He's Back

After a trip to the California desert and a day of wandering around Joshua Tree National Park in search of a trout stream, I can report that there are no trout let alone water in the desert. My wife started to sing "Peaceful Easy Feeling" as we ascending into the high desert, giving me that queer feeling that I might just be riding that "Horse with No Name" back! Entering that metropolis of Twenty Nine Palms, I can see why they call it a desert. Nothing was happening, we searched for Roy Rogers ranch were the filmed that TV show of my youth and just like the Ponderosa of North Lake Tahoe just another TV myth of the 60's. My dreams of my youth of cowboys,Indians and gunslingers came to a crashing halt as the reality of sand, rock, sagebrush and Joshua Trees filled my vision. Not a single cowboy in sight, just a bunch of hipsters rock climbing. OK, let me at least see a rattler, scorpion or tarantula? well, tarantula mating season was over and as for the snakes they were too busy laying low. Palm Springs was very nice, but not a fly shop to be found. Opening day is months away, what do to till then?

Winter

Looks like an early winter for a few, the Buffalo area is under 8 feet of snow tough to get to the streams for late season steelhead action. There is always fly tying! Next session is December 13th, unless the library floods again. We will be tying something interesting for sure!

March Brown Spider

Not very cute but fish love them!

Very effective on our West Branch trip last June and expect that this will be just as productive next June.

Winter or What to Do When you Get Tired of Tying Flies

Watch videos of course!

Broken Switch Part 2

Always enter a room quietly as not to disturb those that want to eat you for lunch. Maintain a low profile to avoid those who seek to annoy you. Art is trying to stay out of trouble and maintain a low stress level, everything in moderation and not making any waves. Platitudes, platitudes! I use to own a small pocket book full of them. I would whip it out to deal with just about every situation. My reputation grew as one who was quick on his feet always saying the right thing at the right time. As I previously posted my off switch broke and now I need to be conscience of what comes out of my mouth at all times. After all a closed mouth gathers no foot!

Winter

So much has been made over climate change and the political football it's become, that sometimes you can't believe what you read or hear. I read a book on global warming written in the perspective of the total existence of the earth that made a lot of sense. "Deep Future", worth at least a look at.

As for winter , yeah it will be here soon, but a warm and balmy mid October night makes me think global warming has already arrived.

Great Fly

We will be tying a variation of the all purpose Elk Wing Caddis, this time using coastal deer hair for the wing. You can mix and match body colors, legs, trailing shucks as you adapt for local conditions, sizes also vary.
Patchogue-Medford Library saturday mornings at 9:30am.

Fly Tying Frenzy

Don't feel the urgency of refilling my fly boxes full of new and crazy patterns this fall. Maybe a few of the tried and true, more wet flies in the traditional wing and patterns and streamers. In the past I have gone through stages of tying one type or another filling box after box only to never use them. Or even better yet, deciding on stream that they just don't look right. So this season I resolve to tie basic patterns that I use and tried and true classic ones. So no CDC emerger or spiders and god forbid foam ants and beetles I have a lifetime supply. I think I will try a few bass patterns and deer hair poppers and if I get daring some salt water patterns. Art's looking for a more well rounded approach to his available fishing.

The Off Switch on My Mouth is Broken

After many years parts do wear out!

My Last Day Fishing

The flies that caught fish on my last day were surprisingly very small: midge pupae #24, cinnamon ant#24 and a beetle #18. Three flies three fish.

Post Season Begins

With the year round season in the rest of our local waters the post season starts later next week with the fall stocking of selected waters. Makes from interesting fishing going from essential a private park to truly public waters complete with other fishermen or women who maybe be out to fill the grocery basket with some free food. Not to be overlooked is the famous fall run of striped bass, bluefish and false albacore. Plenty of stuff to cast a fly to. Today is also the first day of the winter sessions of our fly tying sessions at the Patchogue library. Time to restock those depleted fly boxes. The pattern of the day is the pheasant tail nymph. This is my favorite and most consistent producer this past season. So no reason to just sit around, plenty to do waiting for next year. Clean that gear, and get tying!

The End

Yes the end of the season is very close only a couple of days left and the reluctant fish sitting around being coy! Art has been busy doing other things, football, meetings and work, but did catch a nice brown last weekend. Promptly declared victory and retired back to the couch for a busy football weekend. Summer will be over in a couple of hours and maybe a little fall fishing, fly tying and more football is in order. Not in that exact order!

Back to School

Yes it seems like everyone has gone back to school. Even the fish are taking courses! Latest observation is that some of the larger and older fish are teaching the young ones a fly ID course. Yes, I couldn't believe my eyes, but as my fly drifted by a small fish went for it only to have a larger one nudge it out of harms way. I thought it was a fluke or just some dominance being displayed, but on the next few drifts the behavior was repeated again and again. I could just imagine the conversation " no can't you see the hook" or "that's not an olive just a bunch of hair and feather" or "ant, no that's foam idiot, now go over there and lay down and wait for some real bugs". "That guy will leave soon and we can really chow down later"!
The three "R's", real bugs, right spot and really you think I don't see you there big guy! What's a guy to do, the fish are winning the battle.

Casting for Recovery

Now for a serious subject, no one likes to talk about  the "C" word and it always seems like it happens to someone else. We are inundated with request for money for this that. I find myself saying no out of frustration that what can I do! I received an email this morning regarding Casting for Recovery upcoming local event later this month. They didn't ask for cash just for a few volunteer guides to help the ladies fish. Such a simple and elegant thing to do. Stand there, change flies and point out good spots to cast to. Helping people out should be our highest goal and most notable achievement when we do. Got a local event, get involved and help someone out! The reward is gonna be there, just by being there.

