Product Review: FLY-AGRA

From Yellowstone Fly Goods comes FLY-AGRA!

Up until recently, I have used Aquel. It has worked well for quite some time. I usually lost the fly to a tree, snag or bass-like hookset before the fly would sink so I never really gave my fly dysfunction a second thought.

Now, my fly dysfunction has become a major problem with my drift. When I was new and young in dry fly fishing, I could endlessly drift. Now, my drift has only been able to last a few runs. NOW I HAVE FLY-AGRA!!!

FLY-AGRA has helped my dysfunction so much that I am not afraid to show my drifts on camera. See that fantastic drift! It could go all night long!

I give FLY-AGRA 2 flies up! It's a great product with stellar marketing and action behind the claims. I am unsure where it is available though. I picked mine up from the high-floatin' dudes of the Missoulian Angler! (I did not perform an exhaustive search on the interwebs)

However, I still use Aquel. I feel like each product has their respective place. Case in point, I like my EHC's to NEVER have dysfunction - a big disappointment when the skitter needs to happen. On the other hand, I like my Chubby's with a little dysfunction. I like only the wing to have floatant. I feel like a Chubby is more effective when it can sit lower in the water. This is the perfect situation where Aquel applied to the wing does the trick.

FLY-AGRA Pros:

• Floats and floats and floats
• Never needs reapplication
• Flies can be pre-treated and stored ready-to-use at fishing's most intimate moment
• Flies can be dipped prior to use and after a false cast or two ready to drift
• Comes in a solid Nalgene bottle that will never leak
• Magnificent labeling

FLY-AGRA Cons:

• $6 per bottle
• It goes faster than I thought it would (of course I pre-treated many, many flies for that unforeseen moment)
• Obvoiusly not a catch-all floatant
• Smells like solvent or mineral spirits (may burst into flames from a glare off your forceps - crossing fingers)
• Pfizer may jump YFG's case for the name recognition crap and I may never see it again

Pick some up at a Yellowstone Fly Goods retailer near you and FIX YOUR FLY DYSFUNCTION!!!

As much as I would LOVE to receive products from fly fishing company's for free, I did not receive Fly-Agra for free. I spent my own hard earned, payin' off student loans, feeding a family dollars on Fly-Agra. These are my honest feelings. If someone wants to pay me to do a review great! If not, I suppose my reader coverage is crap anyway. However, if you or your gear company wants to help a fly addict get some stellar gear, I would love to hear from people like Brodin Nets, Simms, Redington, Montana Fly Company, Lamson-Waterworks, Dyna-King, Rite Bobbins, Wapsi, Scott Fly Rods, and more. Please make my day and allow me to review a product of yours at no cost to me!

Later,
Scott 

Trout Tripper: Photographer Extraordinaire

Mike has some excellent skills behind the camera; skills that I wish I had!

Here is some of his work. The rate-limiting factor in the reaction? My face.

Mike snapped these sweet shots while I was targeting a hole where we spotted some risers. Pretty solid skills if you ask me!

Go check out his blog and see some of his crazy good skills

Later,
Scott

All work and no play...

... makes Scott a dull boy! Fortunately, I have had some time to fish so dull is just a baseline for me.

I have spent time on various waters around the Zoo. I have had the great pleasure of fishing with the esposa a couple of times but we never got into big fish. Then, when I don't fish with the esposa, I do get some bigger fish - not earth shattering big though.

Here is the photo journal of the last month-and-a-half.

From the Bitterroot:

Missoula's Middle Provo:

Surrounding Creeks:

Some other amazing scenery:

Tight lines,
Scott

Bang-O-Rang Blog: The Haddis Catch

Brian has been blogging for quite some time now. With his recent move to Rip City he has started another blog that continues to excel in logging adventures and showcase stellar ties.

Previously the author of Reno Trout Envy, Brian has, in my view, climbed his way to the top of my list of outstanding fly fishing blogs. He exhibits a solid mix of fishing, flies, thoughts and tunes.

When Reno Trout Envy was actively being built, I anxiously awaited new posts with monstrous Lahontan cutties, Truckee browns and new flies hot off his vise. Many of the flies that he tied, and still ties, are not only excellently photographed but tied exquisitely. More often than not, he ties the flies better than the original tyer or source from where it caught his attention. Some examples include his version of the Possie Bugger, Barr's Tung Teaser, and Prince Nymph. Not only could he construct stellar flies, but he fooled chunky fish after chunky fish with them.

