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Fly Fishing 101 If you want to learn fly fishing and get out on the water as soon as possible then our Fly Fishing 101 class is for you. This class is a three hour session where you will learn the basics of fly casting, equipment, techniques and even fly tying. The Fly Fishing 101 sessions are all free and are held through out the summer months. Simply call the shop or check the web site for the next date we will be hosting a Fly Fishing 101 session and show up. You do not need any equipment just an eagerness to learn about fly fishing. All participants receive a savings card for shop merchandise. Advanced Casting Lessons If you have taken the Fly Fishing 101 or the Fly Fishing School you might find yourself wanting more hands on instructions. At FlyMasters we have a number of avenues for you to expand your fly fishing knowledge. You can take advanced casting lessons with our instructor to improve your accuracy or your distance. You can also learn different casting techniques in our advanced casting to help you with fly presentation. These sessions are billed by the hour and are booked by appointment. You don't have to wait for warm weather to book a lesson. If you are going on a winter saltwater trip we can usually find a fair weather day to have a lesson. Short practice periods are all that is needed to improve your skill. Don't wait until your upcoming trip to improve your casting technique. You can also improve your skills by attending one of our Fly Fishing Clinics.
Fly Fishing Clinics Once you get past the basics of fly fishing there is no end to the application of fly equipment to fishing. Nymphing, dry flies, topwater, streamers, wet flies, swinging flies, floating lines, sinking lines, single handed rods, double handed rods, and on and on. It can be overwhelming to someone just getting into fly fishing. FlyMasters has a number of Fly Fishing Clinics through the fishing season to help expand your fly fishing knowledge. Here is a list for some of our past clinics. Two Handed Fly Rod Instruction Nymphing for Trout Fishing Topwater Flies Swinging Streamers Crawdads For Smallies Check our website, often, for dates and times of our next Fly Fishing Clinic.
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FlyMasters Destinations At FlyMasters we are constantly investigating new and different places to fish, near and far. You can count on FlyMasters to research and evaluate waters to fish, guides to hire and lodges for rest. We strive to find the very best in quality and affordable fly fishing destinations. Each year we book fishing trips to the various destinations we prefer. However, you are not limited to going only when we go; we can make arrangements for you to fish these waters during times that fit your schedule. Here are a few of the destination we book adventure with. Ascension Bay Bonefish Club – Yucatan peninsula, Mexico. Bonefish, Permit, Snook, Tarpon and barracuda in the cold winter months. Mission Lodge, Alaska - Five Pacific Salmon species as well as huge rainbow trout, grayling, char, and dollyvarden. If you want all-out accommodations and 5 star service then our trip to Mission Lodge is for you. Wilderness Place, Alaska – More Pacific Salmon fishing on a more modest budget. Tweed river, Scotland – Atlantic Salmon fishing in the fabled Junction Pool of this historic river. Another of our 5 star service destination. Camp Anjigimi, Canada – Remote wilderness fishing for large Northern Pike and Brook Trout. Michigan and Ohio Steelhead – Spring and fall steelhead fishing on the Pere Marquette, Muskegon, St. Joe in Michigan and the Northeast streams of Ohio. Beaver Island, Lake Michigan – Great Lakes Carp and large Smallmouth Bass fishing from May to August on a fantastic Island get-a-way. Mosquito Lagoon, Florida – Fly Fishing for Snook, Sea Trout and Redfish on the Est coast of Florida when it is cold back home. These are just a few of the destinations we book trip for. Contact us at the shop or through our web site for more details and to book a trip for 2011. 14
