The Red Tag

 Happy 2017. Not going to lie that's hard for me to say. New years always make me sad just a little. My kids are getting older, my body is getting older, things in the world are always changing. That being said I also like new years because it means that another year of hunting and fishing is upon us. So this year I have decided to undertake yet another new task. With each post I am going to try and feature a fly. Some of them will be of my own design and some of them will be tried and true patterns, and some will be Classic old styles that have fallen out of favor for newer patterns. I like old stuff personally. My deer rifle is a 1951 Savage Model 99 chambered in .300 Savage. It was my grandfathers and its from a golden age of American hunting. My favorite fly rods are made of fiberglass, a material that never got to be great before it was replaced by Space Age graphite. Though in the last 8 to 10 years it has made an amazing comeback. My favorite reels are classic Click and Pawl style reels that play to the classic trout rods they should go on. I have a soft spot for Bamboo rods as well, sadly I don't have a fondness for their price tags. Maybe that's why I like fiberglass so much. Working mans rods at working mans prices. Anyway on to the fly. This posts featured fly pattern is called the "Red Tag". Its origins come from England, mid 1800's. A time when nearly all flies were fished "Wet". Labeled as a Greyling fly the Red Tag is very simple in design. Comprised of Hook, red yarn, peacock herl, and brown hackle. The "Tag" of red yarn is tied onto the back of the hook at the bend, the peacock is then tied on and wrapped forward for the body, and the brown hackle is wrapped at the head. Simple and effective. Two words that encompass almost all good fly patterns. The pattern made its way to Australia in the late 1800's where it became more known as a dry fly beetle pattern. Tied with more herl, and hackle to give it a bushy beetle appearance. Fished wet or dry the fly is a Classic. I like to tie mine in a more traditional style. Though I like to change out the red yarn for red Zlon, which gives it a nice flashy hot spot at the end. I feel it looks like an emerging insect more than a beetle, and I like to fish it upstream on a short cast and dead drift it. But fishing it across and down on a swing is another very productive way to use it. In the winter months I will fish it with some split shot to get it deep, but its also really good to fish it dry on the surface during a hatch, or just under the surface much like a soft hackle spider. The versatility is mind blowing. So if you fancy trying something different this winter besides the same ol bead head nymph under an indicator, try tying on a red tag. I tie them in sizes from 10 to 16.

First and only post of 2016

So I'm sorry again. I haven't written anything in 2016. That doesn't mean I didn't fish. In Aug 2015 I changed jobs. Going from a Grain employee at CHS back to being a chef. I took a job at my local hospital as the head chef, and its been wonderful. In Aug 2016 I was promoted to Dietary Manager, leaving me with very little time to sit down and write entries. So just as a reminder that I am here I am going to post some pictures of the trout I caught in 2016. It was a very good year. Starting in January I hooked and landed the second largest brown trout I've ever caught in the Republican. It measured in at just over 16 inches. Then throughout the winter and spring I hooked and landed several other smaller trout. All beautiful and wild. I promise that 2017 is going to be a better year for TRRE.

The best part of catching these small fish is knowing that the population is still reproducing here. A 6-8 inch fish is only a year or so old. And the last known stocking of any brown trout in the Republican river was back in the 1960's. And that was by a private land owner. So these truly wild fish.








                                                           

And now its Summer!

So the last month and a half have just been a whirl wind. Its summer now and that means little fishing on the Republican. But not little fishing. May was sweet. After that first day of the month catching three fat bass, the rain started coming down and didn't stop for almost a whole month. So bass fishing was pretty much shot. That being said I spent a few more days on the river than normal and it paid off in spades! On the 17th I took a friend fishing who had been wanting to go with me for a while, but could never quite find the time. We set out at the Sage and for what ever reason, be it the stars aligning or just an act of god something wonderful happened. The previous weekend I saw a huge fish. Nothing like what I have ever seen before out there. At first I thought it was a decent carp. Until I saw the spots. A massive brown trout swam by me like he didn't have a care in the world. I knew if I move he would see me and be gone. So I just stood still and watched him cruise by. The following weekend I quietly snuck over to the run where I had seen him and made one cast, just upstream and right on the edge of the bank. The " Sand Sage Special" drifted right along the bank and suddenly the line paused briefly. By pure force of habit I set the hook and was connected. From under the cut bank came the big trout. He swam straight out into the current and was 20 yards downstream before I knew I had him. The fight was short but intense and before I really knew what was happing I was scooping a 19 and 1/2 inch wild brownie into the net. A truly amazing fish. After a couple pictures were taken I slipped him back into the river of which he is clearly the King. This was by far one of the most  lifting experiences in my fishing career. Very few people even fish out here. I fish it roughly 20 times a year and never dreamed of even seeing a fish like that out there. Let alone actually catching and landing one. The following weekend I took yet another friend to the republican and I managed to catch two more brownies. Neither one compared to the brute from the previous week, but they were both beautiful and wild and just as amazing. The mythical brown trout I set out to find three years ago not only exist, but some of them are true giants. The reality is that by putting my time in and learning the river and the fish in it, I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time and knew what to do when the big one struck. Since then its gotten warm, and I have spent many early morning in pursuit of largemouth bass. I've taken on teaching a really neat lady that works with my wife how to fly fish. Caught some really nice fish. One bass was well over the 5lb mark which is pretty good for out here. And there is still plenty of summer left to find some bigger ones. But harvest season is almost upon me and I may not get a chance to write for a while. So until then have a safe and fish filled summer. Take a kid or a new friend with you once in a while so that they can learn what its all about. With out new generations learning and loving our sport, the future of our rivers, streams and wild fish could be rough. They need allies. And we need to fight for them

