Night Fishing: Ten Helpful Tips

I’m happy to introduce Bill Ferguson as a contributor to the Relentless Blog! Bill starting guiding for us out of TCO Muncy and brings a ton of experience to the table. Bill and I share a strong passion for night fishing so expect us to release one to two articles a month focused on night fishing content. For our first installment, Bill shares ten easy tips for beginners. Being in April, we are on the early side of really putting in lots of time in the night game, but it’s never too early to get the gears turning and start thinking about it. The next time we have a new moon and low flows, go give it a try! Enjoy!

-Frank

TEN TIPS FOR GETTING STARTED NIGHT FISHING FOR TROUT 

1.Fish With a Friend - While night fishing alone might seem a terrifying or at least daunting prospect to the beginner, it really is enjoyable with a partner.  If you are both starting out, you can learn the game together. If your partner’s  an experienced night angler, you have a mentor.  I’ve learned a lot from watching how night fishing companions practice their craft. Much of what seems intimidating about solo night fishing, just isn’t when it’s shared.  If you’re worried about sharing your “spots”, choose a spot new to both of you or very well known to both of you - a neutral playing field.  When I have someone along, I prefer to fish within speaking distance.  It's often productive and efficient to have one angler fish the surface and the other underneath as you work through the same water together.  This can help you to find what works faster and you have someone to photograph that trophy trout when you land it!  These days, I fish alone at night more than I do with a companion, but I enjoy it whenever I get the opportunity to fish with a friend.

Having friends on the water make taking pictures of good fish like this in the dark much easier. Here is Sam Galt showing off a great fish.

2. Fish Familiar Water - A successful night trip begins in broad daylight.  Picture your favorite stretch of water; the one where you know every fishy bucket and overhanging branch.  This would likely be an ideal spot for your first night trout trip.  There are a lot of things that can go wrong in fishing day or night: tangles, errant casts, falling down, to mention a few.  Fishing at night, by nature, exacerbates the opportunities for things to go sideways.  Fishing water you know well from daylight visits minimizes many (some) of these factors.  You know where to wade and where to cast to avoid obstructions.  You know the fishy pockets and how to find the path back to the parking lot when you’re done.  All this is key for a smooth, successful nighttime outing.  Do NOT fish a new section of river for the first time at night unless you are with someone else who HAS fished it at night.  At best you will have no idea where the fishy spots and potential snags are located and you’ll be throwing your flies randomly, wading through prime water, overusing your flashlight, reducing your chances of hooking fish and greatly increasing your chances of losing flies.  At worst, you can end up falling in the river since you don’t know where to safely wade; or lost, blundering through the nighttime woods trying to make your way to the river or back to the parking lot.  If you are set on fishing new water, at minimum, show up an hour or so before dark to scout the places you intend to fish.  Make sure you know how to get to the river and how to get back to the car. Also get an idea of where and how to wade the water, as well as likely spots to cast to and obstructions to avoid.  

3. Know The Flows - Never fish a river at night when it’s rising, or higher than you are used to from rain.  Nearly 100% of my night fishing is done at low summertime flows with excellent water clarity.  Wading becomes more challenging in high water.  Wading a swollen river after dark is dangerous. Watch the river gauges for flows.  Know what flow is acceptable for night work.  Muddy water is simply a non-starter for night work as well.  Night trout are hunting and visually locating prey is part of their strategy.  If the water is high and/or muddy, fish during daylight.  

Don’t night fish when the river looks like this…

4. Watch the Water Temperature - Monitor the temperature of water when you night fish.  Trout are stressed from lower dissolved oxygen at higher water temperatures (approaching or above 70F).   Catching a trout in these water temperatures will probably kill it due to lack of oxygen.  If you intend to practice catch and release, don’t fish for trout in excessively warm water because it will likely be catch and kill regardless of your intentions.  Some of the advice I’m seeing now is to avoid fishing for trout if the water temperature is above 65F.  Other sources say 68F should be the cutoff.  Regardless of the exact number, let’s agree that 70F or above water temperatures are too high for ethical trout fishing.  Let’s also agree that each angler needs to pick a maximum temperature for what is ethically fishable and stick to it.  In July and August here in PA and especially on freestone rivers, thermal issues are a fact of life.  Alternatively, target tailwaters or limestone fed rivers which flow cold all summer.  If that’s not an option, wait for cooler weather or fish for bass and panfish. 

5. Adjust Your Expectations - While it might be reasonable to expect to catch a boatload of trout during daylight during prime conditions fishing nymphs on a river you know well, generally the catch rate is lower at night.  As a night fishing beginner, just concentrate on getting those first couple of fish and learning the game.  Pay attention to the water type the fish came from and the fly and presentation that got the fish to strike.  Often the average fish size at night will be larger.  And on the right night, you just might land the brown trout of your dreams. In many scenarios, just a few fish could be considered a great outing, with good numbers being possible at times.  That said, one truly large fish can make your whole night!

Small fish also feed at night! Especially when getting started, have reasonable expectations and celebrate any fish you bring to hand.

6. Don’t Crowd Others - Be respectful of other night anglers.  Solitude is one of the things that draws folks to the night game.  Giving other anglers space is obviously important in day or night, but I feel it’s even more important after dark.  There are relatively far fewer anglers out there after dark, so there’s zero reason to crowd in on others at night.   In daytime, crowding is sometimes unavoidable due to the sheer numbers of anglers on the water.  At night, if someone is in the parking area where you intended to fish, it’s OK to ask them if they are intending to fish at night. If they are, drive on and find another spot.  Let that angler have the same solitude that you want.  It’s a great idea when planning a night fishing trip to have a plan A location and a plan B location if spot A is occupied.  It’s a fact of life that there are more anglers on the water day and night.  We are out here night fishing to avoid the crowds.  Give others the same room on the water that you want. 

7. Illumination Situation - A personal light source is ESSENTIAL for the night game.  Carry at least two as well as spare batteries.  That said, use your lights ONLY when necessary:  getting to and from the river, changing flies/untangling your rig, charging glow line, fighting/landing fish, unhooking and releasing fish, and lighting up water AFTER you’re done fishing to see where fish are holding.  Headlamps are ideal.  A quality night fishing headlamp has a stealth mode (red, green, UV) as well as white light and variable brightness.  Dimmed red or green lights are great for moving around in or near the river and for stealthy fly changes as these colors are less disruptive to fish.  UV light on a headlamp is less common but great for charging glow lines quickly and for fly changes as well.  In fact, certain tippet materials glow incredibly well in UV light.  Fish don’t seem to be spooked by  UV either.  White light, especially bright white light shining into the water where fish are holding should be avoided as much as possible as it can spook fish, ”blowing up” your water.  Bright white lights also upset the angler’s night vision for several minutes when they’re switched off.  If all you have is a fixed brightness white light, use extra care.  Walk to the bank and turn your back to the water before lighting up if you need to change a fly or work on a tangle and give your eyes a few minutes to regain your night vision after putting out your light.   But by all means when you hook up with a good fish or when you’re spotting for fish after a fishing session, go with maximum brightness white lights.                       

Red lights are an essential feature on your headlamps. White lights can spook fish and hurt your night fishing, so use them sparingly.

8. Rope Up - Use heavy tippet sized for larger flies and larger fish at night.   Trout are NOT tippet shy after dark.  Big trout can and will test the limits of your tippet, so it makes sense to use something heavy.  Heavy tippet enables you to quickly play and release even larger fish.  If you’re using fly shop tippet, I recommend 0x or 1x fluorocarbon.   My personal tippet choice for night work has been 12 lb test UV Gold Stren for the past several years.  My headlamp has a UV mode and the gold stren glows brightly under the UV light, which is great for tying knots and untangling.

9. There is No Substitute for the Reps -  Developing confidence in your tactics, approach, and fishing locations at night only comes through experience.  The learning curve may be pretty flat at first and initial successes can be hard earned.  Don’t give up if you have one (or even several) unproductive outings. Stick with it, and your efforts will eventually be rewarded.  You can shorten the beginner learning curve by focusing your initial efforts on waters with high trout populations.  In these venues, you know that fish are seeing your flies.  Use these spaces as a classroom to teach yourself how to play the night game.  Try different fly styles, different presentations, different depths in the water column and different water types.  Eventually the tendencies and patterns emerge for the predator trout in your river and you can begin predicting locations and tactics that are effective after dark.  These lessons, once learned, will translate well to other rivers. After a while, as you explore new stretches of water during the daylight, you start to think like a night angler, identifying potential night fishing locations.  It’s very validating to revisit these spots at night and prove yourself correct by catching some “Black Ops Trout”!

 Also use these beginning reps to cultivate efficient habits for night fishing. These habits include: turning your back to the river before lighting up that white headlamp, rigging and tying solid knots quickly under a dim headlamp, knowing your vest/pack layout so you can find things without your headlamp, charging your glow line quickly by coiling it in your hand and holding it against your lamp, examining your rig by touch for snarls/leaves/debris by smoothly sliding a hand down the tippet and across your flies, and removing the inessential line snagging gear from your person and pack.  These nighttime habits and efficiencies will help maximize your productive fishing time, minimize downtime, and ultimately lead to more fish in your net.  I include safety glasses as an efficient night habit as they keep my eyes safer; an important consideration when fly casting large sharp hooks around in the dark.

