Morgan Run Fly Fishing Report 7/18

     I took a break from Bassin' this past Thursday to fish the Klees Mill stretch of Morgan Run from sunrise into the late afternoon. Despite heavy rains earlier in the week that bumped flows up to over 200cfs the stream has leveled out and is back down to 37cfs. In the morning, fishing small (sz.10-12) dark streamers through the larger pools produced a few Rainbows in search of a hearty Breakfast! As the sun came out however the streamer bite slowed and I finished out the afternoon nymphing. Running heavily weighted chartreuse Caddis Larva (sz.12-14) through the many deep pockets, slots, and runs that characterize this stretch of the stream accounted for an additional mix of Browns and Rainbows. 

     Anglers intent on fishing dries might want to try a Black Parachute Ant (sz.16-20) around some of the new downed trees and branches left over from the recent storms. I watched as several Trout came up for what I can only imagine were unfortunate terrestrials that lost their footing amidst the woody debris! Anglers intent on fishing dries and pulling their hair out could also fish Midges in the slower pools. Try an ICSI Midge (sz.20-26) or a Parachute Adams (sz.20-26) if you start to see sporadic rises.

     The best part of this late season outing was that I practically had the whole stream to myself. Aside from a few swimmers that occupied one of my favorite holes I didn't come across another fisherman the entire time I was there, and along with the solitude I found Trout and plenty of them. This late in the Catch and Release season especially on a stream like Morgan Run that sees heavy fishing pressure it was nice to find fish exactly where they should be doing exactly what they should be doing. Although not as vividly marked, or as feisty and selective as their wild counterparts swimming in other Maryland streams, with a good presentation the Trout that reside in Morgan Run can be rewarding nonetheless.

This "shapely" Morgan Run Rainbow fell for a sz.14 Czech Catnip fished through a deep run at the end of a sharp riffle.

     

"Walking" On Water The D/C Dodger

     Fly anglers who chase Bass, Stripers, Pike, Musky or any other predatory fish that takes prey from the surface have long wanted a fly that could reproduce the tantalizing action of the legendary topwater lure the Zara Spook. I've spent hours on end shaping different styles of foam heads and playing around with "counterweight balances" in an attempt to create a pattern that would walk, or rather sashay, across the water like a Spook. I even went so far as to reverse engineer a few lures by tearing apart Spooks from the clearance bin at Wal-Mart but nothing I tied would walk the way I hoped it would. My creations didn't dart side to side but instead limped pitifully causing any fish that saw them to probably feel to sorry for whatever it was up there to eat it! 

     I had just about given up on the idea when I started hearing about a fly called the Pole Dancer that was reported to be the fly equivalent of a Zara Spook. After all, a fly called the Pole Dancer would have to have some wicked action right? Indeed it did have the action I was looking for but no matter how hypnotizing the YouTube videos of it zig-zagging across the water were there was no way in hell I was paying twenty bucks for a fly just to figure out how it was tied! A recipe for the fly seemed non-existent but while searching around for one I found an alternative, the D/C Dodger Fly!

     As soon as I could I ordered the D/C Dodger kit as well as the other necessary materials. The Dodger kit comes with everything you need to tie five flies except for hooks, body materials, and tailing material. Detailed tying instructions are included as well as a few tying videos on YouTube that walk you through putting it all together. Even after purchasing everything required it was still cheaper than buying five Pole Dancers! The Dodger fly goes together like a standard popper except for a few twists. A counterweight is added on the hook shank with lead wire that comes in the kit as well as a loop of hollow tubing tied off the hook bend to prevent the tail section from fouling. The tail section is where things get tricky but it's also what makes the D/C Dodger truly unique. Not only can the fly be fished as a walking topwater popper but the tail section can be removed and fished by itself as a subsurface streamer! To accomplish this the tail section is tied on 3/32" hard tubing which is inserted into the rear of the popper head via junction tubing. All the necessary tubing and a Tube Fly Mandrel that can be used in a standard vise come in the kit. This design also allows the angler to mix and match different tail sections with different colored popper heads. I was a little apprehensive about the whole "Tube" concept having never tied them before but everything went together great.

     I mentioned earlier that hooks, body material, and tailing material are not included in the kit so I'll run down what I used. For a hook I chose Cascade Crests 3/0 Pike/Popper hook which is recommended although I have seen others used. For body material the recipe suggests Micro Cactus Chenille but I substituted both Estaz and UV Micro Polar Chenille. Cascade Crests Hackle Flash is used as the collar on the standard pattern but I used UV Polar Chenille. For the tail I stuck to the script and used the Synthetic Yak Hair also from Cascade Crest. Flash Blend and other synthetic hair can be used but the tail section must be made from synthetics. Natural hair and fur retain too much water and not only rob the fly of maximum action but make it that much heavier and difficult to cast. Also, I painted the foam heads with spraypaint and stencils after sealing them with Delta CeramCoat. Permanent markers or other paint can be used as well. I finished the heads off with 5/16" 3D eyes and a few coats of CCG Hydro.

