Fly Tying 101 from Hank

Here is the latest from our buddy Hank and Crazy Reece!

"Hey, did you see that?"

As I casted my flies into the small rapid of water, I shouted to the youngster across the pool from me.  "Hey, did you see that?" It was one of the brightest rainbows I have ever seen.  It came up in the fast water, eating something off of the surface......

David Knapp of The Trout Zone blog and I were finally able to met up to fish together.  We have been planning this for a few months now.  When I heard that he was relocating to Colorado from Tennessee, I figured that I would invite him to go fish together.  Usually, these things never work out as he wasn't even going to be in the same area as I am in.  He moved up north and I am in Colorado Springs.  The good thing about that is that Colorado Springs is on the way to Pueblo!  We hatched a plan to fish in Pueblo.  It is a great little tailwater, unlike any other tailwater that I have ever fished.  It has gained some well deserved attention from anglers all over the state.  Over the years, the fish have grown and on any given day, you can catch a 20"+ fish.  Of course, there are smaller fish if you don't want to discriminate.  

Photo by David Knapp

We started off slow as we worked our way up stream, looking to see where we could squeeze in.  It didn't take long to find a spot and start tossing out our flies.  I took 2 rods with me.  I usually don't take two rods on the water, but what the heck? You have twice as many chances to tangle up right?   I rigged them differently and added a different midge on each one of them.  I figured they were eating small bugs and the guess paid off.  After a few minutes I had on the first fish.  It was on a #26 Rainbow Warrior.  That fly and the #26 Foam Back Emerger, proved to be a good choice for the day as all the fish I caught ate the #26.  

Photo by David Knapp

David didn't take too long to start hooking up and had the first bigger fish of the day.  These fish are colored up and are as bright as anything I have ever seen.  

Photo by David Knapp

He continued to hook and land fish. I experimented with the Foam Back Emerger and it was just not what they were wanting.  I went back to the Rainbow Warrior and it was fish on again.  Crazy how that works.  Just small differences on the patterns, but it made a difference.  We both agreed that the flash must be what they were looking for at that time of the day.    

Photo by David Knapp

Photos by David Knapp

As the day progressed, we moved around a bit and found some more fish.  Perhaps one of my best fish I have ever caught was at the hole pictured below.  It was a great fish, but what will I will forever remember is how I watched the whole thing unfold in about 4 seconds.   

As I casted my flies into the small rapid of water, I shouted to the youngster across the pool from me.  "Hey, did you see that?" It was one of the brightest rainbows I have ever seen.  It came up in the fast water, eating something off of the surface......It was a beautiful fish and he just ate something off of the surface.  As soon as those words left my mouth and my smile relaxed, I said to myself, maybe he ate my Foam Back Emerger......I did just cast my flies into the water right before the fish ate something off of the.......  I immediately raised the rod and felt the hook set and the fish start moving towards the rocks.   David was re-rigging and watched the whole thing unfold.  

Photos by David Knapp

Whenever you fish with someone new, you never know what to expect.  I was pretty sure that David could fish.  I have followed his blog for a while now and I have been jealous more than a few times with his trips and his time on the water.  It was evident that he was fully capable of adjusting to the new landscape and the waters he now calls home.  We fished and walked and walked and fished.  It was not hurried, it was a relaxed day of fishing.  We didn't try to get in too many last casts.  We didn't want to stay all day and try to catch as many fish as we could.  It was just good to get out for both of us.  It was fun and that is what it is all about right?  New friendship and some trout.  We strolled back to the car to head out and grab a bite to eat.  That was my kind of day.  Relaxed and good.  There will be more adventures in the future as I am already working a plan for an Upper Arkansas River trip.  Stay tuned.  

Make sure to read David's point of view at his blog, The Trout Zone

Trout In the Community

Thanks to my guest blogger, Mrs. Hopper Juan.

If you live in or near Colorado Springs, you need to head over to Angler's Covey to check out the fish aquarium they have in the lobby of the building.  A Trout Unlimited project which originally started out as "Trout in the Classroom" has been expanded to "Trout in the Community" with Angler's Covey as the pilot site.  Colorado TU has had some five schools involved in the Trout in the Classroom program, which raises native trout in the classroom and uses it as learning experience where students monitor water quality, learn about trout habitat, environmental stewardship, and ultimately release native trout into the wild.  What a great program! And now we have Trout in the Community taking off at the Covey.  Back in December, Dave Leinweber hosted a pint night with some wicked beer on tap and cool commemorative glasses to raise money for a new aquarium.  Last month, the aquarium arrived and was assembled.  A few weeks ago, water was added and the pumps were running, and not long after that, there was a small basket with about 100 tiny eggs.  Much joking about treading on the redds and an easy snack on Ritz crackers gave way to a new joke about fishing with a size 34 hook and a piece of spider-web tippet when the little eggs hatched.  Now the fun starts.  The hatched fish were booted out of the nursery and immediately did what fish do--they hid in the rocks for safety and survival.  They are hard to see, but that doesn't keep me from looking about every five minutes when I'm at the Covey.    Check out this video and then get over there to see them in person.  They are changing by the day.