This fish was caught by going subsurface while fishing with my friend, Austin.

10. Move Beyond Mousing - I’m not sure there’s a more exciting way to hook into a large predatory trout than a nighttime surface eat.  Topwater fishing when fish are willing to attack flies on the surface is about as good as it gets.  The issue is that fish are not always oriented toward topwater feeding.  But be assured, they often ARE feeding at these times.  The successful angler finds out where fish are willing to eat in the water column.  Use an unweighted night streamer or a classic wet fly to probe the middle depths.  If circumstances warrant, move to a bottom bouncing crayfish pattern or a black dungeon.  It’s worth remembering that old school wet flies like the Silver Doctor and the Governor tied in larger sizes were the preferred patterns for catching big trout at night long before most of us were born.  If trout aren’t eating on the surface and all you’re prepared to do is “mousing”, you’re likely going home disappointed.   But, if you’re equipped with the right flies and tactics to present subsurface, you might turn a slow night into an incredible outing.  Find what works.  It might be a mouse fly, but it might also be a sunken black ops bugger fished on the swing or a Harvey pusher fished on a dead drift.  Don’t be a one trick pony married to a single night fishing tactic.  Being a versatile night angler will put more fish in your net.

The ‘Black Ops Bugger’ is my favorite subsurface pattern.

Thanks for reading! Hopefully these tips motivate you to get out and give the night game a try!

Bill Ferguson

Instagram: @wsf241and @reasonablycompetentflytyer

Best Dry for Mayflies? The Paranymph

If I had to go the rest of my life only fishing one dry fly, the choice would be very easy. The Paranymph, developed by Tom Baltz, combines simplicity, effectiveness and originality all into what I consider to be the ultimate mayfly imitation for almost any hatch or situation. I’ve fished this fly across the country in just about every dry fly scenario you could imagine. Selective spring creek browns, high altitude cutthroat, pressured tailwaters, brook trout streams, raging freestones, stillwater…the list goes on. Anywhere that fish rise to mayflies, the paranymph has a role. There isn’t anything this fly has that you can’t find in other patterns, but it combines everything I'm looking for in an elegant and effective way. Here’s what I like about it…

High Vis

The visibility of the calf body hair post is fantastic even in smaller sizes. Though I used to be skeptical about the necessity of using calf body hair instead of synthetic post material, I’ve since become a believer. The calf body hair is more opaque than something like parapost. Though much more challenging to tie in, it allows less light to pass through the material and is far more visible in a variety of conditions. Orange is the primary color, but yellow and black have their place as well. Yellow works well in low light situations like evenings, mornings and cloudy days. Black is great for the one off situation where glare is at its worst and you just need a silhouette to pick out. The fish also do not seem to be put down by the post either. Whether they see it or notice it is up for debate, but experience largely tells me that most fish don’t care. In fact, it may even be a positive in many scenarios in the same way a hotspot works for a nymph.

During a cloudy early season BWO hatch, the yellow post was the ticket for the low light conditions.

Low Riding

The grizzly hackle is tied into this pattern so that the tips angle up (shiny side down). Hackle is concave, so the fibers will never truly lay flat, though you can give the illusion if desired.  When the fibers point down, the fly rides a little higher, and the opposite is true when the fibers point up. This characteristic is one of the key elements in this fly’s effectiveness in convincing fish to eat. Trout love to capitalize on bugs that are stuck in the film, crippled, and just generally lower floating. Very high floating dries have their place, but time and time again, low riding patterns produce better in most situations. One tip that Tom taught me is to only apply floatant to the post and hackle, while taking a pinch of water and saturating the dubbing. I’ve found this to be a very effective trick when your first presentation matters for the pickiest fish, and you think a partially submerged mayfly is what they are keying in on. 

Notice how the hackle fibers angle up. This helps the fly ride lower in the surface film.

Impressionistic

The paranymph was designed to imitate an emerging mayfly nymph stuck in the surface film. It was never intended to imitate a particular hatch like a sulphur or a hendrickson. Because of this, it keeps a general enough format that fish take this fly for a number of different emergences.The guard hairs in the dubbing give the impression of legs and gills, the Z-lon shuck makes the fly look more crippled and helpless, and the hackle adds movement. Together, this recipe simply works. For the same reasons a Walt's Worm or a Pheasant Tail works for many nymphs, this pattern covers many different bugs. You could choose to tie the pattern in different colors, but I’m always surprised at how well the hare’s mask grey body works even during emergences of sulphurs and other lighter colored mayflies. Remember, despite what the adults look like, many nymphs are very dark, and that factors into the success of the original color scheme that Tom ties. 

The paranymph can work for so many may flies. Here Tom shows off a Montana brown that took the paranymph for a PMD.

I can remember a particular day on Penns Creek where I used the paranymph to imitate a handful of different mayflies by simply changing the size and nothing else. Throughout the day, I saw olives, male and female Hendricksons emerging, and Hendrickson spinners. The fish were distinctly keyed in on each of these insects at different times of the day, and all I had to do was shuffle through paranymphs sized 18 through 12 to find success in each of these situations. Patterns like this embody what I’m looking for when filling my boxes. Many anglers overfill their boxes with patterns representing each particular mayfly they may encounter, but a versatile fly like this simplifies choice without sacrificing success.

Lots of practice in that puck…

Floatability 

Though this pattern isn’t meant to ride very high, it does maintain a good amount of buoyancy. A good metric of assessing dry fly floatability is noting how well it floats after catching a few fish or after many casts. After pinching the fly dry and using a few false casts to air it out, you should not see it continue to sink. Nobody wants to use up a whole canister of desiccant in a day of fishing. Early on when I experimented tying this pattern, it was apparent how much better Tom’s ties floated than my own attempts. After spending some time with Tom getting some tying tips and observing his process, a big takeaway was how little dubbing he uses. More dubbing absorbs more water, and thus adds weight and causes a fly to sink. Just enough dubbing to cover the thread is really all you need, and any more is somewhat of a mistake. This takes practice but if executed well makes this pattern much more user friendly. 

Less dubbing helps floatation. In the smaller sizes like these 18’s, its especially important to keep the dubbing to a minimum. Here there is just enought dubbing to cover the thread, but because of the guard hairs and dubbing blend, there is plenty of profile.

It’s not just me.

Further proof of this fly’s effectiveness is its presence in the boxes of almost all of our trout guides. Especially if you fish with Tom, Eric, Neil, Alex or myself, expect to see a little grey dry fly with an orange post on top tied onto your leader if fish start working on the surface. You can also find it in the bins of fly shops throughout the country, and in the boxes of some of the legends of our sport. If you want to pare down the dry flies you carry, this pattern should be at the top of your list. You can buy these flies from Tom directly, or tie a few yourself by using the recipe below. This is Tom’s original recipe, but plenty of substitutions can be made while still maintaining effectiveness. 

Recipe

Hook: Daiichi model 1180, sizes 12, 14. Orvis Big Eye (Daiichi model 1100) in sizes 16-20. 

(Other Options: TMC 100, TMC 921)

Thread: Danville’s 6/0 pre-waxed, Lt. Olive. 

Post: Fluorescent Orange or Lemon Yellow calf body hair. 

Hackle: Grizzly, wound parachute style. Shiny side down. 

Dubbing: Natural Hares Mask or Similar dubbing blend with guard hairs

Tail: Olive Brown Z-Lon, 2/3 body length. Use 2/3 width of strand on sz. 12-14, 1/2 width of strand on sz. 16-18, 1/3 width of strand on sz. 20.

Rotating hackle pliers like this are key to tie this pattern.

The bugs are ramping up so be sure to tie up some paranymphs for the spring season. Please feel free to reach out with your tying questions or if you want to get on the water with one of us this season. We are now in peak season so book soon to get prime dates!

Have fun out there!!!

Frank Landis

franklandisflyfishing@gmail.com

Instagram: frankflyfishes

April Update

Spring is here and the fishing is on!!! Bass? Trout? Whatever you prefer now is the time to be fishing! Check out out recap of March and a report for April.

March Recap

Spring arrived and we finally broke out of our winter fishing patterns. In the Cumberland Valley we were mostly relegated to fishing and guiding on the Catch and Release section of the Breeches, as well as our spring creeks. We saw a stark increase of bug activity and dry fly opportunities that will only get better as we progress through spring. In the state college area, Olives have been in full force with the caddis emergences coming shortly after. We did get some rain throughout the state which benefited a few of our fisheries, but many are still on the low side. 

March dry fly eater on Big Spring.

A pretty Yellow Breeches wild brown trout.

On the bass side of things, the early prespawn bite is already rolling strong. Our our guides are already running successful floats fishing streamers on the Juniata as well as some smaller rivers when flows permit. Despite some dirty water, the bass were waking up!

