Competition - Part 1

I just returned home from the first annual Spring Fly Fishing Competition run by the Sotto Fly Fishing Club and sponsored by Angling Sports (London,Ontario). Thirty people made the trip out to the event to compete and everyone had their game faces on. Every skill level was represented at the tournament from beginner to advanced but I personally felt the field was very tough as many great anglers were present for the competition.

I felt that I got stuck in some tough spots for two of my sessions, the first session in Section A1 which was at the far end of the pond with very shallow water, and the last session in C5 which was across the water from A1 again at the end of the pond. I managed to keep calm and focus on each session individually and when push came to shove I was able to finish 3rd out of 30 guys which I believe is a fantastic finish for my first time every competing in a fly fishing event.

I plan to have a few posts in the coming days going into a lot more detail on the competition and how I fished it, how I caught fish, where I caught fish and what I was thinking along the way. For now I will be cleaning the mud from my rods, reels, drying out fly boxes, and basking in the glow of a great day spent on the water with friends.

Cheers!

Radio Silence

I have been slacking a little bit over the last week in regards to posting new content due to the fact that I am preparing for the upcoming Fly Fishing Competition. Im making a list, checking it twice, sharpening hooks, making sure gear is setup, practicing my knots and my ability to tye on flies quickly and efficiently...lots of preparation.

In all honesty the competition creeped up on me a little bit as when I first signed up it was almost a month away. I figured I had lots of time to prepare and get everything in order and here we are only two days away and I am in a mad rush to be ready.

I plan to have a write up on the competition after the fact, my plans, ideas, tactics, thoughts and how it all came together. I want to leave these articles until after the competition so as not to give away any of my thoughts and plans to fellow competitors.

I am hoping to have a good day on the water and finish up the day high on the scoring list, wish me luck!

Tight Lines!

Northern Fur - A Review

With this post I wanted to shine a light on a great company that I have been dealing with for over a year now and help get all you Canadian fly tying junkies into some great quality and priced furs.

I first contacted Bill from Northern Furs while looking for a red fox pelt in order to tie up some foxee clousers. After ripping through a few small patches from the fly shop while tying this fly I realized that a pelt would be a much more economical option and would allow me to tie a lot more flies for a whole lot cheaper. From the start Bill has always been very quick to respond to my emails, has given me great customer service and is always willing to answer questions and try to get me what I need for my next batch of flies.

On the main website you will find tons of beautiful pelts, mounts, wall hangings and other fur products. Most of the items on the website are grade A quality and are not priced or meant for fly tying, but that is were the personal touch of Northern Furs comes in to play. I would recommend contacting Bill through email or phone and asking for fly tying or craft grade pelts, tails or furs. Often he has many items that are not listed on the website and often will work out deals with you for exactly what you are looking for.

 Since my first transaction with Bill I have padded my fur collection with  a coyote pelt, red fox, arctic fox, Australian opossum, skunk and many other types of animal. Even Bill's "Craft Grade" fur is amazing quality, usually the characteristics that put the furs into this quality is a small section that has been cut out due to mange or damage to the pelt. I highly recommend using Bill for all of your fly tying fur needs, he is pleasant, quick to respond back to emails and messages and a pleasure to work with.


Here are some photos of the high quality fur offered by Northern Fur out of Iron Bridge Ontario. Keep in mind most of these pelts have been picked at by me for tying and dying, we have in order of appearance Red Fox, Coyote, Arctic Fox, Australian Opossum and Mink.

Hammer Creek's Rubber Leg Copper John II

When tying flies I have always seemed to have had a few patterns that I just HATE tying. It might be because I have problems or issues with certain materials or techniques, because I do not like to look or style of the fly,  or sometimes I have no reason at all. Copper Johns have been on that list for a long time. I always have had issues with getting biots to sit the way that I like and have a hard time wrapping my head around the benefits of a biot versus say hen or dry fly hackle or something that moves in the water with the different currents. Also getting a nice clean head with beads, shell cases, flash and all of those things going on at the same time near the head of the fly has given me problems in the past but as I have grown as a tyer things have started to get easier.

For whatever reason the second that I saw the video of the Rubber Leg Copper John II tied by Hammer Creek Fly Fishing I was captivated and knew that I needed a few dozen for my box. The only substitution that I have made with the pattern is changing from a biot tail to some speckled hen because I simply believe that motion is always better then a stiff biot.

I tied up 2 dozen of this pattern to get a feel for it, starting with size 10 and working down to size 16. I cannot wait to get out and try this pattern once trout has opened here in Ontario and have a feeling that it will be deadly effective for not only trout but pan fish and other species as well.

