got game?

compared to Bruce,
you ain't got shit.



damn.

boxes of bugs....

never really did much
on the yaBe until I got
back into all of this fishin'
stuff....

have always liked the vintage
stuff, picked up another old
box of flies. this one is another
1920's era Wheatley, w/ 'vintage'
flies. It's 16 compartments with
felt in the lid..pretty much all of
the flies were 'meh' and I doubt
I'll use any of them...but the box
is plenty serviceable.


then there's this find that just
arrived today. The Wheatley
32 compartment is often called
the 'Rolls Royce' of fly boxes,
and for good reason.

Have always wanted one, amazing
capacity, great style and they'll last
forever, see the above 80+yr old box.
Picked up these two for a song, less
than retail for a single new one.
Granted, one is missing 2 doors....no biggie.

And the dang thiings were filled
with flies. Filled. And not with
somebody's old junk, packed with
quality flies that I'll actually use.
Well, maybe not all of those marabou
jigs, but the other 150 or so flies will
probably find their way tied to end of
a leader at some point. Got a bit of
sorting and re-reorganizing to do.

I think I actually got a pretty
good deal this time 'round.


But first, I have a wknd date with
some brushes and a roller or two...

bugs

fur, feather and steel.
it's what I use to catch
those beautiful trouts.

there're always conversations
that pop up, 'if you had just
one fly....'

if I had just one fly, it would
be an ant. tied the standard
way, two lumps of dubbed fur
with a hackle 'round the waist.


black is the standard, but
I was having a lot of success
with an orange and grizzly
variation late in the summer.
ants are everywhere, and the
trouts know it. present 'em
on top, or drown 'em down
underneath. very versatile and
they work everywhere from
the Letort to trickling mtn brooks.


of course, until it warms up
and the ants become active,
I have a couple other favorites....

fishing underneath is never
my preference, but sometimes
it's the only game going. for
those times I've had the most
success with a simple shrimpy
scud pattern. dubb it, wrap it
w/ some fine copper and pick
it out to make it look buggy.
fooled plenty of Letort browns
with this little fly...


I don't fish many nymphs in
the mtns, when I do, it's
usually a generic buggy
pattern like a Hare's ear
or a Prince. Want to try out
some soft hackles this year,
so I tied up a handful of these
a week or so ago, gonna do
more in a darker color scheme.....


And thinking towards that
week i'm planning for chasing
hatches in late May, this was the
best sulphur pattern I used last
year. I have a box filled with all
kinds of sulphur patterns, cut
wings, parachutes, extended
bodies, classic Catskills and this
simple thing worked the best for
me last year, go figure. need to tie
up a bunch more of these too.


so those are what I found
to work the best for me last
year. if only it was that simple,
right? Variety is the spice, and
it's good to have choices....cuz
you just never know what you'll
find out along the stream. These
are my two take anywhere boxes,
one for the spring creeks, one for
the hemlock brookies.


Those trouts sure can be a
finicky bunch, back to the vise.

just around the bend..

Wellllll, looking at forecasts
along with the calender...sensing
the vibe that Winter might be
wrapping up pretty directly. A
shift in the pattern is coming,
a lasting shot of warm air is on
the way and we'll be into March
soon enough.

I guess that's good and bad,
depending on whether or not
you managed to top off your
powder fix for the year...I think
I have. Definitely keeping an
eye open for one last shot of
March snow...but the 40deg
sunshine on Sunday found me
cruising over to a local trout
stream instead of the lift
serve circus.

I imagine there was spring snow
to play on, but I had a new rod
that needed to be fished and
some freshly tied patterns to
try out. Missed a few hookups,
then found a pod of brookies to
harass. Can't think of a better
way to break in a new rod, nice
way to start the new season...

Man I love those colors, my favorite fish.

four oh.

I'm forty, and have just
started to purposely
huck off of shit on skis
in the past year.

My form sux, but
gotta start some
where's.

Wheeeeee!


thnx for the pic Abe.