Working towards my goal of evening fishing I arrived stream-side with Sershen in the mid-afternoon to test a few pet fly options for the day of fishing this Saturday. Fall is fast approaching, this becomes apparent when leaves floating in the stream alter the drift you are attempting to achieve. Cooler night air temps have encouraged fish activity and streams are generally low but fishing well. Mayfly nymphs are on the rocks again (for those streams that don’t see many Trico’s) after the summer lull, another indication that it is later in the year. We started the day fishing a “hot spot” that has legend of large fair but for some reason has always turned out to be a bust for me, after a quick stop we moved to the main attraction and began the hike in. Read the rest of this entry »

In preparation for the Pet Fly Smack-down I give you the Pink Patrick and Pink Page, two of my potential entries for the tournament. I’ve been invited to join a group that gets together every year to spend a day from 6am (breakfast) til 7pm (dinner) fishing flies they have tied with fur from pets they have. My understanding is that you are allowed to fish any flies during the day but measurements and fish counts only apply to the one pet fly you have selected to use. I have chosen a variant on the popular Pink Squirrel pattern and substituted fur from one of my two felines to form the bulk of the body. My previous experience tells me that the Pink Patrick is a good bet but I tied up the darker Page version as another option that I plan to test this week prior to the tournament, allowing me to let the trout tell me which fly to put into play. Read the rest of this entry »