Fishing "chickabou" and fine winter fare...

Remember the fly I wrote about a couple of posts ago, well I have fished it a few times now in a couple of streams. I was surprised how well it was recieved by the local char, not really surprised because I had a strong feeling it had the attributes of a fish taker. But the surprise came by where many strikes came from. The fly actually is a small streamer but it was being taken near the surface like a caddis emerger. Some of the brookies swiped at it as it was swinging and several slammed it as it sat near the bottom.  

I wish I had underwater video of the flies action for it was remarkable. As the fly lay motionless in the current the darker portion of the fly expanded which chickabou will do. Well that expansion drew some violent strikes and that led me to believe the brookies were taking it for a sculpin. Many small streams have generous populations of sculpin and they are a sought after food source for trout.

 

 

A brookie that took the chickabou fly.
 

In this riffled section of stream is where the chickabou fly was taken as a caddis.
 

 

When wet you can see a sculpin like resemblance.  From a large head to a thin tail. And when the water flows through it life is put into action. I have tied a variant of it using a short shank hook. More on that later.
 

Baked gnocchi.....cut peppers, onions, tomatoes approximately 1" pieces. Add minced garlic, olive oil and frozen gnocchi. Salt and pepper to taste. Bake in a 450 oven for 18-20 min.