Another Connection Between Medicine and Fly Fishing

Okay, connections between fly fishing and medicine don't happen that often.  But when they do, man they are exciting (at least for a nerd like me.)  Last time we reported on a connection, it was about the EPA study that found 7 pharmaceutical drugs in fish sampled.  That was sort of stretch.  It wasn't like they said in the study that fishermen should practice catch and release because of these drugs... although they should.


But this time, we actually have a video for you made by Dr. Szlyk from Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg, VA.  If you can't tell, I'm excited about this video.  I mean, it's the proverbial hat trick with regards to our blog:  1.Fly Fishing 2.Medicine 3.Virginia. (in case you couldn't tell from our uncreative blog title.)  I don't know who Dr. Szlyk is but I think I can safely assume that he's awesome at fly fishing...and at surgery using the da Vinci surgical robot.  




This video also begs the question, when is Renzetti going to jump on this bandwagon?  I mean, come on. Their MOST expensive fly tying vise is ONLY $939.85.  Seriously.  That pales in comparison to the $1.3 million price tag on a da Vinci robot "fly tying vise".  


Finally, I need to give credit where credit is due.  I didn't find this obsessively searching youtube for videos (despite what you may believe, I do study sometimes).  Rather, I found it courtesy of Moldy Chum.  

Albemarle Angler Now Carries Kreinik Kreelex Material

I walked in Albemarle Angler today to pick up more beadheads for nymphs and of course I perused the store to see if I could walk out buying more than I intended.  (what else are student loans for anyway?)*

I was pleasantly surprised to see some of my favorite Kreinik flash material, which is what makes the Kreelex streamers have such great action, hanging up on the wall.  They had copper, gold, and silver styles.  And while there are other colors out there, these seem to be the best for catching trout.

Which brings up another topic...Rich and I have had a year long debate as to which color coordination is more successful.  He swears by the copper/gold while I swear by the gold/silver.  If you agree with me, please comment below.  If you agree with Rich, I hope you catch only chubs this year comment elsewhere.

One of last year's victims of a copper/gold kreelex

So do yourself a favor and run by the store to pick up some of this elusive material if you live here in C'ville and check out the Trow brother's video instructions which can be found here.  This doesn't pertain to those in the Harrisonburg area because the Mossy Creek Fly Fishing store has had kreelex materials in stock for a while now.

Also, if you're interested in fly tying (or as I usually call it "tie flying"... not on purpose mind you, just the dyslexia talking) sign up for email updates from Albemarle Angler as they've started having regular tying sessions at the store.  Only problem for those beginners out there: you'll need your own set of equipment and materials.  But if you're a member of the med school club then I can definitely let you borrow some materials (just not my rare collection of extinct tropical bird feathers.)**

*joke, obviously
**yet another joke... if that ornithological collection was truly wasted on flies then someone needs to set up a rehab center for fly fishermen.   

Fly Tying Instructions: Glitterbug Bass Popper

I got tired of buying bass poppers at the store for $4-5 only to have them get destroyed or lost within 24 hours... and by that I mean, I bought 2 of them and thought, "hey these can't be that hard to make". Since then, I've been making my own and my wallet thanks me.

I've found that online there are not many detailed descriptions of how to make your own bass poppers so I've put this together to hopefully help you figure out exactly how to go about making your own.

The Glitterbug (name courtesy of Rich), is a basic styrofoam bodied bass popper. To make it more durable than a painted popper, I've decided to epoxy the whole thing. This has allowed me to use the same popper over the course of several days of fishing while withstanding tons of abuse. So not only are they cheaper than store bought ones, they're also extremely tough.

The materials you'll need:

- closed cell white styrofoam (I got a 1 inch thick disk of it from Michael's for real cheap)

- any color glitter you want

- hackle colored to match the color of glitter used, I've been using hen hackle

- rubber legs (I prefer using white legs for all of my poppers but feel free to mix it up)

- hooks: I prefer using Eagle Claw plain shanks in size 4 (they're a lot cheaper than orvis hooks, but work just as well)

- 5 minute epoxy: I use Z-poxy

- pad of post-it notes

- bendable razor blades: I looked all over for these. I finally found them at Walmart in the shaving section. The brand I got was called Personna Double Edge

- toothpicks (to stir and apply the epoxy)

- heavy wire (I've been using old guitar strings) or large sewing needles

Instructions:

First cut out a piece of styrofoam that's rounded on top and flat on the bottom. I do this by taking the razor, bending it, and cutting out a piece off of a flat side of the styrofoam. I've found the best way to get it to be cut evenly and smoothly is to line up the razor where you want the cut and then pressing down on it with something else (I use my pad of post-it notes).

