More Custom Flies & New Direction

Following is the news I couldn't catch up to post this spring (is this still spring here in Paradise Valley?). In early March, I brought my custom flies to Parks' Fly Shop (www.parksflyshop.com).
No explanations needed, custom flies & superior guide service have been PFS services since 1953!! That is, celebrating 60th Year!! I'm very proud and fortunate that I can be involved in as a guide and a fly-tyer.

Following patterns have appeared in this blog (and sales site) numerous times along with proof pictures of me catching trout!! Also tying procedures & material used are shown and discussed in my YouTube channel.

Bead, Pheasant, & Copper: This is one of my latest staple nymph in my box(es). Tied large (#12) to small (#18), it catches any size-range of trout! Also works both at rivers and spring creeks!!

Sparkle Crane Larva: Cranefly larva is definitely one of overlooked trout food sources among trout anglers. This pattern is suggestive yet realistic. Not to mention unique in market!!

There are bunch of them.........

And the last but not the least, my beloved (& one of my most innovative) Double Soft Hackled Caddis: I tied a special coloration that mimic multi caddis species for PFS.

Try these anywhere caddis are abundant in various fishing methods.

These are already in "Custom Fly Bins" at the shop. So when you pass Gardiner and Parks' Fly Shop, make sure to drop by and grab couple each along with other goodies!! Whether you fish Yellowstone Park waters, Yellowstone River, or other nearby waters, (often times even beyond!!), PFS flies WILL work for you!!
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Then here's a little announcement. I have just stepped into a new chapter and a new challenge of fly-tying. I'm getting into this kind more & deeper from now on...........
After a couple of trials-&-errors, I finally finished this one.

At this point, it's not "Picture perfect" yet. It's rather "Picture Tolerable" Level.  How many screw-ups can you pick on!?

That said, I'm in the middle of Master Breeder projects and guiding season is just around the corner!! That means I will be tying more trout flies anyway!? or have I stocked enough during winter and spring?
There is no limit in fly-tying world. I will be enjoying the new ride even if it could be a bit bumpy every now and then!!

PFS Lake Check Run!!

I'm in between Master Breeder schedules. Usually this time of year, I don't have many opportunities to go out fishing (due to spring run-off, Yellowstone Park is not open for fishing yet, and other reasons). But that does not mean Fishing Guides aren't fishing but are re-hibernating. I was able to join Private Lake Check Run with guides at Parks' Fly Shop (www.parksflyshop.com).

Now is the time to fish local lakes/ponds which are located within private cattle ranches or guest ranches, just like spring creeks in Livingston (BTW spring creeks are in great conditions too).

On Monday, we checked two lakes. Winds were on a rough side all day. We had fun. Here's Wally's DOUBLE!...........perch-y-ish!?

A group of Avocet against winds. It was a rare scene for us.

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Today we hit another well-known private lake. It's within a real working cattle ranch. I couldn't help chuckling with this landscape.......... An outhouse supported (probably braced!?) with wires and posts. Has anyone tried to steal this building or has it been knocked off & blown away by famous winds around here?

Owner & Outfitter of PFS, Richard bringing in The Starter!

It was a nice Cutty (no pics). I quickly "pumped". Hmmmmmm........, likely stuffs but also NOTE a BEETLE in it!!

Just as we had expected Chronomid hatches were abundant. Richard took a nice rainbow! Note that I'm writing just "nice" for this beauty because.........

Then very large & beautiful mayfly, Calibaetis started to hatch!! We were surrounded by rings of rises!!

I caught a nice little Brookie on a dry-fly!! Happy!!

Right after that Richard got a much nicer Brookie!

And then Morning's Glorious Rainbow!! - I wrote "Morning's" because.......

It was "She" as you can see.......... are these for Sushi Lunch!?

Wally and Rob also kept hauling trout.

