I’m always working several books ahead, gathering material, planning chapters, writing stories, and so on. Here’s a snippet from book nine–Nymphs and Wets

Our friend, Theo Bakelaar, from Holland, spends time each year in Scotland, fishing for Atlantic Salmon, and fishing for brown trout in the streams and lochs (lakes) of that country. It is in loch fishing where the wet fly comes into its own.

The brown trout on the lakes (lochs) of the highlands of Scotland teeter on the edge of survival. Food is not abundant, in fact, scarce is a better word to describe its availability. As a consequence, the fish are highly watchful for anything that might give the appearance of being edible. Thus it is that the best flies for the Highland Lochs are suggestive and not imitative. And, too, the angling methodology is not what most anglers might envision. It is not a single fly, but rather a “cast” of flies, usually three. The point fly, and the one above it, are sunken, and the top fly is a heavily dressed dry that is skated over the surface. Often the wets have flash on them or are tied with bright, attractive colors to better show themselves to any nearby browns.

It not as hard to cast the “cast” as one might assume. Just employ the Elliptical Stroke—make the backcast a bit sidearm, swing the rod up and around, and make the forward stroke with the rod a bit more vertical. This stroke keeps the flies from tangling on one another.

Fish attracted to the motion of the skated dry fly, often take one the sunken flies. However, if there are several fish in the area, all three flies may be taken on a single cast. Then the fight is on. The fish are often not large, but still, fighting three browns, all going in different directions at the same time, can be a bit challenging.

Browns are browns, no matter where they are found, and like browns everywhere, those in the Highland Lochs hang out in the best cover they can find in those areas where food is most available. Anglers who frequent the lochs know full well that the heavy bank cover and near-shore boulders make perfect cover, and because the shallow water is a better region of available food. So, rather than standing on shore and casting out, they use a boat or float tube and get out from shore and fish tight to the bank.

And though the average fish is not large, these are totally wild, and totally native brown trout. The take is usually aggressive, and they fight like fish twice their size.

A classic upland moor stream that flows into the distant lake.

Many of the streams tumble over bedrock on their way to the lake and there are plenty of rapids and water falls. A plunge pool such as this is a great place to find highland browns.

The currents from an inflowing river are always a great place to find feeding trout. Note the rocky shoreline in the background. Such areas are fished from a boat or float tube.

F;y boxes are crowned with brightly colored imitations, but note also some of more natural tones.

Bright flies are great, but those of more natural coloration are great too. Anglers will sometimes fish one bright wet and one more drab wet on the same “cast.”

The Alexandra, one of the all time great wet flies (one of the first flies that I tied and fished nearly 60 years ago). The peacock herl wing is highly attractive to trout the world over.

Soft hackle flies seem to have originated in the highlands, and this Partridge and Red is still an excellent loch fly.

Notice the key characteristics of the classic loch fly: bright colors, silver tinsel body.

And let’s not forget the hackle. Woolly Worm variations are great because the hackle moves at the slightest impulse from the line, suggesting a living creature. Notice the red and blue and bright silver tinsel–a great combo.

And speaking of Woolly Worms–notice the silver tinsel rib.

An “average” highland brown.

A brown on the large size of “average.” Note the dark coloration. The fish live in tea colored water.

A very nice highland brown. The take is always strong and the fight hard.

In a couple of posts back I mentioned Crystal UV Coat head cement that my friend Henry sells. I love this stuff, especially when I need a lacquered head on a bucktail, streamer, or other long fly. It sets in a few seconds under UV light and gives a hard finish. Before UV coat, I’d have to apply a half dozen coats of Sally Hansen nail polish or use epoxy to get the highly finished head of the classic bucktail or streamer. Now, one coat of thick, Crystal UV and hit it with UV light and the head is done. Henry sells a high power UV flashlight that sets the cement in a few seconds.

It’s great for many other applications, too. I use it to attach doll eyes to my flies, to cement feather together before applying them to a fly, to toughen the base of the wing on my Yarn Wing Dun, etc. The future of head cement is here now.

You can read about this great cement and the UV flashlight at http://tinyurl.com/m7xxa9o.

