What Works for You Works...

My Dad and I have had a realization lately - in fly fishing (as in many other things) there's a program. And everyone's got a different program. Talk to Guide A and they tell you orange is the perfect color for River X. Yet you talk to Guide B and they would NEVER run orange, preferring to start with blue.

Lately I've been on the quest for a simplified stonefly. Turns out that virtually every tyer has their own patttern and all claim theirs slays everyone else's!

I've quickly discovered that finding a program that works for ME - for my skills, for my preference, for my equipment, for my location, etc. - is really what its all about. And finding this program is purely driven by getting out and trying things while paying attention to what does and doesn't work.

As an example, I tie up my steelhead rig below the fly line using primarily double surgeon's knots. Why? Because I can tie them consistently, even with cold hands. But on a recent float trip with a couple of buddies I noticed a lot of blow hook-ups - with failure right at that surgeon's knot. One companion (an experienced guide) on that trip suggested it was time for me to man up and learn to tie a solid blood knot. But the next day while fishing with another friend (also a guide) he dismissed the blood knot - preferring instead back-to-back Uni knots. Since then, I've had several others validate Uni's.

What's intriguing to me is that I started using the double surgeon for tying on tippet while trout fishing. Never had a failure at the knot yet. But consider the fighting and landing demands of trout versus steelhead and it probably makes sense.

Another example is egg fly selection on the Pere Marquette. Conventional local wisdom when the river is low and clear (as it's been this Winter) are pale orange, cheese, and pink. Near the end of a recent fishless day I came upon a productive hole and decided a change was in order. The Superman egg is one of my favorites, but not for low clear water and savvy fish (typical in the PM). But what did I have to lose? Tied on Superman and BANG -- first drift I hit a nice little skipper!

The moral in all of this? Guides and other experts can teach you a TON, but don't take their recommendations as gospel. Rather, take the time to learn WHY they recommend a color, pattern, style, etc. Then apply this newfound knowledge to your situation. I've been surprised by how much that approach accellerated my skill set!

-Sean-

Addictive Behaviors

Read a magazine article last night about a woman's 20-year battle with her addiction to prescription painkillers. Horrific story, but eventually she gets help and is, thus far, clean and sober.

This is a reminder of how fortunate I am. I clearly have some addictive traits - a quick wander into my basement Man Land will clarify that. Ran into a good deal on an Orvis Mirage reel - BANG, now I own three. And like any good addict, I can rationalize all three. First was for my Scott ARC 1287-3 spey rod which deserved a nice reel. Then I decided that since my Scott A3 switch rod is my main Winter stick, the Mirage's sealed drive would be a benefit over the previous Ross Momentum. Finally, I've been seeking some nice reel bling for my 6-wt. all-rounder, so why not a Mirage 3? Addict. Can't stop myself.

And, do I just own one pair of skis like a rational Midwesterner who skis a half-dozen days in-state and perhaps 3-5 out West? Oh, no -- I have my all around skis and a nice pair of Line Prophet 100's.

My learning is similarly addictive. Once I start down a path I want to try all the permutations and see how many I can master. Like to fly fish for steelhead? Better figure out indicator fishing, swinging, high-sticking, and more. Perfect. Right up my alley.

While I've certainly been through periods where I may have been drinking more and more often than I should have, that's about the extent of my harmful addiction. Owning a dozen fly rods is far better than being whacked out on Vicodin. I am indeed fortunate.

-Sean-

Mad Skillz

Yesterday I was reorganizing the "demo flies" tied during the Schultz Outfitters "Bar Flies" demo classes and noticed something interesting. My tying skills have improved considerably over the past year. Flies from the early classes last season look like crap compared to what I've been tying this year.

It shows up in so many places - feather placement, body proportions and balance, and most noticeably in the head finish. Wow do those old flies look SAD! By comparison, the heads on the new ones are tight and crisp (and don't look like they'll unravel after a single fish).

