Posted on February 13, 2012 by Administrator
Ok we left off with meeting the Old Man for the 1st time ……

The main two things that came out of that 1st meeting were that Ken now had a source for #28 flies (which he had been looking for ) and that I had found another person interested in such things . For the remainder of that season we fished together on a semi-regular basis but for every time that we did there would be several others where I would see him on the river fishing and just sit down in the trees and watch . Three things soon became apparant to me …. He always caught plenty of fish , lots of really big fish and he fished differently from everyone else on the river . I realized that whatever it was he was doing I needed to know how to do it ! The decision was made then and there that if he was going to fish here all the time he was going to fish with me . Mind you it was a one sided decision as I didn’t discuss it with the Old Man or anything …..I simply put it into practice  .

So it began . Over the next few years we fished together more and more often and I was introduced to a new way of looking at fishing and the river . We spent almost as much time looking at insects and poking around in the rocks as we did fishing although he made it very clear to me that they were actually one and the same ! There was one ritual he practiced every single night , without fail , that I think everyone would be wise to do . Before leaving the river and regardless of how the evening fishing had gone he would always take a tiny net and skim the eddies then inspect his “catch” . His “catch” convinced him and then he convinced me that we needed better patterns . Our hackle midges looked nothing like the little creatures that were so prevalent in his net and furthermore the fish were starting , fairly often , to refuse them . Paradise lost …. hmmm ….or perhaps found !

I say the latter because by now it had started to dawn on me just what it was that was different about how the old man fished compared to myself and well just darned near everyone else . I tended to fish fairly casually when it was tough and then if I figured it out (or got lucky) and started to really get into them my intensity level and focus would go way up and I would fish as hard and as quickly as I could to take advantage of the window to the point of really running up the score ! Ken was different …. he would fish hardest whenit was tough then when the window opened he would often head for the bank and say something like “well this has just gotten silly ” . “What are you doing , we got them where we want them ” I would point out but it soon became obvious that while he enjoyed watching me have fun smacking them he had no interest in doing the same . To me it was solve the puzzle = game on ! To Ken it meant the game was over ….. Working at solving the puzzle WAS the game …..

Anyhow by now we were into the 1st year of the Trout Ranch and river pressure started to really climb and with the increased pressure the trout got steadily harder to lay a beating on . More and more people started fishing the little hackle midges , successfully , and this of course made it tougher yet …..We started fooling with tiny versions of Fran Better’s Usual pattern which were a major step up from the hackle midges but it was obvious there was plenty of room for improvement . Ken kept on netting while I started reading everything I could find on the subject of tiny flies which led me to Darrel Martins book Micro Patterns which had a fair number of CDC patterns and explained the advantages . One that really caught my eye was a Black Fly pupae , bowling pin shaped with a CDC tuft . I started fooling with it . It worked ok , not a killing pattern but definitely had its moments . Ken was interested in some of Shane Stalcup’s loop wing emergers which I struggled to tie at 1st so I decided to try doing it in a style similar to Martin’s pupae adjusted for what Ken was turning up in the net and the Elk River Little Black was born !

From the 1st outing it was obvious we were really on to something ! We fished it initially as a verticle emerger , treating the CDC tuft with Frog’s Fanny so that the tuft would float and the remainder would hang down into the film and it worked well . Ken took to Xinking it and dropping down a bit lower into the film and it was a killing pattern ! No one else had them at the time and he who had them had a heck of an advantage ….. I of course started using them in my guiding as well and the cat was soon out of the bag . It still worked well ! There were times though where it would  hit dry spells . Sometimes these dry spells were mid day which almost always turned out to be because of a hatch of really tiny Bwo’s (#28 ) which were easy enough to match in all stages just by downsizing the CDC patterns or Usual variations we used now for almost all the mayflies . More often though the dry spells would occur late in the evening and Ken’s netting on these evenings would usually turn up either tiny mayfly spinners (which were quickly added to the arsenal ) or innumerable , very tiny , light colored (cream, primrose and/or white)  flies of two distinct types . One was obviously a very tiny midge while the other was a mirco , down winged , creature with front legs that were hopper like in appearance . Ken dubbed it ‘the White Ghost” . In either case one thing was obvious ….. we needed smaller flies !

Next : Part 3 , the #32′s ….

Posted on February 11, 2012 by Administrator
What is it that defines a club ? Let’s see …. dues are paid , there are bylaws , meetings and perhaps even a few odd (to the rest of the world ) rituals that are practiced repetitively . In light of that I guess the 10 , 20 , 30 club could actually be considered a club even though it is certainly not an organization . Tonight I want to share a little about the origins of one of Elk River’s most talked about fishing experiences and definitely her most talked about fraternity . It is already bringing back some great memories which is a good thing on a cold winters night …..

It started about 2 decades ago when I accidentally stumbled onto (and stumbled is literally what happened) the excellent midge fishing here . Prior to discovering Elk Springs my Wv fishing was done mostly on the many , much smaller , native/wild trout streams , with which Wv is amply blessed . The midge fishing had to wait until we (the band I was in ) played central Pa , which occurred often enough , that it afforded me ample opportunities to fish Spring Creek up by State College , which is another wonderful limestone stream where a small fly lover is right at home !

