Fly Fishing Colorado

Colorado Rainbow Trout

2005-11-23T23:26:00.000-08:00

Where to Fly Fish Colorado for Big Colorado Rainbow Trout

A compiliation of some places to fish for big rainbow trout in Colorado.

http://fly-fishing-colorado.com/colorado_rainbow_trout.html

Announcement of 2006 Fishing License Requirements

2005-11-13T23:16:00.000-08:00

11/14/2005

The Colorado Department of Wildlife is adopting a license fee increase for both resident and non-residents in 2006. In addition, a Habitat Stamp will be required on the first two fishing or hunting licenses purchased each year. License purchases will be tracked using the DOW computer.

The Wildlife Habitat stamp will allow admittance to the State Wildlife areas for hiking, bird watching, fishing and other activities. The Habitat fees will help to maintain the Wildlife Areas.

Read the summary of the changes and find links to other helpful DOW information here.

Fly-Fishing-Colorado.com is Independent Cabela's Affiliate

2005-10-17T12:13:00.000-07:00

Cabela's selects Fly-Fishing-Colorado.com as an independent affiliate. Cabela's affiliate program is managed by Performics - ConnectComerce, professional affiliate program managers.

What is even more exciting is the new product feeds Cabela's has made available to it's affiliates. These product feeds create "Product Showcases" by product category.

The result is Fly-Fishing-Colorado.com adds over 400 fly fishing products from Cabela's to our web store.

Eight pages of fly fishing rod and reel combos (Check out Page 4 and Page 7 for some good deals on Scott and St Croix rods and combos on Page 4 and Sage on Page 7).
Eight pages of waders, two pages of just fly rods
Four pages of fly reels (Cabela's own fine brand, Lamson, Sage, Scientific Angler, Wright McGill and Abel to name a few)
Three pages of fly lines from Cabela's and Scientific Anglers including the SciAngler Mastery and AirCel series lines
Five Pages of Leaders and Backing
Three Pages of Fly Fishing Tackle and Storage Devices and Luggage
Redington Fly Rods Combos and Clothing
Four pages Watercraft

Altogether this is well over 400 Cabela's fly fishing and related products added to our web store.

Just follow this link to shopping at fly-fishing-colorado.com

Tight Lines and Good Fishing,

Marshall, Editor
www.fly-fishing-colorado.com
www.bestflyrods.com

Goodbye to a Fly Fishing Friend

2005-08-29T04:50:00.000-07:00

Saying Goodbye is Tough!

8/26/05
For the past eleven years Bill Louthan, owner of Alpine Angler, operated his fly shop at the corner of Chambers and Iliff next to the Aurora Newsland in Aurora, CO. Before moving to the current location, Alpine Angler was located on the corner of Quincy and Parker Road for five years.

Bill's shop was always a joy to visit. Because Bill would gladly share a story, a joke, product knowledge or trout tactics with a customer. Bill was generous to a fault. He would fix a fly line attached improperly to the backing or reverse a reel from right to left hand retrieve for a customer. Often this equipment was not even purchased from Bill but from a discounter big box store. We, the regular customers, urged him to charge for this kind of service.

But Bill maintained that he could attract new customers through quality customer service. I have been in a lot of fly shops in 36 years of fly fishing and I will say that Bill's customer service was without equal.

Unfortunately, not even Bill's magnetic personality and great customer service was enough to save his shop.

When I stopped by the shop this Friday, to see my friend Bill, the shop was eerily quiet. There was only one other person in the shop besides myself. And he was one of Bill's long time friends and fishing buddies.

The shop was almost bare of inventory. On sale signs were posted on hooks, fly tying supplies, leaders, the book inventory and most every thing else. Two lonely rods occupied the rod rack and these were custom builts waiting to be picked up.

The shop condition was a far cry from its busiest. Then you might find ten to fifteen customers at any time in the shop. All of them purchasing equipment, fly tying supplies and talking fly fishing.

From October to mid April, Bill would open his shop up on Wednesday evenings from 6 p.m. to about 8 p.m. for the guys to gather and tie flies. At eight, Bill would supply pizza to close out the sessions.

At the end of August, these sessions will be no more.

Yes, at the end of August, Bill will turn out the lights and close the doors to Alpine Angler for the last time.

Did Bill want to close the shop? No, he wanted to retire and pass on the business to his son Billy.

But Alpine Angler along with eight other small independent fly shops from Castle Rock through the Aurora area have fallen victim to the big box discounters who started moving into Aurora within the last two years.

We , your regular customers, will miss you Bill. We will miss the stories, jokes and the good times during the fly tying sessions.

I will miss you as a personal friend and mentor. I wish you much success with your next business. A business where the discounters will not be able to compete very well. A business where knowledge and equipment use will not be free.

But that is a story for another time.

My next posting is going to be about the future of the fly fishing industry in Denver. Substitute your metro city for Denver and it could be about your area.

