Fly of the month

[Steve]

Hey guys and gals, we got a post office box now and since we do, you can send in flies for our fly of the month feature. Got a favorite Michigan fly?... Lets feature it. Send in a recipe and example. If we feature it, you will get a CD with all the available MI stocking reports in Adobe Acrobat format.

Steve

[WEEZER]

Steve I have three or four prime April patterns for steelhead already tied up and ready to go! Here's the question:
What is the address? I couldn't find it anywhere.
Do they have to be original patterns? I tie a lot of Schmidt Outfitter patterns and I wouldn't want to step on his toes!!!
Here is a little tip for you trout guys;
The next time you are over on the Big Man go to Schmidt's and buy one of his rattlesnake pattern!!!!! They are the best!!!! I guess you could also order then online if you wish.

[Steve]

Our address is on both the Fly of The Month page and our contacts page. Make sure you do a reload of those pages maybe you have them cached. The flys submitted do not have to be original patterns, but they do have to be tied by the submitter. They should be a fly popular or useful for fly fishing in MI. If it is someone else's pattern please give them credit for it.

[This message has been edited by Steve (edited 03-11-2000).]

[WEEZER]

I just sent out a couple of flies for ya to look at. I forgot to put in the originator on the Spring's wiggler. It was Ron Spring out of Muskegon that started that one. The caddis larvae is a variation of Ray Schmidt's caddis pattern, The hex nymph is cross between a Jeff's hex and Schmidt's hex. The other is Famous and I don't know who originated it!!!
~Rick

[green caddis]

What!! No steelhead buggers? Had a great day in the lower manistee with Schmidt Hexs the other day. They are great in the winter. Easier to tie than a lot of the other hexs however still takes a considerable amount of time. I dare someone to find a hex pattern that catches as many fish as a Bears Hex or Schmidts Hex that takes less than 5 minutes to tie. I have yet to see one that will produce consistently year 'round, although one of Tim Rollers patterns seems close.

[WEEZER]

I got one that takes less than 5 minutes and is effective as a Jeff Hex......The Latex wiggler!!! granted it isn't as pretty as a Jeff's but it gets the job done.
~Rick

[Steve]

Awesome, we will start building our fly library immediately.

[WEEZER]

Green Caddis, Is the steelhead bugger the same as a standard wolly bugger or is there something added? I have heard that name referenced many times in articles and have always wondered.
~Rick

[green caddis]

The Steelhead Bugger is a Ray Schmidt creation. It seems to be gaining in poularity. It is very productive year 'round on the manistee. Well, except the winter. It is actually a wooly bugger tied with some materials differenet than the original. Here it goes:

Hook- Daiichi 1530 4-8
Tail- Black Marabou with 2-3 spigs of blue Krystal flash on each side
Body- Peacock Herl
Hackle- Furnace colored

Iy is a fair representaion of a pternarcys stonefly that is numerous in the manistee and also acts as an attractor/agitaor. There is someting the color blue for steelheads. They love it. Salmon seem to like chartruese or red more, but I still lean towards the blue. I love this fly in the lower water. It has great movement in the water. It shows up well in the spring for runoff, yet does not spook fish in low clear water. It is one of my go-to flies in the fall for steelheads after I fish a Green Caddis or White Antron Bug. Again I think they go after it because of the similarity towards a stonefly. The fall fish are there to eat and they are concentrating on eating. Summer Steelheads(Skamanias) are not really my thing but this is a top producing nymph for them. I really like to fish trout on streamers in the summer. Huge fish in typical migratory fish water. These fish can get as big as an average steelhead. I would fish them any day over skamanias. It's a trip. You can watch them take the streamers, we only fish them about 12 inches below the water. Anyways, i'll stop boring people and shut up. Hope this helps. E-Mail me at RTKOVICH@AOL.COM if you wish to talk.

[Steve]

Not boring at all. Boy a picture would be worth a thousand words on those flies. If you have an extra one laying around, even if its beat up, send it to us at the address on the "fly of the month page", and we will get a picture of it along with it's recipe online.

[green caddis]

I always have tones of steelhead buggers laying around. I'll throw in a few other popular flies too.

[WEEZER]

Thanks, one more question. When you guys talk about furnace hackle is that hot orange?
Everybody send in some patterns so we can get a top notch fly library going. I have yet to find a really good one!

[Steve]

WEEZER, furnace hackle is kind of a burnt reddish brown on the edges of the feather and dark to black coloring towards the quill.

[Cobra]

Pretty good sites. www.flyshop.com/Bench (http://www.flyshop.com/Bench) and www.globalflyfisher.com (http://www.globalflyfisher.com) Hope these help.

[green caddis]

Sent out those patterns in the mail today. Hope you can read my writing. I hope to get a good pattern archive started here, one that is valuable. I can send more if you would like and encourage all to send in their favorite patterns. Maybe we could also start writing some informative articles on the site? That would be kinda' cool.

[This message has been edited by green caddis (edited 03-26-2000).]

[Steve]

I thank you green caddis. I see you are from Wellston, one of my favorite places! Now I'm going to have to figure out what to do with the "fly of the month", with so many flies coming in I'm going to have to step it up. I welcome any informative article/tutorials from you guys, the experts. I've had an article about basic fly fishing on my todo list for a long time now but never seem to get to it.

[green caddis]

Actually I only have a cabin in Wellston but I am there more often than I am home it seems. Maybe I'll start writing up an article on general steelhead flyfishing. That would be kinda fun.

[Steve]

Green, look forward to it. BTW you don't know of any good property for sale up there do ya?

[WEEZER]

Hey Green Caddis, I saw that you tried to drum up some support for a fly recipe page on TSS. I don't think the Webmaster wants anything to do with that site anymore. It's too bad.
DID you include a sparrow? I thought anout sending one but my sparrows never turn out well.

[green caddis]

Yes, I did include a yellow sparrow. Steve, I may be selling my place soon to buy a bigger one. It is a nice little place perfect for three or less. I have not decided if we are just going to expand on the place or sell it.