Catch or Caught and Released

Once again Art has had too much time on his hands and you know what they say "idle hands are the devils workshop". Oh no Art not another lecture! Hardly just a random thought that popped into my head. Those fish we so nobly catch and release, do you think that after awhile they are just tired of all this sportsmanship BS and say I don't want to play your games anymore? OK you got me, whatcha gonna do big boy let me go, really this is getting tiresome. You fling some concoction of who knows what and I have no idea what you think it is and expect me to get into a life or death struggle over it. You have to be crazy, I can see you standing there, that line is huge man and you bugs really suck. Know if I was tired or lazy and didn't have to waste every second looking over every morsel that floats by maybe I would be up for it.  

Trivial Pursuit

Before we launch ourselves into a lather just take a moment to think and reflect on the peace and quiet that's rapidly disappearing. OK, minutes up!

So what's wrong know Art? Plenty! Everything now a days takes a committee and much debate to settle simple issues. Political correctness and form over function as opposed to good old fashioned Yankee (pardon  my Yankee roots ya' all) ingenuity.  Simple solutions to simple problems, not committee votes and discussion followed by more delays and inaction. Seems that I am surrounded and can't escape the bureaucratic beast that we have all become. Consider the news, use to be simple and something you sort of heard about. Today, everything and anything is flashed around the world, man bites dog!

So in conclusion what is the answer? Go ask the fish, yes those fish lying in the bottom of that pool minding their own business. Do you think they real care?

Wild and Scenic or Scenic in the Larger Sense and not so Wild in the smaller sense

After the third canoe passed through the wing dam and a dozen lazy trout resting on the bottom, I tied on a small nymph ( pheasant tail of course) and figured let's take a few cast once everyone settles down. They always settle down, they no longer scurry back and forth just lie there like good little soldiers waiting for some morsel of food to float into their mouths. One cast, a couple got excited and started to fin back and forth and second cast, two more looked around to see what's up! Third cast, I stopped short, the noise of an ATV was close by. ATV?  None allowed, who or what asshole? Fourth cast, the water turned muddy and it was over (the fishing). I took a walk upstream to follow the muddy flow and it seemed to go on for quite a distance. What did they do? Ride up and down the stream bed? I heard the noise real close up the trail back to a parking area and decided to retreat. No sense confronting some idiot or idiots alone.
A day of disappointments indeed, canoes, idiots and carelessness. One woman in one of the canoes asked her partner " what's a special fishing area, what kind of special fish ?" No clue what kind of stream she was in, nor that it has been in the news the last few years or that it's the only place locally where brook trout occur naturally. The message is lost, or just ignored? The last canoe contained two burly middle aged men, the were fully equip twitch a full tackle box, several bait casting rods, a trolling motor complete with battery and a large landing net. Considering this is a wild and scenic river, with limited access, permits required, numerous signs placed about regarding regulations and rules I would say disappointing is an understatement. A high note was one man in a very small kayak who apologized for intruding as he paddled by. His boat was loaded with trash he had picked up alone the way. He understands, he understands!

See You in September or The Home Stretch

As the season come to it's conclusion and the fish become scarce we have entered the home stretch. Total fish for August I think was five, not that I went out that often and pursued them with any vigor or concerted effort. Kind of noisily splashed around walking though pools and splashing my way merrily upstream. Caution and patience has been lacking, more into just being there and if it wasn't working just leaving. In a few more weeks the season will end  and not that it will be the end of the fishing, lakes and tidal waters will be open, just that the quiet almost alone seen of fishing private public waters will be over.

October, a fresh stocking and the rush of worm dunkers rushing to clean out the lakes of the stockies will commence. The few fish I will catch I will implore them not to be so eager next time unless you want to be someones dinner! Not that I never eaten a trout, killed plenty and if I hurt the fish maybe they become my dinner. I do take more pleasure in putting them back, hopefully to grow into the stealthy fish that hide and refuse my fly with a show of watery distant. leaving me to put another two dozen cast and perfect cast (but usually fruitless) in the same spot hoping that lightening will strike twice. I know better, but you never know!

Art Flick TU will have it's first meeting of the season on September 15 at 7:30 at the Brookhaven Town  Rec. center in Bayport/Blue Point. All are welcome to come down. Art may make an appearance.

Fly of the Year

As we approach September and the end of the season, I have a few thoughts on what fly performed the best this year. My nominee for fly of the year is the old reliable pheasant tail nymph! Worked we'll fished in any part of the water column, and in any size. If I had to use only one fly, this is the one!
Best newcomer of the year, a parachute style blue wing olive made with rabbits foot guard hairs dyed dun for tail and wing. Fly that made the fish jump out of the water to grab, there is a tie. A Hendrickson Emerger and a beetle with rubber legs and a metallic body, both got some spectacular takes and some interesting acrobatics. Biggest disappointing fly: foam ant, RS2, shop vac, 6X, Barr's emerger, WD40, rabbits foot emerger and the list goes on.

