Bluegills and Rosie O'Donnell

The reputation Bluegills have for pickiness in what they stick in their mouths ranks right up there with what, for example, Rosie O'Donnell might be willing stuff in her face. In other words, they're not known for being too selective when it comes to food choices. Well, uh....yes and no.

Anyway, the morning started out with us heading out to the Uintah Basin for some early season bass and bluegill fishing. The fishing was a little slow for us as we made our way from the boat ramp towards the north side of the lake where the water would be a little warmer. I kept thinking maybe it was too cold and the fish would not be coming out to play today.

Arriving at the north side of the lake, Herb and his crew were at least getting into fish pretty good. A couple of nice bass and a number of Bluegills. That's a relief. But to my dismay these little fish weren't too interested in my bluegill flies (crud I tied up to be gaudy, buggy and irresistible to the "stupid" bluegills).

Long story short, after some trial and error and honing in on Herb's fishing mojo, we cracked the code. These little fish weren't after my Bully Spider or my rubber legged crazy flies, they were eating tasty chironomids (they also liked smallish leech patterns and other similar food imitating bugs). They also didn't like their food if it was just sitting there, so imparting a little action to the flies was almost a must -- but not too slow and not too fast. And for the most part, you had better give it to them close to their hiding spots in the reeds. I found that out, again by trial and error, after Herb's friend Harry was catching fish after fish right next to our boat, while I was catching only the bottom of the lake.

The rest of the day was incredible. Using mostly chironomid patterns suspended from strike indicators, we caught large numbers of bluegills and even a few nice Bass (note the big bass fly, er, I mean chironomid in his large mouth).



I also ended up betting Cheech dinner he couldn't catch a bass on a buzz bait (some sort of "toy" lure bass fishermen use to piss off fish) using a bait casting rod. I'll let him tell the story, but he didn't have to pay for his dinner and the lure isn't a toy.

So the moral to the Bluegill story is this:

• Match the hatch
• Bluegills aren't dumb
• Fish it close to home
• Bluegills aren't dumb
• Presentation is very important
• You can catch them early in the season in big numbers.
• They fight like demons.
• Bluegills aren't dumb

Peanut Butter and Jelly -- Bass Style...

Here's something to match some popular Bass bait colors and hopefully add enough flash and/or body to the fly that it will pass as something "bassy". Enjoy...

The Craw Bouncer

Ok, back to Bass. I went out and bought a few hooks with built-in weed guards and figured I'd try them out. This pattern is a combination of a bass fly I did well with fishing my friend's small bass pond for bucketmouths and another crawdad imitation I used while fishing Brownlee Reservoir in Oregon a few years ago.

The other little key to this pattern (yet to be fished officially -- but hopefully will see water this weekend) is the olive and orange verigated "Painted Lady" chenille a la Herb Patterson. Herb's "Painted Lady" bugger is a killer trout pattern and I think part of that success is due to it's colorful resemblance to basic crawfish colors. Just a guess, but who knows. I do know it catches a ton of fish.

My other line of thought on this pattern is to keep the rabbit strip that runs along the length of the fly (on what turns out to be the bottom when riding upside down) flapping in the breeze. I don't tie it in "zonker" style with the strip tied in at the bend and close to the eye of the hook. If it holds true to the bouncing action, I think that strip will get jiggy with it.

Anyway, it should knock the snot out of some stupid bass this year.

What is Fly Fishing??

Over the course of my time fly fishing (going on about 18 years hard-core and even longer if you count the dabbling I did while in High School), I've progressed from various stages of fishing skills, likes, dislikes, focuses, types and methods. During that time, I've fished for Bass, Trout, Bluegill, Crappie, Carp, Wipers, Catfish, Salmon, Steelhead and probably a few annoying ducks or otters. I never really sat down and asked myself "Hmmm...is using this strike indicator really fly fishing?". Or "Is using foam on a fly really fly fishing?". I guess I never worried about it and it probably never crossed my mind much.

It wasn't until a number of years ago, when I was in a local fly shop and one of the employees was taking it upon himself to deride me for using nymphs (wasn't "real" fly fishing I was told), that I became annoyed at someone trying to label something as fly fishing.

Being the analytical nerd I am, I thought about the definition of fly fishing and tried to think back to the origins of the sport and compare some of the methods and materials we use today against what was used back then.

This is how I imagine the same conversation might have gone back then (re: elitist snob vs a guy just wanting to catch some fish) cerca 1800's:

Elitist Snob (ES): Say, chap, have you been out to fish yonder chalk stream?
Guy Wanting to catch a fish (GWCF): Yes indeed my kind man. Many a fish were taken using ye olde wet flye fished with a slight swing nearst the drift's end.
ES: What say ye, man!?? That is blaspheme at it's finest!! Thou shalt fish the dry fly and the dry fly only. Tis heresy to consider the lowly wet fly. Ay, it be a form of bait fishing no less. Fly fishing 'tis not.
GWCF: Do tell, I say. The silk line I throwe proves to float well and serves to cast my feathered hook great distance.
ES: Silk! What manner of evil is this! Horse hair carried by the wind alone suffices any angler worth his salt. Gentlemen do not "throwe" their line. Nature's breath carries the line and fly to the proper destination.

