Tying Flies

I want to write just a bit about fly tying.  I started tying flies right after I started fly fishing seriously.  I decided I wanted to be a good fly fisherman and to do that I knew I needed to be able to tie the flies that I wanted.  I am cheap.  I knew that if I had to pay $2 for a fly that I would never spend enough to really get into fly fishing. 

I started to tie as a way to save money.  That was a terrible idea.  I know have thousands of dollars in fly tying materials and hooks and carry hundreds of flies on me when I fish.  I stand by the fact that I would never have been a serious fisherman if I didn't tie my own flies. 

Buying flies is a great alternative.  I know lots of good fisherman that buy their flies.  That is great for them and I have watched them catch lots of good fish.  I just knew it wouldn't work for me.  25 years later I have had the opportunity to teach fly tying, I have tied professionally and I feel that it is part of my game to tie the flies that I use. 

With that being said.  I want to talk about some of the flies that I see being tied on You-Tube and fly fishing websites.  I see the most elaborate flies being tied and some of these flies are using materials that you have to spend lots of money on.  I idea of a great fly is one that I can tie in 3 to 5 minutes.  All tied up the fly should be around $.25 or less.  That is including the hook and the bead if needed.  When I see these flies that have pre-cut wings and the are $3 for 10 or even 20.  That bumps up the cost of the fly to almost $.50. 

The wings look great, the flies are beautiful.  but poly yarn works just as good for wings and is $.01 per fly.  These materials catch fisherman and make little or no difference to the fish.  I was able to fish the Brown Drakes on a local Famous spring creek 2 weeks ago and in the past I have bought some flies at about $3.50 a fly.  I still have all of the flies I bought mostly do to buying them for the pattern.

I tied up a bunch of Brown Drakes and had 6 different patterns to fall back on when the hatch came.  The hatch came and I started throwing out the Drake flies that I had and caught one fish.  I stopped and started to watch what the fish were eating and doing and it looked to me that most of the fish were on a large (size 14) PMD.  I didn't have a PMD that big but I had a size 12 Parachute Adams.  These large educated fish went crazy on a size 12 Parachute Adams.  I landed 12 fish with a poly post Parachute Adams.  All of the fancy flies I had didn't work as well as a Parachute Adams. 

I use that as an example that if you want to tie beautiful flies that appeal to fisherman then go ahead.  It is fun and part of your game.  To tie flies to catch fish it is often much better to KISS.  Keep it simple and can I add CHEAP.  You will catch just as many fish with a Polly winged fly as a fly with $.20 wings.  The fish aren't that smart. 

Thanks for reading.

Small stream Fly Fishing

I have been seeing quite a few articles about fly fishing small streams.  As I read them I get so frustrated at what I read.  There are so many articles about the subject, and I read them all.  (As many as I can find. )  I am just waiting to find one that is not garbage.  I was really disappointed in two that I just read in the last 2 days.  I see most of them by looking at https://midcurrent.com/news/ .  I really enjoy looking through the new posts and reading what I can find.  There has been a couple that I read and it just really got me angry enough that I felt I needed to address it issues that I can see. 

The biggest issue that I see in all of the articles are "You will need a short, light rod."  That is just garbage.  Use the rod that you have.  My preference is at least a 9 foot rod.  I bought into the hype and bought a 7'6" three weight way back when, to fish small streams.  I hated it.  It was to short to be able to get my fly where I wanted it.  I couldn't control my line when I had to stand way back from the water and cast over bushes.  I personally have never seen a place that I could cast a 7' rod that I couldn't cast a 9' rod.  There are plenty of places that I can cast a 9 footer and not a 7 footer.  An example is when I have a bush behind me.  The longer rod allows me to get the fly and the line high enough to get over it.  If I can cast a 7 foot fly rod I can kneel, and choke up on a 9 footer.  I can fish a 9 footer shorter where I cannot fish a 7 footer longer. 

Bow and arrow casts are another area where a 7' rod will really not perform like a 9' rod.  I use bow and arrow casts often in fishing small streams.  This is a great way to get the fly into some holes that I cannot cast to.  9 foot rods offer a longer reach.  Dapping over bushes is also a place where a longer rod is much more useful. 

I just really don't like shorter rods.  Some of this is a personal preference but I get really sick of reading that I need a short rod to fish a small streams.  The only reason I can see that these articles have this is to justify spending hundreds of dollars on a new rod.  I love new gear as much as the next gear junkie.  If I am going to spend money (Hard earned and always in short supply) on new equipment, I want gear that is going to do what I need it to do.  Short rods just don't hack it in my opinion.  I have shorter rods.  I fish lots of small streams.  Most of the streams that I fish are what you would call small streams.  Under 100 CFS is what I would consider a small stream.  One of my favorite small streams is around 10 CFS.  I have shorter rods but they never get used any longer because I feel so limited using them.

If you feel the need to get a lighter rod for small streams I can appreciate that.  A three weight or even a two weight are fun rods to play fish on.  I would just recommend that you use a longer rod to go with that weight.  There are tons of long rods in those lighter weights now (Thanks to Euro Nymphing)  These rods are excellent small stream rods.  You are rarely casting long distances so casting isn't the issue.  It is always a matter of line control.  Longer rods allow you more freedom and better line control.

Thanks for listening to my rant.  I just needed to get this point across and hear if there are others that feel likewise.  You can make your argument if you feel I am wrong but in my experience I have tried both and will always error on a longer rod. 

One last point, Many fly fishers are buying into the Tenkara trend and guess what folks.  Most Tenkara rods are much longer up to 13'.  Why they are more versatile
.  Please everyone don't buy into the garbage that you need a short rod to small stream fish.  Use what you have.  If you want a short rod and you like a short rod more power to you.  I just get a bit tired of the articles and videos that state that I "NEED" a shorter rod.  It is just hype and not true!

Thanks for listening.