It was an invitation that had been several years in my fulfilling. Dave Graebel had graciously invited me to fish his King Creek Ranch in Colorado a number of times, but speaking engagements, writing assignments, and other work related projects had blocked my way, until now. Nancy and I had a clear spot on the calendar this time, and we excitedly loaded the motor home in preparation for the trip west.

The weather cooperated, and we arrived without incident. The next morning saw Dave and me rigging our rods as Nancy and Dave’s wife, Linda, drove off for other pursuits, leaving us to “sus out” the trout under an overcast sky. Everything was pointing to a great morning’s fishing: the air was warm, the clouds threatened rain but couldn’t make good on the threat, and the air was alive with midges. Sure enough, the fish were actively feeding when we entered the water just above the canyon.

“We’ll fish up to the wooden bridge,” Dave told me, “And the girls will pick us up at 12:30 for lunch.”

Having never fished this water, all I could offer was “OK.”

Ha! Fish up to the wooden bridge? We only covered three pools before it was time to hike all the way up to the bridge. The fish literally threw themselves on our flies with absolutely wild abandon. Dave loves the dry fly, although he is not adverse to fishing nymphs, buggers, or other such fare. It was his morning. Fish were rising everywhere, and I spotted while Dave cast. While he played his fish, I’d toss a hopper and dropper up into the pool and take one on the dropped bead head Prince Nymph, and occasionally on the hopper. All fish tales aside, we collected well over 50 nice bows and browns by the arranged rendezvous time. We were gushing with tales of fish won and lost when Nancy and Linda arrived.

And then, while we were lunching at Bison Hall, the weather turned remarkable beautiful. Clean mountain air, puffy cumulus, and a bright sun greeted us on the veranda as we slipped back into our waders for the afternoon session. It would be a different river. The conditions of the morning, which called both bugs and fish to activity, had passed, and the day was now far less hospitable to us. The fish were deep, and not at all impressed by dry flies. True, a few holding along the shadowy edges or back under the overhanging grasses still watched the surface, and I spotted them for Dave, but the bellies of the pools were as flat as the proverbial griddle.

I worked the deep waters of the pool centers with the hopper and dropper and got only an occasional take. I switched to a Styrofoam indicator and dropped nymph to fish a bit deeper. On one of my casts, I noted a nice rainbow race up out of the depths and look as the indicator. Almost immediately as it descended, the indicator shot under, and I had the fish on the nymph. Hmmmm. I tried tossing the indicator on the water really hard several times, but got nothing. Then I decided to try popping it.

I’d cast up into the belly of the pool, allow the fly to settle, and then pop the indicator. The round Styrofoam indicator jumped and skated a bit; its popping more of a slash on the surface rather than the “glug” I was looking for. I switched to a two-inch long hunk of indicator yarn tied in at its center and dressed it heavily with floatant; the nymph hung about two and one-half feet below the yarn. It was exactly what was needed.

The tactic is rather easy. I’d cast, allow time for the nymph to settle, and then slowly draw the indicator across the surface—just fast enough to make a “V” wake. Allowing time for the nymph to settle, I’d then repeat the draw. If the fish were not interested, then I’d jerk the indicator hard enough to make it pop, like a bass bug or popper. I wanted an audible sound. After a couple of pops, I’d allow the nymph to settle. The trout loved it. They’d take the nymph both on the pop or while the fly was settling after the pop. Several times I started to pop the indicator only to find myself fast to a fish.

I tried the popping tactic with a hopper on top, too, figuring maybe I’d get a fish to take it rather than the nymph, but in the bright light, they much preferred to stay deep and eat the nymph. So, I finally just went with the indicator yarn. For the next two days, it was the absolute ticket. Pools that seemed dead came instantly to life, giving up fish after fish to the nymph. Yes, I tried fishing the fly merely dead drift on the indicator, but it was lack-luster fishing compared to the popping indicator tactic.

