A Powerful Dry

I was seriously pumped for this one. I was going to fish rising water on a couple of Class A limestoners for wild brown trout just as their metabolism was starting to shake off the lethargic winter doldrums and kick into high gear for the season. Even the weather forecast was on my side; unseasonably warm temperatures and 1/4" to 1/2" of rain was as good as in the bank they said (must've been one of those Wachovia banks). It was just a matter of tossing my gear in the car, grabbing a 16 oz. Folgers and putting the long drive behind me. My nymph box was fully stocked with the latest additions to my soon to be rolled out Flatlander Flies© series (more about this important event later). If I encountered a decent hatch of early season baetis mayflies well, that would only make a good day even better. A powerful dry had settled over the region during the last few months but everything was now about to change -for the better...

Or so I thought. Once again I arrived to unseasonably low water conditions. And believe me, we're all getting as tard of hearin' about low water conditions here in these parts as we are about failed banks and poverty stricken Wall Street investment bankers. Long line nymphing was difficult at best on this small limestoner but it did produce a few average sized fish while I was waiting for the afternoon baetis emergence to begin. One would think the low water levels would have set the stage for a classic day of dry fly fishing. It was not to be. Around 1400 hrs. a decent hatch began to come off all through the Narrows section but not a single fish rose to those tiny slate-winged sailboats. That's not all that unusual on this stream since the underwater invertebrate biomass is exceedingly rich and available to the fish 24/7. Turning over a few mid-stream rocks showed that the invertebrate life suffered little, if any, ill affects from last months liquid manure runoff from the Amish farm upstream in the Brush Valley.

Later in the afternoon I decided to change flies, hoping that doing so would also change my luck. I tied on one of the new signature flies in my soon to be unveiled Flatlander Flies© line; a green Rhyacophilia caddis larva. Less than half a dozen casts later and I was tight to a slightly better than foot long wild brown. A few casts later and I was into another one like the other one. So it went for the remainder of the afternoon.

Although it stayed cloudy and overcast, nary a drop of rain fell all day long. If anything, the streams actually became lower than they were earlier in the day.

Male Mallard

Taking a gander at yours truly as I spend a moment sizing up it's finely barred flank feathers. We've had such an out pouring of testament, kind words, support and yes, even demand for our CDC & biot flies as well as our various other patterns, that we have decided to go public with 'em. Flatlander Flies© is what we aim on calling 'em. We don't believe in secret flies here at Wade Rivers Wild Tramps so we will be offering up our highly acclaimed and highly successful patterns on a limited basis on the order of approximately one fly per month. Everything, recipes, instructions, photos, material sources and rationale will be published right here on WRWT. All patterns will have been rigorously field tested by Carrie (the RBF Girl) and myself over some of this country's most discerning wild brown trout populations. If you don't tie flies yourself we'll be offering one's tied by our staff on a limited basis of 6 each per order. Production tying is currently limited by the staff's frequent marijuana breaks. Just kidding (sort of). The only requirement is that you fish 'em and have fun with 'em.

14.5" Wild Brown Trout

Taken on a Rhyacophilia caddis larva from Flatlander Flies©. It never did rain worth a hoot, but at least the fishing picked up as the day went along. In the early evening I dropped downstream to the big river to try out my new Hardy/Greys 10' 4-weight fly rod that I purchased from the Feathered Hook Fly Shop specifically for short lined pocketwater nymphing. The only thing better than the way that long rod performed was the way those browns were all over my caddis larva like white on rice. Had to finally pry myself away from the river to head back home.

John Penn's Crick

The dimming of the day. Late afternoon sunlight reflects off of an outcropping of limestone on the western prong of Woodward Mountain here in the Karoondinha Gorge. I only had this one day to spend on the water so it was now time to start the long drive home. If anyone finds a Filson rain jacket alongside I-78 they can have it. Something tells me I won't be needing it anymore.

Baetis Summit '09

RBF Pro Staffers: Glen G, Gil Fisher, Greg G, Bowhunter, Agrontrutta Front row: Elliot G.

It's now official; Springtime has finally arrived here in Pennsylvania. Yeah, according to the calendar it's still winter, and there's still over 7 feet of snow on the snow pole up at Colter Pass, but here in limestone valleys of central Pee-Aye that musty earthy smell is back in the air and vibrant colors are once again slowly returning to the swollen buds of the riparian flora. The sight of baetis mayflies pouring out of the riffles of your favorite trout stream sure doesn't hurt either.

That can only mean one thing if you're a not-so-serious fly fisherman here in the Keystone State; it's time for the RBF Pro Staffers to gather for their annual Baetis Summit and enjoy some excellent early season dry fly fishing, superb weather, first-rate camaraderie and extraordinary food.

