Time To Tie

When the wife goes away, out come the materials.



The winter fish are on their way!


The tug is the drug
Adrian

Detailed Spey and Switch Class on the Yuba

Spey and Switch Rods on the Yuba
With Ryan Miller, Kieth Kaneko, and Adrian Psuty

This class will be held on the Yuba River and will be dedicated to exploring the world of spey casting and utilizing spey techniques. Learn everything from how to hold the rod to properly working a run. We will show you how to select rods, reels, lines, tips, flies, spey casts and water. We will dive into Skagit, Scandinavian and long belly line applications. This is the most complete spey class out there. If you have a qestion, we will have an answer.

If you do not own a two-handed rod, no problem, we will have multiple outfits available for you to use.

These techniques will also add another dimension to your single handed casting so feel free to bring along a single handed rod.


The class will feature local guide, travel agent and my good friend Keith Kaneko of Angling On The Fly and local guide and casting instructor Adrian Psuty of Anchor Point Fly Fishing. We will spill the beans about one of our passions and put all the pieces together about the spey game.

Date:
November 22: 10 anglers max, cost is $75 per person

Students will be taken on a first come, first serve basis and ability does not matter.

The class will start at 10am and end at 5pm.

Contact Ryan Miller at rhmiller@gmail.com, Phone: 530-913-8312 with questions or to sign up.

Egg-Truder

A new fly for the fall season in the valley.
This one was born from the original intruders with an eggy twist.


This, like most other intruders I tie, is tied on a straightened 2/0 salmon hook. I rig a stinger hook using my tippet and a small piece of junction tubing with a non-slip loop. Rigging in this way has three major advantages over using just the long shank hook; the short shank of the stinger decreases the amount of leverage that the fish can apply, the stinger is free to move once a fish is hooked additionally decreasing the fish's leverage, and the hook can easily be replaced if it becomes dull or damaged.

I will be putting together some step by step picture instructions for tying and rigging intruder style flies (good motivation for getting a new tying area set up).


The tug is the drug
Adrian

Flies For The Season

This past week's rain brought some much needed water, the first feeling of Fall temperatures, and even gave my boat a good free bath.


As my wife and I make plans for the addition to our family, close to the top of the list was the location of the nursery. I will soon be giving up my fly addict room to make way for the crib, changing table, and other required items. I began the process of moving out but had to spend one final evening at my tying bench before it was relocated (to where I am not yet sure but it is not staying where it is).

Fitting of the change in season I tied a few holiday flies. I am sure that both will go for a swim very soon.

Halloween (Orange Back Zombie)



Christmas (Green Tailed Bow)
Yes it is still a quite a ways off but it will be here before we know it.



One little piece of advice that has served me well for the past few years. Get your holiday shopping done before November 15th. It will win you huge points with your wife (if you have one), you will not have to listen to all that crappy holiday music while shopping, and you will free up some time down the road to spend on the river when the big boys are around.

The tug is the drug
Adrian

Trinity River Full Day Spey Schools

Once you hook a summer steelhead on the Trinity River, you’ll be coming back every year to view the beauty of the river and the possibility of hooking another feisty sea-run rainbow. The Trinity is one of the top steelhead fisheries on the west coast and continues to produce some of the largest runs in North America. During this informative spey casting and fishing class, you’ll be exposed to everything needed to make your time on the river more productive. We will float and stop at designated locations, both river left and river right, to work on spey casting and fishing methods. Learn how to become a better spey caster while increasing your knowledge about equipment and fishing a spey rod. Topics will include, but are not limited to, equipment , casting styles , spey casting techniques from both sides of the river, casting and fishing sinktips, distance casting, and fishing methods. This school includes a river-side lunch, scenic float and casting and fishing instruction. Don’t miss this opportunity to discover one of California’s finest “steelhead-spey” rivers. Class size is limited to 6 people. October 10^th-11^th from 8am to 4pm. Recommended lodging near the Willow Creek area : The Bigfoot Motel (530) 629-2142, Gambi Hill Motel/Cottages (530) 629-2701, Coho Cottages 800 722-2223, Campgrounds: Camp Kimtu

Cost per person: $350.00

Date: October 10^th and 11^th 2009

Equipment List:

-Spey Rod Oufit (Rod, Reel and Line, if you do not have an outfit we can provide one)

-Waders

-Wading Boots

-Valid California Fishing License with Steelhead Report Card

-Leaders: 9’ – 15’ Tapered Leaders 3x-0x, Tippet-0X-3X

-Summer Steelhead Flies: #8-#6- Green Butt Silver Hilton, October Caddis, Muddler Minnow, Sculpin,

Green Butt Skunk

-Hat

-Polarized Glasses

-Sunscreen

-Camera w/ Batteries and Memory Card

American River Fall and Winter Steelhead Spey Special

American River Fall and Winter

Steelhead Spey Special: $250

8-10 Hours for 1 or 2 Anglers

Expert instruction coupled with a full day on the water at a special rate-

who could ask for more?

This program is designed provide you with the skills and information you need to chase fall and winter steelhead with two handed rods. If you've already got the skills, no problem, we will skip the instruction and get right to chasing steelies on the swing for the entire day.

Walk and wade or float depending upon river flows and season. All gear (rods, lines, leaders, flies, tippet...) will be provided. If you have your own outfit, bring it and we will provide the flies, leaders, and tippet.

Instructional topics to be covered as needed and personalized to your needs:

· Gear (rods, lines, flies)

· Casting tune-up (river right and river left)

· Presentation techniques for floating and sink tip lines

· Reading water

We will show you where the great swinging water can be found right here on the American!

What's the catch?

-This program is only availble for two handed rods (spey or switch) - swing only.

-We will not be providing a full lunch for these days (we will have a cooler with ice, drinks, and snacks). Please bring your own lunch if you like.

The tug is the drug

Adrian

Swinging On The American

The American has begun to pick up her pace over the past few weeks. We have been out all but a few days over the past week and with good numbers of grabs, even a few fish to hand.



It's a little early for numbers of fish we have been seeing/hooking. The higher flows are probably playing a part in keeping the American temps slightly below those of the Sac (lets just hope that they have enough water to keep us going thorough the winter). Most of the fish we have been getting are in the 18-22' range and a mixture of wild and hatchery.

We will soon be launching a Fall and Winter Swing Special for the American River. Details in the next post.

The tug is the drug
Adrian

Tier Tier Pants On Fire (at least to keep warm)

I spent last week out in Pennsylvania visiting some fiends and family. Needless to say, it was quite cold (lots of single digits) and there was more snow than I have seen in a long time. This meant lots of time spent inside.
In addition to enjoying some quality family time I had multiple evenings to spend with some tying materials, hooks, and a vise. I am pretty sure that I will be ready for my next coastal adventure as my boxes will be stocked with plenty of new patterns.


I wanted to highlight one of the flies that I have been working on. It is pretty much my interpretation of an Akroyd.

Recipe :

Hook: AJ 1.5 or 3/0
Thread: black 6/0
Tip: round or oval silver
Tag: orange silk
Top Tail: golden pheasant crest
Side Tails: golden pheasant tippets
Body: rear 2/3 orange seal or sub, front black silk, separated by orange ostrich
Rib: medium oval rear, medium pearl Mylar with small round silver front
Hackle: orange schlappen over the rear and blue eared pheasant over the front
Wing: orange goose shoulder with center strip of peacock secondary
Cheeks: jungle cock

I have been working on this one in multiple color combos.

More posts are on the way.

The tug is the drug.
Adrian