Mayfly Musings

What do you think about when you show up to a new fly fishing spot? If you have done your homework by checking flows, water/air temps, and the (dreaded) wind, you're off to a great start. So, where do fish live?  Why do they live there?  How can our (hopefully) well presented flies draw their gaze and a potential take? The answers to these questions are not always straightforward, but constantly fishing "higher quality water," will increase your hookup rate.   How would you approach this piece of water?  I was walking upstream on a creek in North Carolina this summer when I found this nice little area. Although there are sticks on the left my first cast was just along the edge.  Why?  The path of least resistance.  If a trout is holding there it will only see my flies, which is what I always want.  Spooking fish is so common and sometimes we don't even know that we've spooked them.  We just think there aren't any fish in that spot. ...

I think about fly fishing everyday.  I think about bugs everyday.  I think about flies I need to tie in preparation for a trip, river, or time of year, everyday.  That being said, I think about brown trout more than anything else in regard to fly fishing, everyday. Brown trout are special.  They're stealthy, extremely intelligent, hard fighting, gorgeous, clever, bullish, and downright nasty at times.  I have witnessed brown trout emulate every other type of trout while still staying true to themselves. Around the onset of fall one September evening several years ago on the main stem of the Delaware River there was a sparse hatch of Ephoron's occurring above the takeout at Buckingham.  Some anglers just refer to them as "white flies", but the best thing about them is they're visible, especially right before dark.  The water temperature was ideal, but at a small inlet my good friend Nixie and I saw a big fish sipping on these flies right at the tail out...

I don't fish enough high mountain lakes.  Although I fish quite often, you need more time in order to hike several miles, fish for a few hours and then hike back.  Most anglers (like myself) are not willing to devote that many hours (and steps) when we know reliable fishing spots an hour from Denver that hold trout over 20 inches. Since the beginning of September I have been hiking more and learning that the joy is in the journey.  I have hiked to at least four new lakes and fished three of them. (One was barren of trout).  The trails to these lakes are just like rivers; they're all different.  There is something magical about that.  I've also gotten in better shape trudging up these trails with my vest and fly rod in tow.   All Trails is a great app and by reading through the comments you can really get a feel for exactly what you're going to encounter on the trail.  I will then google the lake and make sure there are trout there. (This soun...

  Check out my latest video and tie up some Peeping Caddis Larva.  This fly resembles a Caddis Larva poking its head out of its casing. Video Link:    Peeping Caddis Video The micro chenille will be the hardest material to track down.  I found some on eBay.  Take care and happy fishing/fly tying!

This summer has been a wild ride.  I drove across the country, twice, fished the Genesee River, Keuka Lake, and the main stem and west branches of the Delaware River during my time in New York State.   Fishing the Genesee back in New York is part of our annual camping trip.  I believe this year was our 10th trip in succession, which is pretty cool.  The water was a bit high, but that didn't stop us.  My best buddy Jared and I hiked a section with solid results on streamers and nymphs.  There was not much dry fly action to be had so we had to adjust our tactics in order to get subsurface eats.  The water was super high throughout the spring so these fish were hot to trot and put up some solid battles.   A fat and healthy fish from the Genny. A strange thing happened with this 18" rainbow.  Jared caught it in a riffle and not 5 minutes later after he had walked upstream I caught him again.  He was hungry (and perhaps a littl...

  Here's the link to the video:  Stalcup's Trico Variation (Trico Dun) Video It's Trico time here in Colorado and around the United States.  At the beginning of the hatch the fish will focus on the male and also female duns.  The males have a black thorax, which is sometimes pretty bulky. Watch the naturals when you start seeing them at the beginning of the hatch and if you see one get eaten or you just see a rise, but one of my Stalcup's Trico Variations on, get a good drift, and enjoy the results. If the CDC gets wet and the fly sinks mid-drift, let it go.  Often times fish will eat sunken Tricos.  As the hatch progresses, you can still fish this, but if your dun keeps getting ignored, throw on a spinner.

A friend of mine put together this amazing video of me fly fishing in Colorado.   Feel free to follow him on Instagram @notmattfrey He is a very talented photographer and videographer. Check out the video  here.