If you wish to get into the UV head cement world, contact Henry at picaboo@charter.net.

Crystal UV Coat is a great product, fast and easy to use, with wonderful results.

My friend, Pablo Rodrigo Perez, from Mendoza, Argentina, has been waging war on the tarpon in Mexico. And just look at what his campaign of terror has serve up for him! My gosh, what a fish.

His rod is not a two-hand Spey stick as might be supposed from the handle. It is a one-hand rod with a super-long handle to make fighting the fish ever that much easier.

Go get ‘em Pablo.

If you can read spanish, get the full story at http://www.mendozaflyshop.com/shop.php?nota=227

One happy angler and one pooped tarpon. Notice the long handle on Pablo’s rod.

My baby. The long rod handle makes it easier to hold the rod in one’s teeth, too.

I love to add doll eyes to my long flies, especially the ones that that have a “rattle” pupil in them. They not only make the flies look more lifelike, but add a bit of accent to the “acoustic footprint” of the fly. They are a bit of a pain to put on. Well no more.

My good friend and fishing companion, Henry Kanemoto, found this great tip on line. Go have a look–http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xt1qnyPDCSU.  It’s certainly the slickest way I’ve ever seen to put eyes on flies—especially the unweighted doll eyes.

Henry gave me a set of the rhinestone positioner sticks used in this process, and I want to tell you, they work like a charm. Look out.

I used Henry’s thick, Crystal UV Coat head cement to pit the eyes on. A drop on the back of the eye, stick it to the head, hit it with UV, pluck of the stik, and repeat for the other side. Very fast. You can see Henry’s UV cement at  http://www.southeastflyfishingforum.com/forum/uv-resin-system-t42344.html. If you’d like to order it, email Henry at picaboo@charter.net

The positioners have a sticky wax glob on one end and a fork on the other. Great tool.

A baby walleye fly for use in the fall when searching for lake trout in Canadian lakes.

Look at the dfference those eyes make; as the saying goes, “the eyes have it.”

Our friend, Theo Baakelar, has been dressing flies using a system of foam and veined winging material. Take about good-looking flies! And, they float like—foam!

The system uses a special pin that clamps in the vise, on which the extended portion of the body is first formed. Of course, for those flies without an extended body, the entire fly is formed directly onto the hook.

The product is strictly European at the moment, but I suspect we will be seeing it here in the very near future. If you want to have prelim look, got to http://www.jsonsweden.com It’s not in English, but if you snoop a bit you will gain all sorts of perspectives.

Theo is currently planning to be at the International Fly Tying Symposium in November–http://www.internationalflytyingsymposium.com. This is great show. I will be there–look for me watching Theo tie these new designs.

An extended body mayfly dun–Hex time!

An extended body mayfly spinner–look at those wings.

A caddis pupa, goodness, that winging material is great stuff.

A foam cadis adult with the perfect profile.

Midge adult, anyone?

A too-ggod-looking crane fly adult.

A wasp that is so fast to tie that it’s actually a fishing fly and not a “realistic” dressing.

Here they are in the box. Imagine the look on another angler’s face when you open your box to show him/her the fly you just used to fool the biggest trout in the pool.

Quick, where’s the fly swatter?

They look too good to be true.

Know any trout that could refuse one of these? Theo will be showing how to tie them at the International Fly Tying Symposium in Somerset New Jersey in November.

Book number four in the Fly Fishing Series, The Angler as Predator is out! I will be shipping books later this week.

Book number five entitled Fly Gear, is written and is being edited.  I am shooting photos of knots and doing other such tasks for final book assembly. One of the knots that is shown is the Casamar Clincher. Harry Kime showed me this knot many years ago. He was one of the west coast’s early saltwater fly fishers. He once hooked a huge marlin while he was fishing from a 14-foot pram I the Gulf of California. It dragged him out of sight of land, and when he finally got it close enough, he realized it was several feet longer than the boat. Rather than play the “Old Man and the Sea,” he broke the fish off. Still, he was able to wrestle it in on the Casamar Clincher. Harry loved this knot for the shock tippet because it can be easily untied and retied. Once the knot is set, the stiff material of the shock tippet holds all the kinks and bends when the knot is untied. Thus, all the angler has to do is remove the old fly, put on a new one, and reset the knot right back into its original configuration. Harry always allowed the long end to stick back at least as far as the fly so that it was easy to grab onto when untying the knot. He said it was never a problem because it points back toward the fly and therefore doesn’t catch on weeds or other items.

