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Running Up the Score

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Brownie, #10 Drunken Hopper, 8’8″ Platinum 4wt

The 1968 meeting between Ohio State and Michigan was a blowout. Leading 42-12 late in the fourth quarter, the Buckeyes ran one in for another touchdown and Woody Hayes, OSU coaching legend, mercilessly sent out his squad for a two point conversion.  When asked later why chose to run up the score–trying for the two-point conversion rather than the standard one-point field goal–Hayes simply replied, “Because the rules won’t let you go for three.”

ohio-state-university-football-coach-hayes-and-coach-schembechler-at-big-game-o-f-x-00009md_medium

Merciless

Like Autumn in December

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The so-called “December Thaw” produced over 1,000 record highs during the first half of this month. It is anyone’s guess as to how it might impact our fisheries, but in the short term, it has made for some pretty unique fishing conditions. Stretches of river that should have been locked under a foot of ice were flowing like it was mid-October. With a Winter Storm Warning looming, I headed north in hopes of making hay while the sun was shining.

On my first day, I was fortunate to fish with my good friend (and chief fly tester) Casey Miller, his brother-in-law Scotty, and Blake Jackson from the Ugly Bug Fly Shop. This is a fishy crew that would be super intimidating to hang with if they weren’t such solid dudes. Luckily for me, we fished a Disneyland stretch of water that is so loaded with trout, it makes anyone look like a “stick.”

Casey 12-12-14

Casey Miller test driving a new cray [photo: Blake Jackson]

Early in the day, I cautiously gave Casey a Protubed Vanilla Bugger–“cautiously” because that fly has a bit of a streak going. I’ve handed it to six other guys and none have gone more than five casts before connecting with a fish. As it turned out, Casey only had to sweat a single swing. He stuck a fish on his second cast. The streak continues.

OProtubed VB

Later that night, the conversation predictably turned to picking the best spot to fish the following day: either head back to Disneyland and hammer the sure thing or “go long” and try a stretch that hasn’t been fishable during December in years. We knew it wouldn’t be frozen, but the odds were that the water would be super cold and it would fish like a barren wasteland. On the other hand, it just might be do-able and, if so, you’d be swinging to trout that haven’t seen a fly in a month.

Casey persuaded me to “go long” and I found runs there were seemingly in prime conditions–ideal flows and perfect color. But, after two hours of fruitless fishing, doubt started to set in. There were zero signs of life and my feet were significantly colder in this stretch than section I fished the day before.

Doubt turned to second guessing (“Man, I should have gone for the sure thing”), which turned to resignation (“I’m just going to cast out the rest of this run and head home”), which turned to… Bump… (“Whaa?? That was bottom. I’m pretty sure it was bottom. I kind of think it shallows out right over…”) Bump… BUMP… Zzzzinggg…

OSpooled Perfect

After a blistering run–the kind where you instinctively pull your hood off, as if that’s somehow going to help–the fish turned, ran straight at me, and the line went slack. A massive brown? An ass-hooked sucker? Whatever it was, it gave my old Perfect its beefiest workout since my last Deschutes steelhead. And, with that single encounter, the run magically transformed from a ghost town to one brimming with players. With renewed hope, I marched back up to the top of the run, baby-stepped between slow, deliberate swings, and ended up beating the odds, hitting fish after fish, in a stretch with no one else around, on a run that should have been a foot under ice.

Thirty-six hours later, the entire region was blanketed in ten-inches of snow with an overnight low of 9F and a balmy high of 16F. Here’s to making hay.

O

Rod: Beulah Onyx 12′ 4″ 5wt

Head: 425gr Tonic Switch

Tip: Airflo FLO tip (T7)

Flies: Protubed VB, experimental cray, and a dumbed-down version of this in tan/red and black/chartreuse

Far less cool than steelheading…

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9-21-14 bm aki

…but the fall trout swing has begun. [photo: Aki Koyama]

 

O

This was my first session with the new Onyx 5wt. To be perfectly honest, terms like “high modulus” and “regressive flex” are beyond me. I’m not a rod designer–I just like to fish.

Good news: the Onyx likes to fish too.

It is as light and sensitive as the 5wt Platinum Spey but with enough guts to throw a far heavier payload.  At one point, I was running 8′ of T-11 and two four-inch Grand Master Flashes, both rigged with Medium Raw Weights. The Onyx chucked them to the far bank with ease.

I did find that the Onyx wants to needs to cast itself. When the wind picked up towards the end of the day, I began over-muscling my casts (bad habit), and my loops collapsed. Once I focused on maintaining a compact stroke and allowed the rod to provide the muscle, I was back in business. This should be welcomed news for those with shoulder issues, or anyone looking to feel less wrecked at the end of the day.