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FlyMasters Events At FlyMasters we recognize the best way to spend your time is on the water fishing, however that is not always possible. Bills have to be paid so work has to get done. As well, too often the weather gods do not look upon you fishing with favor. That is why we consider the next best thing to being on the water is time spent in our fly shop. Just stopping in and talking fishing, tying, travel or trading fish stories is good enough but we have so much for to offer throughout the year when you come by FlyMasters. We often schedule special “Events” that help keep you connected to fishing when you can not be actually fishing. Some of these events are a few hours in duration and some last all day. All are fun and informative and most are free. Here is a list of some of the events we have planned for 2011. Annual Fly Tie-A-Thon - Tie flies for the Healing Water Project and help veterans enjoy fly fishing. Hardy Day with John Shaner - John will be here sharing all he knows about Hardy, past and present and hosting and “English Spider” fly tying class. Gary Krebs Popper Jig Tying Class - Gary will be back in the shop showing people how to use his incredible foam popper head jigs and tying some great topwater flies. Customer Appreciation day – An annual event to show our appreciation for the wonderful customers we have that keep us in business. Crawdad Round-Up – A special tying session where we tie crawdad flies and cook fresh crawdads cajun style. Thanksgiving Turkey Tie – Celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday FlyMasters style, tying turkey flies and cooking a trashcan turkey. Visit our web site for the latest events and dates! WWW.FLYMASTERS.COM 317-570-9811
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the gross organic pollution of my trout waters. My peers chose not to take steps to correct this and wrongly chose to accept it. For me, I retired to the winding, clear water, Ozark smallmouth stream that is my property's western boundary. The author, Henry David Thoreau, once told his friend, Ralph Waldo Emerson, “I have traveled much in Concord”. I am telling you, “I have waded far on an Ozark mountain stream that a child can cast across and found both enjoyment and enlightenment in my wandering” When I left my guiding career, I also left that proverbial fly fishing box sitting in the green goop on the edge of those trout rivers. I began to fish the way I wanted to and not by some imaginary set of rules that fly fishers are expected to follow. I started asking myself questions on the validity of today's traditionalism and of what value it truly was to me on the stream. I started using my spinning rod more than my fly rod because it took up less room in my canoe and its backcast was not as tangling. I began reading books that were not about fly fishing, but of fishing in general or about a specific species. A long journey begins with a small step....for me, it was reading. I suggest that every angler read these three books. The first one was recommended to me by a dear friend, What Fish See, by Collin J. Kageyama. It's basically about how temperature, light level, and the particles in water influence the color that fish respond to best. The second book was cheap and about a unique way of fishing soft plastics, Slider Fishing, by Charlie Brewer. Brewer is the father of fishing soft plastics. His favorite saying is, ”Don't over work nature.” His presentations were meticulous in the speed of his retrieval and the weight of his pattern. He confidently claimed that one turn of the handle on his low ratio spinning reel ever 3 seconds was the best presentation.... but if this didn't work....slow down even more. The third was bought at a yard sale for a quarter by my wife, Joan, because there were a couple pictures of a guy fly fishing on the dusty cover, Lunkers, by Bob A. Underwood. This book is a compilation of 1700 hours of underwater observations of bass. Underwood left nothing to guess work. His observations both destroys myths of fish, presentations and lures, and enlightens the reader to a new realm of understanding of when, why and what make bass strike. The concept of No Boundary fishing came to me out of necessity because of three tragic natural disasters that happened in a two year period in the area that I live. The first two were two five hundred year floods in March. The first flood WWW.FLYMASTERS.COM
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boning up on my soft plastics techniques by reviewing the book, Slider Fishing by Brewer, when I read an observation he had made that changed everything. Brewer stated, �90% of a bass's diet is worms less than 4 inches long.� If you have ever had a revealing moment like a nine pound sledge hammer just fell on you big toe or you just sat down on a bare electrical wire in a wet swimming suit, then you know full well what I was feeling. Now, Brewer's statement may not have meant a lot to most anglers but to me
