True Natives

I wanted to write this article to help clear up some misconceptions about the use of the word “native” when referring to trout found along the eastern seaboard.

              

I was taking a break one fall afternoon on one of my favorite North Carolina streams when I overheard a “professional” guide tell one of his clients; …yup, and the native browns and rainbows are just as pretty”.  I thought to myself…”he just had a slip of the tongue”.  Nope.  I decided to strike up a conversation with him as his client fished just out of earshot.  I asked him if he really thought that the rainbow and brown trout were natives.  He truly believed they were.

I explained that the only trout “native” to these waters or east of the Rockies for that matter is the brook trout.  Not to get too technical but the brook isn’t even a true trout, it belongs to the char family. 

The rainbow that we catch in our eastern waters are salmonoids. In fact, the rainbow most commonly stocked is the Oncorhynchus mykiss.  It is the result of a cross breed of the McCloud River steelhead and the McCloud River redband trout from California. 

The only true trout is the brown trout, Salmo trutta.  Since I had his attention, I also explained that there were two strains of brown trout, Lock Leven from the high mountain lakes of Scotland and the von Behr or German brown trout.  The Lock Leven strain is wider in the shoulder with a longer, more narrow head and they lack the red spots. 
There is one other trout found in some of the creeks on the easter seaboard called a tiger trout.  In some creeks, they occure naturally when there is a cross breeding between a brook trout and a brown trout.  The offspring are called "tiger" because of the striped markings on its sides.  It is a mule fish meaning it is sterile and cannot reproduce.  Even though this trout is born and bred in the creeks, it is still not considered a native trout.  There are some northern states that have stocking programs in place specifically for the tiger trout.

Most folks assume that since a trout placed in a stream reproduces that the offspring are classed as native.  They are not, they are classed as “wild” like all hold over fish (stocked fish that survived the year).

So there you have it, a crash course in very basic ichthyology.  It won’t get you through biology class but at the very least you can impress your nerdy friends…maybe.

Suggested Reading

Over the years, I have had the opportunity to teach fly-fishing to allot of folks.  One of the questions people asked is what books should they read.  Since I am from the old school so to speak, I always recommend “The Orvis Fly Fishing Guide” by Tom Rosenbaurer.  It has evolved into a wonderfully concise work for the beginner.  However, I like for people that I teach to become well rounded.  That is why I always recommend the books I read when I first started. 

Books like “In the Ring of the Rise” by Vincent Marinaro, “A Streamside Guide to Naturals and Their Imitations” by Art Flick and “The Soft Hackled Fly” by Sylvester Nemes.  The research and passion found in these books is amazing.  I like to compare these books to one of my favorite rock albums, Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon".  These books like the album were cutting edge for their time.  The information contained in their pages are just as insigtful and relevant to the novice today as they were all those many years ago when they were first written.

Today, the fly-fishing information field is so vast thanks to the internet, youtube.com and cable television.   The printed word of the fly-fishing and fly-tying world is vanishing and I am sorry to see it go.  Most of the books I recommend to folks are out of print but the serious hunter can locate them easily.  That actually adds to the joy of it all at least for me.   I still have most of my library intact and will from time to time sit and read with a good cigar.  It is a relaxing walk down memory lane and a way to pay homage to the folks that got me started all those many years ago.

If you are interested in a broader list, feel free to contact me and I will get one to you.  Also, let me know which you are most interested in, fly-fishing or fly- tying.

I hope ya’ll get the time to get hold of these books and read them.  They are truly amazing and very well worth the time to find.

Tight Lines!

Crystal Blue Persuasion

I wanted to take time to do a series on flies and imitations.  Its amusing when folks unfamiliar with fly fishing assume we tie the “real” fly to the hook when fishing.  Some folks actually did this.  Mainly with crickets and grasshoppers, bugs a lot more durable and able to be handled in this manner.  There were and perhaps still are hooks manufactured specifically for this purpose.  But that is not what I want to cover today.

The flies I want to cover are tied or created to match to some degree the naturals that are found in the waters we fish.  Since I am partial to freshwater trout streams, I’ll begin there.

This first fly I designed many years ago after reading an article about how trout and salmon seemed to favor the color cobalt blue.  So one evening while at the tying table, I tied a simple pattern in the fashion of a caddis larva. 

