Fill A Box Contest!

Its been awhile, but it's finally time to have another contest! For all you fly tiers out there, this is a great contest to practice on. Get going on some of your favorite flies, and fill up a box with sweet patterns. Once you're finished, post a picture of it on your blog or shoot me an email. We'll put up a poll and let the crazy internet people decide who tied the coolest box. And the winner? His (or her) choice of a dozen flies for whatever you fish for, or "Tight Lines; Ten Years of the Yale Anglers' Journal". So what are you waiting for? Start tying some flies!

Rules:
Since some people take longer than others to tie, you can enter your box anytime before June 30th. After that, we'll start the voting. Please title your entry as something along the lines of "Fill A Box Contest Entry". The winner will need to email their address for shipping.

End of School Fish-A-Thon; Day Three

After another great day at the shop helping customers, I just had to push my luck. Had to work every drop of awesome into my day. Also, had to test out a new reel. As I pulled up to the spot, things were looking good. My first four casts yielded follows or strikes. After that, not much action. I moved over, saw a BIG shadow, and sent a yummy little morsel his way. Boy, did he pounce on that fly hard. And after quite a battle, and the first 20 yards of my backing touching water, I managed to land the fish.

Now, seeing your backing sounds like fun. Let me tell you, it is scary as well. Any fish that is taking you over 100 feet away is not your Average Joe. If the fish makes a turn at 100+ feet away, it can put a belly in your line. That belly is slack line, so the fish has wiggle room to escape with. All I'm trying to say is, next time you see that White Dacron, keep tight on whatever is out on the business end of your line. Good luck out there!

Big Week

Wow, what a past couple weeks. First up on the list was to finish off school. I had a few big tests and projects, but managed to end well and keeps my grades up. Graduation day came quickly, and after an hour of getting talked about by teachers, we were let out. Naturally, the first thing I did was string up a rod. Along with my rod, I grabbed a black bag containing my new camera. Man, nothing makes you feel like a photographer than a new, big, heavy camera. But as many of you know, I've been hoping for a nice camera for awhile now, and my Dad let me buy his from him. My day on the water went a little like this: 85% fish, 15% me and 0% camera. I got nine eats from carp, hooked 3, landed one, and took pictures of none. Today, I headed back out around 4:30 (after working at the shop all day). Today went much better for me and the camera! Take a look, and be sure to check out the cool looking mirror carp.

Walk Softly, And Carry A Big Net

What You Feel Like With An Undersized Net

Now, those little nets you see people carrying in LL Bean magazines are great... for getting stuck on trees and throwing away. So once you're ready to man (or woman) up and buy a real net, go for it. Let me elaborate.

Any fish that is small enough to fit in a cute little net really doesn't need a net. But when you do catch a big fish, that little net on your back probably won't be sufficient. I remember trying to net a fish for a guy out on the Dream Stream last Fall. He wanted me to use his net, so I reluctantly picked up the tiny piece of wood that I would call a twig. As I tried to net his fish, I realized that it wasn't really going to work. The fish's girth was pretty big, and wasn't going to fit inside the 6 inch wide net. We caught the fish, using my bigger net.

So next time you are about to buy that new Wachter "Stream" 7 by 12 inch net, spend the extra 40 bucks and grab a "C&R Magnum Boat" 23 by 15 inch net instead. When you hook that fish of a lifetime and lose it because you don't have that extra reach and bigger bag, you won't be able to console yourself by saying, "At least I saved 40 bucks on my net".

My Nets. Use 32 Inch Bat For Comparison

Enrico Puglisi Flies, Step By Step

Enrico Puglisi Flies

As promised, here is a step-by-step on tying flies with Enrico Puglisi flies. I decided to do something a little more complicated for the demo, but feel free (I recommend) to use only one or two colors at first. Good luck!

Step 1: Get your hook set up on the vise, and start a thread base about halfway down the hook shank. If you go to far back, you may end up with too much material and too beefy of a fly. Setup Tip- it will help to have a waste basket below you so you can sweep away any excess materials.