Marshall, Editor
www.fly-fishing-colorado.com

Fly Fishing Leaders

2005-08-04T20:11:00.000-07:00

Keeping the Tangles Out of Your Leader

There you are. Changing a leader at streamside. You take the leader out of the storage packet and start to unwind it. Suddenly the leader is a mess of tangles. You spend 3 to 5 precious fishing minutes untangling the leader so you can attach it to your fly line.

Read this simple trick to keeping the tangles out of your leader.

Tight lines and good fishing,

Marshall, Editor
www.fly-fishing-colorado.com

Triple Surgeons Knot

2005-07-04T22:17:00.000-07:00

7/4/05

Triple Surgeons Knot -- a super strong knot for leader to leader connections.

Instead of using the surgeons knot for making leader to leader connections, use a triple surgeons knot instead. This is a small 100% break strength knot.

To tie the knot:

place the long leader to your right and overlap the end some 3 inches along the leader to your left.

grasp the tag end and leader to your right and twist it into a loop in between your hands.

grasp the standing leader on your left and the loop in your left hand

using your fingers ,the end of your closed forceps or other tool, pull the tag end and free leader on your right through the loop three times

grasp the tag end and long piece of leader on your right in your right hand. Grasp the tag end and long leader on your left in your left hand

gently pull your hands in opposite directions to start seating the knot

wet the knot and tug in opposite directions to finish seating the knot.

trim loose tag ends close to the knot. (this small neat knot can be trimmed close without affecting the 100% break strength)

From personal testing, I can say this is a great knot with very strong breaking strength. Recently, I had to break off a fly to get free from a rock. The line broke but the triple surgeons knot was intact when I examined the broken leader.

Give it this knot a try, it works great.

Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Marshall, Editor
www.fly-fishing-colorado.com

More Articles

Copyright 2005 by Marshall Estes
This article may be used as free web content as long as the resource box and the copyright are included.

Fly Tying Tools

2005-07-04T12:01:00.000-07:00

7/4/05

My Two Most Important Fly Tying Tools

Neither of them is a rotary vise from Griffith, Dyna-King or Renzetti.
Read the rest of the article on our site. Fly Tying Tools

What are your important fly tying tools? Contact us

Tight Lines and Good Fishing,

Marshall, Editor
www.fly-fishing-colorado.com

P.S. the article on our website may be used as free web content as long as the resource box and copyright are left intact with the article.

Beaver Fever

2005-07-04T07:42:00.000-07:00

7/4/05

Using natural fur dubbing can give you beaver fever. Unless you do this.

www.fly-fishing-colorado.com/beaver-fever.html

Marshall Estes, Editor
www.fly-fishing-colorado.com

Use fly fishing links

How Close is Too Close?

2005-06-12T18:44:00.000-07:00

6/12

I think that far too many fly fishermen believe you must be able to whip out a 60 foot perfect cast to that waiting trout.

This is just not so. At least in Colorado and other Western States, many trout are caught within 12 to 25 feet of you. So make your focus on perfecting a great roll cast or water tension cast that will reach out 35 to 40 feet. Generally, this is more than adequate for all but the really large streams.

How close to trout can you be and still catch them? This depends a lot on the stream conditions. If the water is murky, you can get closer than if the water is gin clear.

Monday, June 6th, I was on Bear Creek just west of Denver. The flow was 88 CFS and water conditions murky. My trip was to test out a new St Croix Legend Elite 9 ft rod that I had finished building the previous Saturday.

Take a moment and imagine this setup. The hole I was fishing is about 40 feet long with a large 8 to 10 ft boulder directly across from me. Distance from me to the boulder is about 30 feet. The flow around the boulder is some 4 or 5 foot deep and fast. After 2 or 3 drifts along the fast water by the boulder, I hooked a nice bow and lost it at the tail of the pool.

Most of the stream is covered by a 30 foot willow tree here that makes casting difficult except with a water tension or single haul water tension cast. Fortunately, 3 feet in front of me is seam water formed by a fast flow over some rocks at the head of the big pool. This seam water is out from under the willow and a cast can be dropped into the head of the seam. The seam is only about 18 inches deep but highly areated.

I caught 3 bows about 12 to 14 inches long in this seam water directly in front of me. I was high sticking a double nymph rig with 2 feet of line off the end of the rod and a total of 9 feet of leader. The actual leader in the water was only 6 or 7 feet.

So how close can you be and still catch trout? In this case, it was about 5 to 6 feet or less for one of them.

Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Marshall, Editor
www.fly-fishing-colorado.com
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This article is copyright 2005 by Marshall Estes. This article
may be used for free content on your site as long as you leave
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Simple Life Saver

2005-06-02T02:54:00.000-07:00

6/2/05

Or Your Wader Belt Can Save Your Life

You're wading your favorite Rocky Mountain stream. The stream is running high and fast from ice cold run off. Suddenly you lose your footing and down you go into that icy water.

You get your feet pointed downstream and keep your head up as you learned in case of an unexpected swim. But the shock of the cold water filling your waders is making it hard to breath and fast taking its toll on your ability to function normally.