Nancy had a chance to fish on the third morning, and the fish were most cooperative, taking the nymph without the need to pop the indicator. Later that day the strong sun put the fish deep, and they just wouldn’t respond to the dry fly with any regularity, but they certainly took the nymph under the popping indicator. Dave used a hopper on top, but although several fish hit it strongly, they didn’t stay stuck. The nymph under the popping hopper won the day for Dave, too.

Dave with a fine brown that took a dry on the first morning.

Nancy took fish without the need of the popping indicator.

"My what a loud noise your indicator is making, Ms. fly fisher." "The better to catch you. my dear."

Dave quickly grasped the popping indicator tactic and used it with a hopper on top

Just one of many bows and browns that ate a nymph fished under a popping indicator.

The general lack of material on this blog for the past couple of weeks is due to a fishing trip to Colorado where I was out of phone service range and out of internet connection capability. I was not inactive, but the lack of communication connections meant that my blog had to be inactive. I hope to make up for it in the next few days. Here’s a sample fo the fish that we were focused on.

A fine rainbow that took a nymph hung under a popping indicator (story to be posted soon).

A rainbow that ate a popping hopper.

There were browns in them thar hills, too. This one ate the bead head Prince.

I asked Terry what flies he was using for muskies and he told me that he was using the patterns of my old friend, Bill Sherer. Bill has long been on the forefront of designs that employ not only size and movement but also the use of the acoustic footprint as well. Predator fish that basically feed on other fish, frogs, mice, leeches, and the like key in very strongly on the acoustic footprint, and Bill’s designs offer this aspect of the natural’s characteristics. You can see Bill’s flies and more at his web site: http://www.wetieit.com/. Here’s a sample of Bill’s work.

No Yellow Perch. A favorite for early season Muskies and for Pike everywhere. This all synthetic fly has great movement and superb durability, it is especially good in stained water where sight distances are limited due to water clarity. Size 3/0 with our "Red Wire Weed Guard" approximately 5 inches long.

I am currently working on volume 3 in the Fly Fishing book series. This volume is entitled, Long Flies. By long flies I mean bucktails, streamers, strip flies, collared flies, buggers, muddlers and divers, tube flies, film flies like poppers and sliders, techno flies, and others. Their developmental history is not only fascinating but highly instructive in both fly design and angling tactics. Long flies are not just for trout. They’re for practically everything that swims, including muskies and bass. Here in Wisconsin, walleyes and muskies are king; bass and trout come in a distant second. So when the trout are in the midst of August doldrums or the rivers are blown out from all the rain we’ve been having this summer, there’s always the “other” fish that can be pursued with the fly rod. And they’re great fun, too.

Terry Cummings sent me some great photos of muskies and bass on the fly rod. You can be certain that he didn’t take them on a size 14 Parachute Adams. No, there are long fly fish.

My grandma, what big teeth you have, said Terry. The better to eat your fly, my dear said the muskie..

Another hungry muskie that ate Terry's long fly.

Not to be outdone, Mr. Smallmouth had a go at the long fly, too.

Terry's fishing companion, Aaron Nelson with a nice smallie that ate a long fly.

The trailer is out for the upcoming new movie on fly fishing–The River Why. You can see it on the River Why site

http://www.theriverwhy.com/TRAILER/ where you can also see other information on the movie.

It is also on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AV5o7L4_DYU

Watch for Jason being “taught how to cast.”

This is one of my most favorite mayfly dun designs. It sits correctly, the wing has a strong profile, the poly yarn gives the wing a natural sheen, and the fish eat it very well. It’s super easy to tie, and that makes it even more desirable.

Step One: Wrap the shank with thread and form a small bump of thread just onto the hook bend.

Step Two. Tie in a clump of hackle fibers for the tail and wrap back to the thread bump. The fibers will spread out into a fan shape (the "Fan Tail"). Dub on the abdomen.

Step Three: Tie in a hackle, dub on the thorax, and wind the hackle "X" style. First make a couple of turns forward as if palmering the thorax. Art by Jason Borger.

Step Four. Continue applying the "X" hackle by palmering back over the thorax. Then wrap the hackle forward in several "normal" turns, tie it off and clip away the remainder. Art by Jason Borger.

