In an earlier post about national fly fishing communities, I mentioned FFF, other organization is Trout Unlimited. Trout Unlimited’s mission is to conserve, protect and restore North America’s coldwater fisheries and their watersheds. To date, TU has more than 150,000 members in about 400 chapters from Maine to Montana to Alaska.
In July 2009, TU will celebrate the anniversary of TU’s founding from the banks of the Au Sable River near Grayling, Michigan. From the beginning, TU was guided by the principle that if we “take care of the fish, then the fishing will take care of itself.” And that principle was grounded in science.
The Nashville local chapter of TU, Cumberland Chapter, has monthly meetings with guest speakers covering different topics on fly fishing and/or conservation of trout fisheries. As a member, you receive a monthly newsletter from the local chapter and four times a year, the national organization sends out a magazine called Trout. Trout provides information on conservation of fishery habitats and general information on fly fishing.
“From its hundreds of local stream restoration projects, to helping lead the way to remove the Edwards Dam on the Kennebec River in Maine, to compelling Congress to strengthen the Clean Water Act, TU has a strong 50 year track record of conservation achievements. Perhaps TU’s greatest strength is that it works at multiple levels of society and government to achieve its mission. From the landowner on the stream bank, to the state fisheries agency, to the Halls of Congress, TU is working to achieve its vision.”
This is a question we should all be asking ourselves as we prepare for the upcoming warm weather and all the outdoor fun we’re going to be having. Fist Aid Kits are perhaps the most important piece of gear you’ll take with you into the wilderness.
So what do you need inside? This really all depends on which outdoor activities you’ll be partaking in. Different activities will have different sets of hazards. If you are fishing, you may need to bring along first-aid for cuts or pricks from those hooks. If you are camping you may want to be sure you have everything you need to treat burns since you’ll most likely have a fire and be cooking. Backpacking and hiking often see twisted ankles. And so on…
If you already have a First Aid Kit, now may be the time to pull it out and restock. You can replace bandages alcohol pads and ointments you depleted last year. You will also need to check the expiration dates on any medications.
Here are some excellent First Aid Kits, ranging from basic needs (lightweight) to more advanced kits.
The guys from AEG, who brought you Trout Bum Diaries: Patagonia and Trout Bum Diaries II: Kiwi Camo, are back. For two months the guys travel to five rivers that potentially no other fisherman has floated down in search of a mysterious fish. Their travels in this fly fishing adventure movie take them into inner Mongolia by horse, camel, Russian military vans, and hiking boot in search of the taimen, also known to Mongolians as River Wolf.
Taimen is the largest fish species in the salmon family. In the natural environment, without pressure, taimen can grow in excess of five feet in length and weight as much as 75 pounds. The have eyes that are centered more towards the front of the head which allows them to see prey below and above the water. This allows them to find and eat other fish species as well as mice, prairie dogs, and small water fowl and with rows and rows of teeth, they have no problem taking on that task.
At first they guys have a hard time locating taimen. What does taimen water look like? Where do they hold up in the river? These are the questions the guys have to answer during their 14 to 20 km river floats. In the beginning, the crew is catching lenok, which is the Mongolian equivalent to trout. The crew tried a multitude of flies: tungsten head streamers, top water streamers, giant grasshoppers, and so on, but all they could catch was lenok. It wasn’t until one guy had on a lenok and after releasing the fish back to the river, a giant taimen come out of nowhere and ate the fish. That is when the guys realize that they were not fishing flies that were big enough.
The movie has some spectacular views of the mountains and rivers of Mongolia as well as plenty fly fishing footage. The guys spend their nights sleeping in tents or on the ground, drinking beer, tying flies, and fly fishing for the mysterious River Wolf and once again the deliver a great fly fishing adventure movie. I can’t wait until the next movie.
The MTFF Fly of the Month for April 2008 is the Emergent Sparkle Caddis Pupa. When caddis are ready to hatch they leave their pupal cocoon and get ready for the accent to the surface of the water. Most species exude gases from their newly formed adult body. This gas is trapped by the old pupal skin which still surrounds them. This process starts to separate the adult insect from this pupal shuck. The shuck is inflated forming a bubble or balloon around parts of the adult insect. These gases within this bubble reflect light. Each caddis pupa becomes a reflective buoyant orb as it swims and rises to the surface.
