Seasons Greetings from your friends of OTD

Remember when this was about fishing.....

Always Funny

Stolen From the Chum

Catch and Release it'll grow on you.

Nice Job.

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

I found this old video of BL riding his motorcycle.

Catch and Release 2008

Kind of Lacking in the Fish Picture Department,  Sorry Ben.  It was to Freaking Cold.

Meow

This mountain lion was hit between Labette Road (southwest side of Ottawa , KS ) and Highway I- 35, by a car. Check out the size of this cats freaking paws!

It Must Suck to be a Guide.

You don't have to shave,  you get sweet free gear,  and you get the chance to catch pigs like this.  I can't wait to go back to work Monday and sell soap.  Yaaaaaaaaaaaah!   Damn that's a big fish.

Sweaty Waders 

OTD Shore Lunch Challenge

 

I don't really think this would measure up to the traditional OTD Shore Lunch.

Canadian Guides Shore Lunch

New eeeshue!

http://www.thisisfly.com/

GENIUS!

I don't think my doctor would approve.  Who's buying it first?

Bacon Salt

Landlocked!

The fish you captured in Fall River was indeed a landlocked kokanee salmon (male in spawning condition). These fish are stocked approximately 20 miles upstream in Wickiup Reservoir for recreational angling purposes. The outlet of the reservoir is unscreened and occassionally fish in the reservoir emigrate into the Deschutes River. The kokanee probably resided in the Deschutes until they matured and were seeking a good spawning location. The cool water and available gravel in Fall River likely brought the kokanee up out of the Deschutes. We do not frequently get reports of this, but yours is the third report this month. Thanks for your interest in central Oregon fisheries. Let me know if I can be of further assistance.

Brett Hodgson
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
Deschutes District Fisheries Biologist
541-388-6363
brett.l.hodgson@state.or.us

New OTD Member

Huh, Huh.  I said member.  He has a helicopter and has agreed to guide our next trip.  Penis housing included at no charge.  Or maybe it a plane.  I think he was lying now that I think about it.

Catch and Realease

So do we need to start planning and getting things hammered out for the weekend of Nov 14th?

Jim Kelly in Alaska

These are pictures from a buddy of mine, Jim Kelly, in Alaska recently. He works for perhaps the most well known endodontist in the world, Dr. L. Stephen Buchanan.

OTD Westward Expansion

Playin' Free in Oregon

Click on bottom right to go full screen.  You can also click on the slideshow for the Photo Title.

First Fly for Audrey

Just wanted to put a picture of this in the archives.  Tied by Audrey Hammer unassisted (with the exception of some assistance with the hair stacker and the whip finish).  Not sure what to call it but it's pretty sweet.  It will definitely find it's way on to my line in Oregon.

Tube Time Frame

Catch Magazine

Lots of sweet photography or is it photoshop?  Anyway It looks pretty sweet, but I'm not sure if every issue is going to be on the web like this one.

Catch Magazine

Enjoy!

Looking for Investors

Just watch the slide show and think about it.  It's prolly cheaper than season tickets.

Super Cat Tunnel Hull Fishing Raft

Give It A Try

The Tongariro Roll Cast

Video

HOLY CRAP!

When Lightning Strikes

Is that covered by the warranty?

Bummer

Ed Story of Feather Craft 1934-2008

Nice Little Read from Midcurrent

Fly-casting not in the Olympics, but enjoyed in 29 nations
Thursday, August 7, 2008
MORGAN LYLE


