No Fly Tying Class on february 14th due to fly club meeting!
A printable calendar of events for march will be sent out after the newsletter so everybody has a hard copy!
A big "Thank You" for everybody who has been to our fly casting classes! We have been averaging 25- 30 people each class! Great to see new faces getting into the sport!
FISHING REPORT
FEBRUARY 14, 2009
I am IMMENSELY relieved to report that February in Florida is back to being February in Florida!
That is to say, warm, sunny and relatively windless. Sort of. I mean, it IS Florida and there's always going to be some sort of breeze. Just not the howling 29-knot blows that kept me beached for nearly THREE WEEKS.
Well, anyway, it's good to have the weather back to normal so that my people can relax on the water amid the frantic disruptions of hungry fish inhaling flies and jigs.
And I am indeed gratified to tell you that those disruptions were frequent indeed during this past week!
Bill Riccardi, who's fished with me many times, wanted to get his wife Karen interested in fishing. "I really want her to get into some fish so she'll get excited about it," Bill had told me weeks ago. But, the weather simply wouldn't co-operate.
Until Tuesday, that is.
Bill was casting his fly rod, as usual, and Karen was using some of my light tackle. We had to root around a little bit, hitting several different spots in the Intracoastal around Nokomis and Osprey, but finally the water warmed up or the moon and stars were in perfect alignment or something.
We started catching fish.
Lots of fish.
Several different kinds of fish-including a flounder on fly. Ultimately, Karen landed a very respectable ladyfish and the moment was historically preserved thanks to Mr. Pentax. We never did take a picture of Bill, but the day was all about Karen anyway!
I can only imagine the expression on her face when we put her into a school of Spanish mackerel or bonito in a couple of weeks!
Rich Hunter and his old buddy Jeff North joined me in Lemon Bay the following day. Rich finally retired, came to Paradise, and decided to learn how to fish. So he called Sarasota County Adult Ed, where I've been teaching some fly fishing classes, but the one he wanted to attend had been cancelled.
"Can I just schedule a day for you to take me fishing?" he asked. Yep, I replied, and suggested that he stop by Casey Key Anglers & Outfitters for a preemptive fly casting lesson.
We booked a half-day. Unfortunately, the wind was too strong for Rich to use the fly rod, but things turned out pretty well anyway.
Jeff, who's spent a fair amount of time on the water "Up East," joined us and caught several fish before Rich got on the board. But when he scored, he scored BIG.
ZIIIIIING, went the reel. "Whoa!" said Rich. "Whoa, fish!!!" But the jack crevalle we ultimately weighed at four pounds didn't want to whoa very easily. As jacks do, this one put on one helluva show before coming to the net.
"WOW," Rich said when the photo-thing was finished, "that was really FUN!" Not long afterward, we got into a school of ladyfish, and then a bunch more jacks. Heck, Jeff even managed to hook a fairly decent fish.
Naturally, since he was the more experienced of the two, and Rich was boating larger fish, I dug in the needle. But not too deep-Jeff's thinking about a bonito trip, and you've gotta keep the clients happy!
Apparently Rich was happy. He called the next day to schedule another trip later this month. Attaboy, Rich! That's what keeps Kate happy-and if Big Red ain't happy, there's no peace in the cave.
Speaking of "happy," Tony Newman finally got away from his snow removal business in Minneapolis and we cruised all around Lemon Bay yesterday.
Tony had been urging his friend Jim Jensen to come visit for the past four years, and Jim (or maybe his wife Sandy) decided it was time to get out of the cold, snowy northland for a few days.
They spend a lot of time chasing northern pike and musky on "The Tundra" but Jim never had been fishing in saltwater before.
His first ladyfish convinced him that there's a lot to like about tossing jigs in this part of the world. "They really put up a fight!" he marveled. "Look at the way it jumps!"