Caddis are flies that live in the trout streams and rivers.  They build cases in which they live attached to debris or rocks.  It is in these cases that they reach maturity, transforming into a winged, moth-like form.  In the winged form, they mate and the female returns to the surface of the stream or river to deposit her eggs, sometimes diving into the water to attach the eggs to rocks or debris.

As fly fishers, we tie imitations to appeal to these different stages of insect life.  So with that crash course in entomology, you can visualize the larva and imitation.  I always liked the caddis larva fly because it is quick to tie and extremely effective when tied in various colors and styles.  This particular pattern also works well when tied as a “beadhead”.  That means that a bead is added to the hook before the tying process starts.

Beads work great to add flash to the pattern as well as adding weight, which is helpful when fishing moving water.

These are the tools and material used to “tie” of make this pattern:

   

Vise, bobbin, waxed nylon thread, scissors, hooks, cobalt blue flash material, clear flash “dubbing”, and thin silver wire. 

The term “dubbing” means any loose material that can be wrapped or spun onto the thread to create a body or head.  It is really a term describing the process used to create the body or head.

The first step is to place the hook into the vise. 

Next, secure the thread onto the hook by holding the tag end of the thread into the left hand and the bobbin I the right hand.  Wrap the thread over the tag end wrapping toward the bend of the hook.  Making each wrap lay side by side until you reach the bend.  Now you can cut off the tag end of the thread.

Now, select about four strands of the material that will be used for the body, in this case the cobalt blue flash material.  Tie them in at the bend of the hook along with a length of silver wire.  The wire will be wound over the flash after the flash is secured.  This will help keep the body material from unraveling when the fishes teeth begin to shred it.

Wrap the thread back up the hook and stop about 1/3 distance behind the eye of the hook. 

Now wrap the flash altogether covering the hook up to where the thread stops.  Tie the flash off by wrapping the thread over the flash three times.  Trim off the excess flash material.

Take the silver wire and wrap tightly around the flash material leaving spaces in between each wrap.  Wrap the wire all the way to the flash material was tied off and then tie off the silver wire in the same manner and clip off the excess.

The head of the fly is the crystal “dubbing” material.  It is important to note that you DO NOT want the head to be too thick.  So pull a very thin amount from the package and place on the thread.  Spin the material on the thread between the thumb and index finger until it is evenly and tightly around the thread.

Wrap the dubbing over the tie down wraps from the other material and wrap just behind the eye of the hook.  Make a couple loop knots or “half-hitch” knots in the thread and cinch down tight. 

Clip the thread and admire your work!

Fly tying is a beautiful and practical art.  There is a satisfaction derived from being able to go to any trout river or stream, identify the aquatic life then imitate it to catch a fish.

Hope you enjoyed this article.  I will be adding more on the aquatic life and life cycles and the flies we tie to imitate them.  Let me know if you have any questions either by email or comment and Ill get back to you as quick as possible.

Tight Lines!

I'll Be Healthier in the Autumn

Sitting here in the hot, low country sun thinking back to the waters of my favorite haunts.  I tried to force myself to pick a favorite trip but cannot.  Even looking back through all of my journals, over all those many years, I was impartial.  It is funny however that when I read back over the entries it becomes clear that the best times were in the autumn.

The fall has always been my favorite time of year.  It could be because I grew up in a family who loved the outdoors.  Mom and dad always had the family outside doing things like hunting, fishing, camping, etc.  However, it was the archery hunting, small game and wing shooting and yes, the fishing in the mountains during the autumn that meant the most to me.

All of the streams I fish during the early spring and summer are beautiful pieces of aquatic real estate.  As Chap likes to say, “trout have the good sense to live in the most beautiful places”.  Nevertheless, these same streams in the fall become mystical.  I know the leaves are changing and the water is a little thinner but it is something more.

It is the smell of the dying leaves in the autumn sun.  It is the cold breeze that suddenly catches you and lets you know winter will not be far away.  Physically and emotionally, I become healthier.  My breathing becomes slower and deeper; my heart rate normalizes and the stress is gone.  What little stress that stubbornly lingers is easily washed away with the medicine in my flask.  It is these small but wonderful occurrences that let me know I am truly alive, that everything is right in my little aquatic paradise.  It is here that I feel I can live forever.

