55 on the fly

Jay Smit, maker of the Jvice asked if I would like to be a featured tier on the Jvice web site. I was happy to say yes as I believe his vise to be the very best and really enjoy tying on it. When you tie 400 dozen flies a year, you've got to have a sturdy, comfortable and dependable vise to tie on. Check out the web site and me on the Fly Tiers Page here: http://www.jvice.com/pages/tiers/doug_korn.html

Please check out the "Yellowstone Country Guardians"......... A great youth program that I had the privilege of donating a little of my guide time to. It was a joy, tying some flies and interacting with this wonderful group of young adults striving to improve and connect with each other and the natural wonders that surround us. YCG Vision Statement: The Yellowstone Country Guardians bring a powerful voice of hope and inclusivity to the lands and communities of Yellowstone Country. We are a place-based organization that inspires people to care for and love this region. Our deep sense of place and rootedness is engrained in the work we do and allows us to bring new and exciting ideas to Yellowstone Country and beyond. Because we believe the fate of Yellowstone Country rests in the hands of its local communities, we invest in the area’s greatest asset—its youth. No one has more to lose from the despoilment of Yellowstone Country than the youth of this region; thus our youth...

Hey folks, just a quick note to let you know that our Head Guide Walter Wiese at Parks Fly Shop is at it again. He is uploading some of our custom fly ties on YouTube. Check out Wally's Glass Head PT. Pay special attention to his soft hackle technique, I use this handy little trick all the time now. The Glass Haed PT can be fished dead drift or on the swing, give it a try! Soft Hackle Technique: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-dfsN0ZPkc Glass Head PT fly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxyVviiA7Jo&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

What a day of turkey hunting we had Friday 10/29/10. Myself, Jim and Ben hunted in Cherry Creek, NY. We hunted two big fields where we knew the birds were feeding and traveling. I took a nice hen in the morning from my Double Bull blind as a flock of 30+ birds came to feed in the buckwheat. Ben got his hen in the afternoon, she was one of 27 birds feeding in the picked corn field he was watching. It was a cold rainy day but it sure paid off! I can tie all the turkey tail nymphs I want now... Jimmy and I with my bird. Ben with his hen, a 52 yard shot, yes that's reaching out there!

A little commercial break here... I'll be a guest speaker at the: I'll have a slide show to present on "Fly Fishing Yellowstone National Park" and will do a few fly tying demos as well. It should be a fun weekend. http://www.swain.com/

I've been gone over a month; vacationing, guiding and tying flies for Parks Fly Shop in Gardiner, Montana. I guided and fished in Yellowstone National Park. My son Russ drove out with me and stayed the first week and we had a ball and caught LOTS OF FISH! Here's a few photos: Russ casting... Russ with his first fish on the Yellowstone River... but not his last! Brookies... how many did we catch? Too many? Can you ever catch too many? My best fish of the trip a Brown Trout of 20 1/4 inches from a Yellowstone River float with my fellow PFS guide, Ben Jewell. This big boy took an Olive and Cream Double Bunny streamer. More photo's in upcoming blogs......

Folks, I've been tying lots of hoppers for the shop trying to finish up my fly tying orders. The trout fishing has been a bit off with double the rain for this month and high water levels at times. So, I've had some time to work on a new hopper design. This fly is designed with the foam in an upright position vs. a flat positioning on top of the hook shank. Seems like a good floater and it can be tied with or without the hair wing. I'll be fishing this proto-type out west next month...... What do you think?

At the end of the Montana fishing season last year Wally, our head guide at Parks Fly Shop and I sat down at our fly tying stations and came up with this new hopper pattern for 2010. The key new feature on the proto-type pictured is the wrapped foam underbody abdomen. Pink was our hot color last season and we wanted the ability to customize the abdomen colors on our hoppers. This is basically Wally's GFA hopper with a wrapped underbody. It's a bit tricky to tie as we don't want any more than one set of thread wraps in the abdomen area. I'm tying hundreds of these hoppers for the shop in different sizes and various colors. I can't wait for hopper season in Yellowstone, it's a blast fishing these big flies when your used to fishing tiny trico's here in NY.... Go tie some! Materials: Hook: MFCo. 7026 2xl nymph 8-10 Thread: Red 6/0 Uni Legs: MFC yellow speckled legs med. for 8’s and small for 10’s Underbody: pink craft foam Overbody: tan craft foa...

Fellow fly tiers: I thought I'd share a few thoughts and photos on my new fly tying vise. It's called a "Jvice". The vise is made by Jay Smit a one-man-band sort of speak and he is a master craftsman. My vise with C-clamp was $205 plus shipping. This is the best vise I have seen for the money. The vise has very solid hook holding capability and excellent function and quality. One of my goals this year was to upgrade my fly tying equipment and I've done that with this vise, my thanks Jay! Check them out here: http://www.jvice.com/ Here is where the magic happens... I love tying flies and designing new fly patterns. In the vise is a Parks Fly Shop "Soda Fountain Biot Emerger" in size #18 that I tie for them. I featured it in a previous post. Go tie some!

I hadn't been out turkey hunting till yesterday... better late than never! Shot this big old gobbler at 11:30. 9 3/4" beard 1 1/4" spurs - a real limbhanger! Feathers for tying flies and making arrows! Not to mention some very good eating.