     When the cold weather finally loosens it's grip here in Maryland the D/C Dodger will be getting lots of use. Unfortunately we haven't had a stretch of warm weather long enough to make surface fishing as good it will be later in the season but when it does I'll be ready! Me and many other anglers have long wanted a fly version of the venerable Zara Spook and the D/C Dodger is that and then some. Just make sure to use a loop knot when fishing it and leave the Trout rod at home. When you are fishing it keep your rod tip low, use short strips, and pay close attention to what the fly is doing. Wait until the fly has darted to one side or the other before you strip to ensure it walks properly. If you've ever fished a regular Spook on spinning gear the cadence is much the same and once you get the rhythm down you'll be walking on water.

-D/C Dodger-

Hook: Cascade Crest Pike/Popper Hook sz. 3/0

Body: Estaz/UV Micro Polar Chenille

Tail: Cascade Crest Synthetic Yak Hair

Collar: Hareline UV Polar Chenille

     

     

Midge Larvae Pure & Simple

     A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of fishing alongside the Maryland StreamWaders who were collecting aquatic insect samples from the Klees Mill Rd. stretch of Morgan Run here in Carroll County Maryland. The Maryland StreamWaders are a group of volunteers who travel around the state and assess the quality of area streams and watersheds through sampling the macroinvertebrates that inhabit them. For a fly fisherman, studying these samples is like being given the opposing teams playbook before the big game! Having taken my own less "scientific" samples in the same area I was anxious to see what they would find, and when I did I was surprised! 

     Unfortunately no new species of aquatic insects were discovered but all the old one's were and one group in particular made up anywhere from 30% of the samples to over 50%! Can you guess which group? If you guessed Midges you'd be right. After all we hear all the time that Midges make up the majority of the Trouts diet but it's another thing to actually see it in person. In a stream like Morgan Run, that doesn't have the biodiversity and wide selection of bugs available to Trout that other streams do, Midges become extremely important to fish and fisherman alike.

     Although some very interesting albeit sometimes frustrating Midge fishing can be had on the surface I've had the most success fishing subsurface with larvae imitations. The Midge larvae pattern I use the most is John Barr's Pure Midge Larvae. Barr's Pure Midge Larvae is a simple fly that is easy to tie and requires only two materials, one of which is your tying thread! The only other material needed is Clear Micro Stretch Tubing which does a fantastic job creating the subtle segmentation found on natural Midge larvae. By using Clear Tubing you need only change the thread color and hook size to match the Midges found in your own waters. They not only make for great Midge imitations but depending on the color can pass for smaller species of Caddis like the Chimarra Caddis or small Hydropsyche. If you don't have Clear Stretch Tubing on your bench you may also use a product called Stretch Magic that can be found in the craft isle of Wal-Mart or at Michaels and Hobby Lobby. Unlike Stretch Tubing, that is hollow and flattens when stretched, Stretch Magic is a solid round tubing that retains it's shape increasing the abdomens segmentation.

     Dead drifting a Pure Midge Larvae or suspending it under an indicator by itself will produce fish but it's best used as a dropper fly. I've had the most success hanging it off the back of a heavier nymph or dropped off the bend of a dry fly in shallow water. If you find yourself on a new stream or an old favorite and aren't sure what to fish you can't go wrong with the Pure Midge Larvae. Go ahead and tie on that gaudy attractor nymph but hang a Pure Midge off the bend and I think you'll be suprised which the fish prefer.

      When I started Fly Fishing and learning about what Trout eat I couldn't believe that the Trout would even see such tiny larvae drifting by let alone eat them by the hundreds, if not by the thousands,but they do. Tight lines and tighter loops!

Barr's Pure Midge Larvae

Hook: Daiichi 1140 or Tiemco 2488 sz. 20-26

Thread: Uni 8/0 Color of Choice

Abdomen: Clear Micro Stretch Tubing or .5mm Clear Stretch Magic

Head: Uni 8/0 Color of Choice

Stretch Magic Variation:

The "Cocky" Bastard Bugger

     In my last post I showed you a variation I came up with of one of my favorite streamer patterns the Bellyache Minnow by Rob Kolanda. So I figured that for this post it was only fair to show you a recent variation of one of my own streamer patterns my Bastard Bugger, which in recent years has saved me time and time again from going fishless. 

