Virginia Store: August 2009 Archives

"Go west young man!"  That's what Alex told us he was doing... and after his journey he wrote in with some photos.  Here's his report:

"Hope you're doing well. I just got back from my trip to Montana where I fished the Madison for three days, and it was unbelievable. I landed three of the biggest trout of my life. I attached some pictures so you can take a look.
 
I floated from Lyon to McAtee Bridge for the first two days and floated a higher stretch on the last day to get the boat more in the canyon to combat 25-35mph winds.  
 
I used my Sage VT2 9' 5 wt. and primarily fished hoppers all three days. I threw a spruce moth pattern to rising fish for a little on the third day, but otherwise fished double hoppers or a hopper with an ant dropper most of the time. I went out with guides Patrick and Scott from Blue Ribbon Flies and they were terrific. Great people with tremendous fishing knowledge who know the river extremely well. I would highly recommend them, as well as any guides from Blue Ribbon, to anyone who plans on fishing around West Yellowstone.
 
I was on the water by 10am all three days, and on the first day the morning was a little slow. I landed a couple small fish, but on the whole didn't get too many rises. The guide said that mornings had been slow recently, and that when the sun really came out around 12:30-1pm, the hopper fishing would really pick up. He was right. Right as we were getting ready to pull over for lunch, I placed a cast right along an undercut bank, and I had a big strike. When it jumped I could tell it was a big brown. I fought it for a couple mimnutes, and when we landed it I measured it at 19"! I was so pumped! On that note we sat down for lunch, and after eating the fishing was still hot. I landed another 19" brown soon after lunch, and I couldn't believe how well the day was going. A couple hours later, I saw a big brown rising to my fly, and waited for it to sip my hopper before setting the hook. Just by its flash I could tell this one was even bigger than the previous two. I landed it, and we measured it at 21"! I caught several more fish as the day progressed, but those three made it the best day of fishing I could remember. It just happened that this day was my 20th birthday. Not a bad birthday present!
 
The other two days were great too. Plenty of 14-16" rainbows and browns on hoppers. The trip on the whole was just awesome and I can't wait to go back to the Madison again at some point.
 
Thanks so much for helping me prepare in the shop last week!"

Urban Angler Alex S.... educating solid trout one fish at a time...

Lane T reports back from Utah with a quiver of photos from what looks like a fantastic trip.  Whether they had company or were fishing by themselves, they caught a load of fish, shared many laughs, and enjoyed the the scenery, as seen below.

Great trip Lane, with fantastic photos.

Classes start Monday 8/24

 

Introductory fly tying techniques with fly tyer Alan Short.  Learn about tying, materials and techniques, and to tie basic patterns for trout, bass, and panfish.

Fly tying classes will consist of three (3) 2-hour sessions: one session per week for 3 consecutive weeks.  Classes are limited to 6 students.  This limit will enable a more thorough and comprehensive instruction with each student.  Cost for the three 2-hour sessions is $100.  The instructor will supply all hooks and materials for the patterns to be tied.  Students are required to bring vise, tools, and thread.  All students will receive a 15% discount on all tying materials for the duration of the class (vise & tying tool excluded).
 
Please e-mail info.va@urbanangler.com  or call the shop at (703)527-2524 to register for the class.  50% non-refundable deposit due at registration, balance due at first session 8/24. 

Ashby came into the shop showing off a few photos of his trip to Canada.  Boasting of the ridiculous numbers of northern pike caught, he writes:

"I was at Hatchet Lake which is in Northern Saskatchewan, Canada about 100 miles south of the border with the Northwest Territories.  This is my second trip and I am looking forward to another in 2011.

This was a fantastic trip!  Northern pike are the main draw, at least for me. I caught over 300 northerns in the eight days.  While many were under 30", I did have 7 38"ers, 3 40"ers, 2 41"ers, 1 44"er, and the big one which was 46". The walleye was 24". 

The others were not measured.  All fish were caught on a fly rod.  The 46"er  was the biggest pike taken in the eight days I was there and most people were using spinning tackle.