I’m sorry to say that as the Olympic Games get under way in China this week, there won’t be a fly-casting competition.
Nor will there be lifesaving, surfing or powerboating — although all those activ ities have international federations that are recognized by the International Olympic Committee.
Of course, casting has a federation too, and it’s been trying to break into the Olympics for decades, said Dale Lanser, exec utive secretary of the American Casting Association.
“The American Casting Association, starting 40 or 50 years ago, has put forth the effort to join the Olympic Committee, demonstrated the sport of casting as a new event, etc, etc, etc.,” he said. “The bottom line as I understand the Olympic effort for a new sport to be recognized and become an official event is the number of countries in the world that actually do participate in the event. The magic number of countries is unknown to me, but my guess is 50 to 75 countries are needed.”
If that’s the case, we’re short of the mark. The International Casting Sport Federation lists 29 countries as members. Twenty-two are in Europe; the others are the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Africa, New Zealand and Singapore. Still, the list shows the global appeal of fly-casting; every continent is represented except South America and Antarctica. (South America’s an odd omission, since there’s plenty of fly-fishing there.)
The American Casting Federation and the International casting Sport Federation both run tournaments for spinning rod and fly rod casting. There are other clubs devoted to just one or the other, and some sanction competition with bait-casting and spinning rods.
When the modern-day Olympic Games began in 1896, competitive fly-casting was already well established. In 1906, an Irishman named John Enright set a world record by casting a salmon fly 152 feet at an Anglers Club of New York tournament in Central Park. The New York Times reports Enright used a 20-foot greenheart rod that weighed four pounds. That would probably be in the two-handed rod category in today’s events, and Enright’s toss would be about half of what today’s casters can cast.
By the way, the famous George M.L. LaBranche came in second in the accuracy competition in that 1906 event and eighth in the trout-fly distance event, presumably single-handed casting, at 77 feet.
According to the ACA, Steve Rajeff holds the current American record for men’s single-handed casting — an astonishing 236 feet — as well as the two-handed record of 290 feet. Pamela Peters of Ohio holds the women’s single-handed record of 125 feet and the two-handed record of 178.
I suppose the International Olympic Committee can’t allow every obscure sport in the world into the Games. They have to draw the line somewhere, and at the mom ent, fly-casting is on the other side of it.
I like the current list of Olympic sports well enough, and I’ll check in on the Beijing Games from time to time. But if fly-casting ever does manage to become an Olympic sport, you can bet I’ll be glued to the tube. If you can cast a fly 236 feet, you deserve a gold medal.

IFH MONDAYS

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

MAY NOT BE SAFE FOR WORK

Fish Where the Big Fish Hide!

bullseyefisherman.com

Trout Bums -- Fuel vs. fishing: A reel problem

By Randall Sumner, Yakima Herald

I was reading an online fly-fishing forum the other day. This is a great place to get the pulse of a fly fishing community; you find out how much time the cubicle people have on their hands at work.

Mostly it's the same old questions about waders, rods, reels, knots, boats, etc. "Should I buy the $700 waders or wear shorts?" or the classic, "How much should I tip the guide?" I always say, if you have to ask, you can't afford to hire a fishing god. But I digress.
The most interesting subject I found was about the price of gasoline as it affects your fishing travel plans. A lot of people apparently are upset at the price of gas and are angry at the Greedy Rotten Oil Companies (from here on referred to as the GROCs).

The cubicle people seem unhappy, restless and, I sense, horrified that their garages are full of gas guzzlers. What were you thinking when you bought that whopper one-ton truck with a tractor motor, especially if you're not using the thing for work. Now don't get me wrong. I am a free marketer -- I say if you want a big, smoking, rod-knocking beast of a rig, go for it, but then your whining later comes off a bit disingenuous.

Here is a gut check: The price of fuel may modulate some, but it will never come back down. How do I know that? Well, I asked my mom about it; she is wise beyond her years, and she says forget it, the cheap fuel is gone.

So where does that leave us and our fishing travel plans?

We Trout Bum types will probably just stay home and try and grow something to eat in our backyards and huddle for warmth around our BBQs, dreaming of all those good times we'll never have again because of the evil GROCs.
NOT.

No, I suspect we will adapt quite nicely with smaller vehicles and some carpooling to our favorite distant fishing venues. We will embrace the new fuel reality, because that's what fishing teaches us -- to constantly adjust to the conditions as we find them and, most of all, to stay optimistic about the future. My advice is to dump the behemoth monster rig soon while the dumping is good. Or get a second job.

As to the cubicle people and their rants about the GROCs, here are some other by-the-gallon prices that are likely to chap some hides.

Diet Snapple, 16 oz., $1.29: that's $10.32 per gallon.
Gatorade, 20 oz., $ 1.59: $10.17 per gallon
Evian water, 9 oz. $1.49: $21.19 per gallon
Printer ink for your PC's printer: $5,200 per gallon.

My favorite is a gallon of Vicks NyQuil, 6 oz., $8.35 or $178.13 per gallon; it would just be fun to see a gallon jug of NyQuil. Now I realize we don't need to use much of -- or any of -- these products, and that's my point: We don't need to use as much fuel either.
When you consider all the trouble and expense it takes to find, drill, produce, ship, refine, and deliver fuel, it makes you glad the cold medicine people are not in the oil business.

* Trout Bums At Large, written by Randal Sumner, appears six times a year on the last Thursday of every other month. Sumner, a fly fisherman since 1972, is owner of Blue Skies Guide Service on the Yakima River. Trout Bums can be reached at randal@blueskiesfishing.com or randalsumnerart.com

JUST LET IT SIT THERE!

