This week’s picture is brought to you by Jason.
Outstanding deep colors on this nice Rainbow landed on the Elk River west of Steamboat Springs. Exactly which stretch I can’t quite remember…

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I don’t remember how I learned this technique, probably by accident, but I remember that at some point I did it and it worked so I started doing it more and more. Later I learned that it’s actually a method that’s been around for many years and was even more popular and common before the popularization of strike indicators in fly fishing.

Indicators are great and are very easy to fish, but you miss some of the light strikes when fishing indicators. Staying in contact with nymphs and feeling strikes was THE way to nymph fish some years back and is still the most effective way to detect every strike. There are several methods of doing this, high stick nymphing, Polish and Czech nymphing, and various other European styles are great and should be studied and implemented in appropriate situations. Here’s one more little trick that I like to use to stay in touch with your flies, feel more strikes, and catch a few more fish.

Start with one or preferably two or three heavy nymphs or rig unweighted or lightly weighted nymphs on droppers with a heavy string of split shot at the end of the leader. Vary the weight according to the current speed but use more weight than you ever would if you were dead drifting the flies. Cast upstream to the head of the run with a short cast for fast water or a little longer casts for slow deep water. Pull the flies toward you a little faster than the current but slow enough to keep them near the bottom. You can do this by sweeping the rod to the side, lifting the tip up as the flies approach, or in slow water or deep pools by using long steady strips or by combining rod movement and long steady strips. If you effectively keep the flies moving you will feel the strikes almost as you would when fishing streamers and setting the hook will be almost automatic.

I know indicators are great but try pulling your nymphs the next time you’re out, you may surprise yourself with how many additional little strikes you’ll feel and likely hook.

This week’s picture is brought to you by Vance.
This monster brown surfaced somewhere in Pennsylvania. That is one fat fish Vance!

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Most of the time when we think of fishing this time of year in runoff-induced high water we think of fishing big dark nymphs or maybe an occasional streamer. However, don’t rule out the possibility of dry flies.

Once on my home river I arrived to find that the river was almost at its peak. The willows lining the banks were a foot under water. I found one spot to get near the river and put on a heavy nymph rig. After watching it zip by me on four or five casts I had all but decided to go when I spotted a splashy rise upstream against the bank where grass usually grows. I watched as a large brown again hammered what looked to be a big stonefly. I started checking the willows and yep, there they were, big salmonflies creeping up the brush in preparation for their awkward egg laying flights. I proceeded to tie on the largest orange stimulator I had and that day hooked about 9 or 10 big fat browns along the edge of the flooded brush. I think about half of them ran out into the raging current and broke me off but man was that fun.

If you’re out this month and you encounter high water, don’t rule out throwing some large attractor dry fly patterns along calmer edges, especially if the water is reasonably clear. Many of the West’s larger stonefly species, including salmonflies and some giant golden stones, hatch during runoff and can be like king size candy bars to hungry trout. I like Stimulators, PMXs, Salmonfly patterns, and even big foam patterns for this kind of fishing.

I’m not suggesting that this tactic be your bread and butter in high water but keep it in mind and you just might turn some toads.

This week’s picture is brought to you by Nick.
Nick reports the “Fish of the trip” with guide Paddy McIlvoy (Lost River Outfitters) best guide on the planet. Hooked 17 landed 8.

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A few years ago I had a tippet problem that cost me a 10 inch fish. I know, so what, a ten inch stocked rainbow is nothing to cry about. The problem - this little pellet head I lost just happened to be the only fish I had hooked in a 3 hour session with 4 minutes left on a particularly bad beat drawn at an already tough lake during the National Fly Fishing Championships. Catching no fish in that, my 2nd session, probably cost me 10 places and made it tough, if not impossible to get back in the running in the remaining 3 sessions.

What happened? Tippet broke. The strange thing is it was 2X and no 10 inch stocked rainbow should ever break 2X. On closer inspection I found that my spool of 2X that I kept as the top spool on my lanyard was actually pretty old and had probably grown weak and brittle from time and many days spent in the sun.

This served then as a good reminder to check all of my tippet. I generally do it every six months or so now or before any particulary exciting or important fishing trip. Most tippet will actually last quite a while but it is good to go through it periodically and change out those spools that you know are old, weathered, or that just look weak.

