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

Aids to Fly Casting

Aids to Fly Casting from http://www.flyfisherman.com/skills/lkaids/

A 3:48 minute video segment (6.8 MB) with Lefty Kreh demonstrating three keys to successful fly casting.