  

Please check out Hammer Creeks website and here is the tying video for this pattern

New Addition To The Family

Recently I have been in the market for a new fly rod and reel in the 6 wt range to cover pond/lake fishing, bass, carp and streamer fishing for trout. When I am looking at buying or upgrading a rod I am always interested in having it cover more then one need, and I figured a good 6wt rod and reel would allow me to cover a wide range of techniques and situations. The main reason for my interest in a rod in this range is due to the upcoming first annual Angling Sports Spring Fly Fishing Competition being organized and run by the Sotto Fly Fishing Club, but with that said I think the versatility of this setup will bring me lots of use outside of competitions.




Reel - Greys GX500

With this rod/reel having the main focus on still water fishing I knew that I would want a system or reel that would allow me to quickly change lines and be ready to fish. Being able to buy additional spools for a fly reel is handy, but often times the spools cost as much as 1/2 to 2/3rds the cost of the reel itself, so with a nice reel in the $200-400 range this can add up really quick.

I have often heard about cartridge or cassette reels and started doing some research into them. I ended up looking at and really liking the Greys Gx500 6/7/8 and purchased it from money that I put aside from selling flies and gear that I did not use. The Greys GX500 is a cartridge reel that comes with the reel housing and three spare cartridges as well as a reel case to carry everything safely. A cool feature of the Greys cartridge reel is the ability to quickly label and identify fly lines that are on the spool. It comes with 15 red little plastic circles that clip into the spool allowing you to designate the weight of the line and its characteristics I.E intermediate, hover, floating, full sink etc. I figured to cover the whole range I would need a full floating line, intermediate line and a full sink. Spare cartridges for the Greys GX500 seem to be in the $9-14 price range making it more then affordable to have a wide range of lines rigged and ready to go for every situation.

Cartridge 1: Air Cel Trout 6wt Floating (Scientific Angler) 
The SA Air Cel floating lines are on the cheaper side of fly lines, I believe that I picked mine up for around $29 or so. I have used very similar lines and have always opted for cheaper price points on floating lines for trout/panfish setups. I have only gotten a chance to use this line on the grass as of right now because most ponds and lakes are still frozen over hard and from what I can tell it performs very similar to other WF floating lines I have used. Nothing special but a crucial part of any kit.


Cartridge 2:  Rio Lake 6wt Hover (Rio)
The price point of the Rio Lake fly lines is around $75-80. For me this is a lot to spend on a fly line but I do realize that sometimes you get what you pay for. Luckily for me I picked this fly line up brand new in the sale bin at Angling Sports (London, Ontario) for $39. The specs on the line indicate that it sinks at 1 inch per second and is meant for fishing within the first 6 feet of lakes or ponds so its intended for shallower waters. I figured that this line would be great for fishing wet flies, nymphs and soft hackles in shallower waters, it sinks about half as fast as most intermediate lines. I have only tested this line out on the grass casting but it performs well, I am curious to see how it reacts in the water when being fished.


Cartridge 3: InTouch Deep 3 6wt Full Sink (Rio)
Yet again another pricier fly line, MSRP sits at $79. I lucked out and was able to buy this line from a friend at more then half off the retail price. The specs indicate that this line sinks at a rate of 3-4ips and is a full sinking line. The head on this line rates at 210 grains so should be a cannon and easy to cast in lake and pond situations. Casting this line on the grass I have found it nice and smooth with good weight behind the head, fits well with the rod I have matched it with. I cannot wait to use this out on the water and get a reel for its applications in stillwater fishing.



Rod - Redington Voyant 9'6 6wt

When looking for a rod I was looking at many different manufacturers and styles. I had looked at the St.Croix Imperial rods, TFO BVK, and a few other rods in the $200-350 range and even considered having Midwest Custom Fly Rod make me a rod. At this time I saw that a friend was looking to sell a brand new Redington Voyant 9'6 6wt rod at almost half the MRSP. I do own another Redington rod, that being a 9'6 8wt Pursuit that I purchased for salmon fishing so I have an idea of the quality that they bring to the table. I figured that the 9'6 rod would give me a little more reach and make roll casting from shore a lot easier when fishing still water so I figured it would be a good match. I have taken it out for a spin on the grass and really liked the feel and smoothness of this rod. In matching it with the reel I found that the balance point is slightly above the cork handle causing the rod to be a bit heavy in the tip, but this is something I have encountered in the past with other light reels and longer rods and it does not seem to have effected my casting stroke or ability to cast a rod. I cannot wait to get it out on the water to test more thoroughly, I think it will be a great addition to my collection and will cover a wide range of situations and provide me with years of use.