Will you survive? If you can get out of the water soon, you probably will survive. But your survival chances would have increased with one simple piece of gear.

What is this simple piece of gear?

It is a non-stretchable nylon or polypropylene wading belt with a quick release buckle. The theory is that the wader belt will slow the waders filling with water and keep your exposure to cold water down to the upper part of your body.

Many of the new style belts come with a back support similar to a weight lifting belt. This back support design supports the lower back muscles making a long day on stream easier on the body.

Fortunately, many wader styles now come with a built in wader belt of some kind. These style waders offer both more safety and allow the wearer to use them as a waist wader in warm weather.

Whether you choose a wader with a built in belt or an add-on belt, I urge you to wear a belt on stream. This simple wader belt could save your life.

To be fair to the issue, Paul Arden at http://www.sexyloops.com/articles/killerwader.shtml ,"Exploding the Killer Wader Myth", tested his neoprene waders in a swimming pool to see how they reacted when full of water. This is an interesting article and worth reading. Paul also recommends wearing a wader belt just to keep cold water from reaching your toes.

While this test was done in a swimming pool, without a wader belt, I would not want to try it in 38 degree water in a river flowing at 450 or more CFS. It was was done using neoprene waders which would likely act much different than the thinner breathable waders.

Brands of wader belts.
Hodgeman about polypropylene $3.95.
Cabelas wader belts
Wright McGill Wader Belts

Tight Lines and Good Fishing,
Marshall Estes, Editor
www.fly-fishing-colorado.com

A Fly For All Occasions

2005-04-16T13:19:00.000-07:00

4/16/05

Is there really a fly for all occasions?

The answer appears to be Yes with one qualification. It is called the Clouser Minnow, a streamer fly imitating a swimming minnow. Tied properly, it can be used for just about any fresh water fish, including blue gills, bass, crappie, cats, trout, northern pike, tiger musky, perch, sunfish, carp, walleyes and bass. It can even be used for surf fishing. (For salt water fishing you would probably have to tie it very large and with different colors than the traditional method.) The qualification about this fly. The prey you are fishing for must be able to open its mouth.

The Clouser uses a bead eye to achieve a swimming motion. The bead eyes can be hourglass eyes, lead eyes, beadchain or any eyes that add weight. The closer to the hook eye the bead eyes are tied in, the more like a jig the fly will swim. Tie in the eyes 1/3 to 1/2 back from the hook eye and the fly will swim with a sliding motion.

The fly also swims with the hook point up. This makes it a good fly for drifting over weed beds where bass hang out. Swimming point up also makes it less likely to hook the cracks in the granite rocks of the Colorado streams.

Tied properly, the Clouser will be lighter on the bottom and darker on top. Generally crystal flash or flashabou or any flash material is added into the body as an attractor material.

For complete tying directions http://www.flyanglersonline.com/ , click on the Fly Tying Link and then search on clouser in the search box.

Thanks to Al Crise at the FlyFishersForChrist group on MSN and Yahoo groups for telling us about this fly.

One final note from Ol Al. -- you're probably going to need a lot of these flies so tie up some sturdy spares. If you try them on trout or bass, be sure to hang onto your rod real tight. The fish get pretty savage when they try to eat this fly.

Allen Crise FFF Master Casting Instructor
Hawk Ridge Tackle & Flycasting School
2508 A C R 1011
Glen Rose, Tx. 76043

Tight Lines and Good Fishing to You,

Marshall, Editor
www.fly-fishing-colorado.com
http://www.bestflyrods.com/

Fishin' in the Rain

2005-04-09T08:20:00.000-07:00

4/5/05

Today was one of those spring days in Colorado where the wind blows 30 to 40 mph and the rain drizzles most of the day. A thoroughly unpleasant day to be working outside. Then I remembered another day when the rain was a heavy drizzle all day and I was outside. Was a day in June 2004 as I remember. I was up into the wee hours of the morning tying flies for my trip to Bear Creek west of Denver.

Arriving at my favorite spot, the clouds were sitting right in the valley with me. You could feel and smell the rain just minutes away. After a 5 minute walk to the stream, the first drops started to hit me in the face and hands. Within minutes, the drops had turned into a steady heavy cold drizzle. I knew that this was one of those all day kinds of rain. But I had come to fish and a little rain was not going to stop me.

Bear Creek was running 80 CFS and muddy brown. So I knew the leader should not spook the fish. I was rigged up with my standard 2 fly nymph rig. A #16 gold ribbed, flash back beadhead hares ear on top and a #18 glass beadhead gray body RS2 on the bottom.

The top fly was on the end of a 9 ft 4X leader and the bottom on 15 inches of 5X tippet. Because of the fast water, I was using 2 #4 Dinsmore egg weights about 6 inches above the top fly. And 3 #6 Dinsmore weights about 6 inches below the top fly. (Why I use these 2 and 3 weight combinations is another story.)

Flipping a little roll cast across my favorite pool to the far bank I started a drift toward a big rock where larger trout hang out. Swinging the drift past the rock, I fished it along a string of rocks at the other side of the pool.

