Friday, December 13, 2013
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Yet Another Mole Crab Pattern to try - The Surf Merkin
and out west, they apparently have had success tying it in PINK!
maybe would work for weakfish as well!??
Confessions of a corbina junkie!
Well, I have to admit it, I went to the dark side this season and converted to pink. It sounds nutty but a few weeks back I hooked four corbina in one outing, all on pink merkins. I got another one a week later. My good friend, fellow corbina hunter and surfin merkin man, Paul Cronin from Oxnard has convinced me that pink is indeed the new grey. I am now a believer, say yeah! The last four or five seasons we have been tossing grey surfin merkins with great success. We have talked about how they are easy to cast, land softly, track like a burrowing sand crab and have accounted for more corbina than I can count. After experimenting with colors that are more visual for us to see, Paul concluded that chartreuse scared the hell out of them but pink had no affect on their ability to see and eat the fly. The pink profile allowed Paul the ability to see and position the fly easier. It really makes sense, when sight fishing these fish in clear skinny water the angler can easily see the fly as clear as day from a long distance away. Imagine a big wad of Bazooka chewing gum crawling across the sand bottom and a corbina chasing it down and trying to kill it. Could it get any more visual, I don’t think so? Give pink a try, you won’t be disappointed…PS: the color of the EP fiber pink we are using is Salmon Pink and don’t be afraid to tie them big and ugly.
maybe would work for weakfish as well!??
pink is the new gray.
July 28, 2011
corbina with a pink merkin face! photo by Al Q
Al Q with a corbina that fell for yet another pink merkin. photo by james dwyer.
photo by Al Q
Well, I have to admit it, I went to the dark side this season and converted to pink. It sounds nutty but a few weeks back I hooked four corbina in one outing, all on pink merkins. I got another one a week later. My good friend, fellow corbina hunter and surfin merkin man, Paul Cronin from Oxnard has convinced me that pink is indeed the new grey. I am now a believer, say yeah! The last four or five seasons we have been tossing grey surfin merkins with great success. We have talked about how they are easy to cast, land softly, track like a burrowing sand crab and have accounted for more corbina than I can count. After experimenting with colors that are more visual for us to see, Paul concluded that chartreuse scared the hell out of them but pink had no affect on their ability to see and eat the fly. The pink profile allowed Paul the ability to see and position the fly easier. It really makes sense, when sight fishing these fish in clear skinny water the angler can easily see the fly as clear as day from a long distance away. Imagine a big wad of Bazooka chewing gum crawling across the sand bottom and a corbina chasing it down and trying to kill it. Could it get any more visual, I don’t think so? Give pink a try, you won’t be disappointed…PS: the color of the EP fiber pink we are using is Salmon Pink and don’t be afraid to tie them big and ugly.
Another Mole Crab Pattern - Skok's Blind Crab
tied with orange "underneath"
Mole crabs (Emerita talpoida), also known as sand fleas,
are common along the shorelines of oceans and bays throughout the
Atlantic seaboard from Cape Cod to central Florida. These small,
clawless olive-shaped crabs spend most of their time hiding in the sand
right along the surf. Sometimes you'll see them on the beach scurrying
for cover, but distinctive ripples in the sand also indicate where
colonies of crabs have buried themselves.
Opportunities to seize this prey are brief, so predators have to move slowly and focus intently to find and capture them. Presenting a fly to fish that are homed in on these unusual crabs creates a unique sight-casting situation. The most effective method is to get the fly well in front of the fish, allow the pattern to settle to the bottom, and then bring it to life with a short strip to attract the fish's attention. Refrain from moving the fly too much - you want to make subtle hops and twitches interspersed with brief pauses, much like when bonefishing.
While there are several mole crab patterns, a recent Dave Skok adaptation of Bailey and Pallot's classic Bonefish Bunny, which he calls the Blind Crab, is the best one I've fished yet. It's a rabbit-fur fly that rides point up with a shock of rubber legs out the tail, and it has proven itself on many Northeast flats and beaches.
As
I stepped into the water I heard murmuring, snickers and a
cranky-sounding, "You'll never catch 'em, sonny." I had a few choice
words for that person, and after I took three 27-inch fish on successive
presentations, those words were "Skok's Blind Crab."
Tying Instructions
Step 1: Attach the eyes with the pink thread about 1/3 of the way down the shank, Clouser Deep Minnow-style on the top of the hook.
