Damsels, Trout and Grayling

In Yellowstone country there are many great rivers to fish for trout, but there are many great lakes, other than Yellowstone Lake. These lakes require you to hike in a few miles, most have well groomed trails, but make sure you have your bear spray while in the back country (see The Jersey Angler's post "Brookies and Bears").

These high mountain are have many insects, Callibaetis, Damsels, as well as Caddis.  The hatch can be tremendous, and if your there at the right time you'll have a glorious day.  Well that's just what happen on our hike to a undisclosed lake in Yellowstone country with Grayling. (There is only one lake in Yellowstone country with Grayling*.)

On pattern that worked splendidly, was my K.I.S.S. Damsel, it's simple, extremely fast to tie and works everywhere there are Damsels.

K.I.S.S. Damsel



Hook: Nymph hook 4x long (200R*)
Size 8 - 12
Thread: Olive
Tail:Olive Marabou
Body: Olive Marabou
Rib: Gold Wire
Head: Tungsten Bead sized to hook
* I've found 200R hooks with a bead ride hook point up.

Slide bead on to the hook and attach thread.

Tie in wire rib.

Tie in Olive Marabou and form a short tail.

Wrap the marabou forward and tie off.

Counter wrap your wire forward and secure with several wraps.

Whip finish and your Damsel nymph is completed.

While in West Yellowstone we (Jersey Angler, Rick and I) would tie up some of the patterns we would use the next day.

Tying session in the cabin.

This Rainbow smashed the K.I.S.S. Damsel

Greyling takes the Damsel

*The undisclosed lake is name at the end of the video.

Feather-Craft New Giveaway

Here is new give-a-way from Feather-Craft Fly Fishing.  For the this giveaway 3 individuals will receive their choice of a UV Buff (click here to see choices) and get to pick out a book and a two DVD’s from the list below:

Pick one of the two.

• Charlie Craven’s: Charlies Fly Box (autographed copy!)

• Pat Dorsey’s: Tying & Fishing Tailwater Flies (autographed copy!)

Pick two DVD’s from the choices below.

• Musky Country: Zero 2 Hero
• Night of the Hex
• Soulfish 2
• Black Tailed Devil 

To enter go to http://flyfishinggiveaway.com/blog/2011/07/21/new-giveaway/ and  scroll to the bottom of the page and let them know how your Summer fishing. Where have you been? What are you catching? Any good fishing stories?

CDC UV Caddis - Caddis, Caddis Everywhere...

Caddis are abundant on most rivers, but the Madison and other rivers in Yellowstone country there can have blizzard hatches.  Never leave home with out a caddis pattern in your box. Here is one that is quick, easy to see, and floats like a cork.

CDC UV Caddis

Hook: Standard Dry Fly Hook Size 10 - 10
Thread: Tan

Body: Hairline Tan UV Ice Dub
Under Wing: Natural CDC (3-4 feathers)
Wing: Elk or Deer Hair

This is a another pattern which follows the K.I.S.S. rule. It's simple, fast to tie and works everywhere. You can variety the color of the body to match the caddis in your area, the UV dubbing adds some nice sparkle to the pattern, you can also substitute the UV dubbing with an Anton blend for similar results.

While fishing in Yellowstone country this past July this was my go to caddis pattern if I wasn't throwing large Salmon Files.

It caught selective trout in the Henry's Fork, Brook Trout, Rainbows and Grayling in the park.

Attach your thread.

Dub the body.

Tie in the CDC under wing.

Tie in your Deer hair.

Trim Deer hair and whip finish.

 Below are some of the trout taken with the CDC UV Caddis.

Yellowstone Brook Trout

Henry's Fork Rainbow

Madison Rainbow.

Bugger Off

If your like me you have a collection of fishing cloths. If you've purchased some in recently you may have the brands treated with insect repellent, some which may last 40 washings. It goes without saying these treated cloths cost 2 to 3 times there non-treated counter parts.

So what's one to do if you don't want to buy all new fishing cloths with the insect repellent. Well you can do it yourself. This DYI project won't last as long as the brand named cloths, but it works. I've been doing this for several years and it works.

Caution must be taken this repellent is nasty stuff. Avoid contact with your skin, eyes, and lungs and do not apply to the interior of your clothing. Read and follow the instructions.

Apply the repellent outdoors on a windless day and wearing gloves.

You can pick-up this or other brands at your local camping/hunting store. One can will treat 4 garments.

Two cans treated 3 shirts, 4 pants and 1 hat. Now all my fishing cloths are treated for a fraction of the cost. I find I only have to do this once a year especially when I going to fish where there a ton of blood sucking insects.

I'd say that this works for 95% of the places I fish, but there are those places where you do have to supplement the your DYI "Bugger Off" cloths.

I'd purchase the Ben's at my local EMS and this post is not a recommendation for one product over another. You can find others brands at you local camping, fishing or hunting shop.

Performance:
On my recent trip to Montana's Yellowstone country I can tell you my Bugger Off clothing performed brilliantly. While my buddy Rick was being attacked on our way to Grebe Lake I was virtually untouched. The only insect bites I received were on my hand, which was untreated.

Fly Casting with Bob Jacklin

We rolled in to West Yellowstone set up base camp at Sleepy Hollow then walk over to Jacklin's and talked to Bob and his guides.

Every Sunday at 7:30pm Bob conducts a free casting clinic behind the Police station. We went once to lend our support. The Jersey Angler and I volunteer our service and helped Bob out with the one-on-one instruction.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Three Sisters

Idaho view of the three sisters.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Gone Fishing.

On my way to Montana and Yellowstone country with "The Jersey Angler". As you can see he's not a morning person.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Summer Stones

With the summer weather finally hitting NJ and water temperatures on the rise it time I give the trout a rest.  When water temperature start hitting the 70 degree mark, I start targeting warm and salt water fins.

But the warm and salt water will have to wait.  I'm going through my gear, packing and heading west, West Yellowstone that is for some cold water fin.

Here are a few photos from the beginning of the month when the stone files were busting.  The bad thing was no top water action, all down below. 

Shuck...

Adult...

4th of July visitor seeks shade on my patio umbrella.

Fishing with "The Jersey Angler"

While I haven't been posting regularly this spring, I've managed to get out an wet a line.  Here is a little video I shot on one of the few sunny days we had this spring.  I was fishing across for "The Jersey Angler" so I put down the rod and shot this footage.  Enjoy.

Spring Photographs

Here are some photography from this spring, that don't fit into grip and grin category.

Spring Bloom

Sulphur Dun

Sulphur Molt

Midge Meeting

Light Cahill Spinner (Male)

Hatchery Brown

Wild Brown