Empty Handed…

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Arizona Hunting
Morning

I spent Saturday with a hunting rifle slung over my shoulder picking my way through hillsides of cat-claw. The search was for a mule deer buck which have an uncanny way of disappearing into the endless miles of rolling hills and jagged landscape. Most of the day was spent hunkered down staring through a pair of binoculars in search of something moving. Having grown up in New York and Pennsylvania hunting deer, the spot and stalk style of western hunting has taken a bit of getting used to.  For the first couple of years in Arizona, I had an extremely difficult time spotting animals. Practice makes perfect and although perfection has definitely not been achieved, I have been able to glass more successfully the longer I am at it.

Hunting Arizona
The Countryside

As the sun started to shed light on the surrounding hillsides, my morning opened up to a herd of javelina being chased by three coyotes. Watching the scene unfold before me was one of the most interesting and intriguing experiences of my life. As I saw these javelina scurrying in every direction and getting lost into the brush with coyotes hot on their heels, it took me back to the years of my youth and the movie The Lion King. Very “circle-of-life-ish” After working my way over several hillsides, I had just finished up grid searching a hillside and repositioned myself to check the hill across the canyon. As I turned, I saw movement through the thick cat-claw and as I drew my binoculars to my eyes, all I could see was antlers. The large mule deer paused several times and looked around, but did not appear spooked as he disappeared over the ridge. I quickly gathered my belonging, made a game plan and made a beeline for interception. Long story short, I made it to my intended destination out of breath and having walked through a mile of the thorniest terrain in AZ and could not find my intended target.

Arizona Sunset

It was enough to get my heart pumping and made for a positive day spent in the field. As I bounced my way out of the backcountry, I was grateful for another beautiful Arizona sunset that never seem to get old no matter how many I see. For a late season hunt I was just happy to see animals, but after seeing such big antlers on a desert deer, I could not help but being a little disappointed about going home empty handed. Next time…

Next time out, maybe I’ll go fishing…

Mini Hopper Tutorial

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Mini-Hoppers
Mini-Hoppers

At a few requests, here are the fairly simple steps to tying the mini hopper. I cannot really take any credit for this fly as I have taken most of the ideas from other sources. Together it really does the trick as a summer terrestrial or caddis imitation pattern. Without further ado here we go:

Materials

Materials needed:

1. Dry fly hook (preferably #12-14)

2. 2mm foam (I have found just about any color I tie up produces. The brighter colors are nice for rougher water. I buy sheets of foam at the craft store for a fraction of the price posted at most “fishing” stores and the craft store has every color of the rainbow.)

3. Dubbing and matching thread (I prefer black 6/0 thread and Hare Tron Dubbin in black. The dubbing is mixed with some silver and has a nice sparkle to it. The matching color is nice, as you tie in most of your material in the same spot.)

4. Elk Hair

5. Barred Sili Legs (I have tied both green and orange and have not distinguished much of a difference between the two)

6. Super Glue (Makes life easier when your fly can stand up to the punishment all day or until you lose it in a tree)

1/4″ strip of 2mm foam
I usually add a dab of super glue before attaching the foam with strong thread wraps
Dub a body
Tie in Stacked Elk Hair
Tie in barred legs
One more dab of super glue before pulling back the foam and tying it all down
Whip Finish
Underside
Topside

Cloudy and Cold but Good Fishing Weather…

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Slice of Heaven
Slice of Heaven

It has been a little over a year since my uncle dug my grandfather’s old fly rod out of his garage and passed the beautiful Fenwick on to me. My first fly fishing trip in Arizona was to a small stream on the Rim that holds a great population of wild rainbows mixed in with a few browns. This stream was not the ideal place to put my meager fly casting knowledge to use, but the lessons were quick and many, and before long I was generally staying out of the trees. I returned to this stream on Saturday with my good friend Jake and we hiked down in to the creek in search of those willing rainbows.

Arizona Rainbow
Arizona Rainbow

The day started cold with the temperature hovering at a brisk 46°, but I cherish the days when I am not constricted in a set of waders, so I chose instead to wet wade. Cloud cover kept the temps low and the heat of the day only reached the mid-60s. The overcast light seemed to really turn the fishing on and rainbows were attacking dry flies from the moment that we stepped into the cold creek. All of the fish we caught were the wild rainbows that call this creek their home. Their spots and colors were extraordinarily beautiful and unique to each specimen and each fish showed its spunk and tenacity with they way they  would fight and jump. I did bring one brown in full spawning colors to the net but quickly released the healthy fish without a picture. We spotted several browns that were going through the spawning motions and attempted to leave them alone.

Arizona Rainbow
Arizona Rainbow

Fall colors were in full swing with the trees creating a beautiful backdrop to fly fish. Wildlife was in abundance as we walked the creek. Several whitetail does showed up to watch my ugly casting and try and figure out what fool would be standing in the frigid water waving a stick around. They stuck around for a little while, apparently unconcerned and realizing that I was not after them. I could not help but smile and chuckle, thinking about all of those deer hunters trucks on the top of the ridges, knowing most of the deer are going to be sneaking around in the lower canyons and creek beds. Another interesting sighting of the day was a coatimundi who was slowly making his way along a ridge above the creek. I had only seen one other coatimundi in Arizona and find them a fascinating creature, cherishing any sighting of these bizarre animals.

