Gerald Hickman's Blog - Posts Tagged "trout"
fly fishing
When a Game Biologist goes fishin’
Angling is a very old activity for humans. There are even rock art specimens and paintings showing Egyptians fly fishing. The earliest anglers probably caught more fish in nets and traps than by rod and line fishing. Yes, that is rod and line fishing not rod and reel. It took years of fishing to appreciate the line holding qualities of a fishing reel.
So our earliest ancestor anglers used a long tree branch and fish line about the same length as the rod.
Hooks were made from wood, bone and sometimes knapped out of flint. Some hooks looked like the standard hooks used today and others were pointed wedge shaped to lodge in the throat of the fish.
Other types of fishing gear from Archaeological investigations are the weights used with nets and to sink the line and bait down to the level of the fish and rocks used to trap fish in lake or stream.
In the United States since the Revolutionary War, anglers used rod, reel and fly line for catching many fish both native and imported. The lines, rods and reels have improved dramatically over the last couple hundred years for fly fishing anglers but some types of angling required a simple bait fishing reel. And of course, especially where catfish were plentiful, the trot line was a favorite way to fish.
When I was an aspiring young angler, I used to fish using a simple winding reel on a steel telescoping rod. We fished with bait, mostly worms and caught sunfish, perch and such prey. But living on a dry land ranch it was seldom that we could go out in a boat on a lake to fish, thus I did the next best thing and spent my fishing time reading the literature of angling. Trout fishing caught my attention and never let go. The stories in Outdoor Life and Sports Afield taught me the basics about fishing for trout, bass and panfish that lived in our part of the country- North Idaho. I asked for fishing books and magazines for presents on special occasions. And saved my cash to buy angling books through the mail.
I purchased a copy of Ray Bergman’s tome, TROUT and then got a used copy of Just Fishing. Later I found a copy of How to Fish from Top to Bottom by Sid Gordon and these became my library and university in my goal to become an Angler.
My Uncle, Don Manderfeld, took me fishing and gave me my first level-wind reel a left handed Pflueger and then I bought a steel bait casting rod from the Sears Roebuck mail order catalog for $1.52. I fished with that rod until it got wound in the spokes of my bicycle tire.
Dad took brother and I to Millers Star Hardware Store and he out-fitted each of us with a fiberglass spinning rod, Waltco spinning reel and six pound monofilament lines. We fished Asotin Creek near Clarkston, WA and struck out more than we succeeded. We did catch some small rainbow trout and eventually learned to fish with bait in Charlie Lakes. There were two lakes on Charlie Creek , upper and lower, we fished with wedding rings and bait, until we learned to tie and use trout flies. The Flies worked better than the natural bait.
But fly fishing was a real challenge for me. I took my fiberglass spinning rod, fitted it with a cheap fly reel and a level size C flyline and tried to teach myself to fly cast. After some time of practicing, I managed to catch a beautiful rainbow trout on a size 10 Royal Coachman dry fly. People who know about such things say that 90 percent of a trout’s food is eaten under water. But it was some time before I learned to fish with wet flies. As we explored the forest streams in the Blue Mountains, we caught Bull Trout on dry flies (Yellow Sally was a good one), Royal Coachman and the “bug” which was a peacock herl body fly with a mule deer hair over body which made it float and was nearly unsinkable like Molly Brown of the Colorado Gold Rush.
Many other flies ended up in my vest over the years. Here are a few of the keepers that I used time and time again: Black Wooly Worm, a standby wet pattern. Muddler Minnow, this one imitates a minnow, grasshopper, salmon fly and probably it just looks tasty to the fish, I use it for many species of trout and bass. White Bucktail, this one is easy to tie and seems to look edible to the fish, bass or brown trout really like this one. The Bug, a 2x long shank hook with a peacock feather body and deer hair tied on top of the hook for tail, wings and upper body. I mostly use this fly in size 8 through 14.
Streamers: Black Wooly Bugger, a good one for lake or stillwater fishing. Many colors work as a Wooly bugger, light green chenille bodies represent damselfly larvae. The various Wooly Bugger flies work well year round and especially in lakes.
Black Leech fly, black or mohair colors are great for lakes. Sizes 2 through 10 have worked for me. Micky Finn buck tail is a good one especially in autumn fishing.
Dry flies: My go to dry fly from June through September is the Elk Hair Caddis in sizes 10 through 14. This fly floats very well because of the hollow elk hair and since so many trout streams have a large caddis population, it is a good standard for summer angling on most streams.
My first trout a rainbow taken on a dry fly was in Asotin Creek in Washington state, and the fly is one of the all time favorites the Royal Coachman good in sizes 10 through 18.
Now days I enjoy the foam flies that resemble salmon fly adults and grasshoppers. They really float well and dry easily with a backcast or two.