Dropping another cast about 12 inches from the far shore, I drifted it toward the big rock. As the fly swung past the rock, the line hesitated for a second. Lifting the tip, I had a fish on. A nice 14 inch "bow". Playing the fish to the end of the pool, it jumped once and was gone.

Using a river "tension" cast to drop several more casts about a foot off the far bank did not hook me up with any more fish. The Creek had now come up to about 90 to 100 CFS due to the rain. By accident, I dropped a cast on the little pebble beach across the Creek. Gently I pulled the line free and into the current. Within 18 inches of drift, I had another 14 inch bow on. This smart little fish raced downstream and jumped throwing the hook.

The light bulb had gone off. The increased water flow had drawn some of the smaller fish into the current along the far bank. My next cast, I dropped onto the beach again and gently pulled into the current. Swinging my drift past the big rock, I felt another take. This fish raced to the end of the pool and turned to run upstream. We continued this round the pool race with a jump or two another couple of times. Then I horsed the fish and it broke off my bottom fly. A nice 15 inch rainbow.

Tying on a #18 silver ribbed gray RS2 time, I dropped a cast almost on the little beach and drifted to the big rock. This time the line stopped and my strike indicator pulled under as another fish hooked up. This fish jumped immediately and I estimated his size at some 16 inches. Second jump, no fish. Sometimes I hate these barbless hooks but they are easier on the fish.

Another cast and drift to the big rock. Just after the drift passed the rock, I felt it again stop dead and the strike indicator went under. This fish was bigger than any of the others. It started a frantic run toward the tail of the pool. No jumping heroics this one. Just a steady strong run along the bottom. Barely stopping the fish, it turned and raced upstream still on the bottom in fast current. WOW! I thought," This is a really good fish".

Just as I stopped his upstream run, he turned and headed downstream again. I knew he was going to win this race. I started splashing along the shallows, rod high and desperately reeling line. Stopping his downstream run in a shallow run, I got my first good look at a whopping 18 inch fat rainbow. This was the biggest one I had taken this season.

But this fighting Bear Creek monster was not to be denied his freedom. Once more he turned head downstream and started off. This time I stopped him just as his body slid between some logs on a fast run where I couldn't follow. For just a frozen moment in time, we stared each other in the eye. I could swear, He was saying to me, "Is this the best you got?". With a mighty head shake, my line came flying at me. The Fighter was gone to catch another day.

By now the rain as soaking through my rain resistant jacket and I was cold. Time to go home. Five nice fish for some 5 hours fishin' in the rain. Not bad.

Tight Lines and Good Fishing to You,

Marshall, Editor
www.fly-fishing-colorado.com
www.bestflyrods.com

Who Else Wants to Win Free Fly Fishing Gear?

2005-02-28T22:23:00.000-08:00

2/28/05

In less than 2 minutes you can be entered to win.

Contest ends 4/30/05, so enter NOW.

1st prize = a St Croix Imperial fly fishing outfit consisting of rod, reel, line and leader suitable for beginner or advanced fly fisherman. The forgiving action of the Imperial Rod is preferred by many veteran fly fisherman.

2nd prize = An Orvis Super Tac L Pac Fly Fishing Vest and Threader Fly box.

3rd prize = a $50 gift certificate for Amazon, Cabela's or our fly fishing Art and Poster Store. Average value of a beautiful framed poster is about $125.

PLUS -- a special $50 bonus prize for the person who refers the most entrants to the contest.

If you would rather have the cash value of a prize or apply the cash value to an equipment upgrade purchased through fly-fishing-colorado.com, that is fine too.

Get the details here http://www.fly-fishing-colorado.com/contest.html

Wishing you all the best of luck in the contest,

Marshall, Editor
www.fly-fishing-colorado.com

Casting A Fly Fishing Dream Rod

2005-02-14T19:03:00.000-08:00

2/14

I always wondered what it would be like to cast a very expensive custom made bamboo fly rod. On 1/8/2005, I had a chance to find out at the Fly Fishing Show Denver 2005.

A friend showed me an article in a local paper about a custom bamboo rod designer named Wayne Maca (pronounced Macha as I remember). Wayne had spent many years designing custom racing pro snowboards. As many of us do, Wayne reached the point where he wanted to try something different. Having been a flyfisherman since age 8, Wayne moved to Twin Bridges Montana and retired to fish. His first year, he fished some 150 days with a heavy bamboo rod and heavy flies. Using this heavy equipment, he blew his elbow out. That season sent Wayne on his quest to build a lighter faster bamboo rod.

Wayne has applied his knowledge of adhesives and modern technology from building snow boards to produce superior bamboo rods. Using sound frequency testing to choose only the best bamboo strips for use in his rods, Wayne produces a superior blank with almost no spine. Wayne next removes 100% of the pith from the center of the rod strips. Then he uses a special epoxy adhesive he developed for the glue up. The result is a 100% hollow rod blank with almost no spine. Wall thickness is .030 through .070 through both butt and tip sections.

