The Central Alberta Fly Tying Club meets during winter months. Weekly tying sessions begin at 6:30pm. Call Bob Vanderwater 403. 347. 3802 or email rdvanderwater@gmail.com
Do you like fly fishing with hoppers? I do! I always have a selection of Charlie Boy Hoppers on hand, usually in sizes 8-12. I like using a streamer hook to help the fly land properly on the water. others use a TMC 100 sizes 8 to 10 most often.
Be sure to have a:
Hair stacker
Razor blade
Crazy glue
Sharpie to make some eyes.
Charlie Boy Hopper (Charlie Craven originator)
Hook: TMC 100 sizes 8-12 or streamer hook e.g. Mustad 9672 sizes 8-18
Thread: UTC 70 or 140-color to match foam
Body: 2 mm foam
Legs: rubber
Under Wing: Optional-Web Wing, Dura Wing, etc (punched outwith a wing cutter)
Flashabou-colour to match
Wing: Deer Hair
A basic Charlie Boy Hopper has tan foam, some rubber legs and a deer hair wing.
We were not going to be denied. The Central Alberta Fly Tying Club wanted to ensure our 11th Annual Fly Tying Day with Phil Rowley happened. Thank goodness Zoom allowed us to continue with the tradition. Seventeen fly tyers ventured into the cyber world to participate in Part 1 of the Suggestive Lake Flies Workshop. Part 2 of the workshop will be next Saturday. We had tiers from California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia and from all over Central Alberta. As always, our gang learned a lot about fly tying technique from Phil. Today we emphasized flies with peacock herl.
I am already looking forward to Part 2 of the Suggestive Lake Flies Workshop. A big plus to the day was seeing so many familiar faces. We visited, laughed, joked while we tied our flies. A great way to spend a Saturday morning when it was -21C. I did not ask Steve or Gerald the temperature in the San Fransisco, they were probably wearing shorts!
With several cameras being used, we are able to get a great look at the correct ways to tie the flies we covered today!
Thin Mint Bugger
Thread: UTC 70, Black or Olive
Hook: 3 XL Streamer Hook sizes 4 to 10
Bead: 1/8 tungsten
Tail: Barred Marabou, Olive and Burnt Orange with single strand of mirror flash
Phil Rowley did an outstanding job last night doing a fly tying demonstration of both his Bruised Leech tied balanced and the Baby Bruised Leech tied as a jig fly! Several members of our club made a donation to Trout Unlimited Canada through their Tying for Conservation Fundraising Campaign so they could watch the presentation! Phil raised $1000 for TUC with his presentation!
Next week, Dave Green, originator of the outstanding Candy Corn fly, will demonstrate how he ties this amazing fish catcher. A minimum donation (tax receipt included) of $25 will get you the link to watch.
Well, I will let you decide for yourself! Pretty awesome when you catch a 'Tomato" Char! Karen and I hope to be back! Our trip is booked but it is a waiting game.
Yesterday, my good friend, Reid Stoyberg celebrated his birthday. My mind wandered to the best fly fishing day that Karen and I ever experienced. We flew to the Tree River on the Arctic coast to fly fish for arctic char. We were so excited to experience the tundra first hand. Of course we wanted to catch and land some arctic char. Well on this day we landed 15. Reid guided us that day. He did a masterful job guiding us.
This is the first arctic char that was landed on this outstanding day.
The weatherman was finally RIGHT! Warm air spilled over the Eastern Slopes last night and we woke up to a chinook! Doug and I decided that a dash to Red Deer River was in order. Just below Gleniffer Dam, the water on the Red Deer River remains mostly ice free for several miles downstream. I have even floated this section of the RDR in February!
Just a heads up: The Red Deer River closes to fishing on March 1st until May 15th. You also have to be dressed for the weather and be aware of ice shelves in places.
I was fortunate enough to land a walleye. We had several grabs at our flies. Some so soft it was hard to tell if it was a take or not! Set the hook on everything!
Well I managed to trip and get wet today. I caught a rock with my wading boots. That ended my fly fishing after 3 hours out on the water. My arms and coat were soaked.
Doug and I were glad to get outside. Good therapy for this pandemic!
