Crappie Flies: A Few Of My Favorites

I have been feeling a little under the weather this week, so this post which was previously scheduled (my own schedule) to be written has been left on the burner until tonight.  Decided I would make myself tolerate this stomach discomfort and put another post on the blog.

I received an email from a reader who wanted to know what a few of my favorite Crappie flies were.  So with that in mind, let me begin by saying when you are asked to list your favorite flies for any type fish, that it is really all subjective.  For instance: Where do you live? What type of waters do you fish for Crappie?  What time of year do you prefer to fish for Crappie? And, on and on........................

I certainly am happy to share with you a few of the flies that I have had decent success with.  That is my list for today.  A month from now if I were asked, my list might be a little different.  It all depends on the fishing success I am having and if I haven't came across a new absolutely great pattern that I saw somewhere that I just had to add to my fly box.  Plus, Crappie are not a picky fish in as much as what flies they might take on a given day.  The most significant issue is finding good cover (Crappie like good cover via down trees or stick ups or other significant structure), finding a school of Crappie (Crappie school up sometimes in large schools of fish), and then determining depth of fly presentation to reach the school of Crappie.  Last on the agenda is really what fly they might take.  They love small Streamer patterns, Leech patterns, Bead head Nymph patterns, etc. etc.  Crappie are not a fish that I have ever had much success with while fishing a surface Popper or Foam bug like Bluegill.  In the end, there are many, many effective patterns for Crappie.  

Like all the flies I tie anymore, my concept is to keep the patterns simple.  At my age, that means more time fishing and less time preparing to go fishing..................................................

Here are (3) of my favorite Crappie flies.  Note: While I list them here for Crappie understand that they will also fish well for other species of warm water fish and also for our trout efforts, too.

Chartreuse FluffButt

(6 - 10)

See what I mean by simple,  just a marabou tail and chenille body.  To get a jigging action either weight the hook, or, as I often do use a weighted bead at the head of the fly.  Color combinations are your choice and since it takes no time at all to tie, you are able to crank a bunch of these guys in a hurry.  More fishing............................................................

 

Chartreuse over Pearl White Ice Dub Clouser Minnow

(6 - 10)

Almost takes as long to type out the name of the fly than it does to tie this super effective Crappie pattern.  Weighted eyes get it down, Crappies do the rest of the work.  Also, tied in various color combinations, but, this is one of my favorite combinations. (Before anybody needs to remind me, I know this is not the best picture, but, when you want to go fishing it will work!)

 

Stayner Ducktail

(6 - 10)

The work horse of my fly box when it comes to many species of fish.  I believe I have caught more Crappie on this fly than any other.  Probably, because I have faith in the fly and fish it diligently.  Of course, I have talked about this pattern exclusively in a post most recently.

I never leave home to go fly fishing without this pattern in my box.

 

'Nuff said.

 

 
 

Internet Implosion! Oh, And I Tie Pretty Flies...............

I would bet that some of you readers and lookers thought I would never get that last post off my Blog.  You tired of looking at Peyton Manning yet?  No, it did not take me two weeks to get over my Super Bowl hangover and disappointment.  What a pathetic performance.  'Nuff said!

What I do want to vent on here, just briefly, is how important good reliable internet service is for all of us that rely on our Blogs and Facebook and Pinterest  etc. for our form of communication with others about what we love to do in our spare time.  To get to the point, you pay your bill, you expect to receive the service necessary.  Granted, your computer could become a virus heaven and could crash on you.  We all live with that little thought somewhere in the backs of our minds.  What I am frustrated with is what I call Internet Implosion.  Computer works fine, no problem.  However, your local provider takes a crap............................. Just gone in about a days time.  No warning!  Wait I payed for the service.  Woe is me! I now have to find another reliable resource to use that will insure me this will not happen too me again.  Find the Provider.  Next up, scheduling the hook up.  Unbelievably, this has taken about two weeks to complete.  Hurray, I am back blogging, but, what a pain in the arse!

Now, to that pretty flies part.  Having basically no computer for anything worthwhile for two weeks gave me some extra time at the tying bench. I will share here a little of my work.  I enjoy tying simple fly patterns that don't take lots of time to tie or use material that is cost prohibitive.  That way if I leave one in the bushes like Howard over at Windknots & Tangled lines it is no problem to look in the fly box and dig out another or tie some more up quickly next time I sit at the vise.   They may be buggy looking.  That is actually what I strive for.  Pretty, they are not!  However, when my wife drops by my bench and looks at what I am tying she usually responds in this manner.  "Oh, you tie pretty flies!"  I love her support, but, I won't tell here they are not pretty....

