Trouts Fly Fishing Blog

When welded loops became common place on the end of premium fly lines, the perfection loop went from being an obscure knot, to one that is a must have for fly anglers of all skill levels.  Although some people dislike a loop-to-loop connection between their fly line and leader, I have found over the years that it’s benefits far out weigh any of its drawbacks.  It is incredibly easy, fast and efficient to attach your leader, and it also is a pretty seamless connection that slides through your guides easily.  The best part of this knot, it is incredibly easy.

Step 1:

Form a single loop by bringing the tag end behind the standing part of leader. The tag should be on the right-hand side.

Step 2:

Form a second, smaller loop in front of the first by bringing the tag end in front of and then behind the first loop. End with the tag on the right again. Keep the loops in place with thumb and forefinger.

Step 3:

Pass the tag end between the loops and hold in place.

Step 4:

Pull the second loop through the first loop with right hand. Make sure tag end does not slip out of position. Lubricate and tighten by pulling on second loop and standing part of leader. The knot works best when loop is kept small.

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Hook: 3 XL (Mustad 9672), #4-8
Thread: Brown 3/0
Underbody: Tan foam, ¼’ wide strip
Overbody: Brown foam, wider strip than underbody
Rear legs: Brown rubber
Body hackle: Brown, undersized
Body: Olive Krystal Chenille
Wing: Light elk hair over small clump of pearl Krystal Flash
Thorax: Arizona peacock dubbing
Wingcase: Overbody foam pulled back and tied down
Legs: Brown rubber

Well, rarely does a fly come along that absolutely CRUSHES fish.  I’m not sure what it is about Amy’s Ant, but fish just can’t seem to stay away.  It’s like the robo duck of trout fishing.  So be sure to tie some of these up for your next fishing venture, as I’m sure you won’t be dissapointed.

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A fly fishing tournament benefiting the South Platte River

$1,000 cash prize donated by

Trout’s Fly Fishing

Brought to you by the Denver Chapter of Trout Unlimited, the South Platte Pro-Am Carp Slam teams up professional and amateur fly fishers to chase the elusive common carp on the waters of South Platte River in and around downtown Denver.

Our tournament is challenging, and fun! It also benefits restoration efforts taking place on the South Platte in the upper two miles of the river directly below Chatfield Reservoir.

The tournament dateis August 22, 2009!

click here for more information

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Despite the high flows that have been coming out of Green Mountain Reservoir all year, this was the first time this season I had a chance to get out on the Lower Blue.  Conditions for my inaugural float were ideal at just under 500 cfs, so I had good expectations of the day; that was until I was driving up and noticed the beautiful silhouette of the FULL MOON against the backdrop of a blue bird day.  At that point I new the day was going to be a struggle, as the fish were undoubtedly pulling an all nighter feeding with the aid of the moonlight.  Never one to give up, I forged ahead fully prepared to get my butt kicked; but hey, a day on the water is better than just about anything else.

We arrived at the put-in around 9:30 am, and joined about 3 other groups who were already gearing up.  By the time we went to run the shuttle, the number of boats at the put-in had grown to 6, so I was growing a bit eager to get on the water.  We were able to push off at around 10:30am, which I figured was perfect as the insects were starting to move from the shore to the river.  With the lower water levels, we started out throwing a Hopper/Dropper combo with a size 12 hopper trailed by a tungsten pheasant tail.  The first mile and a half was slow to say the least, with little to no lookers.  We pulled over in a nice run that I’ve done well in on previous occasion, but after a solid hour of hammering the hole with nymphs and dries, all we had to show for it was a few small strikes.  Flustered and a bit pisted off (another group parked their boat directly up stream of us), we continued further downsteam in search of better options.

About 2/3rds the way down the canyon, we pulled over on river right at a spot that looked promising, but one where I have never seen anybody fish.  After about 10 minutes of working my way upstream, I hooked into a nice brown in a soft pocket.  He ended up taking my size 14 pheasant tail, which has always been a great producer in this section of water.