What do you guys think about fisshuing on Monday or Tuesday afternoon. Let me know.

Hammer

Missouri Bluegill

Bluegill Fest?

If I knew how to use photoshop I prolly could have drawn some boobs or a vagina on the bluegill pictured to keep with the trend on the OTD blog. Sorry guys, yes this is actually a post about fishing. Anyway I talked to BL on Saturday about hitting the lake by my house one night this week(maybe Thursday?), and I drove by the lake on Sunday to see what it looked like. It is still a bit murky and I didn't stop to talk to anybody about the fishin', but hey I'm down if you guys are. If anything its a chance to throw a few flies around. Give me shout and let me know the consensus.

Bee Tree Park

It's been too long...

So it's been almost a month! The last post was on March 24th. In order to keep the site fresh and keep people interested I thought I better get this up on the site.

Enjoy a a little Kim Kardashian

Trout Fishing in the Midwest Acknowledged!

Nice little blurb from an Arkansas paper from a seminar led by "Skip" Morris inventor of the skip nymph(Isn't that correct BL?). Anyway some good tips on nymphing for lunkers and a glimmer of recognition from a westerner that the Midwest does have big trout.

Ready to freakin fish!

Hammer

Nymphing for Trout

Montauk

Good luck Harry.
Looks a little rough!

click on link for crazy footage
Montauk State Park

Dream Job?

If you are interested here is the link. Scientific Anglers is hiring people with manufacturing and Fly Fishing experience.



Midcurrent

Catch This

In the past two years or so OTD have had the luxury to stay in the friendly confines of Denny B's Snake and Tick Ranch outside of Licking, MO. Conveniently located near Montauk State Park. While staying at the ranch we have electricity as well which makes it easy to throw something in the crock pot before heading out to fish all day and returning to hot meal. Below is one of our favorites:

Carole G's Italian Beef:
Boneless Beef Roast just the right size to fit in the crock pot
one can beef consume
one can of beer
one packet Italian Dressing (dry)
one jar of pepperocini (juice, stems and all)

combine all items and cook on low for about 8 hours.
use a fork to shred beef once cooked and serve on buns.

If you follow Paul's lead you can smother with rotel cheese dip as well.

Monies

Next time you are taking that fly fishing trip to Patagonia or need to update that fly box or try to compete with Hammer's fishing supplies, you might need some extra money. Start saving today.

Strategic Financial Group

Quite a Collection

The Link below will take you to Midcurrent's video index page. Just something else for the OTD archives I guess. I think there might be some videos of Mikey Weir in there too. Don't be haters.

www.midcurrent.com

Buggin Out...

BL turned me on to this website. Purdy deece looking stuff. BL is that material also avalable for sale out of your fly tying box?



"New Generation X Wigglys --- You asked for them and here they are. Introducing our latest colors of Generation X Wigglys. In the past, we only had black but now we’re offering 6 great new colors. We use tons of these little guys to add even more action to our flies and you can use them to create your own custom dubbings. Colors: black, red, yellow, olive, brown, copper and white."

dougswisher.com

First Organized Tying Session of 2008

It was a monumental event which was attended by the founding fathers of OTD, and I would have to say it was a success. I am going to have to put in my vote for the fly of the night a.k.a. "The Double Bunny". It was a huge hit and if it were not for one of our own, the pioneering collector of massive amounts of fly tying materials member known as BL we would still be talking about tying it. I only wish that G-man and Flavor Flav would have issued. Anyway there were many other deece patterns tied tonight, and I have to say that I am a little dissappointed that blaze orange yarn did not play more of a role. I am to blame I suppose, maybe next time. Well guys hopefully the next session is not to far off, and in turn maybe we can nail down some details on a White River trip.

The Double Bunny

Looking For a New Career?

All you need is some property with a spring fed stream and a couple million $$$.

Trout Farming

Honarable Mention...

OTD gets a shout out

Diary of Traitor

Holy Cow

Check out this link. Sent to me by the world famous Angler, Mean Sean Sadler.

Jurassic Lake

More Clever Cartoons

Virtual Fly Tying Smorgasboard

I came across this link of videos on FlyFisherman.com and thought that it looked worthy to post. I am especially down with the 1st video tying the yarn spinner pattern. Anyway its just something else to get you geeked up about hittin the stream.

Hammer

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1388782531

For the little guy or gal to get started

I came across an add for this book on Midcurrent.com. Thought it looked pretty kid friendly with little Henry BL in mind in particular. There are three books in the series so far.