Let's start with a bright orange leech pattern tied for Bluegill, Crappie etc.

I call it the Orange Crush Leech.

 

How about a Partridge & Yellow Soft Hackle.

Bluegill, Trout, classic pattern.

 

This is a fly I call the 'Gill Getter.

Simple, easy to tie, and catches lots of Bluegills, Crappie, and a Trout or two!

 

Picture not really clear here, my apologies.

This is another of my favorite Soft Hackle patterns.

Partridge and Orange!

 

This is another Leech or Bugger type fly.

I call it a Beadhead Flesh Hair Bugger.

 

 Ok, enough for this post.  I am staying busy tying flies to fill my warm water fly boxes.  I am working on some Nymph and Streamer patterns that I really like.  Will share them in the near future with you all.

 

Is Spring coming?

 

 

 

 

 

Pond Stalker In Distress

I had full intention of putting up a new post with some of what I have been up to at the tying bench during January.  With the new vise I received from Mrs. Santa Claus, I had been re-energized and looking forward to focusing on filling my Bluegill and Crappie fly boxes with some fishy looking patterns.  I have worked on some Soft Hackles, some non-descript nymph patterns, some Stayner Ducktails, and some small versions of my Mohair/Bugger patterns just right for Mr. Bluegill.  Heck, maybe even an unsuspecting Bass might give it a whack if I was lucky!

Ok, flies tied.  Thought I would take some pictures of the flies and have them ready for my post.  The flies, along with some fly tying chat would make for a good post.  Ok, pictures taken!

Next, I needed to transfer them from my phone camera to my email.  Thought everything had gone fine and  was ready to fire up this post.

Wrong, my email has crashed and somewhere in cyberland is my pictures.  Well, no post without the pictures.  I will post them along with the other matter as soon as my email is up and running again.  Ok, so I was distressed.  But, only temporarily!

I came across this video posted by Hopper Juan over on his blog.   Problem solved! This is one of the most dramatic and incredible videos I have seen on the net.  Thanks, Juan, for sharing.  Now, I will share.  Besides, this video puts my blog writing post that I was going to post in shame!
Damsels in Distress from Sharptail Media on Vimeo.

Re-Visiting The Nasty Nylon Nymph

It is a "Happening" time of year! Veteran's Day has passed.  Thanksgiving Day is just a few days away,  This morning a good snow storm greeted me as I pulled the blinds to peek outside to meet my day.  "Brr..... cold is here, I said to myself."  Any fly fishing time I get for awhile might be in the way of a few fly fishing or fly tying videos and a warm cup of Hot Chocolate or something.

Speaking of fly tying, this is the time of year that I spend a good share of my time focusing on tying and filling my fly boxes so that I am ready to go next time I am on some water and the weather cooperates with me.  I, usually, will take some time to "organize" my fly tying bench.  Meaning, putting everything back in it's original spot so that I can start to mess it all up again as I do, inevitably, when I set down for a Winter's tying season.  I have the usual list of fly patterns that I want to tie up that I fish regularly.  I, also, have a few new patterns picked out that I want to try.  Maybe they will find a way to become part of my regular stock in my fly boxes.  Besides watching videos about fly tying, there are also many fly shops in Northern Colorado that offer free winter tying demonstrations with some of the areas well know fly tyers.  These sessions are a lot of fun and there is so much to learn if the fly fisher wants to learn about new patterns or what patterns are the most effective in the area.  If you don't tie flies, but would like to learn, the shops also offer fly tying classes for beginners for a reasonable fee.  Check out the shops in your area.  There is a wealth of information to gain if you take advantage of it.

A number of years ago, I offered a beginning fly tying class through my local fly fishing club.  I would like to share a scenario that happened on one of those class nights.  I hope you will enjoy this little story.  Winter tying season always brings back this memory.  I regard it as the "Coming of the Fly Tying Season.  Let me introduce you to "The Nasty Nylon Nymph".

I know I still chuckle every time my memory drifts back to the moment in time.
Before I stray off subject, I had better focus on the story I am trying to tell here.  One of the things that a die-hard fly fisherman often times does is to learn to tie his own fly for casting to his favorite fish.  Over time I became fairly decent at tying my own flies.  Enough so that I ended up teaching fly tying at schools and various public settings.  This post is about a “funny” incident that occurred one night while teaching fly tying at the local high school.  I know your waiting to find out what “Nasty Nylons” has got to do with tying flies and teaching others to tie flies.  Well, I am about to tell you.
 
