Monthly Archives: August 2020

A River of Mud – We Need Your Help!

In the Southwest corner of Lower Michigan lays the Kalamazoo River. Once known as a Smallmouth Bass Mecca, the last 100 years have not been kind to her. From the paper mills that littered the river with toxins like PCB’s and PFAS to the 2010 Enbridge oil spill where 900,000 barrels of oil spewed into the river. The largest inland oil spill in U.S history.
Now, the river is under serious threat once again. In late October 2019, the owners of Morrow Dam conducted a drawdown of their reservoir for a gate repair. Unfortunately, this repair was never completed and due to high water, poor river access and Covid-19 it went largely unnoticed by the public and even state agencies. Fortunately, a local group of fly junkies did notice and sounded the alarm bell.
For the last 10 months, the dam has been releasing massive amounts of (most likely contaminated) sediment into the lower river. Riverbanks for miles are now covered in several feet of mud. Spawning grounds and habitat for Smallmouth, Pike, Walleye, Steelhead, Salmon, Sturgeon, turtles, baitfish, crawfish and aquatic insects have been decimated.
While the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (formally the DEQ) did issue a notice of violation in July, it has done very little to mitigate the damage. The dam owners continue to stall on repairs and sediment continues to flow into the lower river.
-Friends for a Clean Kalamazoo River

I have fished the Kalamazoo and it has been a beautiful smallmouth stream. The only way we are going to save it, is if we speak up and let them know things need to change. To let a river like this turn into sludge is ridiculous! Please help us fight this!
-Paul

How can you help?

Write letters to the Michigan DNR, THE EGLE, and the Governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer.
Other than that, follow, share, repost and spread the word to as many as possible.
For more information, please follow “Friends for a Clean Kalamazoo River” on Instagram and Facebook.

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Filed under Conservation, Michigan

Travis Para Ant

Tim Flagler shows us how to tie a Tom Travis Para Ant.

Materials list:

Hook: size 18 dry fly
Thread: 70 denier black
Body: Superfine dubbing black
Post: McFlylon yellow, green, orange, or white
Hackle: Black or grizzly

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Filed under Trout flies

Articulated Sparkle Minnow – Svend Diesel

Svend posted a terrific articulated Coffey’s Sparkle Minnow yesterday on Instagram and I loved the look of it. (see pic below) Today he came out with a fly tying video of how he ties this version. I think with the variations that Svend has added, this pattern looks more fluid and looks even more fishy than the original.

From Svend:
“Coffey’s Sparkle Minnow is a fly that I always have in my streamer box. It works. There is no need to substitute materials or change anything about it. I do like articulated flies and using the new Spawn Fly Fish bent shanks it makes it soooo easy. There are a few other tweaks added to the fly to help with profile, but the key is to build that taper as you progress through the body to the head of the fly.”

Materials list:
Thread: Semperfli waxed thread 6/0
Hook: Ahrex SA280 Minnow #4
Shank: Spawn Fly Fish 60 Degree 20 mm jig Shank
Bead: Firehole Outdoors 4.5mm Slotted Tungsten bead
Tail/Head: Natures Spirit Fish hunter marabou Brown Olive and White UV
Flash: Copper Krystal Flash
Body: Gold Ice dub and UV Pearl Ice Dub
Hackle: Whiting Farms Brahma Hen Saddle
Glue: Z-ment for body, Bone Dry UV for finishing the heads of each section.

Articulated Coffey’s Sparkle Minnow tied by Svend Diesel

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Filed under Streamers

CREEK Fly Fishing for Smallmouth Bass

I’ve been watching Wild Fly videos for awhile now and they definitely have some cool content. This is a very good video if you are wanting to get into smallmouth bass fly fishing. I use many of these techniques myself and agree with the tips. So check out!
-Paul

You can visit Blue Line Flies at this link: https://www.bluelineflies.com/

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Filed under Smallmouth

The Bucktail Popper

From Eduardo Bacha:
“Tying the bucktail popper – a simple and easy way to make a popper with good silhouette. Easy to cast and durable fly that will lift predators from the depths.”

Materials:
EVA foam 1′
Gamakatsu B10-s size 1 hook
210 denier thread
a couple of white saddle hackle feathers
a couple of grizzly saddle feathers
Wing n Flash fluo pink
Bucktail natural white
UV resin Thick
3d eyes (4mm)
TekBond T6000 glue

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Filed under Poppers

Unboxing the NEW Flymen Fly Tester

From Brian Wise at Fly Fishing the Ozarks together with Flymen Fishing Company.

“For anyone with questions about about the Fly Tester, we think this will give you the insight you need on the essential tool for every fly tyer’s table.”

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Filed under New Product

Southern Culture On the Fly – #36

The summer issue of Southern Culture on the Fly just dropped. Check it out!