Step 2: Cut a 5 inch strand of your top color, containing about 20 individual fibers. tie in the clump at the halfway point, so one end points back and the others points towards the eye of the hook. Next, pull the front half of the fibers over and tie them down. This technique will use less material and create a taller shape.

Step 3: Tie in your next color the same way, but make sure this clump is closer to the side of the hook shank (rather than on top). Rather than tying the front half of your materials on the same side, pull them around the hook and tie them on the other side. This will create a more even color pattern. Continue moving forward and tying clumps in until you have: A-Created the color pattern you were looking for, and B-You hit the eye of the hook (or close to it).

Step 4: Whip finish the fly and cut the thread. Take the fly out of the vise and grab some scissors, because this is the step that will make or break your fly. Once you're all set, take the fly and fluff it as much as you can. This is what the fish will see when the fly swims through the water. Take your scissors, and start from the back by cutting at angles until it looks like,well, a fish. The real trick here is not to cut too much. If you do, you end up with a ball of fibers that doesn't have much action and looks too small in the water. If you messed up, you're back at step one; if you're still here, let's move on to the next step.

Step 5: If you have a small  cautery /welding tool hidden in the garage, now would be the time to grab it. What you're trying to do here is create a small hole in the fibers where you want the eyes to be. Once you've got that done, use some epoxy to glue in some eyes. Voila! The finished fly... well, maybe.

Step 6: This last step is totally optional. If you want your fly to have lines, spots, or any special markings, just take a sharpie and add them in. This seems like a small step, but it can be the difference between a good looking fly and a great looking fly.

Time is Almost Up!

There are just a few spots left for the last Sylvan Dale trip of this Spring! The date is set for June 2nd, and the fishing should be great. Late spring is the one of best times of year to fish for big post-spawn rainbows and throw dries in the cooler parts of the day. If you are a streamer guy, this will be one of the best trips of your season. The takes are hard, sudden, and super aggressive. The biggest fish in there eat the biggest streamers, so pick up a few (or tie your own) and swim them deep. Whether your passion is dries, nymph rigs, streamers, float tubes, or even bass, you're almost sure to have a great time at this trip. So call Rocky Mountain Anglers soon, and reserve your spot before they're all gone!

Well? Any takers?

Tying With Enrico Puglisi Fibers

Tomorrow or the next day I'm hoping to do a little demo on how to tie Enrico Puglisi style flies. I've just learned how to tie these myself, so they look nowhere near as good as his do, but they're still nice. On a quick test today at a nearby pond, I managed to land four bass in around an hour on these flies. For a place that doesn't have too many fish in it, I consider that pretty good. Whether you have never tied these before, just want a refresher, or are coming to make you feel better about your own flies by watching mine, it should be a cool experiment. Here's what you'll need (it's a pretty short list):

• Enrico Puglisi Fibers (I use EP 3D Silky Fibers). These are available at most fly shops, including Rocky Mountain Anglers for those of you who live near Boulder.
• Your favorite bass or saltwater hook, and just size it depending on what you're fishing for.
• Stick-On or Epoxy Eyes, sized to match the overall size you're hoping for the fly to be. 
• Obviously, all your tools and your vise. Oh, and if you are or live with a doctor, try to find a cauterizing pen. It can help to keep the eyes in place. 

The last instruction I have is this: these flies are expensive. These are high quality materials, so they get pricy. Just fish these things on some heavy tippet (I like 0x Seaguar Fluorocarbon).


Disclaimer: I am not paid or compensated in any way by Enrico Puglisi for doing this demo. Merely, I am using his amazing materials to create some cool creations and hopefully teach a few tricks. Also, acknowledge that Enrico is much better at tying these flies than me, and that anything I do incorrectly is just a mistake, not me contradicting his tricks. So far, everything I've learned from his website has made my flies better. I urge you to watch his videos and take whatever tips you can from them to put into your own tying.

One Of My Creations

Frying Pan Fiasco

Friday, 2:00 p.m.: We've finished packing, and now it's time to head out. This ride will take us four hours away, to the Frying Pan river in Basalt. I have a couple rods, lots of weight, and tons of flies, along with some other stuff.