Let’s first address the nylons.  You know those things are everywhere when not being worn by your wife or favorite lady friend.  They cling to everything in the laundry if you are not careful.  Their rolled up in your gym socks, their knotted around your pants legs, there everywhere except nicely laid out for the next time my wife wants to wear a pair.  Now comes my calamity!
I was, once again, teaching fly tying to a group of adults, both male and female at the local high school.  These were beginning fly tying students so I had some flexibility with this calamity and I am not sure they ever really caught it at the moment how embarrassed I was. 
We were going to tie a basic nymph pattern that night.  Students gathered around my desk so as to see the demonstration of what they then would try to duplicate back at their desks in the classroom.  In order, the hook was placed in the position in the vise jaws so as to be held sturdy while tying other materials on to the hook.  My thread was attached to the hook and the tail material added.  Now I was ready for the body material that was supposed to be some pheasant tail fibers.  However, as I started to reach into my fly tying box for the pheasant tail fibers, there I saw it! 
One of my wife’s nylons coming out the sleeve of my shirt near my tying hand.  Oh, No!  To this day I still don’t how the brain works and how it works so quickly.  In a heart beat, and, without hesitating for a moment, I pulled the nylon from my shirt sleeve and cut a rectangular piece from it with my scissors.  I think the students were shocked, but, they looked on anxious to see what I was going to do next.  I attached the “nylon strip” to the back of the hook with my thread.  I was going to use it to make the body of my fly with.  Knowing that nylon is super fragile (you know runs, runs, runs), I knew that I would have to use some wire to reinforce the body of the fly or it would fall apart before it ever hit the water.  Thankfully I had intended on using some fine copper wire that evening anyway.  So I tied some on to the back of the hook.  I proceeded very carefully to wind the “nasty nylon” around the hook up towards the eye of the hook and then reverse wrapped the copper wire so as to reinforce the nylon body material. 
In short order, I had a fly body of reinforced nylon from my wife and some basic dubbing wrapped around the front of the hook at the eye.  Simple little pattern and easy to tie.  Besides I had lots of nylon stocking left for my students to cut up and use that evening as they practiced tying their own “Nasty Nylon Nymph”.  Believe it or not, I hear they even fished this fly on our local river and landed some trout with it.  It became a common request as I taught other classes to show other how to tie the nylon nymph.  I used it to break the ice at several tying classes to create a little humor and help new fly tying students relax. 

Fly tying fun is what you make of it!

Do I Need A Lanyard?

So I have been considering the use of a Fly Fishing Lanyard as another way of helping me be organized and functionally lighten the load as I stalk the ponds of Northern Colorado.  With that comes the loving statement from my wife, "Don't you already have one of those things?".

Well, yes I did, but this was back when Fly Fishing Lanyards came on the market.  Like anything else in fly fishing, those manufacturers of Fly Fishing Lanyards have gone through trial and error, some have came and went, and others are new to the market.  What I can say is this.  Some of the originals, back in the day, left something to be desired.  Therefore, I parted with the original model I had owned, long ago.   However, nowadays, when I take a look around the 'net and fly shops, these Fly Fishing Lanyards are everywhere.  They catch your eye!  Seem to be much better thought out in design also.  There seem to be many manufacturers also.  Some folks have even made their own.  With that I assume, they must be popular and useful.  But, before I invest in one, thought I would seek out my BlogBuddies and see what you guys think.  

Here are a few examples of what I looked at, of the many, that are on the 'net.  Take a look at these pictures and websites if you are so inclined. 

Western Visions Lanyards

Exquisitely designed by a small company

doing it right.

Morning Star Lanyards

Also, well done. Has lots of good swivels to put "Goodies" on.

Nature Boy Designs

Now this one caught my eye, especially, because it is what

they refer to as a "Half Brother" to a standard fishing lanyard 

in that it can be clipped to your belt, a fanny pack, or what have you, 

and always be handy when you need it.  

Well, I could go on and on with various ones I have looked at, but these (3) companies seem to represent  a good variety in cost, style, and material used to make the Fly Fishing Lanyard.

Keeping in mind that I am the Pond Stalker and fish ponds, usually on foot, but sometimes, from a float tube.  I only carry a selection of flies that I know work or want to try in a few homemade fly boxes from Altoid cans in my pocket.  What say you my BlogBuddies?  BTW, my wife is just smiling!

