Barry's thoughts on the Ug Nymph

A few years back we were floating the Limay River in Patagonia and not having much luck. The water was a perfect level with good clarity and temperature, but for three hours we had not put a fish in the boat. Our guide, Nico, opened up his fly box and pulled out a fly he called the Ug. We knew the fly by another name although we had never fished it. One look at the fly and you realize how simple it is, a lot of rubber legs, a chenille body and weighted. Well, it saved our day then and it has many times since that day on the Limay. The Ug has produced some extraordinary fish here on Fishing Creek as well as other trout waters throughout the world. 

It works best fished deep with a dead drift technique. It certainly looks like a giant stone fly nymph or, in a darker color, a helgramite. That said, it also works on Susquehanna small mouth. If you like fishing nymphs and looking for big fish, this is a must have fly pattern in your fly box.

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Salt Season

While we're knee deep in trout season here at home, we can't help but daydream about our Belize trip coming up quickly in early May. Sage has recently released a new Saltwater Campaign and we're happy to bring you the first segment.

If you've chased permit across the flats, you will love to read Tom Bie's perspective on permit, bones, and snook. It's easy reading. Enjoy.

https://www.sageflyfish.com/salt-season    

Availability on the Bighorn

We still have a few rooms left on our 30th annual trip to the Bighorn River in August for what might be the most incredible dry fly fishing you've ever seen. In recent years the trico fishing has been amazing and we expect a repeat in 2017. Float the river in comfortable skiffs and get out to fish the productive runs, pools, and side channels. Check out the video clip. For prices, dates & details.

Featured Fly: Mayfly Spinners

Mayfly spinners are incredibly important to a fly fisherman who enjoys matching the hatch. The final stage of the adult mayfly mates in the air often high above the water until finally both male and females come to the waters surface and after egg laying by the females, both lay spent on the surface with their cellophane-like wings out to the side. Most of the spinner falls happen in the last hour or two of light and they can provide a feeding frenzy with trout quick to take advantage of the massive numbers of insects. Like most rules in fly fishing, there are exceptions though, for example the early morning trico spinner falls. But whenever you encounter a spinner fall you want to be prepared with a hatch matching imitation. 

We have two favorite spinner designs that we fish with. The first was made popular by the late Vincent Marino who believed that the spent hackle wing was the perfect imitation – and we agree on water that is flat and smooth. But on faster rougher water we like the poly wing spinner which floats better under those conditions. We offer both to imitate the major eastern hatches. Click here to go to our store.

Two-Handed Season

Are you a subscriber to the Sage blog? Two Handed Season is a beautiful piece written about, well – you guessed it – two handed rods. If you love steelhead season and this type of fishing (and even if you don't), I think you'll enjoy the story and the photographs. Oh, and don't forget to subscribe. You won't want to miss the next issue.

http://www.sageflyfish.com/two-handed-season

Orange Butt Shrimp

As you read here earlier in the month, this is our newest nymph pattern and is now available in our store. We've fished the Orange Butt Shrimp in lots of places (and lots of countries) and it continues to amaze us. We think that it should be in every trout fly box. Weighted with a copper tungsten bead head, it looks shrimpy, buggy, and realistic.  

Available in sizes 10, 12, 14

$2.25 each
6 or more $2.00

Somerset, NJ, Fly Fishing Show

Don't forget the Somerset Fly Fishing Show this weekend at the Garden State Convention Center. Friday 9:00 – 6:00, Saturday 8:30 – 6:00, Sunday 9:00 – 4:30. It's the world's largest fly fishing only show. Loaded with exhibitors, seminars, casting & tying demonstrations, destinations and classes. Details at flyfishingshow.com. We'll see you there!  

Keystone Fly Fishing

Jay Nichols, Headwater Books, has published a comprehensive book on fishing our Keystone state. He has coordinated and relied on authors, guides, fly tiers, and local experts from every fishing corner of the state. Although Pennsylvania is heavy on trout fishing, Jay has also included smallmouth bass, steelhead, and others. You'll get locations, maps, fly suggestions, fishing suggestions and lots more along with beautiful photography. Available from the Angling Book Store or at the Author's Booth at the Somerset Show, or your local shop. $29.95. 586 pages.

s with much of the country, our spring has been cold and late. We're just now seeing March Browns hatching and no one knows what happened to the Hendricksons. We simply didn't see them. We had a beautiful hatch of Grannom Caddis and March Browns yesterday afternoon and it was nice to see rising fish. We've had a good guiding season so far, but everyone is still wearing heavy layers under their waders and often starting the day in down vests. Three fish over 25" were landed this week and lots of fish in the 16" - 22". Although we had a cold winter, the fish wintered well and are in excellent shape. Here are some recent guiding client photos and you can check out our guiding page for more information on scheduling a trip to visit us.  

Up until just a few days ago, most of the fish were caught on nymphs and split shot. It's nice to be back up on top. Our March Browns should last for a couple weeks and will lead right into the Sulphur hatch. We have a number of different Sulphurs here on our stream but the most common is on a size 16 hook. Our favorite patterns continue to be comparaduns.    The high deer hair wing makes the fly float well and easy to see. It's also very durable and will last through many fish. After the Sulphurs, we'll see Lt. Cahills and Slate Drakes. With the arrival of these two hatches, we'll know for sure that summer is here. 

Memorial Day usually means the beginning of the terrestrial season with beetles, hoppers, crickets, inch worms, ants, and others. This is always a fun time of year because when these insects fall into the water it's seldom a quiet landing. A big beetle makes a plop and struggles which often gets the attention of a fish immediately. After a few weeks of delicate presentations with dry flies, it's fun to fish a big foam beetle in the riffle or along a grass bank. You never know who might show up! The Super beetle can easily support trailing a pheasant tail or inch worm behind and it's nice to offer a couple of options to the fish. I'd recommend using 4x though if you can.

Our Comparadun and Super Beetle Selections will keep you prepared and ready for late spring and summer fishing. You can find them here in our website Store.  This is an exciting time in the east, lots of hatches, rising fish, and fun patterns to use. We hope you have a great season and get out often to enjoy all that spring fishing offers.

Last chance to be prepared for Father's Day & summer fishing with these popular fly patterns. And we'll pay the postage.

Cathy's Super Beetle Hi-Viz Wing Selection. You asked, we listened. We've added a red hi-viz wing on our super beetles so you can find them easily in the foam line and amongst the bubbles. This great summer selection includes a dozen beetles, 4 each size, 8/10/12. Boxed. $21.95

Comparadun Favorites. This selection includes patterns for the major hatches; Paralep. Blue Quill (16), Hendrickson (14), March Brown(12), Sulphur (16), Lt. Cahill (14) & Slate Drake (12). These are eastern patterns but are effective both in the east and the west. 18 flies, 3 each pattern. Boxed $32.95

 Free Shipping on orders over $50 until June 15- use coupon code "Fathersday" at checkout.  Click here to visit our store. 

With spring around the corner, or so we hope, we added some new patterns to our freshwater flies including Comparaduns and Articulated Mud Sculpins.

Comparaduns are one of our all time favorite patterns for hatch matching situations. Not only do comparaduns give a realistic silhouette, but they are extremely durable as well. Our long time tier, Ken Mead, ties our comparaduns and we're happy to offer them in our store with patterns to cover the most popular eastern hatches. Get your boxes ready for fishing season. Visit our Online Store Here.