Central Alberta Fly Tying Club: December 2014

Monday, December 15, 2014

Clousers and Deceivers with Plummer's Lodge Guide , Reid Stoyberg

The library was jammed to capacity with avid fly tyers to take in Reid Stoyberg's presentation tonight about fly fishing for lake trout at Plummer's Lodge on Great Bear Lake. I always look forward to Reid's presentation. There is a lot to learn from Reid's experiences guiding on Great Bear Lake. Reid loves to guide guests who come armed with fly rods. He loves the challenge which this year yielded a monster laker at 36 pounds on the fly rod.

Reid guided us through tying Bob Clouser's tried and true streamer, the Clouser Minnow and Lefty Kreh's Deceiver. Both are great streamers and if you tie them large, you can catch gigantic lake trout with them.

Thanks Reid for the enjoyable presentation! I can feel the passion you have for guiding at Great Bear.

This is our last presentation until after Christmas. Karen and I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas! We will see you Monday January 5th when Dr. Bill Young is our presenter!

Reid Stoyberg

Lefty's Deceiver

Hook: Mustad 34007 sizes 1/0 to 4/0

Thread: 3/0, colour to match fly

Tail: Schlappen or hackle tips

Flash: crystal flash and flashabou

Body: Diamond braid

Body sides: Buck Tail

Top: Buck Tail

Throat: Red Flashabou

Eyes: Stick on (optional)

Clouser Minnow

Hook: Mustad 34007 sizes 1/0 to 4/0

Thread: 3/0, colour to match fly

Over Wing: White Buck Tail

Under Body: Your choice of colour

Accent: Flashabou

Eyes: Dumbbell Eyes

The Gang concentrating on their streamers

Can you imagine landing a monster lake trout like this on a fly rod?

Monday, December 8, 2014

Fly Fishing for Bonefish with Doug DeWitt

Hi Everybody!

Tonight Doug DeWitt was our guest presenter and he spent the evening teaching us two proven bonefish flies as well as giving us an excellent overview of his set up for fly fishing the flats. Doug has visited several bone fishing locations including the Turks and Caicos Islands as well as Cuba. Doug loves to sight fish for big bonefish. Dougs' extensive bone fishing experiences has taught him "what works!" He shared his thoughts about his approach to bonefish fly fishing after showing us how to tie a Bunny Gotcha and the Merkin Crab!

The library was jammed to capacity to take in Doug's informative presentation. Thanks Doug, we all learned a lot!

Remember next week, Reid Stoyberg, guide at Plummer's Lodge, is our guest presenter. I am already looking forward to our last tying session before Christmas!

Please drop Bob a note (bob.vanderwater@rdpsd.ab.ca) to sign up for Phil Rowley's all day workshop on January 31st! The theme is Euro Nymphing. This will be a comprehensive workshop that includes: learning to tie the flies, making your own slinky system, learning how to set up the train of flies as well as fishing them! This is going to be a very cool workshop you will not want to miss!

Doug DeWitt

The gang at work!

Bunny Gotcha with Silly Legs

Hook: TMC 811s size 6-4

Thread: Olive or Tan 3/0-0r 6/0

Tail: Peacock Flashabou with silly legs

Body: Diamond Braid, bonefish tan

Wing: Rabbit, flesh or white

Bead: Bead chain to dumbell eyes depending on the depth or nothing (quite shallow)

Preparing legs for the Merkin Crab

Darren installing the legs

Tieing in the EP fibers

Time to trim the EP fibers to the shape of a crab!

Merkin Crab

Hook: TMC 811s sizes 2 or 4

Thread: Tan or olive B thread

Tail: Krystal Flash, olive

Body: EP 3D fibers white, tan or olive

Legs: Silly legs

Bead: Bead chain or dumbell eyes (depending on depth you are fishing)

Doug spent time going over his set up. Doug uses an Orvis Helios 8 weight with a 9 weight Rio bonefish line. Doug pointed out the importance of practice casting before you go. Be sure you can double haul proficiently!

Doug also went over his homemade leaders. They are 10 to 14 feet long starting with a 60 pound butt, tapering down to 40 pounds and finally 20 pounds to the fly! Doug showed us how to tie a Seaguar Knot to attach fluorocarbon to fluorocarbon (take a look at the video). This is a knot that will not slip and maintains its strength. Oh yes, use some chap stick for lubricant when attaching two different pieces of fluorocarbon!

Now THAT is a bonefish!

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Video of Reid Guiding at Great Bear Lake and the Tree River

Hi Everybody!

Take a look at some footage from Reid's GoPro while guiding this past summer at Plummer's Lodge. Reid guides a group of 3 guests at both Great Bear Lake and the brawling Tree River in Nunavut right on the Arctic coast!

There were several incredible moments that include a deluge of rain, chasing arctic char in big water and landing a 36 pound lake trout on the fly. This piece of video is well worth the 12 minutes to watch!

You will not want to miss Reid's fly tying presentation on December 15th!

Enjoy!

Bob

Monday, December 1, 2014

Mouse Patterns!

Twenty five fly tiers came out tonight and had a great time tying two very cool mouse patterns that definitely are fish catchers! The Morrish Mouse is a staple fly pattern in Alaska and in Kamchatka in Russia. Take a look at this cool video of the Morrish Mouse getting devoured by gigantic rainbows:

Mighty Mouse, ...the video!

We also tied a neat fly that a young fly fishing fanatic, Jeremy Roy, put me on to called Count Chocula! What a neat pattern that I can hardly wait to try in Northern Saskatchewan and perhaps on an unsuspecting big bruiser brown trout! Thanks Jeremy!

Next week, Doug DeWitt is our guest instructor. I know Doug has been spending time fly fishing the salt in Cuba! I bet he will bring some salt water patterns along. Doug is a passionate fly fisherman and you will enjoy his presentation!

Save the last Saturday in January for an all day comprehensive workshop with Phil Rowley. The theme is Euro Nymphing. It is going to be a fabulous workshop!