Preparing for Battle - Shad Flies

I stopped by Orvis in Tyson's to pick up a few of this year's Shad Flies. Less puffy this year and more collar. I also took the cue to use jig head hooks - I tied up a couple of my own... When I took this picture on Saturday evening, I had just finished loading up the truck with the fishing SUP and rods/tackle to hit Fletcher's Cove on Sunday morning. More on that in the next post...

Cold Saturday Fly Tying

My rendition of a variant of a Egan's Headstand fly called the "Mexican Stand Off" - I didn't come up with the name, I just saw it on a website for carp flies and I thought I'd tie it up. This was actually the first time I used dubbing (and it was easy!!! I'm not sure why I haven't tried it before this...). The other pink flies are more shad dart variants - since I haven't actually fished for shad before, I'm making random size and color patterns and I'll see what works. Noe also helped out - she tied up (mostly by herself with only a little help from me) another sabiki fly. I've been using Clear Cure Goo Tack Free Brushable on nearly all my flies now. On this Mexican Stand Off, I ended up using it today and the CCG bead on the weight/wraps makes a huge difference in quality and durability of the fly. Anyhow - as I referenced above, I did go wading today - more on that shortly.

Cold Sunday Tying Frenzy

Besides the mini frog poppers, I did tie up a bunch of Shad Darts in four different color schemes. I really dig tying - makes you think about what material goes on when. If you want to crank out a bunch, it pays to plan out the order of build. I've only been doing this for a little over a year - if you've ever thought about it but were apprehensive, just do it - and when you catch fish on the flies you've tied, you'll be hooked for life! Anyhow - when the water warms up and the Sakura come into bloom (Japanese Cherry Trees), the Shad come in to the Potomac to breed. I haven't experienced this month long event (American and Hickory Shad renewing the circle of life - with the intermittent interruptions from two legged creatures armed with sticks and string doing a lot of pulling on the mouth and handling), but I am well into the preparations. Fully armed amphibious assault craft - check. 8wt flyrod and reel with intermediate sinking line - check. Lots of different colored shad dart flies to entice the pickiest of fish - working on it. I've got a lot of space in the box for more flies and a bunch of number 4, 6 and 8 hooks and there are a couple of months left before the run starts - should be a good time fishing (I can't wait...)