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3. Collecting Flies

In my many forays into streamside branches, I often come across flies that other fisherman have left behind. Often, all that can be salvaged is a bead from a rusty hook and perhaps some split shot, but sometimes the entire outing has been salvaged by a fly found overhead. I thought it might be neat to start a collection of flies found on the stream, but I have a hard time not using them if they're fishable.

The other day I found a first for me. I got hung up on an underwater branch submerged in a really nice little hole. When I went in to get my flies, I realized that though it was my trailing fly that was caught on the branch, my other fly had become entangled in a rat's nest of line containing three other flies. That's not the remarkable part - I pulled four flies other than my own off a branch I got hung up in just yesterday. The remarkable part was that one of the flies had been lost by getting hooked through the eye of one of the other hung-up flies. With all the other stuff to get hung up on in and around a stream, what are the odds of losing a fly by hooking the eye of another fly? Pretty cool stuff.

Does anyone else enjoy fly finding? Any memorable finds?

-Shawn

Im'm not sure it a memorable finds? I was fishing for steelheads one day and found a Purple Wooly Bugger, I put it on and started to catch fish. The next day I must have tied a dozen for future trips, I have never caught another steelhead on one since.

jAD

I lost a prince nymph last weekend and gave up trying to find it after a few minutes and then found it after my lunch a couple hours later by almost losing another on the same branch. I keep an eye open for them, but not too closely.

I found a single stick in a current seem in Rock Creek once. It had on it three san juan worms, five prince nymphs, to pheasant tails, and two hares ear. It was in the perfect spot in a current seem just stuck in the mud. However almost all of the hooks were rusty after I started to look at them the next day.

I don’t now if the following would be considered a memorable find, but it was a memorable recovery.

Several years back, while midge fishing the Frying Pan in March, I broke off a fish. The next day, while making my rounds, I returned to the same spot and landed a nice Rainbow from which I retrieved the fly lost the day before.

That is a feat, Falsifly, that I really hope to accomplish someday. I wouldn't say I actively attempt to snap fish off just for the opportunity to achieve it, but on two occasions this year I've had what I believe to be the same fish take a swipe at a second fly after snapping off the first - both times I failed to hook it the second time.

To me, this is the Holy Grail of fly recovery. Congratulations, Falsifly, on a great achievement. Did the fish fall for the same fly the second time, or a different offering?

-Shawn

Twice bitten only once smitten.

Shawn, I only fish with flies I have tied myself for the past 19 years - it's just a silly principle I have. However, I once did recover my own fly I had lost a few weeks before, only to lose it again within a half hour of recovery.

In my spinning rod days, however, I would NEVER pass up a lure left behind by someone else. In fact, I once found a small 3" silver/grey Rapala that proved deadly for me. And there's a very strange story to that lure. A former boss I had in Austin, TX claimed to have certain "extrasensory powers" (???) and asked me for an item that I was emotionally close to so that she could learn more about me. (You can imagine what my scientific mind thought of this, but I humored her anyway...) So, I gave her this Rapala since I had so much success with it. Upon its return, she informed me that her associates with whom she apparently shared these special powers (again, ????) told me that this lure conjured up images of violence, of many undersized fish that had been senselessly killed by the previous owner using this lure. Make of it what you will, but later discussions led me to believe that this woman was somewhat of a wack-job. Needless to say, my employment with her didn't last that long...

Just though you might get a kick out of that story.

Jonathon

P.S. I actually recently found a couple of boxes of flies that I had bought before I began tying my own (1990). To be honest, I think my own flies look better...

Neat story, Jonathon. I know how you feel about fishing your own flies - I've had a similar mindset most of my fishing life, and have only recently begun using a fly here or there that I haven't tied. I still fish almost exclusively my own flies, usually my own patterns (one day I hope to have an original pattern for every situation, but I've got a lot of inventing to do before then). When I do turn to a fly I've found or was given to me, it's usually in desperation because nothing I have is working. There are so many ways people tie flies, sometimes it's neat to see what others have come up with. And sometimes it's different enough from what I've tied that it makes the difference between catching and not catching fish.