it was a magnificent revelation. I knew that Brewer was not talking about Earthworms, but instead, he was referring to Oligochaete Worms. An aquatic worm that lives in our stream beds. You see, Earthworms are in the water when earth is being introduced to the water, like when there is a rain storm or a bank collapses or a tree on the bank uproots. Earthworms don't last long in an aquatic environment because they drown. I mean think about it...they drown on the sidewalks in a rain storm. So there was no way Brewer was observing earthworms. With my experience with the WWW.FLYMASTERS.COM
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let the current slowly bring it downstream as I take in the slack.” I made the first cast with a red worm. It drifted about five foot before the leader started for the far bank. I set the hook and the fight began. It was a twelve inch smallmouth. I thought to myself, ”Dam, that was fun.” I made four cast with the red worm and caught three smallmouth before losing it to a sunfish. I replaced it with an earthworm brown colored worm and caught four more smallmouth and one large sunfish in ten cast before sunset. When I got back to the house, I started packing my canoe ... paddles, life-jacket, a nine foot eight weight fly rod and the ten foot one weight, thirty pounds of soft plastics, cone-heads from five thirty-seconds to three-eighths inch, extra tippet material, offset worm hooks from #4 G-Locks to #2/0 EWG's, nippers and forceps. Everything was in the canoe except my lunch, frozen drinking water and Ebby, my Labrador fishing buddy. I woke up before sunrise, actually for the third time before I got out of the bed and made my coffee and breakfast. I went downstairs hooked the canoe trailer to the lawn mower, filled a small cooler with frozen bottle water and my lunch and headed down to the river. I was so excited, I pulled that canoe down the bank like it was a leaf. My plan was to paddle up the river for about a mile to the highway bridge and then float back downstream past the house for another mile to a place I called Long Shoal. At Long Shoal, I would leave the canoe and wet wade for another mile to the Bailey Wood hole. Then I would wade back to the canoe and fish the best spots again on the way back to the house. I had filled my tackle bag with everything that I thought would work on my two fly rods. I had crayfish from one and one quarter inch H&H Baby Spillway to two and one half inches Yum Crawbugs, worms from three inches Slider worms to six inch finesse worms, four inch Zoom lizards, minnow imitations from one and one half inch Bobby Garlands to four inch Bass Assassins, and curly tail grubs for one inch to three inches. I didn't have one fly or popping bug, nor a spinning rig, it was a go-for-broke day. I knew that this was going to work. I started and ended the day using the same color, watermelon with black flake. I chose this color because the water was fairly clear and the water temperature was in the comfort zone of the smallmouth. The cone-head, I switch back and forth between gold and black, gold in the sun and black in the shade. This was straight out of Kageyama's book, What Fish See. Because the ice storm had done away with most of the overhanging branches in the river, I concentrated on the east-west portions of the river where there was still some shade on the water. WWW.FLYMASTERS.COM
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Again, as always, from early summer to fall, the combination of shade, current, and structure (SCS) was the best producer. There were lots of surprises and much knowledge acquired this day. The first thing I learned was the presentation of any soft plastic is better when dead-drifted with a little current using a fly rod than the presentation by a spinning rig. The bulk of the fly line keeps the imitation moving at the desired speed and the takes were so easy and subtle that it took a bit of practice to realize how quickly the fish were consuming the patterns. No matter what the imitation, worm, crayfish, lizard, minnow, etc., the strikes were never hard and aggressive. Second, setting the hook with the longer fly rods was much more efficient. The sharp Gamakatsu and Owner hooks set deep and seldom were fished lost even though the hooks had been debarbed.