To check your tippet first see if there is an expiration date. Don’t always trust that date, however. Take a section of tippet off the spool. Inspect it to see if it is discolored or visibly frayed. Then run your fingers along it to see if you can feel any nicks or roughness. Lastly and most importantly tie it to a good sized streamer or nymph that you can hold easily and pull on it firmly to test knot strength. If it seems to break too easily for the size then it’s probably best to just discard it and get some new tippet.

You never know when you’re going to hook that fish of the day or even fish of a lifetime and it would be a huge bummer if you lost it due to whimpy tippet - trust me.

This week’s picture is brought to you by Alan.
I caught the BIG Brownie on a Gray RS-2 on the Yampa River this past April 28.2009. I was using a Sage FLi 5wt with Dai-Riki 6x. Gotta Love the Brownies!!! Happy Troutie Fights. Alan - Silverthorne, CO

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I’ve been hearing all about carp fishing for some time now, and even though I’ve caught a few of them at times when I’ve seen them in places where I was fishing for something else, I’ve kind of turned my nose up at the idea. Last week though I was desperately in need of a quick fly fishing fix and carp turned out to save the day.

I actually went looking for bass and bluegill in a pond at a business park in my area. I’d really never seen carp there before. When I got there I saw and spooked a few small bass, saw spawning tilapia and messed around trying unsucessfully to attract their attention, and then he appeared. A huge torpedo of a fish slowly cruised by along a wind line and occasionally opened his mouth for something. Ok, here was my chance. I switched to an unweighted sparkle leech pattern since the fish was suspended about a foot under the surface and dropped my fly about 4 feet in front of him. He spooked with a big swirl and dissappeared.

First Lesson - carp are spooky. In fact, they are really spooky.

This first failure actually got me kind of excited and in a few minutes I spotted another big cruiser. I changed tactics and actually dropped my leech under a large cicada dry fly about a foot and cast it well out in front of his cruising path. This time the fish came up and looked at the dry fly, put its nose right on it, and then bolted again leaving a big swirl.

Second Lesson - carp are goofy. I hadn’t even considered that he might look at the dry.

Ok, now it was on. A fish had showed some interest in the dry so I left my set up the same and walked along the bike and walking path around the pond in search of another cruiser. I spotted one about 20 feet off the shore cruising a wind line again and cast again well out in front of him with the Cicada/leech combo. This time the big shadow moved in on my flies and then, just as I thought he had gone by, my dry fly moved just a few inches and I set the hook.

Third Lesson - carp are powerful. I had only brought a 4 weight expecting just to catch little bass and bluegill.

The carp took a tour of pretty much every inch of the pond basically doing whatever he wanted for quite a while and after a long long fight I finally dragged him up in the shallows close enough to tail him. He was around 32 inches long, really heavy, and super scaly.

Fourth Lesson - carp fishing rocks!

I will be out there again soon and if you’ve never tried, it definitely is worth a try. It’s a challenge not unlike casting to wary trout and the fight makes you entirely forget about the freeway noises and kids feeding ducks. It’s great!

See you on the water!

This week’s picture is brought to you by Brandon.
Sweet catch in a tight spot early this spring on the Cimarron River, New Mexico.

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When writing the tip of the week I sometimes forget that they are tips and not discourses on the human/fish condition. Anyway, here are a few actual tips that save time and make fly fishing a little easier.

When putting your 4 piece rod together start by putting the tip section together with the piece next to it and the handle section together with the piece next to it. Then join the two halves of the rod. This will make it so that you don’t have to put the rod handle on the ground while you put the tip section on, which is what invariably happens when you start with the handle and go up and can sometimes result in breaking the tip or scratching the rod butt.

When rigging your rod remember to double the fly line and thread it through the guides rather than trying to thread the end of the leader. It’s just easier and faster to thread the thicker fly line. Once you have the doubled fly line through the last guide at the rod tip you can grab the rod handle and cast the rest of the front of the line and leader through the guides with a couple of quick casting strokes.

Try putting your waders on at home if you live close to your fishing spot. This is a great thing on cold days and helps to prolong the life of your waders by not having to do the wader donning dance, stepping all over on parking lot gravel, and getting it in your boots where it rubs holes in the bootie soles all day. Today’s Gore Tex waders are so comfortable you might as well not ever take them off. Yeah, I’m weird that way.

Just a few actual tips today to help you to start your fishing day off right.