Another innovation is the use of vacuum sealing and heating after glue up to insure straightness and setting of the special epoxy. Wayne has also replaced the traditional nickle silver ferrule system with carbon composite ferrules. Reason, the nickle silver weighs too much for the lightness of Wayne's rods. He coats his rods with automotive clear coat rather than regular rod varnish. Some of the process and product is under patent pending so he couldn't say too much about it.

The result is a very strong, resiliant castible rod that really performs. Wayne let me cast a 7.5 foot, 5 line wt rod at the show. I could easily rollcast out to about 30 feet which is well within the range I normally fish. On an overhand cast, the rod started to come under load at about 40 to 45 feet of line out. I easily laid out a 50 foot cast with this little 7.5 foot rod and could have laid out 60 feet of line and leader. This is far beyond my normal casting distances.

This little 5wt bamboo weighs in about the same as a Winston graphite. Pretty cool.

From my personal perspective, Wayne's 7.5 foot bamboo rod had the power of a lot of 9 foot graphite rods.

If you want a fishable bamboo fly rod that can be passed down to your son or daughter, Wayne's bamboo rods are sure to become a prized family heirloom. Priced at $2,000 per rod.

More Info:
Beaverhead Rods
Box 429
Twin Bridges
Montana 59754
Phone: 406-684-5000
email: wayno@3rivers.net

Tight Lines and Good Fishing,

Marshall, Editor
www.fly-fishing-colorado.com
www.bestflyrods.com

How to Carry Your Rod

2005-02-14T18:26:00.000-08:00

2/14

Here you are hurrying down to your favorite stream with rod in hand. Suddenly your $500 St Croix or Sage rod flexes as you catch the tip on a branch or bush. Before you can stop, you hear a sicking "snaap" and the tip breaks into pieces.

Far fetched. Maybe but I constantly see flyfishermen carrying their expensive rods with the tip forward. Such a carry method will sooner or later result in a broken rod. Tree branches and bushes have a nasty habit of grabbing rod tips when you least expect it.

How can you minimize the risk of a broken rod? Simple. Just reverse your rod and carry it with the tip behind you. Not only will you minimize the possibility of a broken rod. But you will find it much easier to carry your rods as the weight is balanced at your hand. Grasp the grip slightly behind the reel until you feel the balance point and off you go.

Use the rod butt and reel to help you get through bushes and weeds. Occasionally you will catch a leader and break it. But it is easier to repair a broken leader than a broken rod.

Tight Lines and Good Fishing,

Marshall, Editor
www.bestflyrods.com
www.fly-fishing-colorado.com

Learn Fly Fishing Stream Safety In 30 Seconds

2004-12-27T05:14:00.000-08:00

Learning Fly Fishing Stream Safety the Hard Way

In an instant, the water washed me off my casting platform on the rock and into the current. What happened next ... Read on.

Full Article Published on buzzle.com and fly-fishing-colorado.com

Tight Lines and Good Fishing,

Marshall, Editor

fly fishing colorado

Fly Fishing Colorado Editor Accepted As A Buzzle Author

2004-12-26T23:03:00.000-08:00

12/26/04

Fly Fishing Colorado.com editor is accepted as a fly fishing author for buzzle.com. Look for our exclusive Buzzle articles in the near future.

Buzzle.com is an organized way of looking at the web. The buzzle web directory includes categories from animals and pets; business and finance; computers and internet; hobbies and interests; sports and recreation, fly fishing and much more.

Marshall, Editor
fly-fishing-colorado.com

Fly Fishing Colorado is an Orvis Affiliate

2004-12-07T22:43:00.000-08:00

12/7/04

Fly Fishing Colorado announces being accepted as an Orvis affiliate.

Orvis had been proudly providing quality mens and womens clothing, fly fishing gear, hiking gear, home furnishings, bed spreads, dog beds and toys, hunting supplies and more since 1865. This is longer than anyone else in the fly fishing industry that I know of.

Orvis also runs schools teaching fly fishing and hunting skills. Book a trip through Orvis for a fly fishing adventure, hunting safari, adventure cruise, nature activities or a walking tour in Africa, South America's Amazon Basin or Europe. (Ireland or Scotland would be may favorites)

Orvis Plans to Build Outdoor Lifestyle Resort Community in Colorado

2004-11-24T20:57:00.000-08:00

Orvis Forms Strategic Alliance With Oxford Industries
Yahoo News (press release) - Nov 4, 2004... "We build fly fishing rods, send sportsmen ... The company is working on Orvis Shorefox, an outdoor lifestyle resort community in Colorado, custom home designs in ...

Exciting News for affluent Colorado Fly Fishermen.

