybe... but that does not explain the rainbow's I and others have caught in tiny streams or even highly stocked rivers - in the middle of august.  OR those same places - that do NOT receive fall stockings - in January or February.  Sure, some will die, but if given a chance, fish are resilient creatures and find a way to survive.  Just look at native brookies that survive streams nearly drying up almost every year!  

I'm not passing judgement on the truck driver who had the sticker in the pic above.  It's clever, and I see the humor in it.  I just ask folks to think sustainability.  I'd love to still catch fish when I'm 80... and I hope all of our kid's can teach their grand kids to fish as well! 

Why Tie?

I started tying flies as a kid. Maybe the 3rd or 4th grade.  I was a rabid little fisherman, and when I learned of fly fishing/tying I wanted in bad.  Lucky for me my parents believed in fostering interests and letting my sister in I find our way and find the things that caused us joy.  Sometimes that lead to bumps, and some of the things did not last.  But today, about 4 months from my 41st birth day, tying and fly fishing sure have stuck!

They have always been a bit of relief from the world.  They have always been time to process life, to simplify life, and simply enjoy being in the out doors.

I've always loved endurance sports too... and in a weird way, fly fishing is an endurance activity.  Sustained levels of focus for hours - takes it's own unique endurance for sure!

It's also highly meditative.  You repeat a simple motion with focus - very much like some of the meditative approaches to Buddhism.  Focus is the key.  it's focus that brings you to the simple, open and clear mind which, despite it's attention to one thing, seems so much better at absorbing the world around us.

The snag for me, is that I don't have lots of time to fish.  I get out, but I'm not always able to make it a real consistent thing regrettably.

Tying on the other hand, I can do any time with about 15' at hand.  It connects me to the outdoors - as soon as you hold the materials or consider the fly you are creating it's use is a sharp focus.  And that brings back floods of memories about good times in the outdoors.  Ahhhhh.

Tying is also creative.  Even if you are repeating a pattern created by others, we all have our own style or flow.  Some guys tend to tie very neat flies, others bushy as a simple example.  Because of that creative aspect of tying, it scratches an artistic itch of mine.  I have always enjoyed sketching - and often "new" flies I create start on a pad with pencil in my hand... But there is just something about sitting down, looking at that vice and wondering what the excess of materials I've collected over the years could lead too.

The other night I was tying, and had not had time to in several weeks.  For some reason, I always tie midges or small micro nymphs after a lay off.  It reminds me that you dont need to make a lot of thread wraps, and it reminds me to keep things simple.  While I'm sure others have created similar flies... I just was not motivated to tie some pumpkin head midges (a great pattern I learned about on Matt Grobert's blog) which I'd been planning on - they are good little flies for sure!  But a simpler variation just jumped out to me.  An orange bead, 4-6 bit's of coc de leon and open spirals of peacock eye up the hook... Using the peacock to create "rib" through it's wide flat stem.  This is a little #22 scud hook, and brings a lot of good things to the table.  I'm excited to try this out on the swift some time this winter (a tail water about an hour from here that was in mind tying this up).

That simple little fly is a good example of why I tie and why I brought it up, it worked off good memories of a beautiful and fun place to fish, it got me playing with materials and trying to create my own twist on a fly that's really good (pumpkin head midge). Creative, flowing with my energy level, and inspiring ("I wonder if this will work?")...

I realize that this is some what a surface scratcher for why I tie - or fish.  But it helps clarify it a bit, or at least point at the direction that things tend to go for me.  We are all very different and have many different reasons... Which makes me wonder about others.  Why do you wave a rod or wrap thread to a hook?

In short... How about you?

Will

PS - HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It's winter... Time for fun and looking forward!

Happy New Year and Christmas (or whichever major winter holiday you celebrate) to all!

I'm taking a moment to put a few pic's up - some may have been here before.  But Overall, it felt like a fun process as I sit here...

First off, it's only about 2-3 months until we see a stream in spring like the river below.  This is the river I cut my teeth on, and I love it.  Looking upstream here is close to 2 miles of woods to the next road if you follow the river... Have to love fishing spots like that :)

Some times a fly just works.  Several years ago I learned about the "McPhail bug.  A simple combo of yellow floss, epoxy, marker and red/orange wire.  That's it.  Oh, and a lead or tungsten underbody of wire.  It's an awesome little fly.  I dont know how I got this pic with the dark background... wish I remembered because it's a cool pic of a great little bug to drift through deeper cuts like that one to the right of the big rock in the pic above.

The last few years there has been a bit of talk about the "original" Adams dry, with down wings and golden pheasant tail vs the "modern" upwing and hackle tailed fly.  I dont know that the "original" (below) fishes better, but I do have fun tying them, and fishing them in spots like the pic above just feels good.  It's like the Parmechene Belle in my last post or a Gray Ghost or other fly with history... Something fun about using historically significant flies. 

What's coming though?  Hopefully more day's like this.  That's Rosemary bundled up to the right (barely visible), by friend Chris's kiddos and my kiddos (two tiny ones are mine) and Chris (holding the bass) out on the Ice.  Ice fishing to me is not about "skill".  It's about being with family and friends.  It's about enjoying time outside, and goofing off, eating snacks and drinking coco!  That's it. 

Often the fish you catch are not as bick as the bass Chris caught above (ever since, my son (wearing the white hat dead center) likes to call them "Largemail Bass".  Goof ball.  That aside, often the fish you catch are like the little sunny below.  I'm mostly a catch and release guy... but, every now and then, keeping a bunch of these guys and enjoying the tasty fillet's is just awesome!

Yep, 2.5 years old last winter and taking after dad and mom putting the hurt on the blue gills :). 