The March bite was good this year on our smallmouth rivers!

April Outlook

Cumberland Valley

Grannoms and Hendricksons are already moving on the lower yellow breeches. As April progresses, we will see some strong tan and black caddis hatches throughout the river, with some odd mayflies mixed that won’t be as ubiquitous as the caddis. The tan caddis hatch on the Upper Yellow Breeches in early to mid April can be lights out. If fish are rising and you can’t figure them out, be sure to try a small black caddis #18-20. They can be hard to see but fish will key in on them. By the late part of the month, we will see the beginnings of the Sulphur hatch. Nymphing can be exceptional through the month of April using typical attractor nymphs, especially after some rain brings up flows. April is my favorite month on the Beeches when it comes to catching numbers of fish. There are plenty of stockers and wild fish to go around throughout the entire river, and is some of the best bang for your buck if you’re looking to hire a guide.

Sometimes Sulphurs come early. This one emerged on April 15th a few years ago on the Breeches.

The Cumberland Valley spring creeks fish well through the early spring, with some good dry fly opportunities along with the typical subsurface game of scuds and cress bugs. Try some smaller nymphs if you see midge or olive activity. Sculpin style streamers will also work well.

A nice Cumberland Valley wild brown trout.

Central PA

Spring creek will continue to give some opportunities to fish BWOs, but will increase dry fly fishing opportunities with some very heavy caddis hatches. Grannoms have been working their way upstream more and more every year, and tan caddis are always around by mid April. This is a great time of year to employ tight line nymphing techniques, especially when flows are up. If flows stay low, using dry dropper with a caddis and small nymph off a tightline rig can be deadly. Also don’t forget the sucker spawn and try an egg, you could get into some awesome fishing if you hit it right. 

Penns creek is just starting to wake up in April in terms of the bugs. Penns was the beneficiary of some increased flows from rain, so nymphing a variety of bugs including stoneflies should be very effective. Along with olives, Penns will see some awesome Hendrickson and Blue Quill activity. Grannoms and other caddis will get moving as well. Penns is a bug factory, and always seems to give off some bugs you weren’t expecting to see. I like to carry some general dries sized #10-20 for mayflies to cover the bases but I don’t feel the need to carry patterns for every single mayfly you could encounter. Same goes with caddis, just having some dark and light in a variety of sizes will do. 

Joe showing off a solid brown on a guide trip to Penns Creek with Frank Landis.

Smallmouth

April is the quintessential window for prespawn smallmouth fishing. If you want to fish a big swim fly for a big smallmouth, now is the time. Game Changers, Roamers, Leggy Boys, Brush Head Deceivers and all other manner of large streamers can all be very effective. To get the most out of this season, fishing from a boat is going to be key. Float trips tend to book fast so be sure to reach out to get in on the action! Expect to see fish on beds at some point this month. Not all fish spawn at the same time, but its definitely a factor in the fishing.

April is a great time to toss the big bugs!

Opening day for Trout!

The trout opener is April 5 this year. This will open up a lot of water and help to spread anglers out of the special regs areas. Expect heavy crowds over the first weekend. Fishing for bass is a great alternative to avoid the chaos. Typically there is heavy pressure for the first few weekends that will wane to a degree as the season progresses. 

Events

Not too much going on in the way of events as this is our optimal fishing season. TCO offers some good opportunities for classes that are unique to each location. Check out their website to see what's available. If you want to support a good cause, Cumberland Valley Trout Unlimited is hosting their Limestoner Banquet on April 26, which is one of their major fundraising events. 

Thanks for reading and if you’re interested in fishing with us reach out soon! This is prime season and many of our guides are filling up their calendars fast!

Frank Landis

Email: franklandisflyfishing@gmail.com

Instagram:frankflyfishes

It's BWO Season!

                                                         An early March olive eater from last year.

Winter is winding down and looking ahead to the spring season, one of the best fishing highlights of the year is right on our doorstep. The Blue Winged Olive (Baetis) hatch will soon be ubiquitous through much of Pennsylvania. This is the first significant mayfly hatch of the year, and these small reliable mayflies will get trout of all sizes looking up. For me, this hatch is right up there with all of the larger bugs we see as spring progresses. I’m certainly ready to break out the dry fly sticks and cast some small bugs to sippers. Check out some tips and ideas below to help you get ready for this awesome hatch. I also share some of my favorite patterns to cover the hatch at all stages. 

A central PA Baetis. Photo: Eric Naguski

Ideal Conditions

So where and when are you most likely to run into BWO hatches? Many of the best known streams in Pennsylvania have notable blue winged olive hatches that occur in late winter/early spring. Typically, activity is best mid day when there is considerable overcast or even rainy conditions. Though mild or warmer days will often indicate strong action, warm and sunny is not as reliable of a situation for olives as cool and cloudy. I’ve even seen dense olive hatches when temps are hovering around freezing. If I could craft the perfect day for a BWO hatch, I’d say sometime later in March, with a low ceiling overcast, some light rain or drizzle, and mild to warm temperatures for the time of year. Obviously, the river and annual conditions could impact when the timing of when this hatch will peak. I have seen great BWOs from late February to early April. You may find less prevalent olive hatches later into the year, and some small variations in the 22-24 range become a little more common in the fall. Though these odd time olive hatches can be good, nothing beats getting into the early season emergences. Pack your rain jacket and seek out the dreary days and you might be rewarded with top notch dry fly fishing. 

Overcast and drizzle in the early spring season should alert you to impending olive activity. The picture above screams olives!

Fishing Tips

1. Lengthen your leader. Olives are small, so for more pressured trout, softer presentations and good dead drifts can be critical. My preferred leader for fishing olive dry flies is a 14 ft George Harvey style dry fly leader. This leader is designed to land with lots of slack, giving you superior presentations and drifts. You certainly do not need to go that long to have success, but adding some extra tippet to create a similar effect is a good idea. 

2. Pick your targets. If the hatch is going strong, some of our more densely populated class A trout streams can appear to be boiling during this hatch. When this happens, a lot of people just launch a cast into the middle of a pod of risers, hoping one eats. Though this can work to pick up some fish, you can often get into more, and larger fish by casting to specific targets. Pay attention to rise forms and fish location to target the biggest fish rising in the run. Larger fish will typically not break the surface with a splash and may just expose the tip of their nose while inhaling these tiny bugs. Also, its normal to find the larger fish occupying some softer, unsuspecting pieces of water. Even if you’re not worried about size, methodically working through a piece of water with some intention will spook less fish if you hit the close ones first.

3. Break out your dry fly rods. Though euro nymphing and 10 ft rods are becoming more and more standard these days, now is the time  to use your shorter 3 and 4 weights to hone in on fishing dries. Yes, I know you can fish dry flies just fine using your  10 ft 2, 3 and 4 weights with or without fly line, but if there ever was a time to put those rods down for a day, this is it. On the better days of this hatch,it is not unheard of to get many hours of an emergence. I love the accuracy of shorter rods and after a long winter of nymphing and streamer fishing it’s great to cast a line with just a single dry on the end. 

                                                       An awesome early season olive eater. 

Fly Patterns

Below I’ll share a handful of my favorite nymphs and dries to imitate BWOs. Not only are these great patterns for this hatch, but they also are staples in my boxes throughout the entire year.

Dries:

Baltz’s Paranymph

This pattern, created by Relentless guide and fly tying legend Tom Baltz, is my go to for almost any mayfly situation, and is especially good for olive hatches when tied in smaller sizes. This parachute pattern rides low in the surface film and is easy to see because of the high vis post. The standard post color is orange, but on cloudy low light scenarios that olives often frequent, a yellow post is a great option.

Hook: TMC 100 Size 16-20

Tail/Shuck: Olive Brown Zylon or Similar Yarn

Body: Hares Ear Dubbing Natural. Should include guard hairs

Post: Calf Body Hair Stacked

Hackle: Grizzly

CDC Comparadun/Sparkle Dun

This is my go to olive pattern to tie olives in the tiniest sizes. The ease of tying a CDC wing compared to other materials and methods can’t be overlooked. This is not to say that this isn't a great pattern to tie in larger sizes as well, but it shines when going small for simplicity’s sake. For as easy as a tie as this is, it is also an extremely accurate looking imitation for adult olives. 

Hook: TMC 100 16-22

Tail/Shuck: Olive Brown Zylon or Similar Yarn or Coq De Leon Fibers

Body: Fine Olive dubbing or Quills

Wing: Dun or Grey CDC Feathers

Hackle Stacker BWO

Though a bit trickier to tie than the other patterns on this list, the Hackle Stacker olive is a staple in my boxes. The reason for this is because it looks considerably different from a lot of other patterns people carry, so I find it very useful for pressured trout to give them a fresher option than the typical offerings.

Hook: TMC 100 Size 16-22

Tail: Coq De Leon FIbers

Body:Fine Olive Dubbing

Hackle: Grizzly or Dun

Nymphs

Iron Lotus

Originated by Lance Egan, this is a great nymph pattern that combines both attractive and imitative qualities. It is not a particularly difficult pattern to tie, but if you include all of the steps it  takes a little longer to complete compared to the patterns below. Of course, you could simply eliminate some steps if you prefer. For example, You could skip the wing case and still have an effective pattern. 