Tight Lines

Marshall, Editor
http://www.fly-fishing-colorado.com

Bargains for Holiday Giving or Anytime

2004-11-24T01:35:00.000-08:00

Fly Fishing Colorado has partnered with the largest flyshop on the web to bring you quality products at bargain prices. Take a look at these amazing values. These are only a sample from our store. See all the goodies at Fly Fishing Colorado Bargains
Travel Fly Rods Temple Fork Lefty Kreh Professional Series Fly Rod Now available in a delicate 2 weight through our popular 10, and castable 12 weights, these travel rods have taken TFO's reputation to new levels. View our Rod Selection flydepot.com Price: $ 139.95	Temple Fork Lefty Kreh TiCr Series Fly Rod Lefty designed this series for performance. Fast, powerful and smooth, these rods will deliver a fly with distance and accuracy limited only by the anglers skills. View our Rod Selection flydepot.com Price: $ 199.95
Scientific Anglers System 2 Fly Reel Built to hold up under the harshest fishing conditions, they set the standard for how serious anglers measure pure fish-stopping power View our Reel Selection flydepot.com Price: $ 159.94 *Editors Note: I have used a Scientific Anglers System 2 Reel with a 5 wt. line for over 5 years and love the smooth easy adjust drag system. Plus the light weight	Catch and Release Landing Net These hand-crafted premium nets are made from laminated hardwood and are distinctively finished. View our Accessory Selection flydepot.com Price: $ 43.94
Flyboxes	Flylines
Leaders	Tippets

Leader Construction

2004-11-23T20:02:00.000-08:00

Back in the early 1970s when I was a beginning fly fisherman, about the only way to get a decent tapered leader was to build your own. You started with .021 or .019 leader materal in a 4 or 5 foot length. Then you measured out a piece of material the next size down about 2/3 the length of the piece immediately above. And so on until you reached 4X or 5X tippet material size. Here you tied on a fly. Back then I generally fished only one fly instead of my standard two fly rig I use these days. Fortunately building a tapered leader is much easier today.

The leader is the connection between the fly line and your fly. How it is tapered makes a difference in how the fly turns over. Your leader can make a difference in how easily you control the drift of the fly. This is particularly true with a dry fly.

How you develop your leader formula depends upon several factors.

Type of species -- If you are going after saltwater species, you will not want to use a 7X tippet and light monofilament type material. Braided wire leaders and heavy monofilament are more the order of the day.

Water conditions -- During spring runoff, you can use a larger leader like 4x. Later in the year, many streams in Colorado are gin clear, you will want smaller tippets (6x or 7x in most cases).

Water Column -- Whether you are planning to fish nymphs on the bottom, wet flies mid-column or dry flies on the top.

Stream Type -- Will you be fishing on a small stream or a larger stream? Handling a 12 foot leader on a small stream takes a lot of practice. And you will probably lose some flies in the learning process (buy inexpensive ones in this case). On a small stream of say 15 to 20 feet width, I would suggest a 10 foot leader max or a single tapered leader to 9x or 7 1/2 feet.

Flies -- Type and size of flies can make difference in your leader construction. Large weighted nymphs or heavy hackled dry flies don't usually turn over well on a small sized tippet.

---------- SIDEBAR ----------

I usually fish nymphs year round. For many years, I would spend time weighting my nymphs with lead wire. Using lead has been banned in Yellowstone Park and in other areas in the U.S. and overseas. Besides, it is faster to tie flies without weighting them. Then add non-lead weight to the leader to match the water conditions you are fishing.

---------- SIDEBAR ----------

Constructing A Nymph Leader

While there are no ideal formulas for constructing a nymph leader, the following one works pretty well.

Start with a 9 ft Rio 4x leader.

Using a blood knot or double uni-knot connection, add 8 - 10 inches of 5x Rio tippet material.

Tie on your top fly.

Using a single uni-knot, tie on 18 inches of 6x or 7x Rio tippet material to the top fly hook bend. (Having used the blood knot and improved clinch knot for over 30 years, switching to uni-knots has not been easy. I tie the top fly on with an improved clinch knot and then add the dropper tippet material through the top fly hook eye.)

The fish don't seem to mind and I catch them on the dropper and on the top fly too. The owner of Alpine Angler in Aurora, CO says that tying the dropper from the hook bend is best. Try out both ways and see which works best for you.

As you fish, you will be cutting off the 5x tippet or it will hang up and you break it off. After a while of retying a tippet to the original leader, the 9ft leader is no longer 9ft. Rather than throw it away, try this 60/40 formula. The step down piece is equal to 40% of the larger piece above.

Take your leader spool and pull some material off the spool. Hold the loose piece against the larger leader piece. Pull the smaller piece until it is about 40% of the length of the larger piece. Allow some 8 -- 10 inches for knots and cut it off the spool. Tie the tippet material onto the larger leader piece and then add your flies as above.

If you were originally using a leader tapered to 4x, I suggest adding 4x tippet material back. (Depending when you add the material back, you may only need 20% or less or maybe 30%. You will have to experiment with tapering your own leaders until experience tells you it will work right.)

Constructing a Dry Fly Leader

While turning over a small dry fly on a 12 foot leader into a stiff breeze can be done, I will leave it to the experts. Much easier to handle is a smaller leader of 7 1/2 to 9 feet.

