Top Five Fly Patterns for Winter

I am sure a lot of you guys have heard of Hatch Magazine, if not I thought I would share a blog post that was written back in November of this past year. The post details the top five fly patterns for the winter months. I use some of the same patterns that were mentioned in his post, but what I found interesting is the various comments he received from his readers.

I have become a fan of Jonathan Barnes Fly Fishing Videos. His videos are filled with lots of information about the type of flies, equipment, and the techniques he uses to land the different trout species he is pursuing. If you are free for the next 25 minutes this one video featuring soft hackles is worth the watch.

  

Spending Time in the Woodshop

I thought I would share with you guys one of my woodworking projects I just finished this week. My daughter mentioned to me some weeks ago that the children’s little table and chairs were broken. The table legs had come off and the chairs were all broken. So I volunteered my services to build a table and chairs out of solid wood, instead of the compressed wood they were using. The solid wood version should last the grandchildren for years.  I have a small woodworking shop in my basement that keeps me busy with different projects throughout the year, especially during the slow fishing months. It will be weeks before I get to wet a fly because of all the rain we have had here lately, so I have time to spend in my shop.

Cathey plays an important part in a lot of my woodworking projects with the painting, stencil painting, staining, and varnishing. My main job is construction work and sanding the finished product.

Gorilla glue will hold anything together including these chairs and table; some tuff stuff!!! A chair for Cash, Laelyn, Bryson and a friend. 

  Enjoy your new table and chairs kids!

Making the Most Out of Time Well Spent

I couldn’t have asked for a better day to fish the Sipsey this past Friday. The temperature was in the low seventies with overcast skies most of the day. You notice I said most of the day, which meant I was going to give it my best today for the six hours I was given. I feel every time I visit this place I am making up for the lost time in trout fishing. As most of you know I only started fly fishing for trout some ten years ago on the Caney Fork in Tennessee with my son-in-law. Little did I know on this one trip that my fishing perspective would change forever for me? The fly rod now consumes 95% of my fishing experience. The trout on the Sipsey get all my attention now during the late fall and winter months, where in years past I would be fishing for bass on Smith Lake.

I have said this before but I will reiterate it again how I wish I had found the fly fishing passion when I was younger. So every day I am “GIVEN” now is time well spent landing trout like this beauty with its colors all aglow for Christmas.

The water today was high when I arrived at mid-morning. As the day unfolded it begin to reseed. Two generators would be running about an hour before I would leave late afternoon. I’ve learned especially for us older anglers that one doesn’t need to stand an entire wading trip. Snack breaks, fly changes, and a pause just to soak up the beautiful scenery can be excuse enough to find a seat. On the Sipsey those seats come in the form of numerous large boulders scattered up and down the gouge.

This image explains why we as trout fishermen love this sport so much. I could still see vivid colors on its gill plate as it swims back into the fast run it was taken from.

A complete contrast in the color scheme here with this healthy bow; it inhaled the nymph so hard I thought I had hooked a rock. The current was the key to today’s trip; the trout were holding in small seams where there was structure such as rocks and fallen timber. One never knows how the trout will react from day to day on the Sipsey. Today numerous trout were in the mood to inhale a number of patterns I cast their way, which made the day special!!