 I used 9-weight rods for the pike, walleye, and lake trout and a 5-weight rod for the grayling. Fly patterns were almost exclusively size 3/0 Clousers, Half & Halfs, and Deceivers.  The first four days the predominant color was white and the last four days (different guide) I could use any color I wanted as long as it was Black. 

These worked on the Pike, Walleye, and Lake Trout.  For Grayling I used a size 14 Elk Hair Caddis.  All fishing was done from boats and I did fly out via a turbo-Otter to other lakes on three occasions."

I think after seeing these photos, we're all a little envious.  Good work Ashby.  Hope all your gear worked flawlessly.
 
To learn more about the Hatchet Lake Lodge, please visit: www.hatchetlake.com

Got this letter from Charles, a freshman at Penn State, after his trip to Alaska and Michigan this summer:

"Hey whats up Rich!

Ive been meaning to shoot you an email and let you know how Alaska was but as soon as I got home Rachel and I took off up to Michigan and we just got home Wednesday.

Alaska was fun.  I was disappointed with the lack of 'fly' fishing opportunities along the famous waters of the Russian and Kenai rivers.  It seems like everyone owns a fly rod but no one wants to fly fish.  Disgusted with the thousands of people standing on the banks snagging passing fish, we hopped on a boat and were dropped off up the Susitna drainage. There I had great fun catching Jack Kings which were the only salmon I found that would actively pursue my fly.  I caught most fish on a large bunny fly called a Dalai Lama, however my biggest fish of the trip (or ever) was on a popsicle.  It was a huge king that I was lucky to bring in on the eight weight I got from you, along with the help of the local shop owner I bumped into on the river.  Im not sure how much it weighed because i didnt want to lift it out of the water without a king stamp but it was big enough that the anglers around me called it a "moose!"

I also found great rainbow fishing on a little piece of waterin Wassilla.  I caught a lot of good fish between thirteen and sixteen inches but unfortunately was eluded by the monsters you see in all the magazine pictures.  Anyways thanks for the rod and the casting lesson.  I watched Spey To Z a couple times and have begun to feel more comfortable casting my new Skagit rig.  I still have problems pulling the heavier flies out of the water with the sink tips but i guess its just because its not something I can go out and practice in the yard.

Then Rachel and I spent a few days in Michigan this past week.  We first drove into Oscoda, a small town on the edge of lake Huron where the Au Sable makes its final stride into the lake.  We took a six hour canoe trip from the dam above town all the way to the mouth of the river.  Despite the fact that it was hot and mid day we found lots of smallmouth willing to take our streamers.  Some really large smallies and walleye were visible but the water was too deep for me to get the fly down before being gobbled by smaller fish.

After that we headed to the Mackinaw city and explored the Upper Peninsula to look at waterfalls.  On our way home we stopped in Grayling to fish the holy water section of the Au Sable.  We booked a guide, Alex, through the Old Au Sable fly shop, who was great.  I told him I wanted Rachel to catch fish, and that I wanted a shot at a big brown.  Alex poled us through the windy river on his Au Sable Long Boat and made both of those happen.  We were out from three in the afternoon to past one in the morning (a little longer than planned).  The river treated us with great dry fly fishing with large orange caddis flies throughout the day and well past dark where we switched over to large, foam 'night' patterns.  The night time dry fly thing was a lot of fun once I got used to setting the hook to the slightest sound that could be a rise.  I can't wait to get up next year and try the Hex hatch.  When we switched to swinging night flies this is when the big fish started hitting.

I hooked three large trout within fifteen minutes and landed only the smallest of the three.  The biggest one put up a great fight and was even mistaken for a rainbow at first when it leaped out of the water.  Alex said he looked 17 or 18 inches but this was just by the brief glimpse he got with his headlamp.  I was very disappointed when it got away but I just feel motivated to fish more.  Regardless of missed fish, it was probably the most fun I have ever had in a day of fishing, catching rainbows, brookies and browns all in large numbers and decent size.  All in all Rachel and I had a great time and it was cool to see her start to get excited about fly fishing."

Charles, thanks for the heads up on the conditions and fishing experience, and we look forward to hanging a few of the photos up on the shop wall.