This motivated me to go back and have a look at some other flies I'd done. The pattern was the same with others. For example, my early examples of Sean's Half A$$ Stonefly look crude and kludgy. Though I have caught fish on them - but we'll chalk that up to luck. The new ones look sleek, and (God forbid) something like an actual stonefly!

One of the things that motivates me in my outdoor passions is the opportunity to improve my skill set. So, this new discovery was certainly a welcome surprise!

Some of this growth is the result of spending hours at the vise, but more of it is having access to some great instruction. I've been fortunate enough to learn from well-known tiers like April Vokey (above), Kevin Feenstra, and Greg Senyo. As well as up-and-comers like Mike Schultz, Jon Ray, Steve Martinez, Tommy Lynch, Eirik Vitso, Jay Daley, and Chris Hatcher.

By putting this all together, I really do feel like I've learned a TON! One of the best acknowledgements was a couple weeks back at Tommy's class, my Dad fell a couple of steps behind. I was able to lean over and catch him up. Tommy saw this and commented later on my growth as a tyer. Nice props from a serious tyer and fisherman.

-Sean-

Orvis Kudos

Regular readers will know I usually don't have a ton positive to say about Orvis. While they are the 900# gorilla of fly fishing, I've found many of their products to be disappointing.

I think this started with my Silver XT waders. In addition to a truly lousy fit, the two layers at the knees did a nice "Michelin Man" fill up. Not exactly functional, and often dangerous.

For me, they've looked like a company whose products were coasting. They lacked current features, and just seemed to be outpaced by others in the market.

But something's going on out there in Vermont...

If you haven't seen the newish line of Mirage reels, give them a look. Way cool styling. Completely sealed, bulletproof drag. And, nice light weight. I've ended up with three of them - in sizes 3 (main trout rod), 5 (steelhead switch rod), and 6 (spey rod). They're pricey as Orvis reels have traditionally gone, but when you start comparing to Nautilus, Abel, and other similar brands, they start to look very competitive. Clearly someone in development got the message. I hear the Hydros are pretty good, too.

They've also upgraded the rod line. Sure, the Helios is a rock start. But, let's be real -- they start at $800. Ouch. But last year they brought the Helios profile to the affordable Access line. Heard a ton of good about those, too. Unfortunately, I'm Scott loyal. I'm not switching.

Good work, Orvis -- keep at it!

-Sean- 

Quest for Stone

For Spring steelhead, stoneflies are among my favorites. Unfortunately, I have yet to find a pattern that I can tie in a reasonable amount of time. Most are too intricate, take too many steps, and require too many different materials.

So, for the past year or so, I've been playing with inventing my own. The early prototypes were based on a green Caddis nymph I've had some success with. So basically, the program has been:

1. Daiichi 1120 egg hook in #10 size
2. Wrap a thread base, using black thread
3. Tie in some medium black vinyl D-rib
4. Bring thread forward to about the 2/3 point
5. Wrap D-rib forward and tie off
6. Apply black dub to thread and tie forward to the eye
7. Apply two pairs of rubber legs, one on each side of the hook.
8. Whip or half-hitch finish

OK, so I've caught a fish or two on this one, but it just looks like a kludge. I think my basic idea's solid, I just need to start finessing the execution. The finished fly seems heavy handed. So, here's where I'm headed...

1. Swapped out the rubber legs for some MUCH thinner silicone silli legs. These seem far more proportional. Tied a few last weekend and it seemed to help.
2. While I love the strength and sharpness of the Daiichi 1120's for eggs, they just seem too short-shanked to deliver the right proportions. So yesterday when I had some time to kill between appointments, I picked up a 2x heavy, curved hook with a bit longer shank. This should enable a longer proportional balance.
3. Standard black dubing looks so, well, blah. Picked up some black ice dub that has a nice sheen and variability.

Hoping to find some time to tie later this week and try out these improvements. We'll see. But I was also talking to my buddy Jay recently and he evidently has a killer pattern that's super easy to tie. May get that recipe tomorrow night.