Seeing Red All Over

Funny thing happened on the way to the stream the other day! Took the long way via work, yes I know put a full week in to boot. Then didn't fish till Sunday morning, no fish. Then off to a grand-child's party, getting distracted again. So as I was driving I entered a school zone, school is closed and will resume next week for the year. On the side of the road was a van with strobe lights merrily flashing away and giving out speeding tickets like food pellets at the hatchery. Turns out the locals are short on cash and have turned to robbing passing motorist for small infractions like exceeding the speed limit in a school zone while school is closed. I understand they have resorted to such tactics since most are now stopping for the red light cameras and they have succeeded in taxing the death out of everything imaginable. Old Art has come to the realization that the whole world is completely out of kilter and there is no solution. So what's the answer? Maybe take a more direct route to the stream and avoid schools, people, other cars, politicians and other IED's and WMD's! It's a sad thing indeed!

This is the End, My Friend

The end of this years season is rapidly approaching and it seems like we didn't do enough fishing we're running out of pheasant tails and our impatience is showing up in sloppy casting and very poor line control.

Rain or Be Careful What You Ask For

It's been a little dry around here, recent deluge of epic rainfall caused chaos and blew out local streams!

Too Much of a Good Thing

Reported recently the loss of a section of Ivan's tree! Once shaded a very nice pocket that would at times hold fish, and tested one's casting ability has changed forever. Or has it? When you look at trees along the river bank, you see that there has been many breakages, re-sprouting over the years, maybe centuries. All things do change and evolution is inevitable and these changes are above our abilities to control. There is a lot we can learn from these trees, if we only pay attention!

 

My Wicked Ways

I hate August, endless days, glaring hot sunny days, endless nights of nothing happening. Fish early is the advice of Fran Betters. So I caught the first couple of fish for August and in doing so I realized how late in the season it really is. By 9am it was over and with the sun beating down, I pulled up my buff, and trudged upstream back to the car. So what magically flies worked? Mmmm, sawyer killer bug and a foam beetle. The fish seemed as disinterested and were hiding under the rose bush (they didn't have a wide brimmed hat, sun gloves or a buff to wear), but there are still plenty of nice fish lurking around and my guess is that a couple of rainy days and less sun will bring them out of hiding. With a month and half to go, it's been a strange season.

Labrador Pond and Lee Wulff

When fishing the pond, I always expected Lee Wulff to fly in. There was an older couple driving a Buick who did show up and fished for bluegills, bass and perch with fly rods. They would tell me stories about another fabled haven of real fishing the Adirondacks. Spent most of my youth dreaming about all those lakes, rivers and ponds up north. By the time I was 18 and the opportunity arose to go to forestry college up north, I leaped at the chance to spend my extra hours idly fly fishing for brook trout, then the reality of attending classes, the long and snowy winters showed how really short the season was. I went fishing but never to the extent I originally intended. I did have a professor how taught a wildlife management class who spent as much time on where to catch trout and the best type of cover for grouse as he did in population dynamics. He never bypassed road kill, fly tying material or dinner if it was fresh and not too mangled.

Back at the pond I can still see my Aunt Etta (her nickname, my great grandfather apparently like to assign names at his leisure)  calling everyone in for dinner. Mmmm, frogs legs, venison meatballs and wood chuck stew! Dig in the squirrel is fresh, Kelsy just shot them yesterday!

Labrador Pond today

The Great Lakes

When I was young I lived in a town, a very small town surrounded by much larger towns. The main streets east and west were named after the great lakes and the  north south street or boulevards were named after states except the main drag which was named Commonwealth. Eventually I got it, that each of the states used were commonwealth of this or that. I used to day dream and think about what it would be like to live by each of those lakes and what kind of fish I could catch.

Episodes of Gadabout Gaddis or American Sportsman would only peak my interest more in my fantasy. One year for Christmas, my Dad bought me a Cortland fly rod outfit and I guess endless hours of watching Curt Gowdy fly fish with his buddies on the TV helped me to self learn how to cast and eventually tie flies. We were hundreds of miles away from any real trout stream, I did talk my Dad into taking a ride out to Smithtown were I discovered the Nissiquogue River. We got lost and ended up talking to an escapee from the psych center nearby. My Dad's aunt owned property up north by Syracuse and we spent many a summer plying the waters of Labrador Pond (another fishing fantasy, brook trout up north in Canada) for bluegills, perch and bass. On rainy days I would sneak into my uncles stash of gentleman's magazines (Argos, Esquire and the like) until one day I discovered the Conservationist magazine. One of my favorite mags even today, but what caught my eye was an article entitled " The Monster Rainbows of Whey Pond". I wore the pages out reading and rereading that story.

Soon after entering college I realized that Whey Pond was just a stones throw down the road and even closer was the Ausable and the west branch, and numerous ponds loaded with fat brook trout. I lived what I use to just dream about. Later on I did live by one of the Great Lakes, and fished in two others for Salmon and Walleye. I can still see in  my mind Curt Gowdy and Phil Harris sitting on some shoreline  and the guide preparing them a shore lunch of some walleye, onions and fried potatoes. I can smell it!

Life's all about dreams and living out your dreams. A philosopher ( forgot which one) once said "if you can dream it, you can do it"! Dream big my friends, adventure awaits!  

PTFD

Post traumatic fishing disorder or lack of proper fishing, it's been two weeks since my last fish (maybe more)! Everything these days is a disorder and one or another drug company will latch on and create a market for it. Then create a support group, hot line and Facebook page! PTFD, resulting from not catching any fish or only tiny fish or not finding the time to properly fish. Do you have the following symptoms; sweaty palms, desire to visit an Orvis store, can't tie any knots properly, every time your online you linger on fishing related website, casting dysfunction or CD and worse of all, you sleep in your waders! Then take this little olive pill (a medium olive, with long black wings) and send old Art ..... Hey dummy! Just go fishing, it is the only cure!

