Not a lot of time to post new stuff lately; madly busy at work! I would like to share a beautiful streamer with you though – this is a pattern called “Ice” by fly tyer Alan Petrucci of CT. I’ve tied a few but have not had a chance to fish it yet; I’m planning to take it out for brookies up in Maine this fall. Enjoy!
I was planning to go to Maine this weekend, but the lousy weather forecast inspired me to stay home, and I’m glad I did! One of my favorite haunts this time of year is a lovely little pond here on the outer Cape that has some terrific bass and panfishing. Lightly fished and scenic, you can wade the sandy shorelines and listen to the surf crash through the woods. It’s absolutely paradise. Each year I look forward to fishing this pond in the spring in a special way. I call it “The Tree Stand”. Those of you that are deer hunters will know what I mean. Sitting in a tree, one gets a unique opportunity to observe their surroundings unseen… and it’s no different on a pond! There are a couple trees that have tumbled into the water at this pond that make for a perfect perch. I climb up onto the horizontal trunk, cast my fly out into the shallows and just let it sit there, waiting for any passing bass that I may see with my polarized glasses, at which point I can either wait for it to come to the fly, or quietly pick it up and cast to the bass. Either way, it makes for a really relaxing and at the same time exciting fishing experience. Today I tied on the Pee Wee Perch and waited for my fish. I didn’t have to wait long, and in the course of an hour in the tree I took three nice spring bass.
As sportsman, we often dream of going to far off and exotic places to fish and hunt. As I made my way back to my truck this afternoon I gave thanks to God for The Tree Stand, and felt perfectly content, and indeed blessed, right here at home!
The Tree Stand
LMB on the Pee Wee Perch
It’s been a while since my last post! I work in a boat shop, so as you can imagine, this is the busiest time of year for me. Hopefully I’ll have the time (and the energy!) to post more in the coming weeks.
May has come in like a lamb… temps are still pretty cool, but the perch have spawned out and the bass fishing is pretty good when the sun shines. I hope to get out this coming weekend and I’m looking forward to fishing a neat fly I developed this past winter. Soft foam floating jigs are a popular item among the walleye fishing set; fished above a bottom walking weight, these little jigs account for a great number of walleye each season. But boy, are they perfect for the fly fisherman! They come pre-painted on chemically-sharpened hooks and are just perfect for light-line fly rodders chasing panfish or bass. My Pee Wee Perch pattern is just one of several patterns I’ve developed with these beautiful little jigs. I’ll be sure to post a report… If your interested in these floating jig heads you’ll have to look beyond the fly shop catalogues and check some of the conventional tackle dealers. I would suggest Jann’s Netcraft. Great folks and fair prices. Tight lines!
This morning the tide was just right after my morning cup of coffee so I made my way down to my favorite striper fishing spot to see if I could start the season with some schoolies. Fishing on the bay side, I was delighted to find the stripers willing to comply. Brant swam in the river, ospreys overhead, herring flashing around me and the Juicy Fruit bringing a dozen small stripers to hand. It’s days like today that remind one what a blessing it is to live on the coast! As an added bonus I caught a white perch in the salt! he was fat and healthy and I was tempted to bring him home for lunch, but I released him to live another day. The tide will be right just before sunset tonight, so after a day of some household chores I plan on going back tonight. I have another fly in mind for that trip, and I’ll be sure to post a report. As for this morning, the Juicy Fruit was just right!
I’ve just returned from a trip up to Maine – the trout fishing was pretty poor, the rivers are at July levels and I saw suckers spawning… The North country, as well as here on the Cape, needs a good, long soaking. A week of heavy rain wouldn’t be too much. The USGS has determined that the New England region is in a severe drought. Coupled with the high winds we’ve been having, the risk of devastating fires is all too real. Hopefully we’ll get some rain soon!
All was not lost though as the strong sun and high daytime temperatures have awakened the warm water species in Maine a bit, and I had great fishing for perch, pumpkinseeds, pickerel and even caught a few bass. My 11 year old daughter however really made her dad proud by catching a largemouth that went close to 6 pounds! It was a real beauty, clean and bright and fat as a sow.
The most productive fly I fished this past week was the White Miller. Sometimes it does the heart good to remember that we need not be fancy or elaborate in our tying, as fun as that is, if we want to put some fish in the creel. In the bright and sunny conditions in which I was fishing, the White Miller brought fish of every variety to hand. The pickerel in particular absolutely tore them to pieces! A simple fly, easy and cheap to tie, it still retains the spirit of traditional, classic flies that I enjoy tying so much. The White Miller is an easy fly to overlook; if my experience on the water this past week is of any value, the wise fisherman won’t!