Tail:CDL

Body: Olive Thread

Rib: White Thread

Thorax: Olive Dubbing

Wing Case: Black UV or Black Tinsel

Hot Spot: Red Thread

Bead: 2.3 mm Gold Tungsten

Hook: Umpqua 450 BL 18

V Rib :

This is as simple as it gets, simply thread, Vinyl D-Rib and a bead. This is one of my most productive patterns and it doesn’t get much easier to tie. This pattern has all of the advantages of a perdigon without worrying about a UV cure. It is hard, durable, fast sinking and minimalist. You can alter the color combinations to fit your needs, and you will find various thread and rib combos can give dramatically different looks.

Hook: Umpqua 450 BL 16

Bead: 2.8mm Gold Tungsten

Body: Vinyl D Rib Brown Midge Size

Thread: Chartreuse 

France Fly:

This is a massively popular fly amongst competition anglers for good reason. It gives a great small mayfly profile and is easy to tie in smaller sizes. Simply add a BWO color scheme in the appropriate size and pretty quickly you have a nice baetis nymph imitation. 

Hook: Umpqua 450 BL 18

Bead: 2.3mm Black Tungsten

Body: Stretch Tubing Brown Olive

Thread: Olive or brown

Dubbing:Olive or brown hares ear dubbing

Tail: CDL Fibers

Thanks for reading! If you need help finding some BWOs to fish, shoot us an email or a call and we will put you in the best situation possible to take advantage of one of the best hatches of the season.

-Frank Landis

Instagram: @frankflyfishes

Email: franklandisflyfishing@gmail.com

March Update

Hi Everyone,

The end of winter is just weeks away and it’s time to seriously gear up for the spring season. Now that we are entering peak season, I’ll be sharing this update at the beginning of every month, recapping what we’ve been doing and providing an outlook for what the next month has to offer on the fishing end. 

Winter Recap
Our Guides were able to sneak a few opportune days on the water with some clients who weren’t afraid to take on the cold. Despite dealing with blizzards, icy guides, and low water conditions, we were able to put together some solid days and catch some quality fish in the process. Nymphing with eggs and cress bugs as well as tossing the occasional streamer were all effective throughout the season. This year the winter fishing was a little more challenging due to a very strong cold snap that made shelf ice a real problem, as well as lower than average flows which made the ice problem worse in many places. 

Show Season

Relentless Fly Fishing made appearances throughout the winter show circuit, including Edison, Virginia, and Atlanta. Jake was busy with seminars and time in the authors booth, while our other guides were hanging out chatting and tying flies at the booth. Many of our guides ran tying classes over the winter months which is a great way to push through those cold winter days that make fishing challenging.  

Jake sneaking out to catch a Redfish after the Atlanta show

Listen to Frank on the Wade Out There Podcast!

March Outlook South Central PA

Yellow Breeches

March is a tricky time for the Yellow Breeches because the majority of the creek is closed until the PA trout opener due to stocking. This relegates people to the catch and release section near Boiling Springs, and thus things are a bit more crowded on the water. Despite this, there are some awesome hatches that really get going strong in March in the C&R water. Grannom Caddis and Hendrickson fishing has the potential to be lights out. Grannoms come in amazing numbers and dominate the creek when they are really on. Hendricksons, though not quite as dense of a hatch, will often bring fish up even when numbers are sporadic. When these hatches are on, other anglers on the creek are not as problematic because fish seem to rise all over the place and will give you plenty of targets. If crowds turn you off, look to other places during the month of March. Flows have improved lately, but more rain will be welcomed!

A respectable wild brown form the Breeches C & R water.

CV Spring Creeks

Both Big Spring and the Letort start to give us more dry fly fishing opportunities in March, namely in the way of smaller olives. The typical offerings will continue to work. Scuds, cress bugs, and sculpin patterns are all great. Expect a slight increase in angler pressure, but not nearly as bad as the Breeches C&R. 

Bass

Bass start to get back on the feed in March with the early part of the pre-spawn action firing up on the Susquehanna tribs. Floating with one of our guides is the most efficient way to catch bass on the fly this time of year as a boat is a crucial tool in navigating the flows in early spring, especially as temps are still chilly. If you want to throw big swim flies on intermediate lines this is the start of that season. This is a great early season option before the trout opener in April.

March Outlook Central PA

Spring Creek

March on Spring Creek is all about the Blue Winged Olive hatch. This is the first great hatch of the year in Central PA and it's worth the effort to seek out. Look for cloudy drizzly days for your best chance to run into this awesome dry fly opportunity. Small streamers on the edges can also be fun and productive. If you aren’t opposed to fishing eggs this late into the year, the sucker spawn is also in the cards, which if you find the right water, can be some of the easiest fishing you can encounter on Spring Creek. Later in the month as we approach April, you can also find Grannoms starting on the lower river and working their way upstream. In recent years the Grannoms are being spotted further and further upstream. Flows are seasonally low but fishable.

Have olives ready if fishing Spring Creek in March!

Penns Creek

BWOs are also around on Penns Creek in March, though not quite as reliable and ubiquitous as Spring Creek. You can also find some fun opportunities to fish brown and black winter stoneflies. Look for them fluttering in the slow water before getting intercepted by a feeding brown. This can be tough fishing requiring long casts but is quite rewarding when it comes together. We often see this activity later in the day. Early in the month or before spring temps come through, March can often resemble an extension of winter fishing scenarios, but that can change as the month progresses. Peak bug season for Penns really gets moving in April, but March starts to show signs. Flows on Penns right now look great!

Early season brown from Penns.

Upcoming Events

Lancaster Show

Come meet and hang out with the Relentless crew at the Lancaster show March 15th and 16th. This is a great venue and awesome show that is right in our backyard. Jake, Frank, Neil, Tom, Alex and Eric will all be around tying flies and talking fishing. Find us right next to the TCO Booth by the main entrance!

Book your trips!

If you're interested in fishing with us, now is the time to get on our calendar. Especially if you want to go out with a specific guide or a specific day, it's best to get on the calendar sooner rather than later. We also updated our booking procedure to make it easier for you to get on the books. Book directly on our website now with the ability to see the availability for all of our guides based on the region of the state they work in. April and May are the highlight of the year for trout season and is also a great time to catch smallies on big streamers.

Photo: Neil Sunday

Shorten Your Fly Tying Learning Curve: 5 Easy Tips

Spring is just around the corner! The days are growing longer and it’s time to fill your boxes! Here are some fly tying tips to help beginners, and maybe others too, lessen the learning curve and get better at tying a little faster. Fly tying is not an easy art to master, but you can become reasonably proficient faster than you might think if you keep a few key things in mind. Here are 5 tips to help you out!

1. Get Repetitions

The number one tip that I give to beginner tiers is the same thing that I do myself when I’m looking to learn something new in the tying world. Get reps! Whether you are learning to tie your first fly ever, or are struggling to get better at spinning deer hair, repetitions are your friend. When I say this, I don’t mean 3 or 4 attempts. I mean tie an entire pack of hooks before switching patterns. I promise the 25th fly is going to be a lot better than the first three. This might not sound exciting, but this is the fastest road to becoming a competent fly tier. So many beginners are eager to try new things, so they jump around from pattern to pattern and never really get good at any of them. Once a fly is mastered, switch to smaller and smaller hooks until you lock down the smallest sizes. At that point, you’re ready to switch up patterns and try new techniques. 

The result of practicing just one pattern in a few sizes…

2. Count your thread wraps

For many patterns you learn when starting to tie, you don’t need to be very precise to tie a nice fly. For instance, nobody will notice whether your woolly bugger has six extra thread wraps under your chenille. On the other hand, just a few too many wraps on a parachute dry fly in the wrong spot could easily crowd the eye and ruin your fly. Being precise with your thread wraps on simple patterns is a practice of discipline. So often, I see even very good tiers give random extra thread wraps that serve literally no purpose. I catch myself doing it too. After my marabou is secured I may throw in a couple extra wraps just because. That’s a mistake that will become apparent as you tie more difficult patterns, or patterns that get worse with bulk. Make sure every wrap serves a purpose. Securing material, moving your thread position, putting down a thread base, and whip finishing are all good reasons to make wraps. More wraps does not mean more secure. Tie with deer hair to see this in action. Counting wraps, even on easy patterns, will quickly elevate your skill level.

Counting thread wraps will help with control and proportions.