View From Afar

Probably a good spot for striper's a couple of weeks ago

O for August

Not often that old Art strikes out! So as a change of pace took the canoe as far upstream as possible. Upper lake the scene of last years dredging, past the small islands through some tree choked channels, past some dilapidated docks and through some small passages. Maybe a mile or so before it was apparent that silting had blocked the way. Water depth of 6" and struck the muddy bottom, what and why? Looking at aerial photos it appears there may be more dams, weirs and culverts ahead. unlike the stream above lower lake this is a silty mess and no habitat for trout or brook trout spawning. Perhaps the biologist should consider the entire stream when doing their planning and studying. My guess on why is the farms and developments upstream between Middle Country rd, and below Cathedral Pines Park. Next on my investigation is the houses on Rustic Lane, and the culvert on Bartlett rd. If there was a way to see if that truly is a dam by that farm without trespassing, then see if soil and fertilizer runoff from that field on the east bank is a problem. All things run downstream, you just can't flush your problems away!

Catch of the Day

Sea Dog, Not Hair of the Dog

That salty air on the way back from Maine may have infected me with an urge to go striper fishing! Busted out my gear: 9wt., 9ft. rod, box of clousers, deceivers, poppers, sand eel patterns, shiners and other sundry flies. Leaders so dry and worn that Carmens dozen would break off, one rod still has scales from the last bluefish I caught (maybe ten years ago). Yes its been that long, well I've been busy! In a few more weeks fishing in the Carmens will end and I do need something to do.

Patience, Patience

Art is back from the rocky coast of Maine. Aside from the tourist destinations, public parks I found access a little difficult. For example, LLBean has a paddling center. So foolish me decided to pull in and see what adventure awaited. A stern young man greeted me and before I could say hello, he stated " this is private property". Mmmm, I thought a paddling center and a private one at that. Silly me thinking that they were a nice family business rather than another corporation out to make as many bucks as possible.

I did find a nice pull off by the Portland headlight (no fee), a nice public park in Cape Elizabeth (no fee) and a beautiful spot in East Boothbay ( a beach that the locals allow public access). That was a really nice spot! The grumpy guy at the state park charged extra for out of stater's and to really go fishing it seems that you should have been here last week or come back in September the so and so will be running.

The morale of the story is don't believe what you read on the internet ('cept me of course), when booking a hotel it will always be dirtier than the pictures in the ads. Best part of Maine, that guy at the lighthouse selling lobster  (lobstah) rolls and blueberry pop. He was from Boston ! Oh, OK, maybe the scenery, the quiet walks in the woods, the dusk on Casco Bay, and the friendly people me meet on the way.

Mark Twain

I found a Twainism on the web awhile back and it has come to mind more than once lately.

"Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience"
How true!

Anyway, Art is taking a well deserved vacation and when he returns hopefully he will have some new tales, flies, fish stories and pictures to share.

Pheasant Tailed

Another weekend and more fishing! It's July and getting late in the season. Fishing has been tough, with the trout looking over every morsel of food carefully. Again the winner is the pheasant tail nymph. No matter how your fish it, comes through every time. The fly of this year  has to be the good old reliable pheasant tail.

Got his vote!

The Perfect Fly

Like a lot of things tough to define. Perfect rod, perfect cast all open to opinion. What's perfect today may be a dog tomorrow. But tying flies we try for perfection, which we can only base on does it catch fish. If it doesn't out of the fly box never to be used again.That's what I thought about Barr's emerger and the Six X. Tied a bunch, used them a couple of times and no dice. Put them in the back of the box until one day out of desperation tied one on and pow fish on! So why carry a bunch of unproductive patterns? The first reason maybe its how your presenting them; too deep, too shallow, dead drift. And secondly that magic moment hadn't arrived. So keep experimenting and keep trying new patterns, adjust how your fishing them and have some fun.

Catch and Release

Caught, then over handled and tossed back in to die? Oh no another lecture on angling ethics! Not really just trying to provoke some thoughts and actions. Is it wrong to take the occasional fish to eat? Or strict catch and release areas, tossing back injured fish just to die! Rules and regulations by definition tend to be rigid and inflexible. Just as saying native fish only! Let's get rid of all the brook and lake trout out west and no browns and rainbows back east! Inflexible! Some of the native fish had very limited habitat and ranges. PreColumbia America was a far different place than today. Eastern rivers had runs of Salmon, Shad and Striped Bass. Brown Trout is found as sea runs in most of Europe, were they once trans-Atlantic and native Americans and colonial actions squeezed them into extinction? Who's to say? What I think is to keep an open mind and not become inflexible in doctrine and actions.

Realistic or Impressionistic

Comparing a Monet to a Rembrandt sometimes doesn't work with flies and fly tying. Some of the best flies are impressionistic and far from the real thing. Having never fished a realistic fly for any amount of time, I am at a loss to really say what works best. Some of the great Catskill tie flies are far from realistic and even thorax and parachute designs are not very realistic!

