Missed the Caddis...onto the sulphurs, I hope!!!

Well, caddis season has come and gone (for the most part) in my home waters of Arkansas and alas, I missed it.  I had great intentions of getting some water time on the White and Little Red Rivers during spring break, but the Corps (full generation), or the weather, was not on my side.  I had a wonderful trip to the Spring River in Mammoth Spring and hung out with the bouncer at his riverside pad, got in a lot of fishing and caught a few fish.  Even saw a few mayflies and caddis there, but damn it, I missed the caddis!  I am forever the optimist and always see the glass as half full.  I am hopeful that I will run into these illusive moths somewhere this summer, perhaps the Firehole...but in the meantime, I will move on with my thoughts and my life, to the next available hatch, the sulphurs...
Sulphur mayflies are yellowish-green with rusty brown bodies and are known as PMDs out west.  If I'm lucky and the planets align, and I'm at the right place at the right time with no generation from the corps...maybe I'll get on my home waters soon, (last week in May after school is finally out!)  Until then, I'm painting trout, watching movies about trout, tweeting about trout, reading about trout, and practicing my casts in the front yard...

If things don't go to plan, hopefully I'll catch up to those sulphurs...I mean, PMDs at the Henry's Fork, Gallatin, Frying Pan, or some other river I'm dreaming to fish this summer.

My First Non-Fishing Post: Shameless Promotion of "Hot Aces"

When I look at similar and more popular fishing-oriented blogs than mine, many of which I am an avid fan, I notice one thing...shameless self-promotion.  I have never been a fan of this practice and this is probably why I am not a best-selling author or world-renowned fly-fishing guru.  But here I am, taking the advice of my wife, Laurie, who suggested that I promote my latest novel, "Hot Aces" on Tailwater Tribe.  I realize this out of character for my blog.  On the rare occasions that I update it, the main topic is fly fishing, travel, Montana, Arkansas, trout and any other topic solely devoted to my passion of the pursuit of game fish on the long rod.  But this time, I digress. 
Hot Aces is my second novel.  The first, "The Brown Stilt House," was published a decade ago and after so many years without a new product, many thought that my writing ambition, skills, or lack of, had dried up on the vine.  I'm here to say this is not the case.  "Hot Aces," was published this summer while I was in Bozeman, finishing some graduate studies at Montana State, and of course completely absorbed in fighting the conumdrum of where to fish during epic snowmelt and high water events.  By the time I got off the Firehole and Henry's Fork and back to Gulfport, life got in the way and I never had the opportunity to plug my book. 
"Hot Aces" is a work of fiction in the mystery/suspense genre and I believe it would be worth your while to check it out.  There are no fly fishing references, but one of the main characters turns up missing in the Mississippi Gulf Coast after officials found the charred hull of his Boston Whaler washed up on the shore of Deer Island. 
All-in-all it is a fun read with many references to many places familiar to me and my readers.  If you get the time, check it out.  "Hot Aces" is available at all of the usual places; Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc.  Just Google, order, and read.  Your feedback would be much appreciated. 

Until my next post, which will definitely be about fly fishing, good reading!  Your support would be shamelessly appreciated...

Deep Freezers, Waning Caddis, Arizona, and Wet Wading in April...

I got an E-mail from my friend Randy Berndt in Wisconsin to tell me of his weather woes; 6-8" of snow predicted.  As of this time last year Randy had landed over 70 trout in the Driftless Region.  His count in 2011--1 fish.  I feel sorry for Randy in his deep freeze but thought I'd spread a little sunshine his way.  Yesterday, with temps in the mid 70's, I donned the waders to fish my anticipatory spring break caddis hatch on the Little Red River in Arkansas.  Today (Tuesday, April 19) with temps expected and exceeding 85 degrees, I pulled into the Cow Shoals parking lot, slipped on the wading sandals and shorts and practically jogged down to the river.  Hard to believe the freedom that wet-wading provides without the cumbersome boots and waders...
The caddis hatch is on the wane, but I have managed to catch a few rising fish with an X-caddis and an Elk hair variant.  I dropped a #16 Red Ass soft hackle below it and got most of my fish on the Red Ass.  I was very fortunate this trip in that they weren't running any water from Greer's Ferry.  The water has been low and clear and the fish have been very cooperative.
Met an interesting guy on my way out from Swinging Bridge, Joe Miller from desertflyfishers.com.  Joe is from Conway, AR via Arizona and spends a lot of his time fishing the San Juan River as well as the Provo, Gibbon and other rivers out west.  The San Juan is on my "Rivers to Fish" list for the upcoming Tailwater Tribe Fly Fishing Tour II.  Joe is a real nice guy and I enjoyed sharing experiences with him as well as giving him a tip about dropping a #16 Red Ass off a #16 Purple Haze sowbug.  He showed me his San Juan fly box and it resembled a sewing kit full of tiny pins--tiny midges and Jong's Special's #22 and smaller.  Well, when in Rome...