     A few months ago I was scanning through the materials at my local flyshop when I came across a Peacock colored Mylar Tinsel from Uni Products. I bought a spool of it and on the drive home began thinking about how it could be incorporated into some new patterns. I envisioned using it for wingcases and flashback abdomens but when I got home and sat down at the tying bench I came up with a better idea. While tying a run of my Bastard Buggers to stock up for the new year I glanced down at a few Rainbow Warriors I had just tied and coated with Clear Cure Goo. What if I replaced the Micro Polar Chenille body of my original Bastard Bugger with the new peacock tinsel? What if instead I wrapped the body with the peacock colored tinsel like you do with standard pearl tinsel when tying a Rainbow Warrior? Then what if I coated the body with some CCG as I had on the flies I tied earlier? With the gears starting to turn, and my imagination off to the races,  I set off tying and ended up with what I'm calling The "Cocky" Bastard Bugger in honor of the new "cocky" colored tinsel.

     Although I have yet to fish it I like the way it turned out regardless if it doesn't turn out to be a fish magnet like the original. The Clear Cure Goo brings the peacock tinsel to life and magnifies it's multicolored shine. Since it's so shiny in fact I omitted the strands of Krystal Flash I usually tie on either side of the tail. There's quite a debate among tiers and fisherman whether or not too much flash can turn a fish off and the body of this fly is enough on it's own. Other than it's "electric" abdomen it relies on the same black Marabou tail and black CDC collar that make the original so successful. My theory is the shiny peacock body much like the originals UV chenille body will get a fish's attention. Then the Marabou tail combined with the ultra buggy movement of the CDC collar will be enough to convince it to strike. I should note that I also added a ball of synthetic peacock dubbing behind the CDC collar to prevent the fibers from marrying with the slick body like you do on some soft-hackle patterns. This helps to ensure maximum movement of the CDC fibers so they are free to breathe and pulsate underwater.

     Only time will tell if this variation of one of my most successful patterns will work as well as the original does. But as a fly tier that is constantly learning and experimenting I'm open to failure. We learn more from those days on the water when we can't catch anything than we do on the days where everything we do produces a fish. And, we learn more about tying and developing effective fly patterns from the one's that weren't so effective. The next time your at the flyshop and something new or different catches your eye pick it up. If it catches your attention it might just catch a fish's as well!

The "Cocky" Bastard Bugger

Hook: TMC 5262 sz. 10-12

Bead: Black Tungsten sized to match hook 

Underbody: Tapered Adhesive Lead Foil

Thread: Black Uni 8/0

Tail: Black Marabou (Fluffy fibers from the base of a Marabou feather)

Body: Peacock Uni-Mylar Tinsel #10 (Coat tinsel body with several coats of Clear Cure Goo Hydro)

Thorax: 50/50 blend of Wapsi Life Cycle Peacock dubbing and Peacock Ice Dub (Create a bulbous thorax to keep the collar from sticking to the body)

Collar: Black CDC (Palmer 2 CDC feathers as you would a soft-hackle)

Yet Another Bellyache Minnow Variation

     Readers of my blog probably know by now that I'm a big fan of the Bellyache Minnow. If I had to compare it to another fantastic baitfish imitation I would liken it to the venerable Clouser Minnow in both it's simplicity and it's effectiveness. Like most fly tiers though with an ever increasing inventory of materials to play around with I can't help but come up with variations of my favorite patterns. With that said, the pattern below is basically a standard Bellyache Minnow that's been "Hot-Rodded" a bit with some Laser Dub and Clear Cure Goo.

     I was first introduced to the Bellyache Minnow through watching a tying tutorial by Front Range Anglers on YouTube and two things intrigued me about the fly. First, because of the Tungsten Scud Body the fly rides hook point up allowing it to be slithered over and around rocks and bottom debris where hungry fish lie in wait. Second, when wet the fly comes to life. The Ice Dub body takes on a slimy translucent appearance. That combined with the rabbit strip over body and tail which undulates when stripped or swung in the current and you have one effective little minnow.

     Although it's not very different than the original pattern in the tutorial I watched I really like the way this variation turned out. I like that the Scud Body isn't just a convenient way to invert the hook but that it's half moon shape helps to create a nice baitfish profile. Once covered with the Ice Dub dubbing loop the Scud Body makes a nice defined little belly on the minnow. On the pattern below I decided to accentuate this "teardrop" baitfish profile by bulking up the front of the fly with some Laser Dub although the original pattern calls for a collar and gill area of contrasting colored Ice Dub blended into the body. To finish off the fly I chose some Living Eyes from Flymen Fishing Company in the Earth color and rounded off the head with both thick and thin Clear Cure Goo followed by a top coat of CCG Hydro (those FishMasks are cheating!)