The only disappointing part of the day was the total reluctance of the dozens of redfish we saw to eat a lure. We must have watched and poled after tailing redfish for an hour and not a single one would accommodate us.
Well, Jim Depaepe is in from Washington state on Monday. Perhaps those redfish will be a bit more co-operative then!
Tight Loops,
Capt. Tony
TIPS OF THE MONTH...
by Dusty Sprague, FFF master certified casting instructor for...
All fly lines can develop twists from casting and fishing. Twists occur from making oval casts; low side arm back casts with more vertical forward casts; or, repeatedl roll casting from the same side of the body. Twists can be put in a line by fish swimming in circles as they are being fought. If you notice some twists in the fly line, make a long cast. With most of the fly line extended out of the rod tip, with one hand, hold the rod loosely above the stripping guide. With your other hand, hold the rod loosely behind the reel, on the fighting but. Quickly twirl the rod counter-clockwise (for most right-handed casters), rotating the rod, letting the reel flip around and around 10 to 15 revolutions, like straightening out a garden hose or rope. Then shake the line out of the rod. This usually takes care of the twists. If it adds more twists, go the opposite way.
For more info on Dusty, please visit our casting instruction link on our homepage.
Step 1: The first step is to cover the entire hook shank with a nice base of thread. In most of my tying, I have switched to using mono thread, but in this application I believe that standard thread makes a better foundation to accept the glue and hold the fly together.
Step 2: Next, you will tie in the tail materials. As you would expect, most tiers use a darker color over some flash and a white base. You can use anything you want to create the tail: bucktail, ultra-hair, whatever you have handy. The important thing is to think ahead a few steps and determine how you are going to finish off and color the foam body of the fly, then make sure you pick a tail color that will match. In this picture, I have tied in some white Kinky Fiber with some pearl Flashabou on top. You want the length of the tail to match the general length of the baitfish you are trying to copy. I find that a length of one to one and a half hook shanks looks best.
Step 3: Here, I have completed the tail section by tying in some light olive Kinky Fiber. Again, you can use any colors or materials that you want. I chose this color scheme to match the finished look of the foam body. Once you have tied in the tail materials, make sure that the hook shank is completely covered in thread, and then tie off with a whip finish. At this point you have done all the 'tying' involved in making a Crease Fly - the rest of it is more like an arts and crafts project.
Step 4: The next step is to create the foam body of the fly. There are many ways that you can come up with the right shape or profile to the foam body. The simplest method is to just cut yourself a piece of foam and slowly modify it until you get a shape that you like. However I have found that if I don't start with a plan, I very rarely come out with something that I am satisfied with. I learned this very quickly after painstakingly hacking to pieces several nice stacked deer hair bass bug heads. If you do take this approach, make sure to fold the foam in half and cut out the profile for both sides of the body at the same time to make sure they are symmetrical - then skip down to Step 10. What I found to work best was to start with a piece of scrap paper, and to sketch out a pattern that I could size and trim without wasting a lot of foam. In the picture above, I have created a rectangle that is as long as the distance between the hook eye and the bend, and is as wide as the gap of the hook. This is a good starting point to get the proportions right until you feel more comfortable creating your own designs.
Step 5: Once you have the basic rectangle defined, fold the paper in half in line with the top of the rectangle, and cut out the other three sides of the rectangle. You want to end up with a tent of paper which is connected along the top of the long sides. The walls of the tent will be the size of the rectangle you created in Step 4.
Step 6: Next you can start sketching out the basic profile of the fly on the paper. You can make the shape as simple or as complicated as you want- just keep in mind a few basic ideas:
-You want to keep the hook at the very bottom of the body in order for it to act as a keel and keep the fly upright when it is in the water.
-Try and keep the front edge of the body perpendicular to the hook shank. This will allow the fly to track through the water much straighter. If you angle the front of the head, the fly may twist and spin as you retrieve it.
-Try to find a profile that represents the baitfish you are trying to copy, but also maximizes the amount of space between the foam body and the hook point. If the body crowds the hook point, you won't have a big enough gap to actually hook any fish.