Gary LaFontaine in his revolutionary book Caddisflies, noted that these reflective qualities made the caddis pupa highly visible to trout. The bubble becomes a key target for feeding fish. His answer was the Sparkle Pupa Series of flies. They are tied with a bubble of Antron fibers around the body to trap air and reflect light much the same as the real insect. The Sparkle Pupa Series of flies revolutionized fly fishing during a number of important caddis hatches. - www.flyfishusa.com
Emergent Sparkle Caddis Pupa
Hook: TMC 100; Size 12 to 18
Thread: To match underbody
Overbody: To match underbody Sparkle Yarn
Underbody: Half Sparkle Yarn and half fur
Tail: Clipped Sparkle yarn from the Overbody
Wing: Deer Hair
Head: Dubbed Fur or Wrapped Marabou fibers
The North River Outing with MTFF is one of my favorite outings of the year. Every March, the club heads up to Tellico Plains, TN to do a little dry fly fishing for rainbows, browns, and brookies in the small mountains streams of east Tennessee. This year would be no different. Before my trip to the mountains, I made sure to have all of my dry flies: Caddis, Adams, Blue Wing Olives, and Stoneflies. I grabbed several fly rods, a two weight for the brookies, a four weight for the rainbows and browns, and a six weight just in case we fish the Tellico River. The club camps out at a group campground and a few other stay at a cabin. Lucky for me, my fishing buddy’s family owns the cabin, so naturally I stayed at the cabin with a few others. We also have a pot-luck dinner on Saturday night with this outing which is real nice. Everyone gets together to talk about the day and swap old fishing stories.
Friday was the first day of fishing. I left Nashville at 3:30 in the morning to make the three and half to four hour drive to Tellico Plains. I arrived at the cabin about shortly around 8:00. Scott and his wife were still sleeping but Stan was up and getting ready for the day. So I unpacked my truck and waited for the others to rise and get moving. When I am fishing back on my home waters, I am usually on the water at 6:30 AM, and fish in the net within in the first 30 minutes if I am not paddling up the river. But in the mountains, it is a different story. An angler can actually sleep in because the sun needs to come out, warm up the air and the waters some. When this happens, bugs will begin to come off the water and hopefully the fish will begin to feed.
We hit the North River around 11:00 and soon after that the rain came. It rained off and on all day and it didn’t stop until that night. We fished that afternoon some of the higher elevations of the mountains, but not in the brookie water. Scott, Stan, Vernon, and I, (Scott’s wife stayed back at the cabin), split up on the small mountain stream giving each other a hundred yards or so of separation so that we could all fish and be to ourselves and this is typical when fishing in large groups on the mountain. I managed to get a handful of strikes on a caddis adult dry fly but I only hooked up on one, a small rainbow. We fished the rest of the day with little success in numbers of fish, but everyone did catch a rainbow.
Saturday morning the weather was nice and clear. Scott gave a dry fly fishing class at the campground and on the stream. Scott has been doing this for the last four years or so. Soon after the class, the rains came again, but this time, it was followed up by thunder and lightning. We were able to fish a little bit but not much. During spells of rain, we tried to fish the upper end of the river for some brookies; Stan has never caught a brookie, so we wanted to get him one. We separated out again. I fished the river near the vehicle, and Stan and Scott went down the river a small piece. I caught a nice three or four inch brookie within the first fifteen minutes, and I am sad to report, Stan did not his brookie.
After the rains kicked up again, we packed up and started to head back for the cabin, along the way, Scott asked Stan, “If he had ever seen the (Indian Boundary) lake?” When we pulled up to the lake, the rain was gone, the skies were calm, the wind was gentle and there were fish hitting bugs on the top of the water. We all grabbed our gear and set out to catch whatever would eat our flies. I was the first to catch a fish, a small bluegill about four or five inches in length. Next Stan pulled in a nice bluegill and shortly after that Scott had a nice bluegill on the end of his line. We continued fishing without much luck and just before we decided to go, Stan had another fish on, but this time is was about a seven or eight inch bass. We didn’t get to fish much longer, the winds began to kick up, the water was choppy, and a storm was on its way. We packed up for the final time that day and headed back to the cabin.
We did have the potluck dinner that night, but not at the campground. Scott invited the campers up to the cabin to cook and eat there and not have to worry about a fire, rain, or wind. There was plenty of food to go around. There was chicken, salmon, chili, hotdogs, a casserole, and several desserts. No one went to bed hungry.
