I'm talking about carrying a big stick. My mantra has been "go big, or go home". I love to fish for steelhead, which are big powerful fish that can range from 4-30lbs. I like to think that I'm targeting fish in the upper 30% of that range (which is a total possibility where I fish in the winter time). I throw a 9 weight 90% of the year, summer or winter. This cuts down on the number of rods and lines I need, and when that day comes that the 30 pounder comes knocking....I'll be ready. I'm not going to be bringing a hula hoop to a bench fight....
I could hear my daughters cries in our front yard. I rushed out the side yard to see what was the matter. As I ran up to comfort my crying daughter, the now ovoid hula hoop she clutched showed signs of some serious blunt impact. The neighbor girl stood close by with that deer in the headlight look, having just dropped a 4' plastic children's bench. She was shaking her head and tried to exit the scene without any exclamation. As my daughter's hysterical babbling ceased, the story started to unfold. "First she hit me with a flower, daddy..." wiping big sappy tears as she spoke. "then I chased her with the hula hoop, and hit her with it, and then," more incoherent babbling, followed by a hug, and then a calming moment or two..."and then, she hit me with the BENCH!!" (back into hysterical sobbing). "She hit me so hard Daddy, that my heart told me to quit breathing" (obviously a five year old's exclamation of getting the wind knocked out of them).... My mind could only flash back to my childhood, and watching WWF professional wrestling on television, and the likes of "Hacksaw" Jim Duggin, toting a two-by-four over his shoulder and occasionally using it to smack his opponent right square in the chest, as I'm sure the neighbor girl did to my daughter. Not just a little love tap, but a major league, wind up, swing, crushing home run blow. But, my daughter, like myself, tends to learn lessons the hard way. The neighbor girl had three years on her, and my daughter was seriously under-gunned....By now your probably asking yourself, what the heck does this have to do with fishing or tying flies? Well nothing really, other than it reminded me of my own philosophy regarding fishing gear.
I'm talking about carrying a big stick. My mantra has been "go big, or go home". I love to fish for steelhead, which are big powerful fish that can range from 4-30lbs. I like to think that I'm targeting fish in the upper 30% of that range (which is a total possibility where I fish in the winter time). I throw a 9 weight 90% of the year, summer or winter. This cuts down on the number of rods and lines I need, and when that day comes that the 30 pounder comes knocking....I'll be ready. I'm not going to be bringing a hula hoop to a bench fight.... There have been alot of different ideas over the years on how to best substitute long flowing heron hackle. The best situation, of course, is if you don't have to substitute it! But, for the majority of us, we need a sub. My favorite feathers so far have been Blue eared pheasant, mallard flank, and ringneck pheasant rump. (in that order) They each have they're drawbacks. All of them will only give about two good turns of hackle, before the rachis is too large and becomes a unsightly addition to the fly. Blue eared is expensive, and sometimes hard to find. Mallard is easy to find, but like most duck flank, you've got to sort through alot of junk to find the goods. Ringneck rump is best on smaller flies, and usually has alot of chipped tips.