Effective Fly Patterns For Mr. Whiskers

Catfish, ala Mr. Whiskers, can be caught on a fly rod! They can be challenging, strong during battle, and, just plain fun to wrestle with if you are so inclined. Let alone good eating if you decide to fillet up some Catfish for a tasty meal. In my previous post, Fly Fishing For Cats, you were able to see a video, that with some effort and the right fly patterns, that Catfish could indeed be approachable with a fly rod on your local pond or stillwater fishery.  I ended that post by stating that I would share with you some effective fly patterns for fly fishing for Catfish.  I will be posting three well done videos here for you to consider when fly fishing for Catfish tempts you.  I might add that all three patterns are also extremely useful when fishing for Trout, Bass, and Carp! So they are Streamer patterns you should consider anyway for your fly boxes.  You can pick out one or two or all of them to watch if you would like.  Kind of like pick your poison!  Even if you don't buy into the fact that you will go fly fishing for Catfish, these patterns are well worth having around.  Let's begin with the video from In The Riffle that instructs how to tie John Barr's very successful Meat Whistle Streamer.
  Next up, let's take a look at Jay Zimmerman's very popular Backstabber pattern!
Finally, I would like to share my favorite personal Streamer pattern for the Catfish I have caught on a fly rod. This is a video done by Curtis Fry. Let me introduce you to the Stayner Ducktail!  

What a great way to start for Fly Fishing for Catfish. Let me just say that I know there are other Streamer patterns that will work. Muddler Minnows, Wooly Buggers, and their endless variety should also do just fine. Have fun and let me know if you decide to go Fly Fishing for Catfish, and, try some of these great patterns, just how you did!

Cicadas, Locusts, Ponds, and, Buyers Remorse!

Some unexpected family health issues has had my wife and I on the road over the past week.  The wife's father has been moved into a Kansas nursing home and is not doing very well at this time.  We have returned home to Happy Valley with him on our mind and realize that another trip back seems to be in the near future perhaps.

Anyway, just wanted to share with my readers here on my blog that, although we had other thoughts, fishing thoughts never leave your mind.  Except we did not plan on 100 degree days and stifling humidity.  That was a bit of environmental shock for us.  I guess the locals get used too it.  I would not be able to handle that at all.

Anyway, thought I would share some insight on our trip that doesn't dwell on medical issues.  First off, ran into some of these guys just outside the nursing home on the street and sidewalks.

Big ol' rotund Magicada Cicadas.  I don't know that I have ever seen anything quite like these in my travels fishing.  This picture doesn't do justice to the size of the ones I saw.  I have to admit that my fishing mind drifted to what it would be like to put ones of these on a hook, or better yet, tie a large Cicada pattern and just toss it out on my local pond and wait for the explosion from a Largemouth Bass!  I imagine that all hell would break loose.

 In addition, not as unexpected, was the evening call of the Kansas Locust.  They were everywhere you went once you ventured outside.  I commented then that if you let your mind wander that it was like hallucinating that you were surrounded by Martians from some strange far away place.

 Now, just outside the nursing home and still on the property lies a pond.  A pond that looks very fishy too me.  But, alas, I wasn't their to fish anyway and had no gear with me.  However, I did talk with a gentleman that said that he fished the pond the morning we ran into each other.  He said fishing was pretty good and that he had landed about (25) or so Largemouth Bass.  He did say that none of them were bigger fish, but, well worth his time.  Oh, and, Wooly Bugger caught.  That served to satisfy my fishing mind for the time.  Those giant Cicadas enter my thought process again.

As we headed back home from our trip to Kansas, my wife mentioned that a trip to Cabela's was in order.  Well, two points that I would like to make here.  First of never disagree with the wife and secondly, you cannot travel through Nebraska without stopping at Cabela's, can you?  I reasoned that it would be a nice break from the driving and that I could handle the stop without spending a lot of what little money Senior Citizens have.  

Wrong, again!  It could have been a lot worse, I suppose.  However, with a blink of an eye and a twitch of my wrist I was handing the clerk $200 or so.  Now, not all was more fishing gear, but, most of it fit that category.  More stuff, I just had to have.  New fly reel, line and backing loaded with a new leader, Cabela's Advanced Angler Fanny Pack, and, two new fly boxes.  

All the way home as I road the white lines of the highway, I had buyers remorse!  Why, oh why, did I let my wife talk me into shopping at Cabelas.  I could have gotten by without the new fly reel and new line, new fanny pack, and, who needs more fly boxes anyhow!

The remorse only lasted until I got home and spread my new goodies out on my tying table.  Immediately, my thoughts went to OH, BOY!