Start with a 7 1/2 foot Rio leader tapered to 4x, 5x, 6x or 7x depending on the stream conditions. (Run off or late summer). That's it. Not so hard was it.

Or use a 9 ft leader tapered to the size you want.

If you want a longer leader, start with a tapered leader one size larger than your tippet. Then add about 12 to 15 inches of tippet material. (Ex. leader tapered to 5x and tippet to 6x)

P.S. Many years of fly fishing makes Rio my choice of tapered leaders and tippet material. If you like Scientific Anglers, Climax, Frog Hair or some other brand, go ahead and use what you like. Having confidence in your equipment plays a large part in catching fish. Everyone to their own.

Tight Lines and Happy Holidays to Everyone,

Marshall Estes, Editor
http://fly-fishing-colorado.com/

P.S. Comments on this article are especially welcome. I would like to hear what leader formulas work good for you.

New Products

2004-11-20T21:27:00.000-08:00

New Products -- Just in time for Christmas
St Croix Fly Rods for Discriminating Fly Fishermen

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These fine St Croix rods all feature a lifetime warranty for the original owner backed by St Croix outstanding service.

The Legend Elite and Ultra series feature St Croix's new IPC® Technology. This new technology produces a continous taper rod for superior casting, increased "feel" and lighter weight than standard "compound taper" rods. The Elite and Ultra all feature top grade components such as

Fuji® Alconite® stripper guides.
Hard chrome, single-foot fly guides on 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 wt. models. Snake guides on 6SW, 6/10', 7, 8, 9, 10 wt. models.
REC nickel silver reel seats with stabilized bird's-eye maple inserts on freshwater models.
REC hard-anodized aluminum reel seats on heavier line models.
Super-grade cork handles.

Just to name a few.

The Imperial Rod Outfits are perfect for the beginner or veteran fly fisher. Imperial Outfits feature the popular Imperial Rod. The matching disc drag reel comes with fly line, 20# backing and tapered leader pre-installed. Simply feed the line through the guides, tie on a fly and you're set to head to the stream.

The Imperial fly rods feature a versatile moderate rod action. The Imperial Fly Fishing Outfit is a sensible outfit that combines quality and value. While the moderate action is great for the beginner, veteran fishermen have long appreciated the slower pace of these moderate action rods.

Click the St Croix link to visit our store and see the other fine features of the Legend Elite and Ultra rods or the Imperial Rod Outfits.

St Croix Fly Rods for Discriminating Fly Fishermen

Fly Tying Tips

2004-11-14T09:38:00.000-08:00

Thoughts on Fly Tying

11/07/04

I fish nymphs almost exclusively. My favorites are bead head patterns because they are good attractors and fish getters.

Fly patterns such as the

bead head prince
bead head flash back gold ribbed hares ear
diamond bead head -- RS2 developed by Pat Dorsey of blue quill anger in Evergreen, CO
perl bead head -- Greg's Emerger developed by Alpine Angler Shop in Aurora, CO
root beer bead head gold ribbed pheasant tail
regular root beer bead head pheasant tail
black bead head -- black microtube body stone fly

Of these bead heads, numbers 1 and 2 are my favorites with Greg's emerger running a close third. Since I fish on the bottom or very close to it, I sometimes loose a lot of flies in a day. (Most was a dozen in a day)

Non-bead heads I prefer are

RS2 in gray, olive or brown
Gray silver ribbed RS2
Gray RS2 emerger tied with a bit of Antron yard as a wing
Regular gold ribbed thread head pheasant tail
Light olive gold ribbed type RS2. (This may be a PMD emerger)

After a lot of years tying flies, I have tried to simplify my patterns. For example, I don't cement the final thread finish behind a bead head. I also don't cement heads on thread heads anymore unless I want a glossy look.

You are not tying flies to hand down to your grand children. Chances are you will loose them in a fish or a rock or on bottom moss before the season is over. Make your fly tying as simple as possible to increase your tying speed.

Tip -- Organize your hooks for tying by using a magnet strip. I use a strip of refrigerator gasket magnet to hold my hooks. Next time you get one of those 4 X 4 inch magnetic advertising patches, don't throw it away. Glue it with the plain side up on a 4X4 piece of hard styrofoam. There is your handy hook holder. Before and after the fly is tied.

Tip -- Use your forceps to hold beads while putting them on the hook. I use a long nosed set of tweezers with enough grip to hold beads. Either one makes putting beads on hooks easier. Prepare a dozen hooks at a time. This step can be done while watching tv.

More Fly Tying Tips

Tight Lines and Good Fishing,

Marshall,editor
http://www.fly-fishing-colorado.com/?blog

The Lucky Hat

2004-11-14T09:27:00.000-08:00

Do you have a lucky hat?

It was a beautiful warm day in the mid 70's. Typical of what we get in Colorado during September. I started out by checking the stream flows on the stream flows page at fly-fishing-colorado.com. The South Platte below Cheesman Dam was just perfect running 250 CFS. The water should be clear and not too much moss yet.