The stumble occured at what is now referred to as the Angle Hole . Standing on the high bank , mid-day , on my first visit to Elk Springs , I could see numerous soft rise forms that could have only meant one thing , midging fish ! Nita was lagging behind and I turned to tell her what I was witnessing . The bank gave way and I fell 10′ smacking my head on a large rock when I landed . My next memory is of my wife saying “Dave , Dave ” with panic in her voice (she later told me that my head hitting the rock sounded alot like a pumpkin hitting a parking lot , though she never did explain how she knew what that sounded like ) , then of asking her first  if there was blood coming out of my ear and next going through a “systems check” ….. I am trying to move my right leg , I am trying to move my left arm , etc ….. Upon receiving confirmation that everything worked I looked at the waters edge and there were black midges everywhere ! Next was a glance out into the pool where the browns continued their rythmic sipping either not knowing or not caring that I had came close to fracturing my skull ….. I did the only thing that came to my still scrambled mind ….. I fished !

The small patterns I used at that time were very basic affairs . There were collar hackle midges in black , cream ,olive and dun (#’s 22-#28) and there was a little , very lightly palmered tan creation I called a Paradise Special (#28) due to its so often doing the trick on the Fisherman’s Paradise section of Spring Creek . That was it . Hmmm …black midges , tie on the black one ! It was a good afternoon other then the splitting headache .

 I returned to the river constantly after that and each visit provided me with the opportuity to fish tiny flies and better yet to fish tiny flies on a river where no one else used them  ! It was a time I will always treasure as the browns came to the little flies so innocently that it almost made me feel guilty for using them . I said almost  ! There were no 5′ inspection drifts and few rejections . Get a reasonable drift , catch the fish , rinse and repeat . The few other people that fished here in the summer then would occasionally ask “what the heck are you using/doing ” ? They were interested but when you tried to share a few they would recoil as if you had tried to hand them a snake ! “If I had to do that to catch a fish I’d quit” was a fairly mild response . Some of the responses were slightly more opinionated ….. I soon came to be referred to as “that little fly guy” and it didn’t take long to realize that wasn’t a compliment ….. I continued to fish alone until I ran into Ken Yufer . Then life changed …..

Now my recollection of the first time I met the old man may be flawed but it is not intentionally so . In my 2nd season on the river , Ken and another fellow walked up to me down by the Trestle and after talking awhile they told me they were going to drop down and nymph the meadow section and asked me if I wanted to join them . I said I was heading that way but wouldn’t be nymphing and down the tracks we went with me dropping off early and heading for the Ledges while they continued on .

It was a good afternoon with fish sipping in pods , mostly little browns and I would fish up through the hole , drop back down and come up through again . Dropping back down for yet another pass I ran into Ken who said “I see they are rising” to which I replied “they are sipping midges” . What came next was unexpected ….. he replied “yes I know , they were taking this at the Phone Booth Hole” and held out his hand which contained a #22 black hackle midge , the smallest fly I had seen yet on the Elk other then in my own fly box . Finally a kindred spirit !

To be continued in Part 2 …..

Posted on February 9, 2012 by Administrator
Abby is my 4th grandchild (of 5 ) and 2nd granddaughter (of 3) . Taking her fishing has been my great pleasure and an on-going , now 4 year long (she caught her 1st Elk River trout at age 2 ) , study into viewing the river through her eyes , the eyes of a child ….

To a child there is no pressure to produce trout and although they view them as good things they do not elevate them to a more lofty pedestal , then say for instance , a crawfish or string of frog eggs .  All things on the river are of equal importance to her and deserve equal attention ….. The tiny young of the year black nose dace is , in her eyes , every bit as interesting , and special , as a sipping 18″ brown . This is especially true after she has caught a couple trout on a given evening ! 2 trout are enough for anyone in her mind because to give trout more attention would , of course , require them to slight another creature and this simply is not acceptible ……

Early in our joint venture I would do my best to sell her on the idea that if 2 trout were a good thing , 5 must be a very good thing and a couple dozen utter bliss  ! This being the case , (and with utter bliss rising within fairly easy casting distance ) might it not be wise to have a go at bliss instead of settling for merely good …… That was my pitch , night after night , but the little girl was having none of it ! Now at 1st I considered her viewpoint on the matter darn near heresy and at times I became impatient , especially since it soon became apparant that the other river critters were not to be viewed alone ….. “Are you sure Pap can’t catch a couple while you look at the tadpoles ?” I might ask , only to be told “they aren’t tadpoles , they are little fish , come look !” Not looking was NOT an option and so grumbling all the while , I would stop and go look at whatever miracle it was that she had found . This is how it was fishing with Abby and I kept telling myself that I just had to hang in there and try to teach her , stubborn student though she was ! 

