12/13/14 & 12/14/14 Beautiful Weekend for Trout

The weather this weekend was absolutely perfect to get out and chase some trout! I did extremely well both days and I would describe the trout's mood as borderline suicidal. They were extremely aggressive and action was frequent and consistent. Between the two days, I got 17 fish in the boat and lost or didn't hook up well on at least that many more! I landed several nice fish pushing 18'' and lost one right at the boat that would have gone over 20 inches. Mike landed what I'm sure is his personal best trout to date. It was the biggest fish I've seen since I started fishing these lakes. Most fish were up shallow near the break lines. I caught all these fish on clouser minnow flys. It will probably not be long before the lakes are frozen so if you have the opportunity, get out as soon as you can. The fishing is amazing and you will not regret it! I got some great video but with my computer out of service, I can't get it edited yet. Enjoy the pictures and check out the trout section of the website for tips and tricks to help you get into some trout.

 

Absolutely beautiful 18''er. The colors showed up really well in this picture.

This was a really nice, fat, healthy 17''er. It was extremely beautiful, but the sun blotted out some of it's colors.

Small stocker caught on the "Short Strike Special" clouser minnow.

"Short Strike Special" Clouser Minnow

This is an overview on how to tie a modified clouser minnow. I developed this pattern to catch short striking trout. I based this fly on patterns that people use when spey fishing to Salmon and Steelhead. Once the braid loop is added, this fly is tied exactly like any other clouser minnow. The hook rides from the middle to the back of the fly depending on how long you make the braid loop. Hope you enjoy and get out after some trout. The fishing is hot right now!

Materials Needed:

140 Ultra Thread

Size 1 Streamer Hook

Size 6 Short Shank Hook

Craft Fur (various colors)

Flashabou (personal preference on color)

Small Lead Eyes

Stick-On Holographic Eyes

Head Cement

50lb Braided Line

Tie on and add a base of thread to the hook shank. Move thread back up to the eye of the hook.

Cut a 6'' piece of 50lb braid. Loop it in half. Put the two tag ends through the hook eye and tie it in.
Make sure to leave enough of a loop to fit the hook at the end of the process.

Wrap the two tags ends under the hook shank and tie those in at the hook eye.

Trim the tags ends of the braid and wrap the braid in back to the bend in the hook.
I apply a coat of head cement at this point but I don't think it is entirely necessary.

Tie in the dumbell eyes making sure to tie them in on the opposite side of the shank from the braid.

Add a small clump of craft fur to the bottom of the fly.

Add a decent clump of flashabou and a clump of craft fur to the top of the fly. Build a neat head for the fly and whip finish.

Add stick on eyes to the fly. Apply head cement to the head and other tie in points to get more life out of the fly!

Cut the hook off behind where you have material tied in using a pair of side cutters.

Add the hook by pushing the braid loop through the hook eye then running the hook through the loop.
 The fly is now finished! Make sure that when you do this, the hook is riding point up as pictured above.
This will help to keep you from getting snagged and will help to hook fish in the top of the mouth to aid in release.

This fly has been extremely effective for me! Good luck and tight lines!

12/6/14 Silver Fish on the Bite!

Unfortunately my computer is on the fritz and I haven't been able to put together the pictures and videos that I have collected over the last several outtings. With that being said, I've got a lot of great video of trout fishing and as soon as I get my computer back to running I'll have a lot of video and some photos to post! The last several trips I have taken to area trout lakes have been very good. The bite is hot right now and the last 3 trips I went 3/6, 8/16, and 4/6. All the fish were caught on minnow imitation flies. Fish are right in the top of the water column and easy to get to right now. Keeping my fingers crossed on getting my computer fixed soon! Mike was nice enough to take the photo below of me with a nice 18'' holdover Rainbow that was released shortly after this picture was taken.