Decisions, decisions...

An airy redhead, or a down to the earth brunette? One of the more difficult choices...

A fiery redhead is fun to fish when times are good, and this pattern has brought me a number of fine browns and a lot of fun. But there are times when surface action simply cannot be had, no matter what the imitation.

In such situations a simple, drab gold ribbed hare with a darkish persuation often saves the day.

Mr. Skues rocks!

For a little project of mine I have been re-reading some writings of George Edward Mackenzie Skues. I came across a little gem I simply have to share:

The imitation may be Impressionist, Cubist, Futurist, Post-Impressionist, Pre-Raphaelite, or caricature. The commonest is caricature. It therefore catches the most fish.

The old bloke had a fine grasp not only of visual art, but also of the ways of the fish and fishermen.

The Hippurus - Old & New

One of the many aspects of fly fishing that make this sport so dear to me is its long and distinguished history.

Thus I have read with great respect the description by Claudius Ælianus of the curious style of fishing used by rural Macedonians in the area between Thessalonica and Berea, written around AD 200 (not so many years after Messrs. Paul and Silas got chased through the same area, as described in another influential book).

The description Ælian gives for the style used is brief, but easily recognizable as a fly fishing:

They wrap the hook in scarlet wool, and to the wool they attach two feathers that grow beneath a cock's wattles and are the colour of wax. Then they throw their snare, and the fish, attracted and maddened by the colour, comes straight at it, thinking from the pretty sight to gain a dainty mouthful; when, however, it opens its jaws, it is caught by the hook, and enjoys a bitter repast, a captive.

This article I quote from a most interesting site by Dr. Andrew Herd, A Fly Fishing History. Both this site and a more elaborate book by Dr. Herd on the subject are well worth a read.

What I found the most interesting is the resemblance between the ancient Hippurus fly and a modern pattern that has no formal name I know of, but which has worked out for me suprisingly well over the last couple grayling seasons.

Some ancient materials are replaced by modern subsititutes - red wool by red tinsel, and rooster hackle tips by CDC feather - and the whole thing is scaled down to size #18; having said this the overall concept of the fly remains the same. And it continues to appeal greatly to the wily fish with speckled skins...

New Macro Horizons

Many people say that having a family life cuts seriously into your fishing time. And while there is a whole lot more to be said on the subject they do have a point.

One area in which having a family actualy improved my fly tying experience is photography: having started a family I found it justified to upgrade from my trusty Canon G series compact that served me so well on my fishing trips to a grown up SLR. I am satisfied with the result.

This is my CDC Redhead, a pattern that served me well over the last few seasons.

Feathers & Beads, Christmas Edition

At Christmastime a fly dresser can employ his skills in creating some handcrafted gifts to family and friends. It might be even possible to convince the lady of the house that there could be some sensible use for the cache of materials any fly dresser feels obliged to hoard.

The tie:
4 Chicken "marabou" feathers, dyed orange - originally intended for stillwater lures
Hooks and beads from www.koralky.cz craft store.

The Matrix Inspirations

Fly tying inspiration can come from unexpected sources. I have experienced a profound sense of fly tying insight when watching (for the ump-teenth time) The Matrix over the Christmas holidays.

The moment of insight came to me when I was watching the famous "Matrix Is a System" scene. In this scene Neo pushes himself thorugh a crowd of black & white dressed people, listening intently to Morpheus - only to lose focus when an attractive blonde in red dress passes him by.

I have found that this movie scene beautifully illustrates an important fly fishing problem - one that is especially common during heavy hatches. How should the fly tier / fly fisherman help poor Mr. Trout in choosing one particular individual fly from a swarm of seemingly identical insects?

It is true that the heavy hatches when a layer of mayflies on the water surface resembles a woolen carpet when seen from distance are rare. But still, these are can be surprisingly trying times. The laws of statistics and sheer number of naturals on water ensure that your fly will have to pass a rising fish for many times before getting a strike; all the time risking scaring the fish by badly executed cast and resulting drag.