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Filed under emagazine

Lucas Utrera’s flies

INTRODUCTION

My name is Lucas Utrera, I’m 36 years old and I was born in Córdoba, Argentina but currently I live in Miami, USA with my wife Angie and my little dog Annabel. I’m an industrial designer, art director and, of course, passionate about fly tying.

I started fly fishing in the mid-90s together with my father when I was just 12 years old and I only needed to watch a couple of flies being tied to be completely fascinated.

A few years later, I started participating in some fly fishing shows, as well as writing fly tying articles in specialized magazines. Then, for a couple of years, I dabbled in commercial tying, which helped me hone and hone my skills. At the beginning of 2000, I started to participate in some competitions, specifically in the “Patent Pattern Contest” of “Flyfishing & Tying Journal” magazine , in which I was lucky to win several times. Finally I started to tie special flies for collectors.

(If you would like to follow Lucas on Instagram you can find him @utreraflytying. Here is a link to his work: https://www.instagram.com/utreraflytying/)

Utrera’s Sulphur Dun Inverted Parachute

FLY #1: “Utrera’s Sulphur Dun Inverted Parachute”

This fly has the particularity of uniting the past with the present of fly tying. On the one hand, it has the traditional duck quill wings of the classic dry flies of the early 20th century and on the other hand, it has an inverted parachute without a visible post. The result is a Sulfur Dun with a very slim silhouette with exquisite buoyancy.

Hook: Daiichi 1160 Klinkhamer, size 14
Thread: Veevus 14/0, pale yellow
Tail: Yellow Microfibbets
Abdomen: Magic Quill
Wing: Natural gray duck quill
Thorax: Ginger Superfine dubbing
Parachute hackle: Whiting Farms ginger cock neck
Head: Veevus 14/0, orange

Utrera’s Flashy Caddis Emerger

FLY #2: “Utrera’s Flashy Caddis Emerger”

This emerger really does its job. The deer hair wing allows the fly to stay in the film of water while the body submerges slightly below it. Crystal Flash’s legs are the icing on the cake ensuring it doesn’t go unnoticed.

Hook: Ahrex FW510, size 12
Thread: Veevus 14/0, pale yellow
Pupa skin: Yellow Antron Yarn and peacock herl
Abdomen: White Hemingway’s Bug Flesh
Wing: Natural Cow Elk
Thorax: Ambar Superfine dubbing
Legs: Pearl Crystal Flash
Antennae: Coq de Leon

Utrera’s Spent BWO

FLY #3: “Utrera’s Spent BWO”

This delicate fly was thought to fish in very demanding situations where the waters are extremely clear and slow. There, the trout have a lot of time to analyze their food so it’s necessary to be very precise with what is being offered.

Hook: Tiemco 2487, size 16
Thread: Veevus 14/0, olive
Tail: Lemon Wood Duck
Abdomen: Olive Polish Quill
Wing case: Olive Elk hair with Gulff Fatman UV resin
Wing: Golden Pheasant feathers
Thorax: BWO Superfine dubbing
Front legs: Moose mane

Utrera’s Bubble Emerger

FLY #4: “Utrera’s Bubble Emerger”

I have been working in this concept for some time. I called it “Utrera’s Bubble Emerger”. I remembered the legendary Ken Shimazaki and his great technique “Marshmallow Body”. This is a wonderful way to generate volumetric structures that retain bubbles, which is fantastic in imitating some situations of insects emerging towards the surface.

Hook: Tiemco 2499SP-BL, size 14
Thread: UNI 8/0, rusty brown
Abdomen: Olive Polish Quill
Bubble Wing: White Antron Yarn
Wing case: Orange and olive Elk hair with Gulff Thinman UV resin
Thorax: Golden olive Superfine dubbing
Legs: Brown hen fibers
Antennae: Lemon Wood Duck

Utrera’s Wiggle Caddis Larva

FLY #5: “Utrera’s Wiggle Caddis Larva”

This is one of my favorite patterns and it was designed almost 20 years ago. The main idea was to create an articulated case caddis that offered some movement to the larva and I think the result was quite fun. This fly was a winner design in the “Patent Pattern Contest” of the Flyfishing & Tying Journal” magazine in the summer of 2003. It’s also part of some private collections.

Hook: Tiemco 205 BL, size 18
Thread: UNI 8/0, black
Rib: 8x tippet monofilament
Shellback/Wing case: Natural mottled bustard Thin Skin
Abdomen: Light tan rabbit dubbing
Thorax: Brown rabbit dubbing
Thorax: Golden olive Superfine dubbing
Legs: Brown goose biots
Antennae: Brown goose biots
Head: Black thread

CASE:
Hook: Tiemco 5212, size 14
Connection: Wire loop
Thread: UNI 8/0, tan
Case: Natural, rusty brown and black deer hair mixed, spun and trimmed to shape

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Filed under Trout flies