As for finding spinning lures, my father has a buddy who spins feverishly without purchasing any of his own lures. Instead, after the fall or spring runs, he wades the local tributaries with snorkling equipment and recovers all the lures he needs from the streambed.

-Shawn

There's never anything wrong with freebies!

Jonathon

Hey Shawn, what are some of your original patterns? The only one that I have come up weith is my Killer Bass Fly, which is actually a derivation of the Comet steelhead fly but with different colors & materials. But geez, it catches warmwater fish like mad - and hooked me into a 20+" brownie on the Pigeon River (northern lower MI) last summer. As soon as I get my hands on a digital camera I plan on posting step-by-step illustrations on how to tie the thing for the benefit of the folks on this site.

Right now I am working on some big (7-8") pike flies to fish on my friends' lake...

Jonathon

I have some pics on my site (link in my signature). Check out the What's New section. This section should have more stuff in it, but I'm holding off adding more to it until I get the new version of my site up (sadly, it will be much like the current version, only I had to add everything onto it a second time, piece by piece, just to keep up with the technology - that's progress, for you). When I come up with a gypsy moth caterpillar, I'll be sure to post it on there.

I've developed some warmwater patterns that are effective but not terribly original. I'll also post them in time. I'd love to see yours.

-Shawn

Any memorable finds?

I was sitting on a log on the Mainstream of the Au Sable and noticed something odd in the gravel in shallow water. It turned out to be a retractor that had fallen off of someones vest. On it there was a small Orvis compass and one of those Orvis black snippers...The snippers still hang from my vest today almost 20 years later.

How about finds of the not so memorable kind?

At the end of May in 1991 a friend of mine and I were fishing the Pere Marquette near the famous "Green Cottage". It was a wonderful end to a week spent up on the Au Sable. We had decided to stop here, off course really, on our way back to Detroit. My friend found a round lead ball, almost the diameter of a half dollar, with a treble hook hanging from it!

As most of you may know, the PM is a famous Steelhead/Salmon stream during the runs. This was a snagging rig of some sort. It was a depressing moment to a very nice evening of fishing. On a brighter note, this stretch is now one of the few spots we have in Michigan that is catch-and-release for resident trout.

Most depressing loss!

After fishing one evening I was at the parking lot changing out of my waders etc. There were two anglers getting dressed to do some late night fishing. A friend and I had spotted vehicles and he had just dropped me off at me car. He wanted to rush in to town grab something to eat and catch the third period of the hockey game back at our room. I was rushing and not as attentive to my gear as normal.

The next morning I went out to the car looking for my reel and found an opened reel case but no reel! I tore the car apart. It was a Hardy Fly Weight reel with a 3wt line on it. I drove back to the access site and walked the path out to the road, but no reel. I must of left it on top of the car and it fell off and someone driving in or out of the access site probably saw it in the middle of the two track. Talk about heart-break!

A follow-up to Jonathon's post...In 1991 I was trying to sell global-positioning equipment to a firm in Traverse City MI. We had the units set up around Leland harbor. There are long rock breakwalls jutting out in to lake Michigan and there is a habormaster stationed there. He has scuba gear and is forever pulling lures from the rocks along the breakwall. He use to sell them in his little office there. He made a killing..."My beer money" I think he called it.

It was on that trip that I saw two rather strange things. Strange to me that is. We had our tripods set up on these breakwalls and had the chance to talk with some of the guys fishing out there. There was a guy who had a lure that glowed in the dark! He had a flash unit from a camera and would flash the light several times and then cast it out...What a hoot!

The other odd thing. This visit there took place in the fall. There is a ferry that runs deer hunters out from Leland to the Manitou Islands off the coast. They drop the hunters off for a few days of "roughing it" hunting and then pick them back up. I was standing near the dock when one of the Ferries came in and watched as the guys came off. Some had deers. Some had what appeared to be Great Danes that they were hauling off. I guess if you spend three days out there you will kill anything even deer on the "smaller" side. They were almost too embarrassed to look up.