I guess my point is any sport evolves and progresses. For someone to say using a foam strike indicator is not "fly fishing" I would ask is it fly fishing to use a foam hopper as an indicator? How about the end of my synthetic fly line? Different colored sections of leader? All synthetic, all point to the tug of a fish.

Is a propeller tied onto the hook considered a "fly"? What about a bead head? What about lead wrapped around the shank? So nickel in the shape of a propeller isn't but a rounded bead is? Now I'm confused.

Some say, "no" to synthetics on flies period. So do you fish with a graphite rod? Plastic fly line?

A pre-formed plastic tail on a bass "fly" is out of the question, but a feather from a genetically engineered chicken is kosher? Neither is natural. Hmmm...more confused.

Split shot used to weight a tippet & fly down are considered taboo, but wrapping a metal hook with lead is no problemo?

In the end, it seems the distinction is too often based on what is typically associated with other "lesser" forms of fishing (bobbers, spinner blades, rubber skirts, jigs etc) even though some are actually derived from "fly fishing" in the first place. Even more confused? Check.

To each his own, I say. Let me throw my propeller headed fly deep into this pool with my sinking tip lead-core line and use my foam indicator to help me detect a strike. I tied the bug and I'm using a fly rod to cast it. Who cares what label applies to what. End result is a fish and my tools are flies and a fly rod.

ES: Say, lad. Can you spare some dressing for my line? Tis required I coat it thoroughly once every four hours whilst I avoid it soaking in too much water.

The Foamerger

So I've been fishing a small stream during the Baetis hatch the past few weeks. Unlike a lot of small stream trout, these fish aren't the typical slam-anything-that-moves dummies.

With a decent mix of midges and baetis, it's been a fun time matching the hatch and finding the right bug combination.

As it turns out, one pattern has far outpaced any of my tried-and-true Baetis patterns. I can't remember why, exactly, I tied it on one day a few weeks ago, but it turned a so-so day fishing into a great day of dry fly fishing for nice Brown Trout. So I made a point to keep it in the mix even when the Baetis hatch grew stronger and the midges less important. Time after time, this little stupid looking fly kicked the snot out of my Baetis patterns. I'm guessing it's the way it hangs in the surface film or maybe just the overall general impresssion of an emerging bug, but either way, it's been good to me.

The pattern was designed out of pure frustration. I was fishing a phenomenal midge hatch on the Green one day and after three hours of fishing my traditional midge patterns (griffith's gnats, true midge dries etc), the score was: Picky Trout -- 1000; cold dumb midge fisherman -- 1. I landed only one fish in three hours. As I packed up and picked the pieces of my ego up from the rocks, a dude comes walking along the trail, sees the rising fish, takes one cast and nails a fish. Must've been luck. Next cast: fish on. I suck.

As I walk by, he actually strikes up a conversation and I came to find out he was fishing a fly his son had given him and he wasn't sure of the name. It was a variation of a palomino midge and it was designed to sit in the surface film.

With new hope of redemption for my next midge encounter, I got busy trying to understand what it was about that style of pattern that made such a difference. I came to understand, as a lot of people already know, midges have a tendency to hang vertically in the surface film as they struggle to emerge from their pupal stage to an adult. With this in mind, I sat down at the vise to figure out a pattern that fit the bill. The palomino was ok, but when I tried to get it to float vertically, it didn't look much like the pictures of real insects I was looking at. After a bit of trial and error using different materials and patterns, I found one that floated vertically and resembled the bugs. I tied up a few more and set out for the Green the following week.

The fish gods were smiling on me that day as my new little midge invention did the trick. I fished the same hole and came up with much different results as I lost track of the number of fish I hooked that day. My friend fishing across the way, ended up with 1 fish as he refused to change from his good ol' Griffith's gnat. Anyhoo...the fly was dubbed the "Foamerger" and earned a permanent spot in my midge boxes from then on.

Hook: TMC 2488 #18 - #32
Thread: UTC 70 Denier Black
Shuck: Micro-chenille in black or brown
Thorax: Gray or Black dubbing to match natural
Head: Gray or Black open cell (or Evazote) foam

Bass it up

So I've been on somewhat of a bass fly kick. I have a number of bass trips planned this year and I've made a point to focus more on bass (yeah, I've been saying that for years, but this IS the year). Anyway, Cheech got me inspired to kick up my hair spinning skills and I've been working on that.

Here are the results...