What's New

As most of you know, we had a severe drought across most of our western states this past year. My fall treck across Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and Alberta, Canada for trophy trout could be described with a boatload of adjectives: fantastic, disappointing, unsuspecting, abnormal, surprising and on and on. To say it was an adventure perhaps sums up what Dave Freel, my fishing partner and I found.

The weather was rainy and windy as we left southern Oregon and never settled down over the next 20 days. Rain, snow, hail, fog and winds with gusts to 45 MPH were present every day in one form or another. There were periods of some days where the sun was out and the wind calmed to a soft ripple.

We left on September 20th for Piedmont Reservoir on the Guild Ranch in southern Wyoming to meet and fish with several clients who got their first taste of trophy stillwater trout fishing. No one came away disappointed, swollen thigh muscles from kicking into the wind maybe, but happy campers.

For those of you who haven't fished Piedmont, you're missing out on what I consider the best trophy lake I've fished in the past l0 years. Rainbows ran 22-27 inches, 5-l0 pounds, browns l8-28 inches, 3-l0 pounds, brook trout l8-22, 3-5 pounds with a 24 inch 6 pound male a sight to behold. We also landed fat bodied Rainbow/Cutthroat Hybrids that ran l8-20 inches and averaged 3-4 pounds. Although I didn't land any tiger trout, other anglers have taken several in the 8-9 pound class.

We had lots of late morning wind to put up with, but plenty of hook ups to go with it. We left September 24 in a blowing snow storm for Soda Lake out of Pinedale, Wyoming. At this time of year the browns and brookies show up in several area for prespawn. If they are active, you will see them rolling on or near the surface. When we arrived, it was raining, there were 3 guys fishing where we like to fish and no sign of any surface disturbance. We waited in the warmth of our camper for these guys to hook up, but it didn't happen. That's what a low pressure front does to stillwater fishing most of the time. These fish were belly down on the bottom and inactive so we left the next morning to 6 inches of new snow for West Yellowstone.
Seeing Hebgen Lake at its lowest level in 30 years was a bit of a shock. Where the West Fork of the Madison enters the lake looked like a small puddle with extended weed beds showing all along the edges. We plowed our way through the weeds to open water and did pretty good on browns and rainbows that averaged l8-22 inches. The rainbows were on the skinny side evidence they didn't eat much through the extended heat this past summer. The browns didn't look as though they had missed any meals and were plump and active.

The next morning we were off to Alberta, Canada to meet clients and fish the Cypress Hills trophy lakes. The next seven days we had the book thrown at us with a mixture of heavy winds, some rain and fog and cold air and water temperatures.

We were just coming out of a full moon phase, just missed a rainy period that dumped 7 inches in five days, but the fish didn't seem to mind. Conditions made our presentation of the fly interesting, yet most of the ladies and guys who traveled there to fish with me landed the biggest rainbows they had ever hooked. Broken tippets [we used 1X], broken flies and missed opportunities were common place. Most of the rainbows were 24-28 inches, but ran 8-13 pounds and ten that I know of were 15-22 pounds. Dave Freel landed the biggest fish, a monster that measured 29 inches long 24 around the girth and weighted an estimated 22 pounds plus.

When the wind laid down which didn't happen very often or for very long, the bite showed marked improvement. Maybe it was because we could hit the target with some sort of consistency. After four years of fishing these lakes, I've never experienced weather like what we had, but in spite of it, the fish were bigger on the average although numbers were down a bit. I know the weather had a large impact on the bite, but I'm already putting plans together for next year. This trophy fishing is just too good.
As we traveled back to West Yellowstone the storm fronts followed us across Montana with a mixture of showers, snow in the high country and winds throughout the day. Our first stop was Harrison Reservoir about 30 miles north of Ennis, Montana. We landed a mix of browns, rainbows and brook trout on my new Stillwater Bug with most fish between l8-23 inches.

The last stop was back in West Yellowstone where we planned to fish Hebgen Lake, Henrys Lake, Island Park Reservoir and Sheridan Lake, a private fishery. Dave and I got Hebgen in that first ev3ning and did really well on both the browns and rainbows to 23 inches. Lots of action and lots of fish. But the weather we traveled south to try and avoid caught up with us that evening as rain danced across the top of the camper throughout the night. About 5 AM I thought it finally stopped, but it had just changed into snow. The forecast said it going to get worse over the next two days and colder.

We weren't fished out, just weathered out. So, we deferred to the elements and headed home in what turned out to be, just in time as heavy snow made a mess of the fishing and the highways.

I guess after doing this fall trip the past l8 years, the weather was bound to catch up with us and it did. Will I do it again next year at the same time, absolutely.

My new Hybrid fluorocarbon tip leaders were a big hit this past season based on input from those of you who took the time to let me know.  Thank you! If you haven't tried them, check them out in the Products section of this site.  They consist of a 9-foot monofilament leader and a fluorocarbon tippet section of 2 1/2 to 3 feet.  The leaders come in l0 and l2 foot lengths. When conditions are tough for us (flat, clear water under a clear sky and high sun), you need as long a leader as you can turn over. A l2 foot leader is a good starting point.

