Cheap Item to Help Increase your Success When Fishing Dry Flies

One day early this summer, I was fishing a riffle where a side channel flowed back into the main channel of the St. Joe River.  There was a hatch of Pale Morning Duns rising off the water, flying around in the air and fish were rolling.  I tied on my closest match to the size and color of the PMDs that were flying and began to fish.  Cast after cast, no strikes.  Fish were actually taking bugs off the surface within a foot or two of my fly, but absolutely no interest in mine.  I tried several different variations with the same result.  When I was tying on yet another fly to try and match the PMD's in the air, I noticed a bug drifting by on the water.  It was not a PMD, it was darker and larger.  I tried to scoop one up in my hand, but in the moving water it was difficult.   It took me about 5 minutes to finally get one that I could inspect.  It turned out to be a slightly larger Blue Winged Olive spinner, much darker in color.  Once I was aware of this, I tied on a BWO pattern of the same size. and I hooked up with a 12 inch cutthroat on the very first cast, and proceeded to catch about 8 more fish before the action dried up.

Maybe this is common knowledge to some, but for me this was a learning experience.  First, it does not matter what bugs are in the air, it matters what bugs are on the water.  The second thing I realized is that I needed a much better way to catch the little buggers as they drifted by.  The next day I went to the local pet store and bought a small fishnet for aquariums, like this one.

I cut the handle down, and put it in my fly vest.  Over the next few weeks while fishing, I noticed bugs drifting by in the current, and with the help of this little net I was able to scoop them up on the first try to get a closer look at them.  I can now catch the bug and match a pattern to it much quicker and easier, and believe it has improved my hook up rate.  For about $3.00, this little item has shown its value multiple times.

Row v Wade - Where do you stand on this issue.

This discussion is not about abortion, I will leave that for others to discuss.  This is about fly fishing.  

I have fished from drift boats, float tubes and a whole lot of wading.  Over the years my preference has become increasingly more towards the walk and wade approach.  I absolutely enjoy every minute I spend wading in the river and working every little seem, swirl, riffle and bolder.  I can spend hours working a 300 yard stretch of a good river.  My experience fishing while drifting have always left me feeling like I missed opportunities to catch fish, as I drift by and am not able to work every hole as effectively as possible.

I do understand that there are waters that are not conducive to one or the other, but if I am on water that is accessible to walk and wade and suitable to fish from a tube or boat, my preference would be standing in the river, what is your's?  Please comment below.

King of the Hole - Small Stream Strategy for Big Cutthroats

I am fortunate enough to have property on one of the bigger tributaries of the St. Joe River in North Idaho, and have been fishing it for over 10 years.  With the main river so close, most anglers don't venture up the tributaries, and I rarely see any one else fishing my stream called Big Creek. To say the least I know it like the back of my hand.

One of my favorite holes on Big Creek

In the years that I have been fishing it I have caught hundreds of West Slope Cutthroats ranging from 2" to the largest at 19.5".  Every year I am able to land nearly a dozen that are 16"+ and I have noticed a clear pattern in the behavior of the bigger fish.

KB2 Fly Rods Retail at Idaho Fly Fishing Company

KB2 Custom Fly Rods now has a new retail outlet in Avery, Idaho.  The Idaho Fly Fishing Company, located on the banks of the beautiful St. Joe River in Avery is now carrying a small selection of KB2 Fly Rods.

Plans are in place to grow the selection for next season with a larger variety of weights and designs. If you are in the area I recommend you check out this first class operation, have some of their delicious huckleberry ice cream, try some of the world class cutthroat fishing on the St. Joe and of course take a look at the KB2 Fly Rods on display.  KB2 looks forward to a long and successful relationship with Dan and his crew.


http://customflyreels.webstarts.com/index.html

Why is this blog called "The Dead Drift"

In my years of fly fishing, one often overlooked thing I have learned is the importance of the 'Dead Drift'.  Being able to present your fly to the fish without any influence from the drag of the line or leader.  Mastering the dead drift will increase the number of strikes and hookups, making your fishing trip more successful and fun.

