I fished Putah for a few weekends in a row (between #2 and #5). This weekend seemed to contrast with the previous few weeks. Last 2 weeks were pretty good, despite the 43 cfs of last weekend, but this Saturday was much slower for me. Much less bugs and fish activity this weekend (last week, I witnessed tons of raises all day in some of my favorite spots, which was unusual; not a single one this week. Some huge mayflies hatches in the evening, much less this week). Not a fish to be seen where they were stacking and easy to spot in the last few week. I noticed they were becoming spookier over the last couple weeks with the flows dropping, but this week they seemed simply gone. The water level also seemed a bit lower and the current even slower than last week in the lower part of the creek, but maybe it's just me... Still managed to catch a few small wild guys but the numbers are much lower than the previous couple weeks. I guess I just have to figure out where the fish hang out with the extremely low flows... maybe in 20 years I'll be able to say "it's easy"!  

-- Edited by Bugger at 19:54, 2008-10-28

I fished today below the bridge. I got a couple of dinks. I also fished at the upper section of 3. I got another dink there.

AB

Shon ya gotta tie atleast a couple times a week to keep up with good habits.

I don't tie my own flies. The plan is to make that this years christmas gift to myself, Some killer fly tying stuff.

shon42073 wrote:

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The plan is to make that this years christmas gift to myself, Some killer fly tying stuff.

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Good decision. I did just that last year (although I chose a cheap vise). After many, many hours spent at the vise learning, I can now proudly say that I tie pretty much all the flies I use (which, when I think about it, are limited to variations of a handful of patterns). But I feel like I can tie pretty much anything I want since I can execute most basic techniques. My flies aren't always pretty (even less consistent), but they catch enough fish - most of the time. Very satisfying.

Just don't buy all the materials for all the flies you think you will tie for the next 10 years at once... or you will soon realize that you don't have what you actually need anyway and you will go back to the fly shop every week for a while to get the stuff that you need for that new pattern you want to tie...

Fly tying is always fun to get into but it takes time to get the hang of it so give it time and it will pay off. The fun thing about tying is that you are starting from scratch and can end up tying some killer patterns and catching some nice fish! there's nothing like catching a pig o n your own tied fly. Another thing is if you get frustrated while tying a fly, you can stop and pick it off right where you left off!

Shaun-I highly recommend a class or -- even cheaper -- have a competent, patient friend walk you through the basics to speed up the learning curve.

Bugger-That one "needed" material is just the excuse I need for stopping by the shop after work!   

I know many have sucess with the San Juan worm but this is one fly i don't fish often... I have a few in red and tan in my box but they rarely see the water. I woudn't know what to do with a couple dozens more!

On the other hand, size 20-22 wire midges with glass beads and zebra midges are also easy and quick to tie and have been good for me in the last month at Putah... so I tied a lot of them in different colors and variations. Same for my  simple generic mayfly nymphs on TMC 2457/87 size 18-20 (I'm out of size 16...). I need to go get some soon. I need Ice Dub too! And beads...   

-- Edited by Bugger at 20:15, 2008-10-30

Shon,
I would probably say you are on the right track of basic flies.  The Hare's Ear and the Pheasant Tail have had evolved into many variations.  Olsen's Guide's Choice is a soft hackle variation of the Hare's Ear.  Peterson's Skinny Nelson is a variation of the PT.  I would probably a couple more fly to the mix.  The Bird's Nest and Fox's Poohpah are other flies that have evolved into other variations.  Rick Anderson's Bird of Prey is a variation of the Bird's Nest.  The Mangy Pooper is a variation of Fox's Poopah.

In regards to dries, I tie most of them.  When it comes to anything with spun deer hair, I buy them.  I buy a lot of terrestrials.  Or if I see a cool new pattern, I'll buy a few.

If I fish out in the weather tomorrow, it most likely would be on the Yuba.  With gray skies, a strong BWO hatch might happen.  Also I have the urge to swing a soft hackle.

If you fish, enjoy yourself.

AB

Come over to Kiene's Saturday and I'll give you some good ideas and direction to take your patterns.

Bernie

Hay all you fly tiers! We still need 4 more tiers to make a streamer swap. This one will be a little different and everyone wil make 14 flies so everyone gets 2 of each fly

There is no official due date since we still need 3 more tiers. Just watch for wt to post more info on it. When we get enough tiers he will pm us his address.

Good idea, Shon. Spent yesterday afternoon at Putah. Was relatively slow, hooked 2 quickly on a BWO nymph to start but lost both and then nothing for a while... After changing flies several times without success, I decided I needed something very different...  like a red San Juan Worm!  Well, within 3-4 casts I had a nice wild guy about 12" to hand with a red worm in the corner of its mouth. And a few more later on the mayfly dropper. Lost the red worm and used a tan one again with a mayfly dropper, got a couple more to hand to end the day. So I guess I'll be tying a few more worms... I think sometimes it pays to show them something they don't see 100 times a day.