Hammer

http://www.olivethewoollybugger.com/index.html

Hmmmmmmmm

This set of 50 collectible fly tying pattern trading cards features clear color photos, recipes, tying and presentation tips, historical information, and information about the natural insects imitated by these fly patterns.

The cards are color coded based on the style of the fly (dry, wet, nymph, terrestrial, streamer).

Use the cards for reference when tying, or take them with you to the stream to help you "Match the Hatch". Used for reference when tying, these cards take up very little room on your tying bench - much less than a fly pattern book.

The cards are an excellent gift for both the novice and the expert fly tier or fisherman.

Cards Included In Set #1
Dry Flies: Adams, Blue Wing Olive, Brown Bivisible, Cream Midge, Elk Hair Caddis, Griffith's Gnat, King's River Caddis, Light Cahill, Light Hendrickson, March Brown, Mosquito, Quill Gordon, Red Humpy, Renegade, Trico Spinner, White Wulff
Wet Flies:Blue Dun, Brown Hackle Peacock, Coachman, Dark Cahill, Gray Hackle Red, McGinty, Parmachene Belle, Professor
Nymphs: Brassie, Breadcrust, Gold Ribbed Hare's Hear, Freshwater Shrimp, Hellgrammite, Kayaderosseras Killer, March Brown, Pheasant Tail, Prince, Red Serendipity, Tellico, Zug Bug
Streamers:Black Ghost, Black Nose Dace, Golden Girl, Llama, Mickey Finn, Royal Coachman, Silver Darter, Woolly Bugger
Terrestrials:Caterpillar, Hard Body Ant, Inchworm, Jassid, Letort Hopper, San Juan Worm

-JG

If you don't like one tip there are 1,000 more

Sunday, February 3, 2008

By Gary GarthSpecial to The Courier-Journal

Fly-fishermen who don't mind cold weather should think small, according to "1001 Fly Fishing Tips: Expert Advice, Hints and Shortcuts from the World's Leading Fly Fishers," a 224-page compilation of tips edited by Jay Nichols for Headwater Books.

Not small fish. Small flies.

"Cold-weather bugs are almost always small and mostly midges," according to the section about seasons on Page 169. "Fill your winter box with mostly small subsurface patterns, a few dry flies for those opportunities when they arise, and a few meat-and-potatoes flies such as stonefly nymphs and streams."

"1001 Fly Fishing Tips" is loaded with practical information, most of which is baseline. The text is simple and easy to understand.

The book is divided into four parts: Technique and Presentation; Equipment; Hatches and Seasons; and Travel Destinations and Species other than Trout. It's nicely illustrated with 200 line drawings.

Some of the information has a very strong dose of common sense. From the blurb on wading: "Unwadered legs are more sensitive to temperature changes. If the water feels like bathwater, don't fish for trout."

Need help in hitting the target? "Cast in an almost vertical plane for accuracy, but you can cast sidearm on your backcast and come forward straight over your rod tip on your forward cast. This elliptical motion helps avoid tangles -- especially with sinking-tip lines."

The book includes tips and advice from more than 30 contributors, including veteran fly anglers Lefty Kreh, John Randolph and Bob Clouser.

Kreh on keeping a tight loop: "Any movement with your hand is magnified at the rod tip, so a short movement with your wrist can move the rod tip too much and open your loop. At the first sign of wide loops, focus on keeping a stiff wrist and using only your forearm."

The book seldom gets more advanced that this. And some of the stuff -- such as two pages dedicated to building homemade braided loops -- is interesting but nearly useless. Still, there's enough practical stuff here to benefit any angler's library.

"1001 Fly Fishing Tips" is published in softcover with a list price of $19.95.

Any Questions for my boy Mikey Weir

Look I know there has been alot of talk about the relationship between me and Mikey Weir, and I just wanted you guys to know that if you have any questions about anything you can go to this link and Mikey will clear everything up for you.

Hammer

http://www.askaboutflyfishing.com/speakers/mikey/index.cfm

Dissed By AEG Film Tour

Maybe I was looking @ the site with my eyes closed, but the AEG film tour began today and the STL is not on the list of stops. I guess Missourians don't like fly fishing. Check out their site and maybe we can send them a thank you for giving us the high hat.

Hammer

http://www.flyfishingfilmtour.com/Schedule.asp

Knots with a Twist

Knowing this little trick would have made my life easier last weekend.






-HB

Bobbers?