I had a meeting to attend on Sunday, so I packed my belongings up early, cleaned a bit of the cabin and headed back to Nashville. There were not as many people on the North River Outing this year as in years past, but fun was had by all who attended the event. I can’t wait until next year to fish the North River again.
The mountains of east Tennessee have hundreds of miles of trout streams and as tempting as that sounds, mountain fly fishing can be very technical fly fishing. The stream can range from couple feet or several yards wide, there are the trees and bushes to contend with, and sometimes the weather (wind and rain). All of your focus is placing the fly in a run of water that is a couple yards in length, but not where your fly line is traveling, and that is how the mountains get you. Sometimes an angler can spend just a much time fishing, as untangling wind knots or fly lines from trees and bushes. I have lost many dry flies to the thick rhododendron. However, this type of fishing can be fun and fast paced. Lets start with the basics; a fly rod. This is your most powerful weapon in catching small mountain trout, but it can also be one of the most annoying parts of fishing too.
In my opinion, a good mountain rod is anywhere from seven to eight feet in length. What an angler has to remember is that they will not be able to cast very far. In the areas that I fish in eastern Tennessee, I think the longest cast is about 15 to 20 feet and that is a very rare occasion. Usually, I am bow and arrow casting to small runs and pocket water on six or seven feet in front of me. This is why a shorter rod is helpful. Try bush-whacking through the woods with nine foot rod, then try it with a seven foot rod, then come back to me and tell which was easier. I bet it was the seven foot rod. Even thought the rod is short, you still can cast and fish large dry flies.
The next important aspect of the fly rod is the line weight; what line weight is the angler going to use a two, three or four? There are smaller line weights for the people who enjoy the ultra light and that is fine too. There are larger line weights, but remember, mountain fly fishing usually means catching trout between four to eight inches in length. Here recently, I made a trip to eastern Tennessee to fly fish with the club, MTFF, and for the entire trip I used a seven foot, four weight, TFO Finesse fly rod. I could throw the small stuff, size 14 Caddis Dry Fly, but I could also throw some large flies too, size 6 Stimulator.
Once the angler has chosen the fly rod and line weight and his weapon of choice, the fly that will catch the trout, how does the angler get the fly on the water? This is where an angler must learn the importance of Side Arm Casting, Roll Casting, Steeple Casting Bow and Arrow Casting, and most importantly High Sticking. All of these are important so that a fly fisher doesn’t give to many flies to the trees; which will happen, just get used to it.
I typically use Side Arm Casting when fishing mountains streams with very long runs. This cast consists of standing on the bank of the stream and using the clear area of the stream as my casting lane. The area above the stream is your best chance of finding any clear room to cast. However, a fly fisher still needs to look and identify any potential problems with tree limbs in the area of the forward and rear casts.
Roll Casting is a technique of casting where the angler brings the rod behind them at an angle with the fly line dangling toward the ground forming a “D” shape and then quickly moving the rod forward to “roll” the line out from the angler. This is not the easiest of cast, but can prove very beneficial when there are trees or rocks on your backside and there is no room for a back cast.
Steeple casting is a cast where simple the back cast goes vertically behind the angler at an extreme angle and not is typical horizontal back cast. This type of cast is useful if there are low lying rocks or bushes. The back cast simple goes above the objects in the way and avoids getting tangled up. Again, this is a cast where there should be ample room.
Bow and Arrow casting is simply how it sounds. The angler holds the fly rod and fly line in one hand and uses the other hand to tightly squeeze the tippet or leader between the thumb and index finger. The angler simply pulls back on the leader, forcing the rod to bend, thus forming a “Bow”; the “Arrow” is the leader and tippet. The angler points the fly rod to the area where they would like for the fly to land and releases the “Arrow”, the leader. This type of cast takes some practice, but once an angler learns this cast, they can be deadly with any fly. One quick tip when learning this cast, DO NOT HOLD THE FLY as the “arrow”, if the fly slips, the angler is going to sink the fly into there finger or hand, so be careful.
High Sticking is simply not allowing the fly line to touch the water; the only thing on the water is fly, tippet, and some leader. The angler simply holds the fly rod up and stretched out over the water. If performed right, this can give the fly a natural drift which what a fly fisher is aiming for. This type of method is effective in dry fly and nymph fishing.