You can angle the template as you see fit to alter the profile of the body. In the picture I have angled the template to create a big 'mouth' on the fly, but have drawn in dashed lines to make sure that the face of the body is perpendicular to the hook, and to create a wide body with plenty of space at the hook gap.
Step 7: In this step I have cut out the basic outline of the body and have fitted it over the hook to make sure that I am happy with the proportions, hook gap, and alignment. The eye of the hook is at the lower right hand corner of the template.
Step 8: The nice thing about using a paper template is that once you find a shape you like, you can quickly reproduce it and use it as a pattern. This picture shows the body template after it has been unfolded, along with a couple of different bodies that I had cut from a master pattern. (marked with a 'M' to make sure I don't use it) You will also notice that I typically cut a small notch out of the back of the fly for the tail to pass through.
Step 9: The next step is to start gluing the foam body in place. This is another very good reason to start with the Crease Fly kit. It comes with a specific type of thick CA which is made by a company called Balsa USA. I have always assumed that all superglues were created equal. When I received my kit, I already had three or four bottles of superglues in different thicknesses and from different companies. I found that these other glues took much longer to set up, and made gluing the foam body together a much more tedious and messy process. The thick CA from Balsa USA works much better, and much quicker than the other superglues that I have tried. The best technique is to start at the hook eye, and slowly glue the foam together, working your way towards the bend of the hook. I have found that it is very difficult to glue the entire body together in one shot, because you quickly run out of fingers to clamp the body together while the glue sets up. After making sure the foam is positioned correctly on the hook, apply a few very small drops to the foam while holding it together with the thumb and index finger of one hand. The more glue you apply, the longer it will take to set, and trust me, you don't need very much to make a very strong bond which will be much stronger than the foam itself. Once you have applied a couple small drops of glue, pinch the sides of the foam against the hook shank while the glue sets up. It should only take five to ten seconds if you have used the right amount of glue. You also want to make sure that you don't use so much glue that it wicks up into the body of the fly, and glues the sides of the body together
Step 10: Continue working your way down towards the tail of the fly, making sure that you have a good solid joint between the foam and the hook. Once you get to the tail section, you can use a little more glue around the tail material to hold it in place.
Step 11: At this point, the fly is nearly complete. The next thing to do, once the superglue has set up properly, is to push down on the top of the foam to make sure you have a nice wide opening. In this picture I have colored the front of the fly with a red marker to make it easier to see while fishing, and to illustrate the proper shape for the body.
Step 12: The last step is to finish coloring the fly using waterproof markers, EZ Sparkle Body or whatever else you can come up with. In this example I was using the white adhesive-backed foam with the metallic foil already applied. Once the body was glued onto the hook, I peeled the protective plastic covering off the foil, and used green and red markers to color the back of the fly and draw in some gills. The last step was to apply some mylar prismatic eyes and to coat the entire body and mouth of the fly with Loon Hard Head. You can also use a thin coat of epoxy to get a similar effect, but I have found the Hard Head is very easy to apply and produces a very nice finish without all the mess and odor of epoxy. Don't forget to coat the bottom and the mouth of the fly to make sure it maintains the correct shape.
Customer Corner
Fred with a nice Harbor red fishing with Captain Jamie
Stacy Adams with a nice lady caught on a pink and white Grass Minnow fly near Blackburn
Larry "The Intern" Warszalek with a Lemon Bay snook fishing with Captain Tony
Casey Key Anglers and Outfitters
We sure hope you enjoyed this latest issue. There's more to come and we're certainly doing our best to keep anglers well informed with updated shop news and new gear. We'd really like to hear feedback from you so let us know how you're fishing, what you're up to, and what we can do to better serve you.
Keep those pictures and fish stories coming!
Thank you for spending time with us and please pass it on!
TIPS OF THE MONTH ... 
