Open Air Podcast Episode 68 - Paflyfish’s Dave Kile
In this episode, Coty and Steve talk with Dave Kile from Paflyfish. We talk about starting a site, choosing flies, places to fish, and much more.
Open Air Podcast Episode 68 - Paflyfish’s Dave Kile
The Open Air Project is a podcast by Coty Soult and Steve Sunderland. The podcast is about hunting, fishing, and the outdoors. The vision for The Open Air project is to share with people the stories of them and their guests, all while educating everyone in the process. They feel that learning is a never-ending journey, one that they intend to share with their audience.
Where can people find the podcast?
You can find the podcast in the links below. I think one of the coolest things is that if you own an Amazon Echo (Alexa) you can tell her to "play the latest episode of The Open Air Project on Tunein Radio" and it starts to play.
Website: http://theopenairproject.com
iTunes: The Open Air Project Coty Soult & Steve Sunderland
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Open-Air-Project-993749137422734/
Stitcher: The Open Air Project
Tunein Radio: https://tunein.com/radio/The-Open-Air-Project-p1037344/
Twitter: The Open Air Project (@openairproject) | Twitter
Instagram: Coty Soult (@theopenairproject) • Instagram photos and videos
Open Air Podcast Episode 68 - Paflyfish’s Dave Kile
The Open Air Project is a podcast by Coty Soult and Steve Sunderland. The podcast is about hunting, fishing, and the outdoors. The vision for The Open Air project is to share with people the stories of them and their guests, all while educating everyone in the process. They feel that learning is a never-ending journey, one that they intend to share with their audience.
Where can people find the podcast?
You can find the podcast in the links below. I think one of the coolest things is that if you own an Amazon Echo (Alexa) you can tell her to "play the latest episode of The Open Air Project on Tunein Radio" and it starts to play.
Website: http://theopenairproject.com
iTunes: The Open Air Project Coty Soult & Steve Sunderland
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Open-Air-Project-993749137422734/
Stitcher: The Open Air Project
Tunein Radio: https://tunein.com/radio/The-Open-Air-Project-p1037344/
Twitter: The Open Air Project (@openairproject) | Twitter
Instagram: Coty Soult (@theopenairproject) • Instagram photos and videos
Getting On The Board - Muddy Creek 2020
[size=x-small]The second attempt in the last week to get on the board for 2020 turned out to be an outstanding day of fishing at Muddy Creek. Maurice hit me the night before to get out today to Muddy Creek on Monday. I quickly abandoned my plans for the Gunpowder and started packing up the SUV.
We arrived at about 11:00 with temps in the mid-forties and cloud cover. The clouds stayed with us all day and temps moved up to the upper forties. Water was just a little off-color, running at 180 CFS and at about 46 degrees. It could be considered a normal winter day in SEPA.
Maurice pointed out what really made conditions work is the very warm weather and rain just two days before. On January 11th the water temps reached about 51. January 12th was 65 degrees with about .8 inches of rain after midnight. This raised the water temps and changed the clarity of the water to just a little off-color when we got there. The normally sluggish deep holed trout were moving around more, with a better chance of them feeding.
We started out pretty quickly getting some hits and trout My first fish landed just before noon and Maurice followed right along or vice versa I can't recall. I pretty much stuck to fishing a black Palmer streamer all day.
The best section of the stream for me was a longer deep bending hole. After we caught a couple, I was now drifting my streamer...
We arrived at about 11:00 with temps in the mid-forties and cloud cover. The clouds stayed with us all day and temps moved up to the upper forties. Water was just a little off-color, running at 180 CFS and at about 46 degrees. It could be considered a normal winter day in SEPA.
Maurice pointed out what really made conditions work is the very warm weather and rain just two days before. On January 11th the water temps reached about 51. January 12th was 65 degrees with about .8 inches of rain after midnight. This raised the water temps and changed the clarity of the water to just a little off-color when we got there. The normally sluggish deep holed trout were moving around more, with a better chance of them feeding.
We started out pretty quickly getting some hits and trout My first fish landed just before noon and Maurice followed right along or vice versa I can't recall. I pretty much stuck to fishing a black Palmer streamer all day.
The best section of the stream for me was a longer deep bending hole. After we caught a couple, I was now drifting my streamer...
2020 PAFF Eastern PA Fly Tying Jamboree
To all PAFF members, family, and friends:
You are invited to attend and participate in the 2020 PAFF Eastern PA Fly Tying Jamboree, to be held on Saturday, February 15, from 10 AM to 5 PM. This event is being hosted by Michael Lohman GenCon . Please feel free to contact me with any questions. This event will be held at the Lehigh Gap Nature Center, in Slatington, PA. Directions can be found here: http://lgnc.org/.