With the afternoon starting to ware on, we continued on downstream.  Slowly our luck turned, as we started getting solid looks and strikes on our big dry fly, in addition to taking a couple nice browns on the dropper fly.  About half way through the float, the rivers gradient began to decrease, and lot more deep holding water began popping up.  Tired of seeing fish slap at our dry, we re-rigged our rod with a deeper double nymph set-up, and almost immediately started having success.  As I suspected, the fish were holding deep during the middle of the day, but were very willing to eat anything that came their way.  For the next hour or so, we moved and hooked some nice rainbows and browns on numerous different caddis and general attractor patterns.

About 3:30pm, we reached the “Ranch”, and rigged a 7wt. to handle to large fish we were hoping to catch.  As soon as we dropped over the first weir, we hooked and landed a nice 20″ rainbow.  Thinking that this was a sign of things to come, we kept our deep nymph set-up on and made our way down river.  Whether the fish were holding in shallower water, or they just weren’t interested in eating, I don’t know, but it’s fair to say that the fishing ultimately sucked!  We managed to pull in one nice slab out of a secret honey hole, but that was pretty much it.  A few other fish were hooked towards the end of the float, but nothing to write home about.

All in all, it was a great day on one of my favorite floats, so I’m not going to be one to complain.  Good company, beautiful weather, cold beer, and a few fish to the boat made for a very enjoyable day on the water.

Posted in Trip Reports | 6 Comments »

This is definetally one of the more intimidating knots I learned to tie, mostly because everybody seems to make it out to be this impossible thing to do.  The reality is the Bimini Twist is a very easy knot to tie, and has many applications.

Step 1: begin by making a loop and twisting it 15-20 times.  Be sure to make the loop big enough to get a reel or spool of line through

Step 2: place the loop around a boat cleat, rod butt, etc.  I like to place the loop around my knee to ensure it will stay large enough.

Step 3: while keeping tension on the running end (going towards the reel), wrap the tag end around the twists in the line.  Be sure to wrap tightly as this is where this knot gets it’s strength.

Step 4: once the twists have been completely wrapped over, tie a half hitch on the right side of the loop.  This will ensure that the wraps don’t unravel.

Step 5: complete the knot with a four turn locking hitch around both strands of the loop.  Moisten the line with saliva and pull the tag end slowly. Use you thumb and forefinger to draw back the turns as you tighten them. Trim the tag end but leave enough line so the knot doesn’t unravel, which may (unlikely if tied correctly) happen if it is constantly moving in and out of rod guides. The unraveling can be prevented by applying super glue to the knot.

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• Hook: TMC 200R sz. 8-14
• Thread:6/0 Uni Thread (any color)
• Weight:  Lead wrapped underbody
• Antenna:  Barred Silly Legs
• Body: Solid or Variagated Chennile
• Legs: Barred Silly Legs
• Tail: Barred Silly Legs

Although it looks absurdly simple and basic, this fly is one of the most effective stonefly patterns around.  Although the above picture represents a good pattern for Salmonflies, this fly can be tied using a variety of different colored bodies and legs to match the bugs found on your local water.  Because it is such a simple tie, this is a must for anybody looking to start tying their own flies.

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Located on the South East side of the Holy Cross Wilderness lies Homestake Reservoir. Built by the cities of Aurora and Colorado Springs in the 1960’s, Homestake Reservoir collects water from the Homestake Creek drainage, and transports it over to Turquoise Lake on the East side of the Continental Divide.  From there it is transported to Twin Lakes Reservoir where it’s released into the Arkansas River, bringing much needed drinking water to the front range.  At over 200 ft. deep, 1 mile long and about 1/4 mile wide, Homestake Reservoir is a large body of water that offers some great fly fishing opportunities.  Yet because of its location in steep mountain valley, the reservoir is almost impossible to access by foot, and most of the good angling opportunities are limited to those with a boat (canoe, row boat, belly boat, pontoon boat, etc.).