It was a bit slow in the afternoon. We were afraid trout were regurgitating from morning feeding and taking some naps. However we have located several rising/cruising trout. Mr. Parks again got things done just right!!!!

It was quite a fight!! Massive submarine pulled out Richard's reel into almost backing-line so I helped him by moving my boat. And finally I could sweep my net under, extending my arms!!

We suspect "He" was Boyfriend for "Her" above!!

We saw some crayfish hatching!!??

We all had fun. I was trained how to net big trout by the outfitter with 50-Plus-Year Experience......!?
As I've been informing there are lots of places/options to fish all through year around here. Come and find out yourself!!

Mother's Day Caddis Hatch - Lower Madison!!!!

So Mother's Day Caddis (American Grannom or Brachycentrus) hatch on Yellowstone River wasn't great this spring. River is rising now........ But also I was hearing Lower Madison, just outside of Bozeman, can be good with the same hatch. "Lower" is an open-year-around stretch and hosts some big fish. But it can be crowded by angler just like "Upper". Then once water level gets higher and summer comes, this stretch experiences tremendous hatch of recreation people!! Everyone has right and choice of what to do on the water but..........this is an irrelevant topic of this blog anyway.......

So, though I was depending on hear-say, I called my friend Jordie, along with Ben, to hit the Lower. Another reason I wanted to give a shot is that once I start guiding (or get more Master Breeder jobs coming in), I simply don't come this way (besides crowding issues.....). I may not be fishing the Lower until next winter or spring.

As we drove along the river, we observed lots of (repeat) lots of Grannom in the air already!! Our expectations and motivations got higher as we launched my boat. We hit a good little stretch right off the bat!! Our first fish on the boat was this BIG Rainbow!! Nice work Jordie!!

He looked just spawned out.

Ben got a nice 'Bow too!! Nice work, Boys!!

This is my catch......

Over all my Mother' Day Caddis Essential patterns worked all day!! (click here).

So how great the hatch was..........

Rest are "Bugallery" from yesterday.........

Invading my boat......

Also in the evening, we encountered great hatch of small mayflies!!! (I just couldn't confirm to say BWO or Baetis. Could be so.)

Of course trout rose on them too!! Some trout were feeding either on caddis or mayflies very selectively just like at spring creeks!!

We also found some March Browns. This is the Rusty Spinner.

We also experienced great Crayfish hatch!!??

Those caddis & mayfly hatches happened in the middle of float and we stopped and fished at the stretch very long. Even after that, good numbers of trout kept rising on our dry-flies. So we ended up taking my boat out at the dark............Consequently I came home way too late.......
There might be another window of opportunity with hatches at the Lower. I might try again within a few day.....

Mother's Day Caddis DID Hatch then....................

Good Bye spring and Let's welcome early summer (in Montana standard). We also have to welcome Runoff.
As I've been reporting, I've been busy with Master Breeder project so I don't have time to fish. I've been hearing fishing/river report, that's all. Today I heard two most anticipating news: 1. "River's getting higher and losing clarity and 2. Caddis are popping!!
I swung by the River on my way home and witnessed both information were correct. I DID see swarm of flying caddis!! Then water lost clarity, period. I snatched one and quickly took pictures. NOTE: Background is the water. See my shadow was on it (Sun behind me). That's the color of water from now on till............

So what has just happened this year is: water temperature finally reached the comfort zone for caddis to hatch en masse instead runoff couldn't be held........... Well, we all have learned something.
I might be fishing other rivers (tail-waters??). Then I keep posting some other stuffs I've been holding (new flies, new materials, etc.).

"G" River Runs Through It

Today, again in between my Master Breeder businesses, I could sneak out for some fishing. And that made 60th Day of Fishing this year. That means I'm at water average every other day!! Well, soon runoff will start and Master Breeder business is in full swing, so average will go down a bit then start to regain as summer comes closer!!