The Casamar Clincher. First tie an overhand knot near the end of the shock tippet; pull the knot nearly tight Run the end of the tippet through the eye of the fly and then up through the overhand knot.

Step 2. Loop the end of the shock tippet around the standing end and above the overhand knot. Push the end down through the overhand knot.

Step 3. Pull on the fly and the standing end of the shock tippet to draw the knot tight.

I will be participating in a Leadership Intensive program with world renowned author and leadership coach Stephen McGhee and his associate and long time friend of mine, Doug Freimuth, in September. The leadership program will be built around a three day fly fishing intensive. This promises to be a most productive program aimed at developing strong leadership skills using fly fishing as the Instructive vehicle.

Stephen McGhee is a world-renowned author and leadership Coach.

Dough Freimuth is my long-time friend and assistant to Stephen McGhee.

From a cabin deck at 4UR Ranch , the mountain vista stretches off into the distance.

Instructed fishing on the plentiful waters of the Ranch is most rewarding.

The beautiful waters of 4UR Ranch reach on for miles, all of them great fishing.

This first-of-its-kind weekend intensive will bring together one of the most renowned minds in the world of leadership coaching, Stephen McGhee (www.mcgheeleadership.com), his associate and long time fishing companion, Douglas Freimuth, and one of the finest fly fishing innovators, teachers and speakers of the past 40 years, Gary Borger (www.garyborger.com). This intensive will take place over two and one half days on the historic and beautiful 4UR Ranch and fishing lodge in Mineral County, CO. (http://4urranch.com)

This special weekend is for five select, highly motivated people whose goal is to stretch their ideas of themselves and their lives, and produce some useful transformational results they can immediately begin to apply. The vehicle for this will be Stephen’s group and individual coaching, combined with Gary Borger’s lessons on how the art and discipline of fly fishing can be a springboard and metaphor for making real life changes. This weekend will focus on getting to the core of what it really means to be authentic, and tap into the power, integrity, balance, and patience within one’s own life. As a participant, you will have the opportunity to choose a “story” or “idea” in your life that you want to move past, and then be empowered to set yourself free and achieve permanently sustained results. You will create an objective for the weekend, and work toward your vision in a powerful and creative way. You will experience converting your potential in this area of excellence, so that you may apply it to your business and life. The best part of all this, is that each day your personal leadership development will be integrated with the concepts of fly fishing in a fun and lasting way.

Logistics 

The intensive will begin on the evening of Thursday Sept 19th where we will begin the leadership work, guided by Stephen, on our objectives for the next two days.

We will then have a presentation by Gary Borger on a facet of fly fishing

Day 1: We’ll begin with a quick check-in on our personal chosen objective and then we head to the river for a morning session of fishing. Each session, two guests will be guided by Doug and Gary with one guest each session accompanying Stephen for a private fishing/ coaching session on the water. We will then meet for lunch and a casting workshop with Gary. After lunch, we will split up again into different pairs and fish the afternoon session.

Following a sumptuous evening meal, Stephen and Gary will conduct discussions and answer all questions regarding both coaching and/or fishing.

Day 2: We move forward on our objectives and build on what we learned from day 1.

Morning of Day 3: Final breakfast, getting clear session and closing/check out.

This is also an opportunity to continue to learn from the best doing something we all love: fly fishing.

Travel options: Arrangements to arrive at 4UR can be viewed on their website here: http://4urranch.com/location/ The closest Airport to 4UR is Alamosa, CO which has daily flights to/from Denver; and 4UR will be happy to pick you up at Alamosa Airport if you arrange it. Or, there are other travel options like flying to Denver or Durango and renting a car for the beautiful drive to 4UR.

Please arrange to arrive by the latest, dinner time on Thursday night Sept 19th, and arrange to depart sometime after breakfast on Sunday, Sept 22nd.

