I’ve almost pulled the trigger on buying one of the big bugger boxes or boat fly boxes from the big name companies more than a couple times. Each time, my better judgement stopped me from spending the $40-50 on a fly box, but I kept my eyes out for a deal. Eventually, I found a screaming deal on a blank box, and figured I’d make my own for under $10.

Ingredients:

• Box – I found these green Flambeau Tradesman 10.5 boxes on sale for $1.84
• 6mm Foam – You can find 6mm online. I was a bit impatient and didn’t want to wait for it to ship. The local craft store had one piece of 6mm foam left. Of course it was pink.
• Spray Adhesive – My wife had some of this spray adhesive laying around. Pretty simple to use.
• Scissors
• Utility knife

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Wild turkey chili is one of my favorite dishes that my mother used to make on those cold winter evenings back in the Adirondacks. The greatest thing is that this is one wild game dish that my wife cannot resist.

Preparation:

1. Brine Turkey for 8-12 hours (great article here on the NWTF page.)

2. Season and cook turkey

Wild Turkey Chili Ingredients-

2 Tablespoons of olive oil

1 large onion

2 teaspoons of cumin

5 cloves of garlic minced

2 chopped jalapenos

8 oz can of jalapenos with juice

4-4.5 cups of chicken broth

1+ pound of cooked turkey

3 cans of cannellini beans (drained and rinsed)

2 Tablespoons of minced oregeno

1/3 cup of fresh cliantro

1/4 cup of cornmeal

Shredded Monterey Jack cheese, sour cream, and lime wedges for serving

1. Saute onion in oil, salt and pepper until softened (5-7 minutes)

2. Add cumin, garlic, and jalapenos

3. Transfer to slow cooker and add 3.5 cups of broth

4. Mix cornmeal with .5 cups of broth. Stir into soup

5. Cover and cook for 3 hours. Thin with more broth if desired.

The post Wild Turkey Chili appeared first on Arizona Wanderings.

DIY Fly Rod Tubes:

I am a big fan of Temple Fork Outfitters fly rods but for whatever reason they choose to sell their fly rods without a rod tube. So I have a couple fly rods that share the few store bought tubes that I purchased to protect them. Digging around in the garage the other day I came across a scrapped inch and half piece of PVC and since we are on a bit of a budget, I decided to build my own fly rod tube. My goal was to make a tube that would protect the rod in storage and on the way to and from the creek.

I made a run to the local hardware store and sorted through their limited selection of PVC paraphernalia to find:

1 1/2 inch open female threaded endcap

1 1/2 inch male threaded plug

1 1/2 inch cap

The fit was fairly snug so I skipped the glue which seemed like overkill. After poking around in the garage some more, I came across my wife’s stash of spray paint that she uses on all of her craft projects. She was not home so I helped myself to a can to give the rod tube a little class.

At the end of the day, I spent a little under 3 dollars for the extra pieces of PVC fittings and was able to put together a nice protective fly rod tube which is a much easier justify to the wife than another $30 rod tube. It certainly will not win any beauty pageants, but it will get the job done. A couple of stickers and I am ready to head to the creeks…

A couple of things to note:

1. The inch and a half PVC barely was able to fit my 3 weight in the rod sock. If you are looking to house a bigger fly rod, you may want to look at 2″ PVC.

2. I also added some foam padding in the end caps of both ends just to soften the blow when (not if) I accidentally drop the rod tube.

The post How To Build a Fly Rod Tube… appeared first on Arizona Wanderings.

I gathered in the Quail Room at the Game and Fish office with about 100 other sportsmen, outdoor groups, and a few interested folks from the general public to take part in the first Sportsmen Constituent Group (working title) last Thursday, March 22, 2012. We were joined by about female slot players including 80 people online and a plethora of Arizona Game and Fish personnel. The meeting was hosted and chaired by Kurt Davis, who is a member of the Arizona Game and Fish Commission, and the discussion was facilitated by David Case. The Sportsmen Constituent Group was formed in January 2012 and the purpose statement of the group is:

“To discuss how constituents, both affiliated and non-affiliated, can unite and work together on issues and challenges affecting the future of hunting, fishing, and wildlife management in Arizona.”

