I was holding out as long as I could - I figured if I didn't admit it, it wouldn't happen. Unfortunately, despite my best efforts, I can no longer deny that Winter is here. Yeah the Winter Solstice has come and gone and the days are getting longer again - but there is that 'temperature lag' thing and recently it has been WAY TOO cold (Lake Newport, my personal Bluegill heaven is frozen over).
So what does the settling in of winter mean to me? At least in the last couple of years, it means spending more time tying flies. Not the one or two flies that I will be using that day, but tying more for the days ahead.
So I give up the idea that winter is going to be mild and the fishing is going to hang on and I am moving towards the goals of completing maintenance on the reels and rods, tying flies and remembering warmer days. Here are the first (more than two in quantity) flies off the vise - a tiny black foam sabiki, a peacock hurl micro bugger, a gray foam back beadhead sabiki and two Cheech's Low Fat Minnows (instructions from www.flyfishfood.com) - entertain me by letting me go down a separate rabbithole for a second - I love flytying for a few reasons. First, it is way less expensive to tie your own than to have to go to the fly shop everytime you need a fly. Second, assembling flies means you must first understand how they are phased - what pieces are tied on first, second and so on; this really satisfies the engineer in me. Third and perhaps the most enjoyable reason - the names that people give to their flies always makes me laugh - Cheech's Low Fat Minnow!!! Alright back out of the rabbithole... These Cheech Minnows are tied to resemble the Shad I see swimming in the shallows - give the predators what they want - and they will reward you a game of tug-o-war. Tomorrow's forecast is calling for 100% rain - but lighter in the morning just when the magic '2 hours after the high tide' time occurs. I'll be stringing up the Orvis Superfine Glass 3wt and the Tadpole 6wt I've got to see if I can dredge up some 'hungry for shad' bass...
Stay tuned for the results (and impending vise poo - what stuff comes off my vise...)
Every superhero needs a sidekick right? Well, as I'll post in a minute, this micro gurgler is a sunfish destroyer!!!
I did not get to fish this freshly tied Cheech's Low Fat Minnow dressed in Shad - I was concentrating on casting with the Barclay Glass 3wt (I love this rod more each day - so smooth - it reads my mind and delivers flies where I wanted them. But that is next post.
This is the basis for the weedless version I am putting together.
I've tied up a few of Fly Fish Food's Cheech's Low Fat Minnows in the Shad pattern - not an overly complex tie, but you still need to have a few steady fingers to make this work. Because of the marabou used in the inner portion of the body, this fly already has a great swimming motion to it - and it will elicit strikes and perform well, in situations where there are few snag producing obstacles.
I've been thinking how to modify the tie to make it snag proof. Using principles from other flies, I am going to use the method you see here to get the fly body itself to act as a weed guard.
Heavy mono as the backbone - literally. This is going to make the relatively simple tie into a much harder one (I already had to cut everything off once...). For starters, Size 1 Gamakatsu Offset Worm hooks, with approximately six wraps of lead free wire.
So what does the settling in of winter mean to me? At least in the last couple of years, it means spending more time tying flies. Not the one or two flies that I will be using that day, but tying more for the days ahead. 
So I give up the idea that winter is going to be mild and the fishing is going to hang on and I am moving towards the goals of completing maintenance on the reels and rods, tying flies and remembering warmer days. Here are the first (more than two in quantity) flies off the vise - a tiny black foam sabiki, a peacock hurl micro bugger, a gray foam back beadhead sabiki and two Cheech's Low Fat Minnows (instructions from www.flyfishfood.com) - entertain me by letting me go down a separate rabbithole for a second - I love flytying for a few reasons. First, it is way less expensive to tie your own than to have to go to the fly shop everytime you need a fly. Second, assembling flies means you must first understand how they are phased - what pieces are tied on first, second and so on; this really satisfies the engineer in me. Third and perhaps the most enjoyable reason - the names that people give to their flies always makes me laugh - Cheech's Low Fat Minnow!!! Alright back out of the rabbithole... These Cheech Minnows are tied to resemble the Shad I see swimming in the shallows - give the predators what they want - and they will reward you a game of tug-o-war. Tomorrow's forecast is calling for 100% rain - but lighter in the morning just when the magic '2 hours after the high tide' time occurs. I'll be stringing up the Orvis Superfine Glass 3wt and the Tadpole 6wt I've got to see if I can dredge up some 'hungry for shad' bass... 
Stay tuned for the results (and impending vise poo - what stuff comes off my vise...)
