And then you can transition right into "Winter Wonderland" and "It's B̶e̶g̶i̶n̶n̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶T̶o̶ Still Looking A Lot Like Christmas"...

Crank up your karaoke machine
to Andy Williams,
"It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year"
and sing along...

It's the most wonderful time of the year
With the days getting longer
the sun getting stonger, let's just make it clear
It's the most wonderful time of the year

It's the hap-happiest season of all
With the stream water rising, they’ll be no compromising
So take care you don’t fall
It's the hap- happiest season of all

They’ll be nymphs to run deeply
Streamers to swing freely
A dry on occasion for fun
They’ll be lines just a flingin’
And reels will be singin’ as
You stand waist deep in a run.

It's the most wonderful time of the year
With the trout finally legal
You’ll stare like an eagle
For fish to appear
It's the most wonderful time of the year

With your flies all tied brightly
Your waders cinched tightly
Your staff in your grip as you go
They’ll be high water raging
Around as you’re gauging
Each step of the way in the cold.

It's the most wonderful time of the year
There'll be much flyline mending
And rods will be bending
When big fish are near
It's the most wonderful time
It's the most wonderful time
It's the most wonderful time
It's the most wonderful time of the year!!

Happy Opening Day!

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Dries

A technique I found here on the interwebs, which I'd never seen, and wanted to try.

The two on the left are tied with a parachute hackle on a foam post which is then folded forward and tied down. This keeps the majority of the hackle on the top side, letting the fly sit lower in the film. The foam also increases the buoyancy of fly.

There's a lot going on at the head of a size 16 fly, and it crowds the eye pretty closely!

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Big Head Copper John's

 

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Hare's ears

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Happy St. Patrick's Day!

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26

  I inventoried my fly boxes, and I guess last season was a good one, as they are still fairly well stocked. The bushes and tree limbs, around where I fish, were a little less decorated with tinsel this past Christmas.
 The new tenkara rod came in the mail yesterday. Anxious to see what that is all about. I've already got a couple spots picked out where I think it will be a useful tool.
 I'd also like to thank Vince Wilcox for reaffirming my occasional passion for chub fishing, a topic which came up during a conversation about the new tenkara rod on social media.
 I get weird looks when I return from those outings and announce the great number of fish I've landed, the largest of  which are usually 4 or 5 inches. But then again, I usually get weird looks whenever I voice my (over)enthusiasm for the sport.
 So...a few more flies to tie, a new rod, 26 days until trout season opener...
...and it snowed another couple inches last night with a predicted temperature of -11 tonight.
Watch out chubs.

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Fly Bench

Size 22 RS2's hot off the vice.

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