St. Vrain Angler News & Muse April 5, 2005
Greetings!
I hope this finds
you well, enjoying the ups and downs of
continuing Spring weather. Over the
weekend we had very warm temperatures, and today it is supposed to snow
again. Oh well; so it goes this time of year. The good news is that the
mountains continue to receive snow and the plains have gotten rain. We're
always happy to get moisture around here - until it floods. That's our lot
in life: too little or too much moisture. Oh well.
It seems that
more and more folks are fishing these days. We're seeing folks take
advantage of our Spring Reel/Leader cleanup with hopes of using their gear.
That's a good thing - using our gear. People are asking where-can-I-go
questions, and then going. In the past week in addition to reports on local
streams such as the Big Thompson and St. Vrain, we've had reports from the
Miracle Mile - good, but windy; Gray Reef - good and some real big fish; the
Green near Dutch John - windy, but caught some very nice fish on dries; and
the Arkansas - caddis may be starting soon, but the blue winged olives are
going nuts. It's true that we've had wind stories of late, but it is
blustery springtime. What else do we expect?
St. Vrain
River Cleanup!
Please mark your
calendar for Saturday, April 9 at 8:00AM. The City of Longmont is
hosting a River Walk
cleanup. People will meet at the Isaac Walton Clubhouse on South Sunset
street at 8:00AM to form into groups. Lots of folks will turn out to
clean
up along the stream and river walk, but few folks will be there to climb
into the water to pick up trash and mark spots that need special attention.
That's where we
come in. Anglers have waders, and we need to have a great show of support
for this effort. We'll walk in the stream, picking up trash and so
on. It will last for about 3-4 hours and be fun, useful and full of insight
on the condition of the St. Vrain River through Longmont. Please join this
effort! THANKS.
Will you help? If
so, please complete and send me this form.
Thanks!
During spring
breezes, how do we get the fly where we want it? Good casting, which means
good loop control. The basics of the cast: bend the rod; form a loop. All of
the movement that is made
with the shoulder, upper arm, forearm and wrist should be making the rod
bend. The type of bend it makes determines the loop that is formed. When the
rod tip travels in a straight line, a good loop results. If the rod tip
pivots, rather than bending, an open loop is the result. If the rod is
shocked and the stroke too abrupt causing the tip of the rod to bend under
the straight line a tailing loop will result.
Only use the
amount of energy required to form a good loop and get the fly where it
should go. Too much energy may cause the fly line to slap the water; tailing
loops may also result. It is unusual to see folks use too little energy. Too
much energy is usually the problem for anglers, as far as I can tell. We
think more is better, and will solve our casting problems.
Again: bend the
rod; form a loop. The proper rod bend forms a
good
loop. Good loops fight the wind and usually present the fly more accurately.
(Do you like
the carp? The dog? This was yesterday on Union Reservoir in Longmont.
Andrew, or resident carp expert, said fish were cruising and tailing, and
few took their flies. Cool beans, huh? This is a great way to practice good
casting technique - the fish demand it!)
Practice casting
on the lawn or a local warm water pond in one of our many lovely parks. How?
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Begin with a roll
cast. Shake the leader and about 15-20 feet of fly line out of the tip of
the fly rod. Allow it to lie straight in front of where you are standing.
Slowly move the rod to the back-cast position. Stop. the line should form a
letter D from the tip of the rod to the ground. Make a forward cast. Lead
with your elbow, pulling it back down to
your side. Accelerate to a stop, using the amount of energy it takes to move
that amount of fly line. Repeat this until you can do it five or six times
in a row correctly. The line should make a smooth loop and the fly should
land on the water first. (The pretty rainbow was caught by our friend
Chuck on the Big T last week during a snowstorm. It was windy, too.)