Third, when fishing a spinning rig, the angler always fishes from where the pattern lands back to him. This is not the case with a fly rod. The angler can let the current dead-drift the pattern along the opposite bank or straight down a run or under low hanging limbs and branches of bushes and trees. Fishing the edge of watergrasses and lily pads and other types of vegetation was a snap when compared to spin fishing. With a little current and a downstream mend, you can fish these edges and objects within inches of them. Fourth, Underwood in his book, Lunkers, states that the most common mistake of anglers is to assume that only one good fish is in a small area. Repeatedly, I found myself catching several bass out of a small area that had shade, current and structure (SCS). About 1:00 pm, I caught eleven bass out of an area that was smaller than my canoe where a willow bush had grown out of a pile of rocks in a moderately slow current. Three of these bass were seventeen to eighteen inch long, nice fish in any smallmouth stream. This is significant in that the angler needs to concentrate more of his/her efforts in the shaded areas when the sun is high and the days are warm. 32
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It’s a carnival of sounds when you’re mousing for big browns on the Pere Marquette River in the dark. You want the night to be as dark as possible, no moon, no headlamps. The guide navigates by memory and by the soft sounds of water pushing off logs jams and shallow gravel bars, the oarlocks creak quietly and the dip and drip of the oar blades click repetitively in the background. And believe it or not, the angler even becomes accustomed to the sound of openness, the sound of a clear casting lane. The big mouse fly whooshes through the air and splats downstream on the water near the bank, the fly gurgles as it wakes and then, in mid-swing, if everything goes right, the explosion, the kerplooooosh of a hungry brown slashing at what he hopes is several hundred calories of mammal meat. He is sorely disappointed when you raise the rod tip and drive that hook home. Then comes the sound of the anchor being dropped, the click of a headlamp, you squint against the brightness, everybody is probably hollering pretty good at this point, the fish splashes on the surface and the net dips under what is usually a very nice brown. The cameras click, or beep I suppose, everyone settles back into their positions, the anchor is wound up and the soft drip and creak of the oars resume as you concentrate to regain your night vision. There is a lot of grass on the banks of the Pere Marquette and as the seeds on the thin tips of the flowering stalks begin to grow fat in mid-summer, the mice cannot help themselves. They climb up the stalks and hang perilously over the water Sometimes, they fall in. The cover of darkness affords these big browns the comfort they need to range out into the river to feed. Mousing is usually poor when the river is high and offcolor for two reasons: (1) they can’t detect your mouse pattern as well and (2) WWW.FLYMASTERS.COM 37
more importantly, they can eat all day long when the sun is up. The best conditions for mousing are low, clear water. When the water is up, throw big streamers during the day to target the same fish. Any standard mouse pattern will work, but we find those with trailer increase hook-ups. Check out our Robot Mouse pattern (http://vimeo.com/14077599). The best tackle for throwing these bulky, flies in the dark is a 7 or 8wt rod over-lined by two line weights. A glow dark fly line like Rio’s Lumalux can help you get a feeling for how far casting.
hooks here heavy in the you’re
We start mousing in mid-June and go until mid-September. A typical mousing trip begins around 5pm. We fish until dark throwing hoppers and then typically mouse until 1:00am or later. Both myself and Steve Martinez love to get out after the carnivores. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to drop either of us a line.
Indigo Guide Service Matt Dunn - matt@thirdcoastfly.com Steve Martinez - birdhunterusa@yahoo.com
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easy to cast and sinks like a rock. Quick strips with this one. Crab Fly Legs? Who needs em? This little bug can be a crab, shrimp, or even a mud minnow, all depending how you fish it. As effective as it is simple—the large profile gets this fly noticed! Crabs around? Cast, strip 6 inches, and wait for the pickup, it’s coming. Shrimp or minnows the preferred bait? Short, quick strips will get it done.
Gotcha Clouser (Bahamas Bonefish Fly) Simply the best fly for big bonefish in the Bahamas, period. When I’m trophy hunting it’s all I’ve ever needed. I’ve taken my biggest bonefish with this fly… and lost bigger. Go big, go heavy, hope your knots are good and you’ve got plenty of backing, you’re in for a ride. By the way, those big bones aren’t leader shy, nothing but 16-lb. and up for those bruisers.
Tan Shrimp (upside down version of the LC Usual with more legs and marabou tail) For tailing fish you can’t beat this little treat. Marabou and rubber legs for lots of action—all you’ve got to do is give it an occasional twitch and wait for the take. With this fly less really is more. It’s a very shrimpy pattern that works on sand or grass. I can just let it sit on the bottom and know it’s still looking very alive. Since it rides hook up, I can be sure it won’t foul over grass.
Sometimes buying local flies can be an advantage. A local guide fishes the water often and is successful with certain fly patterns. But with some destinations local guides don't have access to new materials, different patterns, and techniques that have worked well in other destinations with similar species. The relationship between Davin and FlyMasters brings together local knowledge with worldwide experience. That is a great combination for a successful trip!
