Blue River on Black Friday Video and the Monday Morning Cyber Sidewalk
Good cyber Monday morning! Was your e mail inbox as full of sh … tuff as mine this morning? I guess that’s the new way of doing things. One thing for sure; Black Fridays aren’t what they used to be. However, a little fly fishing BOB (Blue on Black) trip did me a lot of good.
The video shows – you that have experience (on the Oklahoma Blue River’s catch-and-release) – everything you probably already knew about how to get there, and how to get to the upper reaches of the c-n-r area. But since I hadn’t been there in a couple of years, I took the time to really think about that fishery as not just (what I call) a waterpark for fly fishers. I really considered how difficult the Blue River can be for a novice fly fisher, and with that I began mentally assembling a list of “Techniques For Success on the Blue River,” and a detailed list of reasons why “Better Casting Makes for Better Blue Days” as well. Finally, I also included a list of flies that can work on any given trip to the Blue River. One technical tip I forgot to mention in all the ways to fly fish the Blue River (at the end of the video) is DRY FLY. So add that to the ways you can approach (the Blue) and hone your skills for other waters in other places.
READ MORE ABOUT BLUE RIVER FLY FISHING (FLIES / TECHNIQUES / TIPS / CASTING)—[ppw id=”149395936″ description=”Blue River Techniques Details and Flies” price=”.10″]
TECHNIQUES FOR SUCCESS ON THE BLUE RIVER
1 – Carry a good variety of flies. These fish can bite anything at any given time. Freshly stocked fish are spooked, and spooky and they are not sure what to eat.
2 – Practice courtesy on the water. Be nice to others. Say hello. Ask before you cross behind them, and try not to stir up the mud – that will cloud their water for minutes. Don’t crowd anyone.
3 – The better the caster you are, the better your fly fishing and catching experience will be. If you are a beginner, the Blue can make for a hard day.*
4 – Try not to splash, stumble and splash or present yourself as a large shadow on the water. The more fresh the fish are, the more easily they seem to be spooked.
5 – Change flies often if your fly is not working. I have had great luck with big flies equalling big fish, but downsize if you aren’t having luck (maybe the “bigguns” aren’t in your pool).
6 – Use the Blue River as an opportunity to see just how small a rod works, and enjoy the fight a bit more. It also increases sensitivity and ability to land Blue River stocker trout.
7 – The Blue River catch-and-release is a barbless hook zone.
8 – There are hazards. Rocks can be slippery. There are deep holes in the falls (you walk across the top of) that can be covered with leaves – I’ve dropped as much as two feet into these small holes, and it is a back jarring experience. I recommend spikes, and spiked rubber (or felt). I highly recommend a wading stick to pre sample your steps and add stability.
9 – Ride a bike. It will add two hours to your fishing time, and lessen your fatigue. Beware of hunters, and make sure you are lit up if it’s dark.
10 – Prepare for weather changes throughout the day, and take extra layers – either wear them and peal them off as your warm, or add them on as a front comes along. Take food and water with you. Partner up whenever possible.
11 – A freshly stocked fish behaves differently from a fish that has settled in.
12 – Fresh stockers (never caught) fight harder. They may be concentrated and swimming around a pool like they are still in the tanks. The bite comes, goes, and comes around again – in intervals you can almost time!
13 – They can turn off a fly. Change flies again!
*Better Casters Have Better Blue Days
The better casters have better days at a place like the Blue River.
1 – Smaller weight and shorter rods are exponentially more enjoyable in a Blue River experience. And you will not fatigue as fast with smaller rod choices!
2 – My leader of choice is a solid fluorocarbon two-piece loop-to-loop-to-loop. A butt section with a loop on it at both ends. Then just tie a loop into your leader and loop-to-loop it on. At a ratio of about 6’ butt, and 3’ tippet —- as you lose flies and / or retie new flies, it makes putting on a new tippet a breeze! Try it!
3 — This is a setting where if all you can do is a classical trout cast, you will be in the trees A LOT. With the Kreh cast, you can drop, raise and even thread your backcast between trees to make a cast.
4 — No matter your cast, watch your backcast! More flies hang in trees on a backcast than a forward cast, right? Why is that? Because people forget to watch their backcast!
5 — You can fish up pool. You can fish a drift swing. You can high stick. You can dead drift. All are effective and viable here. You can throw a dry fly. What you don’t want to do is strip your line up off a pool, or slap the pools with your line! You have a captive audience of trout, and they are pretty easily disturbed.
6 — Be prepared to keep a low, stealthy profile. Try and keep out of fresh trout’s vision range. As they become “less fresh,” they go deeper and see less of us.
FLIES THAT BRING THE PRIZE
As I said, give your fly box a workout! I prefer fewer, larger fish. That means I like to throw the meat – big woolly buggers and I did catch a few on the mop fly. BE PREPARED to lose a few flies, and if your techniques are rusty or at a beginner level, be prepared to lose a lot of flies. There is new deadwood underwater where once there was none, and if your fly is too heavy, or the hook is running wrong? You will lose flies.
- woolly bugger
- black zebra midge
- black emergers
- mop fly
- the fly I caught most with Black Friday 2016 was – a small San Juan Worm
- Watch for hatches and match them! That day they took a 18 & 20 Griffith’s Gnat
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Thanks for reading this Monday in the cyber realm! Have a great week and don’t miss the North Texas winter rollout of new fashionable hats from www.cimarrona.com at the Randy Brodnax Christmas Bash this coming weekend in Deep Ellum at the Sons of Hermann Hall. It is a great opportunity to find unique (one of a kind) gifts for yourself and others this giving season.
Category: Adventure, Apparel, Casting, Culture on the Skids, Equipment, Fish Podcasting, Fishing Reports, Fly Fishing for Trout, Fly Lines, Fly Rods, Hot Spot, Oklahoma Report, On The Road, TECHNICAL, Technique, TIPS