Spence

Spence, I enjoyed your post. I have a few questions & comments:

First of all, what brand of GPS? I have used Trimble gear for over 11 years in my field biology/environmental consulting work, and my former (and actually, current for on-call projects) boss in Oscoda has become a Trimble dealer. I have used the gear for environmental mapping such as wetlands, endangered species occurences, stream bank surveying, etc.

Second, hey, you're from Novi, so I have to ask you: is there ANY decent trout fishing in this part of the state??? I have tried Paint Creek in Rochester Hills numerous times over the past 15 years or so and have ended up with far more creek chubs than trout (and then only little browns and rainbows in the 6-8" range). The best trout stream I have ever fished in southern MI was Rice Creek over near Marshall, not recently but many years ago while a student at MSU when I was nailing browns on dries. Any advice would be most appreciated.

Third, back in my spin-fishing days (haven't picked up a spinning rod in almost two years but I have been fly fishing for 24) I used to use glow-in-the-dark Little Cleo spoons, 3/4 oz., to fish for king salmon in/near the mouth of the AuSable in Oscoda. I lit them up with a flashlight, but the camera flash method was both popular and effective. Heck, the tackle shops in the area carried camera flashes even though they didn't carry cameras! The new, superbright LEDs work just as well these days. The last salmon I nailed there was a 31 1/2", 13-pounder, off the back porch of the AuSable Inn, on just such a spoon at 1:30 a.m. - I needed to sober up before driving home, and that sure did the trick!! Now, I have a nice Cabelas 9' 8 wt. to try on them...

Jonathon

Jonathon,

Somewhere on one of your other posts I wrote something about the question you asked (Are there any "good" trout opportunities down this way?). I don't remember, but it could of been a "private" note...and I'm not sure if it got to you.

This can be a difficult question. I will try to explain why. I actually, somewhere with all the "stuff" we anglers collect, have a map drawn for me by a friend as to where you need to be on Paint Creek. There is an old unwritten rule that states that we really aren't to pass on info about fishing sites given to us by a friend. I have even heard this pushed a little further, "I am showing you this place...You can come back...Don't bring a friend."

Secret fishing holes are funny though. I have a friend that fishes during the week when the rest of us stiffs are playing "wage-slave". He tells me of a "secret spot"...I go on the weekend and everyone under the sun is there..."Secret spot hell!"

Us anglers are an odd lot. I was once sworn to secrecy about a fly once for a whole year. I was very lucky when I started to get serious about fly fishing. I worked with a guy who has fished the Au Sable since his pre-teens. Once I convinced him that I was serious his help blew me by Fly Fishing 101 in a blink.

Over the years he has had problems with showing guide friends up there flies only to see them in the bins for sale the following year. There have been some flies that are associated with folks up there that came from him originaly.

This is years ago, but we were walking up a path early one morning along the North Branch. Because of my friend I was introduced to "the click" up there and accepted by them because of him. I was telling him about how I was talking to so-and-so about this fly my friend had shown me. I must of been talking too much...

He stopped in the middle of the path and I saw him open a fly box. I was a bit puzzled by this since the river was still a bit east of where we were standing. He turned around and said, "Open up your hand, damn it!" I did. He placed a half-a-dozen of the fly I was talking about in to my open hand.

"I will give you these flies. You can have them if you promise to not mention the name of this fly for one whole year...Not to anyone...Even me! You can't talk about it or even dream about it. I mean this! Deal?!"

I agreed and for the whole year when he and I spoke of the fly it was the "fly we don't mention". I never spoke of it again.

One day we were sitting together on a log...We are dry fly guys so there's a lot of sitting. He said to me that a mutual friend of ours working in a local shop up there had a fly that I should get him to show me how to tie. I had started to tie myself. I stopped in the shop some time later and asked him to show me how to tie this fly that my friend had mentioned. I even told him that my friend had told me to do this.