More Bang For Your Buck

The idea for this post came after a few friends of mine asked how the hell I consistently seem to fall into amazing deals and prices for all sorts of different fly tying materials. I have listed here some tips, pointers and advice for getting more bang out of your fly tying buck. As we all know materials can get pricey and add up really quick, hopefully this post will help everyone get more out of a dollar and get into some good deals.

Buy In Bulk - Instead of buying small individual patches of fur at $3-7 for 1X1" squares spend the extra money and purchase a whole pelt. Check ebay for pelts but keep in mind the legalities of shipping furs across boarders. Buying pelts from within your own country is usually the best bet. Another gold mine is antique stores that often have old fox/mink etc coats for dirt cheap. There is a difference between garment furs and tanned or preserved pelts but if you can grab a garment for a few dollars you really cannot go wrong. Over the last two years I have picked up all sorts of pelts, from red fox, coyote and opossum to skunk, mink and arctic fox and have more fur then I could ever use within a life time. I often gift patches to friends, those new to the sport and people I meet who are as fanatical about tying as myself. If I purchased the square footage of fur from a fly shop that resides in my collection I would have spent thousands of dollars, so far my pelt collect has cost me only a few hundred dollars.

Other items such as brass and tungsten beads, dumb bell eyes and hooks can also save you money when purchased in bulk. You may not have a need for 1000 dry fly hooks, but by splitting that order with a friend or two you all can save money and get stocked up and ready to tye.

Do Your Homework - Before making any big ticket purchases be it gear or expensive fly tying materials be sure to do your research. Shop around, get prices from a few shops locally, a few shops nearby, and even shops that sell online. Many times I have been able to purchase the exact same goods for $30-50 cheaper by doing a bit of research. A plus to this is you start to network and have the chance to find a company or shop that will treat you well and take care of you. I order frequently from a Canadian company outside of Ontario that will hand pick materials for me to what size or type of fly I am tying. They offer me free shipping and will give me a money back guarantee if I find that any of the materials or items are not up to my standards or wants. This connection would not have been discovered if it was not for networking and doing my homework.

E-Bay - Buying fly tying materials on ebay can be really hit and miss but there are many good deals to be had if you are able to wade through the nonsense. For example some items such as krystal flash are usually purchased in bulk by fly shops or material companies from places like China for dirt cheap. With a little searching you can often find 15-20 hanks of krystal flash in assorted colors for $10-15 with free or cheap shipping on ebay. Consider the cost of the same materials at most fly shops and you can see the savings. That being said the color selection is a bit limited but it is a great way to pad your flash collection. For things along the lines of dry fly hackle specifically be sure to know what you are buying, look at the sellers ratings, ask questions etc. Hooks are another thing that can be hit and miss, some people re-package cheap flimsy hooks and sell them at a dirty cheap price, ebay can be a mixed bag.

I have scored all sorts of great deals on materials from ebay and have yet to be ripped off or cheated, but buyer beware and if you are thinking of ordering expensive items that need to be high quality it may be a good idea to purchase it locally and support the fly shops and see and know exactly what you are buying.

Safe Bets: Krystal flash, synthetic fibers, dubbing, 3d eyes, fly boxes, dumbbell eyes, beads, thread

Iffy Territory: Dry fly capes and saddles, Exotic Feathers, Furs*, Large amounts of materials, Hooks


*Fur is an iffy territory when it comes to crossing boarders. Getting caught importing or exporting furs from between Canada and the U.S for example without proper paperwork can get you in big trouble, even if its for common pelts such as fox or coyote. Be aware of the laws before accidentally breaking them, just because someone will ship you an item does not mean it is necessarily legal to posses.

Purchase With Friends - The buying power from going in on items with a few friends is priceless. Many times I have purchased large quantities of materials or hooks to get discounts and then shared the costs associated with the order and shipping with friends. This works well for pelts and furs as well, a Red fox pelt for example can be had for $40-75 depending upon quality and your location. Cut the pelt into three sections trying to share the areas with longer choicer fur and you have more then enough fur for the recreational tyer at a cost of $12-20 or so dollars each.

Be A Loyal Customer - Often times when buying gear, rods, reels, materials, hooks, etc from the same fly shop or fishing store the owner starts to lick their lips when they see you walk in the store. After a while of purchasing goods do not be afraid to start asking for deals, you will find lots of stores will be willing to wave the tax, throw in freebies, or otherwise treat you well to keep you coming back as a loyal customer.