Thin Clear Water

Yes, its summer and the fish are on vacation. I find them sunning themselves in deep clear pools wasting away the hours slowly and I mean agonizingly slowly finning back and forth inspecting every food morsel that floats by. Painful as I stand there offering every variation of whatever is on the water at the time. I had an ant on my arm, looking at him/her, it was very small, very distinct in its form and black, more like a graphite. I could see immediately that nothing in my box was close. Not color, not form, not size, no wonder did the fish snub me. I was throwing hot dogs and they were looking at breakfast sausages.  The long and short of it was only two fish released and an incredible 10 straight misses and refusals. Time to regroup, rethink and rearm for the coming battle.

Travels and Tribulations

I hate to drive and driving every day back and forth and round and round I have too much time to think! There lies the danger, thinking! Is my leader too short? What if I made those wings out of old tea bags? I need smaller flies? I need larger flies? Am I too noisy? Studs on my wader boots? Soup or salad?
So after much thought (driving around doing my daily chores, jobs and other stuff), I came to the conclusion that too much thinking is dangerous! Need a new hobby? 

BWO

No, not that airport in Baltimore (it is a nice airport having spent some time waiting for connecting flights, Blue wing olives. A favorite in most parts ranging from small to microscopic, imitations range from Catskill tied dries to CDC emerger, thorax and parachute dries. Most small Nymph patterns cover them, some of the best are; pheasant tails, 6X and Barr's emerger (more of a nymph than an emerger). Come summer, regular hatches occur till fall and even then during warm spells you still see action. Aside from midges probably the most prolific insect on the surface and subsurface in my opinion.

Beetle Juice!

That time of year has arrived, ants, beetles and other terrestrials! Fishing the hatches can be fun, come summer and no real hatches aside from the dependable BWO's, ants and beetles can bring some good fishing. Did well with ants on the holiday and yesterday they came thru (for some) again. Made a bunch of ants  up and last night made a bunch more only smaller! Good chance I'll make some more up even smaller tonight. Easy to tie, only need: hook, thread, foam (black or brown) and hackle (brown, black or grizzly dyed or natural).

4th of July Hiatus

Gone Fishing!

Fish Ladder Follies

Seems there may be hope after all, could large sea run trout be lurking about and about to change the opinion of this old flyslinger! Possible that the fish I lost last week that muscled his way around that tiny pool before snapping off was something special. Not the first time that's happened and with any amount of luck many more to come.

Photo by Rich Haimes

Beetles

No not those beetles, but those bugs that invade your garden and drop into the stream that occasionally get gobbled up by foolish fish looking for a snack. The best tee shirt I ever saw was in a fly shop in Killarney, Ireland it had a picture of a trout and under it said something about if you kept your mouth shut you won't get caught!

Well, trout are eating machines constantly looking at the goodies floating by and grabbing the best stuff. Sometimes they lay there just looking and waiting, maybe they have a little heartburn from too many Olives or red ants. I never had much success with beetles, ants yes, but beetles no. So now I'm thinking that my beetle imitations really suck and i need to find something that looks good and is an easy tie. Too many steps and I get antsy and sloppy, and some patterns are just boring. No wonder the fish don't take them their just as bored as I am.

Alone Summer 2014 edition

Nothing beats spending sometime alone and stalking a fish. You spot it, kind of laying around doing nothing. Take a couple of cast, not budging, then like a light was turned on she swims up into a new spot and starts to fin back and forth. A cast or two, still not interested. Change flies, cast too short, next one too far to left, next cast bam! Fish on!

Gear Basics Part 2

Waders, stocking foot or boot foot? My choice stocking foot. The wading shoe is a much better fit than the one size foot. As for wading shoes some like to have studded hard rubber, some wear felt although due to didymo they have grown out of fashion. Slipping on rocks is equally unfashionable, but some of the newer rubber soles stick up to a point. As they wear, so the traction disappears and time for new boots or resoled. Next must have item a wading staff, anything from an old ski pole to a fancy telescopic walking stick. Safety is a must and even a casual dunking in cold water could turn life threatening. So take no chances carry a staff! Another must have is a belt, it will keep those waders from filling up with water in the event of a dunking. Filled waders won't pull you to the bottom contrary to popular rumors, just get you wet and miserable. It will be difficult to move in filled waders and as you wear yourself out there lies the danger.

The Rules!

There will be a chapter outing to Connetquot in August, so for hose who will attend and would like to do the one fly challenge then here are the rules:
1. one fly barbless
2. weighted or unweighted
3. the winner will be determined by the total length of all fish caught
4. tie breaker will be on number of fish caught
5. in case of no fish caught, based on the most creative fly used.
6. no tippet over 6X allowed
7. near misses will count if the judges think it's not a fish story
Prizes optional

One Fly Challenge

OK, I'll bite! Pick a fly and put a few in your pocket and go fishing. One fly no cheating! Put your results in the comment box!

Gear Basics

So let's start at the beginning, rod and reel, line and leader and what to haul you stuff around the stream in! Last week I started to think maybe I needed a new vest, not that my old vest was that old, not enough pockets and places for stuff. So I went online and pursued the options, finding nothing that really caught my eye, I took another look at my old gear. A chest pack from the 90's and an old vest from the 80's. I will admit the stuff I had in the 70's I long since discarded but I do have an old photo of me in a vest and a very nice vest at that ...plenty of pockets.

