Squeeky’s Fly Sort Update, including rants

Squeeky’s Fly Sort Update

Maybe half way through of my annual fly sorting, configuring, culling process. Certainly making headway.

I’m finished with the PMD box most recently. Trico’s done. Worms and such box. Done. Tiny mayfly nimps, done. Scuds and sows. Yep, finished. Caddis ahead of me. And much more. A combining of some boxes this year like ants, small attractors, March Browns, Spruce’s. That kind of thing. A dedicated Blackfoot Box is in the works. Mildly entertaining winter fare.

A few things I learned and/or realized in the first 7 sorting sessions. And some winter ranting too.

• PMD’s are my favorite insect on the Missouri River. A nice time of year. June is refreshing, if it doesn’t rain every day. It is green, the bugs are coming off daily. Anglers are happy. A happy time to be outdoors. What I still don’t understand about trout fishing, and fishing PMD’s many things really is the inconsistency of the rise form, the bite, the mood of PMD eating fish. Scratch my head, as other do too. We all do. A fun, and funny time on the river. Fascinating really. Book June today to get in on the annual confusion.

Shooters go to the range and figure it out.

• Trico’s are small. Smaller every year. I have a couple 24’s. I think. The longer I fish the Mo, the more I believe in presentation and catching the fish early in the casting session. It is headhunting, fishing for finicky sipping trout. Think about hunting trophy Elk. Kinda needs to happen on the first shot right? While self proclaimed experts in the dry fly world believe in the bullet. I would argue that if an expert with a rifle shot 29 times at an Elk at 200yds and missed every time, he would not blame the bullet, would he. He might believe it is he, the shooter. Accuracy important in both of the two hunting games described here. Shooting, and casting. Shooters go to the range and figure it out. Anglers normally blame the fly.  The best dry fly anglers are either hyper talented, or they practice casting so when they get into difficult situations, they make the right cast.

 

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• February is a terrible month.
• Spring Training has arrived. Baseball fans rejoice. Seeing green grass, AZ and FLA on the TV with folks drinking beer is a shot of spring that I need right now.

Perception is Reality!

• I’m never gonna buy another fly until the flies I currently preside over have disappeared. At least half of them. They should work if I believe in my own presentation theory. I’ve never gonna buy another fly until I see that new shiny penny on the floor. I like shiny things…
• I should been on the forefront of mayfly nymph evolution. Tie up ay permutation of a PT and name it after yourself. Mailbox money. I know, that is a simplistic view, but it is my perception, and what I’ve learned from anglers is that, Perception is reality.
• I don’t want to shun those pattern lovers. Nope. If you believe in pattern, we are adding more flies at Headhunters of Craig this year. We got lots of patterns you may like. Shiny ones too! A good cast, a good presentation, and a good fly really do make up the fly fishing trinity.

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• I think fly box manufacturers should add UV protection to all fly boxes. Maybe they already do I but I’m too dense to realize it? Quite possible. The clear ones, you know. Bleaching of flies is problem when you like to keep them for generations. I’m adding some protection myself to protect those fly boxes sitting on the deck in hot baking UV damaging sun. Or, I could use fly boxes that are not clear…
• Boy there are a lot of PMD patterns.
• The evolution of the angler includes lots of different fly patterns. Everything else in the Amazon Era is specialized, why not fly fishing. The evolution of a resource is also something that happens. And what I have realized is that it is difficult to direct evolution. A pretty strong force. You cannot change the direction. What you can do is dictate your personal evolution as an angler. You can choose the right path for you. Encourage you to look inside this spring and figure out what your Angling Manifeso is. It’s healthy man. Set some goals as an angler. Do they include conservation efforts? Respect? Education? Approach style? A good task for yourself this pre-season.

What you can do is dictate your personal evolution as an angler.

• Sorting flies is a healthy winter project for a number of reasons. You get to see that you have. What wasn’t working. You get to exercise some of the trout fishing demons stuck in the corner of your brain just like the sandwich, you think, wedged into the corner of your drift boat you just found last week. You can make great music decisions allowing you to fall into a trance lasting for hours at the kitchen table. I’ve found that is a task you can accomplish while drinking too.

 

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Select that surf channel you like so much, pour a spot of bourbon in your coffee mug, sit down and get after it. February is almost over!