Shout out to my bud, Randy in Wisconsin

Just wanted to give a shout out to my buddy and fantastic fly-fisherman Randy Berndt in Wisconsin.  Randy and I are alums from Montana State University and I met him this past summer on campus in Bozeman.  He really taught me a lot about Montana trout fishing on the Gallatin and Bridger Creek around Bozeman.  I can only hope to be as good as he is one day.  For those people that follow my blog, please check out Randy's blog "On The Fly," which is listed under my favorite blogs at this site.  I am hopeful that Randy and I will be able to get together this summer to rekindle some memories and hopefully he can show me "how it's done" out west somewhere, on my home waters of Arkansas, or somewhere in the driftless region....
Cheer's Randy!  Here's to a successful fly fishing season in 2011!

I Want Caddis!!! (Visions of Rhycophila Dancing in my Head)

Well, the winter is officially over and I'm getting reports from up north that the caddis are beginning to pop their compound peepers above their shucks and the surface film.  I have to say that this is my 2nd favorite hatch of the year (excluding Salmonflies, of course...), but as I spend more time fishing in Arkansas than Montana, this is my favorite first significant hatch of the year...
The Rhycophila Caddis or Green Sedge is a large group of big moth-like bugs that develop underwater from eggs laid by the female in the water.  The eggs hatch into a green, worm-like larva that protects itself by taking small pebbles and covering its body, gluing them together from a web-like protein they produce similar to silk worms or spider webs.  These caddis are members of a large group of "cased caddis"  If you walk in the stream and turn over a few rocks, you can find thousands of these little mummy-like cases attached to them.  These cases protect the vulnerable larvae from washing down the river in the current as they develop into their second stage--the pupae. 
When the weather warms and the metamorphosis process is complete, the caddis emerge from their "shucks" (the exoskeleton from the pupae) and large trout that normally hang out in the depths of deep pools hiding behind structure, now become inhibition-free and now feed voraciously on the emerging pupae and freshly-emerged adults that struggle on the surface film to take their first flight.  In short--it is a fly fisherman's dream shot.  To be at the right place at the right time when the hatch is in full bloom is nothing short of magic. 
I've experienced many caddis hatches, but four instances stick out in my head.  In each of these, I was indeed at the right place at the right time.
The first:  Cow Shoals--Little Red River.  It was April, the weather hot.  Elk hair caddis with a red ass dropper.  My wife Laurie, and I caught 70+ trout that day.  It was non-stop action for hours...
The second:  Pangburn Access--Little Red River--April again, two years later.  Big browns coming out of deep water into skinny riffles to sip the masses of caddisflies coming off.  Caught several in the 16-20" range.
The Third:  Ramsey Access--Little Red River.  The same day as the Pangburn incident.  Got below the big shoal and the bugs started coming off like mad.  It was a frenzied hour of fun.  Lost count on how many I caught.
The Fourth:  Cotter Access--White River.  An hour before dark the bugs grew so thick I couldn't breathe.  Fished another hour in the dark, listening as the trout continued to take my fly well after 9:00.  Finally lost my last EHC and had to go home. 
Honorable Mention:  2010--The Firehole River in Yellowstone National Park.  White Millers and other assorted caddis coming off like crazy...(see the post on the firehole).
As I ready myself for spring break.  I thought I would use this post as a mental exercise of just how much I really love fly fishing, especially for trout--Even if I, as a true, Tailwater Tribesman have to drive hours to do so.  I'm planning a snook trip to Sannibel and another trip out west this summer which I will call the Tailwater Tribe Fly Fishing Tour II.  Until then...

Brutally hot today in Gulfport! Still have cold water on the brain. Looking forward to Labor Day weekend. Until then, I'll tie some hoppers and hope the action is still on when I get there...

O Good to get the cobwebs off the Native 12 and paddle today. Caught a couple flounder and two small croakers on a cotton candy clouser I tied myself. Rewa