"Well Spence...You know a guy has to keep something to himself...Those flies out there have seen every fly in this shop several times over, every day...I need a little something...Well special."

I explained that I understood this because I was in the middle of a year where I had to keep a fly of so-and-so's a secret. I told him the whole story I just told you...He looked at me and stepped a little closer to me and whispered, "Spence I'll show you how to tie that fly of mine if you give me one of so-and-so's "secret fly's".

Jon. Are you aware of the Faust Legend? This was one of those Faustian tests...Mephisto was trying to make a deal with me that would send my ragged angler's soul to hell for eternity..."No. I said, I better pass this time."

Moral of the story...maybe you should re-visit "Paint Creek", eh?!

The GPS thing was with Ashtech out in Sunnyvale. We sold equipment to surveyors and sold the very first units to Michigan Design Groupl of MDOT. They were huge boxes back then that went for $25,000 ea. This was 1991 I guess. After the Challenger explosion the deposting of DOD satelites came almost to a halt.

You had to have all the receivers set up to receive signals from the same four satelites for at least an hour. Some times this meant you were out at odd hours only because the signal/satelites were there. We sat up one night in the harbor at Frankfurt MI in the middle of the night. I ran in to town and bought a couple cases of beer and we sat there in the dark while the satelites were communicating with our receivers and the salmon were jumping out in the bay.

Times have really changed I'm told and GPS has come a long way since 91.

Take Care!

Spence

Another good post, Spence. Yes, GPS gear has come a LONG, LONG way! The Trimble gear I have used needs only 4 satellites to collect data - given, of course, that they are well dispersed in the sky and not tightly together (sending your PDOP value into the hundreds!). Even so, it has always amazed me how many times I have been completely shut down in the field from a lack of sufficient satellites! Nevertheless, when it works it is truly remarkable technology, and I wish it was around during my grad school days, especially my uncompleted PhD work (aquatic entomology at the University of Missouri - Columbia). It has been a tremendous boon to environmental mapping, which is largely what I do - I am essentially an environmental surveyor.

With regards to trout fishing in SE Michigan, a cousin of mine mentioned the North Branch of the Clinton River, which is in fact designated trout water. He is interested in going and he lives in Metamora, not too far away so we might try to get a trip or two in before the end of the season. Otherwise, my favorite trout waters in this state are the Rifle (Ogemaw Co.) and the Maple (Emmet Co.), and I will be hitting the latter this coming weekend. I have strong affiliations with the U of M Biological Station between Pellston and Cheboygan, and this is the stream I originally learned on (during Hexagenia hatches, no less). This time of the year a #10 Royal Wulff just before and after dark works pretty well, plus maybe some hoppers - I need to tie a bunch in the next few days.

Concerning "secret flies", I have a terrific warmwater streamer pattern that I developed some years ago called Jonathon's Killer Bass Fly (or KBF for short). In spite of the fact that I have given away a number of these flies over the years, I have yet to see them turn up in any magazine, tying book, flyshop, or anyone else's boxes. Perhaps they don't take me seriously because I fish primarily warmwaters, or maybe they don't have the luck with it that I have had, but this pattern, in several color variants and combinations, has been FREAKIN' DEADLY for me for over 4 years now. It got its name from a 20", 5 1/2 lb. largemouth I nailed on it in Texas in 2005, and has never stopped catching bass (largemouth, smallmouth including a 16-incher, and rock), sunfish, crappie, and yellow perch since. And, most importantly, I hooked and (sadly) lost a 20"+ brown on the Pigeon last summer on it! (I will be flinging them on the Maple this weekend.) All it is is a twist on the old Comet steelhead fly but with different materials. One of these days I am going to get around to posting step-by-step photos showing how to tie it on this site. Since you're nearby (I live in Troy), perhaps we can get together for some fly rodding and I will show them to you - they're easy to tie but the materials are particular and not available everywhere.