3. Learn Techniques, Not Patterns

Fly tiers are obsessed with patterns, sometimes too obsessed in my opinion. If you want to have a balanced set of tying skills, practice the techniques and not the patterns. A mindset too focused on specific patterns will have you worrying about the wrong things. Whether you use pearl or opal tinsel, the dubbing color you use, whether you rib with mono or wire, whether you use hackle fibers vs micro fibets for tails… None of these considerations will impact your tying skills. Yes, they could change how your fly looks to varying degrees, but you are still doing the same thing. My advice is to practice skills instead of patterns at first, then incorporate the skills into patterns once mastered. A good example is securing a caddis wing that uses elk or deer hair. Instead of worrying about all the different possible bodies a caddis could have, first just get good at tying in the hair wing. Have one hook on the vice with a razor blade handy. Lay a thread base, tie in the wing, see how secure it is, then cut off and repeat until perfect. Once this is mastered, you have the most critical skill in tying various hair wing patterns down, allowing you to branch off however you prefer. 

The fiction vs the real.

4. Staying Consistent

Consistency is a hallmark of a skilled fly tier. The best tier’s flies look like clones of one another. We’ve all seen the immaculate boxes on social media with rows and rows of flies that are identical in profile and proportion. So how do you achieve this level of perfection? For one, my advice about repetitions still holds true. Outside of that, my tip is to use your tools, vise, hooks, and other regular tying materials available as your unit of measure. Rather than thinking in terms of millimeters or fractions of  inches, think in terms of hook shank lengths. Your tail lengths are much easier measured and visualized by saying “one hook shank length” versus 8 mm. I often cut the shucks of my dry flies after tying in a long piece which helps save material. I use different points on my vice to make sure I cut them to the same length every single time.For example right where my vise jaws angle in is where I cut my shucks for a size 14. It doesn’t really matter how you do this, but there are many easy and convenient ways to get great consistency. Strive to be consistent enough that you have the same confidence pattern to pattern when fishing. You don’t need an immaculate level of consistency, but the differences between flies of the same pattern should be minimized as much as you can.

Filling boxes is satisfying and great for consistency because you can see your mistakes and successes.

5. Tying with Others

My last tip to shorten the learning curve is tie with others, especially those more skilled than you. In my first years working at TCO Fly Shop, my tying jumped levels by watching and taking advice from a number of people that were good at things that I was not. If you don’t have people to tie with, TCO offers a number of awesome tying classes throughout the fall and winter months. They are inexpensive, and give opportunities to meet like minded people as well as learn from some great instructors. Take advantage of these opportunities!

Thanks for reading! Hopefully this inspires some of you to get on the vise and gives these ideas a try. Spring is just around the corner so get your bugs ready!

-Frank Landis

Instagram: @frankflyfishes

Email: franklandisflyfishing@gmail.com

Mono Rig Streamer Fishing

                                                A Cheesman Canyon rainbow caught on the mono rig.

More and more recently, I’ve seen increasing discussion around fishing streamers with mono rigs. Though not new whatsoever, what was once a pretty discrete technique is now becoming more and more mainstream. It’s not surprising that the cat’s out of the bag, as it’s a natural progression from tight line nymphing, and allows you to present streamers in ways that are almost unachievable using traditional techniques. I’ve been utilizing this style of fishing for many years now, finding consistent success both here in PA and throughout the country. For the wading angler, I think this is an essential tool to have in your bag of tricks. I’ll share some of my two cents on the topic below, but cannot possibly cover it all. Hopefully this inspires some people to try something new and add another effective technique to their quiver. 

Why Use a Mono Rig?

Using a mono rig for streamer fishing provides many of the same advantages of euro nymphing. It allows us to have more contact to our fly, improving strike detection. We can hold more line off of the water, helping us to keep our fly in the zone longer. This allows us to achieve some presentations that are impossible with a fly line. Also, if you have your rig set up correctly, it can be seamless to switch between tight line nymphing and mono rig streamer fishing. On the downside, you are limited in how close you can fish. 30-40 ft casts are the absolute maximum distance you can fish, and much of the time even those distances aren’t possible or ideal. You also can’t fish the very largest streamers with the largest hooks unless you really adapt your gear.

Beefing up your equipment

The first thing you may want to consider is using heavier tackle. Its a natural thing for people who have been euro nymphing to use the same rig they already have for streamer fishing. When your’re using micro streamers tied on nymph hooks, there isn’t too much you need to change. However, fishing more substantial streamers with hooks that were meant for streamers and not large nymphs, will dictate some of your equipment choices. Below are some considerations.

Rods: I think for fishing substantially sized streamers (traditional size 2-6 hooks), you can’t get away with using a rod designed for euro nymphing. These 10 ft+ 2 and 3 weights are simply too soft and don’t have the ability to force penetration of larger hooks. They will also struggle to cast very heavily weighted flies that are necessary to get down in heavier currents or when using heavy tippets. I prefer a stiff 10 ft 4 weight for this. They are still solid nymphing and dry fly  tools, but provide the power needed to cast heavier flies and maximize penetration on the hookset. I’ve already written about my favorite 10-4, the Scott Centric, here if you’re interested about the advantages and trade offs of using this style of rod. You could totally justify using 9-10ft 5 and 6 weights for mono rig streamer fishing, but I find the 10-4 to strike the best balance in my fishing style. 

The stiffness of the Centric 10-4 gives you an advantage over traditional euro rods when fishing larger streamers.

Leaders:. Using the same logic as above, you’ll want to ditch the micro leaders and thinnest diameters for serious streamer fishing. Using a stiff leader material like maxima chameleon or something similar is great. You can get away with fishing a tapered or level leader depending on your preference. A leader with some taper built into the business end will help with forming a loop when casting. I simply like to use straight 12 lb Maxima Chameleon  for my butt section, 3 ft of Cortlandland Tricolor (With Black) Sighter in a matching diameter. You could definitely go heavier with the butt section, but once again, 12 lb strikes a good balance with nymphing performance and being able to cast the streamers I typically use. In certain conditions where I think I may not nymph at all, I’d bump up the butt section to 15 or 20 lb. In total length, my leader ends up being around 30 ft and some change. I don’t go much longer than that because that is maxing out the distance you will typically fish, so it makes it faster when switching to a regular leader to not have more material than you need. It is smart to be sure your leader and sighter are at least a little stronger and heavier than the tippet you will use. A 12 lb leader/sighter is perfect for fishing 10 lb tippet (2x).This prevents breaking off above your tippet ring which is a pain.  

Tippet: For streamer fishing, going light on the tippet doesn’t do you much good. I like to use 2x (10 lb) for the bulk of my streamer fishing on mono rigs. Sometimes I will drop down to 3x situationally if I want to try and get deeper faster while using the same weight in my fly, but this isn’t common for me. The length of my tippet varies based on the water I’m fishing. On average 3-4 ft of tippet is enough. While getting depth, sinking your sighter a bit is not as detrimental to your presentation as it is for nymphing, so you have flexibility there.

                            Utilizing 2x makes larger fish like this brown much easier to land.

Drawbacks of “Euro” Rods

Like I mentioned earlier, if you are using size 8 or 10 nymphing jig hooks, using a soft and noodly euro rod isn’t much of a problem. I do, however, think that in the streamer world, you severely limit what you can do with a traditional “euro nymphing” rod. It is important to note, that there is nothing wrong with fishing lighter, smaller streamers with euro rods. In fact, it can be a deadly technique in the right situations. My argument is simply that if you want to exapnd beyond that type of streamer fishing, adjustments to your gear become ideal. Here is a simple list of the drawbacks to going with the lighter gear for serious streamer work:

• Limited hook size: Softer, lighter rods don’t have enough backbone to make larger hooks penetrate. You may be able to cast and present a bigger fly, but getting the fish hooked will prove to be problematic. This is the biggest functional problem with these rods.

• Casting heaver flies: Your Euro rod can get heavier flies out there, but not as accurately and not with as tight of a loop. In open areas this won’t matter, but hitting small targets in tight spaces will amplify this shortcoming.

• Animating Heavier Flies: I frequently use rod tip movements to swim my streamers.  With softer rods and heavier flies, your rod tip movements are absorbing more energy, thus move the streamer less.

• Limited distance: Because of the balance of fly weight versus sag. Heavier flies fish better at distance than lighter ones. The 3.8 mm beads you may use on a euro rod will be less effective at distance.

• Lighter Tippets: Combining all of the ideas above, you simply end up going lighter with tippets when using 2 and 3 weights. Thicker tippets sink much slower, meaning you need to add weight to the fly, which could mean sizing up hooks to match. As a result, to beef up tippet means you will see a domino of effects that will simply steer you to fishing a stiffer rod.

                                                              Another one bites the dust…

Upstream Presentations

Though there are countless presentations we can achieve with this rig, the one I’ll mention here is an upstream presentation. The mono rig is superior when it comes to staying in contact with your fly as the current is bringing it towards you. This is a great way to stay a bit more stealthy when approaching fish. This works well in spring creeks and other scenarios where fish are spooky. Its a great presentation for sight fishing, and setting the hook when you see the fish eat is ideal versus waiting to feel a strike. After making an upstream cast, land your fly upstream of the fish you see/likely holding lie. With rod tip movements, subtly jig and animate your fly as you work it back to you, retrieving excess line in the process. Because of the contact a mono rig provides, you can hold and pause these flies in just the right spot without incorporating slack and decreasing strike detection.