Wait For Deals - I order through many companies locally and online and often times they will run promotions, deals or sales. When a deal comes along that allows you to replenish stock in hooks, beads, or other items at a fraction of the price it is not a bad idea to take advantage of the situation. Getting a few friends involved as mentioned earlier can help cushion the cost of larger orders as well. For example I know of a company that offers quality hooks at a reasonable price, but a few times a year they have 50% off sales on all hooks and they go from $3-4 per pack of 25 down to $1 and change. When this happens it is common for me to look through my stash of hooks and order in a few thousands to fill in the blanks or restock the styles that I use a lot.

Keep An Eye Out - Always be sure to keep an eye out for auctions, estate sales, yard sales and classified adds either in papers or online. Usually when people are selling large amounts of fly tying materials or supplies through these avenues they are either trying to get rid of the things and will price them at a steal, or may not necessarily know what they are worth and will often times be giving it away. When I first got into fly fishing and tying I purchased a box stuffed with stuff from a gentleman leaving the sport. He charged me $200 for everything, rod and reel, materials, vises, tools, magazines, dvds, vests, nets, fly fishing toys and trinkets and the list goes on. After setting aside everything I wanted to keep and selling the rest I made back $400 cash and still had all sorts of goodies for myself. This is a great way to get things cheaply, and even generate money for that next rod/reel or other big ticket item purchase.


These are just a few quick tips to get you started. I would be interested to hear if any of you guys following this blog have your own tips, tricks or advice for making your fly tying dollar stretch further.

Cheers!

SBS - Bead Head Pheasant Tail Soft Hackle

 

Materials

 Hook: Allen W502 Wet Fly Hook #12

Bead: Canadian Llama Brass Bead (Copper) 7/64th

Rib: Copper wire

Tail/Body: Pheasant Tail Fibers

Hackle: Metz Grizzly Hen

 *Materials Note: This pattern is very versatile and is more a style of tying then an actual pattern. Feel free to experiment with hook styles and sizes, beads and materials.

Step 1 - Place your bead on the hook small hole first and secure firmly in your vise. 

Step 2 - Start your thread behind the bead and wrap back to behind the hooks barb careful not to nick your thread on the hook point. 

Step 3 -  Measure out your pheasant tail fibers for the length of your tail and tie in. I like to tie the tail in and then bring the thread forward slightly and fold the remaining fibers back and make a few securing wraps as shown in the picture below.

Step 4 - Attach some copper wire starting behind the bead and secure back to the tail. Bring your tying thread back to behind the bead.

Step 5 - Wrap the butt ends of the pheasant tail fibers forward in touching wraps. Stop slightly behind the bead and secure with a few wraps of thread. Clip the excess fibers off as close as possible as you will want room for the bead to slip back and butt up against the end of the body.

Step 6 - Counter rib the pheasant tail with your copper wire. Give a few tight wraps of thread once you have reached the end of the body and then helicopter the wire off. In this photo you can see it did not break off cleanly, likely due to loose thread wraps. I went in and clipped the tip of the wire off with some old scissors.

Step 7 - Whip finish behind the body and apply a drop of head cement or crazy glue. At this point push the bead back over your whip finish and up tight against the pheasant tail body.

Step 8 -  Reattach your thread in front of the bead. At this point you can add a hot spot if you like by using a brightly colored thread such as chartreuse or florescent orange.

Step 9 - Select an appropriately sized grizzly hen hackle (or other hen/soft hackle feather) and strip the webby fibers from the base. Pull back 1-2cm of fibers and tie in and cut off the excess. At this point pull the feather up by the stem and brush the fibers backwards so they are all facing towards the tail of the fly. Take one or two wraps depending upon how sparse or thick you want your hackle to be and then tie off at the head. Carefully snip off the stem as close as possible, whip finish and apply a drop of head cement for added durability.

The Finished Fly

As mentioned in the notes this fly is more of a style then a pattern and offers many different options when tying. You can change the look of the fly easily be adjusting the style of hook that you are using, the type of bead, hackle feather and thread. Below is a variation of the pattern tied on curved nymph hooks, with a brass bead, different color hen hackle fibers and a red hot spot on the head. Do not be afraid to experiment with different materials for the body as well, this pattern opens itself up well to experimentation. You can use these variable to match the local hatches, create an attractor pattern or a new hot fly that will take your rivers by storm.