I do plan on revisiting Paint Creek before the end of the season and after I get some hoppers, crickets, and katydids tied up (some Wulffs too - big favorites of mine).

Tight lines and let's go fishing some time!

Jonathon

Jon,

Have you ever fished the Au Sable up by Grayling? It has been my favorite hangout for quite some time now. I was 16 in 1970 when I first viewed the river near Roscommon and it's been wedged in my brain somewhere ever since. I finally gave in to the rivers pull in 1991 and have fished it every year since. I guess it's my "home water"...as they say.

Since you live up on the north side of the Detroit metro area you should look in to the Challenge Chapter of TU. They meet up in Birmingham and are a nice bunch of guys. Maybe you already have for all I know. They put on a tying class during the winter at a Birmingham Middle school. We pick a couple different flies for the night each week and the instructor emails the tying instructions and a photo during the week before class meets.

My first ever wade on the Au Sable was from Stephan's bridge down to the Pine Rd stairs and they paid for and constructed the stairway up to the parking area. It has stopped potential erosion there. Years ago, when I was a member of TU, I belonged to that chapter even-though it was such a drive for me. The drive and my schedule finally stopped me from heading up that way.

I snuck out after work Weds evening and fished the Huron. I used a pattern I stole from "Soft-Hackle" on his web site and the Smallies approved. There are still some Eporons hatching where I was at and I took a couple in the 14" range on a dry fly pattern for the "White Fly". I sent him a little note of thanks.

After all these years I still get something akin to "buck-fever" sometimes when I get out and fish. I don't get it but I've had it all my life. I rushed out to the river and fished until after dark and realized I'd removed my flashlights from my vest when I fished the Little Manistee with my stepfather on Aug 2nd. I was trying to lighten up my vest a bit.

I dug around in an inside pocket and found my old Maglite and waded upstream to a place where I sometimes get out in to the woods. I stuck it up under my armpit and started to break down my rod for the hike through the woods and ploop...My flashlight fell in to the river! I laid my rod up on the bank and rolled up my sleeve and tried to feel around for it on the bottom...I was in thigh deep water. I could not find it...I've had that thing for nearly 20 years!

Well...It's been sometime since I got out on this side of the river, but I've done it a million times. I found, in the dark, what appeared to be a path and away I went. The woods were damp and everywhere I saw little glowing lights on the ground that I took to be female lightning bugs (?). I found a path that I use to take to a road only to find that someone had added a fence in the woods to stop folks from going this way...As you can see Jon....Other than the fishing I'm not having a good evening...

Needless to say I made it out. My wife belongs to a group of the local Chamber of Commerce called the Women's Forum and they visit a different restaurant every month. During the summer months they meet at a members house and it was at our house Weds night...That's why I headed for the river!

I'm heading up to Grayling for the annual river clean up on Sept 12th.

I think that your Royal Wulff in that size would pass as a fair representation of the late season Iso's. A small "White Wulff" would no doubt work for the "White Fly" hatch on the Huron as well. Next time out I'll have to ask the Smallies what they think.

Take Care!

Spence

Spence, just a quick reply as I am getting ready to head north for the weekend (back on Monday). A size 12 White Wulff has been killer for me on the Huron during the "whitefly" hatch - both smallies and bluegills love 'em. I have also done well there with a #14 Elkhair Caddis in white, light gray, and tan.

Talk to more upon my return!

Jonathon

Jon,

A quick follow-up here on my last post prior to you heading up north. How did that go by the way?

You won't believe this but last Thursday I went back to the Huron to fish and found my Maglite in hip deep water! It was actually in the water for one week and a day. I took it out and it looked ok and I worked up the nerve and turned it on and it lit!

I sent an email to Maglite and got a nice reply from a service rep. She also gave me some tips on taking it apart and airing it out a bit. She said It should work ok...

Huron River update. The night I fished and lost the lamp was a fair evening of fishing. I went back a few days later during the rainy couple of days and only caught one small bass.