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A stick from a tree branch, a short braided line of horsehair and a piece of yarn on a crude hook was probably the first time someone caught a fish (at least tried to) with what we now call the fly rod. Along the way the tree branch yielded to a variety of materials. Wood, such as lancewood or green heart, bamboo, fiberglass progressed to today’s modern high-modulus composites in the making of fishing rods. The one material that has withstood the test of time and is still sought after today by those longing for the ultimate, magical fly fishing experience is BAMBOO. Bamboo was originally used on just the tip section of wood rods in a 3 or 4 -sided construction. It wasn’t until around 1870 that Hiram Leonard developed the use of bamboo with six-sided construction for the entire rod. Up until about 1915 most bamboo rods were made with Calcutta cane and long wet fly, soft action rods were the standard. By 1930 modern glues replaced animal-based glues and the need for countless intermediate wraps to help hold the rod together. Tonkin cane also became the material of choice and the technique of heat-treating provided the maker with a superior material which enabled them to develop livelier, better casting rods. During this same period, tournament or distance casting became popular and served as a venue where tapers could be tested and compared to the competition. The resulting tapers, with the speed and ability of casting long distances became the foundation of modern, dry fly tapers. Eventually the temporary demise of the cane rod came on the heels of World War II. The resulting embargo on Tonkin cane interrupted the very foundation of the bamboo rod industry. This helped lead to the development of fiberglass as a rod material, nylon and plastic lines, and eventually to the graphite rods and PVC lines of today. Fast forward to 2010. While modern day rod manufactures continue to refine and develop newer and higher modulus materials, bamboo as a rod-making material has experienced an astounding resurgence. Presently, there are more bamboo rod-makers and tapers available than at any time in history. Using modern materials and techniques, today’s rods 44
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may out perform their classic counterparts. Furthermore, today’s rods are available and can be custom made in lengths, weights and actions to suit your casting style. They also range from short, light, dry fly rods to big, powerful salmon rods with actions that can range from a fully flexing nymph rod to a fast, crisp, dry fly rod. I believe bamboo’s resurgence is enhanced by the desire, once again, to experience the joy and magic of fishing that often times becomes lost in our fast-paced world. The bamboo rod as a fishing instrument that makes you slow down, it feels alive and tells you what it wants. It becomes an extension of yourself. What was once a living plant is alive again as you hold it in your hand. If you haven’t had the opportunity to cast some of the modern rods, whether a reproduction of a classic taper, or a taper designed by the maker himself, now is the time. Contact me or stop by FlyMasters for the opportunity to experience the uniqueness of BAMBOO. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised! Randy Fridlund 317-258-8955
● randy@amabilisrods.com ● www.amabilisrods.com
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shelves will also hold fish. Flies that work this time of year differ from the streamers used in the colder months. Until the water drops into the high 30s, you should use larger streamer patterns such as M.O.A.L leeches (mother of all leeches) and Gallop’s Circus Peanut. The particular pattern you choose is less important than selecting one with a few simple key characteristics. In warmer water colors like purple, black, white and hot colors like pink and chartreuse with significant flash in gold, silver, or red will be effective. Streamer length from 3 to 5 inches is the rule and sometimes going even larger can be the ticket to get the attention of aggressive, fresh fish in warmer water.
