Micro-Patterns

Really, I have to stop flirting with these little things and strike up
a serious relationship. The usual rituals have been performed, bought
the books, the hooks, tied up tricos and nits, knotted ridiculous
lengths of 7X, but after a date or two, the infatuation dies and the
dalliance ends. There's not a shred of doubt in my mind that late
season fishing on flat water, over fish that have been on the end of a
four month pounding, requires some serious talent with the little ones
but the commitment has been weak.

The season is virtually over and I'll not pass this way again until
next September but I thought a rehash would later stand me in good
stead when the snow is blowing, the fireplace is lit, the scotch has
followed its usual warming path and it's time to tie the little ones.
Last week, we had a few trico spinners, some little yellow quill, plus
the odd, small caddis - nothing over much #20 (except for the one or
two caddis). After Isabelle Light sprinkled the area, I had gone
fishing hoping for high, off-colour water so I was equipped with my
short, 5 wt. Winston and not much in the way of leader material (not
much is necessary for streamers). So when the water was found to be
running clear and the fish were rising steadily for the little guys, I
knew I was in doo-doo. Despite the fumbling and bumbling, I did
manage a 10 incher on one of Willi's caddis emergers.

It was obvious from watching one of Grindstone's guides do a little
"field research" that a long rod, short line, and long, fine leader
was the way to go. Rob fished across stream and a little down as an
upstream presentation rarely got a good look. It's over if the fish
see the leader. Very little, if any fly line touched the water as Rob
managed a drag free drift over the rising fish. Given the wind and
the long, fine leaders, accuracy was impossible so it took many casts
to get that one good drift across the window. These fish were
originally stockers, but there was no puppychow instincts left in them
now as they would time-and-again turn their little fishy noses up at
anything that wasn't perfect in presentation. With monotonous
regularity, I'd watch one rise up, examine the fly for a moment, the
flip over and head down. On a couple of occasions, the little 10"
browns even seemed to spit water onto my trico spinner in finny
disdain.

I have never been much of a dead-drift, emerger angler as I had little
faith I could detect the strike, but here I was with an itty-bitty
caddis on the end of an abortion of a 10' leader, casting out in a
bitchy wind, with too short a rod, with too much line in the water to
get a good drift for very long, so don't I actually see the swirl and
hook the little bugger. A thought crosses my mind that I could
actually get to like this. (Note to self: Remember to book an
afternoon with a therapist over this emerging masochistic streak).

Now to the serious business; the gear. About eight years ago on the
Bow, I bumped into a fellow Hamilton club angler who was nymphing the
bankside runs using a 10' Loomis 3 wt. I thought it was a very odd
stick indeed, yet watching James vacuum up fish after fish left me
intrigued. Now, it seems to be the perfect stick for the job. I do
have a 10'6" 4 wt. but it seems very beefy for such delicate work. I
suppose I'll have to make do - such is life. Lines are almost
irrelevant, though given the tough winds we often face on the Grand, a
bassbug 6 wt. on the end of the 4 wt. rod would probably give me the
windy day turnover I need. I'd probably have to add the 7 X tippet to
3 X leaders or the fly won't be going far. When things aren't so
gusty, any old 4 wt. line would probably do as it's the least
important of the kit. Tippet would probably have to be 7X FC (one guy
was using 8X FC and downstream-only presentations) as the term
"leader-shy' doesn't do it justice by half.

The little yellow quill appears to be a really overlooked fly as there
were a fair number of crippled duns on the surface and the fish
appeared to be working an emerging hatch regularly. Duns riding on
top weren't visible and no fish were taking on top except for the odd
sip. I later read that these little yellow quill hatch so fast that
the fish ignore the duns completely. It's obvious now that the fish
were taking the little YQ emergers as they rose to hatch with perhaps
the odd sip of a cripple. Willi's little caddis emerger was probably
taken for one of the YQ emergers as I believe that the size and colour
were about right for the nymph.

The presentation consisted of getting close to a working fish (off to
one side and slightly upstream) then casting a few feet above the
fish. The rod was held more or less parallel to the water with
virtually no line of the water. Small corrections are made to the
downstream drift to keep everything absolutely drag free. The fly
should be just a few inches below the surface - a dry fly hook on FC
should get the perfect depth. I wouldn't add any floatant except
perhaps to grease some of the leader if the fly was getting down too
much. If the size and colour are right, the drift drag free, and at
the right depth, then I might have a chance.

If an insane torrent of babble invades your screen, vomited from the
icy bowels of a bitter January night, you'll know that tying these
little buggers has finally driven me mad (cue Freddie).




Peter

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Eastern Spey Clave, October 4th and 5th, 2003
http://www.easternclave.ca

Visit The Streamer Page at http://www.mountaincable.net/~pcharl...ers/index.html

Peter Charles wrote:

Really, I have to stop flirting with these little things and strike up
a serious relationship. ...

Ah grasshopper, you are on the right path.

Willi ties the by gawd finest teeny-tiny emergers I have ever fished.
I have said so here and I have shamelessly begged Willi to send me some.
(And he has most graciously done so.)

I use a 9' 3wt Winston IM6, a Cortland Clear Creek and 12' to 15' of
leader tapered down to 7x or 8x.

FWIW, there is a great book written by Darrel Martin with the same title
as this thread.

--
Ken Fortenberry

Peter wrote:snip
Really, I have to stop flirting with these little things and strike up
a serious relationship.

This worries me a bunch. For a streamer fisherman, it sounds like you have
crossed over to the dark side.

Ain't it cool trying to figure out new stuff?
I have had the Martin book that Ken writes about and it is an excellent book. I
keep it around so it will be there when I cross over to the dark side as well.

Big Dale
Big Dale

Personaly, If a fish will not hit at least a size 16, it doesn't deserve to be
caught by me.

On Sun, 28 Sep 2003 03:25:48 GMT, Ken Fortenberry
wrote:

Peter Charles wrote:

Really, I have to stop flirting with these little things and strike up
a serious relationship. ...

Ah grasshopper, you are on the right path.

to hell -- I know


Willi ties the by gawd finest teeny-tiny emergers I have ever fished.
I have said so here and I have shamelessly begged Willi to send me some.
(And he has most graciously done so.)

I have some of these little jewels -- fabulous creations


I use a 9' 3wt Winston IM6, a Cortland Clear Creek and 12' to 15' of
leader tapered down to 7x or 8x.

FWIW, there is a great book written by Darrel Martin with the same title
as this thread.

Got it some years back -- now I have to read it!!

Peter

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Eastern Spey Clave, October 4th and 5th, 2003
http://www.easternclave.ca

Visit The Streamer Page at http://www.mountaincable.net/~pcharl...ers/index.html

On 28 Sep 2003 05:39:03 GMT, (Brimbum) wrote:

Peter wrote:snip
Really, I have to stop flirting with these little things and strike up
a serious relationship.

This worries me a bunch. For a streamer fisherman, it sounds like you have
crossed over to the dark side.

I plan to stay married to my first love but I don't discount some sort
of permanent affair . . . . . a mistress along the lines of the French
tradition. Streamers don't get jealous.


Ain't it cool trying to figure out new stuff?
I have had the Martin book that Ken writes about and it is an excellent book. I
keep it around so it will be there when I cross over to the dark side as well.

Big Dale

I'm off to North Bay for a couple of days (work) and I'll bring it
with me. After having it a few years, it's about time I cracked it
open.


Peter

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Eastern Spey Clave, October 4th and 5th, 2003
http://www.easternclave.ca

Visit The Streamer Page at http://www.mountaincable.net/~pcharl...ers/index.html

Lat705 wrote:

Personaly, If a fish will not hit at least a size 16, it doesn't deserve to be
caught by me.

Joining the 20-20 club* is one of those rites of passage that is
far better in the pursuit than in the accomplishment, but it meant
something to me at the time.

* 20" inch fish on a size 20 fly

--
Ken Fortenberry

Fortenberry brags:

* 20" inch fish on a size 20 fly


A 22 inch 3 lb salmon on one of Bruiser's #22s and 6x tippet.

Thanks, Bruiser.

LaCourse boasted:

Fortenberry brags:

A 22 inch 3 lb salmon on one of Bruiser's #22s and 6x tippet.

My brag was more honorable than your boast.

--
Ken Fortenberry

Peter Charles wrote:

If an insane torrent of babble invades your screen, vomited from the
icy bowels of a bitter January night, you'll know that tying these
little buggers has finally driven me mad (cue Freddie).


I find tying tiny flies painstaking. Bruce is the only guy I know that
actually likes to tie the small stuff. With flies size 20 and under,
every wrap of thread is significant and tying must be very precise. My
fingers often feel like cucumbers handling the smidgens of material
needed. But I tie them because they work.

I cut my fly fishing teeth on waters that required small flies most
of the year. On these waters I learned that it was hard to use a fly
that was too small (this was in the days when only Mustads were
available and hooks under a size 20 were very rare).

Bruce has taught me that fish will "always" take small flies. I've
fished with him when the bugs coming off were 14's and 16's and he would
be fishing 20's. When we fish together, Bruce invariably is using a fly
two or more sizes smaller than me. He'd often catch more than his share
of fish and often get into some of the best fish. I still generally use
the largest fly I can get away with for several reasons - they hold the
fish better, they're easier to tie, you can use larger tippet, the fish
stay hooked better.... However, if I'm not hitting any fish, rather
than look to just change patterns, my usual course of action is to use a
smaller fly.

Willi