One alternative is to use pheasant tails. Just about any long pheasant tail will work. I like Amherst (especially dyed different colors), Golden (see picture below) and Silver or Ringneck will all work. The key to making it work though, is having a "supporting underhackle" of some sort. A simple wrap or two of dyed mallard flank, long schlappen, even blue eared, or ringneck under the pheasant tail will support the long fibers. Once the body is wrapped leave ample room for the supporting hackle. On the fly pictured I just trimmed olive marabou fibers off of the rachis and tied it in two bunches, rolling it over the hook shank and then using a soft loop to anchor it. This is exactly what you need to do with the pheasant tail fibers. I look for pheasant tails that have fibers that will not marry well. Usually these are the low grade tails that I can't use for full dress salmon flies. I trim 6-10 fibers from the rachis and place the bunch over the shank of the hook, I take a soft loop to anchor them, and press on the bunch of fibers with my thumb to help spread them around the shank even further. You may need to add multiple bunches to get the look you want. Then just trim the ends of the fibers short, add a wing and you've got a pretty slick spey fly. Give it a try, I think you'll like it! That's what hawks can see....And that's not good for mice. That's also what my good friend Jon Harrang (a super fly tier) can see with his black light as a USDA inspector at dirty restaurants. These two nuggets of useless info will hopefully make a little more sense in this blog post. For years, people have known that many different animals can see different spectrums of light. Certain birds, butterflies, fish all reflect UV light. This can help animals find mates and it can help them locate food sources. (think mouse pee). That's what we want our flies to do....Help the fish locate them. In the case of steelhead we are are hoping that it triggers a feeding instinct that will make them want to eat our fly. This seed was first planted in my head by Dave McNeese. Dave knows bugs, and Dave knows fish. He's also a big proponent of the theory that fish key in on UV reflective food sources. Dave also is a master at dyeing top rate UV reflective fly tying materials. He has been my inspiration for tying UV reflective flies. Now you may be asking yourself....."does this really matter?" Well, I say... "It can't hurt!" In fact, that's why I offer UV reflective fly tying materials on this site. I am hoping to add more of them as time goes on. (also, alot of natural fly tying materials reflect UV light too) Here's an example of a fly tied with our UV reflective Badger Cock Necks (the marabou and seal fur is also UV dyed): I'm calling this the "Skykomish Floodtide" It's a combination of the classic steelhead fly the "Skyomish Sunrise" and the classic atlantic salmon fly the "Floodtide" and it's got UV materials. Here's another fly tied by my good friend Rocky Maley using his new UV reflective floss "Glow Brite" . You can contact Rocky at www.steelheadjunkies.com The fly in normal light: Here's the fly in UV light: So, hopefully this will provide some food for thought for those of you looking to add a little something new to your flies. Please feel free to contact me if I can help.
It's getting closer to my planned fishing/hunting week starting in October, and I find myself with nearly empty fly boxes. How? I've got tens of fly boxes, 100's (maybe thousands) of flies. Bass bugs, streamers, catskill dries, nymphs, flymphs, saltwater streamers, chironomids, and even steelhead flies. Lots of steelhead flies.......
But, my boxes are empty. The flies that I really want to fish haven't been tied. I'm talking about skaters. Oh, I've got a few bombers, a steelhead caddis or two and some muddlers that would do in a pinch. But, I really don't have that one skating fly that would make me step through a run with all of the confidence I should have while steelhead fishing. I've got my hunches, but having never hooked a steelhead on the surface, have nothing to base them on. So, what to do? Well, I'm just going to have to think about crushing surface takes in glassy tailouts while I paint this dang house. That's what I'm going to do! I'm going to have to take a mental inventory of hooks, threads, deer hair, crystal flash and all of the other trappings that will have to make up my riverside fly tying kit. I'll most likely fill these boxes in another county 300 miles from my house with the sound of the river rushing by. That's definitely not a bad thing...... Now where'd I put that masking tape???? 2:00 am. , I open my eyes, look at the alarm clock and think, "what the hell, if I don't do it now, I'll never get a chance this weekend". So I clumsily stumble to the coffee pot, pitch the old grounds, draw the water, and refill with new grounds, all on auto pilot. While the pot is brewing, I'm flying around the house digging out clothes, waders, boots, headlamp and the other items that make a small mountain gear in the living room. I