It's winter, but that just means new outside fun is around the corner!  Enjoy it!

December, fly of the year and venison

This past weekend I got a few hours Sunday to hit a local stream.  I caught the skunk, but loved it!

You can see in the pic, that the stream's flow was solid, though gin clear.  I dont feel the clarity was an issue, I just feel the fish were sluggish and were hugging undercuts and I did not fish those areas successfully.  But hearing the water gurgle by, and enjoying the sights was worth every moment along this little stream.

It's funny to see bittersweet this time of year, when you are used to seeing it as a green tangle!  Deer love to eat bittersweet this time of year, and there were a number of tracks around this clump of the vine.

I mostly fished streamers and wet flies today.  In particular, a number 14 Parmechene Belle wet fly - which looks a bit more dull here given the water soaked floss.  It's a good little attractor fly for wild brookies - and a variety of other fish.  Plus fishing a fly with a long New England history has a neat lure to it!

This streamer is looking a scruffy mess.  This fly get's my "wild brookie fly of the year" award.  I made it up last winter and it's fished great.  After catching a lot of trout, some chubs, sunfish and bass... it's beat to a pulp for sure...

This one's for those of you who enjoy venison.  This is backstrap cooked in a home made lemon marinade AND coated in a blackberry reduction sauce.  In this case it's served up with a salad and wild rice... However it's served up, it's fantastic!

Have a super week - get outside and enjoy the early winter sights and smells - it does a person well!

Will

Brief Update

I hope to put up a bigger update in the next week, but as I wind down from a long day, reviewing a few blogs I was motivated to put up a brief post.

The fall has zipped by fast.

I finished up my first two terms of grad school and am now in the holiday break.  I actually wish another class was going on now - I was just starting to get back in the groove with school after about 18 years away from formal schooling!    So far a solid A, which I'm excited about and which I've enjoyed working for.

I have fished a few times this fall - hitting some local wild trout streams while scouting white tails.  Regrettably, my fishing mojo was not high, and I landed a few chubs, but that was it...

On the other hand, my deer hunting mojo was solid and I managed to tag a doe and a buck with my bow during November.  I'll poke around a bit with the muzzle loader the next few weeks, but overall, most hunting now is about time in the woods, unless a very large buck strolls by.

It always feels good to have such healthy fare available for the family... And watching the 3.5 year olds chow down on venison and veggies is a great sight!

We are busily getting ready for the holiday's now, but tomorrow we are hosting some friends who we met while our son was in cancer treatment at Dana Farber.  They had to move here from Spain to seek treatment for their boy.  He's doing great, and their family will be here for a thanksgiving like meal tomorrow afternoon.  It's always fun to see them, and to let the kid's play.  I just wish there was still snow so we could take them sledding!

Sunday may be a day where I get to fish a bit.  Rosemary's taking the kid's to the Nutcracker with my mom... and that leaves me with a full afternoon.  I'd love to hit the swift River (a tailwater an hour from me) but that may be a hair to far... So I may stick to some local native streams... or may just take a hike or a mountain bike ride and enjoy the fall woods.

Have an excellent weekend -
Will

Saw this today - AWESOME!

Here is a great little film about wild brookies - amazing, amazing little fish!

 http://vimeo.com/111934888

I saw this today on the Caddis Chronicles blog of NJ fly tier and fisherman Matt Grobert.  It's a fantastic blog - check it out!

It's been to long... September photo dump time!

Man, I have been busy, and it's just make posting tough.  But, today I had a chance, so... here we go!

 The month started with a fun paddle on a local river/lake called long pond.  It's gorgeous!  The kids love to catch lilly pads as we pass them in the canoe and then "cast" them in to catch "Sea Witches".  It's pretty darn funny... But it's especially cool because they are enjoying being outdoors!

I think it was the next day that I hit a local reservoir and caught some sunfish on the two weight.  These little guys are not given their due credit.  They are tough fighters, pretty and willing to take a fly!

Not sure what the scoop was with this little guy.  Either he escaped a turtle or heron when he was young, or he's got quite the little tumor growing.  Sure loved the Dark Cahill wet fly I was fishing!

This is the best buck I've got on my trail cameras.  I took this pic with my phone to share with some buddies the day I saw it.  He's a big 7 point (there are 4 points on the left and 3 on the right).  I'm really hopeful he makes a mistake... But they dont get that big by messing up.  Most likely, Ill see every other deer I have on the camera where he is living... and not see him!  It will be fun to try though!

On a warmish day we took the kids to a farm pond near my parents place. They caught some sun fish, but Emily really had fun reeling in this golden shiner.

The left bank of this fine stream is deeper than you would think, and heavily undercut.  BrkTrt from http://smallstreamreflections.blogspot.com/ would approve given the stream is covered in hemlocks.  It's hard to tell because in this spot, the light makes it through pretty well from the left... Very low this September for sure!

No trout came to hand in the pool on the day I was there, but this chub smashed the #16 stimulator pretty hard!

Amazing how the leaves are changing this year.  Excellent color for sure!

This past weekend we took a walk in my home town on some trails near a big swampy pond owned by a world renowned university located in Cambridge MA.  The university's forestry school is in town, and they own and thus protect thousands of acres, thankfully, most of that land is open to hiking, biking, hunting and fishing.

I loved how this one fern was almost bright yellow against the more tan/brown ferns it resided with.  Fall, is really building fast now.

This past Saturday I hit a local stream and managed a few brookies.  Amazing Halo's on this fellow.  He was oddly darker than most fish I catch on this stream, and he smashed the stimulator as I skated it through a pocket.

Hopefully I can post a bit more often in the next few weeks!

Thanks for stopping by!

Will