For some readers who are curious about Mother's Day Caddis hatch on Yellowstone River, sorry I'm not there. Probably I can't report as well as last year (if it happens....). I have things to do over the pass in Bozeman so I visited my friend Jordie and we hit the "G" River. Jordie has been reporting me streamer bites have been good recently. So with last couple of poor dry-fly outings of mine, I was up for some streamer (Bugger exact) fishing before runoff!! My first choice was my own TSUNAMI Bugger!! (look for variations at my sales site if you are interested).

A bit sneaky but he hit it!! He must have been trying to gain weight before fighting against heavy muddy water for next several weeks........

Then we started to see some rising trout.........!! March Brown hatch was terrific!! BIG BUGS were hovering in the air and trout were rising eagerly!!

We also observed BWO too.

This was one of nice ones of the day.

And I "pumped" as always...... See how active bugs were!!

March Brown!! See the comparison to BWO (on the right)!!

Royal Wulff Cripple was ruined.......

Hatches seemed over and we were back to stripping and swinging again. Each of us caught some and it seemed to be a good end.

Tom joined today....

Then suddenly Tom yelled and we saw his rod was bending so hard!! I made a lightning decision to film it!! Enjoy!!

We were sure this must be what they felt while shooting "A River Runs Through It" on "G" River!!
Fisherman - Tom
Fish Wrangler - Jordie
Director/Camera - Myself

Good work, Boys!!

I might be able to hit the river again before runoff!!

Revived Scissors & DGB (Dave's Great Book)

Just a quick river report: Between Master Breeder projects, I drove to my regular spot this afternoon. Weather has gone back to its ambiguous mode. Bright sky, cold winds, etc., etc.,......... Water temperature has gone back to 40s too........ I had to lose my hope for Mother's Day Caddis hatch this year...... I didn't even see any BWO and midges. I wasn't eager to fish with streamers and nymphs so it's been a while that I didn't feel any fish. Well, I should chin up and hope for the best for the next couple of days.
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Following are related to Simms ICE OUT event. Among event sponsors was Dr. Slick. Some of you who have been following my YouTube channel would remember that I mentioned "scissors need replaced", "my scissors kinda failing", that sort in several videos. Just about two years of hard working, my favorite Razor Scissors was giving up. But I couldn't throw it away. I started to use a regular pair of scissors and it's been fine. For the last couple of months, I was using Razor for cutting clumps of deer hair, foams, that sort of "dirty works". I couldn't help feeling sorry. Razor has dignity and it doesn't deserve such uses. But what could I do?
So I talked to people at Dr. Slick on the second day of ICE OUT and they told me I could bring in for repair. So next day, I brought my old pair to their booth. They told me they can fix it and ship back to me. Well, here it is. One of my most trusted tying tools is back in business!! I can't thank people at Dr. Slick enough!! Razor Scissors are definitely heavier than other models and may not be favored by everyone. However, I believe its weight represents its dignity. I will keep improving myself so I am qualified to keep using it!!

Also during ICE OUT, I was fortunate to meet one of living fly-fishing legends Dave Whitlock two years in a row!! I was browsing two of his books (for sale at his table) and very impressed!! But I had already spent some for other gears and producst...... Maybe next time, I thought.
Then just the other day, I walked into one of used book stores in Bozeman. I was about to scream for excitement in that quiet store!! I found the same book of Dave's but in THE 1ST EDITION circa 1982!!!! Book was in a good condition and I was sure content had been pretty much the same to the current edition. Isn't this a PREMIUM!!?? I just grabbed it!!

It's full of great information. Recently anything can be found online and that is the biggest reason that I don't buy many books and magazines any more and that I examine well if I really need to buy. This book (and so is the other book of Dave's!!) deserves to be one of my "Fly-Fishing Bible" in my little library!! This is just an excerpt. If you want to read more, you should get one yourself!!

I hope I can do one more real fishing report before runoff....... But also I will keep posting these gears, books, materials, and so on!! Hope you enjoy!