Sunday, February 28, 2021

Charlie Boy Hopper-Charlie Craven

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. 





 

Saturday, February 27, 2021

Suggestive Lake Flies-Tying Workshop-Part 1 with Phil Rowley


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 
Body: Peacock herl with a mirror flash rib
Hackle: Saddle


P-Quad (Mark Olinger originator)

Thread: UTC 70 denier, olive, black or red
Hook: 3906B Mustad, Daiichi 1530; sizes 10-12
Tail: Pheasant
Body: Peacock herl
Wing: Mallard Flank
Collar: Partridge




SLF (Scud Like Fly)-(Phil Rowley Originator)

Thread: UTC 70 denier, olive, black or red
Hook: 3906B Mustad, Daiichi 1530; sizes 10-12
Tail: CDC, Olive
Body: Brill, Micro Chenile, Straggle String-Olive
Collar 1: CDC, Olive
Collar 2: Hen Hackle, Olive



Rainbow Emerger

Thread: UTC 70 denier, black or olive
Hook: 3906B Mustad, Daiichi 1530; sizes 10-12
Tail: Partridge
Body: Crystal Flash, rainbow
Collar: Micro Crystal Chenille
Collar: Partridge



Diawl Bach

Thread: UTC 70 denier, red or olive
Hook: 3906B Mustad, Daiichi 1530; sizes 10-12
Tail: Brown hackle fibres
Body: Peacock herl
Shellback: Opal Mylar Tinsel, medium
Rib: Copper or Gold, small
Beard: Brown hackle fibers




 

Thursday, February 25, 2021

The Balanced Bruised Leech and Baby Bruised Leech-Jig with Phil Rowley


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.




























 

Wednesday, February 24, 2021

Are Arctic Char One of the Most Spectacular Fish to Catch? ...I Think so!

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.









 

The Tree River, ...an Amazing Experience


 

Tuesday, February 23, 2021

A Tale of Two Caddis Flies- Well Worth a Look


...from Fly Tyer Magazine

Thanks Steve Anderson for the link!


 

Happy Birthday Reid


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.

Happy birthday my friend!








 

Sunday, February 21, 2021

Caddis Patterns for February 22, 2021 on Zoom



Hi Everyone! 





Stillwater Caddis Emerger (Brian Chan)

Hook: Mustad C49S 10-12
Thread: Oliver 8/0
Tail: Z-lon, white
Rib: 1 strand of pearl flashabou
Body: Olive Ice Dub
Wingcase: Deer hair
Hackle: brown
Wing: Deer hair


Partridge, Pearl 'n Olive (Ken Woodward)

Thread: Olive 8/0
Rib: Gold wire, small
Body: Midge Flex or scud Back
Thorax: Grey squirrel
Bead: Glass, pearl
Hackle: Partridge


Deer (Elk) Hair Caddis

Hook: TMC100 sizes 12-18
Thread: Olive 8/0
Hackle: Brown
Body: Thread or Olive antron
Wing: Deer Hair or Elk Hair


X-Caddis (Craig Matthews)

Hook: TMC100 sizes 12-18
Thread: Olive 8/0
Trailing Shuck; tan or white z-lon
Body: Thread or Olive antron
Wing: Deer Hair or Elk Hair




 

Walleye Fly Fishing on the Red Deer River in February, Why Not!


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!


Tighten up the slack buddy!