Spring Must be near. The birds never lie

I snuck out to the Otter Tail before picking up Abby this afternoon. I knew it was a fool's quest, as water temps aren't anywhere near warm enough for suckers to start moving in to the streams to spawn. Still, the comfort of the blue sky was calling me out with a false sense of hope. I pulled off to the side of the highway and stepped out of my truck, quickly shuffling down the steep embankment as I put on my polarized glasses. The water was fairly clear and not one fish silhouette was spotted. I knew very well that the white suckers weren't running until the third week of April last year, yet I went back to my truck, grabbed my 6 weight, and tied on a size 12 buffalo soljah. I managed a few drifts behind the rock weir that we modified in the Hwy 10 culvert last fall. Nothing. I headed downstream to the blown-out weir/riffle that we also repaired. I noticed a few small stone flies crawling along the snow pack near shore. Always a good sign. Due to low flows, I managed to get out towards the middle of the weir and drifted my nymph through the riffle. Nothing. I shot some line across the run and tried to drift along the current seam into the pool. Still nothing. Several more casts into the pool proved to be futile. What did I expect anyway? It was way too early for any fish to be this far upstream.

I glanced at my watch and noticed that I had to leave the pool and go pick up Abby. I strung up my rod and made my way back through the crusty snow along the bank. As I hiked up the hill to my truck, I knew that I was pushing it by going out this early. But I also knew that it felt great to get the long rod out, make a few roll casts and watch my fly drift. The touch of cork in my hand and line in the other, as my rod tip followed through my drift, was such a visceral feeling. It was wonderful to be back.

Now I just need some patience.

Peacock Flash Nymph

hook: size 10-16 Tiemco 2457 or other 2x heavy scud hook

thread: 6/0 UNI, black

head: black bead, 5/32"

wingcase: flashback, pearl

thorax: krystal flash, peacock

legs: krystal flash, peacock

body: krystal flash, peacock

rib: Ultra Wire black, medium

tail: krystal flash, peacock

Place bead on hook and wrap thread to hook bend. Tie in 4 or 5 strands of krystal flash, leaving the length of fibers about one-half of hook length as the tail. Tie in wire rib and wrap thread forward, a few eye lengths behind the eye. Wrap (palmer)the krystal flash around the hook, 2/3 of the length, building up a tapered body. Tie in and leave tag end on bottom of hook. Wrap rib in the opposite direction that you wrapped the body, cut. Cut 1/8" wide strip of flashback, and tie in as a wingcase. Wrap the existing tag end of krystal flash forward to behind the beadhead, building a thorax. Tie off and trim. Tie in a bunch of krystal flash on each side of the hook shank behind the bead head, forming the legs, about 2/3 of a hook length. Tie off and trim. Fold the wingcase forward, tie off and trim. Whip finish behind the beadhead and epoxy the threads and wingcase.

I like the look of the krystal flash when it is tied as a yarn. The twisted mylar gives a unique appearance to the fly, and the peacock color is a little more subdued than some of the other varieties of flash, so hopefully it will not be too flashy. The suppleness of the mylar should allow for lifelike movement in the water. This is pretty much a synthetic version of my eclipse nymph pattern, and hopefully will be much more durable. There will be some serious competition in the bugger barn for fly choice. The hardest part will be figuring out which fly to fish first.

The monkey is gone; I finally caught a tullibee (cisco) this weekend to add to my lifelist. I got out on a local lake an hour before sunrise. The fresh snow added up to around 8 inches, I was glad I brought my snowmobile. When I first got out on the lake, there was so much powder, the drive belt on the sled started slipping on the clutch and smoked a little; crazy. I got out to the spot and set up in 63 fow. There were literally thousands of tullibees under the ice, the motherload! There were so many fish under the ice that it was difficult using my flasher; it was difficult to distinguish the mark of my lure from all of the fish. The fishing was good and the action was heavy. Between the three of us there, we caught well over a hundred fish in the morning. I wish all of the days could be like this.