Mountain fly fishing can be extremely fun from the rock hopping to climbing over boulders, and hiding behind tree as to not spook the fish, but there are some technical aspects to the sport that an angler should know to help catch fish. I hope the information that was provided was helpful. You have to remember that an angler is chasing six inch rainbows and not six pound browns.
Dry fly fishing can be one of the most exciting types of fishing for a fly fisher. The reason for that is that 90% of the action, when a trout takes a fly, happens under the surface of the water. When I am fishing, I am usually fishing a tandem fly rig of a nymph and dropper under a strike indicator. Every now and then, a trout will hit the indictor thinking it is a bug. That is when I wish was fishing a beetle or grasshopper pattern on top and using that fly as an indicator. There is a method of fishing out there created by John Barr, known as “Hopper-Copper-Dropper” fishing, but I will save that for another post. Back to the excitement of dry fly fishing.
As mentioned earlier, the excitement of this type fishing is that the fly is on the surface of the water and you can see when a fish takes the fly, so there is no need to “fish the swing” or the use of strike indictors and split shot. However, there are some inherent issues with dry fly fishing. Mainly, the fly needs to stay dry. A wet dry fly does not float or sit on the surface film of the water. To keep your dry fly riding high during a day of fishing, there are some products a fly fisher can use to keep fishing all day long.
I tie all of my own flies. After I tie some Elk Hair Caddis, Parachute Adams, or any other dry fly patterns, I always use a waterproofing pretreatment. Personally, I use a pretreatment of Watershed. Watershed is a liquid that comes in a squeeze bottle. After tying a dry fly, I simply add a drop or two, depending on the size of the fly, to fly. The pretreatment cures in 24 hours and is suppose to waterproof the materials that make up a dry fly: dubbing, hackle, or hair. If you don’t tie your own flies, it is a good idea to pretreat the flies yourself a few days before a fishing trip. There are other types of pretreatments out there, I just happen to use this one.
While on stream, there are numerous gels and powders a fly fisher can use to keep the fly riding high. There are several silicone based gels a fly fisher can add to hackles or hair wings. When the gel is added to the “wings” of fly, the gel adds further waterproofing, but can wear off during the day, so multiple applications will be added during the day. When using these products, it is important to apply the gel only to the wings. To use these gels, simply put a drop of the gel on your index finger and rub it around with between you finger and thumb, this will warm up the gel and allow the fisher to apply an even coat on the fly. Make sure not to add to much gel, because you can “gum up” the fly and affects its floatation. As for gel products, I have used or have friends that have used Poo Goo, Tiemco Dry Magic, and Gink; there other gels by Orvis and Loon are available too.
If you aren’t into using the silicone gels, there are desicent powders that will dry a fly too. Again, there are several powders out there by Orvis, Loon, and Tiemco. I personally like to use Shimazaki Dry Shake. To use this product, a fly fisher simply removes the pop top, puts the fly into the plastic container, puts the top back on (but not tightly), and shakes the plastic container. When the fly is removed from the container, there will be a light coating of the powder, but a fisher can blow it off or just false cast a few times to remove the powder. Something to remember here is that when you close the top on the container with the fly in it, is to not damage the leader; to prevent this, simply notch in a small “V” in the side of the container. When the top is closed, make sure the leader is in the “V” and you will not damage the leader. This can be done to any container with dry fly powders.
In the future look forward to a home test of several dry fly floatant gels and powders. This posting was suppose to cover other aspects of dry fly fishing in mountain streams, such as casting, fly rod choices (length and weight), types of water, and techniques, but it would end up being a short book. So look forward to more postings regarding mountain stream fly fishing.
With any sport, there are organizations both locally and nationally that you may become a member. At the national level there is Trout Unlimited (TU) and Federation of Fly Fishers (FFF). For now, I am only going to discuss FFF. The main reason for that is that I have known about this organization for long time, but not until recently did I join. And again, the reason why I joined is that I am a general member, but I also sit on the Board of Directors for Middle Tennessee Fly Fishers (MTFF), which is an affiliate club of FFF.
“FFF is as 43 year old international non-profit organization and is currently located in Livingston, Montana. FFF has nearly 300 member clubs, Charter and Affiliate, throughout the United States and several foreign countries. The Federation is dedicated to the sport of fly fishing through Conservation, Restoration, and Education. FFF’s goal is to support fisheries conservation and education programs for all fish and all waters. Any where fly fishers have an interest, the FFF can and does play a role.” - From the “Mission and History” of the FFF Website.