The meeting was centered around two microphones where constituents could come forward and comment on “what should be done to move forward in a positive, cooperative manner.” It only took till the second commenter to bring up the situation that has been on every outdoorsman’s mind – HB 2072.

You can see the entire video made by the best video production company (2 and 3/4 hours of video) Here.

I believe that our fish and wildlife are held in public trust and belong to all Arizona citizens.  They should be managed so that their populations will be sustained forever.

The post Arizona Sportsmen Constituent Group appeared first on Arizona Wanderings.

I will be the first to admit it. I have a very difficult time getting a blade to the point of being razor sharp. At the end of the day I can get a broadhead or knife fairly sharp with some of the “dumbed-down” tools that they have on the market today, but getting a ridiculously sharp broad-head is difficult for me. Luckily I have some pretty talented friends, so with several hunts coming up in the near future, I called up my buddy David and asked him to explain and teach me some of the finer points of sharpening a broadheads.

David originally learned to sharpen broadheads when he started shooting Grizzly heads which are arguably some of the most difficult two blade broadheads on the market. With his sharpening techniques, David uses three basic tools to get his edges sharp.

1. A good file (he recommended a double-cut file)

2. Sharpening Steel

3. Ceramic Crock Stick

I watched as David took one of my beat up old Magnus heads that looked like it had been shot into a rock pile and work out some of the dings from the steel, and before long he was working with a beautiful straight edge.

Once he had the edge to the relative sharpness he wanted, David switched over to the sharpening steel and continued to put a very fine edge on the broadhead, which was then finished off with the cerami crock stick. The razor sharp edge he put on this old broadhead was something I could only marvel at. I tried my hand at it for a while on another Magnus and focused on keeping a consistent angle with my file. It is definitely something that I am going to be practicing over these next couple of weeks.

David is a wealth of information and truly a master at putting a razor sharp edge on a blade. He showed me one of his new toys that he has been using recently to sharpen knives, broadheads, and other tools.  I will not attempt to explain the intricacies of the paper wheel, but I saw first hand how sharp a knife could get by using this contraption.

So begins my journey into the world of sharpening. As time progresses, I hope to become more confident in my blade honing abilities. I welcome any thoughts or tips anyone has.

The post Sharpening Broadheads… appeared first on Arizona Wanderings.

Someone was digging through the archives and asking questions about fletching arrows and the difficulty involved in the process, as well as some needed tools. This is a simple “how to fletch your own arrows” tutorial. I shoot a traditional recurve bow off the shelf, so therefore use feather fletchings on a carbon arrow. Now, I know some truly traditional guys who would look at my arrow setup and shudder because I do not use wood shafts or specific glue. That’s ok. This is the simple way to fletch your own arrows.

There are several reasons why I fletch my own arrows.

1. Fletching your own arrows gives a sense of connection to the whole process of shooting a traditional bow by becoming a small part of the building the arrows.

2. Fletching arrows allows you to replace old feathers and give new life to older arrows. The newer carbon arrows can withstand tons of abuse. Trust me… I know. Fletchings are usually the first thing to fall apart on the arrows and being able to replace them cheaply is nice.

3. If bowhunting is an intricate part of your life, you will inevitably be buying arrows more than once or twice, which like everything becomes expensive. Ultimately, I believe that over the years, my setup will pay for itself.

Needed Supplies:

– Arrow Shafts

– Fletchings (I use TrueFlight 5 inch right wing parabolic feathers, personal preference)

– Fletching Jig (I use the Bohning Pro-Class Fletching Jig, again personal preference)

– Fletching Tape

– Fletching Glue (You can use Super Glue instead)

– Small pair of scissors (I use my old beat up pair of fly tying scissors for this)

Step 1 – The first feather you put on is going to be the cock feather. This feather is an indicator for how your arrow will sit on the string. My arrow sits on the rest with the cock feather facing out. Make sure to adjust you arrow in the jig, so that the cock feather will be in the correct position.

Step 2 – Place the feather in the clamp. As you can see on my clamp, I have marked a position for the back of the feather. The mark is there so that every feather can be placed in the same spot from session to session.

