Fly Spotlight - Soft Hackle Ant

Here is a great fly pattern that I have been using throughout the early mornings and afternoons.  Another great tip for using this fly is to fish it as a wet ant.  The trout still feed on it just as heavily.  It is easy to tie and fun to fish!

I came across this tyer by searching the internet for new and different terrestrial patterns.  This ant pattern is a classic ant pattern but there was one thing that caught my attention.  The cool thing about Tyler Befus is that he is a younger kid who is extremely passionate about fishing and tying flies, so I thought I would give him a little shout out for his great work! Enjoy!

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"Ants get blown into the water by the wind and washed into the water by rain.  Sometimes they float and sometimes they sink.  This fly sinks real slow like a drowned ant.  I tie this on a nymph hook and use a soft hackle to help it sink just below the surface.  Trout and panfish love to eat these during the spring and summer.  You can tie the same pattern using a dry fly hook, dry fly dubbing and rooster hackle so it will float on the surface.  Try different colors and sizes.  I hope you catch lots of fish this ant pattern."

-Tyler Befus

Hook: Tiemco 3769, Size 10 - 20

Thread: Black Ultra thread 70 denier

Abdomen: Peacock Ice Dub

Thorax: Peacock Ice Dub

Hackle: Whiting Black Hen Neck

Big Centre County Rainbow

This photo submission comes to us from Bryan Doyle. Another member of our following introduced by the intern, Harry Tomlin. This is a great picture of a pretty huge rainbow from Central Pennsylvania. So thanks Bryan for sending this to us and thanks Harry for pointing him in our direction! 

Keep the pictures coming and we will keep posting them. I'm missing central PA trout fishing more and more every day... 

Here you go fella's, got this huge bow early this morning in central pa. I'd like to keep the location on the down low since its hard to find public waters that isn't regulated with fish like this swimming around, I like to call it my little honey hole. However, I caught this bow on a size 16 frenchie in about a mile of non stocked water while fishing for wild browns. I also released the fish after a few photos to catch again someday.

Bryan

Buffalo Run and Logan Branch Update (08/15/2012)

Buffalo Run and the Logan Branch have continued to be exciting areas to fish.  I didn't remember to take a stream temperature for Buffalo Run because I only fished it for a minimal amount of time.  Logan Branch registered 56 degrees on the thermometer which is a big reason why I've been going to fish there regularly.  To go along with the cold temperatures, it has an uncanny ability to capture your attention with it's pure, pristine beauty in certain areas of the stream.  Below are a few pictures from some of the fish that I've caught recently.  Enjoy!  

"Treat" of the Week

Measuring Fish

How big do you think that is? 

Answer - Approximately 3 inches bigger than it really is. You don't have a tape measure, it's a guess why guess small?

How much does it weight?

Answer - Hard to say. What do you think? Yea that seems about right.

These are questions you will hear about every other fish on the river and ones you have to be prepared to answer, and answer frequently.

Look people hear what they want to hear, and they want to hear that they just caught a big fish because they are awesome at fishing. Chances are they aren't awesome and they got lucky but what does it hurt to blow a little smoke. 

Is that fish 18 inches no it's 20 inches because to an angler a 20 inch trout is something to covet an 18 inch trout isn't. So add a couple inches I'm not saying lie, well I'm not saying outright lie...  I'm just saying stretch the truth, and the trout. Don't bring a tape with you, nobody wants to know the exact measurements of their fish unless they are fanatical in which case they can measure their own fish.. 

Spring Creek (08/12/2012)

Spring Creek has continued to fish very well in the early morning hours between 6:00AM - 11:00AM.  I've been having a lot of success using Elk-Hair Ants, Inch Worms, Olive Scuds and a variety of other terrestrial patterns.  The key spots to fish have been shaded areas and deep cuts along riffles or a combination of the two.  Setting the hook has been extremely easy because the trout will go out of their way to destroy any of the patterns listed above.  

If you are going to go out, make sure to set the alarm early or find a fishing buddy and do some night fishing after dark!  I have a most wanted trout that I'm going after this morning (probably as you're reading this post)!  Hopefully it agrees again today as I had a mishap the first time I had it on the line, but that's another story for a later post!

Enjoy!

Patch Man Do Fishing Report

The next couple of pictures are documentation of a few fishing trips while working on the Patch Man Do. I got to give the Nomad Net a good workout hauling up a couple of large Red Grouper. It handled the test. The following pictures are of a small bonefish, a couple of porgy's, red grouper, and a pretty big barracuda. We caught lots of other fish, and some bigger fish, but when you are busy it's hard to get pictures taken of everything. Especially the spotted moray eel we caught... That thing was so ugly looking. 

Everglades Fishing Report! 8/7/12

I spent the morning working on Captain John Wambolt's Patch Man Do (Pictures to come), and when I got home Captain Chris White called me and asked if I wanted to go fishing... Silly question.

The conditions weren't ideal and I couldn't sling a fly rod (too much wind, and wind-blown grass) but I was just content to catch something because it had been a while since I had caught a sport fish and I was itching. 

The everglades is unlike anything I've ever seen. We got there on low tide right as it was starting to come in, weaving through channels and cuts in the mud flats we found ourselves in an area known as snake bight. Awesome name I know. 

We are out there and I'm awestruck. There are 7-8 foot sharks cruising around me while we're in like 2 feet of water. It was like freaking "Jaws" just dorsal fins and tails cruising by us. I kept imagining that scene where Roy Scheider is throwing chum off the back of the boat and that huge great white comes out of the water chasing his chum fix. Well I always try to photo document my catches for you all, but these photos were pretty rushed because I didn't want to come home one hand short of a pair... 

Anyway a couple hours later a half dozen red fish, a couple snook, a few sea trout, and a lady fish and we were back in the marina. I was exhausted but exhilarated, it was an amazing day. One I look forward to repeating.  

The Nomad handles a big Red.

Chris' biggest red of the day

Nice Sea Trout in the Nomad Net