I then taper the front of the head and the back so that it looks like below:

Next I carefully push the head of the hook through the foam near the bottom. So that it ends up looking like so...

Next step is to epoxy the face and belly of the popper. To do this, put an equal amount of the z-

poxy hardener and resin on the post-it note pad and mix them together. For this part, I don't like to put any coloring because I'd like to think that it makes it look more like a frog without it. While doing this I make sure to put plenty of epoxy on the hook shank and shimmy the head forward. This ensures that, once the epoxy hardens, the head will remain stationary. I put enough on to successfully cover the belly and the face and then let the epoxy dry while keeping it moving (I don't have a rotating fly drier quite yet... I'll probably make one out of a microwave motor in the near future.) While this is drying, I'll usually start making others so that when it comes to epoxying the rest of the head, I'll have several ready.

Next step, I pour out more z-poxy onto a post-it note pad and mix it well before adding a decent amount of glitter. (Note: if you add too much it gets very clumped up and your fly will look like some kind of lumpy mutant. Play it safe and add a little at first, mix it in and see if you think the epoxy can hold more glitter.)

Then put this over the body of the popper making sure that it meets up with the edges of the clear epoxy from the belly and face. This takes a couple tries to get good at while making sure that the end result isn't uneven or ends up with too much epoxy.

Once it starts to dry up, you'll have to move quickly to put the legs in before the epoxy gets too hard to work with. Basically, once I can touch the epoxy and it doesn't stick to my fingers I can start putting the legs in. To do this I take a large needle or a tough wire (like an old guitar string and make a sharp bend in it). I then push this needle/bent wire through the side of the popper and out the other side. At this point it'll look like this:

Now all you need to do is thread a leg through the body as seen below:

Next, just repeat the same procedure to put in another set of legs (unless you're making a smaller one, in which case, only one set of legs should be enough).

Once the legs are in the right position, I'll usually put some head cement where they enter the epoxy to make sure they don't slip out. Trim the legs and then start a thread behind the head and bring it back down the curve of the hook a little ways. I like to build up a little bit of a ball of thread at the farthest back point because I think it helps to splay the hackle out better.

Take two tips of hackle (or only one if you're making smaller poppers) and tie them in on one side of the hook making sure the bend in them is away from the hook. Repeat the same thing on the other side of the hook with two more.

Finally, take one more hackle and tie in a decently long piece with the bend of the feather pointing towards the back of the hook. Like so:

Wrap the hackle forward with several turns and then tie off and trim the hackle down so that it is just a little longer than the space between the hook shank and point. Whip finish to tie off the thread and then just clean things up! Here's the final product:

I hope you find this helpful. It you have any questions or need clarification, feel free to contact us.

As for how to fish these, just throw then out near the stream shoreline where the water is from 1-3 feet deep preferably under some kind of tree cover. After about a 5 seconds, if you haven't had a bite yet, pull in about a solid foot of line giving the popper some action, making some sound and vibrations that will be sure to grab the attention of hungry bass.

Fly Tying Instructions: CK Nymph

Chuck Kraft, the Charlottesville local who invented my personal favorite fly, the Kreelex, has also made a very successful nymph pattern, the C.K. nymph. This fly is extremely easy to make. I t can be made in several ways and with different materials. It seems to imitate multiple types of insect life (and perhaps even some minnows). I haven't found many good explanations for how to tie this fly online, so I thought I'd help everyone out and make a tutorial for it.

Materials

Thread: I usually use just a black 70 denier thread, but feel free to mix it up

Tail: Any kind of feather. I tend to use whatever left over feathers I have laying around

Body: Whatever you choose. Microchenille, heavy dubbing, and my favorite, several strands of peacock herl will work just fine

Hackle: The is the only part of the fly that I don't think should change very much. I use grizzly saddle or cape hackle, but it doesn't matter how big the gauge is on them as you can trim them down to size afterwards

Instructions

I recommend using streamer hooks in sizes 8-12.

Add some weight to the hook. I prefer to use 0.025 round lead wire.