Any questions? contact me at : gjhickman@hotmail.com
And Thank You for reading my blog. Gerald
Angling is a very old activity for humans. There are even rock art specimens and paintings showing Egyptians fly fishing. The earliest anglers probably caught more fish in nets and traps than by rod and line fishing. Yes, that is rod and line fishing not rod and reel. It took years of fishing to appreciate the line holding qualities of a fishing reel.
So our earliest ancestor anglers used a long tree branch and fish line about the same length as the rod.
Hooks were made from wood, bone and sometimes knapped out of flint. Some hooks looked like the standard hooks used today and others were pointed wedge shaped to lodge in the throat of the fish.
Other types of fishing gear from Archaeological investigations are the weights used with nets and to sink the line and bait down to the level of the fish and rocks used to trap fish in lake or stream.
In the United States since the Revolutionary War, anglers used rod, reel and fly line for catching many fish both native and imported. The lines, rods and reels have improved dramatically over the last couple hundred years for fly fishing anglers but some types of angling required a simple bait fishing reel. And of course, especially where catfish were plentiful, the trot line was a favorite way to fish.
When I was an aspiring young angler, I used to fish using a simple winding reel on a steel telescoping rod. We fished with bait, mostly worms and caught sunfish, perch and such prey. But living on a dry land ranch it was seldom that we could go out in a boat on a lake to fish, thus I did the next best thing and spent my fishing time reading the literature of angling. Trout fishing caught my attention and never let go. The stories in Outdoor Life and Sports Afield taught me the basics about fishing for trout, bass and panfish that lived in our part of the country- North Idaho. I asked for fishing books and magazines for presents on special occasions. And saved my cash to buy angling books through the mail.
I purchased a copy of Ray Bergman’s tome, TROUT and then got a used copy of Just Fishing. Later I found a copy of How to Fish from Top to Bottom by Sid Gordon and these became my library and university in my goal to become an Angler.
My Uncle, Don Manderfeld, took me fishing and gave me my first level-wind reel a left handed Pflueger and then I bought a steel bait casting rod from the Sears Roebuck mail order catalog for $1.52. I fished with that rod until it got wound in the spokes of my bicycle tire.
Dad took brother and I to Millers Star Hardware Store and he out-fitted each of us with a fiberglass spinning rod, Waltco spinning reel and six pound monofilament lines. We fished Asotin Creek near Clarkston, WA and struck out more than we succeeded. We did catch some small rainbow trout and eventually learned to fish with bait in Charlie Lakes. There were two lakes on Charlie Creek , upper and lower, we fished with wedding rings and bait, until we learned to tie and use trout flies. The Flies worked better than the natural bait.
But fly fishing was a real challenge for me. I took my fiberglass spinning rod, fitted it with a cheap fly reel and a level size C flyline and tried to teach myself to fly cast. After some time of practicing, I managed to catch a beautiful rainbow trout on a size 10 Royal Coachman dry fly. People who know about such things say that 90 percent of a trout’s food is eaten under water. But it was some time before I learned to fish with wet flies. As we explored the forest streams in the Blue Mountains, we caught Bull Trout on dry flies (Yellow Sally was a good one), Royal Coachman and the “bug” which was a peacock herl body fly with a mule deer hair over body which made it float and was nearly unsinkable like Molly Brown of the Colorado Gold Rush.
Many other flies ended up in my vest over the years. Here are a few of the keepers that I used time and time again: Black Wooly Worm, a standby wet pattern. Muddler Minnow, this one imitates a minnow, grasshopper, salmon fly and probably it just looks tasty to the fish, I use it for many species of trout and bass. White Bucktail, this one is easy to tie and seems to look edible to the fish, bass or brown trout really like this one. The Bug, a 2x long shank hook with a peacock feather body and deer hair tied on top of the hook for tail, wings and upper body. I mostly use this fly in size 8 through 14.
Streamers: Black Wooly Bugger, a good one for lake or stillwater fishing. Many colors work as a Wooly bugger, light green chenille bodies represent damselfly larvae. The various Wooly Bugger flies work well year round and especially in lakes.
Black Leech fly, black or mohair colors are great for lakes. Sizes 2 through 10 have worked for me. Micky Finn buck tail is a good one especially in autumn fishing.
Dry flies: My go to dry fly from June through September is the Elk Hair Caddis in sizes 10 through 14. This fly floats very well because of the hollow elk hair and since so many trout streams have a large caddis population, it is a good standard for summer angling on most streams.
My first trout a rainbow taken on a dry fly was in Asotin Creek in Washington state, and the fly is one of the all time favorites the Royal Coachman good in sizes 10 through 18.
Now days I enjoy the foam flies that resemble salmon fly adults and grasshoppers. They really float well and dry easily with a backcast or two.
Any questions? contact me at : gjhickman@hotmail.com
And Thank You for reading my blog. Gerald
Ready for Spring?