Late fall and winter are the true test of the steelhead swinger’s patience. As temperatures plunge, steelhead hug the bottom tightly, so slowing down your presentation is a must. It is critically important to make sure your fly is in the productive water as long as possible, something not as easily achieved swinging flies as it is with an indicator rig. One simple, but often overlooked way to keep flies swinging in the zone longer is to make your cast as close to the water you’re fishing as possible. Ideally, you should stand directly on the current seam or drop off. This way, when your fly swings straight, it is still in the productive water. Casting from a distance guarantees that the fly will swing out of the productive water before your line straightens and the all important flutter of the fly entices a fish to strike. It is also important at this time of year to methodically pick apart a run, taking your time from top to bottom. Remember that these fish are sluggish and they are generally not willing to move very far to take a streamer. During the cold months, it is necessary to switch over to smaller, darker, more natural patterns with minimal flash. Color combinations like black and red with gold tinsel, olive with copper tinsel, and brown with gold tinsel generally work well. Streamer length should be between 1 and 2 inches, no bigger. In colder water temperatures, from 33 to 36 degrees, slower runs with WWW.FLYMASTERS.COM
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pooling water, inside edges of faster moving runs, and the inside of river bends are good places to find fish. Remember that in the winter, presentation is of the utmost importance. Be sure to fish deep, fish slow, and cover every inch of a run keeping your fly in the productive water as long as possible. As winter begins to loosen its grip in March and the water temperatures reach the low to mid 40s, the fish start occupying gravels to begin their yearly spawning ritual, providing the all important next generation of fish to the river. The spring is when swinging streamers can be the most fun. The fish are aggressive and generally easy to locate. Hens working the spawning gravels are an irresistible draw for the males which stack up behind them, vying for a chance to lay next to their queen. It is important to note that a certain amount of care must be taken to avoid swinging streamers onto actively spawning fish. Taking fish off their gravels during the spawn can have detrimental effects on their reproductive success. There are usually plenty of eager, non-spawning fish in runs behind the gravels that can provide for a very fine day of fishing while minimizing effects on spawning fish. On my home river, the Pere Marquette, my preferred rod for swinging streamers is the new 12 foot 7wt Greys GS2 spey rod lined with a 425gr Rio Skagit head . This rod offers great sensitivity for feeling the peck of a reluctant winter steelhead or for absorbing the shock of a hot 10lb fish bucking in the current.
And the price is right for a special-purpose rod that most people will not use all the time. The extra length helps with casting heavy sink tips and if paired with the right line, this rod will allow you to execute textbook two-handed casts. 9 foot rods rated for 8 and 9 weight lines work fine. Large arbor fly reels with a good drag and the capacity to hold at least 150 yards of backing are a must. As with rods, there are many good reels out there, but my go-to reel lately has been Greys G Tec reel, which hasn’t failed me yet. Swinging streamers isn’t a new way to fly fish, in fact it is one of the oldest, but it seems to have been eclipsed in the Great Lakes region in the last few years by indicator nymphing techniques. While I’m the first to admit that nymphs will almost always out-fish streamers, the rush and sheer surprise of a 10 pound bruiser grabbing your streamer at full downstream swing is better than any feeling that’s legal. And the numb toes and cold fingers are an afterthought when you realize that the swing is the thing! WWW.FLYMASTERS.COM 51
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The Tackle Shop, est. 1937 is the oldest fly fishing shop in Montana. It is located in the picturesque old west town of Ennis, Montana. Ennis is 54 miles from the town of Bozeman which is the airport that anglers use when fishing Western Montana. Fishing on the Madison can be done in less than one hour from the airport. The Tackle Shop is owned and operated by Gary and Michelle Wood. You may remember Gary from the Orvis Store in Carmel, Indiana where he was the manager of the fly fishing department. He has a wonderful group of twenty two experienced guides who can fish just about any water in the Yellowstone Country. The Madison, Big Hole, Yellowstone, Ruby, Gallatin, Henry’s Fork and Missouri Rivers are just a few of the fishing destinations available for fishing. The Madison is the home river for the Tackle Shop but the other rivers of Western Montana lure the angler to discover water he/she has not yet fished. Montana is a paradise for fly fishing! The Tackle Shops’ prime season is from July thru mid October. But there is never a bad time to visit Montana for fishing. In May the Mother’s Day Caddis hatch is outstanding. As the temperatures warm through May the run off starts which clouds the water for several days. That time period can be spent fishing some of the Spring Creeks such as the Ruby. Gary has carried his hoosier hospitality to Western Montana and loves to talk fishing with anybody coming through his door. Call ahead and book a trip or just stop by to see how rivers are fishing. For whatever reason you wind up in Ennis please stop and see how he and Sparky, the wonder dog, are doing. They look forward to helping you enjoy a trip of a lifetime! WWW.FLYMASTERS.COM
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3) Tie in the hologrphic gold braid on top of the tail section and wrap it forward. Stop the wrap ½” behind hook eye. That measurement includes the hook eye. 4) Tie in more gold holographic flash, fold back and wrap over the fold. Just four or five wraps is enough. Super glue will bind the wraps and secure the bead. Tie in your Olive Supreme hair, fold back and secure with 4-5 wraps of thread. 5) Then tie in your Fl Yellow Supreme hair and/or the Spirit River Fl. Yellow glow mylar. Put super glue on the thread, push the bead over the wraps. Sometimes it helps to pinch the wraps and material into a round profile. Make them as long as the baitfish you are imitating. A fish eats what is most abundant. And the young of the year species outnumbers matures by the thousands. (The other color combination used frequently is A silver blade with black over white using silver hologrphic flash. We call it the Policeman!!!)