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Now, work on a
pick-up lay-down cast. Make a good back cast by accelerating to a stop,
going backwards. The fly line will come off the water gently, forming a loop
as it passes over the tip of the fly rod, which has bent properly to form a
good loop. The motion should be smooth; the stop a stop, as though the tip
of the rod is sticking to Velcro. Think of that position, where the rod tip
will stop, and move it to that spot, then stop. When the line straightens,
make a forward stroke that is very close the roll cast stroke, allowing the
line to move forward in a nice loop over the tip of the rod, then landing
gently on the water. Do this until you can make good, controlled loops five
or six times in a row.
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Now we'll do a
false cast. The strokes will be similar to the
pick-up lay-down cast, but we're not going to lay the line down until we've
moved it back and forth - with good, controlled loops - several times. Each
stroke will accelerate to a stop. The rod will bend; the line will form a
loop. Again, do this until five or six false casts in a row have good loops
and line control. (That's friend Tom with a Wahoo from Baja. While these
fish are often caught when anglers troll large flies, they are also caught
by folks who cast to them.)
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Add five to ten
feet of fly line and repeat the process. Longer casts usually mean a
slightly longer stroke with a deeper rod bend. Always accelerate to a stop;
bend the rod; form a loop. Less motion is better, as all motion is
transferred to the fly line. To make good, straight-line casts, the rod tip
has to travel in a straight line.
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Does this make
some sense? Practice - correct practice - is a good thing. Investing time in
good casting will pay huge dividends on the water. Always enjoy the process.
What does the
April fly box look like? That's another good question. The fly box should
probably represent the season, the bugs we expect to see, the water we'll
fish and so on.
Streams: we'll
begin to see a few Early Brown Stones, shown
here - thanks for the picture, Frank. The bugs are small - probably a size
#18 - and dark. Often, they have gray wings, but some are mottled dark
brown. A small elk hair caddis will work, as will other patterns. I've got a
new caddis/stonefly imitation I've been tying and would be glad to share it
with you in the shop.
Small mayflies
will begin replacing midges as the bug of the day for trout. We're seeing
them on local streams, and I'm getting reports that they are
showing
up on the Roaring Fork and Frying Pan as well. Carry the family of bugs -
nymphs, emergers and adults. Pheasant Tail, Dale's Beatis and other patterns
will work well for the nymphs. We have a variety of emergers in the shop, as
well as adult patterns.
The fly box of
the Wyoming Angler - those who fish the "Mile" and the "Reef" will have few
dry flies, but lots of nymphs and a few streamer patterns. Larry's scud is
working great, and he tied a few for the shop. Small pheasant tails,
brassies, midge larva patterns and a few golden stones, as well as San Juan
Worms should be carried and used. They work. Buggers and Zonkers
are a good choice for streamer patterns.
In warm water,
know thy prey to select the proper flies. At this time, underwater patterns
that imitate crawdads and minnows are going to work best. I'll be honest
though: I like using dry flies for carp.
It's always a
good idea to carry a few attractor patterns, too. I
like
fishing with small coachman Trudes this time of year, which always seem to
produce takes. Use your favorite patterns, and put them in the right place
at the right time and fish will be fooled.
When's the right
time? As soon as possible. What's the right place? On the water.
That's as vague
as I can be. Sorry.
For tying tips,
please see TyingTips and pick the pattern
you'd like to learn. If you have questions, please drop me a line or stop by
the shop.
It is with
sadness that I report today that Mark Rayman has decided to move on and will
no longer be working at the shop. We've had a good run and been through lots
of things together. I wish Mark all the best in all that he does, and am
thankful for the time we've had working together.
We all go through
changes in life. Sometimes they come as a surprise. Change is good, though.
I love challenges, and I love teaching and encouraging folks to fly fish.
That's what I'll be doing - teaching and encouraging - and I look
forward to hearing from and seeing you in the shop in the near future.
We're taking
another trip to Lake Maria this weekend, and look forward to a few more very
big fish. What the heck; they're there, and we'll be there. We might just as
well hook a few, eh?
That's all I have
for today. As always, thanks for reading.
I hope you are
well, and look forward to your stories, your flies and so on. See you soon.
Dale Darling