     As far as fishing the fly goes any of the standard streamer techniques will work. Swinging it downstream through fishy looking current seams and deep runs with occasional strips and pauses is  a good place to start. Another downstream approach I've found to be effective is to cast the fly directly downstream and use stack mends or wiggle out slack line from your rod tip to get the fly down. Then once you feel your  fly is where it needs to be retrieve it at different speeds to mimic a baitfish struggling against the current. In lakes and ponds I use everything from an ultra slow hand-twist retrieve to dredge the bottom or a more active jerk-strip retrieve to target Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass. No matter how you tie it or how you fish it this bite sized little minnow is sure to give a Bellyache to anything that swims! Not to mention a sore lip!

Hook: Gamakatsu B10S sz. 6-2

Thread: White UTC 210

Weight/UnderBody: Hareline Ribbed Tungsten Scud Body 

Belly: Pear IceDub Spun In Dubbing Loop

OverBody/Tail: Black Barred Olive Rabbit Strip

Throat: Red Laser Dub

Collar: Olive Laser Dub

Eyes: Earth Colored Living Eyes

Head: Clear Cure Goo

     

     

DIY Hair Stacker

     I began my fly tying career fashioning flies with feathers from the craft store, sewing thread, random hooks, and a makeshift "vise" which amounted to a pair of vise-grip pliers sandwiched in the top drawer of a desk. I made what I didn't have creating whip-finish tools from bent coat hangers and dubbing twisters from discarded picture hanging hardware. In fact, I still use a bobbin cradle I made years ago from a coat hanger although now it's attached to a higher end rotary vise. 

     Another little homemade tying tool I used back then was a hair stacker made from a hollowed out Chapstick tube. Deer and Elk hair is a material I don't use nearly as much as I probably should so lately I've been tying with it a little more and one night while reaching for one of my shiny store bought stackers I remembered the Chapstick tube stacker I started with. I remembered how amazed I was the first time I used it and it worked!        

     It does in fact work and if your a beginner or a guide tying streamside make one up. You wouldn't want to use it to tie Bass bugs but it works great for small hair wing Caddis and Mayfly patterns. It also works great to stack tailing materials like micro-fibbets, Coq De Leon, or my favorite Moose mane and body hair. 

The Parachute Griffith's Gnat

     It's my belief that anglers fish flies that are way too big. Whether their fishing nymphs or dries, most anglers would have more success if they downsized their patterns. I've gotten in the habit of collecting naturals from the streams I fish and am surprised every time I do just how small they can be, and in some cases how much smaller they are compared to the patterns I would choose to imitate them. A common reason anglers choose bigger flies over tiny one's is that they are easier to see which is especially true with small dry flies. But unfortunately when a picky trout wants a small insect they could care less how bad your eyes are! They don't care if you can see a small fly or not, they can! 

     If I had to pick one small dry fly an angler could use to build confidence in fishing small flies it would be a Griffith's Gnat. Just like a Stimulator does a great job of imitating many larger insects the Griffith's Gnat is a great fly to imitate the smaller one's. With that being said if I had to pick one small fly that was nearly impossible to see on the water it would also be a Griffith's Gnat. Despite it's usually diminutive size which doesn't help matters, a standard Griffith's Gnat sits so low in the surface film it practically disappears. This is both a blessing and a curse to the angler as it's low stance in the water is one reason I think it's so effective.  It was with this problem in mind that I sat at my vise one night after a day of fishing, or rather trying to fish, standard palmered hackle Griffith's Gnats to a pod  of "Smutting" Trout. 

     I usually end a days fishing at the vise tying more of a pattern that worked or tweaking one that did not and that night it was the Griffith's Gnat that needed some tweaking. After a few failed attempts I settled on the pattern below. By turning the fly into a parachute pattern I had a Griffith's Gnat that would still sit low in the surface film like the original but remain highly visible even in the smallest of sizes. I also replaced the peacock herl body of the original with more durable and flashy synthetic peacock dubbing that adds added life and attraction.    

     Unfortunately I didn't invent the Parachute Griffith's Gnat but that night at the vise you would have thought I did! I personally love small flies but yet another reason that others do not is they hate tying them! Not only is a Griffith's Gnat a good entree into fishing small flies but also a good entree to tying them. After all, the only difference between a big fly and a small fly is their size. As far as I'm concerned if you can tie 'em big you can tie 'em small and with a Parachute Griffith's Gnat you can fish 'em small too!

-Parachute Griffith's Gnat-

Hook: Daiichi 1110 sz. 20-26

Thread: Black Veevus 16/0 

Body: Blend of Peacock Ice Dubbing and Peacock Wapsi Nymph Life Cycle Dubbing

Post: Flourescent Orange Poly-Yarn

Hackle: Grizzly Whiting