Fishing to nourish the soul…
I was just going through some photos and came upon this one from a trip to the Dream Stream a month or so ago. There was only one other vehicle besides ours in the parking lot, a beat up jeep sporting the coolest dash-board i’ve ever seen. A tying setup AND an R2 unit. Random Jeep owner…you’re my hero.
Best dashboard ever.
If you haven’t tied this standard fly yet, i suggest you check out THIS VIDEO.
However, instead of using the standard colorations, black, green, etc., use the following to offer the fish something they haven’t seen yet.
Hook: Mustad 9672 or similiar
Weight: Medium-gauge wire
Thread: UTC 140 tan
Tail: Maribou brown. The fluffier the better
Body: Chenille tan, medium
Hackle: Rooster saddle, natural barred
Ribbing: Peacock herl
In the stagnant water we have right now i’ve found that a moderate retrieve works best.
Enjoy.
Hand tied, and they worked!
Having watched the flow charts carefully for quite sometime i was prepared for the worst, but it was still amazing to see the small trickle of water moving from pool to pool. Deep pools that were normally my favorite to fish were only a foot or two deep while some areas i’ve fished recently were nothing but sand banks. The largest pools were cloudy from a combination of stagnant water and the Carp stirring up trouble with their bottom feeding habits. After quite a bit of hiking, especially considering it was 101 degrees, i settled on a three foot deep pool with clear visibility. I saw a small Guadalupe in the 12-14″ range and cast my weighted Olive Wooly Bugger with silver ribbing to his left. Two quick strips and the fish was on the hook. I’ve read before that fly tiers never forget the first time a fish took their fly, and now I understand why that is. The magic of taking a bunch of inanimate objects, melding them together into art, throwing them into the water, and having them be perceived as living / breathing things by another living creature is quite powerful stuff.
1st fish caught on my own hand made flies.
When the fish came to hand i was still in such shock that i had a hard time getting the hook removed from the deep set that it had made in the fishes mouth. Weighing the fishes struggle of having a hook in it’s mouth or excessive handling which would further tax an already exhausted fish, i snipped the line and wished the fish luck while thanking it for the fight. So if you see a beautiful fish with a Bugger in it’s mouth, take it easy on him. He’s just a connoisseur of the arts.
Cacti 30 feet up in a dead tree. Only in Texas.
Well it finally happened. Due to the lack of rain around here, and the omnipresent dry creek beds i officially took up fly tying a full 30 years before i thought i would. I have to 
say though that it’s been pretty rewarding so far. It’s something i can do late at night after a glass of wine, while listening to music in my den, that won’t wake my 5 year old. I don’t expect to save any money tying my own flies, but it is nice to know i won’t have to drive a half hour away only to be sacked with astronomical prices for flies, just to have them collected by river bottoms and hungry trees. And really anymore it’s just nice to actually construct something instead of just buying it pre-made.
Anyway, this photo is “Number 17″. I’m happy to say that they are coming along quickly. The Wooly Bugger – Dark Olive – size 8 at least. Probably time to move on to another fly, since i have a fly box full of various variations of these now, some good…some…er…just embarassing.
Maybe once the newness of fly tying wears off i can try to organize my few tying supplies and focus on some quality control. Just to give you some idea of the current situation i’ve included the following photo.
By the way, if you know of any fly tying sites, whether they be instructional or supplies, leave a comment so i can check it out and hopefully share it with others, giving you full credit of course.
“Tight lines and tight threads.”
