Blame Seasons on the Fly for this Kamchatka video overload – caught an episode from there the other day. Kamchatka is on the bucket list, right up there next to New Zealand and Patagonia.
Kamchatka
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Tag Archives: Rainbow Trout
VBF Stone
June’s fly of the month is another of Blake’s ties that managed to fool fish at the cabin – the VBF(very big fish) Stone. I had been relaying any intel I could gather from the creek throughout the Spring to Blake and after hearing about Jim’s run in with a VBF of his own and viewing Dan’s stonefly nymph video, Blake set out to tie something similar that might work to catch these trout. It has enough weight in it to eliminate the need for extra shot and is more natural looking than a pickle, which should hopefully fool those wise, old trout who know better.
Materials
- Streamer hook, 4x long
- Bead – gold to fit the hook and black one size larger
- Goose biots
- Dubbing
- Vinyl ribbing
- Shell back
- Thread – I use smaller thread than I normally would just to reduce bulk under the beads
1. Slide beads on the hook, gold bead on normal, and black bead reversed with the concave side facing forward. Start thread behind the hook eye.
2. Tie in two biots extending over the hook eye. Be careful to not wrap so much thread that you can’t get the bead butted up against the eye. Trim butts, whip finish, add some super glue to the thread then push the bead up.
3. Start thread behind the first bead and tie in a biot on either side. I like my legs to be about half the shank length. I like to use enough thread so that the bead is snug when I slide it up the shank. Whip finish, super glue, the slide up the bead.
4. Wrap lead on the shank. Start thread behind the lead and wrap the lead with a layer of thread.
5. Wrap a small ball of dubbing right before the hook bend. This will help to splay out the tails.
6. Tie in two biots at the bend.
7. Tie in ribbing material at the far side of the shank
8. Dub the body
9. Palmer the rib and tie off in the space behind the bead.
10. Tie in shell back material.
11. Biot on either side.
12. Dub leaving a small space behind the bead to tie in the next set of legs. Bring shell back over and tie it in.
13. Tie in next pair of legs then dub the body up to the bead. Whip finish behind the black bead.
14. Start the thread between the front legs and the gold bead. Add some dubbing here to make those front legs angle towards the back of the fly.
15. Bring shell back over the bead and tie in right behind the gold bead. Cut the extra shell back and whip finish.
I like to give the shell back a coating of SHAN to make it shiny. Finished Fly. Enjoy
This eager trout took the VBF stone not more than 30 minutes after I caught it on a dry.
Memorial Day Weekend in North Georgia – part 3
We took our time getting out on the stream on Tuesday, I’m not even sure if we made it out before noon. Whenever we did make it out, the fish were still there and they were still biting. Numbers were down for me on the final day, but I still managed to at least hook and fight a fish in every hole. I think we did our job and educated a fair amount of trout over the past two days.
We made it to a spot on the creek we hadn’t hit the past two days and had a small flurry of activity there catching a few fish on dries, which is always a kick, especially considering the size of the dries we were throwing(locust size hopper patterns). Blake even ended up catching a redhorse on the dropper, right on the top of his snout. Beautiful fish, you rarely get an up close look at them even though you see them stacked up in the riffles, they hardly ever take a fly though.
We headed back toward the cabin for supper then Amanda and I decided to take Marin on a ride in the UTV. We caught up with my mom at a bend to see how she was doing and on cue she catches a nice rainbow. We got in the water for a photo op – I think Marin was impressed. Mom caught some nice fish over the weekend too, we weren’t the only ones there harassing the fish in the creek.
We made another evening fish after supper but all I could muster were a few hookups. No trout were landed for me in the evening, which made for a bittersweet end to our trip. We still had another great time at the cabin though. The fishing at the cabin seems to get better every year – a big thanks to Dad, Jim, Dan and the rest of the folks who look after the stream. They have created a tremendous resource for anyone that gets a chance to fish it. We never made it to a small stream on this trip and it didn’t even bother me. The cabin fishing was too good to leave. A big thanks to my parents for being gracious hosts to us, again.
This Memorial Day trip has become tradition and I look forward to it every year. It happens to be a great time to fish for trout in the North Georgia mountains and with the extra day off of work it just makes sense to head that way. Of course none of this would be possible if it weren’t for our freedom. I am very thankful to the men and women who serve to protect this great country and honor those who have died while doing so.
Mountains to Marsh 