Euro Nymphing Sighter
(2 Pack) $4.95
Fly Tying Tips
Fly tying tip: USE COQ DE LEON!!!
This summer is just flying by and we are sorry that we have not updated the blog more. It’s been busy for both Gilbert and I, and any extra time we have we find ourselves on the water. But, the tip for today is all about coq de leon hackle. I had heard quite a bit about other tyers using this material, mainly for tails on nymphs. I decided that I should find some and give it a try.
After some time on the tying table using this coq de leon and giving it a try on the water, both me and Gilbert kept on looking at each other and saying, “wow, the fly still has a tail!!”. It’s easy to tie with and very durable in the water. I have been substituting coq de leon on a lot of my flies, especially my mayfly patterns.
I have had the best success finding coq de leon on the internet. Just make a google search to find it. Some of the places are often times sold out, so look around and find some. You will not be sorry!!!
Derek
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Insect vs. Imitation
Baetis Nymph (Insect) and size 20 Iron Lotus Variation (Imitation)
All too often I find myself making the same mistake over and over again. I, like most, have a handful of reliable patterns that I am very confident in. I use them on most rivers, and more times than not they produce fish like a factory. However, on rivers that are heavily fished it is very important to fish flies that imitate the insects being selected for that day. Realistic patterns that are drab in color often do the best for me in tough situations when fish are being extra picky. I try to tie up, and carry a variety of realistic patterns that can be used in these situations. The available food for trout can change daily, or even hourly. Depending on the weather, time of year, and a thousand other variables, different insects become active at varying times. Stomach pumps and hand seines come in real handy when trying to figure out what the fish are preferring that day. Match things up right and you can expect your success to increase almost immediately.
Common River Routine:
Arrive and fish my confidence patterns. If they are working, great why change a good thing? Fish them until they stop producing.
If fishing is tough, take a seine sample of the river’s insects. Match your imitations to the real insects found. Then, fish hard until the first fish is caught.
Pump the stomach of the first fish and change fly patterns accordingly. Give those flies a valid effort before giving up on them.
Fish until success slows down, then pump another fish’s stomach. Change flies if the preferred food type has changes.
Note: Not every fish needs its stomach pumped. Only steal breakfast from one fish, lunch from another, and dinner from a third. If you can’t figure out how to catch fish by then, go home and build up some brownie points with the wife so you can go back and try again tomorrow.
There are many factors besides having the right fly that determine how many fish you catch. This is simple one more piece to the puzzle! Good luck, and tight lines!
The Tungsten Bead
This is the first of many fly tying and fly fishing tips that we will be sharing. We hope they make your fly fishing experience not only more enjoyable, but also more successful in helping you catch more fish.
Gilbert and I didn’t use tungsten beads when we first started fly fishing. We used either an indicator with split shot, or we used the hopper dropper method of fishing. Tungsten beads were more expensive than brass beads so we opted for the brass to save money. After fishing like this for some time, I was starting to get tired of using split shot. I decided to buy a pack of tungsten beads and when I began fishing with them, I was amazed at how much better my catch rate was. Gilbert was still not convinced that they helped catch more fish until one particular day. I had tied up some pheasant tail nymphs with tungsten beads the night before we were going to fly fish a Utah stream that we love dearly. As the day went on, I was catching more fish than he was. Now, I don’t say this to rub it in or brag about it, but the weight of the tungsten beads got the flies down to the fish at a very quick rate. It seemed like he was constantly putting more split shot on to get down where the fish were. Needless to say, the next day he called me and told me he was on his way to buy some tungsten beads. Whenever we nymph, the flies have tungsten!
A few reasons to tie with tungsten:
1-I read somewhere that tungsten is 19 times the density of water where split shot is only 12 times more dense! Because of this, the flies get down to the bottom of the river quicker than if you were weighted with split shot.
2- There is no need for split shot. I have not touched any split shot since switching to tungsten beads. All you need to do is tie different sizes and weighted flies depending on water depth.
3- My line doesn’t tangle up as much because I eliminate extra hinge points caused by split shot.
Tungsten beads can be expensive, especially in stores. We try to order all of our online to save money. One great place to buy tungsten beads is The Fly Site. Here tungsten beads run between 13 and 16 cents apiece which is half the price you’ll find in fly shops. We love to support our local fly shops as much as possible, but in this case we shop online.
By using tungsten your flies will get down to the fish quicker, and drift more naturally. I’m sure you will find this to be true as I have.
~Derek