The completed "X" hackle. Note the hackle fibers are slanting forward and rearward as well as sticking out to the sides.

Step Five. Tie in a clump of poly yard at the head of the fly, extending up and back over the top of the fly. Tie off the thread in front of the yarn. Trim the butt end of the yard the same length as the hook eye.

Step Six. Trim the wing with one clip of the scissors. Put a big drop of head cement into the butt of the wing to fuse the fibers permanently into the wing form. Trim the hackle off the bottom of the fly.

The Yarn Wing Dun seen from above. Note the fan tail and hackle fibers. The hackle fibers point to the rear, to the front, and out to the sides like the legs of the natural.

I will tying a series of flies over the next few days as samples for Willard Koukkari’s forthcoming book on food organisms I’ll feature these flies in the blog as they are dressed and photographed. Today’s feature event is Thompson’s Foam Beetle. Ken tied it both with and without hackle legs, and it works both ways. This description is for the fly with hackle legs. Simply omit the hackle of you want a faster-to-tie imitation.

Step One: Cut a strip of foam and trim one end to a point.

Step Two. Tie in the foam strip and wrap back until the thread is just onto the hook bend. Dub on the rear of the body and tie in a hackle feather.

Step Three: Dub on the thorax, wind the hackle three or four turns forward over the thorax. Secure the hackle, trim away the excess, and cut the hackle off the top of the fly. Fold the foam forward tightly along the top of the fly and tie it down securely at the head. finish the head in front of the foam strip.

Step Four: Trim the foam strip equal to the end of the hook eye to form the beetle's head. Trim the hackle off the bottom of the fly.

The Foam Beetle as seen from above.

The basic construction of this fly came from my knife-making, guitar-playing, piano-tuning, composer, and fishing buddy, John Beth. He’s always got something new and fun to play with, and when he showed me his Sperm & Egg Fly that he catches all his steelhead, and some browns and salmon with, I was delighted. The basis of the fly is Otter’s Egg. These are silicon eggs available in a wide variety of colors and sizes. Cabela’s, Gander Mt., and others offer these. The eggs are tough but equally as tough to keep on the hook. Here’s a neat way to readily make a Sperm and Egg Fly that is fast to tie and totally prevents the egg from slipping off the hook.

Step One: Pierce the egg onto the hook. John prefers red hooks, but I’ve used other styles, too.

Step One is to pierce the Otter's Egg--try to get it as centered as possible.

Step Two: Attach the thread at the eye and tie in a strip if peaarlescent Twinkle Organza. Other cross-woven materials will work, too, but I really like the twinkling effect of this stuff.

Step Two is to tie in a strip of Twinkle Organza or other cross-woven material.

Step Three: Tie off the thread at the front of the egg,  and tie it in at the rear of the egg.

Step Three is to tie off the thread, cut it away, and retie at the rear of the egg.

Step Four: Fold the Twinkle Organza over the top of the egg and tie down at the rear of the egg. The material will keep the egg securely on the hook. Trim the length of the material to form a short tail, and then, using a dubbing brush, comb out the material to remove all the cross-grain fibers, leaving only the length-wise fibers to form the tail.

Step Four involves folding the material over the top of the egg, tying it off, trimming the tail to length, and brushing it out.

Here’s a smaller Sperm & Egg Fly dressed on a standard bronzed egg hook.

Small Sperm & Egg Fly dressed on a bronzed hook.

Our traveling pal, Jeff Currier, has just returned from salmon fishing in Norway. It was a success; that is to say, he caught a couple of salmon. But he also found sea run browns, resident stream browns, and graying. Summers in Norway are idyllic, with pleasant temperatures and long days–perfect for the fly fisher. Check out more of Jeff’s adventures by clicking on his link to the right.

A Successful Jeff!

My friend Marcelo Malventano has created another rather unusual piece of angling art, a stonefly in metamorphosis. For more of his great work, click on his link to the right.

A most creative piece of angling art by Marcelo