I don’t even remember when the real miracle started to take place , probably because it crept up on me slowly , little by little . What I eventually started to become aware of , little by little , was that there was indeed a teacher and a stubborn student involved in this relationship but I had our roles completely backwards ! SHE WAS TEACHING ME !! Abby was teaching /reminding me that there is more to life then chasing numbers and more to the river then trout and sometimes you have to set down the rod and just take a look around or you will miss out . If you never take your eye off the trout you will miss the rainbow darter , you won’t notice the caddis that look like a moving clump of sticks and you will never be aware of the tiny scuds that live in the moss . The river is the sum of all its parts and you have to slow down to see them , and her . I am not going to try and tell you that I can do this all the time , but I do try and do it . The bottom line is that she is a pretty patient teacher so there may be hope for me yet …… Thanks Abby !

August 2nd Mayfly Activity ....

 I believe that every great river has it's mysteries and "The Lady" is no exception to this rule . The one I will share with you tonight is one that has facinated me for several decades ... I am going to introduce you to the river's most secretive inhabitants , the ghost browns of the Ledges !

The Ledges is one of the five legendary large pools in the upper 1/2 of the Elk River C&R . As is true with the other four (Mill Pool , Angle Hole , Trestle  &  Meadow Hole this is heavily fished , glassy smooth , often very technical water . It's the kind of a place where inches become miles , mistakes are magnified and if the trout are "on their game ",  you had better bring your "A" game ... I think of it as 4th , in degree of difficulty, of the 5 with the pecking order being , starting with the toughest ... Angle Hole , then the Trestle , then the Mill Pool , the Ledges and finally the Meadow Hole . I can already hear people saying "tough & technical , you must be joking . I went down there during Sulpur season and blew up rainbows on a #16 Usual , with a Sulphur spinner trailed off the back , on 6x . They were blasting it every cast " ! 

Showing off my psycic abilities ;) my reply would be "yep you were fishing the fast water at the head of the pool , with the fish bug drunk from the mammoth hatch & spinner fall . Most of the fish were 8-13"s , rainbows ,  and the fishing was so good you didn't even notice what was going on 30 yards downstream . If they are honest they would then have to admit that my assessment of the situation was pretty darned close . Close enough that they might come back with" so that was you just above the tailout ? The few times I looked up you seemed to be doing more looking then fishing . I did see you catch a couple right at dark ...." Oddly enough it probably was me just above the tailout ! There is nowhere I would rather fish right at dark on a late May or early June evening then the flat shallow water , just above the tailout of the Ledges and therefore I do it often .... 


Now the obvious question would be why would you choose to fish the rather flat , shallow water near the  tailout when you know you could be catching fish all evening in the fast water at the head of the pool instead of watching water and others catch fish ? It's a valid question , with a number of  almost equally valid answers .... a. I like watching water , b. I like watching others catch fish and  c. there is a stillness down there that is very appealing to me . Now all of these things/reasons are true but they are not the real reason ... The reason is it's because I know what lives there ! You see the low rock ledge , lined with grass , that forms the bank of that little piece of water is undercut . This undercut is and always has been in my years here , what might be thought of as a boarding house for large wayward brown trout . Kind of like a motel for brown spotted sharks . I say sharks because they range from large - huge and I use they because there always seems to be a fair number of them :) . The ghost browns of the Ledges ! 


By this point , if you are still reading , you are probably pondering at least 2 things ! These things might well be ...1st : how sad it is that the old elkfisher has finally lost his last 3 marbles and 2nd that lost marbles or not it's time for the elderly river idiot to explain the whole ghost business . Fair enough ;) . 


I call them the ghost browns because they simply appear out of thin air , ok water actually ,  right at dark . You can stand and watch the water all evening (and it's thin enough that you can see every pebble) and never see a fish over 8"s and not many of those . Then it happens . Right at last light (think headlamp to tie on a fly time) you see a tiny ring . You don't fish yet . The ring appears again and again  ,with the timing between appearances forming a steady rhythm . You still wait . Upstream 6' another ring apprears and settles into it's own rhythm . You watch and wait . Then a 3rd , 4th , 5th , etc . ( Some nights as many as a dozen) join , all rising softly and rhythmically  . Now you fish ! 


The presentation must be perfect , drag and you are done . You make your throw and .... THERE got him ! Based on anything observed swimming there 1/2 hour before you would reasonably expect the response to your set to be the easy tug of an annoyed 8" brown trout much like I did when I 1st stumbled into this phenomonon years ago .  Your reasonable expectation soon turns into shock (in a good way ) as the trademark  headshake , is followed by the slowly accelerating  1st run of a heavy brown  . You land him as quickly as possible attempt to straighten out your rig and repeat the experience . It is a rare night that you hook more then 3 or 4 before you simply can't see anything and 2 is a good night .


The 1st time you experience this you will find yourself taking the walk back down the next morning to look things over closely and maybe catch one in the day time . Of course all you will see is the same 8"er that was there yesterday afternoon . The big fish  have vanished leaving the shallow water to the little browns , dace and darters . You shake your head , smile and head back up river , thankful to have had the encounter the night before and determined to visit the brown spotted river spirits again soon .