Note: The clamp is specific to a right or left winged feather. Be sure you have the same clamp to match the feather.

Step 3 – The double sided tape is the tricky part of the process. The tape should run the length of the feather. Use the tip of the scissors or a fingernail to peal the protective layer off of the tape.

Step 4 – Place the magnetic back of the clamp on the jig and fix the feather to the arrow shaft. Take the clamp off the feather. Run your finger over the feather to secure the feather and tape.

Step 5 – Swivel the arrow in the jig and affix the other two fletchings. I like to put a dab of Super Glue on the front and back of each of the fletching to solidify the feather. This will give the feather durability for many days of shooting.

Let me know if this helps in any way. Feel free to shoot me an email or comment if you have any other questions.

The post How To Fletch Your Own Arrows… appeared first on Arizona Wanderings.

The original Hopper Juan fly was developed by Juan Ramirez from Colorado Springs. When I first started thinking about getting into fly tying, there were two flies that really got me excited to learn, the parachute Adams and the Hopper Juan. Juan’s pattern can be found on his site, the Hopper Juan, with a detailed recipe and material list. I really like this pattern and have had great success with it. I recently tied up a batch for a fly swap on a local forum and was asked for the recipe. The bugs I tied were a variation of the original Hopper Juan. Here is my variation:

1. Foam – 2-3 colors – bottom, top, indicator (the 2mm stuff from the craft store works just fine)

2. Thread – I like the thread to match the top layer and I really like to use 6/0 Uni-Thread

3. Dubbing – I prefer the Hare-Tron Dubbin, but anything will work

4. Deer Hair

5. Super Glue

6. Leg material

7. Something sparkly for the underwing – I use Krystal Flash because that is what I have…

Take your bottom piece of foam cut in a 1/4 inch wide strip. Pierce it onto the hook shank.

Tie on thread and secure the bottom layer of foam to at the back of the hook. Add a drop of superglue right on the thread and foam.

Tie in top foam with 3-4 wraps.

Open those two pieces of foam up and wind thread forward. This takes some forward thinking because ultimately you are going to have three body segments ahead of you. Make sure you space it evenly so that all the segments are the same size.

Secure bottom layer of foam with a couple of wraps and drop a dab of superglue in the cup-like area that you just created. Then tie in the top layer.

Repeat until you reach just behind the eye of the hook. Firmly secure the bottom layer of foam.

Carefully and as close as you can, cut the bottom layer of foam and cover the extra foam with thread wraps.

Tie in the top layer but do not cut it.

Wrap back to the last body segment with one cross wrap. this is usually the best time to trim the tail. (I have no idea if the tail should be cut like this, but I think it makes it look nice…)

Note: At this point, all the rest of your material will be tied in at this point. Try to limit the amount of wraps because it will get bulky real quick.

Tie in Krystal Flash (or whatever other flash material you have).

Tie in deer hair.

Trim and had dubbing. (Dubbing hides a multitude of sins…)

Add your legs. Right here I add one more drop of glue in the dubbing and on the exposed foam.

Bring back your top layer of foam and secure with 1-2 wraps then add in a very thin piece of bright foam as your indicator. You can whip finish right there in the foam or you can take the thread back up to the eye of the hook. I think the whip finish in the foam works just fine. Trim foam.

What you have is a bullet-proof bug that will float all day, catch fish, and act as an indicator for any dropper you throw underneath it. A quality fly created by a quality tier. I have tied up a bunch and look forward to throwing these on the Deschutes during my upcoming trip. Thanks Juan for a great bug.

The post The Easy Hopper Juan: My variation and tutorial appeared first on Arizona Wanderings.

Sammie age

After I returned from my four day adventure at the San Juan, I received more than a few emails asking about what type of setup I was using while I was there. In answer to those emails I put my artistic skills to the test and drew up a diagram of the rigging that I was using. I am by no means an expert, but this information was handed down to me by more than one San Juan die-hard. It is good information and really worked while I was at the San Juan River. (Note: My pictures may not be to scale or 100% accurate, but cut me some slack…)

This is the standard setup that I used while I was at the San Juan. I used 6x flourocarbon tippet material off of my leader. My first fly never changed the whole time I fished a two nymph rig. The Red Hot annelid accounted for a majority of the fish that I ended up catching on the San Juan.

