Friday, February 28, 2014
Selection, repair and preparation
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Spring Alert!
Be on the lookout spring long a fugitive on the run since last summer was last seen back in June, were it donned the disguise of hot and sultry summer. You'll recognize spring by the longer days, warmer and some what rainy at times weather. Green appendages with appear on many trees and shrubs. If you find spring please make it stay!
Rumor has it that Saturday is the first of March! Wow, that means 19 days till spring! If we can just get to St. Paddy's Day first, ah corn beef, cabbage and some soda bread and that health drink Guinness.
Rumor has it that Saturday is the first of March! Wow, that means 19 days till spring! If we can just get to St. Paddy's Day first, ah corn beef, cabbage and some soda bread and that health drink Guinness.
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Deciding what to Do?
Fill up some fly boxes, and sort and re-sort putting every one in by size type and use. Then looking again and select, sort, fill and refill! How many days to opening day?
Monday, February 24, 2014
Speaking of the Man
I wondered what or who he was? Even what he looked like, so I found him!
I think he use to come to the meetings and sit in the back or was it up at "G", just around the bend trying to put a fly in that impossible spot?
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Spring redux?
This week maybe we do some Cahills'.
Serendipity part 2
Finding the right fly and matching that perfect hatch usually brings a sense of satisfaction to any angler. Finding that special something that comes by unexpectedly while on the stream is perfection. Be it a deer that comes within a few feet, finding that a very large trout had settled in an unexpected spot or enjoying the quiet of a beautiful morning on the river are all part of the angling experience.
Amidst a long and snowy winter, sitting by the fire and tying up some new and old flies, one has time to think about why we do what we do. Why get up in the predawn dark, stand in icy water with half frozen fingers to catch a few trout? Because they are there! We belong to a larger group of conservation minded sportsman ( persons) who care about and want to make sure the resource will always be there. So we can agree on that, it's a worthwhile endeavor. Time spent on the river, time spent on public outreach, time spent picking up trash left behind by others less caring is time well spent.
The camaraderie, the satisfaction of learning new things and maybe helping others perfect that new fly has been part of my fishing experience. Meeting new people, hearing other points of view, learning how to tie a bubble gum usual, getting those wings and tails in just the right proportions have made me a better angler and person.
So with three more sessions before we break for the season, come on down and tie one on. We need flies for the chapters display box, listen and take part in the on going discussion on everything from hooks to the future of trout in our river. A few hours on a dull Saturday morning in a dreary winter can't be spent any better.
Amidst a long and snowy winter, sitting by the fire and tying up some new and old flies, one has time to think about why we do what we do. Why get up in the predawn dark, stand in icy water with half frozen fingers to catch a few trout? Because they are there! We belong to a larger group of conservation minded sportsman ( persons) who care about and want to make sure the resource will always be there. So we can agree on that, it's a worthwhile endeavor. Time spent on the river, time spent on public outreach, time spent picking up trash left behind by others less caring is time well spent.
The camaraderie, the satisfaction of learning new things and maybe helping others perfect that new fly has been part of my fishing experience. Meeting new people, hearing other points of view, learning how to tie a bubble gum usual, getting those wings and tails in just the right proportions have made me a better angler and person.
So with three more sessions before we break for the season, come on down and tie one on. We need flies for the chapters display box, listen and take part in the on going discussion on everything from hooks to the future of trout in our river. A few hours on a dull Saturday morning in a dreary winter can't be spent any better.
March 22 River cleanup!
The annual river cleanup is March22, at the campground, bring waders and warm clothing.Friday, February 21, 2014
Who eats whom
Mmm, maybe a poor choice of phrases, but either your prey or predator. Does this aquatic world have room for all parts of the food chain? Stocking again came up in casual conversation "oh those big bad brown are eating those poor defenseless sweet adorable brookies"!
Just an observation made brookies, browns, rainbows and a bass occupying the same pool. Seemed like they all got along just fine. At the C dam I hooked a big bad brown and darn if one of those bully bass chased after it. I am sure he/she was just giving advise on how best to throw that pesky hook.
