South Platte River, Cheesman Canyon - 8/30/09

Got the chance to get out for the day to one of my favorite rivers. Arrived at the parking lot about 6:oo am, first car into the lot. Shortly after I started to gear up, two more cars pulled in. Started hiking in to the canyon about 6:45am, trying to come up with a game plan on where to fish. Decided to start fishing about mid point on the river. I call the area tree rock, because in the middle of the river is a big rock with a tree growing out of it. My first set was a size 14 golden stone nymph followed by a size 16 pheasant tail, followed by size 18 biot emerger. After about the 5th cast my indicator flat out disappeared, set the hook and after a few minutes I had this 18" rainbow into the net.

Worked to hole for about another hour picking up about 3 more fish. About mid morning I was noticing consistence fish rising on the other side of river. So I decided to change spots and dry my luck with a dry fly. After I relocated to the other side of the river I figured out it was a nice PMD hatch going on. Rigged up the rod with a size 16 parachute PMD, dropped a size 20 PMD emerger below. Sat there and watched refusal after refusal so I had to try something different. I took of the emerger and tied on a size 20 PMD compare dun. First cast with the compare dun on I landed this 16" rainbow. Fished the same area picking up a few more little fish. It has been a while since I fished a dry fly almost forgot how much fun it is to fish a dry fly.

Started working my way back to the car fishing my way out. I noticed this purple beetle on a tree stump. Never seen one this color before. I also watch a doe and fawn just of the trail from me. Did fish to much until I reached the lower river. Took advantage of the meat hole not being fished. Promptley landed a 17" rainbow and 16" brown. The one thing I noticed was how empty the river was for a Sunday. Then I realized NFL football is starting.

Overall it was a great day, fishing was great, scenery was great. Weather was awesome.

Stillwater fly swap 2009

There are only a couple of forums that I will participate in fly swaps, Rocky Mountain Fly is one of those sites. The quality of tiers are outstanding, and the flies are what I would fish with. Here are my two patterns for the swap. These two flies have been big producers on the still water this year.

This fly is my UV Callibaetis Nymph. Big producers at the mountain lakes. Spinney, Delany and Antero .

Hook: 2xl Nymph Hook

Thread: 8/0 Rusty Dun

Tail: Grey ostrich herl

Rib: 4lbs mono

Shell Back: Thin Skin Mottled Bustard Natural

Abdomen: Dubbing Mixture 60% Light tan hares mask, 40% UV tan Ice Dub. This mixture needs to be very light in color. Also after I tie the abdomen I brush out the dubbing on the sides to create the look of the gills.

Wing case: Thin Skin Mottled Bustard Natural

Thorax: Dubbing Mixture 60% Hares Mask, 40% UV Tan Ice Dub. This mixture is darker than that of the abdomen.

Legs: Natural Partridge

This fly is my No Name Red Midge. This fly is modeled after the cowboy midge from a Friend of mine.

Hook: 2xl Curved Nymph Hook

Thread: 8/0 red

Rib: Small Silver Wire

Abdomen: Red Fireworks Braid

Wing Case and Gills: White CDC Puff

Thorax: Red Dyed Peacock Herl

Hank Roberts Woven Stonefly nymph

About two week ago I was given a challenge by a good friend. He is a fly fishing guide in his sixties. He was looking for this nymph, Hank Roberts Woven stone fly nymph. This nymph has been around for a long time. Between a couple for sources I was able to figure out the nymph. The Internet did not a have a lot of info. The fly tying forum was a big help. One of the forum members was able to send me a couple of samples. Terry with Anglers All was a great help. After some time at the bench this is what I was able to come up with. Hank Roberts tied his flies with a different set of proportions, I'm tying mine with a more standard set of proportions.

Razor Foam - a under used dubbing subsitute

I have been playing with Razor foam in place of dubbing on dry flies for a while. Razor foam is a unique body material for dry flies. With razor foam in place of dubbing on the body, flies seem to float a little longer. Razor foam unlike dubbing dose not seem to soak up as much water as dubbing.What is razor foam? It is closed cell foam sliced into thinner thickness. The two thickness available is .5mm and 1mm.

There are two supplies of razor foam I have found. Waspi's Razor foam and Raniey's Cross link foam.

There are a couple of differences between the two foams. First the Wapsi razor foam has more stretch to it. With more stretch it enables you to work with smaller flies. Also Wapsi Razor foam comes in a opaque colors and translucent colors.

Below is a size 20 parachute Adams tied with the translucent grey razor foam from Wapsi

Tying with Razor foam is simple. Here I will go over the steps to tie a simple body with Razor Foam. General rule of thumb for thickness of foam to the size of fly. 1mm thickness size 12 fly and larger. .5mm thickness size 14 fly and smaller.

Notice the grain in the razor foam, always cut with the grain of the foam.

First cut a narrow strip of foam. The width of the strip depends on size of fly. This strip is about 1/8" wide, this is going to be tied on a size 14 hook. You also need to taper the tie in point.

Next step is to tie in the strip of foam to the fly. Tie in the strip of foam with taper facing up.

Next step is to wrap the foam around the hook. I wrap just like dubbing. You can vary the tension on the foam to create a nicely tapered body.

Go ahead and finish of the fly. The front half of the body is still dubbing. Here is the finished parachute Razor foam Adams.

Here are some samples of other flies you can tie.

Razor Foam Caddies

Razor Foam Caddies with Sharpie marker at the trailing edge.

This is my DH Hopper, tied in orange and black. This pattern can be tied in many different color combinations.

Spinney Mountain Resivor and Eleven Mile Canyon - 6/6/09

Learned a valuable lesson today, went to Spinney Mountain Reservoir for a day of fishing. Did not check weather forecast, big mistake. Arrived at Spinney about 8:00 am and noticed wind blowing a lot harder than it should be for that time, approx 20mph. Decided to go ahead and hike down to the favorite spot. Got rigged up and started fishing, with in a hour there where 2 foot white caps on the lake. At that point we decided to come up with a new plan, had the kitchen pass did not want to go home. Decided to go to Eleven mile canyon.

I hate to admit this, lived in Colorado all my life. Fly fished Colorado 25 years and I have never been to Eleven Mile Canyon. After spending a few hours on Saturday, what a great fishery. We did have to deal with a lot of people. Went up to the upper section of the river and found a spot with no one in it. The fishing started of a little slow, learning curve. Within a hour and half started hooking up on a regular basis. There was a caddis, PMD and golden stone hatch going on. The caddis seemed to be the heaviest. Fish did not seem to be looking up, few risers. Fish where feeding very actively sub surface.

I will be going back and spending more time at this river.

Golden Stone Adult

HMD Nymph (Home Made Device)

HMD Nymph

This little nymph I consider my first fly that I designed. This fly has produced on tail waters, freestone rivers and still water. The HMD nymph is my goto to nymph for almost any condition. It has a great buggy appearance to it. Tie a few up.

Hook: Curved caddis Hook

Thread: 8/0 Black on natural - 8/0 olive on olive nymph

Bead: Black

Rib: copper brown wire on natural, green wire on olive

Flash back: Medium Mirage opal tinsel-This goes over the abdomen only.

Abdomen: 60% natural Hare's Mask 40% tan UV Ice Dub or

60% olive hare's mask with 40% LT olive UV Ice dub

Thorax: Black UV Ice Dub, Peacock Ice Dub

I think the key to this fly is the dubbing mixture on the abdomen. After you complete the fly brush out the abdomen and thorax.

Casual Dress Nymph

I joined a fly swap for the flymph forum. IBF Swap #11 Hair hackles. The only stipulation was that it had to be a hair or fur soft hackle. I have always been a big fan of Polly Rosbrough. His fuzzy nymph series was ahead of it's time. One of the first VHS tapes I bought was his "Tying Fuzzy Nymphs. His techniques are very unique, his nymphs are very durable and create a lot of movement in the water. The Casual Dress Nymph is a deadly lake pattern. Polly considered this nymph as an food nymph. Hope you enjoy

Material List

Hook: TMC5263 size 12

Thread: 6/0 Gray

Tail: Tuft of muskrat fur

Abdomen: Muskrat fur

Collar: Muskrat Fur

Head: Black Ostrich herl

My Golden stone fly nymph

This fly has been one my go to flies for about the last year. It has produced fish at an great clip. This spring I have been running this in tandem with a beatis nymph. A fairly simple tie and a very durable nymph.

Bead Head Verizon

Hook: Standard 2xl nymph hook, Bead Head 3xl nymph hook

Weight: Flat lead tape

Thread: Yellow 6/0

Tail: Amber goose biots

Under Body: Yellow thread, colored on top with markers

Over body: Light Golden Stone D-rib

Wing case: Golden Stone scud back(Rainy's)

Thorax: TroutHunters Rene' Harrop Tannish Yellow Dubbing

Legs: Natural Partridge