Joe Zienowicz May 2010 on Gould Lake in Ontario, Canada Fox Statler was the creator of the Spinner’d Minner fly. Thanks Fox! 56
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Michigan's Au Sable River is far from underrated. It's a highly pressured river full of mayflies and wild trout. At times the famous hatches draw people from across the country to compete for their own "patch" of water. While never terrifically crowded, those seeking solitude head to creeks and off-the-beaten path accesses. Thankfully, there are plenty of those. But another way to beat the traffic is to consider some of the less popular months on the river. April With snowmelt comes opportunity. The river runs high, fast, cold. A few fat black stones are fluttering in the sun. The steelhead runs have attracted hundreds of would-be anglers away from the Au Sable. This is widely considered streamer time. And it is. We run big flies – sometimes as large as six inches – and use a variety of retrieves. Cold water requires a slow jig-like retrieve, usually with floating lines and weighted flies. As the water warms, the pace of the retrieve can increase. For this more aggressive fishing, a sinking line with a short leader is best. Many of the biggest fish of the year are caught in early spring. If the streamer fishing is slow, no problem: go nymphing. This is the very best nymph fishing of the year. The river is absolutely full of nymphs. World famous hatches require world record amounts of nymphs. The fish are on them. And you should be too. With new regulations hopefully passed in December, far more river miles will open up to year-round opportunity. April isn't a sleeper – people know about it – but if you're not a dry-fly purist, it's worth the price of gas. July July is a sleeper. It's clearly the most underrated month of the year. As the hex hatch winds down, people leave. Here's how I look at it: would you rather fish to a full fish, or a hungry fish? July is the month of the hungry fish. It's also the month of the 24-hour day of fishing. You start with tricos on the North Branch, or the Lata (#18 BWOs) on the mainstream. After the morning rise you switch to a dry and dropper – that will catch you some fish. During the afternoon you have the best attractor dry-fly fishing of the year. Then, at dusk, you enjoy yellow stones, Isonychias, and then leftover hex. Finally, if WWW.FLYMASTERS.COM
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you're still awake, tie on a mouse and go hit the pools. Add to this list of goodness the excellent small stream fishing at this time of year, and you have a month that is simply overlooked. October October is for the stubborn, and the hardy. The leaves are beautiful, the trout are beautiful. There is good afternoon olive fishing, as well as some late season Isonychia. There can be excellent streamer fishing. But – and this is a big but – the river can be low and clear, the skies can be high and dry, and the fish can remain under the log piles and nary a one flashing at your fly. October is a give and take month. It's also my very favorite month of the year in the North Woods, and the trout fishing is a big part of it. Pack up the rods, the dogs, and a shotgun. Fish small classic streamers on the bright days, and bigger darker streamers on the rainy days. Some of the very best fishing of the year occurs in this temperamental month, and the only way to experience it is to be here.
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5) Turn the hook over and attach rabbit zonker on top of lead wire so that the tip of the zonker is halfway between the bead-chain eyes and the end of the lead wire. This will insure you have enough room for the proper number of wraps of zonker can be applied.
6) Turn the hook over and wrap the zonker strip around 2 ½ times around wire. The zonker strip should come around the top of the hook and fit nicely between the bead chain eyes. 7) Wrap in the zonker strip and cut the excess so there is a small tag between the bead chain eyes. 8) Cover end of zonker and between eyes with thread. Whip finish. 9) Trim tail material to about 2� behind the body.
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