So maybe I'm just dumb, but I always thought that yarn indicators and their foam twins looked like a pain in the ass to rig. Apparently it is not only easy to rig them but you can make your own on the cheap. I don't know about you guys but I get tired having to buy a dozen tootpick style or football indicators every trip and then losing them and also having them screw up my tippet which eventually results in loss of fish. Anyway check out this link on making your own yarn indicators. I assume you could use the same technique with high vis foam strips as well.

Hammer

Strike Indicator Scientology

Bio strike blows. Especially when its 0 degrees.

He's no Lefty

Never hurts to get more instruction on casting. Dig the nice little edit at the end.

The Creep and Jab

-EH

The Wiggle Nymph

Check out this deece fly. Hammer you might as well go ahead and start tying some of these bad boys.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Li-ruygxyJ8

Urban Hawker

For the second time this winter and the third or maybe forth time in the last 7 months or so I have seen a hawk in my neighbor's backyard. An Urban Hawk if you will as this hawk has taken up residence in the City of St Louis. This morning was bitterly cold and as I walked about to check the temperature (7 degrees) I noticed feathers flying around on the ground. The feathers were from a pigeon that the hawk had decided looked tasty. The hawk was startled when it saw me and took refuge in a tree.

check it out...

Luring in the trout with a sucker pattern

January 22, 2008

How many streams or rivers have you fished for trout that had a good population of sucker fish in them?

My guess is that most of the streams you fish, with the exception of the coldest, have some type of sucker fish in them.

Suckers will spawn in the spring, and that means a free meal for browns and rainbows alike. That's something you should capitalize on from early to late spring of the upcoming trout season.

I was originally introduced to the Sucker Spawn pattern when I started fishing for steelhead in the Oak Orchard River. Located in Albion, the Oak Orchard is a Lake Ontario tributary river that holds spectacular runs of winter-spring steelhead and huge fall salmon and browns.

It was on my first trip to Albion that local guide/outfitter Ron Bierstine, at www.orleansoutdoor.com, shared some of his favorite steelhead patterns, in particular, the Sucker Spawn.

Most fly-fishing purists would shun using a fly pattern that mimicked a sucker egg spawn sack on our fabled Catskill waters. Consider, however, that you just might be losing out on an early season pattern for trout that produces nice fish in sometimes unpredictable spring weather. The Sucker Spawn is my spring go-to fly pattern when the early season trout fishing is slow and traditional deepwater nymphs aren't doing the trick.

Here's what Bierstine has to say about this peculiar but effective fly pattern:

"It was created to imitate sucker spawn in the inland streams which trout feed upon," he said. "It's perhaps the ultimate egg pattern. A small, soft, silhouetted fly that looks snotty in the water, not hard and unnatural. Drifts well and traps small air bubbles.

"It can be tied in multiple different colors, the most successful being flesh tones like cream and light pink. It can be tied with various yarns, but angora rabbit is the best for the soft silhouette. Can be tied blood dot style, or with two or three colors of yarn in the same fly. It's hard for trout to reject upon striking since the yarn may get caught up in the trout's small teeth.

"The Sucker Spawn can also be tied with or without a tail, although it should be tied sparsely. For the tail, you can use some white rabbit ... or various crystal flash."

Here's how he describes tying the Sucker Spawn:

"Tie in yarn at the back of the hook beginning with a loop of the yarn pointing toward the rear. Move forward on top of the hook shank, forming loops of yarn by tying each loop down. You can then split the yarn into separate strands or tie loops of who yarn, laying each to the side of the shank.

"Tie off cleanly at the eye or cut the yarn loosely, leaving another tuft of yarn to simulate another egg at that position. Whip finish and use head cement along bottom of whole shank on for a durable fly."

I recommend any standard nymph hook in sizes 12-14. Fish them deep by placing enough split shot 12-18 inches above the fly to get the fly bouncing off the bottom. Set the hook anytime your fly hesitates or stops in the drift.

You might get some strange looks when you use one, but those will soon fade as you bring in the trout.

dirksoutdoors@hotmail.com

this page gives a little better description of how to tie it.

http://www.flyfishersparadise.com/articles/old/sucker.htm

G-Man's Ice Dubbed Nymph

The link below takes you to the video that I used as the template for G-Man's Ice Dubbed Nymph. The clip shows the tiers version of a Hare's Ear. I simple used the same pattern and substituted Tan Ice Dub and Turkey Feathers as the wing.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=hDecUA8p0MY

...and it catches fish in sub freezing weather in the Ozarks.

Turkey Trout Photos for the Ages