Spring has sprung! You may have noticed a new look to my blog. With the advent of a new season upon us I have decided to change my page so that the many flyfisherman who visit my site can view flyfishing stuff exclusively without having to weed through the rest of my life spilling out here. If you are interested in knowing about my personal life you can find that in my links under Paul Menard. I have also eliminated some of my links here to remain flyfishing related stuff and put my personal links under the Paul Menard page. So there you have it! Flyfishng here- Paul Menard there! Hope you enjoy the new layout and happy trails to all! God bless!
At the FFF show I met artist Lance Marshall Boen. He produces these incredibly detailed fish out of leather that can be seen here at Streamlineoriginals. I was taken in immediately by the intricate nature and medium of this exsquiste artwork. Lance informed me that they can take a month to create, because of the 3 step process involved and the detail each one takes. I was particularly mesmerized by the movement and story of each one. If you ever get a chance to check out a flyfishing show I would encourage you to do so because there is much to see! Tight lines! PM
At the FFF show in Pleasanton this weekend I had the privilege of meeting Fly tyer and engineer Vincent Su. He fabricated this unique 720 degree fly tying vise which has a rotating base. For fly tyers this is a really amazing piece of machinery as it eliminates many problems when tying parachutes and other difficult flies which require rotation of the bobbin. Here Vincent showed me how to tie a #22 Olive parachute mayfly. He also gave me a few helpful hints in general about tying that I will be able to implement. I enjoyed meeting Vicent Su and am sure his vise will be used by many upcoming tyers for decades to come!
I finally had the opportunity to try some of my flies out on the lower Stanislaus River below Goodwin Dam. last week me and a good friend fished lower on the river without much luck so today I went to some of my sweet spots. I used the Olive flashback nymph I tied yesterday and put a tiny midge below it with a couple split shots to get it deeper. There were not many fish I landed, but a couple fought really long and hard! Tight lines! PM
These flies are traditionally tied using gray dubbing for the body. I switched this set using sparkle blend olive to match many of the olive bodied insects that hatch.
This creek runs along the campgrounds and into Lake Del Valle. It’s not known for fishing, but my nephew once caught a 10 lb. trout that was spawning here with his hands! Kids don’t know about spawning fish.
Me and my good friend Doug took a few hours out of this Friday to do a little fly fishing. It was pretty slow action with only a few fish showing up. This is a catch and release area only with barbless hooks required. It’s really the closest river to flyfish for me and has some decent fish. I prefer to fish closer to the dam, but wanted to check out this area too and see how productive it was. Not too productive today, but maybe much of that had to do with the recent storms. There were a few small BWO’s hatching, but that was very sporadic at best. Tight lines! PM
Next to the Bird’s Nest I ilke to use these the most on the streams in the Sierra. The hare’s ear are a standard like eating bread with every meal. Also one of the first flies I began to tie. This variety uses a tungstun bead head to sink it and a flash back over the thorax to reflect light.
Crimp barb of hook and place bead on and stick in vise. Wind thread to middle and place a bunch of deer hair fibers on hook and tie towards back forming a nice thick short tail. Tie in a piece of gold tinsel. Add dubbing and wind back to beginning of thorax leaving a nice taper. Wind a few wraps of the gold around and tie off at thorax, clip excess. Tie a piece of flash in. Add another portion of dubbing and pull flash over the top towards the bead making the wing casing out of flash. Tie and trim excess flash. Whip finish. Done. Easy peasy lemon squeezy! Tight Lines! PM
I tied these mosquitos a little differently then I have seen them. I used black stretch tubing for the body and white thread for a stripe around that. Slim and shiney with the contrast of the soft grizzly hackle for the wing. I tied a pair of grizzly tips for two small wings behind the hackle. Black microfibetts for a tail. Done.
California has been having a frequent late rains which causes a long mosquito season. Last year while fishing on the Eastern slope I was eaten alive! Now I want revenge, ha! Tight Lines! PM
This is my go to fly for the Tuolumne River where I love to do most of my flyfishing. There’s an orange stonefly that begins to emerge around spring and are everywhere. When they’re abundant this fly is unbeatable! I use the feathers from an African gray parrot because they most resemble the orange color that I need. This fly is a must have if you are fishing these rivers and want to get some fish to rise to the surface! Tight lines! PM