I think this "engineering" facet of fly tying is what appeals to me. Answering questions like, "How do I get that bulk up front and not thoughout", or "Does that look like something in the wild?" keep me entertained.

-Sean-

Kid in a Candy Store

Last week while in Vegas on business, had the opportunity to spend a day at the Shot Show. This annual event, put on by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, is a trade show dedicated to the industry. For folks in firearms/law enforcement industry, this is THE show.

For the enthusiast like me, it's like combining every gun shop you know of into one place. I had the opportunity to see almost anything I could be interested in. Including some things you might never see in a shop ($160,000 Blaser 4-gun shotgun set, anyone?).

My highlights included:

• Remington 1911 R1 in stainless steel. I've been waiting for this one and now the time seems to have arrived. Solid basic 19111 that should shoot well out of the box, but will also serve as a platform for performance enhancements. That's now on the Wish List.
• CZ full-line booth; I'm a big CZ fan, but dealers are few and far between. And when you do find a dealer, most only stock a few high-volume models. Had the chance to compare my CZ Canvasback O/U to the others in the line-up. I actually preferred my no-frills, visually simple model to more expensive alternatives like the Wingshooter. Too garish for my tastes.
• Browning Citori 725 Sporting; in a word: WOW! I've always loved this series from Browning since I picked up my first 525 Citori. The grip swell is outstanding and the ergonomics of these are second to none I've tried. Sadly, I'm no investing that much in a shotgun. For me, that would be like owning a $90,000 sports car - just wouldn't get used enough.
• Remington 1911 grip hunting knife; what a cool idea! A hunting knife based on the grips of the proven 1911 handgun. I need one.

Fortunately, as a trade show, I couldn't buy anything off the floor!

-Sean-

Can Fish Climb Trees?

I promised some updates from recent steelhead fly fishing antics. On December 30th, I had the good fortune to spend the day in Capt. Jon Ray's boat. Due to some scheduling complexities it ended up just the two of us, so Jon joined in on the fishing fun. A string of unseasonably warm weather made for a productive and entertaining day.

The highlight of my day, and perhaps the 2011 steelhead season, was the Tree Fish.

We set-up on a hole on the Manistee river beneath a large tree. Naturally as my indicator drifted under the tree, it happened - Bob Down! Thwap! A quick hookset and I was off to the races with a solidly hooked steelhead.

But just fighting the fish and landing it would be too simple for me. Now, I've got the line tangled in the low-hanging tree. Fortunately, the bowed limb is putting enough pressure on the fish to keep him on. Jon and I have shared a boat a fair bit, and we've seen some chaos. So he calmly jumped up on the back deck and sent me scrambling for the anchor control. I moved the boat down to the tree as Jon untangled the line. As soon as it was free, I plunged the rod tip into the river to keep the line free. Awesome -- still FISH ON!

Sensing possible freedom, my fish makes a run for it. So I let him have some line. Meanwhile, Jon's extracted the boat from the tree and we're back out in the river channel.

But does the story end here with a simple netting, a quick pic and a release? Of course not...

20 feet below the first tree, is a second. And, this tree isn't just close to the water's surface, a significant portion is below. Just as Jon and I look downriver we see a fish jump on the downstream side of the second tree.

At this point, there's a long uncomfortable pause. Jon turns to me and offers, "I sure hope that's not your fish...". Of course, it was, so off we go again.

This time with all the tree below the water's surface, the only option is to shove the rod tip into the water and begin to muscle the fish out of the wood. Did I mention this was all on 6 pound tippet? Yeah, so we had that going for us.

Somehow with a little fancy rod work, I manage to extract the the fish. Jon puts on his best display of netsmanship with a one-scoop score and we boat a colorful specimen. After a few pictures and a careful release, it is decided that perhaps it is time to explore the beer I have in my cooler...

-Sean-