Being Watched

Several very big fish were lost throughout the day. Jake missed a bigger brown and I also missed a large fish. While casting to a dark pool nestled up under a tree trunk, I made the perfect cast that bounced my mini-hopper off the tree and deposited my fly a few inches from the bank. A massive nose broke the surface and slowly and  nonchalantly slurped the  dry fly. I waited and as he turned I lifted the rod and felt the bend, but as he turned, one powerful kick left my fly rod limp and flyless. Moments like that break a fisherman’s heart, but are one of the reasons I will go back again and again. Most of the rainbows in this creek do not get much bigger than 10 or 12 inches, but I did land the beauty above who pushed 12 inches. After a spirited fight, the fish posed nicely and showed the beautiful spots that mark most of this stream’s inhabitants.

ARIZONA RAINBOW

Looking back and seeing how far I have come and how much I have learned since I first set foot in that creek over a year ago is a little more than amazing. I am thankful for every chance that I have to get out into God’s creation and experience all the beauty that radiates from his handiwork.

Fly Box Giveaway…

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October 24th will mark the one year anniversary of this blog. I started this site out as a means of communication with my family and as an alternative to some other social networking sites. Over the past year, it has grown and I have gained some faithful readers and friends through this site. I decided in honor of the “one year” mark I would like to do something, however small it may be, to give back to those who faithfully check in every week to see where I have been wandering. I tied up several of my favorite flies which always produce for me here in Arizona and will work just about anywhere trout are present. These flies will be enclosed in a Flambeau fly box that is fresh off the store shelf. It is not much, but I hope someone can use the flies and have the same luck I have had.

A few simple rules.

1. Leave a comment in the comment section. Let me know what you think of the blog and anything else you might like to see posted. Comment on your favorite flies, where you have been fishing, or anything fishing related.

2. Leave your name or some identifying information.

3. October 24th,I will use http://www.random.org/ and have a number generated and a winner will be declared.

4. Once a winner is selected I will get the box and flies mailed out to you ASAP.

5. I will only mail to the U.S.

 

The flies included in this box are the flies that brought many a fish to hand during the summer and will continue to do the same throughout the fall. As I have repeatedly stated, I am not a master fly tier but have put large amounts of love into these flies. I have included:

– Simi-Seal Buggers

– Hopper Juan Variants

– Sparkle Parachutes

– Mini Hoppers

Each of these flies has a short bio in the My Fly Box link at the header of this page.

Thank you very much to everyone who makes it a habit to stop by and leave kind comments on a regular basis. There is always an open seat in my truck if you make it out to Arizona and want to fish some small streams. Good luck to everyone and tight lines.

Ben

October on the Rim…

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As I turned off the truck, I looked at the outside temperature display to read a brisk 35 degrees. My friend Jake and I had left early from the valley and were the first on the water. We had seen multiple trucks on our the dirt roads into this particular Rim stream, but the drivers and passengers of those other vehicles were decked out in their camouflage for elk season. By 7:30 we were coffeed and geared up and stepped foot in the crystal clear waters to begin our day, but were dismayed as the catching of fish started extremely slowly. By 9:30 the fish became eager to take the dry fly and many different insects began filling the air. Small mayflies, caddis, crickets, grasshoppers, and butterflies were in ample supply on the banks and rocks lining the creek.

Most of the fish brought quickly to the net and released were brown trout who put on marvelous displays of acrobatics after taking the flies we offered. We changed flies often from parachute adams to small caddis flies but were rewarded on most well presented drifts. We fished up the stream about a mile or more until the sun was high in the sky and headed back to the truck. After some deliberating, we decided to hike down from our present location and fish back up to the truck and try and tempt some of the creeks bigger fish during the evening feeding time. The decision was crucial and the evening bite made the entire day a complete success. Each pocket of water held hungry browns and the larger pools produced multiple fish each time.

One particular pool stretched around 60-70 yards long and Jake had the honors of fishing the banks while I watched from a distance. He was throwing a brown balloon caddis to match the caddis flies that were being attacked throughout the evening. As he worked his way slowly up stream, a fish attacked his fly and took off up stream. The bend in his fly rod told us this was not the ordinary 10-12 inch fish we had been catching all day. After a short fight, the fish was netted, quickly photographed and then released. The brown measured somewhere between14-15 inches and was Jake’s best fish to date. Smiles were all around and we continued working the rest of the pool with several other good fish brought to hand.

The day ended as the sun dipped and the canyon light began to fade. Many fish had been brought to hand and seeing a larger fish landed by a friend is always worthwhile. As stated before, most of the fish caught were around 10-12 inches with several beefier ones pushing 15, all browns save a few rainbows. Our fly selection consisted of parachutes, caddis, and hoppers, although it seemed that the evening bite was focused on those dark brown caddis flies. It was a great day to be out in God’s creation with a friend and I look forward to pulling on my boots and stringing up my fly rod again soon.