I have used this technique in the notorius Cheesman Canyon on the South Platte River in Colorado when nymphing and other normal tactics proved slow. These fish are pressured and don’t tolerate many mistakes. By using a mono rig to present flies upstream, I was able to target fish before they knew I was there, providing myself with a lot of opportunities that may not have been possible with other tactics.

A solid rainbow from Cheesman. This fish was in an unsuspecting holding lie that had a small window to present a fly, a perfect scenario for the mono rig.

Targeting Structure

Anytime you fish with streamers, finding structure in the way of ambush spots is a great starting point. Logs, boulders, undercut banks, bridges or any physical object in the water has the potential to hold fish waiting for a large meal. With the mono rig, we have the advantage of animating the fly at some distance without bringing it back to us too fast, or the current pulling our line downstream. Sometimes just twitching or bouncing your fly a few times right in front of structure will be enough to draw a strike. Traditional presentations with fly line will often catch too much current, dragging your fly out of the strike zone before fish have chance to react. Because you hold the majority of your line off the water with the mono rig, you can avoid this problem very easily. 

 The massive boulders of Cheesman Canyon provide endless ambush spots. 3 Sides of this giant rock produced fish for me.

The flow of this side channel funnels directly into a log jam. Some of the best streamer spots often lie away from the main river itself. 

Fly Patterns

In terms of fly patterns, you really can fish any streamer within reason for the rod you are using. For a 10 ft 4 weight, I like using streamer hooks in size 2-6 most, typically not articulated. It is pretty important to have weight built into your fly. “Jig Streamers” are great for this, but you certainly don’t need to go with that style of hook and bead. Sculpin helmets, tungsten cones, lead eyes and all other versions of added weight can all work. Many commercially tied “jig streamers” tend to be on the smaller side in order to cater to people using euro nymphing rods to fish these flies. Especially if you want to target larger fish with larger flies, don’t limit yourself to smaller jig streamers. Having a more substantial hook can provide some advantages. In many cases, patterns I tie will be only marginally larger than commercially tied patterns, but use a larger hook. Doing this gives you a larger hook gap, avoiding the problem of fly material interfering with your hookup ratio. Also, don’t be shy with the size of your beads/weight when tying streamers for mono rig fishing. With the bulkier fly and thicker tippet that you may use, a 5.5 mm tungsten bead with added lead wraps may be necessary in heavier currents and larger rivers. Similar to nymphing, I’ll tie the same pattern with 2-3 different weight configurations. Having a few light patterns can be helpful for fishing the skinniest water.

My favorite streamer for the mono rig is very simple. Marabou, UV polar chenille, and a pine squirrel collar are the only materials. I use a 5.5 mm tungsten bead, a Tiemco 5263 or 5262 Hook in size 2,4 or 6. (Check out my makeshift tying vice used on road trip after my real vice broke!)

Don’t limit yourself to nymph hooks and slotted beads. This streamer was tied on an Ahrex Trout Predator hook with a Sculpin Helmet. A stiffer rod is necessary for these flies, both for casting and setting the hook.

Thanks for reading! Mono rig streamer fishing takes some practice and time to get good at, but we think you’ll enjoy the rewards. Feel free to shoot me an email with any specific questions or if you’re interested in a guided trip focusing on this style of fishing. Stay warm out there!

-Frank Landis

Instagram: frankflyfishes

Email: franklandisflyfishing@gmail.com

New Year Update

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

With the new year in full swing, we wanted to post another Relentless Fly Fishing update to catch up on what we’ve been up to since our last update in November. The end of 2024 was good to us, check it out!

Great Lakes Season

Late fall was all about Steelhead. Alex and Jake logged in some time guiding on the Erie tribs for Steelhead. Neil spent the majority of the late fall season guiding on the Salmon River in New York and found some great quality fish. The Salmon River provides a unique challenge and change of pace from the typical fall schedule. In both Great Lakes systems, the season started with very challenging low water conditions but things improved before harsh cold temperatures set in during mid December which marks the end of the main season. This year gave us a little bit of everything from drought conditions to blown out rivers. The volatile conditions of the great lakes can always prove challenging but our guides still found plenty of fish.

Some Salmon River chrome on a guide trip with Neil Sunday.

Another Salmon river Steelhead from Neil’s NY season.

Alex sneaking out to do some fishing on his own…

A fat Erie Steelhead from a guide trip with Alex.

PA Trout

With the brown trout spawn wrapped up in the majority of PA rivers, we also were able to run some early winter trout trips. These trips are great because of the lack of angling pressure along with relatively good fishing. There were a number of trips where our fish counts matched or exceeded what we saw in the exact same piece of water in the spring. We did well both streamer fishing as well nymphing with small bugs and egg patterns. 

First ever streamer fish for Jack while fishing with Frank!

A healthy wild brown trout from a December outing with Frank.

In warmer news, Jake made a trip to Arizona to run a presentation with Desert Fly Casters, an education and conservation group out of Chandler, AZ. Jake took advantage of his few days away from the cold to get into some warm weather fishing. It was a mixed bag of species, including both carp and trout. 

Carping the Southwest.

Arizona gold.

Winter Outlook: January/February

As we get into the heart of winter, expect the fish in our rivers to start to really get into their cold weather routine. Eggs, streamers and small bugs are the name of the game. After high water events, mixing in stoneflies can also be effective. For the hardcore dry fly enthusiast, there are ample opportunities to fish midges. Look for the slowest water and warmer times of the day. With a little luck, you can find surprisingly consistent risers. These fish will be challenging, and will probably require downstream presentations with big reach casts. 

On the Yellow Breeches, Neil Sunday has been spending a lot of hours fishing the early winter season. With generally lower flows, he is seeing fish gravitate towards the smaller natural nymphs and small jig streamers as they adjust to their winter routine. For picky fish, switching to yarn or New Zealand style indicators has been an effective technique when getting close enough for tight line nymphing becomes a challenge. Its also a great technique for the fish that are pooled up in the slowest/deepest wintering pools. In some places, we can start seeing early stoneflies as soon as February, so keep an eye out there.

Neil with a small but gorgeous wild brown from the Yellow Breeches. The Breeches provides ample opportunity for these beauties throughout the winter season.

In late February, our stocked trout streams will be closed to fishing until the opener in early April. This will affect the Yellow Breeches and many other local rivers. You can still fish, but stay on the special regulation sections and make sure you know where you’re at. 

Upcoming Events

VA Fly Fishing and Wine Festival January 10-11

Jake’s Bourbon and Bugs Fly Tying Class

Eddison Show

Lancaster Show

For those who aren’t afraid of the cold, we still run guided trips through the winter. We may be a little more selective on dates and conditions, but if you’re flexible, we can provide some awesome experiences with surprisingly good fishing through the winter months. Winter is very underrated on the guiding side of things. It’s a great time to learn something new find solitude on the water. 

Thanks for reading. Spring will be here before you know it so call us to get on the books!

Frank Landis

Insta: frankflyfishes

Email: franklandisflyfishing@gmail.com

Pics: Frank Landis, Neil Sunday, Jake Villwock, Alex Kolivras

8 Tips for Winter Fishing in PA

 As we head into December, I thought it would be a good idea to share some thoughts on winter fishing. There is a little bit here for everyone whether you’ve spent some time fishing in the winter or if it's something you plan on dabbling in for the first time this year. The winter season, though a little harsher on the body, provides some under-appreciated opportunities that can be outright awesome when you hit it right. Coupling the great fishing with the lack of crowds, we think this is something everyone should try their hand at if you’re up for bearing the cold! Check out the tips below!

1. Eggs for Breakfast

I love a good omelet, and apparently, so do our wild brown trout. It is hard to deny the winter egg bite and how effective it really is. These fish have been seeing eggs in some capacity since the spawn began in October, and will continue to see them throughout the winter even up until the sucker spawn in early spring. From my experience, eggs are maybe the most effective pattern to use from the brown trout’s post spawn until bugs become more available. They are a great source of protein and nutrition that’s hard for a fish to pass up when there is less overall food available during the coldest months. Sometimes as midge/insect activity picks up mid day, you may find the egg less effective as fish begin to key in on something different. On the other hand, when there is less bug activity (very often), the egg will tend to shine. Sometimes the egg bite can be extremely easy and predictable, to the point where I switch to a more challenging technique like streamer fishing just to keep things interesting. If you’ve never had success in the winter though, going to the egg is certainly a great way to find some willing fish. All of your normal dead drift nymphing techniques will be the ticket here, and for beginner fly tiers, it doesn’t get simpler.

2. Understanding Your Options

Pennsylvania as a state is one of the better locales in the country when it comes to trout fishing any given day of the calendar year. If you understand our waterways, it really is as close to a 365 trout fishing state as you get. Though we have harsh days, our seasons are more mild compared to the Rocky Mountain west in severity. Compared to other east coast states, we have an abundance of spring creeks and limestone fed streams that have groundwater influence, helping to regulate water temperatures regardless of air temps. Having more mild seasonal conditions and places with more stable water temperatures is a great mix for winter fishing. 

