"True Colors"

Those of us who tie flies, especially those who tie soft-hackles and spiders know that a famous maker of fly tying silk which is used in the construction of so many of the soft-hackles and spiders. The Pearsall Gossemer silk is no longer on the market. The availability of some odd colors and from sources such as estate sales and ebay are pretty much the only places to get Pearsall's. A couple of years ago I was made aware of another company offering a silk thread. The company name is YLI. Since I first learned of YLI's offering's I have purchased several colors and have tied many flies using it. It offers the same quality as Pearsall's, and it holds what I consider to be most important factor in silk thread it's true color when wet. Above is a spool of YLI olive thread. Olive is one of my staples and many of my flies use olive silk as a body.

Here is a spool of Pearsall's silk thread. It is a chestnut brown and one of my favorite colors for soft-hackles and spiders.

I have several flies tied with both YLI and Pearsall's. Using thread bodies and both grouse and woodcock feathers for hackle. The first is a Woodcock and Olive.

This one is a Grouse and Olive

This one is a Woodcock and Chestnut

And this one is a Grouse and Chestnut. Now you can see the colors of both silks as they are dry. The test taken was to show what they look like when wet. You will see that they hold their color. Some threads will darken when wet and that's OK in some cases. But I prefer they stay true.

Woodcock and Chestnut, wet.

Grouse and Olive wet.

Does all this color make a difference to the fish, I would say it does.

Winter Angling, And North Country Spiders

Winter angling is at best a "maybe" and most times it's a "not going to happen".....the the "maybe" I'll take every time if given the choice but if the latter is dished out well I'll make the best of it. Such was the case of my last few outings. They were day's of extreme over night cold temps, like the teens. A day when the thaw had taken place and chunks of ice were floating downstream. The days when just reaching the stream was hazardous. But I'm not making excuses just telling how it was.

But even on those slow days I was able to capture several beautiful scenes that make small stream angling special at any time of year.

I love natural waterfalls....don't you?

This beautiful plunge spilling into the river. And just a few feet from that plunge was....

This remarkable scene. There were daffodils, or iris sprouting up.

I tied up a few size 18 spiders. I think they will be acceptable when those early stone flies are about. This one uses purple thread, peacock thorax, and starling hackle.

This one has an olive thread body, hares mask thorax, and bleached starling hackle.

Mr. Rapidan And Old Spiders

What a beautiful morning, the air was still and on the cool side. Getting out of the car I glanced across the field and was greeted by this sight. A few minutes were spent just looking. Thoughts of the day ahead were put on hold and it was so peaceful just to look. I have fished this stream and have learned well "not much"...it has taught me so much about brook trout that I didn't know, and I have learned well as long as I don't forget.

One of the things I like to do is to try a different fly each outing. One fly that I have not used in along time. I know all of you have one of those flies tucked in your fly box. Well the fly I chose was Mr. Rapidan parachute. The fly is one that I picked up at Harry Murray's fly shop. It has a yellow post, yellow being the signature of all of the Mr. Rapidan flies. The fly was in the water and I would love to say that it worked very well but it did not. I fished that fly for a good half hour without a single rise. I fished it in several areas of the stream and decided a change was necessary. I tied on a Bomber and managed a few fish, "well at least they are still here" I said to myself.

I had about an hour left to fish and selected a section of stream that has given up some nice brookies. It stream here looks harder than it is. Flies can be worked here but patience is the key, meaning don't rush, slow down your walk, your arm stroke, your pick off the water and the time you let your fly sit, either on the water or below. After violating three of my own recommendations, I finally got my act together. I tossed out a spider pattern and let it sit on the bottom. The fly was moved so slowly as I retrieved. I felt a subtle hit and set the hook. The fight was on. The brook trout collected enough stream vegetation a bird could have made a nest from it. All the while I kept pressure on him, seeing that orange color getting close I knew he would soon surrender.

As my hand reached into the water the fish broke for freedom. I thought he had achieved it when I felt slack line. Pulling back I saw he was still on. Convincing him finally that I only wanted a photo I slid my hand under him and the photo was granted. Hook removed and off he went.

The fly was not the Mr. Rapidan, but still one that I have not fished in some time. A simple spider...Thread body, peacock thorax, and starling hackle along with the will and patience to fish it like a natural.