slap peanut butter and some honey on a couple of slabs of bread and call it lunch (more like breakfast, at least for normal people at the time I'll be eating it). The coffee is just about done perking, and I pour a full, steaming cup and hit the road. My destination is 1 1/2 hours away. A river in Washington that I like to fish for summer steelhead. I've got a drift rod and a spey rod in the car, and thankfully because of Washington's regulations I can fish in the dark for steelhead at this particular spot. I'll start off with the drift rod, and switch over to flies when I can see what I'm doing. (I'm not a big fan of guessing where my anchor is while trying to pull off a double spey in the dark!) The miles quickly fade away as I listen to a radio show recount a fireman's first hand experience in the World Trade center on 9/11. I'm pretty wrapped up emotionally with this guy's story when I arrive at my destination. So I decide to wait till the show is over until I pull on my waders. (which I'm glad I did, because I really should think more often about those who have lost their lives over the course of the years because of this single event)
A head lamp tracks the movement of a fellow angler. There's about 6 other guys as crazy as me this morning, but nobody's had any luck so far. My rod is already rigged and I briefly "charge" the glow in the dark corkie with my head lamp. About a dozen casts later and the rythmic "tap, tap, tap" of the pencil lead sinker is replaced by a sharp TUG, then another. I set the hook hard and can hear a fish jump in front of me. I let the fish run and jump in the dark as I shuffle down river away from the other anglers. At this point I really don't know how big the fish is. I assume it's a summer run (but it could be an early silver salmon) and after a few good runs, I click on my headlamp and confirm it is. Five minutes later, the 6lb. hatchery hen steelhead is on the beach, and I've got her tagged. The time... 5:00 a.m. I fish as the beautiful full moon sets, and the first glimpse of daylight breaks. No other fish come to hand, and it is soon time to switch over to the spey rod. I change out rods, and get into the regular cast, swing, step routine, but no takers. By 7:30 the sun starts to shine directly on the water and it's time to go. I"ve got to be at the Equipment rental shop by 10:00 am to pick up a pressure washer. I usually wouldn't be in this much of a hurry. But a deal is a deal. My wife asked me to paint our house this year, and I foolishly agreed. Being a natural born procrastinator, I obviously put it off. This weekend may be one of the nicest weekends left of the summer, and I really needed to attack the project. But, I needed to fish too........ So I had no other alternative than to get an early start. My reward for todays hard work, will be crusted in lemon pepper and cooked on the barbeque. There is no better way to end a long summers day than natures bounty wrapped in aluminum foil! Well not always, but for me lately, I've begun to appreciate "old" things. It seems as I get older the pull or attraction to old things becomes stronger. Older things just seem more simple, durable, better made and stylish. Also, I've begun to feel the need to "rescue" or save old things. The reason why: They'll never make them again, ever! I'm sure this seems silly to some people (just ask my wife) but to me, simple things just give me more pleasure now days. I don't own a flat screen TV, I still buy VHS tapes (yes I still own a VCR) , I'd rather read than watch TV and I even drive a 1984 Subaru wagon as a daily driver. A few weeks ago, my mind was dreaming about having another jet boat for fishing the local rivers. A long time ago I owned a 16' aluminum "sled" (flat bottom aluminum boat) with a 70HP jet outboard on it. That thing would scoot through 4" of water up riffles and could get me to some great fishing water. After I sold it, I began to miss the access I used to get to some great fishing water. A random search on craigslist turned up a 1967 Evinrude "Big Twin" 40HP motor with a Jet unit on it, for cheap. It would bolt up to my Lowe 1448 Big Jon boat just right. A motor I could actually work on. To say it was a little "rough" was probably an understatement, but there wasn't much I couldn't do on the motor if I needed to. New coils, condensers, points, a carb rebuild, and a total overhaul of the jet unit was in order. I scrounged up a tiller handle, recoil starter and ignition switch from a marine salvage yard. A new set of decals and a fresh coat of paint and this is what I ended up with: The good news is that the motor runs great, and really scoots up the river. I took it out on the Cowlitz river last weekend, and managed to fish a run and hook a steelhead on my spey rod. I'm hoping this fall brings more fish on uncrowded runs. As time goes by and I get older, I just keep telling myself, "old stuff rules", Who knows what I'll rescue next?
Under my name on the right hand side of the page I've got a bio that includes this term....What does it mean?