I was fishing the bridge pool where CO 67 and a Jeffco Highway come together. The water was crystal clear. The pool had just enough moss in it to offer fish protection and challenging fishing for the fisherman. After two hours, I had only had a couple of strikes but could not get hooked up.

So I headed to the car for my secret weapon. The "Lucky Hat" or in my case "Lucky Cap". Mine is old and dirty. I purchased it in 1990 on a trip to Cancun, Mexico. How long it has been my lucky cap, I rightly can't remember. Probably some 12 years or so. It has a logo on the front that says "Hard Rock Cafe". It is not even a fishing cap. Yet when I wear it, I almost always catch fish.

Armed now with my fish catcher, I headed back to the pool. On the way, I noticed a hatch of very small insects coming off. Letting one land on my hand, I examined it. It was a baetis hatch getting started. Hurriedly, I clipped off the RS2 from the 7X dropper and tied on a 24 baetis I had purchased on a recent San Juan River, New Mexico trip.

Did I catch any fish with while wearing my "Lucky Cap"?

To find out how many and how big Read Rest of Article

Tight Lines and Good Fishing,

Marshall,editor
http://www.fly-fishing-colorado.com/

First Trout

2004-11-13T01:55:00.000-08:00

I grew up in Iowa fishing for catfish, bass, crappie and bullheads using some of the worst smelling baits you could imagine. But my father loved to hunt and fish so I went along. On one summer vacation to Oklahoma, Dad stopped at the fish hatchery in Bennett Springs, MO.

I can still remember standing on the bridge watching a flyfisherman gracefully cast a dry fly upstream to the base of the little dam feeding a pool by the hatchery. On the third cast, he hooked up with a nice fat 12 to 14 inch rainbow that leapt out the water 3 or 4 times trying to throw the hook.

The fisherman prevailed and slipped the rainbow into his classic wicker creel with the slot in the lid. (Back in those days we ate a fish once in a while) Turning to my father, I asked what the fisherman was using for bait. Dad said, "He is using an articifical fly and not bait." "Does it stink?", I asked. Dad laughed and said "No." Right then I knew one day I would become a flyfisherman. I was about 14 at the time. I never touched stinky bait after that.

I would not take up flyfishing until 1969 some 15 years after first seeing it in the Ozarks of Missouri. I had moved to Colorado to learn to ski and flyfish. Never did learn to ski but I did learn to fly fish.

When I was starting out, there weren't a lot of classes, guides or instructors to teach fly fishing. I purchased a cheap rod, reel, line and some flies from a local sporting goods store. Then I read a lot of books and practiced casting until I could do a reasonable overhand cast.

My first fish was a 2 lb. brookie caught on a brassie out of the famed South Platte river. That was my only fish on a fly rod for that whole season. For the next two seasons, I caught exactly one fish a season on a fly rod. I had upgraded my equipment so the casting was a lot more enjoyable.

In 1972, I was back to drifting salmon eggs on the bottom with light spinning gear and was catching fish. But releasing them was killing a lot of them I knew. As destiny would have it. A friend and I ended up on Bear Creek at O'Fallon Park one Saturday. Jerry parked the car and said, "Hey, there's Frank Aubon. Frank is one of the best fly fishermen I know. He can teach you how to catch fish on a fly rod." (Frank was from Maine and had been fly fishing some 40 years when I first met him.)

Jerry introduced me to Frank and explained the problem I was having with a fly rod. Frank said, "Come here and show me what you know about casting." So I dropped a couple of reasonable overhand casts out onto the Creek. Frank looked at me, "You know enough about basic casting, what do you do with the fly when it is in the water?" "Frank, if I knew what the H--- to do with the fly in the water, I would be catching fish!", I said.

"Come on and watch what I do." said Frank. Frank shook out a little line and let it drift downstream. Then he flipped a "Tension" cast back upstream. On the 3rd drift, Frank hooked a nice bow right along the bank. He looked at me and said, "Now you do it!" I tried to imitate Frank but no fish.

Finally Frank asked me what I had been fishing. "Eggs on the bottom." I replied. "Fishing eggs on the bottom is the same as fishing nymphs on the bottom", said Frank. "You make a little J in the line just at the water line and watch it as you bounce the nymph on the bottom. If the J twitches left or right or hesitates, raise the rod tip to set the hook. And don't rip the rod tip up. Remember that hook is only a quarter inch or less long to the bend. A gentle tipup is all that is needed." Then Frank proceeded to demonstrate with two more fish.

I watched Frank and tryed to imitate him with some success. As I remember I caught and released about 6 trout that Saturday. For me that was the best I had ever done with a fly rod. Frank and I fished together for some 5 years before loosing touch with each other.

But I will never forget the gift of a lifetime fly fishing enjoyment you gave me Frank. You were a good teacher and fine friend to wade the waters with.

Whatever big river you are fishing in Heaven, I hope the fish are huge and you are having a ball.

Tight Lines and Good Fishing,

Marshall,editor
http://www.fly-fishing-colorado.com/