The contrast of the woman in the red dress vs. black and white crowd illustrates the need to be less imitative in times of fly life overcrowding. Your imitation needs to look familiar in size and shape - the woman in the red dress is clearly human, being neither a midget nor a giant - but has to stand out in the crowd.

The Matrix lady does this by having blond hair and red dress; your fly can get the same result by having a body tied with a gold tinsel instead, or having a bright orange tag, metallic bead head or a contrasting thorax. Anything goes, as long as the difference in color and movement is subtle enough not to scare Mr. Trout / Mr. Neo rather than attract him.

The Joys of Fly Swapping

Swapping flies is as old as fly tying. It probably started between ancient Greek folks fishing for fishes of a speckled hue on fabled Astraeus, but it was greatly improved with advent of the Internet.

I am a great fan of swapping flies, active on several internet forums. These couple of flies are for a swap on Czech site www.mrk.cz.

Having finished this bunch of tiny flees (#20 Eagle Owl mayflies) makes me think a bit on what is the most fun part of swaping. I have come up with several answers:

• The first and most obvious is that fly swaps let me see patterns and tricks of other fly tiers and learn from them.
• The second is that preparing for a swap makes me think hard about what pattern to select; it has to be something unusual to be interesting, and yet it has to be a pattern that I know well.
• The third is that tying dozens of identical flies is good for the soul of fly tier; it polishes the  techniques.
• And finally the fourth reason is that it builds relationship over the fly tying community.

Looking at my collection of some hundreds of labelled flies I wonder which of the four reasons matters the most to me. It will probably take some more fly swaps to fully understand :)

British Advice

The British Isles are the cradle of Fly Fishing as we now know it. The country is so thoroughly imbued with the spirit of fly fishing that important lessons on tactics can be learned even from wartime propaganda!

With special thanks to The Keep Calm-O-Matic poster generator.

Lord of the Nymphs

With apologies to J. R. R. Tolkien :)

Three Czech nymphs for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven PTNs for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine beadheads for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One Nymph to rule them all!

Orange Chickabou

Even though I live in a big city I am lucky to have friends and relations who still raise chicken, thus giving me a good supply of home plucked chickabou feathers. These take dye very well, and once dyed Orange they make a sure killing lure for bashing stockies on stillwaters.

I found out that by using the same material, while slightly alternating the hooks and beads used, I can target a somewhat different quarry.



This set of earrings will make a gift to a lady friend.

How to rouse the passion of a Nyphomaniac?

A tough question indeed... Though from reliable sources I learned that small tokens of affection help in making the nymph truly manic.

In order to ensure success you should use only the finest materials available. Genuine Argentinean hare instead of your local rodent; chemically sharpened hooks of Japanese origin instead of your usual el cheapo barbed monstrosity - such are best be left to the fish. Don't even think about other than genetically pure Rooster! And the bead should of course be of genuine gold, no brass imitation would ever convince a true lady!

Opening of the 2010 Trout Season

The adverse weather and water conditions forced me to rethink my plans for the opening day of the 2010 Trout season. My initial plan to start at a wild and remote stream, casting to wild and native fish had to be scrapped due to high water. Plan B called for a civilized stream close to Prague, full of sickly stockies and spin fishermen eager to catch the full bag limit.

Since the alternative would be to sit at home on April 16^th, which seemed unthinkable, I decided to go and fish on Kocába.

The stream was as full as I expected: lots and lots of fishermen - and I did not start at 6:00 AM as the local custom dictates - and still some Rainbows from stocking earlier this week, who somehow survived the onslaught. I killed one and headed home, no sense tarrying.

The good part was that - since C&R makes little sense on this river - I was able to end the day in a festive manner, with a grilled trout and a glass of fine Veltliner.


The Recipe:
1 Rainbow Stockie of appropriate size
3 sprigs of Rosemary and a little butter inside the belly
a sprinkle of Lemon Pepper and a little salt
enough Bacon to cover the fish (about 2 to 4 slices)

Grill till fish until the bacon is done (it should take about a 1/2 an hour or so), serve with grilled vegetables (mashed potatoes are also fine) and some Grüner Veltliner :)