I went back Thursday before the Labor Day weekend and had a wierd evening. Just before dark I had a mixed hatch of what is left of the White Flies and some Iso's...It seemed somehow intense to me and I had a few fish feeding. This was like 6:30-7:30 I'd guess.

It was like someone hit a switch and it stopped. Then at around eight it the Iso spinners started to show as if on cue. I like this bug at this time of year because it doesn't fool around. They get down to business and are on the water in no time.

I'm standing in the river and I was watching a spinner going up and down nearly in my face and a Cedar Wax Wing flew in and snatched it out of the air! Right in my face. I could of reached out and touched it.

The odd thing is that only one nice fish feed and it all seemed to stop again...I pounded the water a bit and found no more takers. It's been a bit strange out there this year for me. I have been out there in years past and had fish feeding everywhere.

I noticed that the river seems to be siltted up more than normal. It could just be me or the higher water this year, but in terms of reproduction I would think that Smallies need some clean gravel just like trout.

On the one night that I had fair fishing I caught 4 fish that were about 14" or so. They looked like cousins. They may have been from the same year and maybe these larger boys are chowing down on their small kin...

What do you think?

Spence

What part of the Huron are you fishing, Spence? I lived right across the street from Island Park in Ann Arbor, so that's where I did all of my fishing - walking across the street vs. jumping in the car maximized my fishing time plus saved on the fuel expense. However, I never caught a smallie over 13" in that stretch, although the last one of that size I caught took a size 12 white elkhair caddis and fought me for at least 10 minutes.

I have fished this reach for four years now, and every year has been different. In 2006 I had my best luck on my favorite #10 chartreuse woolly bugger, mostly just swinging them downstream. Then in 2007 the summer hatches (missed them in 2006 becuase I was in Phoenix for the summer - WAY TOO HOT) were hot and heavy and I had many 30-40 fish nights (including bluegills and even one 8" rock bass) on caddis like I described above and size 10 and 12 white wulffs - in other words, fast and furious dry fly action with fish rising EVERYWHERE. Then last year, the hatches came and almost NO FISH were feeding on them! I actually caught a number of fish on streamers and woolly buggers DURING heavy fly hatches, and very few on dries (and then mostly good-sized bluegills). Then the last time I was out there, a bit over a month ago, I split the deck with 5 each on dries and streamers. What exactly was going on, I couldn't tell you. Neither could the fish as they were not talking (and if they are, a trip to your local psychiatrist is recomended - except, sometimes I do hear a faint laughing sound...).

I once had an experience on the Pigeon where there was a HUGE, ENORMOUS, mind-blowing spring hatch of Hendricksons, about as thick as a peak Hex hatch and during the afternoon when you could see everything that was going on. These flies were riding down the water all over the place - I found an eddy that must have held a thousand of them - and NOT ONE FISH was feeding on the surface! My imitations floated down unmolested except for an occasional flash beneath. Were they targeting nymphs instead of adults??? I have never before or since seen such a heavy hatch of dries being completely ignored on a stream reputed to be absolutely FULL of trout!! I seriously began to wonder what all of the fuss over the Pigeon was all about...Kinda like Paint Creek.

Your guess is as good as mine. If you can stand it, try a nymph next time? I know, I'm not much of a nympher either - I like watching 'em suck dries off the top or feeling the jolt of a streamer hit.

BTW, my trip up to UMBS was a success - rainy weather notwithstanding. In fact, the rain gave me a chance to tie up a bunch of #10 attractors - Royal wulffs, Spruce flies, Grizzly Kings tied as dries, and some coachman & Grizzly King streamers. On Sunday night I popped a 10" brown and an 8" brookie, and lost a third fish in the same size range, on one of the Royal wulffs I had tied. First brown in at least 7 years & first brookie in at least 8! Such is the amount of warmwater fishing I have done in the past 7 years...Plus, mushroom hunting (I have taken graduate courses on it and have eaten at least a dozen wild species) was excellent from all of the rain, and the U of M woman's track team was visiting too (I am a bachelor so I feel no guilt whatsoever...).

Jonathon