I made a trip to one of my local ponds for trout a few days ago and had a fine time with the stockers. I typically don’t fish this pond until the fall, when the big hold-over browns are chasing herring fry, but it’s been too darn cold for bass and panfish so I grabbed the three weight and had a go. The wind was howling towards the western shore so I stood in the teeth of it and cast a “Jungle Cock” dragon fly nymph in the shallows. It was mayhem. I took five fish and lost one in about 40 minutes. I’m usually tempted, for comforts sake, to fish in the lee, but typically the best fishing is on the windward shore. The “Jungle Cock” dragon fly nymph is a simple pattern designed by Dan Legere of Rangeley Maine. It certainly was a killer this day. Anyhow, warm temps are back, so I’m looking forward to getting back to fishing for “green trout”, and wild ones at that! Alec
This is such a wonderful time of year. I start out prowling the sandy shallows of the local ponds on warm afternoons with a 3 weight; perch and pumpkinseeds are my targets, though an occasional bass is always a welcome delight, particularly on the light tackle. Here on Cape Cod the yellow perch have just finished their spawn and the forsythia is in bloom. Nights are cool and the days are getting longer. Best of all, the herring have arrived. In spite of alarming drops in numbers, they still return to our local rivers and swim to the upland ponds to spawn. Their young of the year will provide great forage for the hold-over brown trout that I chase in the fall. The herring are a great blessing to man and beast; especially stripers! Many evenings this time of year I’ll go and watch the water at a favorite local spot; a cup of coffee in my hand, the radio in my truck playing low. I watch the tail-out, looking for swirls. I know the herring are there, the stripers can’t be far behind. Anyday now… First trip, I’ll tie on a “Reynard” and dead drift it through the fast water. That first heavy strike of a striper is always a high-light of my year. Herring swirling around my feet, 8 weight bucking in my hands.. April!!
A really wonderful gift from fellow New England fly tyer Peggy Brenner arrived in the mail this past week: an Altoids mint box full of drake mallard tail feathers. These are really fun feathers to tie with; there is a 19th century pattern called the WT that uses one as, what else? A tail! Peggy is very active in promoting fly tying and I am most grateful for her kind generosity; I’m really looking forward to enjoying these great feathers and have started off with a pattern I call the PB mallard. Thanks Peggy!!
hook: Mustad 3366 sz.2
tail: drake mallard tail feather
body: pink floss
rib: black floss
wing: guinea hen
hackle: blue hen
“Quiet! I’m hunting wabbits!” Well if ol’ Elmer Fudd was a fly fisherman, I trust he’d fish a Delta Moth. Usually when we fish for bass on top we think noise – burbles, plops, pops and slurps are the order of the day. But what if we want a more quiet approach? Something that won’t wake the neighbors but will still presents a mouthful to our nemesis the black bass? Enter the Delta Moth. To quote another fellow with an aggressive hunter’s attitude, “floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee!”. I typically tie this beauty with a straight wool body; the mass of the goose cussette wings are typically enough to keep it afloat, at least for a while. A little twitch, a little jiggle, that’s all it takes. The Delta Moth is a weakling, no hard strips required. Should it sink, no problem; pick it up and pitch it again – unless a fish grabs it in the meantime! Sometimes I add a thin strip of foam under the wool; she’ll float all day then. This a great fly for dawn. Cast it out, let it sit, pour a cup of coffee from the thermos, and relax. Let the Delta Moth do it’s work, quietly, and give thanks for another day on the water!