The Federation of Fly Fishers is a great resource of information on fly fishing and fly tying. Every year the FFF has a national conclave in which fly fishers from around the US and other countries gather together to learn more about conservation of fish, their habitats, and the sport of fly fishing. I highly recommend taking the time and exploring their website. They have a monthly news letter called the ClubWire, that is full of information from conservation, conclaves, books, movies, fly fishing, and fly tying.
A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to get out of the office for a day and travel to Charlotte, NC to finish up a project. I had been to Charlotte before to kicking off the project, but didn’t have time to run around and explore. When I travel to different cities, I try to find the local fly shops and see what they have to offer.
While in Charlotte, I found an outdoor store called Jesse Brown’s Outdoors that specializes in variety of sports from fly fishing, paddling, climbing, backpacking, and camping. Lucky for me, Jesse Brown’s was actually less than a mile from where I was working. There is a laid back kind of feel to the store. I was greeted by a staff member upon walking into the store, but I was not followed or pressured by any of the staff. I could walk and look around at leisure.
The fly shop carries Sage, G. Loomis, Scott, ST. Croix, Tibor, Abel, Lamson, Simms, Cloudveil, Fishpond, North Face, Patagonia, Ex Officio, Scientific Angler, C&F Design, Dr. Slick, and Renzetti. The fly shop also has a wide range of fly tying materials and various fly fishing tools and gadgets. While I was there, I picked up a new C&F Large Streamer fly box and a pair of 4” black scissor clamp hemostats.
From looking around on the Jesse Brown’s website, there is a link to Angler Services, a guide service company, which Don also owns. The two owners of Jesse Brown’s also host Carolina Outdoors, a talk show on WBT in Charlotte, North Carolina on 1110 AM or 99.3 FM from 5:00AM to 6:00AM every Saturday.
Jesse Brown’s Outdoors is located at 4732 Sharon Rd, Suite 2M, Charlotte, NC 28210. They are located on the 2nd floor of plaza retail center. You can reach them at (704) 556-0020. When I called for directions, I spoke with Don Yager, Co-owner, and he showed me a great new book on Western North Carolina Fly Fishing, but I passed on this one, since I don’t fish that area much. However, if you are in the Charlotte area, be sure to stop by and check out the fly shop and other outdoor gear.
What are you superstitious about? I think many people are superstitious about their sport. You hear about it all the time. Some athletes like to wear the same socks, shorts, or shirts of every game. The mental game of a sport is just as important as the physical being of an athlete. Have it you ever watched an adventure race and see someone break down in the middle of a race? I have and I can completely understand. I think I was near that point on a trip to Colorado with a couple of Outdoorzy members many years ago when we hiked the trail to Long’s Peak. But that was in my backpacking days and now I am a fly fisher.
As for personal superstitions, I don’t shave my face before or during any fly fishing trip whether a single day or multi day trip. By the time I get home, I have the beginnings of a good mountain man look; scruffy beard, crazy hair, and sometimes a nice outdoor funk. Of course, my fiancé disagrees with the funk, but when you play hard in the outdoors, there are some things to be expected.
Another one of my superstitions is when I am wading on a fishing trip, I never ever bring a net with me. I have one; it’s nice. It is currently hanging in my closet at home and that is where is going to stay. I have needed one from time to time while wading, but I always seem to make due without one. However, when I am floating in my kayak on a fishing trip, I always bring a net. You never know when you are going to hook into that 20 incher. Personally, I don’t want to fall into the water from my kayak and the extra length of a long handled net is useful for netting a fish from the kayak. For those who aren’t familiar with fly fishing nets, smaller fly fishing nets are smaller and hangs from a D-ring on a fishing vest or lumbar pack. A boat net is much larger with a longer handle and wide net opening.
What is your voodoo or superstition? What ritual do you do for every backpacking, day hike, or canoe trip? What do you take with you? Do you have a luck rock, piece of gear, shirt, hat or piece of clothing? Lets hear it.
This is Steve (On the Right) and I (On the Left) on the White River in Arkansas. As you can see, I have been fishing for several days and have not shaved. Then there is Steve, I don’t think he has stopped fishing and may still be on the river.
