From: Wes Wada <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [VFB] Winter break Date: Thu, 5 Feb 2004 09:49:53 -0800
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
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