Winter is the time to get some trout gear ready for spring or late winter fishing. I have had fun of late trying to tie some new patterns and here are some thoughts for anyone new to fly fishing and tying. I have been making my own trout flies since I was in Junior high, in Clarkston, WA. This is good fishing country, you might say the Snake River Ran Through It. Many of my group got our start fishing the River for steelhead and bass and Asotin Creek for trout.
I think anyone would enjoy learning to tie up some flies as a craft if not to use them for fishing.
But it is not my aim to start teaching you how to tie flies. On the internet you can type in any trout fly by name and it will give you several webpages that will show better than I can describe how to tie any flies or make your own fishing gear. I wish I had had the net to help me learn because most of my skills were taken and learned from books, and outdoor magazines.
If you are a fly fisher, you can start this winter by taking out your fly boxes and removing any rusty hooks, flies that are overly well used and replace the ones that worked well last year for new home tied flies or order replacements from usual sources. It is always in the best interest of the angler to visit your local fly shop and buy some needed items and keep up on the local fishing scene.
I just went through my gear about a hundred times this last winter and among flies to be replaced, there is a double taper fly line that has seen better days. In this case I will spool the new line on the same reel and use the backing on the reel for another season or two.
Now, in early February I have only to wait for the ice to go out on the local winter lakes and get my fly fishing gear in action. And in my local area of Eastern Washington, the low land lakes that open on March first each year will be ready to fish. I have never figured out how to fly cast for ice fishing and though I have gone ice fishing in Oklahoma and Washington I have never been a big fan of thin ice.
It is the 6th of March and the ice is still not “out” or melted yet. I bet those trout are getting hungry under the ice.
But let’s return to the fishing part, if you don’t tie trout flies and don’t wish to start, then I have some suggestions for you. You can purchase new flies at your local fly shop and mine is Silver Bow Fly Shop in Spokane, Washington. I have had good service buying gear from Red’s Fly Shop near Ellensberg, Washington on the Yakima River and Worley Bugger Fly Shop in Ellensberg right at the end of the I-90 off ramp for town. The Spokane and Yakima Rivers are both blue ribbon trout waters as designated by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Early in the spring you want to buy wet flies like: Soft Hackles, Stone fly nymphs, smaller wet flies for imitating mayfly nymphs, leech and Wooly Worm patterns. All these types of wet flies are available from orvis.com, or Big Y fly company at info@fbigflyco.com or flyshack.com, because all have given me good service and help when asked. The last two online fly shops are large volume dealers and will give you especially good prices for their flies and other products. In May and June you may find insects hatching and you can invest in some dry flies when the trout are looking up (watching for hatching critters on the surface). Please look for my next book which will be about how to fish the wet fly for trout.
I think anyone would enjoy learning to tie up some flies as a craft if not to use them for fishing.
But it is not my aim to start teaching you how to tie flies. On the internet you can type in any trout fly by name and it will give you several webpages that will show better than I can describe how to tie any flies or make your own fishing gear. I wish I had had the net to help me learn because most of my skills were taken and learned from books, and outdoor magazines.
If you are a fly fisher, you can start this winter by taking out your fly boxes and removing any rusty hooks, flies that are overly well used and replace the ones that worked well last year for new home tied flies or order replacements from usual sources. It is always in the best interest of the angler to visit your local fly shop and buy some needed items and keep up on the local fishing scene.
I just went through my gear about a hundred times this last winter and among flies to be replaced, there is a double taper fly line that has seen better days. In this case I will spool the new line on the same reel and use the backing on the reel for another season or two.
Now, in early February I have only to wait for the ice to go out on the local winter lakes and get my fly fishing gear in action. And in my local area of Eastern Washington, the low land lakes that open on March first each year will be ready to fish. I have never figured out how to fly cast for ice fishing and though I have gone ice fishing in Oklahoma and Washington I have never been a big fan of thin ice.
It is the 6th of March and the ice is still not “out” or melted yet. I bet those trout are getting hungry under the ice.
But let’s return to the fishing part, if you don’t tie trout flies and don’t wish to start, then I have some suggestions for you. You can purchase new flies at your local fly shop and mine is Silver Bow Fly Shop in Spokane, Washington. I have had good service buying gear from Red’s Fly Shop near Ellensberg, Washington on the Yakima River and Worley Bugger Fly Shop in Ellensberg right at the end of the I-90 off ramp for town. The Spokane and Yakima Rivers are both blue ribbon trout waters as designated by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Early in the spring you want to buy wet flies like: Soft Hackles, Stone fly nymphs, smaller wet flies for imitating mayfly nymphs, leech and Wooly Worm patterns. All these types of wet flies are available from orvis.com, or Big Y fly company at info@fbigflyco.com or flyshack.com, because all have given me good service and help when asked. The last two online fly shops are large volume dealers and will give you especially good prices for their flies and other products. In May and June you may find insects hatching and you can invest in some dry flies when the trout are looking up (watching for hatching critters on the surface). Please look for my next book which will be about how to fish the wet fly for trout.