Well, It doesn't mean I do drugs. (There's already enough of those kind of "tweakers" around!) Basically, it means that I re-work existing fish hooks to fit my own desires and asthetic ideals. In our craft of tying and reproducing flies from the 1800's, it is important to have a hook that looks the part. A modern hook just doesn't look right on a classic fly. Kind of like putting Neon Lights on a horse drawn carriage. People have been reworking hooks for tying atlantic salmon flies for a long time. Gene Sunday was probably the most famous hook modifier in recent times. His hooks had a great look and finish. He also was kind enough to detail the process in Mike Radencich's book "Tying the Classic Salmon Fly" . This book lead me on the path to reworking hooks. Let me say, its been a long path, filled with pitfalls. I've probably taken years off of my life inhaling noxious laquer, enamel, and turpentine fumes. I've bloodied my hands, impaled myself with barbs, broken files, and just about burned my house down in the process! But...was it worth it? I'm going to say yes. But only because of the satisfaction I get from creating something from scratch and knowing that I figured it out myself. I now am able to offer my Black Japan Finish for sale. This is the culmination of all of my efforts in one easy to use hook finish. You'll still have to bend, file and temper the hooks you wish to finish (or just clean up an old antique). This is a hook I finished with minimal file work to barb and point, but you can see that it still has a wonderful, traditional black japan finish. Septober, Glory-tober, Autumn....whatever you want to call it. It's simply the best time of year. Outdoor activities abound, and deciding what to do is nothing short of a monumental task when you have so many interests and such little free time. All summer I've pondered what to do during the last weeks of September and the first weeks of October. There is upland bird hunting, salmon fishing, summer steelheading, the waterfowl season opener, bow hunting, dove hunting, canoeing and the best trout fishing of the year. All of which I love to do.
This year is a bit different. My lovely wife Meg is pregnant with our second daughter. She's due in January, so as the due date nears, I will be trying to keep my outdoor activity a little closer to home. So that means this fall may very well be my last opportunity to do some traveling to fish or hunt. So I've decided this years Mancation will be the first week of October.... I'll start over on the Grande Ronde river for the first time fishing with my good friend Rock y Maley (owner of www.steelheadjunkies.com) for summer steelhead. Hopefully I can bring one to the top on a skater. After a few days of that action, it will be back home to re-gear and supply for the Southern Oregon duck hunting season opener. I'll be hunting the Klamath basin my good friend Drew Hanson, owner of Island Springs Trout hatchery, and his son. Last years opener in the basin was nothing short of amazing. This also kicks off a season of collecting the great waterfowl feathers that I offer for sale on this site. You can be sure that we will be on the lookout for prime drakes! Tonight I'm dying up the last of my saddle feathers for hair extensions for one of my longtime customers. What a fantastic run of business the feather extensions have been. They've certainly sharpened my dying skills for sure. I'm also getting ready to package up ten more colors of pig's wool. That will bring our pigs wool selection up to twenty colors in two package sizes (1/2 and 1 gram packages). I spent a busy Labor day weekend dying and packaging pig's wool. I'm very excited to be able to offer this special dubbing. It's alot of work for me to get ready to sell, but the end results are worth it. The weekend was not all work, though. I managed to hook and lose a steelhead on the Cowlitz River on my spey rod.
My daughter Margo and I also put the hurt on the local catfish population. At five years old, she is really budding into an avid fisherwoman. I'm looking forward to many fun days ahead fishing with her. I've also got to take a moment to thank my wife Meg for continually putting up with my messes so that I can continue to offer high quality fly tying material on this website. All of my work is done out of our 1100 square foot house, and often the kitchen table doubles as a shipping/receiving area. Our garage could often be mistaken for some Chinese sweatshop with her doing laundry and me slaving over a steaming dyepot. Things are going to get a bit more cozy, as we are expecting our second child this January! I'd also like to thank all of my loyal customers for the orders and the valuable feedback I've received. If not for you, this website would not be possible. Please feel free to comment on this blog and continue to offer your opinions. Aaron |
Aaron M. OstojFeather pusher, hook tweeker, boat builder, fisherman, husband, dad..... Archives
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