8:00 p.m.: After dinner and a few bathroom breaks, we're at the infamous Toilet Bowl. To my great surprise, I'm the only one there. The weather is freezing, the wind is howling, and I have the headache to end all headaches. However, I'm on a mission. I need to catch a fish before the night is over. Luckily, my quest doesn't take long, because I catch a nice brown on my tenth cast. I keep fishing, catch a few more small(er) fish, and head to the Green Drake hotel.

Saturday Morning: I wake up bright and early at 4:30 am. getting my gear on takes about five minutes, and then we head out. When we arrive 15 minutes later, my early start seems to have paid off. I hop in the river with my glow in the dark Thingamabobber, and try to catch some pigs. I catch a few, but decide not to take pictures because the temps are in the single digits. at around nine o'clock, I meet Pete and Cale. Cale is out with his father, picking up trash along the river. Upon talking to him some more, I learn that Cale is quite the celebrity, and has been recognized by all sorts of people for his trash clean-up work. Nice work buddy, keep it up. Oh, and did I mention Cale is only like 9?!

Weird Expression

Saturday Afternoon: Next, I meet Phillip. He is one year older than me, and equally into fly fishing (something very hard to find these days). We get to talking, and spend the rest of the day hammering fish together. It's also a big help to have someone net your fish, and he was great at aiding me when I had a big fish. Here are a few photos from our adventure:

Phillip and I Double Up

"Average" Bow

Saturday Night: I get a text from Phillip while I am at dinner saying that he convinced his mom to let him stay the night, and that he will see me again tomorrow. Far those of you who are a little old for texting, it's like the new version of the Pony Express. For those of you who are a little old for the Pony Express, it's like the new version of dropping a cave painting off your velociraptor into your neighbor's cave. I hop back in the car after dinner and head back up, ready to take another shot at night fishing the Pan.

The fishing is the best I've seen it so far, and I hammer six big rainbows on my first seven casts. I fish until it's pitch black, then wade back across the river. I manage to survive that trip, but fall in two times and get soaked to the bone.

Sunday Morning: I get up around the same time, get dressed in my now wet waders, and head back to the Pan for on last day of fishing. It isn't long after the light comes up that I see Phillip pull in, and not long after that we both start catching fish. We call it quits around noon, promising to hand out again soon and get back on the water. Check out some more photos and a very short video below:

Some Sort Of Disease??

Nice Brown

The Pan

Ah, the Memories

If you were to take a look at my computer, you would notice there are tons of random files filled with random folders filled with random pictures. Frankly, it looks awful. So the past few days I've been working on naming and transferring my 3,000 photos to iPhoto. It's not done yet but it's definitely getting closer. The folder I have so far include the Dream Stream, the Blue, Pella Crossing, and one big file with all my panfish. There are way too many too name but those are just a few. As I go through all my photos, it's brings back some great memories. My first trout on the fly, my first experience with nice sized trout, and some of my favorite kids from camp (they were all great). So as I keep working through my pictures, I'll put a few up with some stories. For now, here's a few that I've found so far:

First Colorado Float Trip

One of my First Trout on the Fly

First Nice Sized Trout

A Word About Summer

Most of you know that my Summer is filled with Kid's Camps. I teach them for about 7 weeks out of the Summer, 4 days a week. The other days, I'm either working in the shop or fishing myself. What most of you don't know, although I'm sure you could've ventured a guess, is that I used to be a camper myself. I have been on both ends of multiple camps around Boulder, and I can tell you without a doubt that the Rocky Mountain Anglers Kid's Camps are bar-none. You learn about bug life, the science behind the fishing, but more importantly, spend way more time on the water than with other camps. I have seen kids go from not knowing what a fly was to pulling out a rainbow trout the size of their arm in just a few days. Learning the basics is key to success further on, and that's what our beginner camps teach. For kids who have some experience with the sport, our advanced camps offer a more intense program including a fun over-nighter in Rocky Mountain National Park. Classes are filling up fast, but there are still a few spots left in each camp. Far dates, prices, and any other questions you may have, check out the Rocky Mountain Anglers website at here.