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Things are gettin’ a little ansy up this way! The lakes in the North Eastern region of British Columbia are seven to ten days away from being ice-off and it’s really hard reading about all the open water lake choices down in the Southern interior!

This week though I saw my first Robin and the first hint of green is showing down in the Peace Valley. I’ve been hearing geese for a couple of weeks so we’re there….right there! In the mean time I’m going to re-visit an old Kamloops area staple from years ago that might help out in these early days of Chironomiding.

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Well last weekend while the home office was no doubt sniffing out open water and wetting lines, we had a bit of a blizzard to deal with up this way. On the bright side, to get in shape for casting all day I shoveled the driveway …..again!

This time of year one of the ways to take your mind off the obvious is to sit down in front of a vice. When your staring at  a hook in the jaws of your vice you could be at home but you might be by a lake or stream side tying up “the fly” that will take care of business. I finished shoveling and that’s where I headed, to crank out some chironomids!

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The Pheasant Tail Nymph is one of the oldest of modern fly fishing patterns.  Originally designed as a general imitation to many of the thin nymphs that exist in rivers, streams and stillwaters worldwide, it’s success in representing nymphs of the Baetis family allowed it to quickly become world famous.

In this flyguys.net version of the PTN we have added a bead head and a flashback wing case to better represent the ready to emerge mayfly nymph … two modifications that we have noticed to greatly increase our success with the fly! The trout love it and therefore so do we!

… heres how to tie it!

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Many moons ago when I was out tubing in Steward lake I saw my first molting dragonfly nymph. I was just kicking off from shore after a pit stop when my flippers washed up what at first I thought was plastic or foam. Not because it was floating but because of the vivid colour. I flipped it up onto my tube apron and was a little freaked to see it was a dragon nymph. At first I thought it was an albino nymph but actually it was a watery pale minty colour.

It was later that I learned about the instars when the nymphs shed their skins as they grow bigger. It’s at this time, when the nymph has rid itself of the old skin, that it’s a  bright green, growing darker as the new body hardens. The reason you rarely see them like this is they know they scream dinner to any prey in the area so they lie low. With dragons living up to four years before becoming adults they have many instars and don’t ever think that the trout aren’t aware of this!

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“… it has military colours but a little too much bling for a simple enlisted man so I call it … the “Major General!”

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Shrimp are present throughout the entire open water season therefor making them a very important food source for trout.  They are particularily useful in the early spring and late fall when forage for other insects is scarce as the main hatches have either yet to start or have already run their course. Their constant presence also makes them a great searching pattern!

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Tis the season for the big Dragonfly nymphs to start their migration to the shorelines to emerge so … we thought it an appropriate time to share a deadly dragonfly nymph fly pattern that you can use to help imitate this big meal tickets trek in hopes of fooling a few lunker rainbows along the way! (more…)

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July 1 stream fishing time. Still working (27 shifts down 11 to go) Can’t fish but I can still tie. I’m preparing for a twist-off trip up the Alaska Hyw. and into the East Slope Rockies. Been tying some big Double Bunnies and Mice patterns for the Bull Trout and lots of Copper Johns in greens and black for Whitefish, rainbows and Grayling. Now it’s time for some dry’s. Was going to go with my normal Elk Hair Caddis in various colours and sizes and some foam beetles. That was until I came across a hybrid of both and after tying some I’m convinced it will be my go to dry fly. (more…)

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Someone says caddis to me and I think of the various sizes and colours of the ones that come off in the Peace, Pine and Halfway rivers. But that’s only for a second or two as the hard wiring in my brain kicks in, my eyes glaze over, and visions of Traveler Sedges flash on the inside of my eye lids. Yes Traveler Sedge, the Arnold Schwarzenegger of the Caddis family. If you have ever been fortunate to be on a lake when these big boys are coming off you won’t soon forget it!

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OK up next is the “KGB” Leech fly fishing pattern … and this one is quickly becoming one of our favourite leech patterns for both early spring and late fall fly fishing in the BC Interior!

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I’m sure all you still water tiers are busy tying chironomids like me right now as ice off progresses!

Now there are certain things that I think we can agree on that we want to incorporate in our fly. We want segmentation of the body -  usually with a rib material. We want something to represent the white gills and also a red butt seems to induce strikes by fish. The problem is, unless you’re tying some of the big bombers species of the interior, you want all this on sizes #12-#18!

I often struggle to add these features and keep the fly from getting too bulky. This fly is my attempt at “less is more”! I found by (more…)

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Well if you’ve been through our fly patterns & fly tying category you’ve probably picked up on the fact that we prefer and strive to create simple and durable fly patterns. One of the tools that we use to achieve these goals is our home made wire dubbing brush maker!

The wire dubbing brush is a very kewl concept! As the name implies, instead of spinning dubbing between thread, it spins it between wire resulting in a brush of superior strength!

Now why would you want to take the time to build one of these tools when you could just head to the store and purchase one? Well,  no reason really, other than the fact that you’ll spend a whole bunch more money for a product that won’t do anything more for you than a home made version will. But hey money’s not everything so if the DIY idea is not your cup of tea then no worries – a quick Google search reveals that you can get similar units delivered right to your door step from anywhere between $50.00 – $250.00 (plus taxes and shipping of course)!  On the other hand, if you’re the kind of guy that likes the satisfaction of “doing it yourself”, along with saving a bit of money while your at it, then this project is definitively for you!

……. read on to learn how now!

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