By Tim Romano & Kirk Deeter

5. Place the opposed biots at the hook bend with one on each side of the hook shank. Turn them so they are slightly off-center toward the near side of the hook.

6. Wrap two turns of thread over the biots to hold them in place on the near side of the hook. If you tie them in at a slight angle, thread torque pulls them onto the correct position. Pull the tying thread down to tighten the loops of thread and pull the biots on top of the hook shank.

7. Wrap forward over the butt ends of the biots to just in front of the hook point.

8. See photo for properly tied-in biot tails.

9. Continue wrapping forward over the butt ends of the biots up to and onto the lead wraps. The butt ends will help build the taper to the lead wraps.

10. Clip the butt ends of the biots and wrap a smooth thread base from the base of the tail to the three-quarter point on the shank. The thread base should be as smooth as possible and have an even taper... [ Read Full Post ]

By Tim Romano & Kirk Deeter

What's the best part about Monday in Montana? If you're fishing, you can pin down a stretch of river all to yourself. When we got to the West Fork of the Bitterroot, there were no swimmers, canoers or float-boaters on the river. The only things on the stream were cutthroats that didn't seem too particular about what they ate. We scored fish to 18 inches on sculpin streamers, adams, caddis, and yellow sallys. If you can't afford a float trip, this is the river for you. It's very wadeable and is tight and technical with varying water styles.--Joe Cermele

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By Tim Romano & Kirk Deeter

Are we seeing the rebound of the South Platte River below Cheesman Reservoir? Some guides think so.

For those of you who need some backgrounding, this section of the South Platte is one of the most famous trout fisheries in the West. About an hour from Denver, it's a tailwater, and a virtual small bug factory (bring RS2s). But the poor river has been much maligned recently ... due to the inevitable pounding it takes from anglers/proximity to a major metro area ... the effects of whirling disease ... and of course, the 2002 Hayman Fire that burned nearly 150,000 acres; the runoff from the burn later choked the river with muck.

But here's what's happening now (yesterday): Guide Jeremy Hyatt from The Hatch Flyshop says the fishing is going ballistic, especially at Deckers. Why? Bugs. Mass clouds of caddis that start about 9 a.m. and roll consistently until sundown. Standard tan elk hairs in various sizes. Then around noon, the PMDs start hatching. The hatch lasts about two hours.

Relatively high flows (the river just dropped to 456 cfs from 600 cfs) is keeping the fish tight to the banks (and flushing... [ Read Full Post ]

By Tim Romano & Kirk Deeter

With a lack of water on the upper Big Hole, our high hopes of landing some bruiser trout faded quickly. Fish were rising on the occasion, but they were confined to a deep, slow stretch near the Squaw Creek Bridge. That water gave them plenty of time to study our flies as they passed overhead. We lost a few on black caddis, but the bite wasn't consistent enough for us to stick around. So we high-tailed it out of Wisdom and rolled into Hamilton just in time to use the last light of the day to try and score on the main stem of the Bitterroot. Since it was Sunday, no fly shops were open for info, so we shot from the hip and ended up cashing in with tan caddis on a fast stretch of river just up the road from our motel. The rise didn't start until around 9:30 and lasted well into dark. Mark turned this chunky brown trout at 10:00 sharp with a short roll that put his fly just a few feet from where he was... [ Read Full Post ]

By Tim Romano & Kirk Deeter

Tim's post on the Felt Soul videos prompted me to watch "The Hatch" again ... which started me daydreaming about salmonflies ... which got me thinking about "religious experience" bug events. You know, insects raining from the sky, waters parting with trout wakes ... the moments that ruin you, and transform you into a trout bum forever.

My top 10 "religious experience" bug events in America:

1. Salmonflies. Early-mid June, Gunnison Gorge, Colorado. 20-inch fish hammer 2-inch dry flies, sometimes before they hit the surface. 'Nuff said. The Big Hole and Rock Creek in Montana are also epic salmonfly rivers.

2. Hexagenia. Mid-late June, western Michigan. Giant bugs fill the night sky ... you fish into night, and when you lose light, blind cast by sound at gulps and splashes. Mmmmmm.

3. Green Drakes. Early August, Frying Pan River, Colorado. Wait until the monsoon rains start in the afternoon, then boogie to the river and wait for the armada to float downstream. With their wings up, they look like tiny sailboats ... until they get crushed by trout.

4. The "Smolt Bust." Mid June, Naknek River, Alaska. Fine ... it's not a... [ Read Full Post ]

By Tim Romano & Kirk Deeter

The last two weeks have provided some exceptional fly fishing in Northern California. The Lower Sacramento River in Redding, Ca. has been flowing between 13,000 and 15,000 cfs, typical summer flows, and the drift fishing for large, colorful, rainbows has been very good. Twenty to forty fish days are common with the average size rainbow going over 16 inches. Smaller nymphs such as caddis pupae and micro mayflies are producing in the upper drifts with stonefly nymphs and large rubber legs producing in the
lower drifts.

A little closer to home our central valley rivers have provided some incredible days on the Stanislaus and Mokelumne Rivers. Nymph fishing has been very good but the dry fly fishing and streamer fishing have been epic. My clients have had days of up to 75 trout with fish up to 23 inches coming on dry flies and streamers producing wild rainbows up to six pounds.

One of our most successful streamer patterns this season has been the bonefish slider saltwater pattern. Fished with a 250 grain streamer express line with 2x to 3x tippet this fly pattern as enticed big rainbows as well as striped bass in the same water. Just last week I had two... [ Read Full Post ]