North Country Fly "buzz"

The North Country Fly is the epitome of simplicity. Most can be constructed with as few as three materials and be trout takers to the top level. The patterns tied here will show the simplicity of those three materials plus one. The patterns naturally have a hook, be it one of the materials but also a body material usually thread which can be silk or a blend of various fiber be it natural or synthetic, and hackle. In addition I have included a dubbing material. The dubbing is very sparse, and sometimes even less than sparse as you will see.

In his book "The North Country Fly" Robert L Smith mentions the word "buzz" when talking of the subtle movement of the hackle in the various currents of streams and rivers. This movement represents a natural insects struggle to free itself of the current which is trying to hamper it. With this thought I also add a scant amount of dubbing to the thread and a life like body is obtained. The fibers allow the thread to show through giving a translucent effect to the fly as would be the case of the natural insect. Those fiber also allow for more subtle movement which make the fly effective.

This fly has a body of gray thread, and a few touches of gray dubbing and light hackle.

On this fly a primrose silk body, with yellow dubbing and partridge hackle.

This very seductive looking fly has a yellow silk thread body, a bit of natural hares dubbing, and a bleached starling hackle.

This last fly uses a green thread body, a peacock herl thorax, the peacock will act as the "buzz" and the hackle is grizzly hen.

More soft-hackled flies...opinions needed.

The start of the new year, cold weather kind of slowing the fishing, and the time to talk, and tie flies. While digging through my hook "mess of a drawer I came upon these hooks. They looked like they could be useful in constructing some soft hackles. They are in no means traditional hooks used in the North Country flies, but I tied up a few and they don't look to bad. The hooks are Allen N202 #14. They classify this as a Hopper-Terrestial....the second is Cabelas Model 21 #14...classified as a stonefly, stimulator hook.. The Allen which I prefer has a slight curve to the shank as well as down-turned eye and is slightly shorter. The Cabelas hook is somewhat straight shanked with a straight eye and is a tad longer.

Here they are side by side...Cabela's top, Allen bottom.

Here are a few soft-hackles tied on the Allen hook. I love the profile and overall look of the hook-fly.

Here is the Allen and Cabelas hooks side by side. The flies look similar but I still like the Allen hook...."What say you"?

While the answer to the test will be the fish, soft-hackle season is still some time away. Buy the way we have some fly fishing shows coming up..."lots of stuff" there.

The Farmington River 8-27-15

Yesterday the heat wave broke and the night brought in some cool weather, so this morning I was up at 4 and having some breakfast. By 5 I was on my way to the Farmington River for what I hoped would be a good day. As I arrived at my first spot I gazed upon the water, it was moving smooth and clear. My eyes scanned the water looking for the rise of a surface feeding trout. Although there was not even a dimple I still had a good feeling.

As I entered the river I was greeted by that sweet sound of a bald eagle. The massive bird flew low along the water and within a few feet of me he hit the button for more speed and soon was out of sight. I was rigged with a two fly setup 1 spikey and 1 soft hackle. It did not take long before I was hit.

The first wild brook trout of the day. The fish was so strong, and darted all over the place.

The second place I stopped. The river here is fast and has some wonderful pockets where fish will hold, and that they did until my fly passed by. I caught quite a few in this stretch.

This was a very interesting place. The water is very fast a strong here, with some soft water along the side. I worked a Mickey Finn in here a soon I had a good fish on, then off. I hooked another with the same result. I know I would have eventually taken a nice fish on it but lost the fly to an underwater log.

I did however hook this wild brown in a soft seam.

This wild brook trout was the best fish of the day. He was hooked in the river in the photo below.

The last trout of the day. He spit the hook while in my hand, and flipped into the water. I managed to get his photo before he realized he was free.

Lil' Dorothy

Lil' Dorothy is a fly that was created by Mark Libertone of Wellsville N.Y. Mark was a fine fly tyer and angler who loved to tie wets, soft hackles and flymphs. I never had the pleasure of meeting Mark but had several conversations with him on various forums and email. When I started tying flies they were simply awful. The feathers were cheap the hooks the wrong style and the proportions were terrible. Mark would always comment that the effort to tie was the important part, and I had that down, everything else could be fixed. He was a part of my inspiration.

His soft hackle fly Lil' Dorothy which I have tried to tie to his recipe, a few change were put in for I did not have the material, and I I'm sure Mark would not disapprove, for he was just that type of man.

