Captain Jared's Lee's Ferry Fly Fishing Adventures

On The Rim

Thu, 30 Aug 2012 11:08:42 -0700

On The Rim

Male deer grow and shed their antlers every year, each...

Thu, 30 Aug 2012 11:01:00 -0700

Male deer grow and shed their antlers every year, each year increasing the size of the Antlers. When the antlers grow back, the bone is covered by a fur like material known as antler velvet, which contains amino acids, minerals, protiens, and growth factor-1. This fur stays on the antlers until late winter or early spring each year when it is shed and the deer rub it off.

This Was Taken In Late Aug At Chevlon Creek ARIZONA

The Physics of Fly Casting

Wed, 29 Aug 2012 23:50:42 -0700

Fly casting is merely a combination of action and physics. If you can understand the physics relating to fly casting, then you can have an accurate cast. First, you need to have an understanding of kinetic (moving) energy and potential (stored) energy. When many people think about fishing, they think about strength and casting heavy gear out there. All you really have to understand are the essential movements:

Pull all of the line out that you intend to use in your cast
REMEMBER: ONE CAN ONLY CAST AS FAR AS THE LINE YOU LET OUT
Do some initial casts to get the line out the top guide so it is ready for your cast
When you are all set to cast, strip down to make the line you have out taught
This is where the physics really come in. When you pick up the line to cast it, you are creating kinetic energy with your rod. It is like the movement of pushing down a spring. You are loading it.
When you reach the back of your cast, do a sudden stop without breaking your wrist. You want to make your rod tip bend, thus transferring the kinetic energy to potential energy. It is like the spring you theoretically just pushed down. It has the potential to do work.
Once you have achieved a sudden stop, watch your line straighten out behind you so that you avoid tangles.
DO NOT START YOUR FORWARD CAST UNTIL THE LINE HAS STRAIGHTENED OUT BEHIND YOU
Now transfer all of that potential energy into your forward cast. Remember this is not about strength, it is about using the fly rod as a tool to direct energy into the fly line.
Begin to accelerate forward. It doesn’t matter what your hands or arms are doing, the tip is the important part. The tip needs to be kept high to keep a tight loop in your fly line (I will discuss loops in a late post).
Remeber that your line will go exactly in the direction that you rod stops. So forget about where your hand or arm is pointed. Look to the tip because all of that energy is being directed at the fly line through the tip of your rod.
As they say, “It is like flicking paint off a paintbrush”. The faster you stop, the more paint you will get off that brush. So don’t hesitate to be abrupt in your stop.

Now it has been awhile since I took any form of physics, but I think these tips will come in handy. I hope it helps if you are a physical thinker. Happy fishing!

Flows to Drop September 1st

Wed, 29 Aug 2012 23:25:57 -0700

Notice to all fly fishermen: Glen Canyon Dam plans to drop flows to a steady 8,000 cfs in September. This will lead to more wading and good fishing. Get up her y’all!

Floatant in a Pickle

Wed, 29 Aug 2012 23:15:00 -0700

On a recent trip to the White Mountains with my girlfriends dad, the worst happened! I forgot my floatant. Now when you have trudged down hill to a stream and there are trout at your feet just waiting to be caught, the last thing you want to do is walk up to the truck for floatant. So in a last ditch effort, mi compadre pulled out his handy dandy chapstick.

It was a life saver for sure on those little flies. Now I wouldn’t recommend replacing your floatant with chapstick by any means. But if you are ever in a pickle don’t forget this multi-talented skin-protectant.

Up ON The Black Again

Wed, 29 Aug 2012 13:28:32 -0700

Up ON The Black Again

The dam Fish In The Dam Pond

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 10:34:00 -0700

The dam Fish In The Dam Pond

Hank At Flathead Lake MT

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 10:33:00 -0700

Hank At Flathead Lake MT

West Fork of Back River Wt MT AZ

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 10:30:00 -0700

West Fork of Back River Wt MT AZ

Back At The Ferry

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 10:28:00 -0700

Back At The Ferry

Gettin Ready For Dinner

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 07:50:19 -0700

Gettin Ready For Dinner

lake Powell Aug 3-5 the First Day Lots of boils showing up on...