As is typical whenever Pro Staffers gather, the stars and planets were in precise alignment and that set the table for a heavenly weekend of angling. The feeding frenzy created by those hatching mayflies and hungry trout could only be matched by the Pro Staffers themselves chowing down on Bowhunter's mouth watering buffalo burgers which he grilled up to perfection for us at the end of the days fishing.

I'd have bet the horse farm that there would be some pretty good dry fly fishing on the creek this weekend -even with these bright bluebird sunny skies. For my money, the spring baetis hatch is one of the best as well as most highly anticipated hatches of the year. Probably because it's our first opportunity to imitate real live honest to goodness mayflies with a relatively large fly (size#18). Water levels are a little on the low side so far this year. Although it looks more like late May on the streams right now they're at a perfect level for the dry fly game and I'll take it. Water temperature was 49F at noon and the ambient air temps were in the high 40's all weekend but it felt much warmer than that being out in the bright sunshine.

Greg G looks so relaxed he could be fishing for Yellowstone cutthroats on his beloved Greybull River back in Wyoming. In fact, Greg even reported catching a few cutthroats again today, this time on his cicada imitations that were left over from last season. Claims they must have been escapee's from the hatchery up by Oliver Diebler's old place. Greg catches more cutts on this stream than anyone else I know.

Me? After countless refusals to those ridiculous looking and highly overrated CDC & biot duns and emergers, I jettisoned the whole lot of 'em and then proceeded to hammer those stupid trout on an #18 RBF Baetis Emerger.

After a long cold winter the Chief welcomes in spring '09 with a customary good long toast of homemade 14 percent hard cider.

2008 Baetis Summit Flashback
After a long cold winter the Chief welcomes in spring '08 with a customary good long toast (of something).

Even Midger came out of hibernation and made a showing.

I'm not sure if it's actually possible to shit yourself to death or not but I had no idea this was an active rail line till shortly before this picture was taken when I heard the the engineer blow his whistle and yell "get the **** off the tracks you stupid ******* moron".

Greg enjoying some hot dam fishing while daydreaming of the Saucon and the Bushkill Creeks back home.

A special round of thanks goes out to Bowhunter, Matt, the Chief and Midger for their gracious hospitality and for sharing their home water with us. Thanks guys, it was nice to be knee deep in a real trout stream again!

Parting Shot: R.I.P.

The former location of a once popular central Pennsylvania fly shop.

Trout Hunting with CDC

We've recently been flooded with letters, e-mails, phone calls, anonymous text messages, blog comments and cryptic notes slipped under the door asking us to post a photo or two of those CDC & biot duns and emergers that I have been raving about right here on this blog. I like to think of myself as the Charlie Meck of fly tying, so here ya go!

Baetis Emerger - Size #18

I would be remiss if I didn't say right off the bat that I have Rene' Harrop and Kim Boal to thank for getting me started and pointing me in the right direction when it comes to spring creek flies. I once watched Kim work some CDC magic the way only she can work it at the Somerset Fly Tying Show a few years ago, and as soon as I saw Rene' Harrop's Trouthunter configurations in a Montana fly shop the following year it all came together for me. I even started growing a ponytail just like Rene's, chicks dig that kind of stuff!

The first place I tested this pattern out was on DePuys Spring Creek during the concurrent summer hatches of Pale Morning Duns and baetis, and after that day I never looked back. Duns, cripples, stillborns -they all worked like there was some kind of Hex put on those fish and it was the slender body that was the key. The fact that they're even easier to tie than comparaduns only made them even better in my judicious mind. After that fateful day I went ahead and field tested these flies on spring creeks and tailwaters all over Pennsylvania and Montana. They even earned their meal ticket during a week long trip to Montana's South Fork of the Flathead River in the Bob Marshall Wilderness where the west slope cutthroats turned out to be downright picky during an unexpected hatch of #18 Pale Evening Duns.

Baetis Dun - Size #20

Hook: Tiemco 101, size #18 or #20
Thread: Uni-Thread 8/0 Camel
Abdomen: Trouthunter dark tan turkey biots
Wing: Trouthunter Premium CDC - cream or yellow ( I use bright colors to improve visibility)
Thorax: Rabbit fur dyed brown
Tail: Charlie Collins golden grizzly hackle fibers or brown antron.


Since I've become enamored with this style of dry fly I have eschewed my expensive dry fly necks and I will fish comparaduns no more, forever. So what does one do after a fish or two has slimed up the CDC you might be like axin' yourself? That's why God created Frogs Fanny; rinse the fly off in the stream and apply liberal amounts of an industrial epoxy thickener agent (aka Frogs Fanny) and they're as good as new. Yep, you guys can thank me later.

Spring Baetis Hatch - March, 2005

Greg G. taking a time out to read his new, autographed, first edition copy of Flatlanders and Ridgerunners during a break in the action, while standing where he should be fishing.

This post was brought to you by Overton's Wonder Wax. You "wonder" how a tube of fly tying wax can last so long after you realize you've had the same tube since the early 1980's and it still has a long way to go...