This was likely my last trip out on the ice for the season. I'm glad I ended it on a good note. This has been a long winter, and though I am glad I was able to get some good riding in this season, I am more than ready to hit the river for some fly fishing action. Warmer temps later in this week will bring the hope of my first open water trip of the season. The river beckons!

I've been pretty busy doing things other than fishing or fishing related activities. Hopefully I'll be able to get out on Saturday morning, and finally catch a damn tullibee and get that monkey off my back. Still don't have one for my lifelist yet. Meanwhile, I'll be watching Gopher hockey tonight, as they play St. Cloud State in the play-in game of the WCHA Final Five. Last weekend's series against MSU-Mankato was amazing and well fought to the finish. It's playoff time!

Go Gophers!

Minnesota, hats off to thee!
To thy colors true we shall ever be,
Firm and strong, united are we.
Rah, rah, rah, for Ski-U-Mah,
Rah! Rah! Rah! Rah!
Rah for the U of M.


M-I-N-N-E-S-O-T-A!
Minnesota, Minnesota!
Yeaaaaaaah Gophers!

I am under the impression that winter flying tying is inversely proportional to the ambient air temperature. The warmer it gets, the less inclined I am to hit the bench. It's not that I've been fishing more in these warmer temps, because that's definitely not the case, but the warmer temps must have me thinking of things other than tying. Could be the flu that's been going around here, that is responsible for my lack of motivation. Or I could be getting burned out on tying already. I think I've tied about 15 or 16 dozen so far this winter. I'd like to get another 3 or 4 dozen more tied before the open water season gets underway.

These warmer temps over the past few days have been helping to open up a few areas of ice on the local streams, though it's a far cry from spring yet. Not quite warm enough for me to hit my trusted spot. Fish don't seem very active yet. I've gone down to the Locks at work during my lunch break, to check for any signs of white suckers. Nothing yet, though the tundra swans are honking down there to beat all hell.

I'll just be more patient and wait a few more weeks until we get a bit more runoff, then the action on the streams will pick up a bit more. Until then, I've got some tullibee to chase after. All this melt has got to be good for something. I sense the tullibee bite will be picking up here any day now. Yum.

Red Faced Wobbler

hook: size 6 Mustad 9672, or other 3x long 1x heavy streamer hook
thread: 6/0 UNI, red
weight: .020" lead free wire
head: saddle hackle, red
body: krystal chenille or estaz, white
tail: marabou, white; krystal flash, pearl

Place hook in vise, and wrap thread along the shank to the hook bend. Wrap wire along hook shank to desired weight. Tie in a clump of marabou at the hook bend, creating a tail. Tie in a few strands of krystal flash on each side of tail. Tie in a 4" strand of krystal chenille. Wrap thread forward to a few eye lengths behind hook eye, leaving room for a head. Wrap the chenille forward to a few eye lengths behind hook eye. Trim chenille to form a tapered body (use of curved scissors is helpful). Tie in a saddle hackle near the head, making sure to remove the webby fibers. Palmer the hackle two or three times around Tie off. Build a small head with the thread, whip finish and epoxy the thread.

This fly was featured in the latest issue of Fly Tyer magazine. Their intended use was for smallmouth bass, but many other species of fish will take this fly. I've tied a version of this fly using peacock chenille. You can tie this fly in any variety of colors.

Mudbug

hook: size 2-4 Mustad 34007 or other saltwater hook
thread: 3/0 UNI, brown
weight: hour glass eyes
body: krystal chenille, peacock/pearl
wing: bucktail, olive
legs: Sili legs, olive
antennae: krystal flash, rootbeer

Place hook in vise and wrap thread behind eye. Tie in the hour glass eyes on top of the hook shank, behind the eye, using a figure eight wrap. Put a bead of epoxy on the threads. Wrap thread back to hook bend. Tie in 4 pieces of krystal flash, about one hook length. Tie in four pieces of sili legs, about one hook length. Tie in a 6" strand of krystal chenille and wrap forward, evenly, to the hourglass eyes. Tie off and trim. Rotate your vise so the hook is upside down. Take a bunch of bucktail, trim to one hook length, and tie in behind the hook eye. Build up a head and whip finish. Tie off and epoxy the threads thoroughly.

