I caught these two nice bass at Lake Del Valle. You can see them here on Hawg Quest where I had them submitted for their fishing gallery, check it out! I confess I didn’t get them on the fly, but was using a small watermelon roboworm. The large mouth are coming out now and with warmer temperature’s the fishing should be getting really good. Tight lines however you fish! PM
These Goddard caddis are fast becoming one of my favorite dry flies for several reasons. They are highly buoyant and float extremely well even in rough water. The main reason I like them though is for the retrieve on the surface water. They resemble a caddis fly that is skittering to get to the bank of the river after they hatch. When I tried one recently I watched a beautiful trout rise and chase after it quickly. It gave me such an adrenaline rush to see that fish try to track it down, that I knew this would quickly become one of my favorite flies.
They can become a bit arduous to tie, but stick with it and you’ll find it’s not too bad…First try using a hook at least #12. Tie a bunch of elk hair near the bend with a couple wraps then pull the bobbin down and the hair will spin around the hook. Use a toothpick to free some of the hair that will get caught on the bend. Next wrap about 4 times in front of the clump while using your other hand to hold back the clump. Next tie in another bunch of hair of a different color and repeat. Do once more leaving room around the thorax. Use a razor or sharp scissors to trim the spun hair into the shape of a caddis wing being careful not to cut the thread. This takes a little practice, but you’ll quickly get the shape you want. Next tie in a brown hackle near the thorax. Then strip two big hackles of all their fibers to use as antennae and tie them in at the eye. Wind the hackle forward to the eye and create a head with the tan thread. Whip finish. Done.
Tight lines with this favorite caddis pattern! PM
I like to put my hooks where I can see them easily and pick them up quickly. These little magnets they come with are perfect to display them in my field of vision. I just tape them to the front of my desk here. I like to have all my material easily accessible instead of having to dip into containers and packages to remove stuff. It may seem a bit disorganized, but it works for me! PM
This caddis immitation was originally created by Craig Matthews and John Jurasek of W. Yellowstone, Montana in 1980.
This particular caddis variation has a signature looping tail that resembles a trailing shuck and is meant to be fished in the surface film. You can tie according to what color best imitates your caddis. This is a tan one.
With warmer weather I’m going to be tying more dry flies… Tight lines! PM
I couldn’t make it to the river today, because of some catching up on chores. Drats! But I’m sure looking forward to the warm temperatures reaching almost 80 this weekend! I hope all my friends and family out there will take time to go enjoy this wonderful weather and all it’s blessings! Tight Lines! PM
I tied these 12 #22 nymphs to trail behind my weighted nymphs. The Pheasant tail and Hare’s ears are probably the most fished nymphs and most productive nymphs I can think of. I’ve been catching fish with them for years! I tied these with flash over the thorax portion of the fly. If you are new to tying flies then I suggest you try these first. The Hare’s ear was the first nymph I ever tied and caught fish with!
I met this guy flyfishing on the lower Stan. He was in the flat section below the dam and didn’t have too much luck. He said he used to catch numerous fish here for many years and there was always a caddis hatch going on. Made me wonder how much pressure this section of water is getting and how many people are poaching it. I hope people will respect this beautiful place and help it become a great fishery for many years to come! Careful releasing your fish and try not to wade too much. Those are my tips! Also, please report people taking fish out or using bait to the DFG! Enjoy the Stan! PM
A relective moment on the Stanislaus River between casts of my fly
I bought this Fly rod quite a while ago and have really grown accustomed to using it. I have a number of other rods even ones that are much more expensive, but this one always seems comfortable to me for the small rivers and big creeks I fish. I’m not sure if a fly rod gets better with age, but if they do then this is a prime example. It has been through the ringer! I have dropped him dozens of times and banged him pretty hard with not even a crack when other rods I have had snapped by looking at them wrong. He’s a #4 Fenwick, not a Sage, not a St. Croix, not a Loomis. And he’s been incredible. I have caught 3 lb. German Browns and a 4lb. Brook trout on it, I have also caught 5 inch native rainbows and played them all just fine. Anyone should be so fortunate to find a workhorse like this who has lasted years and earned his keep many times over! Tight lines! PM
During early Spring river flows I tie these heavy hitters to get lower in the water where the fish feed. The water tends to be more murky with the snow melts so I use more flash extending from the tail all the way to the bead. I like tying a heavy weighted smaller nymph than let’s say a #8 because I feel they’re more effective. Most times I use this to get another trailing nymph down low like a #24-28. Most strikes come on the smaller ones with the flash from these #16’s causing the fish to be attracted to it.
First put a bead on and then wrap 13 times with lead core leaving a small space before the bead. This space will allow you to tie everything off and even put some orange thread there. Next tie a piece of wire in and finish near the end just before the curve and low. If you use a copper bead like these then use copper wire. Brass bead brass wire. Then tie a piece of flash in where the wire was tied off and two biots on either side of flash. If you use some deer hair for a tail wind your thread back to thorax and begin there to wind back tying flash after tail. Add some sparkle dubbing and wind to thorax portion just past the middle of hook. Make sure you try to taper the dubbing from small to medium as you wrap. This part can be tricky, but the fly can still work without the taper. If you go to far into the thorax it’s hard to fit the rest in without crowding the bead. Pull flash over and wind wire wraps segmenting the body back to thorax. Tie off and snip wire and tie in one small hackle fiber of same color as dubbing. Add more dubbing a little thicker than body for the thorax portion and wrap to bead. Wrap hackle to bead and tie off and snip excess hackle. Whip finish and add head cement. Add some orange thread and whip finish. Done! I think these will be a great help getting down where the fish feed and produce great results! Tight lines! PM