The second fly was equally important and I switched it occasionally as the conditions dictated. I generally fished a zebra midge (black body, silver or gold wire wraps, black head)

or a KF Emerger (brown body, gold wire wraps, Krystal Flash wing, brown head).

I found that the smaller the flies, the more fish I caught.  So I ended up fishing a #24 for all three flies.

Since I was fishing most of the time in the shallower ripples and braids above Kiddie Pool, I set my indicator at around 6 inches. After several passes through a particular lie, I would adjust my indicator to allow the weight to drop lower and the flies to float deeper.

When I fished one of the deep swift runs on the River I found that if I was fishing the rig at a really deep depth, I need to add more weight to my line in order to get the flies to the desired depth. I have heard and read that you should set your indicator at 1.5x the desired depth you desire and that will get the flies where you want them, but that’s difficult if you do not know the depth of a hole or run. For me it was a guessing game, but it seemed to work out ok. Experimenting with depth when the fishing slowed seemed to be one of the most important things I did in order to find fish again.

Nymph fishing under an indicator is not my favorite way of fly fishing, but the fish I caught were extremely rewarding. Even though I was using an indicator, its main use was not to detect the take. The indicator was there generally to keep the depth of my flies consistent. Most of the fish I caught, came from actually seeing the fish move or take the fly. I fished fairly aggressively and set the hook on any movement from the fish or anything out of the ordinary with my indicator.

If I am missing something on this topic or you have a question feel free to email or leave a comment.

The post San Juan River Nymph Rig appeared first on Arizona Wanderings.

After I made it home and spent a day on the coach allowing my body to recover from four days of fishing, I wrote up my trip report full of pictures and stories. Looking back to my time on the water, there were a whole bunch of little things that brought this whole trip together. Many of these things were tips that others had shared with me before my trip to the San Juan River. Others were lessons that the actual trip educated me on. So the following is a somewhat random list of do’s and don’ts, tips, reviews, and all around good ideas if you are visiting the San Juan River.

Lodging – I stayed in a tent at the Navajo Lake State Park. Fishing consumed all of my daylight hours and lodging was secondary. Having said that, the Navajo Lake State Park was perfect for me. It was not even half full during this time of the year and my ten dollar primitive camping ticket bought me a place to pitch my tent, a warm shower, and covered the 5 dollar charge to park on the San Juan River. Not a bad deal when it comes right down to it. Hands down, great decision to stay at the Navajo Lake State Park.

Food – As I stated before, I am a breakfast guy. I have to have a couple cups of coffee and a warm meal will keep me going all day. Because it was in the 30’s most mornings, I opted for breakfast to be my one meal out per day. I highly recommend the Back Cast Cafe which is a part of the Fisheads Fly Shop. Food was good, service was great, coffee was hot, and it gave my boots a place to thaw out in the morning. It was nice to warm up before the day and charge my cell phone and camera.  For my other meals I brought sandwich makings from home and I brought a delicious venison stew that warmed my belly at the end of the day. This all helped me to cut down on costs.

Gear Needs – As big of a fan as I was of Fisheads, they did not have some of the basic tying materials that I needed for my time on the water. They pointed me in the direction of Float-n-Fish, another shop next door. Ray had all kinds of gear in there and even put some of the big box stores here in Phoenix to shame. If you need specific pieces of gear, you may want to check out Float-n-Fish

Clothing – I am not a big fan of wearing waders, but the San Juan River water temps are extremely cold. I did not really understand why others were telling me to layer under my waders until I got there and stepped into the water. Even when the sun is shining and I am getting sunburnt, my legs are still pretty chilly even through a pair of fleece pants I had on under my waders. Layering is a necessity for this river.

Rod/Reel – Everywhere I read online, guys were saying that I would need a 9 foot 6 weight rod. Maybe this rod would be ideal, but I fished my grandfather’s old 5 weight Fenwick and was happy with how that worked out for me. Any lost fish were certainly the fault of the operator and not the equipment. I talked with several people on the river that were catching fish on even smaller weight rods.

