Tim Brookens and I attended the Fly Fishing Show in Lancaster, PA today. This was a great show which included exhibitors, seminars, and casting demonstrations. The highlight of the day for me was attending Lefty Kreh’s casting demonstration. Lefty is world famous and at 88 years old casts 70 feet with no effort. His technique is no less than perfect. We also attended Lefty’s seminar on taking better pictures and picked up some useful tips.

Mike Heck, local Orvis guide was among the fly tiers and my favorite fly shop – TCO was among the exhibitors (www.tcoflyfishing.com). We also got input from exhibitors on Young Woman’s creek in PA, the South Holston in TN (www.southholstonriverlodge.com) and fishing wild brook streams and spring creeks in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley (store@mossycreekflyfishing.com) (Harrisonburg, VA).

Ofcourse, you cannot go to an event like this without spending some money on “stuff”. Lucky for us the wives came along and spent more than us shopping – not at the Fly Show! Now, we just need the weather to warm up so we can put our “stuff” to work.

The neat thing about fly fishing is that bigger isn’t always better. Most fisherman would debate that big flies catch big fish, and no doubt the bigger fly hatches tend to bring the bigger fish to the surface….hatches of brown drakes, green drakes, sulphurs, etc.

But, I can tell you from experience that Ron Hill and I have been fishing on Pine Creek many times with green drakes and slate drakes floating on the water. Fish were rising, but the trout were completely ignoring the drakes and turned on to small blue winged olives in the size #18 or #20 category. Ron and I swear that trout like the way BWOs taste.

When mid-summer hits and the bigger hatches are over, tricos and midges are hatching and big fish can be sipping these flies with consistency and will completely ignore anything bigger than a size #24, #26 or #28…..and unfortunately a #28 is a “giant midge” compared to the real fly so trout may ignore your small offering. But, there is nothing more rewarding than landing an 18″ brown trout on a griffith’s gnat or a gray midge on 7X or 8X tippet.

It also works the other way too. I’ve fished the upper stretches of the Yellow Breeches or Slate Run with no apparent hatches, and no fish rising, but the wild fish will take will take a #14 attractor fly that seems as if it is bigger than the fish’s mouth.

So, pay attention to the hatches, what the fish are really rising to, and ofcourse the drift, and when the trout are ignoring your offering, go smaller.

Note: The general rule of thumb is to divide the fly size by 3 to determine your tippet size (#18 hook = 6X tippet). So, when midges are the necessary fly of choice, make sure you have 7X & 8X tippet in your vest.

I have been fishing with a bamboo rod made by Wyatt Dietrich, a local rod maker in Chambersburg, for about 6 years now and love it. It is a 7’6″ 4 wt. rod called “Timberfiddle.” I have used this rod on both small brook trout streams and larger creeks like Pine. My son Luke fishes with Wyatt’s Dream Catcher model called “Layla” (7′ 2″ 5 wt.) and has perfected fishing tough spots under overhanging branches.  Wyatt is now building rods originally made by George Mauer, a famous bamboo rod maker (www.sweetwaterrods.com). My rod collection mainly consists of 2 Winstons (8′ 6″ 5 wt. and 8′ 4 wt.), the 7 1/2 ft. bamboo and a 6 1/2 ft. Orvis Rocky Mountain. Obviously I was missing a rod in the 7′ category, so I fixed that this past week. Contacted Wyatt and closed a deal on a George Mauer 7′ 4wt. “48 special”. Can’t wait to put it to use! Check out the Dream Catcher web site or the Sweetwater rod site if you are interested in expanding your rod collection to a “cane pole”. You won’t be sorry.

After a morning of rabbit hunting, I settled in this afternoon, tied a few flies and began looking through a few pictures and reflected on the past few fishing seasons….I’m getting “antsy” to get back on the streams. One of  the thrills of a fly fisherman is taking the time to pass your knowledge along and working with others to help them get hooked on this great tradition…..especially the younger generation. So, I’ve attached a few pictures of the future flyfishermen, who had the opportunity to get started on this great sport thanks to someone who takes the time to work with them. It’s not all about personal success!

With a full time work schedule and since I would rather spend free time outdoors, I have not mastered the art of fly tying, and the multiple patterns I like to fish with. I do focus on a few, however, that are difficult to buy in a fly shop and to my liking – midges and gray hackle flies down to size #26 are good examples. In addition, my brother-in-law, Ron Hill, catches tons of fish on a western fly called a Crackle Back which I have also learned to tie courtesy of U-Tube in sizes #14 and #16. I have mentioned this fly on previous posts. So, I started tying these flies with some consistency a couple of weeks ago to help build up the stock for this coming season. My granddaughter Leah has also become interested and helps me….she clips thread and hands me tools like a “surgeon’s assistant”  and tells me how great the flies look so I feel like an expert. She will be an avid fly fisherman some day! Can’t wait ’til the weather warms up so I can put these flies into action.

Well the weather warmed up (50s) so Luke (Coder) and I headed to the Breeches and fished in the afternoon. Bad news – the parking lot below the Pond off Bucher Road was full. While Luke was getting ready I saw midges in the air and a fish rising along the bank in the run (Mountain Creek) below the wooden bridge.  Luke made a nice cast with a Griffith’s Gnat and caught him…..a wild brown. We then managed to find a spot to fish above the Allenberry dam and were happy to see a few fish sipping midges. I had to tie on a #28 gray midge as the fish ignored anything bigger and finally caught one small brownie.  Caught one more in the run on a #22 Adams on the way back. A good start to the 2013 season! Oh yea, I forgot to mention that I fell in crossing the Breeches on the way back. Only years of experience of falling in kept me from getting water in my waders…only a wet sleeve and a sore knee!

Although I spend more time deer hunting or rabbit hunting with my beagles, I did fish the Falling Spring by Coldbrook Avenue with my son Luke and managed to catch 2 rainbows on a caddis – go figure.  This nice weather will not last forever though and I will likely have to wait for Spring.

Had some good days on the Yellow Breeches again fishing with my son Luke and Tim Brookens. Tim and I also had a good day on the Little Juniata. Tim likes to remind me that he caught 5 and I only caught 4. We were surpised to be able to catch them on on the surface with little to no hatches going on.

Every Fall, Trout Unlimited has their banquet. This is great affair and I usually reserve a couple tables.  Ron Hill (brother-in-law)  and his wife Lynn come to Chambersburg from New Castle PA to join my wife Cindy and me for the banquet and Ron and I manage to get some fishing in as well. On Saturday, before the banquet, Ron had a great day on the

Luke Coder with a nice Brown on the Yellow Breeches

Breeches (12) using Caddis and a western fly I tie called a Crackleback. Don’t you hate it when an outsider comes to your stomping grounds and catches most of the fish!!!! My son Luke and went back to the Breeches the last day of September and caught 21 wild browns. Later that day, Luke caught an 18 inch Brown on the Falling Spring.

Fished several times on the upper stretches of the Yellow Breeches. Almost every fish is a wild brown and usually in the 9-11 inch size range. Parachute adams, caddis and attractor flies work best in this section. A highlight of the month was on August 25th when I took Eric Schuchart and his stepson Ethan Blum flyfishing for the first time. Ethan is a an avid outdoorsman and is a very respectful teenager and I was privileged to go with him. Ethan was a fast learner and caught his first trout with a flyrod. He made a great cast in a riffle which emptied into a pool and enticed an 11 inch wild brownie to take a caddis. Ethan is “hooked”.

Tim Brookens and I had a good day on Codorus Creek on the last hay of August.