Step 2:
Lay a base of thread down the length of the hook shank, then tie in a
clump of bleached elk hair behind the eyes and wrap over the hair down
the length of the shank and slightly down on the bend so that hair
points up when the fly is inverted. The elk hair should extend at least
1/2 inch past the last thread wrap. After the elk hair, tie in four
strands of premarked Span-Flex. These should be about as long as the elk
hair, but trim the outside two strands slightly shorter than the center
strands.
Step 3: Tie in about 4 inches of a single strand of tan E-Z Bug Chenille and a single thin-stemmed ginger saddle hackle at the bend.
Step 4:
Wrap the chenille and the hackle together (bumblebee-style) all the way
to the eyes. Do not wrap the chenille first and then attempt to palmer
the hackle over it - the hackle stem will trap the strands of the fuzzy
chenille and leave an unfinished appearance. Flip the fly over in the
vise and trim the hook-point side of the materials flat. Whip-finish and
apply head cement to the trimmed chenille/hackle and the exposed thread
around the eyes.
Step 5:
Start the tan thread in front of the eyes. Poke the hook point through
the hide of the zonker strip so that the hair flows rearward and tie it
in just in front of the eyes. Leave about 1/3 inch of hide hanging
behind the bend. Pull the hide taut and trim it at the appropriate
length. Cut off the square tips at the forward end, just behind the
tie-in point, to help create a smooth, tapered head. Whip-finish and
apply head cement.
Skok's Blind Crab
A few thoughtful changes transform a bonefish fly into a mole crab pattern
Tying Skok's Blind Crab
Attach the eyes with the pink thread about 1/3 of the way down the shank, Clouser Deep Minnow-style on the top of the hook.
Opportunities to seize this prey are brief, so predators have to move slowly and focus intently to find and capture them. Presenting a fly to fish that are homed in on these unusual crabs creates a unique sight-casting situation. The most effective method is to get the fly well in front of the fish, allow the pattern to settle to the bottom, and then bring it to life with a short strip to attract the fish's attention. Refrain from moving the fly too much - you want to make subtle hops and twitches interspersed with brief pauses, much like when bonefishing.
While there are several mole crab patterns, a recent Dave Skok adaptation of Bailey and Pallot's classic Bonefish Bunny, which he calls the Blind Crab, is the best one I've fished yet. It's a rabbit-fur fly that rides point up with a shock of rubber legs out the tail, and it has proven itself on many Northeast flats and beaches.
| Last
September I had a chance to fish the infamous flat adjacent to the Oak
Bluffs ferryboat dock on Martha's Vineyard. These "downtown stripers"
have undoubtedly seen more lures and flies than I have, and since they
have Sea World-like living conditions, local legend is that they are
impossible to catch. A gallery of 25 onlookers gathered as I descended the stairs to the beach. I felt pressure - the heat of 50 eyes that had seen many cocky anglers embark on this march to modesty. It's amazing what you'll pull out of your fly box in moments like this - I went with Skok's brand-new crab pattern, which was totally unproven at the time. That's how much I respect him; he's clearly one of the best saltwater tiers today. |
Hook: #1 Mustad Signature C68S SS
Thread: Shell-pink flat-waxed nylon and tan 3/0 Monocord Eyes: Medium lead dumbbell eyes (can be painted tan, cream or orange) Tail: Bleached elk hair Legs: Size M cream Span-Flex, barred pale pink and black with permanent markers Underbody: One strand of tan E-Z Bug or Bill's Woolly Bugger Marabou Chenille and a ginger variant (or other color) saddle hackle Carapace: Natural hare's ear magnum- cut zonker strip Glue: Head cement |
Tying Instructions
Step 1: Attach the eyes with the pink thread about 1/3 of the way down the shank, Clouser Deep Minnow-style on the top of the hook.Step 2:
Lay a base of thread down the length of the hook shank, then tie in a
clump of bleached elk hair behind the eyes and wrap over the hair down
the length of the shank and slightly down on the bend so that hair
points up when the fly is inverted. The elk hair should extend at least
1/2 inch past the last thread wrap. After the elk hair, tie in four
strands of premarked Span-Flex. These should be about as long as the elk
hair, but trim the outside two strands slightly shorter than the center
strands.Step 3: Tie in about 4 inches of a single strand of tan E-Z Bug Chenille and a single thin-stemmed ginger saddle hackle at the bend.Step 4:
Wrap the chenille and the hackle together (bumblebee-style) all the way
to the eyes. Do not wrap the chenille first and then attempt to palmer
the hackle over it - the hackle stem will trap the strands of the fuzzy
chenille and leave an unfinished appearance. Flip the fly over in the
vise and trim the hook-point side of the materials flat. Whip-finish and
apply head cement to the trimmed chenille/hackle and the exposed thread
around the eyes. Step 5:
Start the tan thread in front of the eyes. Poke the hook point through
the hide of the zonker strip so that the hair flows rearward and tie it
in just in front of the eyes. Leave about 1/3 inch of hide hanging
behind the bend. Pull the hide taut and trim it at the appropriate
length. Cut off the square tips at the forward end, just behind the
tie-in point, to help create a smooth, tapered head. Whip-finish and
apply head cement.