Folks, I've been tying dozens of these Korn Biot Emergers for Parks Fly Shop on hooks sizes #12-18. Shown here is the BWO version, but you can vary the colors for PMD's, Sulphurs, etc... They are fun and relatively easy to tie. They are a very good pattern to use when the bugs are emerging or there are duns on the water. I almost never fish a dun pattern anymore. The fish are attracted to the seemingly disabled cripples and emergers. The fish recognize that these flies are in trouble and can't get away. You only need use floatant on the wing and the upper hackle. Catch a bunch! Hook: MFCo. 7048 light scud #14-18 Thread: 8/0 Uni olive Tail/Shuck: Bronze nylon yarn Abdomen: dyed turkey biot - BWO Wing Post: seatbelt material (or gray nylon yarn, etc.) Hackle: Med. Dun rooster clipped on the bottom

My good friend Alex (who is not a fly fisherman) and I took his boat out and fished the South end of Hemlock Lake. The target of our fishing today was pickerel. They were in the weed beds and we found them with spinning gear and frog imitations. I haven't spin fished since the early 80's and Alex laughed when he saw my gear. But it was fun, something different and we caught some good fish. The old gear worked just fine... We fished no bait, only top water weedless plugs and the pickerel crashed what we offered. Four of the pickerel were over 24 inches which is big for "pick's" around here. We caught a few big small mouth bass too. I gotta get Alex fly fishing! Enjoy the photos.

"Happy Mothers Day" to Shauna, our daughter in-law! Here is Shauna, our son Russ and our grandson Jackson, at the Virginia Fly Fishing and Wine Tasting Festival in Waynesboro last month. http://www.vaflyfishingfestival.org/ Jackson is a future fly fisher, notice the hat! We had a beautiful day with family, wine and lots of fly fishing vendors, outfitters and seminars. I saw Lefty Kreh's casting demo, he's unbelievable. I also attended a seminar by Mossy Creek Fly Fishing's own Colby Trow. He did a slide show on the fishing of the local area streams and it was excellent. All-in-all we had a great time! And of course "Happy Mothers Day" as well to my wonderful wife Michelle. Here is Nana with Jackson, a couple of cuties...

Folks: I got out to the creek this morning for a couple of hours and took about a dozen brown trout, all in the 8-12 inch range. The action was a bit slower than the last few times out with no bugs hatching. I caught most of the fish on the following flies; Korn's Oatka Stone, Pogo Nymph and the Green Weenie. The weather was nice so I had lots of company on the creek... Anyway here's a few photos. Get out there and catch a bunch!

The "Korn's Spent Wing Caddis", pictured here and at the top of this blog, got a nice plug on "The Fly Fishing in Yellowstone National Park" blog about half way down the page. I tie this fly for Parks' Fly Shop in tan and olive, there it's called: "Doug's Drowned Pheasant Caddis". See the plug here: http://flyfishyellowstone.blogspot.com/2010/04/gentility-now.html This caddis pattern is a great guide fly, if it's fished properly. I fish it as a trailing fly tied about 12-18 inches behind a dry fly, like an X-Caddis or a hopper. Do not put any floatant on it! When it hits the water it floats for a bit on top, then sinks in the film, then slightly under the film, then bam - fish on! Really, this is my go to fly and it works just as well in the East or West. If you are interested in tying the fly a materials list and tying steps are here: Hook: MFCo. #7000 Dry 14-18 Thread: Serafil 200 Rib: tag end of thread Abdomen: DK#12 Caddis ...

"On The Fly" - one of the many brown trout to come to hand this morning on the creek. The fish were taking green weenies early and then when the sun warmed things up the Korn's Oatka Stone was the hot fly. I was fishing a size 16 KOS without an over-wing in the film behind a BWO in 16 so I could use it as an indicator fly. I never took one fish on the BWO they all took the stone. A great morning of fishing was had. The Korn's Oatka Stone fly in action. I fished a Grey's Streamflex 8' 6" 4wt. rod fitted with a Hardy reel. Hope you can get out and catch some too!

My wife Michelle and I got our 5th wheel out of storage and are getting her all cleaned up, flushed out and stocked up for a summer of fun. The RV will be my home base for most of my fishing putting me even closer to my home trout water here in NY. This year I'm taking a little break from guiding at Parks Fly Shop in Gardiner, MT for our youngest sons graduation in May from Oswego State College and then I'll be in MT for July and August. The shop is still keeping me very busy with tons of fly tying orders to fill, so I'll be working my little fingers off throughout the summer trying to keep up! I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable summer traveling and camping along the way, Dougie.

Here are some photo's from the last couple of outings. Key flies were the: green weenie, hendrickson emerger, cracker caddis, fireball and the Oatka stone... enjoy!

Well folks, I fished again yesterday and took several nice brown trout on Oatka Creek which is about 45 minutes away from my home here in New York. We've been having a good little black stone fly hatch and this fly is just the ticket. I developed this fly to fish Oatka Creek in April and May when these little black stone flies hatch. The fly only has 2 or 3 materials depending on how you tie it. It’s a versatile fly that works best as a trailing fly and can be fished with (dry) or without (emerger) “Frog’s Fanny” floatant. Used as a lead dry fly it can be hard to see on the water. Variations include; cutting the CDC wing short for use as a nymph, adding a bead head, body and wing color, caddis variations minus the tail... with over-wing without over-wing bottom Hook: MFC #7000 dry fly std. #12-16 photo is 14 Thread: Uni 8/0 brown Tail & body: Turkey tail feather 8-10 vanes, tied in at bend to form short tails. Then wrapped forward over superglue to form body to one eye len...