Understanding some basics about where the water in your local river comes from is a must. For example,in the Cumberland Valley  we have some true spring creeks that have water temperatures in the 50s every day no matter how hot or cold it's been. There are a number of spring creeks throughout the state, some with varying sizes of springs, and many mixing with runoff. Our Central PA limestoners are a good example of places where runoff and groundwater mix, but still have less volatile conditions. In the winter, you may see streams with partial spring influence stay in the low 40’s dropping into the 30s only at the coldest of times. On the opposite side of the spectrum, freestone rivers are completely fed by runoff, and thus bend to the will of the seasons. These rivers could freeze over entirely in the winter or become too warm in the summer. Tailwaters, with bottom releases at their dams also provide stable conditions similar to spring creeks, though these are a little less common in PA than in other states. Knowing where your rivers fall on this spectrum will make them more predictable. Sometimes, a river will change character the further you go downstream. One river might have a smattering of small springs throughout, while another might be sourced by one big one. This is all vital information for winter fishing. Though any river can be fished at times in the winter, many of our spring influenced waterways are reliable and predictable. A thermometer and a little bit of research about your region can provide some hints to figure out what your options are throughout the state in winter the months. 

This section of the Yellow Breeches has enough spring influence to keep it ice free throughout the entire winter. Other sections are more susceptible to air temps and will more quickly form shelf ice. 

3. Water Type Matters

As the trout’s metabolism continues to shift in the winter, so do the places you’re most likely to catch them. Generally, I like to fish water that is a speed or two slower than my favorite spring and summer water types. There are exceptions to this, as even in the winter fish will hold near fast pocket water if they have a reason to. Generally though, the softer water is the ticket. When I say soft, I certainly do not mean dead. Especially in our rivers with considerable spring influence, there is no need to find the slowest water possible. If fish are actually feeding, they will hold in slightly faster moving water and sometimes they may even surprise you where you find them working. That being said, it's probably prudent to skip over the fastest riffles, very tight and turbulent pocket water, and anywhere that a fish would have to expend excess energy to hold in. Instead, look for areas with a slower steady current where a fish could slide left or right to pick up an egg or small nymph with little effort. Also, larger trout are often found in classic “ambush” spots. This is simply somewhere that is easy to hold in, with some type of structure to hide under or behind. These fish are waiting for unsuspecting prey to pass by and will capitalize on the larger meals when available. Using a streamer in these places is a great idea. 

The water pictured above produced some decent fish, but we skipped over much more of this section that I typically would fish in the spring. The slowest pockets here were the more prodctive zones. 

4. Avoid the Melt

A lot of conventional wisdom will tell you to fish the warmest part of the day during the winter. This makes a lot of sense, especially in freestone rivers. A trout’s metabolism will often be most active when water temperatures are warmest, and day time warmth can certainly influence this.Keep in mind though, there are many circumstances where this is simply not the case. One very common winter scenario that I think everyone should be aware of is the impact of snow and ice melting into a system. Here is a very common situation. Lets say there is a few inches of snow on the ground and night time temperatures are well below freezing. In the morning, the snow and ice will be stable, and won’t really influence water temps one way or another. As the day warms, you could see air temps rise into the 40’s and later into the season even into the 50’s. If this happens, that snow will melt rapidly and will basically put a huge shot of ice water into the system. From my experience, there is no worse time to be on the water. You may feel comforted by warming air temps, but the trout won’t agree. Even if snow melt brings a river from 42 to 41/40 degrees, that one to two degree drop is enough to give every fish in the river lockjaw. There are times where this happens every day for many days in a row. A cycle of freeze, melt and refreeze. When fish get used this daily pattern, be sure to fish from dawn to lunch time and avoid the late start. 

Shelf ice as pictured here will quickly melt into the river, dropping water temps on warmer days.

5. Icy Guides? Use a Fixed Line

On the coldest days, ice forming in your guides is a massive pain. The colder the air temps, the quicker and more often this happens. Over the years I’ve seen a lot of different remedies to treat your guides to make them ice proof, such as putting chapstick or other water repelling substance on your guides. Though this might work for a little while, it will eventually fail and you are either back at square one or constantly reapplying to no avail. My solution to this is more related to the techniques I use rather than relying on temporary fixes. The real culprit for icy guides is pulling water through when retrieving line. Whether nymphing, dry fly fishing or streamer fishing, line retrieval is a huge part of many effective techniques.To work around this, I prefer to limit myself to presentations that use a fixed amount of line. This means I’m essentially never pulling water through my guides so the ice never forms to begin with. Doing this will limit you in some ways. For one, it will force you to fish at closer distances. For nymphing techniques, this is mostly not a problem, but you may simply need to skip over water that needs to be fished at a distance. For streamer fishing, this means you will rely more on rod tip movements to animate your fly instead of stripping line in. Once again distance will be a limiting factor. Using mono rigs over fly line is often ideal in these conditions, simply because less line is ever touching the water. If you carefully select your water types and stay disciplined, you can continue to fish even in very harsh conditions that turn many people away. 

                                          One of the more annoying aspects of winter fishing…

6. Dressing for Success

Staying warm is critical to actually feeling the joys of winter fishing. This is tied closely to your apparel choices. Layering the right way is important. You need to have enough insulation to stay warm, but not so much that you sweat when walking in. Sometimes that involves adding and removing layers. You also need outerwear that protects you from rain, wind and snow. Maybe most importantly, you need to maintain good circulation in order to stay warm. Putting on 3 pairs of wool socks and jamming them into the same boots you normally use would be a highly regrettable decision. 

Protecting yourself from the elements on days with inclement weather is critical to enjoying yourself. A wading jacket is a great investment for this.

For baselayers, modern thermal and wool blend products are great. Something that is moisture wicking is helpful. Mid layers provide your first strong piece of insulation. This could be fleece or other synthetic blends. Today most companies make some very good low profile mid layers that don’t add too much bulk. For your main insulation, a puffy down or synthetic jacket should do the job. Lastly a shell in the form of a good wading jacket will be critical, especially anytime the weather takes a turn. A rain jacket can suffice here but spending the money on a good wading jacket is a great investment for the winter angler. For socks, a liner paired with a medium weight wool sock should be all you need. If your feet are still cold, try loosening your boot laces or switching to a larger boot altogether. Circulation is far more important than layers on your feet. Hats and gloves should also be on hand. Hats are straightforward. I prefer gloves with fingertips open to aid in line handling and knot tying. 

7. Fish Handling on the Coldest Days

There are a few worthwhile considerations once we do catch fish on the very coldest days. For one, be considerate if you are wearing gloves and holding fishing. You should probably already know to handle fish with wet hands to avoid pulling off their slime coating. This issue is exacerbated with gloves on. It is way worse to handle fish with wool gloves than with dry hands. If you must handle fish, remove the gloves or use a non abrasive glove such as nitrile gloves. Another thing to consider is that very cold air temperatures can harm fish if they are exposed for too long. Imagine how quickly your guides freeze when it’s 20 degrees out. That same thing is happening to a fish that is cold blooded and dripping wet when you hold it out of the water for more than just a few seconds. Specifically, damage to their gills can occur quickly. Consider skipping the fish pics and using your net to keep fish submerged as much as you can. For that special fish that you must have a picture of, you can do it responsibly, just limit the air exposure to no longer than it takes to snap a quick shot. Do your phone and camera handling while fish are safe in the water or have a friend handle the camera work if possible. 

Keeping fish close to the water for pictures and limiting air exposure is best practice, especially on frigid days.

8. Avoiding Old Redds

Another situation that we should all be aware of is stepping on redds that are no longer fresh and obvious. Though redds are made and eggs are laid during the fall, the fry do not hatch until early spring. Being aware of where you’ve seen spawning fish in the past, as well as looking for evidence of spawning is important when wading. The fish are off redds in the winter, but we can do more damage by walking through them than even catching a spawning fish. If you make a mistake, don’t wory, I promise you won’t cause your local river to have a mass extinction event. Regardless, we want to limit our impact on the resource as much as possible. I believe fishing during the spawn in the fall while practicing restraint is the best way to prepare you to wade responsibly until spring. Knowing what to look for, especially as redds become less obvious, takes some time and experience on the water, but is something we should certainly keep in mind.

                                                   Neil Sunday’s snowed in rod vault.

We hope you guys find some value in these tips. If you’re interested in really learning more about winter fishing, we have some great options to get some awesome detailed instruction. On January 5th, Frank Landis from Relentless and Sam Galt from TCO State College are teaming up to offer a comprehensive winter fly fishing class which will include classroom time, fly tying demos, and some time on the water fishing Spring Creek. We also run guided trips during the winter if you want something more one on one. Reach out to any of our guides or shoot us an email relentlessflyfishing@gmail.com to set something up. Guides typically have a lot of winter availability and there are a lot of predictable and awesome opportunities for winter fishing. 

Thanks for reading!