                                                                 

So for now while imprisoned in this subtropical heat and mundane existence of the nine to five, I am forced to be content with the planning of my autumn trips.  Perhaps if fate is kind enough, I might just one-day plant roots in these hills and finally live life the way the good Lord intended...  

 As A.J. McClean eloquently wrote; …”I am haunted by water”.

....When Did Fishing With A Fly Begin?

Okay so I used to teach a fly fishing course at the Sandhills Community College a long time ago…ok, seems like a long time ago.  As part of the course, I taught a brief history of fly fishing.  I did it for two reasons; first, because I wanted folks to know it has serious roots and that is where the “prestige” comes from.  Secondly and more importantly, I wanted the women in the class to feel more at ease to know that they were not participating in a “mans” sport.

I urge all who love history and fly fishing to research the roots.  New evidence comes available quite often enough to keep it interesting.  I will not go into too much detail in this article but if you are interested, email me and I will get the links and research sources for you.

As far back as I have been able to find, the first true written words about fishing with a “fly” began with AElian, an Italian naturalist from Rome in about 200 A.D.  Admittedly, AElian never traveled outside of Italy so at best, we have a third hand account. 

AElian wrote; “…I have heard of a Macedonian way of catching fish, and it is this; between Boroea and Thessalonica runs a river called Astraeus and in it there are fish with speckled skins; what the natives of this country call them you had better ask the Macedonians.  These fish feed upon a fly peculiar to the country, which hovers on the river…”. 

“…they do not use these flies at all for bait for fish; for if a mans hand touch them, they loose their natural colour, their wings wither, and they become unfit for food for the fish.  For this reason, they have nothing to do with them, hating them for their bad character; but they have planned a snare for the fish and get the better of them by the fisherman’s craft.  They fasten red (crimson red) wool around a hook, and fix onto the wool two feathers which grow under a cocks wattles, and which in colour are like wax.  Their rod is six feet long and their line is the same length”.

From the time of this writing, there is a huge gap of time.  However, one of the first true works on fishing with a fly belongs to Dame Juliana Berners.

Dame Berners was a noble woman and head of a Benedictine nunnery in Sopwell, England.  It was in 1496 that she first described the mayfly life on the waters that she fished as well as how to tie flies to imitate them.

The title of this work was “A Treatise of Fishing with an Angle”.  It was published in a collective work on outdoor sports of that era titled “The Book of Saint Albains”.  Dame Berners discovered a seasonal regularity of hatching insects on the waters she fished.  This discovery led her to the conclusion that a fishes diet is made up in large part of the supply of swarming insects. 

It is with these observations that Dame Berners developed twelve patterns of flies, one for each month.  The patterns that she described were so well defined, that fly tiers are actually able to tie the same patterns today.

So, this will conclude the short lesson in the modest beginnings of fly fishing.  It is a spectacular research if you are in for such things but it brought about a completely new respect for the art of fly fishing for me.  I can only hope that some of you may be interested enough to research more on your own or at the very least, have a new perspective on what is thought about as a whimsical way to catch a fish.

Tight Lines!

Switzerland Inn, NC

Just wanted to add a quick note to ask ya'll to check out this link.  I wrote a post about the mountains of North Carolina not long ago and told you briefly about an inn that is near and dear to my heart.  I talked with Gary this morning (owner of the inn) and we are exchanging links.  Please give them a visit and let them know you did.  They are great folks and I'm proud to consider them an extended family!

switzerlandinn.com

Stages of Life- Sailfish Project

Thought I would share the stages of life so to speak of one of my projects. This is a Sailfish that is part of a larger "off shore slam" series that will feature a sailfish, marlin and dolphin. The carvings are about 10 inches in length and will vary in width.

This first picture shows the pattern roughed out and ready to be sanded.

This picture shows the carving sanded and ready for the additional fins and then paint. I always prime the carvings before painting them as this will distribute the paint evenly without changing the color.

Here is the painted fish without the clearcoat on it and the fins added. At this point, I add the pearl finish to it and check to make sure there are no flaws. Once it is thouroughly dried, I add several layers of clear coat.

A Finished Sailfish! Though the picture doesn't do much justice, the piece is beautiful. This one will go behind glass with the Marlin and Dolphin for the completed "Offshore Slam".

I hope ya'll enjoyed the step by step of how a project comes to life. This kind of work is a passion of mine and I love to share with others.