cory glauner

Fly of the Month – Modified Zebra Midge

Late fall has arrived and a short flurry of snow here today reminded me that winter is on its way. Unless your favorite fishing location closes for the winter though you don’t need to hang up the fly rod just yet. I have a pattern that has become a favorite of mine from late fall through the early spring months. It is simple, and it works as a great midge pupa imitation.

I fish it a variety of ways. Often I will fish it with a double nymph rig as the bottom fly fishing it deep with the aid of split shot. In the spring I like to use it as a dropper off an adult Skwala Stonefly pattern on rivers that have that hatch and fish it in the top foot of the water column. It will work all year I am sure but my focus during the summer seems to shift to the many other hatches that take place and my use of this midge pattern takes a back seat.

Midges though are a popular winter staple for trout as they do hatch in many locations all year. Even on a cold winter day, the mid day sun can warm things up enough to bring about a midge hatch that will bring even the most lethargic of cold blooded trout to the surface.

This pattern is basically a Zebra Midge with a few slight modifications. It’s simple to tie, and has for the last couple years been my top fish catching pattern on a variety of rivers.

Figure 1-I usually tie this pattern on hooks size #18 or smaller. This one is on a #18 TMC 2457.

Figure 2-Push a 2mm nickel bead onto the hook.

Figure 3-Lay a base of black thread then I tie in a short tail of a few grizzly hackle fibers. Midges do not have a tail like a mayfly but I tie this with a few fibers at the end as I like to think it gives a little wiggle to the end of the fly.

Figure 4 – Tie in a short section of fine silver wire and advance the thread to the head of the fly building a slight taper with the thread as you go.

Figure 5 – Make evenly spaced wraps with the wire up to the head and tie off with the thread.

Figure 6 – Tie in a small loop of Iridescent Krystal Flash. Then whip finish and drop some head cement on the head and a little on the body of the fly.

Figure 7 – The finished product.

This article by: BaseCampLegends.com

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cory glauner

Steelhead in High Water – 5 Tips

Here are 5 things to keep in mind when the water is high!

1. Go fishing. Nobody ever caught a steelhead sitting at home on their couch. Don’t give up just because you don’t have 3 feet of visbility. The fish are still out there, just in different places. If the river’s in flood stage and conditions are dangerous, be safe and stay away. Otherwise, get out there!

1. Fish a short line. When the river’s low, the best holding water for steelhead is often out in the middle of the river in the main current. When the river is high, they still prefer the same kind of water – only now, that water is often right up against the bank. Fish aren’t going to fight massive flows in the middle of the runs when the water is up, so keep your line short and cover the juicy holding water that’s now often 5 to 40 feet in front of you.
2. Fish lighter tips. Contrary to what your intuition may tell you, you generally don’t need to be too deep when the water is up. With less clarity and higher flows, steelhead feel safer in shallower, softer water. That means that dredging may put your fly beneath the fish. On the end of that short line that you’re casting, fish a lighter sinktip. You may be surprised at what you find in not very much water.
3. Fish big flies. Here’s your chance to break out the giant Intruders! Those big profile flies were designed for conditions in which it takes a big fly to get the attention of the fish. Go big. The right colors will depend on the river that you’re fishing, but in general, darker colors tend to be more visible in dirty water.
4. Look for soft water. You already know that you should mostly be fishing a shorter line to stay out of the really heavy current. Steelhead like softer water when the level is up, so you should be on the lookout for it at all times. Maybe it’s right up against the bank. Maybe it forms on the edge of a big current seam. Maybe you should think about checking out a big back eddy. Think like a fish – where are the comfortable holding spots when the main river has all that current? Fish there.

Check our directory for some great steelhead fishing.
Post by: Deneki

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cory glauner

S Dakota Pheasant Limit Increase

Pierre, S.D. – Due to the delayed harvest of crops this fall, the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Commission intends to act at its Dec. 3-4 meeting in Pierre on a proposal to raise the three-bird daily pheasant bag limit to five cock pheasants daily.

Under the proposal, the current 15-bird pheasant possession limit would increase to 25 male pheasants.

If adopted, the emergency rule would take effect Saturday, Dec. 5, 2009, and remain in place until the current pheasant season ends on Jan. 3, 2010. “The ability of hunters to harvest pheasants in the first seven weeks of the 2009 pheasant hunting season has been severely inhibited by lack of row-crop harvest,” said GFP Secretary Jeff Vonk. “The weather patterns that led to this situation were not anticipated by the Commission when it adopted the pheasant season back in April.”

The adjustments in the daily limit and possession limit will not hurt overall pheasant numbers in future years because only cock pheasants may be harvested, Vonk said.

“As crops are taken from the fields, the refuge that pheasants found in oceans of cornfields will disappear, and birds will be concentrated in the remaining cover,” Vonk said. “The addition to the limits will allow hunters the ability to make up for opportunities that were lost in the first part of the season.”

From South Dakota Game Fish and Parks

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cory glauner

Building Trail, Fishing & Wolves

My buddy Kris Keller who runs Sulphur Creek Ranch invited us on a wolf hunt / scouting trip for elk season. There was one catch though. We had to help him build “a little” trail first. No problem. It was only a 3 1/2 hour ride from the trailhead, but by dark we still weren’t to base camp and a big storm was headed our way fast! Did I mention I had never been to this camp before? Kris told me to “…ride to the lodge, take a right, go to the top of the ridge and then take another right to the top of the next ridge. Once you’re there, head left down towards some lake looking stuff“. Easy right?

So, 4 hours later it was pitch dark and I was hoping we were at least getting close when the rain and hail hit… Hard. I was leading my mule and trying to track Kris’s horses (I could only see during lightning flashes after which I was blind), but their tracks were fading fast in the rain. Just when we were about to stop and make camp I spotted a flashlight a we were there. Relief, ’cause I hate long nights in the rain. Been there. Done that.

Kris and his crew helped us unsaddle and get our gear out of the rain and the saddles stashed under mannies. Camp was at a spectacular high mountain lake and consisted of a tarp stretched over our sleeping bags. Usually just fine this time of year, but we hadn’t been counting on a torrential downpour, so we spent the next hour tying down the tarp and digging ditches so we’d have a dry night.

I’m not going to go into details about the next two days because I’d rather forget. If you’ve never built trail with a Pulaski before, well… I don’t recommend it. ‘Nuff said. Even though it was hard work it was nice getting out of the office and in the evenings we fished the lake for some BIG trout. I’ve never seen such a well producing high mountain lake. Gonna have to go visit that lake again.

With trail building over, we headed back down to the lodge to start wolf hunting. This would be my first experience hunting wolves and we were all excited to get started. For the past week the wolves had been hanging out on the runway every night and hopes were high. We spent the next few days covering lots of miles on the horses. We worked a few bulls for my buddy Brent Martell who had an archery elk tag and looked over some pretty country, but we never caught up with the wolves. Oh well, so it goes more often than not when you’re hunting. All that means is that I still have a tag in my pocket. Now I get to try again.

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