Many fly fishermen spend countless hours practicing and many dollars buying equipment to improve their casting ability.  Now I am not saying that being a proficient fly caster, and having good equipment are not important, but even with those, if a fly fisherman cannot achieve a dead drift with their chosen fly, the number of fish caught and even the number of strikes will be greatly reduce.

A dead drift is when the fly drifts naturally in the current, unaffected by the movement of the tippet, leader and fly line.  In later posts I will discuss strategies to improve your ability to achieve the dead drift, but this post is to discuss why I chose the name for my blog.

I chose to call my blog "The Dead Drift - My Fly Fishing Obsession" because I feel it is how I am progressing through my journey. No, not because I am dead, but because I am moving where the currents of this hobby are taking me.  I am trying to learn and improve, have fun and keep busy.  I am trying new things, not because someone else says I need to, but because that is where the current is taking me.

Two currents in my life came together to create this obsession.  My professional career began as a machinist and I have been involved in manufacturing for over 25 years as a manager and consultant.  As my career evolved I no longer was able to run machines, but loved it so much I bought a mill and a lathe for my garage, so I could dabble in it when I had time.  When I started to get hooked on fly fishing, I decided to try and machine my own fly reels.

I setup my own anodizing systems, developed my own drag design and started making custom fly reels for friends and then later for a few customers.






The next natural drift in the current was to begin learning how to build rods, and then build the two in sets. I started buying blanks, guides, reel seats and grips and learned how to build rods.  The rod pictured below is one that I built with a matching reel for myself.  It is still my go to 5 weight for dry flies.

After showing this rod to a custom rod builder, he explained to me that one of his favorite manufacturers of reel seats, Struble Mfg., had stopped producing them and wondered if I could machine something similar.  So that was the next current in my journey, to begin making my own reel seats.  Here are a couple of my favorites.

Now that I could make my own reel seats, the next obvious drift in the current was to begin making my own grips.

I have 'dead drifted' to the point in my  journey, where I officially opened up for business to produce custom rods, and rod components for the public.  I only buy the blank and the guides, I make everything else from scratch.

 Who knows where I will end up, as I continue to dead drift through this journey.

KB2 Custom Fly Rods

FISHING REPORT - St. Joe River (Fourth of July Weekend)

Fishing on the Joe this year is going to be a little tough.  Water levels are very low, already at normal August levels.  This causes the water temperature to be higher than normal, and slows down the fishing activity later in the day.  I was able to get out several times over the weekend, and found that early morning in the main river was the best.  Several mornings between 6:00 am and 9:00 am, I was able to do quite well.  On the morning of the 4th, I landed 15 fish, on #16 and #18 Blue Winged Olive, and St. Joe Special Patterns.  Below are pictures of 2 of the biggest from that morning.

 


The fish on the left is about 15 inches, while the one on the right is a little over 16.

All in all, it was not a bad weekend, given the water conditions.  If you plan on fishing the St. Joe this year, you had better get there soon.  With the water temperature rising, the fish will be moving up stream to seek colder water.  Will be time to start hitting the tributaries soon.


Until next time,
Karl

Introduction

Combining two passions in life..., Catchin' Fish and Makin' Stuff
All products are 'one at a time', bench built creations.  I machine the reel seat hardware on manual equipment, turn and finish the wood and cork, and meticulously build all of the rods that come out of my shop.
​Thank you for taking the time to visit.

I started fishing at a very early age, but it was gear fishing for Walleye, Bass, Trout and others in the lakes and rivers in Eastern Washington.  About 12 years ago, I bought property in North Idaho on one of the tributaries of the beautiful St. Joe River.  I spent most of my time in the first couple of years building a cabin, but every once in a while I would take a little time and started to learn the art of fly fishing.  

(Here is a picture of the cabin I built)

Since that time, my obsession has grown to include tying my own flies, and building my own fly rods.  It has now evolved into the creation of a small business building custom fly rods and reel seats, and the creation of this blog.  I intend to add new posts weekly to discuss anything fly fishing related including my latest trip reports, tips and hints I learn along the way and progress on my rod building projects.  I hope you are interested in what I have to say, and I thank you for taking the time to visit my blog. 

Below is a link to my website, I you have a moment, please check it out.

http://customflyreels.webstarts.com/index.html .