A Day of Days - Little J

I have always said that the Little J is my favorite stream in State College. I have had by butt kicked more times that not, but when its good, there is nothing else like it. 

It was almost 10:00 at night, Lenny and I where having one of those conversations about nothing, while were we both sitting at the vise, tying flies. We were talking about where to fish the next day, the original plan was to trailer the boats up to the West Branch and do a two boat float. Jack, Shane, and I would be in one boat, with Lenny and Austin in the other. That all changed when I got a text from Shane, saying he couldn't go. So a 5:00am call to Jack and the plans changed almost immediately, Jack and I were heading out to state. We fished Spring Creek for about an hour, until it started crawling with anglers. Then we decided to head over the mountain to the Little J, sulphurs were coming off throughout the day, with a healthy population of caddis mixed in. It was a day of days, we nymphed most of the day, until the spinner fall started and it was total mayhem until we couldn't see any more.

 

Tully Report - Caddis

It’s been a very productive week on the Tully, caddis are everywhere! The splashy rises of fish chasing caddis pupa can be seen, and heard everywhere. I have been doing really well nymphing with a caddis larva, and a pupa. Size 16 tan and green caddis are all over, fishing a CDC Caddis with a pupa dropped off the back of it, is the perfect approach to fooling those fish breaking the surface chasing pupa. Once the rises calm down and you find fish just sipping caddis on the top, cut the dropper off and enjoy some peaceful dry fly action. Reports of sulphurs coming off have started, I'm headed out tonight to find out!

Mudslide Musky Fishing

We were off on an adventure, to find a hungry musky; we found all of that and more. Emerson and Joe hopped on the boat with 10wts and nothing smaller than a 3/0 hook. Water was up and muddy, but a friend of mine sent me a text with no words, just this picture, so off we went with high hopes.

One thing I love about musky fishing is when an aggressive smallie decides to munch on a musky fly. The spring is a great time for this, because these fish are going into spawn mode and can be extra aggressive. Even when fishing with 10wts these fish can double the rod over! We have no pictures of the musky from this trip; however we do have one hell of a story. We did hook a very hot fish about 8 hours into the trip, this thing erupted out from under the boat and crushed Joe's fly. Now the one thing I'm not telling you, Joe wasn't even stripping the fly, it was just hanging in the water as we rowed over to the bank to get a fly out of the tree (Emerson's Fly). I stopped rowing to slide slowly toward the bank, when BOOM, Musky out of the water and fly in the mouth. We fought it for about a minute, had an air show twice before it spit the hook! Freaking Awesome, we were all shaking after that!

Featured Fly - Flashback Caddis Pupa

Here is an awesome little caddis pupa that has been working well for me this year. It is a pretty simple fly, and doesn't take a lot of time to tie. Change the color and size, and it will continue to fool fish all season.

Materials:

Hook: TMC 2457 sz. 14-18

Bead: Cyclopes Beads - Gold 

Rib: Ultra Wire - Gold 

Flashback: Mirage Tinsel - Med.

Body Dubbing: SLF Bug Dub - Olive or Tan 

Wing: Partridge Feather - Natural 

Antena: Wood Duck - 3 Fibers 

Thorax: SLF Nymph Thorax 

Step 1: Make a thread base, tying the ultra wire and tinsel as you take the thread back.

Step 2: Dub the body, leaving just a little space behind the bead.

Step 3: Pull the flash forward.

Step 4: Wrap the wire forward, making a segmented body.

Step 5: Cut a "V" in the partridge feather.

Step 6: Tie in the partridge on each side, making little wings.

Step 7: Tie in the wood duck fibers.

Step 8: Dub the thorax.

Step 9: Whip finish an cut off.

Finished Fly: