In my forty-plus years as a fly angler, I have frequented three different fly shops in eight distinct locations in seven different buildings under the ownership of five different people. In that time, I’ve gone from neophyte to experienced angler to geezer. I tell you this to establish my bona fides as a “shop rat” (The term doesn’t mean “employee;” a less sentimental term might be “hanger on”). Every one of those shops helped me immeasurably along the way. My first shop was Tom Helgeson’s Bright Waters. There I took casting lessons, an aquatic entomology class and an on-the-stream flyfishing for trout class. Tom brought in guest speakers who exposed me to facets of the sport previously unknown to me. I spent so much time at Bob Mitchell’s Fly Shop that I was more of a fixture than a regular. I learned a great deal there, too, but more importantly, I treasure to this day close the friendships with wildly disparate personality types that blossomed there.
My current home away from home is Lund’s Fly Shop. Housed in a soulful multi-story brick building dating back to 1881 on Main Street in River Falls, WI, this emporium nails the image of what a fly shop ought to look like. Mounts of tarpon, billfish and an incongruous elk gracing the high interior walls stand watch over an extensive array of waders, clothing, tackle, fly tying materials, accessories, and fly bins, with all of that seeming to float over the vintage hardwood floor. Staffed by friendly and knowledgeable folks, it’s a place that warms the soul.
One of the prominent features of the building is the mezzanine that overlooks the shop. There is angling art displayed on the walls. There are a few long tables up there that are ideal for group fly tying sessions. The shop hosts two of these sessions per month, one on a Saturday and another on a Tuesday. You can find the shop’s specific schedule at its website, https://www.lundsflyshop.com/. I’ve attended two sessions thus far and have had a wonderful time at both. At the first one, someone asked as soon as I’d sat down if I needed anything to drink. I said, “No, thanks, I’m good.” The response to that was, “Ice or neat?” Sensing that further resistance was futile, I replied, “Uh, ice.” A glass with ice and Irish whiskey appeared in front of me. I’m not saying this is a regular occurrence, but it looks like there’s a zeitgeist that suggests that you’re welcome to bring food and beverages to share. There’s some slight remnant boys’ club attitude, but it’s a welcoming place. I’ve seen a fellow who just stopped by to chat stay to help a boy of about ten who’d come with his non-tying father. The fellow stayed long enough to get the youngster through a couple of basic patterns that employed the basics of tying. Another man helped a young woman wearing a Green Bay Packers stocking cap master the use of a whip finishing tool. I saw my friend Sarah, an accomplished tyer, tie her first two pike/muskie Bufords. A fellow two generations younger than me reached out to me to show me the elegant soft hackles he was tying. Even among all the experienced tyers, there’s something for everyone to learn. We often come to think of ourselves as trout fly tyers or warmwater tyers or whatever, but the thing is, there’s a whole spectrum of flies that cross borders or involve techniques that can be applied anywhere. In one night, I’ve seen tied, among other things: Steelhead intruder flies, billfish flies, jig streamers, soft hackles, midges, and a CK baitfish, which, with its die-cut synthetic tail and flashy trimmed body would have been heresy just a few years ago.
Given the combination of camaraderie, bonhomie, the learning opportunities, you can’t go wrong. Of course, Lund’s is not the only fly shop in the area and you might be a regular at one of them or are looking for a reason to become one. Those shops likely have open tying sessions, too, ones that might provide you with as much fun as I’m having at Lund’s. Be sure to look them up. Having a fly shop to call your home is an essential part of not being merely an informed angler, but a happy one.
Editor’s Note: Open tying sessions are also available at Mendprovisions Fly Shop located in Saint Paul , Minnesota (mend provisions.com) and the Cabela’s store in Rogers (Link). Photo provided by Brian Smolinski
The Elk Hair Caddis (EHC) would have to be considered to be one of the most popular flies and can be found in just about every fly box. That is because it is so effective at catching fish. The fly was created in 1957 by Al Troth. At that time, Al was living and working in Pennsylvania and wanted a caddis dry fly to fish some of the broken water on his local trout stream. In the 1970s Al relocated to Montana and started guiding. The fly pattern was “discovered” at that time when Bud Lily’s Flyshop in West Yellowstone started to sell the fly.
As good as the EHC is at catching fish, it is somewhat surprising that it is such a simple fly. It really only has 3 materials: dubbing, hackle and elk hair. You could also add a wire rib if you want. Also somewhat surprising is that the EHC is a very easy and quick fly to tie. Well, until you start to tie them anyway. The biggest issue when tying this fly is that you have a big clump of elk hair that you need to keep on top of the hook. When you apply enough thread tension to keep the hair in place, that tension will want to pull the clump of hair around the far side of the hook shank. No amount of glue or head cement will hold that clump of hair in place, so don’t try that! Fortunately, your fly tying sensei (that’s me) is here to share his secret EHC tying tips. The number and length of the tips is an indication of how many EHCs I’ve tied (and screwed up). So here are the keys to attaining EHC perfection. After a few hundred repetitions this will all become second nature.
1. Use the smallest size thread you can make work (yes, it takes some experimentation to figure this out). My go-to thread is 8/0 Uni. I have found that the smaller thread actually helps me to get tighter thread wraps as described in Tip #3.
2. Take care when you are preparing the clump of elk hair to comb or pick out all of theunder fur. I also like to remove the really long and short ones so all the hair is about the same length before I stack it.
3. When I have the elk hair wing all set to tie in, I start with 2 loose thread wraps and then pull tight. I then add 4 or 5 additional thread wraps at that same tie-in point. Next, to keep the hair from spinning around the hook I lift about ¼ of the butt ends of the hair and get a tight thread wrap in that spot. I repeat this 3 more times before returning my thread to the original tie-in location. From there I will make a couple more tight thread wraps, lift up the butt ends and make several wraps of thread around the hook before I whip finish.
4. For the wing, I like to use cow elk hair. I have found it to be a little softer than bull elk.This allows me to get tighter wraps with my thread.
5. When tying hair wing flies during the winter, I keep a dryer sheet available that I will keep on the patch of hair to reduce some of the static.
6. One last tip. I like to undersize my hackle on this fly. For example, if I am tying a size 16 fly, I will size my hackle down to a size 18. I just think it looks better and allows the fly to float a little better.Hook: 1xl Dry Fly Hook, Size 14 to 20.
Thread: 8/0 Uni
Abdomen: Superfine dubbing
Rib: Dry fly hackle
Wing: Elk Hair
I hope that these tips will help you with your tying. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me.
Students at Rocky Branch Elementary have been excited about raising brown trout. They patiently watched as the orange eggs hatched into alevin last October. Since then, the alevin have grown into strong swimmers or “fry” and learned to eat.
The 5th Grade students are the primary caretakers and are responsible for three different jobs: Wildlife Artists, Trout Researchers, or Water Quality Testers. Over 50 students signed up to participate in this year’s “Trout in the Classroom” program.
If all goes well, the trout will be released into the WIllow River (at Willow River State Park) this coming spring. This activity is in cooperation with the WI DNR and Kiap-TU-Wish, our local chapter of Trout Unlimited.
The Picket Pin is a pattern from the old west that gets its name from ground squirrels that were nicknamed “picket pins” by cowboys as they resembled the short stakes used to tie off horses. The original fly, developed by Jack Boeme, was tied with tail and body hair from these western ground squirrels. More modern recipes utilize fox squirrel and grey squirrel.
I tied some Picket Pins to try out in the smaller streams in Yellowstone and later realized they were a great pattern for brook trout around home. It’s a wet fly that you can drift or strip just under the surface. You can swing it towards root wads and brushy areas and strip it back just in time to avoid trouble. It often draws a chase from aggressive brookies. It’s white squirrel tail wing provides a good contrast to the body and allows you to focus on the fly and watch for fish. The only trick is to stay calm enough for them to take the fly before you strike.
Hook: 2XL Nymph hook size 10 or 12
Thread: Black
Tail: Fox squirrel tail fibers
Rib: Small copper wire
Body: Peacock herl
Hackle: Brown
Head: More peacock herl
After wrapping the body, add and palmer the hackle back towards the tail and secure by wrapping the wire forward woolly bugger style. A good example of this is covered by Tim Flagler’s tightlinevideo on YouTube
Many of you are probably already looking forward to the early trout fishing season in Wisconsin. Some of you will be out on the first Saturday of January no matter the cold temperatures. Others of you will prudently wait for a day when the temperatures are moderate and the chill wind from the north is not a factor. Some of you will be happy to be out regardless of your anticipated success while a few of you will harbor visions of catching a significant fish on a tiny midge imitation or perhaps a Tiny Black Stonefly.
Let’s start with the premise that you dearly love dry fly fishing. You crave the artful presentation and the sight of a trout rising to your crafty floating fraud. But at this time of year if you catch anything at all it’s likely to be tiddlers. Reluctantly, you see the wisdom of switching to a nymph, after all it’s estimated that 90% of a trout’s meal ticket is subsurface fare. To save time you decide to continue fishing with the same leader, most likely a 9’ 5X with 20” of tippet attached, switching out the dry fly for a nymph and adding a strike indicator. That way, once a hatch beckons, you’ll only need to switch flies and remove the strike indicator to get back in the game. But after an hour or so of fruitless casting your enthusiasm wanes so you reel up and head for home.
While it’s possible to make that rig work for nymph fishing, there are other, better choices. The simplest method (Figure 1), is a 7&1/2’ 4X leader to which you add 20” of 5X tippet material. Tie on a nymph, any nymph, add split shot above the tippet knot and the strike indicator about half way up the leader. The obvious advantage of this rig is that the split shot can’t migrate past the knot. Oh, since it’s cold, straighten the leader before throwing your nymph in the water. Fish a deeper riffle or a run and the head of the pool. There might be trout feeding or holding in the deeper lies in the riffle, and if invertebrates are dislodged from the riffle trout might hold near the head of the pool to grab the aforementioned invertebrates.
Figure. 1
Here’s a modification that adds versatility to this basic rig (Figure 2). Start with the same 7&1/2’ 4X leader. About six or seven inches up from the end of the tippet, tie on your 20” of 4X or 5X tippet using a double overhand (surgeon’s) knot. When done correctly you should have a short tag, a stub, and the tippet. Trim the stub. The short tag is called the dropper and the tippet end is called the point. Tie a nymph on the dropper and another on the point. Place your shot above the knot and the indicator about half way up the leader. The advantages of this rig are that you can use smaller shot, the shot can’t migrate past the knot and you’ve doubled your chances by using two flies. The glaring disadvantage is that you are almost guaranteed to suffer increased tangles caused by these two flies. Cast smoothly, widen your loop and strike gently.
Figure. 2
If you can appreciate the efficacy of using two flies, this next rig is for you (Figure 3). Start with the same 7&1/2’ leader. Thread a nymph onto the tippet, then add your tippet material and another nymph. You can use split shot with this rig but it works better without it. Instead, if you thread a heavily weighted nymph onto the leader before adding tippet and another nymph, you can eschew the split shot. Put the strike indicator in the customary position. You’ll still have to be careful with your cast, your loop and your hook set. But, you’re now fishing two nymphs doubling your chances and doing so with fewer tangles. Isn’t that what you wanted?
Kiap-tu-wish sends our thanks to those who helped cut brush and trees back in October and November to prep for our Greenwood Elementary 4th grade brush burn and, thanks to those volunteers who turned out on event day to supervise the burn and make sure that it went off without a hitch.
This marks the 5th year that we have partnered with Geenwood to provide them with a service learning opportunity for the kids. A big thanks to Greenwood teacher Steve Papp for his efforts to get this program up and running each year. The kids themselves exhibited their usual boundless energy as they picked up the brush and logs and moved them to one of three bonfires which we had going. Event volunteers pictured below are from left to right; John Skelton, myself, Tom Schnadt, Chipo Robinson, Pat Sexton, Mark Peerenboom, Tom Anderson, Trish Hannah, and Ron Reigle.