Maybe it works like nature intended, that the weak are culled out by natural selection and the strong survive? Can you imagine introducing a true predator like a bluefish or striped bass or a northern pike via multiple fish passages into the river. Once they exhausted the food supply they would leave and life would continue just less a few brookies, browns and rainbows. Except for those that learn to adapt.
Speaking of adaptation, maybe the bird population ( those pesky fish eating ones of course) need to be culled. Oh, that's right the DEC has decided that swans are a problem, what's next osprey?
Gets you thinking what's really wrong here?
Just an observation made brookies, browns, rainbows and a bass occupying the same pool. Seemed like they all got along just fine. At the C dam I hooked a big bad brown and darn if one of those bully bass chased after it. I am sure he/she was just giving advise on how best to throw that pesky hook.
Maybe it works like nature intended, that the weak are culled out by natural selection and the strong survive? Can you imagine introducing a true predator like a bluefish or striped bass or a northern pike via multiple fish passages into the river. Once they exhausted the food supply they would leave and life would continue just less a few brookies, browns and rainbows. Except for those that learn to adapt.
Speaking of adaptation, maybe the bird population ( those pesky fish eating ones of course) need to be culled. Oh, that's right the DEC has decided that swans are a problem, what's next osprey?
Gets you thinking what's really wrong here?
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Serendipity
Sometimes it's only a word, hotly debated, misused and little understood. Today's word is conservation, used in the context of TU and thrown around by members like a baseball, a weapon or a misguided cause.
Back in the days of TR, Gifford Pinochet and the great leaders of the American Conversation movement of the late 19th and early 20th century, natural resources were being used and abused. Herds of buffalo faced extinction, whole forest of the north east and upper Midwest just disappeared. The abuses lead to the founding of our National Park system and here in NY the constitution amendment that created the forest preserve. It's creation was motivated by the need for a source of clean drinking water for the burgeoning cities of an industrial NYS. Wide spread fires throughout the Adirondacks as a result of logging activities spurred the action.
Preservation, mmm another misunderstood word. Different from conservation? Do you know the difference? It's big and here lies the problem. Most folks think they are similar, but they are like night and day. To preserve is to keep in its original state, to conserve is the planned wise use of a resource. So if your a conservationist fishing the Carmen's River for trout is an okay activity, practicing catch and release is a planned use. If your a preservationist, then fishing would be a no no, stocking of any alien trout would be prohibited. Simple? No!
Here lies the gray area, we like the fish, the fishing but we miss the boat on conservation because we confuse it with preservation. The simple truth is the first time someone decided to dam a river, preservation went out the window. We are in reaction mode. The first attempt to restock " native fish" we missed the boat.
Back to TR, his uncle was one of the founders of the American Museum of Natural History and today one can find TR's collection of birds and mammals he collected. Collected? TR was he a conservationist or a preservationist ? Some food for thought!
Tight lines,
Art Flick
Opinions expressed here are those of the author a long dead , oh never mind
Back in the days of TR, Gifford Pinochet and the great leaders of the American Conversation movement of the late 19th and early 20th century, natural resources were being used and abused. Herds of buffalo faced extinction, whole forest of the north east and upper Midwest just disappeared. The abuses lead to the founding of our National Park system and here in NY the constitution amendment that created the forest preserve. It's creation was motivated by the need for a source of clean drinking water for the burgeoning cities of an industrial NYS. Wide spread fires throughout the Adirondacks as a result of logging activities spurred the action.
Preservation, mmm another misunderstood word. Different from conservation? Do you know the difference? It's big and here lies the problem. Most folks think they are similar, but they are like night and day. To preserve is to keep in its original state, to conserve is the planned wise use of a resource. So if your a conservationist fishing the Carmen's River for trout is an okay activity, practicing catch and release is a planned use. If your a preservationist, then fishing would be a no no, stocking of any alien trout would be prohibited. Simple? No!