Happy MAY Day

So I recently posted about dedication. And how if you want to catch fish you need to go fishing at the premium hours if you can, but more importantly as much as you can. Remember "Flies out of water don't catch fish". So today I set the alarm, got up early and headed out. I pre rigged my rod the night before and had my cloths and gear ready. On the water by 4:30 am. I chose a black and red Clouser minnow for this morning in size 2. This fly is one of the single best bass flies ever invented. And in black and red its perfect for the early pre dawn water. For those who don't know most fish see better in the dark than they do in broad daylight. Its almost like they see everything in "night vision". So a Dark fly shows up better in dark or dirty water than a bright fly. And a bright fly shows up better in broad day light and clear water. It seems backwards to us humans, but we aren't the ones eating them. Just remember, dark when its dark, bright when its bright. Then you'll be set. And for all my efforts this morning I was greatly rewarded. Three big girls came out of the shadows and gave me some serious rod bending strikes. The first was in the neighborhood of 4lbs, and the other two were roughly 3lbs. Not a bad morning.

First Bass Session of 2015

     So as of last night the 2015 Bass Season is officially underway for me here in the Republican River Valley. Its hard for me to peruse through the Warm Water, and Bass on the Fly fan pages of Facebook because it seems as if every other angler in the country is already into bass way before me. But now I can lay my claim as one of them. The mornings are still way to cold and dark to be of any good. So I set my sights on an evening session. The day had been in the low 70's, so I hit the lake at 7pm in hope of catching something before dark. Even with the warm day the water temp is still pretty damn cold, but I was able to wet wade through it. Most of the evening was spent as just on the water casting practice, but just before full darkness set in I had a sudden jerk and live weight on the end of the line. I had been using a small black fly in size 6 that I simply call the little black fly. If I had to put a label on it I would say it looks like a small leech or tadpole. But the truth is its just a simple black buggy looking thing that moves really slow and looks like food. I really prefer using this type of fly early in the season when the water is still cold simply because there is still not much moving in the lake this time of year, and I think big, splashy, heavy flies spook the bass a bit.
   He was a little guy, maybe a pound and a half at best. You could have fit a golf ball in his open mouth but not much more. So I am guessing more than a pound less than two. I was so excited I didn't even think to grab the camera and get a picture. But that was my official first bass of 2015 and with any luck and a whole lot of time on the water I plan to add a lot more to the count. Game On!

Dedication

I catch a significant number of fish every year. Going back through my fishing notes from 2014, I landed over 90 largemouth bass between May and the end of August. That's an average of 1.3 bass per day. Of course I don't fish every day, though my wife says otherwise. The point being that when you break it down to roughly 3 days per week for 16 weeks its safe to say that I catch two bass every time I go out. When you add in the fact I do nearly 90% of my fishing between 3:00 am and 7:00 am the numbers become much more compact. And that's the whole point. If you want to catch fish, you have to set yourself up to catch fish. People ask me all the time where I catch my fish and what I catch them on? And most of them look at me like I'm either crazy or lying when I tell them I am fishing locally and with a fly rod. Then I tell them I get up at 3am and go out before work and that's when the name calling and four letter words start flying. But its a simple fact. If you want to catch fish you, have to go fishing at the times of the day when fish are feeding. And here's a NOT so little secret, when its 105 degrees F, on a Saturday afternoon, that is not the time.  If you want to go to the lake and sit in a chair, in the hot afternoon sun, drinking beer and drowning worms. By all means be my guest. And people call me crazy. Catching fish of any type requires Dedication. It means tracking sunrise tables, and moon phases a month in advance. It means watching the weather down to the finial hours before bed the night before going out, incase of sudden pressure drops. It means rigging rods and rebuilding leaders the evening before so that you waste no time once you get to the water. Setting an alarm for 3am and actually getting up when it goes off. Packing you lunch for work the night before and having your work cloths ready so you can stay until the last possible second before going about your daily life. And there's more. I'm a fly angler, so I had to learn to fly cast and tie knots in the dark. There is no turning on a flashlight when your standing in the water, unless you want to scare every damn fish in the area away. I had to learn where the shallow flats in the lake were so that I could wade in the dark and not end up drowning myself. This may all seem like a lot of work just to catch a fish. And the truth is your right. But that's just how it is. And I think that dedication is the key to any successful hobby. I don't care if  its golf, or building hot rods, or bird watching, they all require some form of dedication to be good at them. Its also the reason why I have very few fishing buddies and almost always fish alone. But that just makes the lies easier to tell.

Signs of Life.

Its not a huge secret that winter is not my favorite season. And being a ++ sized guy I'm not real fond of the dead of summer heat either. But spring time is just about right. I had a chance to go visit the river the other day. It was in the mid 50s and the sun felt really good. I was hoping to try out a new version of Micro Bugger. This one is tied with a few strands of Red Fox tail hair as the tail, an olive dubbed body, and grizzly hackle, oh and a small dark bead. All on a standard length size 10 nymph hook. The river is still a bit high but very clean. So I worked my way down stream letting out line down and around the curves and then slowly working it back against the current. After about 20 minutes I got a really hard hit. A solid 9 inch brown came from under the cut bank and drilled the bugger with murderous intentions. Even for its small size, there is just something to be said for the way a brown trout fights. But the fight was short and sweet, and the fish was healthy and beautiful. After I slipped him back in the water I looked around and started noticing thing I had not noticed until now. Birds were chirping a bit louder, the air smelled clean and new. Even the grass along the banks of the republican are starting to get a whole lot of green to them. "All good signs" I thought to my self. With that I headed home.