A New Fly In My Box – The Francisco Midge

I like to pass on new and/or unique fly patterns that work for me, and I recently came across a new fly that has been working extremely well for me in our Central Oregon rivers.  I learned of this fly from Francisco Garcia, a great angler whom Mary Ann recently guided on a couple of our rivers.  So, I can’t take credit for developing this fly, but it sure works.  I fish this fly with a dead drift towards the bottom, usually employing a Euro-nymphing style presentation.  Do the fish take it for a midge…or a mayfly emerger….I’m not really sure.  It’s a very easy fly to tie, if you’re into very small flies.  I call this fly the Francisco Midge.

The Francisco Midge

Hook:  #20 Scud Style

Thread:  8/0 Gray

Body:  Several Strands of Olive Angle Hair

Wing:  White Deer Hair.

#20 Francisco Midge

#20 Francisco Midge

Bug Sampling on the Crooked River

I’m a firm believer that it’s a good idea to “check out the bugs” in the river nearly every time you fish, especially if you’re doing a lot of nymph fishing.  Mary Ann and I were on the Crooked River last week fishing a spot we fish often and started with a bug sampling.  We have a small net that is about 15″ x 15″ that one of us holds in the water while the other turns over rocks upstream.  We then transfer the bugs in the net to a white bowl that aids in viewing and identifying.  For the particular spot we sampled, there were very nigh numbers of olive/tan scuds in sizes ranging from about #18 to #10, as well as black mayfly nymphs that were about #18 and #16 in size.  We both used euro-nymphing techniques for our fishing for the day.  Using #14 and #16 gold or tan scuds, #18 Psycho Mayfly nymphs, and #16 Black Beauties produced a lot of rainbows in the 6″ to 14″ range.  So, knowing the bugs in the water and matching those bugs certainly helped us.  Here are a few photos of the day.

Bug Sampling from the Crooked River

Bug Sampling from the Crooked River

Scuds and mayfly nymphs.

Scuds and mayfly nymphs.

Our fly choices for the day.

Our fly choices for the day.

A nice 14" rainbow that took a #16 black beauty nymph.

A nice 14″ rainbow that took a #16 black beauty nymph.

 

 

Swinging Streamers with Bamboo Micro Spey Rods

Mary Ann and I hit the Deschutes River yesterday in search for some larger rainbows.  She took out my 10′  6″  5 wt Micro Spey Bamboo Fly Rod.  She got good interest from fish with olive and black Skulpzilla patterns swung through deeper runs.  Here is a great fish she landed on the black pattern on the micro spey rod.

Black Skulpzilla

Black Skulpzilla

A nice rainbow putting a good bend in the micro spey rod.

A nice rainbow putting a good bend in the micro spey rod.

A beautiful Deschutes River Rainbow on the micro spey rod.

A beautiful Deschutes River Rainbow on the micro spey rod.

Small Flies on Montana Spring Creeks

What does the fly patch on your fishing vest look like after 2 days of fishing Montana Spring Creeks….lots of small flies!  Ants, small dries, spinners, emergers, and midges.  These are all going back into the fly box now that I’m back in Oregon.

Montana Spring Creek Flies

Montana Spring Creek Flies

A Great Young Fly Caster Discovers Bamboo!

I met a great father/son team when I was at the IFFF Fly Fishing Fair last week in Livingston.  Mark and Cooper were very excited to hear about bamboo fly rods so I gave Cooper the chance to cast one of my fly rods.  He certainly had experience with graphite fly rods and had great casting skills.  Once I got him to slow down his tempo a little, he discovered the magic of bamboo.  His response was, “Wow, I can feel it bend all the way down into the cork grip.”  Here are a couple of photos of him trying out my rods.

Cooper casting one of my 7' 6" 5 wt bamboo fly rods.

Cooper casting one of my 7′ 6″ 5 wt bamboo fly rods.

He had a great casting style.

He had a great casting style.