Start your thread and tied the lead wire securely down. Be sure to cover the lead wire with thread well so that the color of the fly won't be changed by any oxidation of the lead. Bring the thread to the back of the hook.

Collect a bunch of barbs from the sides of a feather such as this one. I prefer to use the sides of the feather.

Tie in the feather. It doesn't have to have too much length to it. Try and get it to be a little shorter than the hook shank.

Attach the grizzly hackle to the rear of the fly

Tie in the body material and then bring the thread to the eye of the hook. Here i'm adding black microchenille. I'll show farther down examples of putting in dubbed bodies and peacock herl bodies.

Wrap the body material forward creating a fairly even body. Tie off with the thread and remove any excess material.

Wrap the grizzly hackle forward. Don't make it too tight together. Tie off the grizzly hackle and then trim the hackles so that they are about even with the width of the hook bend.

Form a fairly large head with the thread and then wrap finish to tie off.

Alternate Versions

Peacock CK nymph

Everything is the same for this version of the CK nymph except that instead of microchenille, you can add about 10 strands of peacock herl. When wrapping the body, be sure to twist the herls to keep them together.

Here's the finished fly. It's hard to tell the difference, but with the peacock herl, you can definitely tell there is more of a iridescent shine to the fly.

Dubbed CK nymph

For this version, I add a lot of dubbing to the fly instead of chenille. I prefer to dub my thread by make a dubbing loop and then moving my thread to the eye of the hook.

Here is the finished dubbed version. I prefer dubbing with yellow or red.

Fly Tying Instructions: Snowshoe Humpy

So lately, I've been a huge fan of using snowshoe rabbit's foot fur (SSRF) in my flies. It is a tough material. I've caught a ton of fish conseculatively with SSRF flies and they continue to withstand the rough treatment. It also is EXTREMELY hydrophobic material. Personally, I prefer to not have to continually be drying off flies or switching up flies because they get waterlogged. SSRF continues to by water resistant fish after fish. Also, compared to other materials (CDC for one) it's ability to float isn't hampered by any mucous from the inside of a fish's mouth. One more thing about it is that despite being tough, it's still very delicate and light. So, while I love using the classic humpy flies tied with elk hair, my version of the fly with SSRF seems to land softer than the somewhat heavier elk hair humpy.

So I've decided to put together a very short tutorial on how to tie this fly.

First, I prefer tying it on size 12 to 16 dry fly hooks.

Start the thread and bring it to the back of the hook shank.

Cut out a good clump of SSRF. For those of you unfamiliar with SSRF, I think the best way to get at the best hair is to split the foot in half first. The best hairs are the ones that are in the middle of the foot. Cut out a clump about the same size as you would use to put in any wing on a fly. Remove any shorter hairs and don't worry about stacking the hair, just be sure that the hair is relatively even.

Tie in the SSRF with the tips as the tail of the fly. I don't make a very long tail, probably a little shorter than the length of the hook shank. Give it a few good wraps to ensure the hair is well secured on the top of the hook.

Bring the thread forward of where the tail was tied in. Add a good amount of dubbing to the thread and form a pretty fat body to the fly that starts from the tie in point for the tail and ends at the 1/3 point of the shank from the eye of the hook.

Pull the SSRF hair forward over the belly formed. Pull it together tightly and then wrap several wraps to secure the hair down. Leave the rest of the SSRF hair intact for now.

Secure a hackle to the fly where the SSRF was just tied down. Then bring the thread forward to the eye of the hook. On the way forward, I like to make a bunch of wraps just in front of the SSRF to push the wing up from the hook.

Make several turns behind and in front of the wing with the hackle. Tied down the hackle at the hook eye and then whip finish.

Clean up the fly a little bit. I usually trim the extra SSRF of the wing so that it's about the same height as the hackle. I also usually trim the hackle on the bottom of the fly to make it even with the width of the hook curve.

Here's the finished fly:

I'll tie this fly in practically any pattern. My favorites right now are one that matches a sulphur mayfly: medium dun SSRF, grizzly hackle, and sulphur yellow dubbing, and a caddis: tan SSRF, brown hackle, and olive dubbing. Feel free to experiment of course.

This fly is ideal for fishing in fast rough water, like that seen in some of the Rapidan's pools. I don't think the fly needs to match the body color or shape of a specific fly necessarily when the water is moving so fast. Instead, I think it's important that your fly remains floating and visible. This fly will definitely remain both floating and visible. Good luck. I hope it helps you catch more fish.