And the Onyx’s feel when playing 15-20″ trout? Pretty awesome. I can’t wait to get it into some real bruisers…

O

Rod: Beulah Onyx 12′ 4″ 5wt

Head: 425gr Tonic Switch

Tip: 8′ of T-11

Flies: ProTubed, variable weight Grand Master Flash (black/copper, olive/copper, tan/gold)

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deep conditioning natural hair

Here are some facts…

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Zach Olmeda, US Army (Retired)

Here are some facts:

1.  Between 2001 and 2013, my life was pretty comfortable.

2.  During that same period, 2.5 million service men and women were deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.

3.  Of those, ~700,000 have some degree of officially recognized disability directly related to their service.

4.  Fly fishing has proven remarkably helpful in the physical and emotional rehabilitation of wounded veterans.

Regardless of one’s opinion about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it’s impossible to ignore the needs of those who served while the rest of us were living (and presumably fishing) in relative comfort.  The ongoing travesties at the Department of Veterans Affairs are beyond most of our control, but there are some simple, concrete ways that fly fishers can make a difference.

This past winter, Zach Mertens at Idylwilde Flies put me in contact with Zach Olmeda.  Olmeda had plans to pass through Colorado mid-June and Mertens asked if I could show him some water.  The details were a little fuzzy–I knew Olmeda was retired Army, an Iraq vet, and working through some injuries.  I also knew he was a burgeoning fly fanatic due in large part to the programs provided by Warriors & Quiet Waters.  After a couple calls eariler this month, Olmeda and I arranged to meet at Delaney Buttes, where we proceeded to fish our butts off over the course of two days.

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Z. Olmeda casually putting on a clinic

It’s tempting to wrap up experiences like this in the well-tread rhetoric of “patriotism,” “honor,” and “humility,” but the reality was we were just two dudes catching trout, having a blast in a beautiful setting.  Pretty simple.  In fact, it was way easier that I would have ever guessed.  Vets and veteran groups are everywhere–it doesn’t take much to make some calls and go fishing.

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Platinum 9’6″ 6wt and a #10 Olive Pine Squirrel Leech

Additionally, there are a number of fantastic individuals, organizations, and companies who are working to introduce veterans–wounded or otherwise–to our sport.  Below is a list of those who have supported Zach.  These folks put their time and resources where their mouths are, so it wouldn’t hurt to “vote with your dollars,” patronize their businesses when possible, and maybe say thanks for the positive impact they’ve had on Zach and hundreds of other fly fishing vets like him.

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Zach, releasing

I’m fully aware that two days on the water will never make things “even,” just as I understand that fishing alone cannot heal all wounds.  But friendships forged on the water are pretty special and I’m looking forward to fishing with Zach again–and maybe watching him land the absolute bruiser that snapped his 8lb tippet like it was 6x.

Early Summer Stillwaters

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O

Beulah Platinum 9’6″ 6wt: no problems protecting 5x tippet

A couple springs back, I was fortunate enough to float the famed Grey Reef section of the North Platte River. My buddy Jin had some guide trips lined up and invited me to serve as a “guinea pig” while he worked out the fly selection for his upcoming clients. Armed with an indicator, split shot, and Jin’s methodical sequencing of bugs (annelids, leeches, scuds, and midges), the seven-hour float ended up being a dizzying blur of 16-22” fish. While part of the credit belongs to the quality of the fishery, a lion’s share of the day’s success can be attributed to the irrefutable fishiness of a “pro’s pro” kind of guide.

The sad fact is, I don’t remember a single detail about any of fish we landed. I remember laughing a ton, losing a bag of chips to the wind, but most of all, staring doggedly at an orange Ping-Pong ball while floating past what was presumably beautiful country. That is what I dislike about indicator nymphing. I understand why it has become so popular–it flat out produces–but I can never shake the feeling that the quantity of fish comes at the expense of the quality of my overall experience. At this stage in my fishing life, I’m looking for fishing to be something more than “chucking and ducking” and “ripping lips.”

That is why you will never find me fishing with indicators…well, except for right now.  From late-April until early-July, I become obsessed with stillwaters and my preferred method is hanging chironomid pupae under a bobber. There is one man to blame for this sickness: Brian Yamauchi. For those in the dark, all you need to know is Brian is that guy–when others are averaging 3-5 fish per hour, he’s the guy catching fish nonstop.  And, on those days when others are struggling, Yamauchi is still the guy catching fish nonstop. He was once ambushed by a Fish & Game warden while fishing an “artificials only” lake; after observing his catch-rate from afar, the warden was convinced Brian must have been using some kind of bait. Skills.

Six years ago, Brian took me under his wing and shared his deadly techniques for early summer stillwaters. I’m still well below Yamauchi status, but occasionally luck into a decent fish all the same. While a number of Yamauchi’s photos, flies, and techniques are featured in Takahashi and Hubka’s book, Modern Midges, these are what I’ve found to be the three most important take-aways:

1. Yamauchi’s Chironomid Pupa: the only flies Brian fishes.  He may experiment with size (either #14 or #16) or color (either brown or olive), but if he is fishing stillwaters, you can bet these flies are at the end of his line. I may mix in an occasional scud or leech, but I’d never show up at a lake without them. Tie them or buy them and thank Brian later.