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 07:46:30 -0700

lake Powell Aug 3-5 the First Day Lots of boils showing up on east facing walls in padrae bay And OutSide Of Sandy Hill.Bass where great off of big main lake points that droped off to 25 feet of water all bass where on the drop shot rig.With hand poured robo worms.

great clients lots of fish and good times

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 07:39:17 -0700

great clients lots of fish and good times

Teaching girlfriend how to fish for cicadas…tip for gf was...

Sun, 29 Jul 2012 17:36:20 -0700

Teaching girlfriend how to fish for cicadas…tip for gf was when you bring your forward cast through, accelerate and promptly stop.

Photo

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 06:01:42 -0700

Photo

Sun, 22 Jul 2012 17:52:23 -0700

Tip of the Day 7.19.12

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 15:56:14 -0700

Subject: Setting

Set on everything!

Now, of course, I don’t mean this literally that every time you are fishing and you see your indicator twitch that you should set. At Lee’s Ferry, however, I do mean it. We are having high water right now which means longer leader and tippet. I have found with my clients that they set proportionally less the more line I put on below the surface of the water to get down to the fish.

Picture this: You are fishing a dry fly with a dropper below it. When that floating bug twitches just a touch, generally you set that immediately. Somehow your reflexes are sharper because the action is happening near the surface of the water.

For some reason, when the action is happening well below the surface of the water, clients have a harder time reacting to slight twitches of the indicator. Perhaps it is because they think it is just moss or maybe just the current altering the movement of the indicator. But my advice to you is this: Set on Everything. At best you will catch a 30 inch rainbow because you set the hook on time and at worst, you practice your hook set and throw the line back out there for the next time.

Good start to my day at the office. Come visit me at work!

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 20:55:41 -0700

Good start to my day at the office. Come visit me at work!

This is how a net should look

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 20:53:06 -0700

This is how a net should look

Cicada Time at Lee's Ferry!

Sun, 15 Jul 2012 20:23:00 -0700

I think that, come summertime, every fisherman in AZ is waiting on edge to hear that familiar hum coming from the trees and shrubs so they can pounce on the rivers and streams with their cicada pattern flies in tow. Well, the time has arrived and the dry flys are definately starting to get some action. Since the cicada hatch is so important to the Lee’s Fery fishery, I decided to do some research on them.

There are two types of cicadas, annuals or periodicals. Here at the ferry, we have annual cicadas. This means that some cicadas appear every year. Periodical cicadas come around every once and awhile and not yearly. Even though we have some bugs come out yearly, the nymphs (or immature cicadas) burrow underground for 2-5 years. The mature bugs lay their eggs in tree branches. When they hatch, they drop to the ground and burrow down where they drink from plant roots (ps since they actually suck they are considered real bugs). They emerge generally after the summer solstice and during the “dog days of summer” thus they are nicknamed dog-day cicadas. First they climb shrubs and trees to molt and after that they are mature adults. They only live 3-4 weeks and mostly their purpose is just to mate and lay eggs.

I think that it is important for fishermen to understand this cycle so they can understand why “hatches” differ from year to year. Since the eggs are laid years in advance, I believe that how many cicadas we get depends on the moisture content in the root systems of the plants that the nymphs have been feeding on. So the weather or conditions of the current year may not have an effect. Instead, the conditions of previous years may be what cause the differences. Now enough science already!

Here is a picture of the “luna negra” cicada pattern that has been working well for me. Really any pattern with a black body will probably work well. Look at the fish my great client, Brian, caught on a dry!

As long as you have a great cast and a good drift, you can lure these big ol’ rainbows in to eating your fly. Have fun out there!

Resources:

http://www.azgfd.gov/i_e/pubs/summercicadasymphony.shtml

http://cals.arizona.edu/maricopa/garden/html/t-tips/bugs/cicada.htm

http://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/annual-cicadas-dog-day-cicadas