It’s August and thoughts of falls seasons are at hand. Yes there are still many more days to fish before the ice returns. But with coming of fall comes the one time per year I can fill the larder not only with game meat..but game feathers and fur. These findings are my supply for a year of tying. So I have created a shopping list of sorts, that I will share with you. These guidelines help me to hunt with serious intent and stay focused on my objectives. This year marks the start of a renewed vigor in that reguard. Tying as much as I am now and with so much writing to do. I spend alot more time on the tying bench. (With the exception of the last few weeks that is.)

Here are a few of the things I will acquire and what purpose they serve:
1. Squirrel tails….. streamer hair wings… and body fur for blended dubbing
2. Partridge feathers ……. nymph wing cases and wetfly hackles
3. Pheasant feathers …… nymphs and wetflies
4. Rabbit hides ………. mask dubbing and blended dubbings
5. Coon …… Tails for hairwing streamers…and body hair to make bassfly dubbing
6. Fox ……… Tails for hairwing streamers …. blended dubbing from body hair and belly fur
7. ‘Yote …….. ( same as Fox )
8. Deer ……. deer hair bugs and streamers from the tails
9. Bear …….. Streamer hair wings and bass flies from “spun” hair
10. Moose ……. Streamer hairwings and bass bugs from “spun” hair

Most of these are available to the regular hunter through the standard seasons. But as a hunter and avid outdoorsman. I know alot of folks up here and can usually find someone who got their moose or bear and or deer. In the event I was not fortunate enough to get it myself. Among the trappers I know I acquire my muskrats, minks, coons, and yes fox and ‘yotes. I buy the damaged skins they can’t readily sell. Since most of the pelt will be shaved and bagged, holes mean nothing. To make truly exotic buggy looking nymphs I like to blend my own dubbings.

Because I acquire these materials so cheaply…I dye alot of it myself and therefore I can have a greater variety than the average tyer. I seldom tan my hides, and prefer to shave the skins with electric clippers. The resulting bags are dyed in the bag. After rinsing I place the fur in a “hanky” bag I sew up. The bag is tossed in the dryer to tumble dry under medium heat. The heat sets the dye. Dry only the same colors at the same time…just in case. Wipe out the dryer with a wetnap and dry the next color. This reduces any color crossing issues.

The ability to dye your colors allows you to experiment with blends and patterns. In some cases I dye the underfur of a fox… and later blend in the longer guard hairs of the ‘coon to get a truly distinctive “bug dubbing”.

To mix dubbings I use a food processor instead of a blender as some do. The sharper blades cut the hair smaller and make for finer dubbings. Repeated processing cuts the fur smaller. In the extreme I shave the hides in stages. Changing clipper combs to shave off the fur in various lengths. Then blend it with other fur to alter color and to blend long fine hairs with short thick fluff.

The next time you are out hunting remember your fly bench or a friends. The gift of fur and feathers will likely be returned in the form of many happy hours fishing.

If you have information to share please post a comment here.

You can email me at: aroostookbasser@yahoo.com

In all my years as a tyer I have had a hard time finding the free time to tye during the summer. There is just so much to do all the time. I work for Walmart, myself as an independant contractor, and freelance writer. Not to mention being a dad and a husband. Lawns to mow and weeds to whack. Plus being available for church programs and CSF work as I can. The latter getting the least attention this year.

In the midst of this I have been talking to people about starting a chapter of Trout Unlimited. Then factor in guiding and exploring new fishing grounds to make that work. But at least when I am exploring I can wet a line and have a little fun.

This tough schedule has had a negative effect on my blog. I have had little time to write for all of you as well. For this I apologize. I will strive to do better in the future.

Flytying is an art and its fun. But never let it rule your life…then it’s an obcession. Devotion to your art and skills is a great thing. But allowing it to keep you from family and friends is “infantile”. Focus on the greater picture and you will see that the arts are essential to balance. Go too far in either direction and you will be leaning in a bad direction. Truth and happiness are good friends. Strive for both and you will know them well.

I challenge you, my readers, to share your stories with us. Tell me your tyes and your tricks. Send them to: aroostookbasser@yahoo.com

I will print your pics and tricks here and give you a chance to share with all who read these pages what you are doing on the bench. Then each month I will pick my favorite article from those I have passed on to you here. That writer will be entered into a drawing for a new rod and reel combo. A total of twelve possible writers could be in the contest if it ran all year. But we have 4 months left to this year……and 4 months until spring returns. That gives us 8 months maximum. The April 30th deadline will be the target. So write to me me via my email and send me your tying and fishing stories. The tyers will be entered into the drawing based on my preferences each month. But if you are the only submitter that month you are the guaranteed winner.

It being the latter part of the season. I often find myself switching tactics often. One trick is to put aside the bugs and start tossing streamers. The larger offering will attact hits from bigger fish. But it also duplicats the growth of smaller baits to maturer ones over summer.

The standard streamers of spring will work fine here. But scale all your flies to good casters in the 6 to 8 sizes. Here is when the Hornbergs have traditionally slain the trout. But all the standard tyes will find fish to hit them.