The Lil' Hollywood Hopper Video

The Lil' Hollywood Hopper uses a new hook, the Umpqua C550BL, to take advantage of the open hook gape while still providing a smaller hopper body.  This provides a strong hook to land those bigger fish and knowing the hook is sharp enough and strong enough to hold them.  This pattern can be tied using standard rubber legs as opposed to the MFC legs.

The Lil' Hollywood Hopper

The HD video will be out tomorrow, but for now here is a sneak peek.  You asked for a smaller hopper with a good hook.  Here it is.

The Twisted Sister Midge

Check out this new little pattern for your winter fishing.  It's simple and only requires a few materials.

The Money Midge

It's not a new pattern.  I call it the Money Midge because of the price to make it.  Putting Tungsten beads on a TMC 2499SP-BL hook makes for a great pattern, but a costly one to produce.  This is one to go after if caught in a tree or snagged on a rock.  But it will catch fish.  I promise.  

Hook:  TMC 2499SP-BL #18

Thread:  MFC 8/0 Brown

Bead:  2mm MFC Lucent Bead, Coffee Color

Wire:  UTC Small Copper Brown

Dubbing:  Hareline Golden Brown Ice Dub

The A.K. Best test

A.K. Best stopped by my table this weekend and checked out some of my flies.  He told me I had a lot of flies.  I asked him if he wanted to buy some.  He laughed.  He also looked closely at one of my patterns.  He said it looked good.  It was thin and sparse just as it should be he said.  Whew!  I guess I passed the "A.K. Best test"!

I posted this on my Facebook page.  If you haven't yet, stop by and "like" the Hopper Juan page.  I share little tie-bits and photos there that usually don't make it here.  Click on the Icon to be taken there.

The Denver Fly Fishing Show, 2013

It has come and gone, but man was it fun! The 2013 FFS was great as usual and it was awesome to meet up with old friends and to meet some new friends.  Many of you stopped by to thank me and to tell me that they enjoyed this blog.  That really means a lot to me and energizes me with more ideas and more passion.  Bringing you great content is something I strive for.  Thank you to all the readers out there for supporting me over the years.  

It seems like the tiers this year were more than usual and that was great.  The usual Denver area guys were there cranking out some of the world's best fly patterns and some really innovative patterns.  I think this area has the greatest concentration of great tiers than anywhere else.  Let me know if you agree.  There were a few highlights to the show.  One has to be seeing Howard from Windknots and Tangled Lines Blog.  With what has come to be a yearly tradition, he stopped by to talk and show me his Fiberglass Manifesto shirt. This year as we were chatting, Mike Broward showed up repping the FM shirts.  How do these guys find each other?  

Keeping it real

MFC Tier, Casey Duncan

The powerful Shea Gunkel

I was also able to meet Josh Udesen, an artist and areally cool guy.  His art work graces the water bottles and fly boxes of Montana Fly Company.  Check out his work Here.  We were trying to work out a barter involving some orginal artwork and a fly box, but since he has more shows scheduled in the coming weeks, we will hold off.  The photo above has him thinking really good and hard about the deal.  

Dave Whitlock

Capt. Bill and Molly with Royal Gorge Anglers.  

Many of you may know who April Vokey is. If not, I ask you if you really are a fly fishing fool or not?  April is one of the hottest (literally) names on the scene these days.  She is a B.C. based Steelhead guide that is taking the world by storm.  While she is not your typically looking guide, she is the real deal and a hoot to be around too.  My buddy Jake Ruthvan from Fins On The Fly blog was lucky enough to spend some time with her and I even think she has a crush on him.  What a problem to have right?  April will be joining the Montana Fly CO. design team this year, so you will see her patterns coming out soon also.  

Another highlight of the show was getting to meet Phil Rowley, a long time fly tier from Canada.  Phil is one of the most recognized stillwater tiers. When the FFS first came to Denver in 2001, I made the trip up from New Mexico and Phil's book was the only thing I bought.  I used that book to learn patterns to fish on the lakes of Northeastern NM and when I met Phil, he mentioned that he loved this blog and followed it regularly.  That was such an awesome compliment.  We hit it off and he is just an awesome guy to be around.  I am sure we will be lifelong pals.  I had him sign that book and it feels like this show has come a complete circle.  I bought a book and followed this guy's instruction for tying and now he is watching me tie flies.  Wow!  Phil, I appreciate your friendship and thank you for all the inspiration and instruction over the years.  

With that, I will unload all my crap and tie some more flies.  What else would I do?

The Fly Fishing Show

It's that time of the year again for the shows in our neck of the woods to begin.  I will be in Denver this weekend twisting up some of my favorite patterns.  I will have some Hopper Juans and Hollywood Hoppers for sale as well as Hoper Juan kits for sale.  Stop by and say hi.  I look forward to meeting new faces and followers of this blog and saying hi to old friends.

For more info, click HERE

Hank Patterson's Holiday Extravaganza!

Because Hank loves us so much, he did this for us!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!!  

I hope you wake to find your stocking filled with leaders, tippet, Thingamabobbers, TMC hooks, Dr. Slick scissors and much more.  

Thank you all for taking the time to read and look at this blog.  I appreciate it. 

I hope this upcoming year is better than the last.  

Feliz Navidad!