This week’s entry is the flashback pheasant tail.  I will admit that I cheated and turned the reins over to my 5 year old daughter to work her magic.  In all I think she did a great job!  Her picture features both a top view as well as a side profile view.  She is quite a little artist!Here are the entries from Jeff Kennedy and Jason Borger.

Discussion forums are nothing new on the web, but it is nice to find good ones covering your favorite topics.  Utah on the Fly is a discussion for those interested in fishing topics related to Utah.  I have found the information there is helpful and a good resource, especially the reports.  Go check it out.Do you have a favorite forum for fishing or fly tying?  Share the link below.

I found out more about it after some searching online upon returning home. The rod is named after the Japanese style of fishing called “Tenkara“.  From the linked page comes this definition:Tenkara is the traditional Japanese method of fly-fishing, which uses only a rod, line and fly.Tenkara is a category of fly-fishing particularly well-suited for fishing small streams and for backpacking. It’s a very effective, simple and enjoyable method of fly-fishing small streams.A look around the site tenkarausa.com offers an interesting glimpse into the beautifully simplistic art of Japanese fly fishing.  Everything is very austere and clean. They have some cool products in addition to their rods. Their leather fishing wallets are exceptionally beautiful. Also, the flies in a glass vile and the flies in general were really cool. I picked up a t-shirt while I was on the site. I would love to try one of these rigs out and see how it goes.Ever heard of this style of fishing or tried one of the rods? Leave a comment below.

On my most recent trip to the Provo River, I met a couple of gentlemen who were gearing up in the parking lot at the same time as me. We got to talking about fishing tactics on the day and I was intrigued to hear that they were both strictly wet fly fisherman in the classic sense. They fish predominantly soft hackle flies and present them on the swing. One of them, I wish I had asked his name, had a box full of neatly tied soft hackle flies of all sizes and colors. It was an impressive site to be sure.
Even more interesting was his choice of rod. I have never seen anything like it. He pulled out a fabric pouch that contained a Japanese style, telescoping rod that doesn’t use a reel. It had a little hook at the tip for attaching a special line and standard style leader. More on this in another post.
So back onto the topic of fishing wet flies and mind you this isn’t nymphing in the popular and more current sense with a dead drift and some kind of indicator. This is the exact opposite. It is swinging your fly through the current while keeping a tight line to feel the take. I have never really done this and after years of teaching myself to get a drag free drift I almost convulse at the idea of pulling a small fly through the water. I would really like to get into it however to help keep the tradition alive.
The first person that ever took me fly fishing was an old school fly … Continue Reading

Here are the posts from this week in case you missed them before:

• Life List: War Torn Warbler – birds, lifelist, warbler
• First fly: part 1 – flies, flytying
• Utah fishing reports – fishing, fishingreports, utah
• Lust-worthy drift boat – driftboat, fishing
• Local and Regional Outdoor News Roundup – bison, eagle, outdoornews, utah, yellowstone
• Provo River Fishing Report 1/20/2010 – browntrout, eagle, fishingreports, flies, flyfishing, provoriver
• First fly: part 2 – flies, flyfishing, flytying, nymphing
• Drawing Flies 52: Week 3 The Boss - drawingflies52, flies, flyfishing, flytying

I should have drawn a fly with a flannel shirt and a guitar to make it look the THE Boss, but I’ve never been a big fan of Bruce Springsteen so instead I just drew the traditional pattern.  This started out as an ink drawing and then I got the wild (read dumb) idea to color this digitally and scanned it.  So I have to admit that I cheated on this one as it took me a lot longer than the allotted 20 minutes.  Well, I’ll make up for it in the next one and try and draw it in 20 seconds or something.  Here is my entry for week 3:Here are the entries from Jeff Kennedy and Jason Borger.

Well, unfortunately, the follow up story to first one doesn’t have much to report.  I worried about calling the first entry part 1 just in case I might jinx myself.  I have never really been very superstitious however so I went ahead with it.  I apparently should be a little more superstition than I am because I lost both of the flies that we tied together within about 5 minutes of tying each of them on.  This is often the case with nymphing, you tend to get hung up on the bottom from time-to-time, but unfortunately neither of the brassies had much of a shot in their brief lives to catch a fish.  I’m sure they would have worked yesterday however, since the fish were very active and hungry.  We’ll have to get back at the fly tying again soon to make amends.

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I had a great outing yesterday (Jan 20, 2010) to the middle section of the Provo River in Midway, UT.  It also happened to be my birthday.  I was very excited to get up there and had been planning this trip for a couple of weeks.  I got to the north parking lot around 10:30 AM and just as the snow was letting up. This combination turned out to be the right one as the fish were very active and hungry.  As soon as the snow stopped falling and the sun started to peak through the clouds there was a healthy hatch of black midges that had the fish feeding heavily.

I had in mind for sometime that I was going to fish streamers and try and get at some of the larger browns.  So that is the approach I took.  Within 10 minutes I had already landed two nice brown trout, the second being the fish of the day at just under 18 inches (to the left).  They were both aggressive strikes that left no doubt I was on the right track.  I was fishing an olive cone head sculpin pattern that is a cross between a muddler minnow and a wooly bugger.  I worked my way around through a few more runs and gave in to the siren song of the rising fish, but soon changed back as I was having a hard time seeing my flies in the light conditions.  In all I fished for about 6 hours and landed about 7 trout all of them quality fish.  Perhaps what I found most striking was how beautifully they colored … Continue Reading

Is it wrong to lust after a drift boat?  Probably so, but that can’t stop me from dreaming.  What is the object of my affection? The new 2010 CRT from Boulder Boat Works, Inc.  These guys make drift boats out of super-light polyethylene that are supposed to be extremely durable, maneuverable, and easy to care for.  After rowing a fiberglass boat for several years, this boat just sounds like a dream.  Anyone who can arrange a test float for me would be greatly appreciated and then I will write a proper review.  Until then enjoy these photos.Low side CRTHigh Side CRT

Here is my drawing for the week. High resolutionHere is Jeff Kennedy’s piece.  I like the drama and energy – the very definition of tarpon fishing – his colors give this painting. Jason has a nice drawing with ink and wash.  I like the sketch a lot.