-Frank Landis

Insta: @frankflyfishes

Email: franklandisflyfishing@gmail.com

Photos: Frank Landis, Neil Sunday

Circus Peanut Variation

It’s been a while since I added a video to the youtube channel, but alas its been done! The Circus Peanut is by far one of my top confidence flies for smallmouth, trout, and even musky! The color combos are endless, but if you listen to Russ Maddin, he will say over and over again, the best color for a streamer is the same color as the bottom you are fishing. This is because, typically most food predators pray on are camouflaged to blend in with their surroundings. Enough about all that, enjoy the video! Subscribe and like!

Fall Update

Hi everyone! This will be the first of regular updates from the Relentless Fly Fishing team. We will use this to recap our best recent moments, as well give an outlook for conditions and a look ahead at what our waters have to offer going forward. We also want to keep the community posted on what our guides and local organizations are doing off the water, whether it be TU Presentations or fly tying classes at TCO. 

October Recap: October provided some great late season terrestrial fishing this year. Generally flows have been on the low side throughout most of the state’s rivers which provides both challenges and opportunity. Dry fly fishing and stealthy nymphing approaches were effective late into the season and night fishing proved productive throughout the month. We saw some good windows for some pre-spawn streamer action and in certain places, we are beginning to see some spawning activity. Cold nights through the middle of the month really let fall set in early this year.

A great late season terrestrial eater. Low flows made finesse dry fly fishing a great option through October.

On the bass side of things, we’ve traded topwater boogles and wigglies for crayfish and small baitfish patterns. The weeds in the river proved to be a nuisance, but the subsurface bass activity was been consistent with stealthier approaches. We’ve had a lot of great float trips to round off the end of the bass season. 

This was also a fun month on the media front. Frank Landis was interviewed for the Articulate Fly Podcast to discuss night fishing for predatory brown trout. This is a great listen for anyone looking to dip their toe in the world of night fishing, or for people who want to hear about something a little different. Jake Villwock was featured on the Wade Out There podcast with a great two part interview that included a lot of great information about bass fishing as well as some background about Relentless Fly Fishing and how we started. Neil Sunday also presented for Adams County Trout Unlimited, giving their chapter an overview of a year on the Yellow Breeches. 

Podcast Links below:

Frank’s Interview on the Articulate Fly 

Jake’s Interviews on Wade Out There

A standout wild brown trout from the Cumberland Valley at Night

November Outlook: In many of PAs most famous rivers, our brown trout spawn will be in full swing throughout the month and some will be done spawning entirely by the end. If you know what you are looking for in terms of spawning habitat and redds, you can avoid walking through or fishing to actively spawning fish very easily. Not all fish in a river spawn at the same time. It tends to come in the classic bell curve pattern, with more densely populated rivers having multiple large waves of spawners. The spawn will continue through December for some of the more southern locations. You can learn a lot by spending time on the river during the spawn, just be sure to exercise some restraint and avoid fishing to actively spawning fish. 

An obvious redd in typical spawning habitat. Notice the cleaner gravel close to the bank.

November also marks the beginning of our Great Lakes Steelhead Trips for the year. We offer trips on the Erie Tribs as well as the Salmon River in NY. Both of these fisheries offer quality experiences with chances at large steelhead and occasionally lake run browns. It's one of the best chances of the year to get a truly big fish on the end of your line and gives a nice change of pace from the typical trout and bass programs that we focus on normally. 

Give us a call to get into some awesome Great Lakes opportunities!

Jake and Tom Baltz were busy at the International Fly Tying Symposium this past weekend. See some pics below!

What’s on the Schedule:

• Keep a look out on TCO’s website and social media for our guides running some tying classes throughout the winter months!
  
  

If you’re interested in booking a trip, reach out to us on Facebook , Instagram, or via email. Also feel free to call your nearest TCO location to book a trip through the shop!

Frank with a nice Musky

Alex with a boat ramp Musky.

Jake with a nice Striper from the Symposium weekend. 

North Carolina - A Place for Everyone

North Carolina, not a state you hear a lot about when it comes to fly fishing, or at least it’s a state that wasn’t on my “fish list” until recently. I even lived there for four years and had no idea what it had to offer. Four years ago, I went down to fish for False Albacore with my friend and guide Jeff Coen, conditions weren’t amazing, but I managed to catch two and it left me wanting more!

I have returned every fall since my first time, and I have never been disappointed. They say the coast of North Carolina is the best Albie fishing in the world, with bait of all sizes congregating up and down the coast. Bay Anchovies, Silversides, Snot Bait, and Glass minnows navigate the coast in masses and with that the Albies follow them!

Besides the Albies, if you know where to look you can get into all kinds of other game fish, two of my favorites being bull reds and amberjacks. You might have to get a little creative with the flies and the techniques in the open ocean but hooking into one of them makes it all worth it.

If you have the means, you can also head into the skinny water and look for sea trout and reds in the marshes and flats.

Spend some time down there, and it will be on your list for years to come!

Trout Lines for PA Fly Fishing

Check out this short video I did with TCO Fly Shop explaining my favorite trout lines and what they are best used for!

Fly Lines for Smallmouth Bass

Check out this video I did with Tim Cammisa from Trout and Feather. We discuss my favorite fly lines for smallmouth and a general overview on what to take into consideration when choosing a line for smallmouth bass. I will say one thing, the SA Bass Bug does not come in a 5wt if you are going to down line a 6wt rod, however the Titan Long does come in a 5wt. It is basically the same line without the hot water coating, I have not had any issues with that line in water up to 88 degrees. Check it out and give the video a like!

The Toothache Fly Pattern

The Toothache fly is a simple nymph that I started tying last season for steelhead and it quickly become my go to patterns. It is tied on an Ahrex FW550 which does have a barb on it, typically I pinch the barb, but you can also tie it on any barbless jig hook you want. I also tie this in much smaller sizes for trout and so far, they seem to enjoy it as well. This particular one is tied in pink, but I have also tied it in Chartreuse, Blue, Orange, and Black.

Most of the time I fish this pattern under and indicator as my point fly with something a little more nature as my second fly, you can also fish this as your anchor fly on a euro set up or drop it off the back of a large dry fly for a stealthier approach.

Jake's Brood X Cicada

Jake’s Brood X Cicada:

The Brood X Cicada is a 17-year fly angler’s dream. Every 17 years these noisy protein packed meals crawl out of the ground and make a mess for the real world, but for a trout, smallmouth, or carp, it is an endless buffet. Fish all sizes lose their minds for about 2 months, eating every one that hits the water until they can’t fit any more in their bellies. I’m convinced that they have the same internal conversation humans do when we are reaching that moment of total discomfort from eating but can’t stop. “Should I eat this last bite and feel like crap for a while, or do I just stop while I’m ahead?” I don’t know about you, but I always fall for that and take the last bite. These Cicadas pop up around the country in different locations yearly, but without tracking them and doing a little traveling, they only come around locally every 17 years and this year the Cumberland Valley is in the bullseye.

When I found out it was our year, I sat down and trolled the internet looking for cool patterns to tie, even purchased a few from other tiers, but I still wanted to tie a couple of my own design. After about 6 semi decent attempts I landed on this design as my favorite and I wanted to share it with everyone. I don’t have a fancy name for it yet so we I just kept it basic and to the point.

 Enjoy the video and get tying they will be here before we know it.

Snowbirding :-)

Sometimes it’s hard for me to sit down and write, especially when the sun is out and there are snook lurking in my mind. I have been obsessed with redfish and snook for some time now. I have boxes of flies tied, hours of YouTube videos watched, books purchased and read, trips booked and canceled because of weather, and well for a while I thought I might just have an awesome supply of flies that are never going to be fished. But it did happen, many of saltwater trips have happened, tarpon, bonefish, redfish, but still until this week no snook.  

As I sit here in Florida and write you this short story, my mind is at peace (for the moment).

I have finally held my first snook, caught a redfish on a Roamer, and went tight to a couple nice trout. We came down to relax and get away from the snow, but that was far from what happened. I spent hours in the truck, hours on google earth, hours tying flies, waking up hours before sunrise, and as I write this list, I realize, ha, yup that is relaxing to me.

There were no trophies caught, but definitely some hero shots taken!

I met up with a good friend who spends his winters down here and he showed me around with a lot of success for less than ideal conditions. When the schedule allowed for it, and I couldn’t meet up with my buddy, I was in a kayak exploring new water. Hoping with each cast to have something besides an oyster shell pull back.

There is a solid possibility, after my amazing time down here, and my ever-growing urge to explore, that a couple boat companies have been emailed about getting a price quote. (Wide Eyed emoji placed here)

Is relentless fly fishing going to do some wintertime expanding to Florida? Who knows, but I’m already planning my next trip down here.

Smallmouth Bass Fly Lines - My personal favorites

The Sith Midge

I’ve been a Star Wars fan for a long time! So, when I started messing with jig style zebra midges, the black and red ones just had to be named “sith”. This color combo has always been a favorite of mine. Check out the video, tie some, and see the other color combos at the end of the video!

Jake's Lanyard Set Up

Whether you are on a boat or wade fishing, having your tools accessible is very important. Check out this video on how I carry mine!