Category Archives: Flies

The Pumpkinator – An October Caddis Dry

Posted on by

We’ve started seeing a few October Caddis showing up here in Stanley and I wanted to come up with a new dry fly imitation that would float well and could be easily seen in fast water.  Here is what I came up with that a number of fish have been interested in….The Pumpkinator!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

The Pumpkinator

The Pumpkinator

The Pumpkinator

Hook:  #12 – 2X long

Thread:  Red

Body:  Orange Ice Dub

Rib:  Gold Tinsel

Overbody:  Orange Foam

Underwing:  Orange Crystal Flash

Overwing:  Light Tan Sparkle Yarn

Legs:  Orange and Black Rubber Legs

Hackle:  Brown

Golden Stonefly Pattern – The Chubby Junior

Posted on by

I’ve been using this fly here in Central Idaho with great success.  It seems to be a good imitation for adult golden stoneflies.  I can’t take credit for the invention of this fly…I found something like this a fly shop here…I don’t remember which one or what the original version of this fly was called.  But, I’ve modified it a little to match the smaller adult golden stoneflies that we’re seeing in late June.  Mary Ann has been calling this pattern the Chubby Junior…even though it has no resemblance to a Chubby Chernobyl…the name sounds fine to me.  Here is the recipe:

Hook:  #8 2X long

Tail:  Tan Calf Tail

Body:  gold dubbing with 2mm tan foam on top

Wing:  12 strands of white crystal flash, with tan calf tail on top

Head/Thorax:  2mm tan foam

Leggs:  Brown Rubber

Hackle:  brown

Top View

Top View

Underside View

Underside View

Fly Fishing Nymphs on Bear Valley Creek in Idaho

Posted on by

I hit my favorite small creek here in Central Idaho yesterday, Bear Valley Creek, to see if the fish would cooperate.  It was a blustery day with high clouds and just a little sun.  The bugs didn’t seem to like the wind, and I didn’t see a single fish rise all day.  I saw a few Blue Winged Olives and Yellow Sallies flying around so I went surface with representative nymphs.  In between the 12 or 14 whitefish I caught, I managed to pick up a few nice 15″ cutthroats.  Here are a few photos from my day:

Bear Valley Creek, Idaho

Bear Valley Creek, Idaho

A #14 Tungsten Yellow Sally Nymph and a #18 Psycho Mayfly Nymph.

A #14 Tungsten Yellow Sally Nymph and a #18 Psycho Mayfly Nymph.

A beautiful Bear Valley Creek Cutthroat

A beautiful Bear Valley Creek Cutthroat

 

 

 

Fishing on the Metolius River

Posted on by

I got a chance to wiggle some bamboo rods two days ago on the Metolius River with my good friend Chris. My weapon of choice was a 8′  3″  5 wt medium fast action rod.  It was a cold and cloudy day on the Metolius but there were a few BWOs out. Saw a few fish rising around 1:00 PM in isolated spots and picked up a small rainbow on a #18 BWO Cripple. I also picked up a nice 12″ rainbow on a #12 Tellico Nymph drifted along the bottom…what a great fly for winter trout fishing here in Oregon.  And, because this fly is relatively unknown around here, I’m sure the educated trout in the Metolius River have never seen it. Here is Chris drifting nymphs through a popular run and one of my fish.

Fishing the Metolius River in Central Oregon.

Fishing the Metolius River in Central Oregon.

A nice Metolius River rainbow that took a Tellico Nymph.

A nice Metolius River rainbow that took a Tellico Nymph.

The Crooked River and the Tellico Nymph

Posted on by

I was looking through my fly box recently and realized that I was out of (and hadn’t even fished) a Tellico Nymph in a very long time.  It used to be a favorite pattern of mine but for some reason I had gotten away from fishing it.  Most of us on the west coast haven’t heard of this fly as it was originated years ago in the Southeastern United States.  A well known fly back east, it does a great job at imitating a golden stonefly nymph.  And, you can be guaranteed that the fish in our local waters haven’t seen this fly before.  So, I tied up several a few up a nights ago and Mary Ann and I hit the Crooked River yesterday for a few hours of fishing.

We got the river about noon.  The recent snows were mostly gone and it was a nice overcast day with temperatures in the mid 40’s.  Small fish were already rising for BWOs on the surface.  Mary Ann picked up several fish on dries but I decided to stay with nymphs.  The Tellico Nymph didn’t disappointment me and I picked up a handful of decent fish drifting this fly towards the bottom through the deeper runs.  Since I’ve now “rediscovered” this great fly pattern, it will again be a standard in my fly box.  Here are a couple of shots from the day, as well as my fly recipe for the Tellico Nymph.

The Crooked River

The Crooked River

A nice fall rainbow that took a Tellico Nymph.

A nice fall rainbow that took a Tellico Nymph.

The Tellico Nymph

The Tellico Nymph

The Tellico Nymph

Hook:  #8 to #12 – 1X Long (Daiichi 1560)

Lead:  15 turns of .015 Lead Wire Underbody

Thread:  Brown

Tail:  Grizzly Hackle Fibers

Body:  Yellow Floss

Rib:  2 Strands of Peacock Hearl with Fine Copper Wire Counter Wrapped

Back:  Turkey Tail Fibers

Hackle:  English Grouse