I did like the chest pack, more like a fanny pack with a detachable harness (I wore it as a fanny pack most times) and my old Orvis vest from the 80's still has a lot of character. When the weather gets warm I prefer no vest, just a box of flies in my shirt pocket and my waders turned down at the waist. Simplicity is always the best answer, realizing that you may never be able to carry every fly you own and better selection of what to bring may actually improve your fishing skills.After all it is all about the skill part sometimes, most times its not about the fly but the size and presentation. So all this talk about gear is just talk, sells a lot of product for the people who make the stuff, but does it help you catch fish?

Losing My Touch Part 2 1/2

Seems like I'm a little out of sync not just one thing everything! Can't even get the coffee right, fish takes my fly and I'm in the off position. Beautiful waters, plenty of bugs, rising fish and my leader tangles up. Catch a nice trout pick it up and drop it breaking off my fly...my last pheasant tail at that. I just planned a small vacation that doesn't involve fishing. Say it aint so Art! Alas, even I need to take a break, so it's off to Maine sea shore to do whatever Mrs. Flick says. I did put my foot down for a late summer trip up to the Ausable and I do have a conference scheduled later in the year for the high desert of California (Joshua Tree) but that's ahead. Now back to making up more pheasant tails.

Summer Awaits!

The calender has advanced and here we are at the beginning of summer. Time to shed those extra boxes of early flies, large beadheads and those big bugs for a slim down mix of tiny midges, olives and ants. Tan caddis with a dropper of a WD-40 will rule as the weather warms. Early starts and evenings will be best! Bring on the RS2 and the zebra midges! Got 7X!!

Trip Recap!

Jeff with a 20-20 fish, my brief survey has him with the prettiest fish and the most fish. Brother Don has the ugliest fish.

The rest of us, well we did well enough!

Furled Leaders part 2

Changing of the Guard

After a long rein as president the post fell vacant in last nights election, All other positions were filled and a couple of new (somewhat) folks stepped up to accept a larger role in our chapter. Good luck to all and thank you George for your dedication and time spent over the years.

There was a slight ground swell to write in old Art for president, but being physically unable to attend it wasn't feasible.

Gone Fishing Report

Seems like everyone caught some fish, even Art who was plenty tired after a couple of sleepless nights. My inability to function left me with a lot of missed, broken off and misplayed fish. Tangled leaders were the order of the day and evening. At one point I was so tired that I miss strung my rod and in the dark couldn't tell why my cast only when a couple of dozen feet instead of yards. Oh well, that's fishing! The big fish of the trip goes to Don Flemming for what looked like a three or four pound sucker! I will post the trophy catch later!

Gone Fishing

Art has gone fishing and will return next week. Hopefully with new pictures, videos and stories!

Happy Doug

Nice rainbow!

West Branch

Reports are the levels have greatly improved, plenty of bugs and fish!

Furled Leader Part 2

Made my first furled leader from thread, wow talk about one slip and you have a mess. Trial and error; need to run the drill a little longer, need to figure a better way of hanging them up to furl and got the weight thing down. Also need to work on the finish, loop knot or weave a loop? Working with mono a bit easier but again one slip and a rats nest. The bottom line is this is the lost art of angling: making your own flies, building your rod, and making leaders. Reverting back to the old methods can be just a form of rebelling in the digital age.how to make furled leaders

Frustration Pool

Every river has one, the spot where anglers go to die, aimlessly changing flies trying to coax rising fish to take our pathetic flies. Never quite getting what is hatching and guessing at presentation. And just when you think you have everything dialed in, they stop feeding!

Spent an hour at my own frustration pool this morning and maybe it's all in my head and again plenty of rises but no takers. As I walked back down stream to toss a few in some familiar but unproductive pools ( at least this season) a fish rose repeatedly against a swamp willow not once but three times. Gave my fly a look and on the next toss gave it a better look, but alas nothing. Frustration mini pool?

Take home message is every bush, log, weed bed hold fish we probably walk by 99% of the fish and fishable water. The familiar old pools can be reassuring and productive, but so are those little spots we never waste a second on. Don't be lazy!

Alone part 2 or is it part 3

Another early morning and alone on the river, no signs of anyone. Fish were busy rising to some bug or this or that. Birds singing, a family of geese out for a swim with the young goslings getting a little too close for me, mom and dad. Caught a few fish, lost a few fish just enough action to keep me busy. Upstream I fished what I now call frustration pool, lots of hits no takers and as suddenly as it started it was over. Time for one more try down stream then home and the long wait till the next time out.

Summertime?

Pictures from the Connetquot Outing of a few years ago. Ivan, yes the Ivan! Angler, arborist, fly tyer and gentleman

Furled Leaders

Nymphing Techniques for Alewives

Just kidding!

Keeping a Secret

Notice how we see pictures and no locations or nebulous fishing reports posted? Once the word gets out everyone wants to crash the party! I've had many successful early season outings and why? I move around and scout less frequently fished locales, I am observant and I take my time to work out the solutions! Fly fishing is an art, with a bit of science and a study of animal behavior. What works today will change tomorrow and if you don't do your homework you wont catch fish. If you carelessly release fish they will die and if you keep every fish you catch (particularly in a stocked river) eventually there will be no fish.

Betrayed, Again!

Never trust a politician, and a fishery manager who doesn't fish! Boy do we feel like real A-holes, sold a bill of goods for what purpose to help write someone's thesis and dissertation? Maybe we should be filling in our anglers diary with just blank pages. So what's got Art's shorts in a bunch this time?