Mole Crab Pattern - Tying over the winter
Well, looks like another year of fishing is wrapped up, cold weather has socked in.
These would be fished over a "light" colored sandy substrate.
I'll be tying up some crab patterns, and starting with mole crabs, very prevalent in the surf in our area:
Thread: 6/0 Uni Tan
Hook: Gama SC15 1/0
Tail: Badger Hackle -tip trimmed.
Mouth Parts: 3-4 strands Pple Krystal Flash over White BT.
Body: Dub Loop: Back 1/2-Hareline Dubbin-White; Front 1/2-UV Hot Orange.
Collar/Legs: 1/2 of a Light Blue Mallard Flank.
Wing/Carapace: Light barred Mallard flank over Dark Barred Mallard flank.
Flexament.
These would be fished over a "light" colored sandy substrate.
Monday, December 9, 2013
Steelhead near Buffalo
One year, a daughter was going to school in Nashville... I had visions of fishing along the Smoky Mountains on the way down or back.
Never Happened.
Now I have a daughter up in Buffalo... so NOW I have visions of fishing for, what else (?), steelhead!
Apparently there is a top 10 NY steelhead stream in the area..probably never happen for me, but one can hope, right? :)
CHAUTAUQUA CREEK
What stream has New York’s highest catch rate for steelhead? If you guessed Chautauqua Creek, you must be one of the locals, for most Buffalo-area anglers who drive south in search of steelhead action end their trip at Cattaraugus Creek.
Chautauqua Creek, in fact, produces 1.2 steelhead per hour of fishing effort, according to a study of Lake Erie tributaries that was conducted in 2003-2004. The second-fastest fishing occurred at nearby Canadaway Creek, where the catch rate was 1.1 steelies per hour of trying. Cattaraugus Creek finished seventh on the list, with a catch rate of 0.4 steelies caught per hour of angler effort.
All of these catch rates are excellent, in terms of steelhead fisheries. By comparison, on the famed Salmon River, anglers catch an average of about one steelie every 20 hours!
The numbers don’t tell the whole story, of course. Despite the scant attention it gets in sporting publications, Chautauqua Creek has a strong following among anglers in New York’s southwest corner, and it is heavily pressured on autumn weekends. Further, it is prone to early ice-ups, and anglers who visit it on the first week of December may or may not find it fishable when they return a week or two later.
Having said that, readers in western New York would be wise to call the DEC’s Region 9 office, (716) 372-0645, before making their weekend steelhead plans. If the year ends with mild temperatures and soaking rains instead of snow and ice, Chautauqua Creek will be worth fishing right through Christmas for fresh-run steelhead that average about 4 or 5 pounds.
Chautauqua flows through the village of Westfield before slipping under U.S. Route 5 and emptying into Lake Erie. The crystalline ledge pools immediately up and downstream from Route 5 are by far the most heavily fished parts of the stream because they are marked “public fishing” on both banks. However, the lower five miles of the creek are accessible to spawning fish, and the anglers who obtain permission to wet a line on private property or who check out the PFR sections between Westfield and Volusia will be glad they did so. The Region 9 office mentioned above has a map showing the location of public fishing rights on Chautauqua Creek. It can also be downloaded from the DEC Web site,
www.dec.state.ny.us.
Read more: http://www.gameandfishmag.com/2010/10/04/fishing_salmon-steelhead-fishing_ny_1205_02/#ixzz2n0dgujr8
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Probably a Wrap on Fishing Season
and the worst fall per hour spent fishing that I can remember in my life.
But that said, tis the season for other things... first and foremost the celebration
of the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ:
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