Fish this pattern like a crawfish, slow and low. Carp will say yum!

Blueberry muffin

hook: size 10-12 Tiemco 3769 or other 2x heavy nymph hook
thread: 6/0 UNI, black
body: tinsel chenille, purple
rib: Ultra Wire black, medium

Place hook in vise, and wrap thread along the shank to the hook bend. Tie in a 2" piece of wire. Tie in a 2" strand of tinsel chenille. Wrap thread forward to behind hook eye. Wrap the chenille forward to behind hook eye, creating a tapered body. Wrap wire forward, in the opposite direction of the chenille. Tie off and trim, whip finish and epoxy the thread.

Another one of those WTF a purple fly? carp patterns. Maybe in some far off land it looks like a mullberry and the carp will take it. Only one way to find out...

Purple Haze nymph

hook: size 10-12 Tiemco 2457 or other 2x heavy scud hook
thread: 6/0 UNI, black
head: 6/0 czech glass bead, purple
body: tinsel chenille, purple
gills: antron yarn, white

Put the bead on the hook and place in vise, leaving the bead at the hook bend. Tie in a piece of antron yarn on the hook shank, over the hook eye. Tie off thread. Slip bead forward to just behind the eye. Tie in the thread behind the bead. Wrap thread back to the end of the hook bend. Tie in a strand of tinsel chenille. Wrap thread forward to the bead. Wrap the chenille forward, evenly, to the bead. Tie off and trim, whip finish and epoxy the thread. Trim the antron to proportion.

I don't know if carp will take a purple caddis imitation, but why the hell not try it anyway.

Cactus Caddis

hook: size 10-12 Tiemco 2457 or other 2x heavy scud hook

thread: 6/0 UNI, olive

head: 6/0 czech glass bead, olive

body: tinsel chenille, peacock pearl

gills: antron yarn, white

Put the bead on the hook and place in vise, leaving the bead at the hook bend. Tie in a piece of antron yarn on the hook shank, over the hook eye. Tie off thread. Slip bead forward to just behind the eye. Tie in the thread behind the bead. Wrap thread back to the end of the hook bend. Tie in a strand of tinsel chenille. Wrap thread forward to the bead. Wrap the chenille forward, evenly, to the bead. Tie off and trim, whip finish and epoxy the thread. Trim the antron to proportion.

Krystal Chenille Scud

hook: size 10-12 Tiemco 2457 or other 2x heavy scud hook
thread: 6/0 UNI, olive
wingcase: 1/4" latex scud backing, brown
body: krystal chenille, copper/brown/pearl or peacock pearl
rib: Ultra Wire copper, small

Wrap a layer of thread along the hook shank down past the hook bend. Tie in the wire rib. Tie in the scud backing. It gives a cleaner look if you taper the end of the scud backing by trimming the corners back. Tie in a 6" long strand of krystal chenille. Wrap thread forward to a couple of eye lengths behind the hook eye. Wrap the chenille forward to the eye, creating a tapered body in the middle. Leave room to tie off the scud backing. Tie off and trim. Fold the flashback forward, tie off and trim. Wrap the wire rib forward, creating about 5 or 6 segments. Build a small head with the thread behind the hook eye, whip finish and epoxy the thread.

Many of our sloughs out here are loaded with scuds, and ducks, as well as carp love them. I typically used an antron/ice dubbing blend, like the sowbug pre-blended stuff, in the past. I always had issues with the body not being full enough. I tied these up using some krystal chenille that I had bought for crawfish bodies. I like the look of the chenille after it's been tied; I hope it's not too flashy.