Fur Feather Foolery

"Whenever, therefore, people are deceived and form opinions wide of the truth, it is clear that the error has slid into their minds through the medium of certain resemblances to that truth."

-Socrates 

Both fish and people alike are prone to chase after imitations.  I wish I could say fish do so more than people, but that is probably not true.  I wonder what fish would tell each other concerning such things if they could speak.  Just imagine it.  One fish says to his friend, "you mean you actually thought that hairy thing was a minnow!?  What a doofus."  Putting aside the theological discussion that could be had concerning people, I have to admit that I am grateful fish can be duped.  What is even more gratifying is knowing that the device for deception can be a homegrown, do-it-yourself affair.  "Matching the hatch" is the common phrase, but "matching the meat" could find its place as well.

There is something to tricking a fish into eating fur, feathers, thread, and steel.  It appeals to the sleeping caveman hunter in all of us.  Sitting at the vise, grabbing various materials, building a new fly as it is tied can be quite fun.  Then fishing it, feeling how it casts, and observing its movements in the water.  The biggest test of all... does it catch fish.  After fishing the pattern and getting a feel for it, you take the ideas back to the vise and tweak a bit here and there.  Does it need more weight, a bead here or there, perhaps less weight, a different color added or taken away, a shorter tail, or a multitude of other options.  Then you repeat the process.  It is much like the caveman hunter going through a transition from stick spears to stone arrowheads, and finding that sharp stones make for bigger game.  The entire process is enjoyable and adds a whole other creative dimension to fishing.

Foolery Goodies.

It has been a fortunate fall thus far.  The attempts at fish foolery have paid off greatly.  This beautiful specimen took the Magic Dragon sculpin pattern.  I was in shock at how girthy this guy was.  It would take almost four hands to reach around him.

I am becoming more and more convinced that there are large fish in most waters.  The trick is figuring out location and feeding patterns.  Our night fishing escapades really brought this idea home.  A run in an easily accessible area, that is fished with heavy pressure day after day can still put out massive fish.  Shane proved that point once again with THIS FISH from this past weekend.  Big fish have to eat too, we fishermen just have to figure out the wheres and hows.

Big streamer.  Big fish.

Chubby lips.

Blue spot.

This has to be the biggest whitie I have ever seen. 

This one is for Gus.  Recognize the fly?

The SF is already at lower flows than last years winter flows.  Could get even lower.  Should make for some accessible wader fishing.

This week we'll be up north chasing macks and some more browns with gaudy streamers.  Let's see how the lakers take to our deceitful ways.

Proud Papa

In our family we set an age limit for our kids to begin fly fishing.  Maybe you think it is unnecessary, but you can't deny there is something frightening about a little child flipping a line back and forth in the air with a hook on it.  I suppose it is a quick and free way to get a piercing though. 

We told Will about a year ago that he needed to be five years old before he could fly fish by himself.  As his September birthday drew nearer, he talked more and more about how excited he was to fly fish.  And about two weeks before his birthday he started telling us that what he wanted more than anything for his birthday was a fly rod.  His birthday finally came and he received a brand new fly rod.  In his excitement he started flipping it everywhere!

A few days later I made it back from school in time to take him to the local kids pond.  Unfortunately that place gets picked over by wrinkly (and sometimes creepy) old guys which have the "I must keep everything I catch" mentality.  There were only a handful of fish and it was difficult for Will to cast out to where they were.  He did have one take his fly, but he didn't see it and wasn't able to set the hook in time.  He was able to reel in a few on my rod, but still wanted to catch a fish on "his" rod.  While trying to break in the new rod for the first time I also managed to literally break the rod.  The tip snapped off when we were undoing a snag.  Cheap Wally World rod.  We had an Idaho Falls symphony kids activity to be to so we called it after a couple hours.

Will was anxious to catch a fish all by himself and with his rod (which I took back to the store and got a bit tougher model) so Bita and I made plans for a family trip out to Birch Creek.  It was late before we actually made it on the road and cold and windy outside too.  When we arrived we caught a beautiful brookie, but there weren't many fish, so we moved.  At our second location I gave Will his rod and pointed him to a spot to go start casting.  A minute later I was all geared up and was walking toward Will who was picking up a fish he had just caught!  He casted to, hooked, and landed a little pretty brookie all by himself!  I was so proud and he was pretty stoked!

Brothers bringing in a fish.  Isaac on the pole, Will on the net.

Isaac doing his version of a smile.

 After a while the sun was going down and it was getting pretty cold.  I had to take Isaac back to the van to hang out with Bita and baby Elijah already, but Will was determined to keep going.  He managed to hook and land three fish all by himself.  He lost four others.  He is a natural and casts great, at least for a five year old.  I love fishing with this kid.  He is such a joy to hang out with and it is fun to see his developing love for the outdoors.  Next year this kid will be old enough to go with me on even more fly fishing adventures.  Next we just need to get him some waders!

Here is a shot of the first brookie we caught.  They are beautiful this time of year.  We landed one other brookie this pretty but it got away before we could get the camera out.

On another note,  I was able to make another night trip.  Unfortunately the water level dropped the day before and a cold front moved in.  Things didn't bode well for our planned trip.  Brent was able to make it out with Shane and I this time.  It was good company, but slower fishing than last time.  I'll post up some pictures for the trip, but Brent and Shane both wrote up good reports already, have a look.

Tragedy number two for Brent.  Big fish break hooks.  It had to have been big.

The stinger fly worked.

Beauty caught by Brent.

Sporting some jaw bling.

Shane doing his thing with the big fish.

Another pretty one from the night.

Changing topic one last time, I am planning a move from Many A Fish.  The new place currently looks like it will be called "Living Fly Legacy."  The reason for the move, well... the new name has much more to do with my ideology of fishing.  There is much more to it than fish and the catching of them.  Let me know what you think of the new proposed name.  If the change happens I will post a redirect from this blog.  Thanks for stopping by and following along.