It's Hard Out Here For a Wench

Big Timber Brookies and Other High-altitude Shenanigans

The Clark's Fork of the Yellowstone River is one of the most beautiful places you can go in Wyoming to catch a lot of brook trout. These fine fighters are the smallest member of the trout family, and can live longer out of the water than any other trout. There are even records of brook trout leaving their home water and wiggling over land to another body of water. They also fight extremely hard for their size, and it was for this reason that the past two days found me camping beside the Upper Clark's Fork.
Stoneflies were all over the place, as were mosquitoes. However, the only dry fly that I got a hit on was a King''s River Caddis yesterday evening. I prefer to fish wet flies and streamers in big water like the Clark's Fork for two reasons: One, on these rivers there's about a half hour window when dries are effective, and Two, a trout hanging around on the bottom is not going to swim up 4 feet against the current to nab a tiny mayfly. This time of year, trout are salivating over big stonefly nymphs, so big brown and black wooly buggers are the hot flies, as they imitate these big juicy critters. Muddlers (the best fly ever invented, by the way) Can be very effective as well on shallower stretches, but it's hard to get them to the right depth in the fast water, where they tend to either float without a split shot, or get caught in rocks with one. It's much more productive in this instance to cast a big, weighted brown bugger 9o degrees across the river and let it swing down. When it gets to the bottom of the swing, 6 times out of 10 you'll get a hit. And when you move upstream, try to just troll that bugger through a riffle. I caught a couple of nice brookies and a decent brown trout that way in the main river, but the real fun in this trip came from timber brookies and browns.
We often hear about big timber game, but it almost always refers to land critters. I'm talking about one of the most exciting opportunities available for brook and brown trout, casting a heavy wooly bugger right next to a big log in a slow side channel. There is just something special about seeing that flash of fish right when it starts to sink. More often than not, these brookies miss in their excitement, but watching two trout have a head-on collision because they both want your fly is an unforgettable experience. Often, a brown or brookie will go for your fly, miss it, and then take it again. And then the fight is on, with you trying your best not to tear the hook out of his mouth while at the same time keeping him out of the logs. Once those fish get into the timber, it is difficult to get them back out without reaching in and doing it yourself. Landing them is always a satisfying experience, because you'll do three times as much work to get these fish into the net. On one nice brown trout, I had to re-tie my blood knot, cut the wrong line, had to do a quick surgeon knot, tie on a new fly, and spend 10 minutes getting into position for that one, perfect cast, and then spent 15 minutes fighting him in and out of timber before finally getting him in the net. I have a feeling trout would be pretty proud of themselves if they knew what we go through...

Tie a Wooley Bugger in 2 minutes or less!

The wooley bugger is one fly that no angler should be without. It imitates a stonefly nymph, a minnow, and a dozen other yummy things depending on where and when it's fished. If you look at a wooley bugger in the stream, its maribou tail will actually swim! It is a very effective fly, and it is cheap and quick to tie.
I rarely bother buying materials and putting in the time to tie flies unless I'm tying at least half a dozen. Because I do a lot of my fishing in heavy brush, I break off a lot of flies, so it's good to have a lot with me.

WOOLEY BUGGER
Hook: Dai-Riki #730 or equivalent (I actually prefer Tiemco but don't have the model number...) in sizes 2-8
Tail: Tuft of Maribou in color matching body
Body: Thick, soft chenille in Black, Brown, Olive, Gray, or Purple (muddy water).
Hackle: Palmered Chinese rooster saddles in color to match body
note on hackle: You can get strung hackles for under $5. Many will be too wide, but you can use the wide ones for clipped hackle patterns like the King's River Caddis.
Weight: Lead wire
Thread: Danville 14/0 black thread

Before you EVEN PUT THE HOOK IN THE VISE!!!!!!!
For each fly you will tie, cut 4 inches of chenille, 4 inches of lead wire, and select one saddle hackle.

1. Put head cement on hook. This keeps the fly from rotating and makes it last longer.
2. Cut a generous tuft of maribou, and tie it on the hook so that it extends 3/4 the way up the shank, and about half an inch to 3/4 an inch beyond the bend, depending on size. Wrap it so it looks tidy.
3. Tie in the lead, hackle, and chenille at the top of the bend.
4. Wrap the lead up the hook as far as it will go.
5. Wrap the chenille up the hook, all the way to the head, and secure with one or two wraps of thread.
6. Wrap the hackle forward, following the wrap of the chenille, until it reaches the head. Secure with5-6 wraps of thread, and snip excess hackle and chenille.
7. Wrap a thread head, whip finish, and head cement. The fly should look like this:



Theoretically (WenchSpeak for 'I have no idea but try it anyway) It can be tied unweighted, and thus will sink slowly and tantalizingly, giving those brookies more of a chance to munch it. However, it would 'skip' in faster riffles and runs, and wouldn't be as effective in deep pools. But if you primarily fish small spring creeks, go for it. Don't be afraid to tie it in big sizes! If the biggest trout ever caught in your area measured in at a wopping four inches, take heart! I have landed some very small browns and brookies on a size 4 bugger. Happy fishing!

posted by KitchenWench @ 1:37 PM