The Updated Nymph Box

Tungsten Beads

Brass Beads

Weighted

Bombs

Christmas Eve Day...Perfect Storm

Fished my favorite stream the day before Christmas, and the combination of above average temperatures, overcast skies, and slightly cloudy water made for a great day.

These were just a few of the 34 fish I caught in the 3 hours I fished.  Had I caught all of the fish that hit my spinner, I would have brought well over 50 to hand.  The stealth granted by the ability to fish spinners from a distance provides the opportunity to catch more fish than is possible with a fly rod.

White Bead Gold Spinner...A Frank Nale Design

14 Trout in 2.5 Hours
Missed at least 10 more!

End of Summer Smallies

Over the past five years or so fishing for smallmouth bass, I have come to find out that they are not very particular about what they eat.  Wooly Buggers in black, brown, or olive always seem to do the trick when flows are moderate to low and not too much weight is needed.  Also, zonkers, especially in black and white, are favorite bait fish imitations.

These two smallmouth took zonkers tied to look like the famous Black Ghost streamer pattern.

The Sawyer Bug...A New Nymph

Hopefully you can sense the sarcasm in the title of my post.  All too often people design a "new" fly that looks peculiarly like a fly that already exists.  When it comes to nymphs, let's face it, most nymphs are either a Pheasant Tail or a Hare's Ear variation.  The most recent fly name to make me giggle is the frenchie.  The frenchie is a Pheasant Tail with a hot spot, in other words, it is a Pheasant Tail.  So, in the tradition of reinventing the wheel and calling it something different, I have created The Sawyer Bug.  The Sawyer Bug is named after that same Mr. Sawyer that created the PT and the Killer Bug, and looks mysteriously like a PT.  However, this fly is tied with different materials, so I get to name it!

Materials:

Hook: TMC 2457

Bead: Tungsten (w/ lead wrapped hook shank)

Thread: Brown 8/0

Tail: Pine Squirrel Guard Hairs

Rib: Amber Midge Vinyl Rib 

Body Material: Jamieson's Shetland Spindrift - Burnt Umber*

*The Oyster color of the spindrift wool yarn has gotten a lot of hype recently as a killer bug material; however, I have found the Burnt Umber to be a dead ringer for imitating mayfly nymphs.

Parachute Adams

Ausable Wulff

Is that bucktail in place of woodchuck?  Blasphemy!!!

First Smallmouth of the Year

Caught 4.12.14

As you can see this guy fell to a Rapala F5 on ultralight spinning gear; he was the only fish of the day.  This guy was brazen enough to actually chase the Rapala, miss, and strike on the next cast.  These early season smallies are fickle, so spinning gear allowing you to cover a lot of water is your best bet.

Tungsten Beads From www.flysite.co.nz

My 3 mm tungsten beads arrived today from New Zealand, and I have to say, I'm impressed with the quality, the price, and the shipping.  It took less than a week for these beads to travel from NZ to PA, and the shipping was $0.  These PTs and Killer Bug Variants with a little tungsten from the Kiwi region should do the trick on some wild PA brownies, but I have to admit, I sure would like to be sight fishing them to some 10 pounders.

Another Try at the Stroup's Sulphur Nymph, A Few Scuds, and a Tenkara Fly Tied Without a Vice!