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)