Category Archives: Our Regular Contributors

Nymphing Subtleties: Part 1

Guest Blogger: Joe Dellaria, Woodbury MN

This is a two-part series on nymphing in low water conditions.

A few years ago, Wisconsin changed the opener of the pre-season catch and release season from the first Saturday in March to the first Saturday in January. If you live in the upper Midwest, you know that January is usually when we experience a stretch of sub-zero weather. You may be thinking, is this guy nuts (That’s a separate discussion we can have over a beer or two!)? However, in this case, we were experiencing a heat wave with temperatures approaching freezing and bright sunshine. The radiant energy in the sunshine is enough to minimize the ice in the guides and the reel, so I decided to go fly fishing.

I checked my fishing log to see what I usually use in the early pre-season and proceeded to rig my rod with a float indicator, a #6 bead head olive wooly bugger, and an 18-inch dropper to a bead head silver lightning bug. Within a few casts it became clear this was not a good choice as I was spending most of my time walking through my best spots getting my flies unsnagged from rocks and other debris on the bottom of the river. more…

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Cycles of the Stream: Robbing the Cradle

Guest Blogger: Michael Vorhis, author of ARCHANGEL suspense thriller, OPEN DISTANCE adventure thriller & more to come

Some time back I offered up a streamer pattern of my own design. Built on an inverted “swimming nymph” hook, it has many advantages, including:

— Serious snag resistance without need of a point guard

— Natural upright swimming

— Ease of tying

— Ease of adding weight to achieve various depths without impacting its swimming posture

— Hair body that moves like water itself

— Ability to mimic nearly any small baitfish

— Positive hooking when a fish takes it

— Easy casting, courtesy of minimal water-holding materials
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Chartreuse Magic

Guest Blogger: Mary S. Kuss, Life-long avid angler, licensed PA fishing guide, founder of the Delaware Valley Women’s Fly Fishing Association

The late Lefty Kreh famously said, “If it ain’t chartreuse, it ain’t no use!” Although that may be a bit of an exaggeration, there’s no denying the impressive and sometimes uncanny effectiveness of fly patterns incorporating this eye-catching color.

I tie and use a number of partially or all-chartreuse flies, including Clouser Deep Minnows, poppers, sliders, and Woolly Buggers. However, the first chartreuse fly I tied and fished was the infamous Green Weenie. It’s rather a simple and ugly fly, and a lot of people will not admit to using it. Yet it’s been a perennial best-seller at area fly shops for many years. Something isn’t adding up.

Those who do admit to using the Weenie, often very successfully, desperately want it to be “imitating” something. Most of them will cite its supposed resemblance to an Inchworm or a caddis larva. Although both of those insects are sometimes a rather bright green, and worm-like in shape, neither is really fluorescent chartreuse in color. Nor is the Weenie a good match for either in size or proportions. The Weenie works 12 months of the year, and in a wide variety of water types, which also serves to debunk the notion that it’s matching something. My personal opinion is that the Green Weenie is a pure behavioral trigger, and doesn’t imitate anything.

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