I have personally been exploring the Homestake Creek area for over a decade, but had never ventured to the top of the valley to where Homestake Reservoir is located.  Since I was totally new to the area, and wasn’t quite sure what to expect, our trip there was conceived as more of a exploratory adventure than a hard core fishing trip.

The plan was simple; we would paddle a canoe to the south side of the reservoir where we would set up camp and fish for a couple of days.  From the research I had done, this appeared to be the only section of the valley that had suitable camping, and with numerous creeks flowing into the reservoir on that side, it seemed a likely spot to find some good fishing.

Upon our arrival to the reservoir though, it became blatantly obvious that there was one vital piece of information that we failed to check before coming; the water level.  To our surprise and disappointment, Homestake was only about 1/2 full.  This not only created a less scenic vista, but is also became clear that it was going to make it much more difficult to get to a suitable camp spot.  But with the canoe rented, the gear packed, and our hopes still high, we launched our boat to see what Homestake Reservoir was all about.

The trip to the South end of the reservoir was shortened by the low water, but it was still a pleasant float across a beautiful high country lake.  The few extra pounds of yellow lab and beers that we pack along made the going a bit slow, but enjoyable non the less.  After speaking with some guys at the put in who had had good success trolling, I went ahead and rigged a streamer rod with a full sink line that would be suitable to tow behind the boat.  I tied on a heavy, flashy streamer that I hoped would get down to the fish, but after an hour in the water I had no takers.

The real downer of the day came when we arrived on the south end and realized that all the best camping was above the high water line, which was about a 1/4 mile away and 150′ up.  With a storm rolling in, and little time to gripe, we unloaded the canoe and made our way up the hill to find camp.

We spent the afternoon that day paddling around the reservoir looking for feeding fish.  At this point in the day, we had seen no fish (except for the few on a guys stringer back at the boat launch), and I was beginning to question Homestakes reputation as a solid fishery.  We were able to find a small island on the south end that seemed like a suitable place to park the boat and wet a line.  There was ample structure in the area, and with the sun starting to drop it seemed like an ideal time for fish to start feeding.  Yet after trying countless flies and various rigs, all I had to show for my efforts was a few small chasers.

At this point it was becoming clear that something was off.  I never go into a new area expecting to catch dozens of fish, but it didn’t make sense that we weren’t seeing any fish cruising or rising.  All I can figure now is that the low levels of the reservoir had effected the population of insects, and had sent the fish to the depths of the reservoir to find food and protection.

Beat but not broken, we retreated to camp for a nice evening at camp by the fire.  We awoke the following day and packed up and headed home.  The previous days lack of success left us both unmotivated to fish very hard, and the looming storm clouds to our west were a good reminder that an afternoon thunderstorm was inevitable.  Yet on our paddle back, the beauty of our surroundings was a stark reminder of why a day on the water is better than a day doing most anything else.  There’s no doubt that I will be headed back to Homestake, but I can guarantee you that this time I’ll be watching the water levels like a hawk.

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The 4th Annual Drake Fly Fishing Video Awards will be held September 10, 2009 at Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom (26th and Welton in Denver).  This event is open to the public, so come one, come all.

What is the Drake Fly Fishing Video Awards you might ask?  It’s an event that was created to honor and showcase the talented filmakers within the fly fishing industry, as well as promote the conservation and growth of our sport.  Participants create 5 minute films that are centered around fly fishing.  Films will be judged by a special committee, and awards are given out for the following categories: Best Humor, Best Story, Best Fishing, and Best Overall Film. Best Film winner gets $1,000.

This event has grown every year, and with the abundance of talented filmakers out there, and the overall populatiry of this event, this years show will certainly be mind blowing.  Check out The Drake’s website for further details.

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