“Hello darkness, my old friend, I’ve come with talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping, left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain, still remains
Within the sound of silence”

-Simon and Garfunkle

Ok, so I maybe fish a streamer more than most, I admit it. Once I figured it out it became simply second nature, almost to a fault. There are times I’m fishing a streamer when I should really be fishing nymphs, something to work on. The evolution of angler should never stop, it is through constant evaluation and re-evaluation that we excel. I write this two Ranger IPA’s down and looking forward to tossing flies at trout tomorrow. Ironic that I think about my streamer “crutch” as I write the introduction to something I’ve been mulling over about for a couple months or so, something more natural, with more…boogie. The Jungle Boogie, with less flash, a simple yet effective profile and tons of motion it is my Sculpin pattern. Sure, it needs extensive field testing and this coming season will allow for that, but for now I am confident that it will see trout. Browns, brookies, and yes…stocker rainbows will see this pattern in the coming months. Then after a couple adjustments and the development of a couple more color options this will become a staple in my arsenal. This fly, named after the movement that the jointed sections provide, tied on two #12 Dia-Riki 135 Scud hooks and linked by a simple length of backing, moves. I like the lack of flash, it will have it’s days when the trout turn down the flashy SMB for something more… realistic. Weight will need a bit of tweaking, as of now it’s roll casting close to 40ft accurately, I’d like to get 50 out of it. I’d also like to mention that the dubbed portion of this fly is made possible by the groovy dubbing courtesy of Singlebarbed.com, the Free Range. Natural in color with just enough flash to freak me out, this stuff rocks and that’s the only reason why I keep plugging it. Get into it, trust me, you’ll never go back. With that… the only fly that I know of that has a theme song…the Jungle Boogie. Kool and the Gang, 1974…get down, get down…Jungle Boogie. Here I come trout…

Note: This is Not a Woolly Bugger.

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Winter season in Minnesota. Goddamn have I been waiting for this, for some reason the urge to get back to the creeks I know grows each off-season and with this year’s non-stop Iowa fishing I want it even more. Fishing in Iowa is nice and I enjoyed exploring new creeks but the Minnesota water I know has been sorely missed. This is the beginning of the season, of the year, of the hatches, of the new creeks and the old favorites. It is another year being a Driftless bum, what a beautiful thing. The snow hasn’t shown up and tomorrow we will be fishing in the wind but we’ve got a plan and if the will is there… I want the snow but I’ll take fishing in Minnesota again, I’ll take it and smile. To a new year and a dozen #20 Jujubee Midge flies, all of which will likely find their way to the creek in the coming months. If your heading out tomorrow, good luck, may the wind be at your back and the bugs be active.

p.s. I’d like to thank Carl for the blocks of wood/cork holding two seriously strong magnets, I could not get a single hook to lay stuck down like other magnets I’ve used. This is a seriously awesome thing and it’s usefulness (especially with smaller hooks) speaks for itself. Never again will I struggle to find a hook ready to meet my vice. Note: the last picture stinks due to poor lighting, I spent time on and off knocking these out today finishing after the good afternoon light had set.

A proposition, a proposal, a tit for tat, a quid pro quo if you will was discussed a while back with this guy. His flies for mine, I liked this idea. His arrived first, mine are on their way. New ideas are already filtering through my mind, these flies have got to just kick ass. Seeing someone elses work prompting my mind to look at something in a new way, this is a good thing. I look forward to tossing them soon. Thanks John.

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Sat up listening to this… tied up these. Free Range Dubbing and Soft-Hackle equates to…deadly.

It’s going to be cold, shitty ass weather. Starting at 7am and fishing until the cold gets you, you run out of flies or 7pm hits. It’s the PetFly SmackDown coming to an Iowa trout stream near you. This year featuring a potential snow storm, ice and rain. Not to mention the opening weekend of Iowa gun Deer season (don’t forget your blaze orange). Tie your flies, pack your boxes, grab your gear and hold on to your ass. Here we come Iowa look out for the Hairball, this year we are gunning for the win.

Biot Comparadun: #16 BWO

• Hook: #16 Dry Fly
• Thread: Olive UTC 70
• Tail: Dun Microfibbets
• Wing: Dun Deer Hair
• Body: Olive Turkey Biot
• Thorax: BWO Dubbing
• Head: Olive UTC Thread

Critical Thoughts: The wing is too long on some of the flies I tied, tails as well. The wing should sit more at a 45 degree angle to the rear and should maybe be a bit further towards the hook barb than in this example. Color is a decent match but the photos here do not do color any justice. I tied half with a lighter olive dubbing for the thorax and half darker. All in all I’ll venture to say they will bring a trout to surface and are a bit better option than what I currently have in my dry fly box, with that said more in a #18 and #20 are needed.

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