Lets's start with the sensors to read the fish tags, trouble is the only fish tagged are some alewives transplanted from the Peconic River. All this time I thought they were studying trout movements, and how the brook trout are surviving. Seems the purpose of the fish ladder was to see how many invasives can enter our stream. Yes, alewives by definition are invasive. The invaded the Great Lakes and the solution was to stock salmon to reduce and control alewives. Maybe we need to stock some Atlantic salmon here? The demonization of brown trout and the subsequent lack of stocking of larger browns, saving the brookie's ? No limiting the number of trout in the river. What's next striped bass up at the dam?

What has to happen and happen today is the end of all the tinkering with our fishery! They're going to save the Carmans from what. At the rate their going it's going to be a sterile playground. The last bastion of the brook trout and under a full assault, from air, land and now sea!

A Walk in the Sun

Early morning sun on the river

How to Measure a Fish

Wow! A touchy subject, after looking at photos of fish with captions like 20" Brown (name a species) I can't believe all fish grow to an even size? Or our we rounding up ( never down ) to the nearest inch or two or three? I find it more believable to just state or say it was a nice fish, or a really nice fish!
So after yesterday of catching a half dozen (rounding up of course) fish and losing a dozen or more (you figure that one out) I did have a couple of really nice fish. Gave them a quick release (even though I really wanted a picture of that really, really nice one), oh they just slipped the hook and out of my hand before I could think about it, I think I need to start carrying a net!

A question? If you catch a really, really, really big fish and no one is around and the camera is back in the car, does it count?

A 62" Brown ;-)

Light weight Canoes

My recommendation is Wenonah I have owned two, the latest one in kevlar weighs about 38 LBS.

The Drakes, The Drakes, The Drakes

Remember that show with the suave man dressed in white and the dwarf crying out "the plane, the plane"? Unremarkable trite and boring as I recall ! The cry of the drakes holds the same for me, the annual appearance of giant mayflies that crowd our tiny river with the annual influx of "fly fisherman" who will make their only appearance never to return till next season is just as boring! The skill and problem solving element that is the Carmen's the rest of the season suddenly turns into what bus has pulled up and when is the first show of the circus!

Sounds harsh, meant to be, most of the year no one can be found because the fishing is "too technical" or the flies are really tiny! but give some easy picking here they are. I say show up in August when a small cadre are tossing size 24 or 26 bwo or ants in a pocket 6inches wide through a window of branches, brush and grass a foot wide and catching fish! Maybe show up before the season starts to help clean up the river of junk and garbage left behind!

It's not always about the catching, it's sometimes about the conservation, the education and the preservation of the resource. For most leave the heavy lifting to us and enjoy the drakes, they will soon be gone and so will you.

Knots not nots!

Simple to tie knots, except when the fish are rising and you need to change flies and add more tippet!

Or maybe the good reliable Turtle Knot

Or the surgeons knot

Fun Times

So the fish have started to cooperate and the bugs are popping. A recent sulphur hatch was ignored at first glance, then I realized that they were taking the nymphs as they came off the bottom. Just ignoring the duns! As the weather improves, so will the fishing.

Comparadun

antron for the shuck

coastal deer hair for the wing

sulphur ultra fine dubbing for body

thread pale yellow

size 16-18 dry fly hook

Just Fooling Around

Crisis Management

Alewives fishing for is prohibited, the sign says. But nowhere does to say "all Brook Trout must be released" or catch and release area. The hideous tracking stations have become an eyesore, original to study trout movement was actually to study how the alewives invade a river. I lived in the Midwest and fished the Great Lakes and the tributaries in the late 70's and early 80's and alewives were a disaster and the main reason they imported west coast salmon to control them. So what will next follow the alewives up the fish ladder? Stripers imagine a striper at E!

Got Ants in the Pants

West Branch Angler almost a month from now! Can't wait, hope the water levels tame down and the hatches  are there. For a preview click here West Branch

Midweek Blues

Back to work! Mind on the job? No trying to figure out furled leaders out of thread, confusing. Emptying the inbox and filling the outbox. Out of the blue a customer calls with a question about ....fly fishing! Amazing stuff!

Light at the End of the Tunnel

Seems the vacant river does have some life after all, maybe the fish the rushed down have made their way back up. Better to lay on the bottom of a quiet hole and munch on the passing bugs than be chased around some lake avoiding the big guys and the birds. Mmmmm, let me just lie here and blend in, oh that's a caddis yummy! What's that a scud? Noooooo, a hook!!!!

Weekend Warrior part2

Not a happy camper

Wishing for Some Large Fish,

But happy to catch anything...

Fishing Report

Any body have any fishing reports or pictures they wish to share send them to me artflick2014@gmail.com

Closing in on the Weekend

For those who must or still work. We are the weekend warriors dashing from stream to stream during those precious two days of fishing. We often wonder if in our absence the fish get bored waiting for our weekend ritual.

The Time of the Fly

Is now at hand! The next six weeks will be telling for what hatches and where the fish are. The mayflies should be coming off with regularity filling the air with clouds of duns and spinners.

Mother's Day Caddis

Just seems like Easter and a quick look at the calendar says Mothers Day is just up ahead. Will those caddis show up ? Last season they were absent or tiny, later on some caddis showed up but mostly in the evening at dusk.

Alone

At last, the entire river to myself . The fish didn't seem to mind my presents and the egrets enjoyed my company being fellow fishers. The trout upstream eager grabbed my offerings and downstream they were leaping and fighting over whatever I chose to fling in their direction. Sensing the solicitude would soon end, I packed up and left. Leaving more than a few fish with sore jaws and a few put upstream to explore the broad flats and brushy undergrowth.