Investment 

Program cost-$5000.00 (includes the leadership/fly fishing intensive program, lodging and all meals). Travel to 4UR and alcohol at the ranch are not included.

To reserve your spot, call Doug at 310-994-8091 or email: dfreimuth2@gmail.com

“My father was very sure about certain matters pertaining to the universe. To him, all good things – trout as well as eternal salvation – came by grace; and grace comes by art; and art does not come easy.”

~Norman Maclean, A River Runs Through it.

Opportunistic feed is when fish literally eat whatever the opportunity provides. This is often the situation during periods between hatches. Selective feeding occurs whenever there is a super-abundance of one food type—such as occurs during a hatch. Then there is Semi-Selectivity. This is a type of opportunistic feeding during which fish feed preferentially on organisms that they see frequently rather than on organisms that are not as prevalent. For example, a lake is loaded with scuds and has only a marginal number of Callibaetis mayfly nymphs and caddis species. If the fish sees a scud, a nymph, and a caddis larva, it will more likely take the scud. If it sees only the nymph and/or larva, then it well eat them.

This Semi-Selectivity is to be expected because the fish is exposed to scuds more frequently than other food organisms. And while not entrained on scuds to the level of absolute selectivity (such as a trout feeding exclusively on Baetis emergers), the trout certainly recognize scuds as tasty tidbits more readily than they recognize other food items.

Our friend, Theo Bakelaar, of Holland, fishes a large, brackish lake that contains large rainbows. Often, in the part, Theo would fish hard all day for a strike or two. Then, on his last trip, he noticed an abundance of scuds, collected some and tied imitations. His success was immediate—during the day.

Toward evening, the fish moved into deeper water near the dams and hammered the baitfish. Then Theo switched to his Eelskin minnow imitations, and in turn, hammered the trout.

Pay attention to the prevalent food organisms in the waters you fish by day/month/year and by the time of day. It will greatly increase you chances of taking fish.

The scuds Theo found were olive colored–note the orange egg sack in the center of each scud.

Many scuds are rather small, sizes 10 to 18. Heavy wire hooks not only help the flies to get down a bit, but there’s far less chance they will straighten when fighting a big fish.

Trout feeding on scuds get very heavy, very quickly. Note the girth of this scud eater.

When going for these big fish, use the heaviest tippet that they will accept the fly on. You’ll need it if the fish gets in the weeds.

One of the best ways to fish scuds is with the Strip/Tease Retrieve. Strip slowly and simultaneously jiggle the rod tip back an forth a few inches., The fly fill move in a jerky manner very similar to that of the natural.

The fluorescent orange egg sack is a very important feature in the imitation.

Fish may focus on different organisms at different times of the day. Toward evening, the fish in the Lake Theo was fishing switched from scuds to minnows.

Big fish require big food organisms to sustain their calorie requirements, and will pound minnows when they are available.

Theo’s Eelskni Minnow is a great imitation when the fish are eating baitfish.

I recently received some Hackle Pliers from TYFLYZ TOOLZ. Although of are of the same design as the original prototypes that Robert had given me a couple of years back, these are made with just a tiny bit thinner wire. This modification is an improvement over the prototype because these newer ones are less difficult to open—read easy on the fingers—and hold the hackle every bit a well as the original design.

Without a doubt, these are the best hackle pliers out there. Quick to apply, super lightweight, and a gorilla like grip. On top of that, I get almost no breakage. Wow. If you haven’t seen these in the shops, then order direct. There is no web site for Flytyz Toolz as yet. Here’s their address and phone number.

Robert L. Jorgensen
TyFlyz Toolz
P.O. Box 9
Cascade, CO 80809
303 647 0640

These are easily the best hackle pliers on the market

If you like the idea of fishing the lochs in the Highlands of Scotland, or just the idea of tying the flies that are used there, then you need to visit wildsidefishing.com and click on Flt Tying in the header bar. Andrew Hogg shows the tying in great detail, and discusses the history and fishing of the flies as well. It’s always fun to learn about the tying and fishing tactics of others. And besides, it’s Scotland, land of Spey Rods, Nessy, and real Whisky.

The Treble K–go read the history of this fly, it’s fun.