New for 2008 is a body material I discovered from a small fly tying materials company in Oregon.  I use it in the Stillwater Bug, a pattern I put into production last year.  The product is called Holo Bright and has a nice attractor flavor to it that I think will enhance any suggestive pattern.  It comes in six colors and retails for $3.50.  It's similar to Ice Dubb in texture and is easy to work with.  I think you will enjoy its attractive nature when you need a material that can be seen under low light or off colored conditions.

I did quite a bit of extensive testing of both the new damsel and stillwater bug patterns this past season.  The new damsel is tied with a long tail, no abdomen and a small thorax.  Most damsel patterns I see guys fishing have a short tail and a long body to match the natural.  That's fine in that it may look like a damsel as if cloned, but it's the natural’s abdomen that wiggles and that means a pattern with a long body tied on the shank of a hook remains motionless.  So, how do we get the abdomen on our fly to move?

The damsel I've designed has a long tail tied off the thorax on a scud hook (0X long) which becomes the body or abdomen of the damsel and matches the naturals wiggling motion when retrieved. It's not perfect, but I let the trout decide and so far it has proved deadly especially during a damsel hatch.  What was interesting is that it proved almost as effective when fished under conditions where no damsels were present.  That's the suggestive nature I refer to that gives a fly pattern that added appeal which a trout may take for any number of aquatic food sources.

The Stillwater Bug seems to have proved its effectiveness at least for those who tried them this past season.  I'm still testing it as the lakes chill down and this fly is more than holding its own for me. It proved to be a deadly pattern for those big rainbows in the Cypress Hills lakes of Alberta, Canada, this past fall.  It's a highly suggestive pattern that moves and breathes when retrieved, has a buggy looking silhouette along with flash as an attractor.  It comes in six colors schemes, is easy to tie and is a good all around fly to use when nothing is hatching.

My new book, Stillwater Presentation, should be out by fall of 2008.  The writing is done, now I just have to clean it up, get my son, Dan, to do some sketches, pick the photos along with the captions, and then proof read it about five times.
It has taken a lot of research and time to search through my notes I jot down when fishing.  It contains everything I've learned about stillwater since my first book, Fly Fishing Stillwaters for Trophy Trout including some information in that book that I've expanded in much greater detail.  Hope you will enjoy and learn from it.

The 2007 season was an up and down affair for many anglers relative to where they fished.  The drought took its toll on some fisheries, mostly shallow or small reservoirs, but the larger lakes seem to of held up O.K.  Then there were a few that fished well, but are dangerously low going into winter. Some of these lakes are going to winter-kill and will have to start over again next year if we get enough water to make replanting feasible. The good side is that summer draw-downs rarely hurt the fishing or the fish, they only concentrate them more. The downside is that when they are refilled from whatever source, they don't fish well.  If the refilling process is extensive, water chemistry is affected and the lake will need time for everything to settle.  I've never, I mean never found any lake, mostly reservoirs to fish as well until the nutrients settle, the lake stratifies and the water chemistry gets back to normal. Let's hope we get a decent winter to keep those fisheries in doubt time to recover.

Shows

Speaking of winter, here is my schedule for the show season.  I'll have a booth and will be doing seminars and tying flies in most of them.

January 10-13 International Sportsmen's Expo, San Mateo Fairgrounds, CA
January 17-20 International Sportsmen's Expo, Sacramento Cal Expo, CA
January 23-27 O'Loughlins Trade Shows, Puyallup Fair and Events Center, WA
February 6-10 O'Loughins Trade Shows, Portland Expo Center, OR
February 21-24 O'Loughlins Trade Shows, Evergreen State Fairgrounds, Monroe, WA
March 7 and 8 N.W. Fly Tyer and Fly Fishing Expo, Albany Fairgrounds, Albany, OR
March 13-l6 International Sportsmen's Expo, So. Towne Expo Center, Sandy, UT
March 22 Western Idaho Fly Fishing Expo, Double Tree Inn, Boise, ID

I'll look forward to exchanging some fishing tales and helping anyone who wants to improve their stillwater skills at any of these upcoming events.

What's on Sale

From now through December 31, 2007, my book, Tying Stillwater Patterns for Trophy Trout will be on sale for 24.95, a savings of  $10.00.  This book contains not only what I consider the 10 best nymphs, dry flies, streamers and non-aquatic patterns, but I've included 20 variations of my patterns I prefer to fish and 20 stillwater fly fishermen that I respect and their favorite patterns.

It's not just a book for someone who likes to tie flies, but I've included which line, the best retrieve, what depth to fish that fly in and what the pattern should imitate for each fly listed in the book and a lot of other helpful information. I'm over stocked on the Best Trophy Lakes book so it will remain on sale for $19.95, a savings of $15.00.

Now that all of my videos, three on the "how to" side and three on tying my fly patterns have been converted to DVD's, I still have a large inventory of VHS on Advanced Techniques and Tying Stillwater Patterns for Trophy Trout, Volumes 2 and 3.  The regular price was $29.95, sale price is $14.95, a savings of $15.00.

Happy Holidays,
Denny

For Questions and Information Feel Free to Call: 1 (541) 381-2218