Welcome back Wes sounds like a really nice trip. Do you know of anywhere that shows the "barrel" knot you spoke of?
Thanks Jim ----- Original Message ----- From: "Wes Wada" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, February 05, 2004 9:49 AM Subject: [VFB] Winter break > Hi VFB, > > Back on the list after an eight-day break to visit the San Francisco > Bay area, attend a flyfishing expo, and relax a bit while doing some > winter trout fishing. We didn't go anywhere during the holidays, so > this was Linda and I's break from winter. We managed to dodge 4" > snowstorms both going down and coming back. > > We stayed a total of three days in the Bay area with Christine Fong, > wife of the late Michael Fong, and also the Kalpin family who created > Sugar Creek Ranch. Among other things, we were able to attend the San > Mateo International Sportsmen's Expo, a huge five-day event held in six > large buildings at the San Mateo Fairgrounds south of San Francisco. > We were there as guests of the Kalpins, and attended on a Friday. > > One of the large expo buildings is devoted entirely to fly fishing, and > in addition to the vendor, guide, and lodge booths, there was a casting > demo pond, a flytying theater, and a flyfishing theater. Only having > one shot at this, you kind of pick and choose a path through the day. > I browsed the booths for a bit, then took in casting demos by Jack > Dennis, Gary Borger and Lefty Kreh. Lefty's instructions were > particularly good, and I was able later to put them to immediate use in > improving the consistency of my casting. If you ever get a chance to > see him in action, don't miss the opportunity. He just has a gift for > explaining the physics of casting, and his tips work! > > The rest of the day, in and out of the booths, I managed to see a tying > demo by Borger, and an excellent talk about spring creeks by Mike > Lawson of St. Anthony, Idaho (N. Fork Snake River). Lawson is one of > my favorite people, as he is very humble and unassuming, a country boy > who just loves flyfishing and talking to others about it. Lawson's > father, BTW, worked in the railroads in eastern Idaho, and the young > Mike used to catch the train and hop off at prime fishing holes, then > catch the train coming back the other way. He grew up living in a > train station. His new book "Spring Creeks" is a significant > contribution to flyfishing literature, and Mike worked for 12 years on > the project. > > Best tip (Mike Lawson): Mike often fishes a two fly setup on rivers. > He typically uses a nymph trailing a no-hackle dun. The tip is that he > threads the tippet through the hook eye of the no-hackle dun, then ties > a barrel knot that connects to the tied on nymph 1-2 feet down the > leader. The no-hackle dun is NOT tied to the tippet, but is left to > slide up and down the leader and wiggle in the currents. The barrel > knot keeps the fly from sliding down to the nymph. It was one of those > joyous AHA! moments... Iater in the trip when I was fishing, I realized > that I could reliably secure a brassie (midge pupa) just by threading > the tippet through the hook eye and then tying a (uni) knot into the > end of the tippet and trimming. The knot is not tied to the fly! > > I caught four and five-pound trout with this combo and never had the > knot fail. VERY interesting... This allows you to use heavier tippet > or smaller flies without the fly being yanked around by a stiff 'tow > rope'. The 'bubble' created by the tippet knot is also in back of the > hook eye next to the thorax instead of protruding out on top of the > fly. The fly is able to wiggle and shift position at will. A winner! > > Finally, on the way back home to Bend, we stopped at Sugar Creek Ranch > (our clients) and had some enjoyable fishing for hefty winter trout. > This always gives me a chance to test patterns, and one thing I > continue to confirm is that BRONZE Angel Hair (Lite Brite) hanks > clipped and then spun into a dubbing loop work great as a basis for any > fly. I was having success with a small black woolly bugger (#12 2XL) > with an underbody of bronze Angel Hair spun and teased out, then > overwrapped with a medium width, webby black hackle. > > There's just something about that dark bronze color that the trout > really like. A caddis pupa fly submitted to Tom Davenport for the Best > Flies of 2003 swap uses the same material, with the same results. Try > it as flash or body material on one of your favorite patterns and see > if it doesn't improve the fish-catching qualities. > > Back to the big pile of backlogged business work!! > > Wes Wada > Bend, Oregon > > > > > >