Now that The Haddis Catch has been cranking for over 6 months it is only getting better with time. When I hop on the waves of the interwebs every Tuesday, my first stop is Brian's Tuesday Tie. Flies vary from simple to creative, to generic to complex, to trouts to bass to steelhead. I can only see my Tuesdays getting better if Brian were to do some HD videos on Vimeo.

Additionally, the water that Brian explores is circa my wife's family's home. There are some different, yet plentiful, fishing opportunities. He has some fun adventures documented and I look forward to following along as he becomes the proficient carp, redside and steelhead angler he appears to yearn to become (he is lightyears closer than I could ever be).

Check out what Brian has to offer over at The Haddis Catch and enjoy!!!

Photos from Brian's blog:

I look forward to maybe one day sharing a day on the Nestucca or MacKenzie with the creator of The Haddis Catch.

Later,
Scott

Camp Huff N' Puff

For the last week I have had the pleasure of being one of the pharmacists for Camp Huff N' Puff. We held camp up on the banks of the Upper Little Blackfoot River near Elliston. Time for personal time was extremely limited but I managed to sneak out for some fishing. Seriously, how could I not with the river running right through our camp location!

The first 2 hours worth of fishing were outstanding. A thunderstorm blew past us missing the camp but offering some excellent scenery. The air temps were still pushing 90 and the bug activity was plentiful. I spent almost the entire time fishing a size #10 ginger stimulator. For a few minutes I tried a yellow stimi Chew Toy and I saw absolutely no difference in how the fish were responding.

For a small piece of skinny water, I had a very nice cuttie come clean out of the water and inhale my fly. She was the fish of the day on all accounts - take, size and color.

I landed close to 2 dozen fish during this 2 hour stint. It was a stellar mini outing.

The next day I found a similar chunk of time but this time it was on the heels of a severe thunderstorm with monstrous hail. The sky was very dark and the air temps had dropped dramatically. Bug activity was minimal and what I did see was smaller mayflies (I never got a hold of one so I am not sure what they were). Some fish began to rise consistently so I reached for the closest mayfly imitation I had. A size #16 parachute Adams seemed to do the trick.

I missed several takers but I landed 7 fish with the largest being 13 inches - all cutties.

 

The sections of the Upper Little Blackfoot that I fished are gorgeous. It is water that I want to return to. The upper sections have been much nicer to me than the lower portions. I am still taking a skunking on the river below Avon. Hopefully I will be able to get back up there this summer. Some sections look like killer hopper water.

Later,

Scott

Poetically Challenged...

 "I ain't burned. The sun don't bother me!"

"...All things merge into one, and a river runs through it."

What does that mean?

An afternoon communing with the cutties...

John and I hit the water Saturday afternoon for some top water action. I was supposed to take the weekend off from fishing but the wife was gracious and let me head out for an afternoon.

We headed out to some clear water that was dropping like a rock so we were excited to get the hot bite that ususally accompanies dropping levels.

John was throwing his FEB Pteronarcys - a clutch pattern of his own creation - and I started with a size #6 orange Stimulator with rubber legs. I quickly lost the stimi to a unreachable snag. I replaced it with a funky Salmonfly dry for a fish then a Chubby and after a couple missed takes (from smaller fish) I downsized to a size #10 Stimi Chew Toy in orange.

We started out pretty slow and were quite surprised by the lack of action but we pushed forward and found some fish. We also saw over half a dozen salmonflies fluttering around. We had some great "popcorn" style fishing in several holes - taking turns whether we were getting into fish or not.

We got to one hole and enjoyed teasing the fish. On one occasion we had one fish rise over 5 times to several different drifts and get missed or follow and not make up his mind. On several drifts later, John brought a different, prettier fish to hand.

We then tried a few more spots, fooled some fish then called it an afternoon. It was a wonderful afternoon on the water with excellent company.

Scott

P.S. As luck would have it, we didn't bump into any nude hikers (good luck or bad luck depending on where you sit)

Hot off the bench...

I have had success recently on size #6 and #8 attractor patterns - namely the Chubby - and I have had them on my mind lately. Dry flies have never been a strong point in my tying but I would like that to change.

Here are my first attempts at tying the Stimulator:

Feel free to comment regarding improvements or suggestions.

Scott

P.S. Thanks to Hopper Juan for the stellar tutorial!

P.P.S. Don't Google Image "Stimulator!"