Gear – How to store and carry gear on the water is always funny to me. Everyone has a different system from a vest to backpacks, chest packs to lanyards. Normally on a small stream I take a backpack to have everything I would need “just in case.” Originally, I started with a backpack and a chest pack but quickly realized I did not need all that gear for this river. My few basic needs were the following:

1. Small box of flies, weights, and indicators
2. 6x tippet (and yes, I splurged for fluorocarbon and no, I don’t know if it helped)
3. Water
4. A couple granola bars
5. Forceps
6. Net

All of this fit nicely into my wader pockets and Wright and McGill Co. Chest Pack. A little velcro on my high dollar fly boxes helped to keep everything neat and secure. I am also a big fan of the platypus water containers (seen in the chest pack above) because they can be folded up and do not take up much room. This setup saved my back and shoulders and kept me very comfortable on the water.

Tying gear – If you do tie, definitely bring you gear along with a headlamp or other light source so that you can tie during the evening. I had only tied up a few of every bug at home, because I am broke and did not want to waste hooks and materials on stuff that was not going to work. This worked out well for me in the end, because during my down time on the river I was able to tie up some more red hots, zebra midges, and KF emergers.

****Washing gear – Probably the most important thing I did was done at home and after the trip. Wash, clean, and sterilize your gear. This should be a no-brainer if you are fishing multiple bodies of water but specifically for the San Juan River. The San Juan River Rainbows are plagued with  whirling disease and therefore special percautions must be taken unless you want to destroy your home waters. Clean boots, waders, fly line, and your net.

The San Juan River is a fun and unique fishery and I recommend getting out there to chase those big fish. This was my first time to the River and I am by no means an expert on everything there. Feel free to add something to the list.

The post Fly Fishing the San Juan River: Tips and Lessons Learned appeared first on Arizona Wanderings.

Indicator vs. the Hopper

I have always been told to never say never, so I will say instead that I rarely use an indicator when fly fishing small streams. Two main reasons keep me from threading my line through a bobber or a polypropylene indicator and neither of them are because I am an elitist. I generally reach for a hopper or buoyant dry fly instead for a couple of key reasons.

1. The “indicator” has a hook – After the first time I saw a 16 inch brown trout take a nip at my yarn indicator, all bets were off. Why waste an opportunity on an indicator when you can use an “indicator” with a hook. A big foam hopper is a great choice and has enough buoyancy to drift some of the large nymphs or streamer

2. Locating fish –Tandem fishing a hopper (or buoyant dry fly) and a nymph together can greatly increase your chances of finding where those fish are located in the water column. You can get extra fancy and throw a 2^nd dropper on your line in especially deep water.

3. Finding out what fish are eating – When fishing a new stretch of water, it can be tricky to figure out what fish are keyed in on. By increasing the number of flies you have on the water, you are exponentially increasing your chances of figuring out exactly what those trout are interested in. Often times a stimulator or a heavily hackled parachute can do the trick especially in an area not known for its terrestrial fishing.

At the end of the day, a Dry/Dropper setup is an extremely nice way to fish and something every fly fisherman should have in his bag of tricks. Although traditionally seen as a western style of fishing, this tactic can be productive in any moving water.

Some things to remember when getting ready to rig up your Dry/Dropper setup:

** Foam flies – Big bright foam hoppers are a great choice when looking for a buoyant indicator fly. Foam floats all day and you can use neon colors to keep track of your fly in fast water.

** Extra hackle or hair – Don’t be afraid to add a few more wraps of hack to your Parachute Adams or a few more strands of hair to your Elk Hair Caddis. In some instances, less is not always more. I like to tie a few with a normal amount of material to be fished alone and a few with a little bit more for those days when I use a dry/dropper setup.

** “Hi-Vis” Posts – Sometimes tying in a “Hi-Vis” (High Visibility) post on a hopper or dry fly can make all the difference when trying to follow your fly on the drift.

** Fly Floatant – Don’t forget the fly floatant. Whether you use a goo or a dust, it is imperative that your hopper or dry fly be properly dressed so that it rides high on the water. An indicator fly does not do much good when you cannot see it.

The post The Indicator vs. the Hopper/Dropper appeared first on Arizona Wanderings.