Perhaps a shameless plug for my favorite fishing tool, perhaps an enlightening moment for those of you searching for the “do it all” tool. Perhaps a bit of both. All I have to say is that Dr. Slick does it right.

The Mitten/Scissor Clamp

The company was started by an actual Dr. in 1989.  A surgeon, looking to bring precision tools from the operating room to the stream. While they make a huge variety of fly tying and streamside tools, I want to plug my favorite one…..the Mitten/Scissor clamp. I’ve tried virtually every brand of mitten clamps out there and nothing matches the quality and function of the Dr. Slick’s. By the way, the owner of the company is a hellava guy to boot.

This tool is your nippers and hemos in one. It’s the only tool I carry. Oh yeah, need to clear the head cement out of your hook eye? Does that too. One of the biggest (and probably overlooked) benefits to using this tool is that it won’t wreck your fingers or hand after using it on all the fish you’re catching on the Missouri (right?). Hemos hurt.

The other thing I use it for is tying on flies. Problem: tiny, delicately hackled dry flies or tiny midge pupa. Clumsy fingers can crush hackle and make threading the eye of small flies a pain. Solution:clamp the hook at the bend and now you have a stable platform from which to tie your knot. Helps keep constant tension and you can spin your clinch knot wraps without un-clamping. To be fair, this can be done with any clamps, but for some reason I watch people struggle with tying on small flies all the time…..while their hemos hang from their shirt.

Mug Shot.....get it?

I use the 4.5″ ones for most of my fishing but I keep a pair of the 5.5″ ones in my boat bag for streamers or big nymphs.

Come see us in Wolf Creek for your Dr. Slick needs!!

Tight Lines!! Brian

The last couple days were just plain hot! Not a cloud in the sky. Be hot again today with the possibility of T-Storms this afternoon and temps cooling back to mid-60′s headed into the weekend.

The fishing has been good, NOT EASY, but good. With hot, clear weather the March Browns and BWO’s are waning. Look in the water though……remember, observe!! There’s tons of dead stuff in the water. Spent mayflies everywhere. Fish are eating sunken caddis as well (try the beadhead CDC caddis). We had some luck on a March Brown spinner when floating stuff wouldn’t garner any interest. Best flies on top for our guide’s day off though? None other than the #16-18 MRO Trude and the #16 grey or grey/tan CDC Caddis, two classic Neale Streeks’ patterns. Nymphing down from the dam is still producing with midge pupa stuff (try red too). Caddis pupa are working throughout the river as well. Try letting it swing up at the end of the drift. We picked off a couple like that. One of my home-brews has been getting a lot of eats as a generic caddis pupa…..come see me at the shop in Wolf Creek and I’ll show you one. Be looking for noses right along the bank. Nice fish feed in shallow water but they’re not splashy!

Trude on top, cdc caddis under

These rise forms can be tough to spot from far enough away to get a cast out. The key to these rising fish in this kind of weather is stealth. No easy way to do it. They’re most definitely eating, but the casts must be on the mark the first try. You won’t get a second chance to most of them. Reach casts and loooooong downstream drifts are the status quo. They MUST see the fly first.

OK, enough novella for the day. Go catch some fish.

Tight Lines!! Brian

We certainly love our moms around here. Call her now. Tell her thank you. Tell her you love her. A happy Mother’s Day to all moms out there!!!!

Now go catch some fish.

Tight Lines! Brian

Well I set out to the river last evening with every intent to fish. But I got caught up sneaking around trying to capture shots of fish rising. This is not easy and I am no professional. But I watched this rainbow from a bluff 60ft above him for 20 min, then left and came back to watch for another 30 min before he finally rose. He was chowing down sub-surface but I had to be patient for him to rise.

I rarely approach the river rigged up. One of the toughest but most important skills to develop as a fly-fisherman is that of patient observation. Next time you head out, take 10 or 15 min to simply watch the water before you start casting. Turn over some rocks. Shake bankside bushes. You might just learn something.

To truly understand how they feed, you must get within easy viewing range of a single trout and watch that fish interact with the flies floating by (polarized glasses are essential). This can tell you whether the fish is taking Duns, emerging, or spent insects. When the water is clear enough, you can see every movement and feeding action beneath the surface as well. This is invaluable information for developing educated guesses at which pattern/stage of insect to use and how your fly must be presented.  Tight Lines!! Brian

Greetings from Wolf Creek!! I took a drive the other day to scope out some small streams in the area for later on this summer. NOTICE: general fishing season doesn’t open until May 19th!! So although some of these streams are looking primo already, fight the urge to wet a line as the streams are closed to protect our future fish generations…..and it’s illegal.

Until then come visit us on the Missouri, which if fishing great. Bwo’s, March Browns are still here. Caddis are well on the way, though not river-wide yet. With the exception of streamers, there’s not a whole lot that isn’t working right now…….provided your drift is good. Flows dropped again, sitting just over 5,000cfs. How long will it last? Don’t wait to find out!! We have lodging available and will be opening the motel in a few days for even more options. The wind has laid down and the weather is gorgeous. Stop in and check out the sale on TFO and Redington rods, flies, tools…..10 – 35% off!!!!!

Tight Lines! Brian

not yet.....

Come check out the Spring Sale here at MRO in Wolf Creek!! We’re doing 10-35% off select TFO and Redington rods, select flies, and tools.

Fishing is great on the Mo right now and with the flows dropped (5,700 cfs as of now), the guys wading should have a bunch more opportunities. Weather is looking a bit iffy with some stout winds and chance of thunderstorms this afternoon through tomorrow. Best bet  for knowing the weather in the Rocky Mtns. though……just look outside.

Git yer dust out

The weekend, however, is shaping up to be beautiful with temps in the high 60′s – low 70′s.

Tight Lines!! Brian

Oh man. It was on fire yesterday. Thought it might be tough because of the cloudless sky but we put on at 3pm and were catching fish on dries right off the bat…in bright sun…in shallow water.

The Breeze and Cutter

There were midges, bwo’s, march browns and even caddis (the big ones). This river is so fertile. We caught them on dries, droppers and nymphs. It all worked. The dogs kept themselves entertained in the back of the boat and I couldn’t help but laugh out loud each time a fish rose confidently to a size 12  P. Adams.

Tight Lines!! Brian

Mostly quiet in the shop this weekend. I think some folks got antsy about the weather…..which never quite materialized. Such is life. The folks who braved the wind got into some fish, mostly on nymphs, but conditions were tough. Today should be good out there. Plenty of cloud cover, cool, and the wind has laid down. Bwo’s? March Browns? Maybe we’ll start seeing some caddis later this week as it’s supposed to get warm. Caddis pupa have been working for the guys nymphing. If you’re not finding fish looking up and can’t quite bring yourself to put on an indicator, try swinging some soft hackles.

Georgia’s on guard, protecting our some of our NRS inventory. Rough life we got here in Wolf Creek. Tight Lines. Brian

Dog days

Found this guy two days ago early in the a.m.  Needless to say, I was a bit surprised to see a Salmonfly on April 30th!