Fly Lines

Picking the right line for your rod is important.

Float Tubes for Dummies

Familiar Waters

Attention all anglers report from up north!! The ice is out on the ponds and the trout are hungry! 

My Universe

Limited by only my imagination and my skills (our imagination and our skills) we can create wonderful flies out of ordinary objects, it for hours all winter long churning out almost exact replicas of proven patterns. Only to open our fly box on the river (any river does it matter) to find we haven't the right fly. So short of pulling out the vise right there and then and tie up the winner or just carry every fly known to man. my universe is very complicated.

My Favorite Fly and Why?

Mmmm, tough question? Whatever works at the moment! OK, my favorite fly is pheasant tail for nymph. Seems to always work and size can be adjusted to fit needs. Runner up is the hares ear. Wet fly is easy lead wing coachman, streamer muddler minnow and dry or emerger that's a tough call. RS2 and a tan caddis made with coastal deer hair. Maybe a bubble gum usual as an attractor fly?

Got any favorites, put them right in the comment box and I will start using them next time out.

Calendar Says Spring, Feels like Winter

Another cold weekend, raw wind and some weak afternoon sun. Seems like spring is taking it's time again.
Tough to get any hatches if everyday is a struggle to get over 60 and on the water it seems like mission impossible.

Making up Fish Stories

Let's see some pictures of this seasons catch! I had a ok day three brook trout and a dozen on and lost. More importantly no flies in trees, a first!

Catching Tiny Trout and Rationalizing It

Or not catching any trout and pretending to love it. Admittedly slow fishing walked almost the entire length of the river from the dam to the railroad tracks and had two fish flash a grin at me. The bait guys were holding firm on the dam and upstream a couple of guys in kayaks carrying spinning rods claimed when they bought their permits no one informed them of the rules. Sounds fishy to me, but I asked them to look at the sign on the boathouse as the rules are posted. So where are the fish? Not a complicated problem! Last years dredging took it's time to impact the lower river in the form of increased sediment, algae blooms never flushed away over the winter (the upper river is coated), the stocked fish didn't hold because of the decreased cover (the bottom was scoured and coated with sand thus fish stand out from the air), predators have had a field day and the brook trout while still present and still great at hiding only come out to feed when their is something to feed on. A small BWO hatch upstream yesterday revealed a few feeding and for a half hour I stood their and got a few fish to rise to my fly and reject my offerings.

I believe that it may take a few seasons for the river to recover from the last dredging, some increased weed growth and insect activity will draw the fish out of the lake back upstream into the holes. The brook trout will be coaxed out of the safety of the tangled underbrush when there is something worth the effort. But, all this tinkering and studying May have changed the river forever and only time will tell how.

One sign of life was the sole tan caddis I saw yesterday, buzzing around and dipping to lay eggs, the BWO's were tiny 26 and abundant in that isolated pool. The trout were greedily and regularly feeding, then darting back to cover. My appearance sent 5or 6 egrets away from the pool where they were stalking the trout. So as a positive my presence allowed the trout to feed uninterrupted. The one fish I hooked quickly shook off my offering. I made a dozen cast before it decided to try my fly.

Speaking of kayaker and make no mistake about it I own a few and enjoy a paddle now and again and believe firmly in the concept of multiple use and sharing the river etc. the Town of Brookhaven in their greed is responsible for the sudden increase in boat traffic. They closed off access to the tidal section when they granted a concessioner to replace Glacier Bay. This has sent a few folks to put in around the railroad tracks and go thru the gate below lower lake. Since the park pretty much runs on the honor system not much anyone can do. Free access to the tidal section needs to be enhanced the DEC fishing access is unworkable for most people and the Town needs to gettheir concessioner  to allow free access as a sign of good will to the community which supports their existence.

Reclaiming Ponds for Brook Trout

Back in the early 70's I discovered the Adirondacks and pond fishing. My favorite was Black Pond ( hundreds of black ponds). Seems I could catch dozen fish in an hour of fishing, the size limit was 12" and every fish was 11 7/8", I did eventually catch a 12" fish which I ate. That pond and dozens were systematically   Poisoned with rotenone, the trash fish, insect life, crustaceans were killed and labrador strain of brook trout were stocked. Eventually they all stunted to a 5 or 6" size after a dozen years algae bloomed and the process was repeated using windfall strain grown form a nearby untouched and un-fished pond on the nearby Rockefeller estate. They had been growing their own trout for their pleasure to stock their various ponds on the property. Today it is not uncommon for a careful fisherman to catch a four pounder.

By the way when I was ten, my interest in trout and fishing was peaked by an article in the Conservationist magazine titled " The Monster Rainbows of Whey Pond". They described catching 5,6,8,10 pounders. Later as an adult and a father I took my son fishing on Whey Pond and indeed I hooked into a very larger 24"+ rainbow which I lost at the side of the canoe. As we put the canoe back on top of the car I spotted a sign it said" no fishing till date? Lake treated and restocked with brook trout" well the date had well passed so I didn't think I was in trouble, but obviously the rotenone didn't kill the big rainbow that cruised beneath the thermocline. I did come across another story regarding reclaiming lakes particularly Whey Pond and it described the huge number of dead fresh water claims, crustacean and tadpoles right after the treatment. I fished Whey Pond on and off for nearly 40 years and have always caught a nice rainbow but never a brook trout!