2. 5x fluorocarbon tippet: essential for a stealthy presentation.  As long as you have a rod with a forgiving tip and solid backbone, 5x is plenty strong to land trophy fish.  Also, be sure to attach your flies with a non-slip mono loop knot so they achieve that natural “hang.”

3. Keep things shallow: Brian sets his flies 3 to 7 feet below his indicator. This runs counter to a lot of other stillwater experts, but I follow his rule religiously and have never been let down. I’m sure that later in the summer (mid-July to September) there’s a need to run flies deeper, but by then, the lakes’ mosquitoes are intolerable and I’ve moved on to throwing dries on freestones anyway.

yamauchi 5-10-2009

Brian Yamauchi: crushing while others (namely, me) struggle

Summer Dries

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O

Summer dry fly season has begun! I tried matching-the-hatch with a #20 baetis dry but all these browns wanted was #12 Strange Wool Parachute.

Ish's Strange Wool Para

Ish’s Strange Wool Para

(Photo from Takahashi and Hubka’s forecoming book, Modern Terrestrials)

Rod: Platinum 8’8″ 4wt

Line: Airflo Super-Dri Elite 4wt

Leader: 9′ 5x tapered leader + 2′ 5x mono

Fly: #12 Strange Wool

*****

Aggressive surface eats. Big, bushy dries. What more could you ask for? Well, how about no more snow…

may wsw

Protubed Vanilla Bugger

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Protubed vanilla bugger1

Mark Boname’s Vanilla Bugger is a killer pattern that I have never fished. Chalk it up to stubbornness or stupidity, but I’ve never found bugger-style flies to be particularly lively on the swing. Don’t get me wrong, their stiff body hackles are certified-deadly on the strip, but under the constant pressure of a dead swing, buggers end up looking pretty wooden.

Curiosity finally got the best of me and I recently set out to see if I could steal borrow the best attributes of the VB (its size and color scheme) and combine them with the best characteristics of swing-style streamers (a tear-drop profile, flowing hackles, and a weapon of a stinger hook).

I began by converting the standard bugger over to a Pro Sport Fisher Nano Tube. The benefits of tubes are well-publicized; the most significant being they allow you to use the deadliest hook in the game: www.gamakatsu.com/fishing-hooks.php?pid=1014. I then added some “swimability” by lengthening the marabou tail, oversizing the collar and body hackles, and replacing the standard cone with a Pro Tube Ultra Sonic Disc. Last, to keep the fly swinging in “the zone,” I added a tungsten Raw Weight, which I hid between the body hackle and the collar.

I test drove this “new” variant last week using my Platinum 8wt Switch with 9′ of T-11, 4′ of 6lb Maxima to the Protubed VB, and 2′ of 6lb Maxima to a Kool Herc (white/dun/red). The results were impressive. While I couldn’t say for certain that those fish wouldn’t have just as readily grabbed a standard VB, the hook advantage of the Gamakatsu Octopus was undeniable. I went 7 for 7 with the Protubed VB and never once worried about the hook being thrown or bent. Confidence.

Protubed VB:

Tube: Pro Sport Fisher Nano Tube (clear) + Medium Pro Hook Guide (clear)

Tail: Marabou blood quills (cream or tan) + 2 strands of Midge Flash (pearl)

Body: Wool yarn (cream) + Whiting Farm Bugger Pack (golden badger) + wire rib (gold)

Weight: Pro Sport Fisher Raw Weight (med)

Collar: Whiting Farms Brahma Hen (golden straw)

Head: Pro Sport Fisher Ultra Sonic Disc (med; gunmetal)

Hook: Gamakatsu Octopus #6

 

A Protubed Thin Mint worked as well…

protubed thin mint

And, bycatch on the Herc…

kool herc walleye

 

Ish’s Smalls (Pro Tube version)

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The bulk of my swing-style trout patterns are 3 to 4-inches long. Recently, I’ve had pretty good luck swinging smaller bugs, particularly when colder water makes fish less willing to chase streamers. The nice thing about these light, 1.5-inch long flies is their versatility: you can dredge them with a skagit and 12′ of T-11 or twitch them across the flats with a scandi and clear intermediate polyleader.

 Smalls (black/chart)

RECIPE

Tube: Pro Sportfisher Micro Tube (black) + Medium Pro Hook Guide (black)

Tail: 1.25″ Pine Squirrel Zonker (black)

Body: Hareline’s Pseudo Hair (black) and Ice Dub (Black Peacock) combined in dubbing loop

Wing: Arctic Fox (black)

Horns: Hareline’s Grizzly Flutter Legs (black/chartreuse)

Eyes: X-Small Brass Dumbbell (black nickel)

Head: Senyo’s Laser Dub (fl. chartreuse) in dubbing loop

Hook: Gamakatsu Octopus #8

***Other proven color combos: white with red head, olive/rootbeer, brown/rust, and brown/UV pheasant tail.

ish's smalls (white/red)

 

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