Boarding Pass Notes ...

  Multiple western trips I’ve taken in the fall season have shown the importance of carrying Spruce Moth patterns. In fact, they have been like carrying fishing insurance that I was glad to have brought along. Trout seem to feed on them opportunistically, and don’t often pass them up when they manage to fall in the water. One design I’ve use for a few seasons has been very effective. Another pattern had very limited success. The key difference between them is the profile of the pattern and footprint in the film. The best one had a distinctive triangular shape, while the “under performer” lacked that. As a tyer that likes to design imitative flies, things like this keep my imagination fueled as I look for ways to improve my patterns.  On a recent flight home from a trip to the Idaho Panhandle a thought came to mind and a boarding pass provided enough space to make some notes about an improved fly design. While I had the color, size and shape nailed down on the first version, I think the addition of delta style underwings of Poly X yarn might be a great improvement. Hopefully I can test this version next fall somewhere in the west. Till then … 

Places ...

   The river courses its way between steep slopes covered by thick coniferous forests of fir, larch, pine and cedar draped in mosses. The trees are tall, narrow spires which allow just enough light to penetrate their thin canopy and form a lush under story of fern, snow berry and Solomon seal that carpet the forest floor. The riverbed is a rich mosaic of granite, quartzite and volcanic rocks filled with pores and petrified bubbles that record the violence of the earth in it’s beginning when it was still seething and molten. The stones take a vast array of tones that cover the spectrum of possibilities from white, rose and smoke quartz, to varying shades of taupe, ochre, gray, green and black granite with flecks of white that appear like stone snowflakes. Many of the rocks bear thin stripes that display the layers of the earth they once occupied; the layers now broken into smaller parts rounded and polished smooth by rushing waters, friction and time.

   Between the runs and riffles of the river are deep, mysterious pools that are often edged by tall stone formations that make one feel like they are standing in a mountain cathedral. The river water itself holds things alive, brightly colored and speckled that live in its cold, emerald currents. Living things that might be charmed by a tiny confection of feathers and silk wrapped around a hook. Things that are like treasure held in hand for a moment. Things that make one feel rich and rewarded. Things that bring me back here again and again and be ever amazed by its wonder, to be humbled by its mystery and to learn from its spirit.

   Prospectors like Frank Heller came here in earlier times to stake their claims and pursue dreams of gold and garnet. Others like myself prospect here for beauty, adventure and the chance to hold one of its wild cutthroat and enjoy the comfort of friendship, whiskey and woodsmoke. We all have places in this world where we find peace, where our souls feel free and where we can recharge our spirit. This is one of mine… 

Presentations ...

Hot off the press is a new presentation titled "Fishing the Mid-Season Hatches" which takes an audience on a journey through the March Browns, Sulphurs, Cornuta Olives, Speckled Sedges, Cahills, Green Drakes, Yellow Sallies, Isonychia and others important "middle" season emergences. I'll be presenting this new program for the first time at Main Line Fly Tyers in Plymouth Meeting, Pa. on September 18. Like previous programs on hatches, I'll show images of the insects in their lifecycle stages, discuss behaviors that are important to your angling strategies and talk about the fly patterns I carry to match them. Reach out if you are interested in booking a presentation at your club or chapter. It will be fun they said. Till then ...