Here lies the gray area, we like the fish, the fishing but we miss the boat on conservation because we confuse it with preservation. The simple truth is the first time someone decided to dam a river, preservation went out the window. We are in reaction mode. The first attempt to restock " native fish" we missed the boat.
Back to TR, his uncle was one of the founders of the American Museum of Natural History and today one can find TR's collection of birds and mammals he collected. Collected? TR was he a conservationist or a preservationist ? Some food for thought!
Tight lines,
Art Flick
Opinions expressed here are those of the author a long dead , oh never mind
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Friday, February 14, 2014
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
This Saturday's Fly
We will be tying up variations of the sulphur, from nymph to emerger to spinner. This is a big long hatch on the West Branch, the site of our June chapter trip. If you haven't signed up contact Doug there are still a few open spots.
The sulphur is a pale yellow fly, most nymphs imitate it well. The emergers and nymphs floated just below the film can be deadly. Materials needed are: pheasant tail, yellowish dubbing, partridge, gold wire, tan or cream hackle, dun colored CDC and spade hackle for wings or post on parachute flies. The puff diddie is a spent or still born sulphur, so include some yellow biot and wood duck flank fibers in the mix.
Let's see how many variations we can come up with!
Saturday 9:30-12 noon Patchogue-Medford library Main St. Patchogue
The sulphur is a pale yellow fly, most nymphs imitate it well. The emergers and nymphs floated just below the film can be deadly. Materials needed are: pheasant tail, yellowish dubbing, partridge, gold wire, tan or cream hackle, dun colored CDC and spade hackle for wings or post on parachute flies. The puff diddie is a spent or still born sulphur, so include some yellow biot and wood duck flank fibers in the mix.
Let's see how many variations we can come up with!
Saturday 9:30-12 noon Patchogue-Medford library Main St. Patchogue
Monday, February 10, 2014
Curious George
Just waiting for Doug's Curious George Fly to float by!!
Thursday, February 6, 2014
Tying up a Storm
Or was it that the storm had me all tied up. Sat down at the vise during Mondays snow and whipped up an assortment of soft hackles, bead head nymphs. During Wednesday mess, I had a compulsion for bead head soft hackle pheasant tails. A fly that work well in the riffles on the west branch, the bigger the better! After a brief lunch break, it was time for tiny dries, 22 and 20's in cream. How many days till opening day?
Monday, February 3, 2014
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Dreaming of Spring
Opening day is two long months away, the grand pronouncement from the groundhog is eagerly anticipated. Six more weeks of winter, or will it be seven? Time yet to tie up some more flies, my count so far is around 200+. A fresh box of midge patterns, various nymphs, some dries, CDC patterns and of course various caddis. Somehow I even found and tied up that magic fly, and a bunch of black and brown ants. What have I missed? Klinkhammer, done. Bubblegum, done. Callibaetis spinners, done.
Next weeks flies will be the Shop Vac, materials are basic: turkey feather, pheasant tail, gold wire, brass tungsten bead, peacock herl, white antron, and a curved hook. This is an old favorite for early season trout, fished with or without another nymph as a bottom dragging fish catching machine. The other fly is the March Brown Spider another fish catcher! Materials are simple: tan dubbing, gold wire for a rib, partridge , wet fly hook and orange thread. These two flies fished in tandem is a winning combo.
Fly tying is Saturday 9:30- 12 noon, Patchogue-Medford Library, Main Street, Patchogue. Plenty of parking in back and we are usually in Room E.
Next weeks flies will be the Shop Vac, materials are basic: turkey feather, pheasant tail, gold wire, brass tungsten bead, peacock herl, white antron, and a curved hook. This is an old favorite for early season trout, fished with or without another nymph as a bottom dragging fish catching machine. The other fly is the March Brown Spider another fish catcher! Materials are simple: tan dubbing, gold wire for a rib, partridge , wet fly hook and orange thread. These two flies fished in tandem is a winning combo.
Fly tying is Saturday 9:30- 12 noon, Patchogue-Medford Library, Main Street, Patchogue. Plenty of parking in back and we are usually in Room E.
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