July 2008 Newsletter
July marks the midpoint of the calendar year and the traditional start of dry fly fishing. With flows in many rivers finally starting to drop, the water will be getting warmer, the bugs will become more active, and the fish, as they say, will be “looking up.” Many high country lakes are open now, and fish are feeding voraciously. Check our fishing Reports and FishLog for up-to-date info on flies, techniques and stream flows around the state.

If you don’t tie your own flies, it’s time to check your boxes to make sure you have the patterns and quantities you’ll need for the coming months. Our bins are well stocked. We can also tie custom flies; ask for pricing and availability. Get out there, wet a line, drown a fly, and say a personal “Howdy” to a few fish. Drop us a note to let us know how you’re doing.

Better Fly Fishing
We are often asked what it takes to be a successful fly fisher. To our way of thinking, there are three keys: reading the water, casting and line control, and some knowledge of aquatic and terrestrial insects.

Reading the Water
Beginning anglers often spend a lot of time casting aimlessly in a stream or lake, hoping to attract a strike. While it’s true that trout will sometimes be found throughout the water column from bank to bank, they are more typically found in fairly predictable places.

Fish need to consume more calories than they expend in finding it. They usually will position themselves in places where the current will bring food to them, or where they can quickly dart into a stronger current to grab a food item, returning to their quieter holding spots. Prime stream holding spots or feeding zones are behind rocks and other obstructions, on the insides of bends where the current is slower than the main current, on the bottom behind smaller obstructions, downstream from points or other bank protrusions, at the end of current tongues, in seams between faster and slower currents and under or close to bank overhangs.

In lakes, fish tend to hover near drop-offs, near protective cover, in areas where food (such as hatching insects or baitfish) are found, or in a favorable temperature zone or depth. You will often see fish cruising along, sipping emerging insects, whacking unlucky terrestrial bugs or chasing smaller fish.

Casting and Line Control
Once you know where the fish are, you need to put your fly where the trout can see it, in a way that imitates the drift of a natural food. You don’t need to be able to put your fly in a teaspoon at 75 feet, but you do need to be able to put it within the fish’s range of vision.

The small streams we often fish call for short casts to spots next to, in the midst of or between faster currents, or into eddies. A good initial presentation is only a small part of the battle. Once the fly lands on or in the water, it needs to drift naturally with the current. A fly moving significantly slower than or (more often) faster than the current may make the fish wary and unwilling to strike, perhaps even scare them into leaving the area. Too much slack line or leader means missed strikes. Too little may lead to a fly dragging through the water.

High sticking is often the solution to drag problems. With the rod held high off the water, you can keep your line and leader from being pulled by currents between you and the fly. The objective is to have only 6” - 12” of leader on the water whenever possible. If your fly or strike indicator is moving at the same speed as bubbles or suspended particles, you’re probably getting a good drag-free drift. The other benefit of high sticking is that you are in control of and in contact with the fly. Minimal slack means fewer missed strikes.

On bigger rivers and lakes, longer casts mean more leader and line on the water, with casts frequently made across multiple currents. High-sticking is often not possible. In these situations, you must mend your line to maintain a natural drift of the fly. Mending is the manipulation of the fly line to ensure that the fly itself maintains a natural drag-free drift. In its simplest form, a mend is an upstream or downstream flip of the line that keeps the fly moving at the speed of the current in the area you are fishing.

Insects and Flies
Many fly fishers rely on advice from friends, magazine articles and other personal sources in choosing flies. Someone once told them, or they read somewhere, that the Green Butt Skunk is a killer fly. Or, they tie on a neat fly that appeals to them, but the question that needs to be asked is, does that fly appeal to the fish, on this stream, this month, at this time of day?

Knowledge of common insects, aquatic and terrestrial, and other fish foods is an important part of catching fish. Knowing that Blue Winged Olives hatch on the canyon stretch of the Big Thompson in April helps narrow down your fly selection. You’ll want an adult version (BWO Comparadun), an emerger (Barr Emerger, RS-2 or WD-40) and a nymph (Gold Ribbed Hare’s Ear or Beadhead Pheasant Tail). You probably won’t want to fish an Elk Hair Caddis in April. Sure, some days that might work, but most days it won’t.

Where do you find this information? The internet is a good source, and books about local waters (Todd Hosman’s Fly Fishing RMNP, for example) have hatch charts that tell you what bugs hatch at what times of the year. Check with us at the Laughing Grizzly, too. We talk to lots of anglers and usually know what bugs are active on local waters, and which patterns are working. Use your own observations; a fishing journal in which you record the results of your fishing trips can be useful. A great site to check out to learn more about insects is troutnut.com.

To summarize, when you are able to cast an appropriate fly to a likely holding spot, you’ll be a more successful angler.

Learning More
The Laughing Grizzly offers classes in each of the areas above, or you can book a guided trip and learn on the water. Beginning fly fishers should consider a series of classes in casting, line control, reading the water and entomology, or a full day guided trip where all of these subjects can be covered while fishing. More advanced anglers may want to take a class in a specific area, or work on a particular facet of their fishing during a guided trip.

We have a staff of great guides at the Laughing Grizzly eager to show you where and how to catch fish.

What's New in the Shop
Tying Materials
While many of us set aside our fly tying in the summer, we have found some new items that merit your attention.

Hareline Tinted Mayfly Tails
This nylon fiber tail material looks great. It comes in several color combinations including a barred black and white and a mixed red fox tail color. These look great, and we’ll be using them for our own flies.

Wee Wool
We haven’t seen the actual product yet, but out friend Tim Drummond, who turned us on to this product, tells us it makes great fly bodies. Wee Wool should be arriving this week. Check it out.

Craft Fur
Craft Fur is a standby for streamers and saltwater flies. It has great fishy action in the water, and comes in several useful colors.

Beads
Beads are an indispensable fly tying component, used in tiny midges and the largest streamers. We now have beads in fluorescent orange, fluorescent chartreuse, and metallic red, We have added brass coneheads in several colors as well.

Vests and Packs
Does your ratty, stinky, dirty old vest need replacing? We have an excellent selection of Fishpond vests and vest/pack combos in stock. We also carry Simms (the favorite of several staff members) and Redington vests.

Books and DVDs
If you haven’t read John Gierach’s latest, Fool’s Paradise, you’ve missed a good read. One of our customers recently said that “reading Gierach is like sitting down to talk to a friend,” and we concur. We have one autographed copy left.

“Soulfish” is a compilation of a wide variety of flyfishing adventures in Brazil, Mongolia, Belize, Christmas Island and several US locations. It’s got great footage of great fishermen and great fish. Another interesting DVD is “Why Fly Fishing,” a series of interviews with interesting folks like Joan Wulff, Skip Pallot, Nick Lyons, John Gierach and others about the mystery and passion that drive many of us to fish. This is one to watch after a long day of fishing with a gin and tonic (or your favorite libation) in hand.

That's it for this month. See you on the water or in the shop.
The Laughing Grizzly Staff