Lil' Dorothy

Lil' Dorothy represents the emerging stage of the Little Sulphur mayflies that would hatch on Mark's home water, I believe it was the Genesee River. He commented that these sulphurs had a very distinctive orange body, and it shows well in the material he chose to use.

The Lil' Dorothy is a simple fly that has exquisite beauty.

Hook, any good wet fly hook...Thread, Cream or White...Abdomen, Pale Orange Embroidery Thread #722," I substituted Pearsall's Orange Silk"...Thorax, Cahil Colored Dubbing...Hackle, Cream or Very Pale Ginger.

The Eagle Claw Featherlight and Brook Trout

I was back on the Farmington yesterday morning. The sky was a bit cloudy with some breaks of sun, and a nice breeze kept that cool feel, which was very nice. I was armed with another fiberglass rod that I had purchased this winter, and was waiting to give it a tryout. The rod is a Eagle Claw 6'6" Featherlight, I paired it with a Battenkill reel and a 4wt line. I had purchased this rod for small streams but never tried it on one of them, choosing to break it in on the Farmington.

I started on some familiar areas that I know tend to hold brook trout. The set up was a semi- nymph, with a soft hackle trailing about 2 feet behind. It was not long before I had a strike, and a hookup. The yellow stick was awesome in it's debut. Beautiful action with the rod bending like I had hoped for.

Some of the trout took the semi- nymph but most took the soft hackle. These fish were fighters and dogged there way going for the bottom, typical fashion for lake brook trout. Another observation I noticed was the humpback on several of the males I took.

Soft hackle- North Country fly.

"Spikey" soft hackle semi-nymph.

What is it with woody debris and brook trout? Find it in a stream and you will usually find brook trout.

The Featherlight, Not bad for 29.95.

This North Country fly was the winner today. Simplicity to the max. Brown thread body, hares mask for a thorax, and some badger hackle.

As I said before some of the males had a slight hump in their backs. I have seen this before in brook trout in Maine, and one other stream in Connecticut. This one appeared to be getting his new fall suit.

Sorry for the spot on the camera lens. This brookie had beautiful green highlights.

Great outing on the Farmington. A stellar show by the Eagle Claw Featherlight. I give this rod a 9.8 rating. The only thing I didn't like was the ruler on the side of the rod, purely cosmetic, and I can live with that. Fine quality 29.95.

The Farmington River, and a Old Glass Friend

It's been hot and dry the past few weeks and the small streams have been hit pretty hard. While most are holding a cool temp, the lack of water is becoming a problem. Most wild fish have experienced this in summers past and can deal with it if left alone for a time, but rain is sorely needed. Here in Connecticut we are very fortunate to have a river that is fed cold water releases, and this creates a fine tail water fishery. The Farmington River is now the place to seek salmonids, and this is where I fished this week. I had also agreed to take with me an old time friend, I introduce you to him. He's a 1975 vintage Cortland fly rod...my first fly rod. He's a 7ft 5wt and has caught a fair share of trout in those years when that is all I had to fish with. Somewhere along in time I bought a graphite rod and the glass Cortland retired to the rod rack. Several times a year I would take it out and wipe it down, remember a fish or place we were and put it in the case and back it went.

Well this day he was outfitted with a Battenkill reel, a new 5wt line, and an attitude that old can be "good" too. We were off to fish the river where he started.

The Cortland FR 2000 7ft 5wt. The cork shows the time spent on the rivers.

The Farmington was in almost perfect shape. The weather was how I like it, some sun some clouds and a breeze.

The flies used this day would be what is shown here. They are soft hackles with various body dressings. They are all size 14 and have partridge feather wings.

The action was slow for a spell, and soon heated up. The first fish was a wild brook trout. The fish could not resist the tempting pulse of the spider.

The best action took place on the seams of fast water, like places as such.

A beautiful rainbow, looks like it was in the river for some time. The fish was strong and had gorgeous markings.

Lots of flora stream side. I had to use the rod to steady the plant in the breeze.

I had a couple of browns but they were to have no part of picture taking. The Cortland performed beautifully, like the day I bought it.

I think this was the last fish of the day. A sweetheart of a female brook trout. This may be the first year of a spawn for her. I hope it's successful and her offspring will continue to enhance this fishery with wild fish.