Now is a good time to go top water on bass on the fly. There are so many things flying around right now.. throw something…..big.

You will see this same picture on the page that features my “Beat The Heat” article. I wish to thank my friends over at “Warmwater Angler” for the use of the pic… thanks Art.

In that article I discuss the use of certain flies in beating the heat trout fishing. But this pattern is a great summer one for multiple species. I especially like it for working topwater bass. Just cast it out and let it drift past cover. Twitch it just a bit as it passes…..and WHAM!!!! Fish On!!!!

Materials:
1. Foam tube or “Flipflop” strip (shaped as pictured)
2. Wing: Deer Hair or elk (dyed to match body color or to contrast)
3. Legs: Pheasant tail fibers or paint brush bristles ( preformed by tying as in the fibers or heated and bent as in the bristles. Use a heated needle to bend the bristles at precise angles.)
4. Thread: to match coloration or to contrast
5. Cement: Super glue

Gather all your materials together, preforming as many legs as you will need before hand. Starting with the body, wrap the hook with thread and apply some glue to bind it there. Now slit the body material and place it down over the glued thread. Remember to keep the eye of the hook free and clear of the foam. Now wrap the Collar head segmemtation to bind it there.
Now take some legs and center them on each side of the body. Bind them in place and apply a drop of glue to each side. Finally clip a small bundle of hair for a wing. Center it and make sure it extends no more than 25% of body length past the end of the body. Tye it down and wrap well. Glue the wrappings and apply a final couple drops to the underbelly to afix it there.

Try varying the body colors and wings to create an assortment of CRICK/HOPPERS. I’ve tyed these as large as 2/0 and as small as #14. Variety will give you more cards to play in this heat. I recycle flipflops and various foams to use in my flies. These are an example of that creative use of materials. If you prefer the norm, you can use foam cylinders sold in most tying catalogs.

If you have any questions please post them here……..love to hear from more of you!!!

Well it’s August the temp is pushing the high 80′s and the humidity is stifling. The area steams are either drying up or warming up too much. The vast pools of eager trout have disappeared and you would swear they have left for Chile or somewhere to find cooler water. Now in a lake you would think deep, but in river or stream you have to think Upstream or Downstream.

As the water was warming the trout moved up the flow looking for better conditions, sensing cooler water as they swam up the stream. Ascention of a steam is the most accepted practice. But in some cases I believe the trout find it easier to swim downcurrent in the warming water. Due to the ever increasing lethargy they undergo in the warmer water. Proof of this is that when you spook a trout it will shoot either up or down with equal frequency. In some cases I know a brook where all the trout I have ever spooked there have shot downstream in their haste to escape. The flow in this brook is stronger than usual and the fish have adapted. I think what matters most in all this is look for cooler influx of water. Most usually from natural springs.

Part of my normal scouting each year is to look for springs, not swamp runoff. The latter being from too much rain. I mark these flows and where they enter my preferred streams. Upon occasion I have even taken along an aquarium thermometer to check temp. This can be usefull in the spring looking for warmer inlets and for summer to locate springs. I keep a notebook in my flyvest and record the temps and date for each of these “summer savers”.

Now is the time to collate the spring data with Summer heat issues. So take out a map and mark on each all of the spring feeds you know of on each brook you scouted. What you didn’t scout any springs ? Better break out the bug dope and some shorts and hit the trail. To find good August fishing you need to find the coolest water available.

The thing to remember here is that springs seldom if ever dry up. So go to you favorite river or stream and walk the banks. Cast a fly or two in likely holds but look for the trickles of springs bubbling into the flows. These are the holes that will hold fish. But be warned just like you the trout hate the heat of the day and are most active at low sun positions. Either first or last, the latter being the worse. Mornings are the coolest since the sun has been gone all night and the water has had a chance to cool. Now in the spring fish the afternoon due to warming effects of the sun. But in summer fish the first two hours of the day or stay home. Night fishing…not an option… ever catch a bat on a flyrod…not a pretty picture.

I usually sketch out a “trickle map” of each brook or steam and refer to that from year to year. In waters I fish alot I usually can remember the better holes without any effort. But some of my best fishing is from little brooks back in the wilderness that have springs for sources and are fed from Mountain waters. These are your best summer trout spots.

For the flyman the smaller cooler flows I am taling about back in the wilds are not casting waters. So use the Czech nymph methods and flies to succeed here. Nymphs work all year and are the main food sources of trout. In other words if it looks buggy it will catch fish. Go from #22 mosquitos to #6 stoneflies. Size the fly based on insect type and the time of year. Observation will guide you also and be flexible.

The best nymph I used on one trip was a wingless Hornberg. I either lost and ran out of the usuals, and in desperation dewinged a Hornberg. The resulting silvery slimness and hackled thorax caught five the biggest fish on that trip.

Remember to throw a few hoppers and crickets….. it’s their time to see the most use. As I have previously written when fishing dries at this time of year in these small brushy steams fish the flows downstream. This drifting method is the best way to present the when you can’t cast.

It’s hot and sticky…… the fish are biting if you can find them.

Just read a great piece on the algae invasion of southern New England. Go over to Daily Bag Limit and read the whole story straight from the source.