James Henshall in his 1881 classic “Book of The Black Bass” urges anglers to keep there flies no larger than a size 2 or 4, implying that the larger classic style wet bass flies are more appealing to the angler than the fish; I couldn’t agree more. Though I am delighted at the resurgent interest we’ve seen in the classic bass and lake flies of the 19th and early 20th century, the vast majority of them are tied on irons whose large size contributes little to their effectiveness as fishing flies, though as display flies, they have no peer save their salmon attracting counterparts. Last spring I found some vintage Mustad 3116A hooks in size 7 and set down to tie some really small flies in the classic style, with panfish, not bass, in mind. The most productive pattern born of those nights at the vise was the Sun Spot. Think that classic style flies are just for bass, trout and salmon? Think again! This beautiful little fly has proven itself a delight at my favorite panfish ponds. Easy to cast on an ultra light 3 weight rod, it has earned a permanent place in my fly box. Alec
Why not add some to your fly box too? I am delighted to offer a 3 pack of size 7 Sun Spots for just $12.00, free shipping in the US. Tight lines! Alec
The late Jack Gartside is best remembered for his freshwater Sparrow nymph, or perhaps these days, his saltwater Gurgler – though that pattern has certainly proved it’s mettle on bass ponds all over the country as well. In any case, all of Jack’s popular patterns are noted for their simplicity and effectivness. Such is the case for one of Jack’s earliest creations, this wonderful and simple dry fly, the Merlin. Like it’s inspiration, the iconic Adams, the Merlin is a general searching pattern that has a fishy appeal that belies it’s rather bland construction. However it’s totality proves to be more than it’s parts, and this humble pattern has proven itself to me over and over again. From Saco River rainbows to Pleasant Pond pumpkinseeds, the Merlin consistently brings fish to hand. Jack Gartside was indeed a wizard at the vise. Give the Merlin a try and see if you can’t share in some of it’s magic. Alec
Merlin
hook: Mustad 94840 dry fly 10- 16
tail: moose body hair
wing: grizzly hackle tips, long
body: olive dubbing
hackle: furnace and grizzly, mixed
What? Another red and yellow fly! Yikes! It may seem that the red and yellow color combo is all I tie these days. Well, of course not, but I have been on a tear with it a bit; after all “red and yella gets a fella”… That said, this is a great little streamer pattern style by Ward Bean that I first saw in the Autumn 2009 issue of Fly Tyer magazine. It requires alot of hen hackle to palmer up the shank of the sz. 4 Mustad 3366; these required 7 or 8 hackles each. Ward designed this fly with bead chain eyes to get it down deep; I’ve tied these without the bead chain as I intend to fish them on a sink-tip three weight line and am looking for a more suspended presentation. It’s sure to be accomplished with the denseness of the hen hackle. Ward appropriately calls it “hackle packing.” The color combos for this style are truly endless. Check out Ward’s article for some more natural looking variations; as for me. I’m happy, as always, with the red and yellow! Alec
Often when we think of streamers, we think of the New England states; and rightly so. However the Finger Lakes region of New York also has a rich angling history, and a contemporary tyer from that region named Ray Porzio has been developing some really wonderful streamer patterns for those storied long lakes that are his home waters. One of my favorites is his Cayuga Chief pattern. Ray kindly supplied me with the recipe last March and I finally tied one up and am delighted to share it here. This is sure to be a smallmouth slayer – it really has everything you want in a smalley fly – and more! I look forward to tying more of Ray’s patterns in the future, and hopefully someday I will get up to the Finger Lakes and fish one in Cayuga Lake! Thanks for a wonderful fly Ray! Alec
I’ll be tying flies this coming Sunday, March 25 at the Historic Longfellow’s Wayside Inn Sudbury Massachusetts for the sixth annual Fly Tying Demonstration and Sale organized by longtime New England fly tying guru Armand Courchaine. The event is from 10 am to 4 pm. This is always a fun event! I will be bringing along an extra vise and would be delighted to help any interested youngsters or beginners of any age who are interested in learning how to tie flies. Sales of flies at the show will go towards the stocking of Josephine’s Pond at the Inn. Longfellow’s Wayside Inn is located on Wayside Inn Road (off Route 20) in Sudbury, MA. Hope to see you there! Alec
In his 1947 book WITH FLY, PLUG AND BAIT, author Ray Bergman shares a wonderfully simple and killing streamer pattern called the Black Creeper. Pete Lagunas, a correspondent of Bergman’s, is evidently the originator of the fly, and though he considers the fly a streamer, he encourages Ray to fish it like a nymph. Let’s hear it from Pete himself:
“I do not imply that the regular retrieve method for streamers is a poor way to fish them, but I do say that sometimes it doesn’t work… I put some lead on my leader and fish deep, bumping along the bottom… I usually use short sharp twitches right off the bottom when it is necessary to fish deep. Of course I lose a number of flies doing this, but it is worth it.”
I think we would all agree that if there was ever a fly whose effectiveness when fished deep was obvious from even the first glance, The Black Creeper is it. With it’s palmered black hackle clipped on the top and sides as per Pete’s instructions, the Jungle Cock wing sits nice and flat over the long shank of the hook and is as appealing to the angler as it is to the fish. Isn’t that what it is all about? Alec