Mr. Rapidan Himself

Rich has successfully caused me to spend hours this week thinking about fly fishing instead of physiology and neurology. Okay, actually it's probably my fault.

More importantly, however, is that he keeps mentioning some great flies. First the Kreelex and now another favorite of mine, the Mr. Rapidan. And just how the Kreelex was designed by a local fly fishing star so was the Mr. Rapidan.

Harry Murray, owner of Murray's Fly Shop in Edinburg, Virginia has created several versions of this successful attractor pattern (meaning that it is a general pattern and doesn't necessarily match a specific hatch). Also, Harry's quite the expert on smallmouth bass fishing. In fact, I read his book, Fly Fishing for Smallmouth Bass, from cover to cover several times before I realized that he was also the creator of the Mr. Rapidan. The man has invented so many successful bass flies and trout flies that I'm pretty sure he's already reserved himself a spot up in fly fishing hall of fame next to Norman Maclean and Izaak Walton. So if you want to talk to a real expert (I've yet to meet him, though I plan to stop by his shop next week so I can ask him a couple questions about floating the Shenandoah for smallies) feel free to head over to his shop, check out his blog, or even some of his Youtube videos...

So why is the Mr. Rapidan such a popular fly for use up in the mountain streams of the Shenandoah National park? I think the reason is because it can cover several different types of hatches. The wild brookies in the park are, in my opinion (Rich may disagree), enterprising in their eating habits. I think this is mainly due to their living situations. With briskly moving water pushing through small pools, these fish don't get the luxury of being picky eaters (like those damn cats who eat fancy feast...god, I hate cats.) Granted, there is some selection going on. To be successful, your flies need to be at least the same size as the other flies that flow past these fish and ideally look vaguely like them (meaning they have all of the appropriate vital signs... a wing, hackle that imitates legs, tail, etc.). But everything other than that is pretty much fair game for these brookies.

Last year I even experimented with using differently colored wings and body dubbing (absurd colors like bright blue and pink) and was still able to catch fish. But still, in my opinion, I've been way more successful with the Mr. Rapidans and my number one favorite, the Elk Hair Caddis. So be sure to stock up on the successful dry flies that Rich mentioned in his post and also, in my opinion bring some Adams, Parachute Adams, and Royal Wulffs. And of course we'll be posting more details on these flies as we find time to.

Finally, for those of you who enjoy tying your own, get your hands on some yellow calf tail and check out these fairly straightforward instructions.

photo courtesy of Rob O'Reilly via Hipwader

Information About Kreelex Flies

Rich knows that I talk a lot about Kreelex flies.  Personally, I love fishing any of the flies invented by one of our very own Charlottesville locals, Chuck Kraft.  

If you try to find any information about Chuck online, you'll only come up with a few articles about him getting in some legal trouble because of some selfish landowners were trying to use obsolete British crown grants to prevent people from fishing on "their land" without paying fees.  But you'll also come up with several articles attesting to the fish-catching abilities of his flies (such as this one about his C.K. nymph).  Obviously, the man knows how to tie a mean fly.

I have yet to get my hands on a C.K. nymph or a C.K. baitfish.  But I have definitely seen the ability of his Kreelex flies and Claw-dads to catch fish.  In my opinion, the Kreelex and the Claw-dad are great for catching monster trout and bass.  When all else fails, a Kreelex will catch 'em.  Locally, the stores sell out of Kreelexs extremely quickly.  So if you head to the Albemarle Angler or Mossy Creek and they're available, load up on 'em while you can.  Or you can go ahead and hit up his website and purchase them online.  

If however, you are into fly tying like myself, you may want to try and throw together a Kreelex on your own.  The Trow brothers were kind enough to put together a Youtube video with great instructions... (just be sure to use Kreinex flash and not your typical flashabou... the Kreinex seems to have much better strength and looks a lot more lively in the water.)

As for how to fish a Kreelex, you can practically use any kind of streamer retrieve with them.  Personally, I'll fish it downstream and across with either a slow retrieve or a fast jerky retrieve to mimic a minnow trying to evade a predator.  Just from this past weekend, I was having more luck with the 'bows at the Moorman with a slow retrieve until I was able to catch a fish's attention, at which point I started to speed up my retrieve to entice them to bite.  It really is amazing to watch a predatory trout just go nuts over an escaping streamer.