Outdoors-Insider by Deborah Weisberg: March 2011

Monday, March 21, 2011

MILDER WEATHER TO SPUR GOOD FISHING

Bob Miller of the Oil City area with a smallmouth bass from the free-flowing Allegheny River. Although the river has been high in recent weeks, once it returns to normal, Miller expects great 'catch and release' fishing.

Deborah Weisberg photo

CWD EDGES CLOSER TO PENNSYLVANIA

from Joe Kline, Penn's Woods West Trout Unlimited

Hook: Mustad 9762 or equivalent 3X – 4x long shank. Sizes 2-14
Thread: 6/0 on large sizes, 8/0 on small sizes
Head: Gold bead. Size to match hook size
Tail: Marabou plume. Color to match body. Mix 6 to 8 strands of pearl Krystal Flash in
with marabou. Tail length equals hook shank length
Rib: Gold wire
Body: Black, brown, olive, chartreuse or yellow. One small sizes, use ultra chenille to avoid the body wraps intruding into the hook gap clearance
Hackle: Grizzly saddle. Color to match body color

There are a number of ways to tie the Wooly Bugger. The following tying sequence is one of them.

Slide bead onto hook. Smaller bead hole faces the hook eye. Attach thread behind the bead and spiral in tight turns back, stopping above the hook barb.
Spiral thread forward to behind the bead head. Tie in marabou at the bead. Secure it on top of the hook shank and spiral the thread in tight turns over it back to above the hook barb. Tie in the Krystal Flash. Length to extend back to tips of marabou.
Cut off marabou butts closely at the bead.
Tie in wire above the hook barb. The length of the wire should extend back past the tail.
Spiral thread in tight turns forward to bead head. Tie in chenille. With tight wraps, spiral thread over the chenille back to the hook barb.
Wind thread back to bead head and tie in hackle feather perpendicular to the hook shank. Shiny side of hackle to face hook eye.
Take the first turn of chenille behind the wire then wrap forward in close turns to the bead head. Tie off and trim the excess.
Take two turns of hackle behind the bead than palmer it back to above the hook barb.
Secure the hackle with two turns of wire then wind the wire forward through the hackle fibers to behind the bead.
Take three turns of thread around the wire to tie it off then trim the excess. Take several turns of thread behind the bead and wrap a whip finish knot. Apply head cement. Trim the excess hackle feather.

by Dave Schmezer

Hook: Size 10 Mustad 9674 (straight eye)
Bead: Gold Spirit River Brite Bead 5/32”
Thread: Wapsi UTC 140, color to match fly.
Tail: Marabou, Length is measured from the front of the eye to the point of the hook and tied in at the bend. The point of the hook and tied in at the bend.
Flash: Krystal Flash, color to match fly. 4 to 5 the length of the tail, tied in on each side of the tail.
Body: Kreinik Tyers Ribbon 1/16 or 1/8 (1/16 is a little easier to work with), tied from the bend to the back of the bead.
Hackle: Hen, color to match fly. Use 3 or 4, turn “collar style." A trick to hide the tie off wraps is to take several snug wraps of thread around the hackle stem and hook shank, grab the stem with one hand and bobbin with the other, and, at 180º angle from one another, turn both hackle and thread around the shank until tight. This will wind” the hackle down inside the back of the bead. Whip finish, being sure to tighten the whip finish. This will also hide the whip inside the back
or the bead.

Dave Schmezer custom-ties for a world-wide clientele. His new DVD video for the "Hooked on Fly Tying Series" (http://www.flyfishingvideos.com/) features the unique patterns he's famous for. Email Dave at schmezer.flies@gmail.com or call 724-532-1393 or 724-989-1869.

HATCH CHART, courtesy Penn State University

Little Blue Winged Olive Dun (16, 18)
March 15
10:00AM - 4:00PM
First Coltsfoot

Grannon Caddisfly (12, 14)
April 15
11:00AM - 6:30PM
Skunk Cabbage

Blue Quill (16, 18)
April 17
11:30AM - 3:00PM
Trout Lily

Quill Gordon (12, 14)
April 17
1:30PM - 6:30PM
Bloodroot

Hendrickson (F) (12)
April 20
2:00PM - 6:00PM
Wild Ginger

Red Quill (M) (14)
April 20
2:00PM - 6:00PM
Wild Ginger

March Brown (10, 12)
May 12
Sporadic - Day
Redbud Tree

Gray Fox (Dun) (10, 12)
May 12
10:00AM - Noon, Dusk
Dutchman's Breeches

Ginger Quill (Sp) (10, 12)
May 12
10:00AM - Noon, Dusk
Dutchman's Breeches

Sulphurs (14, 16)
May 20
7:00PM, Dusk
Trillium

Light Cahill (12, 14)
May 20
8:00PM
Iris, in full bloom

Green Drake (8, 10)
May 28
8:30PM
Pink Lady's Slipper

Brown Drake (10, 12)
May 30
8:00PM
Peonies, open

Slate Drake (10, 12)
June 1
5:00PM
Mountain Laurel

Blue Winged Olive Dun (14, 16)
June 10
9:00AM, 8:30PM
Chickory, in bloom

Yellow Drake (10, 12)
June 30
8:00PM
Goat's Beard

Trico (20-24)
July 15
7:00AM -Noon
Wild Rhododendron

White Fly (10, 12)
August 7
7:30PM
Goldenrod

Slate Drake (12, 14)
September-October
11:00AM - 4:00PM
----
Little Blue Winged Olive Dun (18, 20)
September-October
10:00AM - 4:00PM
----

Peregrine Banding

The National Aviary's Todd Katzner and a Pennsylvania Game Commission wildlife conservation officer capture a peregrine falcon from a window ledge on the 40th floor of the University of Pittsburgh's Cathedral of Learning last spring. Chicks in the peregrine's nest were given a medical exam and banded. The birds are monitored 24/7 during the spring until they leave the nest. It is part of a state-federal effort to reestablish peregrines to Pennsylvania. Efforts are being made to repopulate the cliffs of Central Pennsylvania with these birds of prey, as well. For Deborah's story on this, visit www.alleghenyfront.org

Monday, March 21, 2011

MILDER WEATHER TO SPUR GOOD FISHING

CWD EDGES CLOSER TO PENNSYLVANIA

Watershed Moment for Watershed Groups?

What A Walleye!

Erie Citation Perch

Walleye Bounty on Erie

Paddlefish Stockings to Resume on Local Rivers

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On The Fly

from Joe Kline, Penn's Woods West Trout Unlimited

ON THE FLY

by Dave Schmezer

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HATCH CHART, courtesy Penn State University

Peregrine Banding

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