Everyone is invited to attend and watch the demonstrations, get tips from the tyers, and have a great time. We particularly encourage beginner tyers to attend, and we'll have beginner instruction set up at a table. Details to follow.
As always, we need to recruit a team of volunteer tyers of all skill levels to participate and we ask that you register your willingness to give a demonstration by signing up in this thread. Each tyer will be given 15-20 minutes to tie and explain their chosen demo fly. Tyers will tie one at a time, proceeding around the room. Please choose a pattern that fits into one of the following categories, and list it in your signup post. Duplicates are OK, but try to pick a pattern that hasn't already been chosen.
Categories:
- Catskill style dries
- parachute style dries
- comparadun and hairwing style dries
- emergers
- imitative nymphs
- attractor nymphs
- terrestrials
- wet flies
- streamers
- "other" flies
Tying on a large hook (e.g. #12) makes it much easier for the audience to see what you are doing. It really helps if you practice your "demo" beforehand, especially to keep within the time limit. Having all the materials laid out beforehand is also good. We should be able to fit...
You are invited to attend and participate in the 2020 PAFF Eastern PA Fly Tying Jamboree, to be held on Saturday, February 15, from 10 AM to 5 PM. This event is being hosted by Michael Lohman GenCon . Please feel free to contact me with any questions. This event will be held at the Lehigh Gap Nature Center, in Slatington, PA. Directions can be found here: http://lgnc.org/.
Everyone is invited to attend and watch the demonstrations, get tips from the tyers, and have a great time. We particularly encourage beginner tyers to attend, and we'll have beginner instruction set up at a table. Details to follow.
As always, we need to recruit a team of volunteer tyers of all skill levels to participate and we ask that you register your willingness to give a demonstration by signing up in this thread. Each tyer will be given 15-20 minutes to tie and explain their chosen demo fly. Tyers will tie one at a time, proceeding around the room. Please choose a pattern that fits into one of the following categories, and list it in your signup post. Duplicates are OK, but try to pick a pattern that hasn't already been chosen.
Categories:
- Catskill style dries
- parachute style dries
- comparadun and hairwing style dries
- emergers
- imitative nymphs
- attractor nymphs
- terrestrials
- wet flies
- streamers
- "other" flies
Tying on a large hook (e.g. #12) makes it much easier for the audience to see what you are doing. It really helps if you practice your "demo" beforehand, especially to keep within the time limit. Having all the materials laid out beforehand is also good. We should be able to fit...
6 Weight Fly Rod Review Series - Part Two, Jimmy at Jurassic Lake
By Brian McGeehan at Montana Angler Fly Fishing
On a recent hosted trip to Jurassic Lake Lodge in Argentine Patagonia I tested 5 of the 6 rods from the 6 Weight review. I chose not to take the Sage LL along as it was definitely not designed for high winds, big flies and bigger fish. Jurassic Lake is an incredibly windy place littered with giant rainbows. I considered leaving the Orvis Helios 3F behind as well, but because it was my overall favorite after casting in the park I wanted to see if any of that would transfer in Argentina.
To read part one of the 6 weight review click here: 6 Weight Fly Rod Review - Part One
I kept the fly lines consistent with the previous testing in the park. For the first five full days of fishing, I fished with one of the five rods for an entire day. This allowed me to get to know the rod over several hours of fishing. Not a completely fair comparison as some days were windier than others and different beats sometimes presented unique challenges. Fishing the river, for example, didn’t require very long casts and we were more sheltered from the wind, while another part of the lake called the Bay of Pigs usually required extra-long casts into a headwind. One thing I can say about all of the rods is I was impressed at how well they performed when landing the large and powerful fish of Jurassic Lake. Each rod had enough flex to protect tippets from breaking and hooks from straightening out while also bringing fish to the net relatively quickly.
Helios 3F
The Helios 3F was my overall favorite in the original 6 weight review that took place in the park. That being said, it did not perform as well at...
On a recent hosted trip to Jurassic Lake Lodge in Argentine Patagonia I tested 5 of the 6 rods from the 6 Weight review. I chose not to take the Sage LL along as it was definitely not designed for high winds, big flies and bigger fish. Jurassic Lake is an incredibly windy place littered with giant rainbows. I considered leaving the Orvis Helios 3F behind as well, but because it was my overall favorite after casting in the park I wanted to see if any of that would transfer in Argentina.
To read part one of the 6 weight review click here: 6 Weight Fly Rod Review - Part One
I kept the fly lines consistent with the previous testing in the park. For the first five full days of fishing, I fished with one of the five rods for an entire day. This allowed me to get to know the rod over several hours of fishing. Not a completely fair comparison as some days were windier than others and different beats sometimes presented unique challenges. Fishing the river, for example, didn’t require very long casts and we were more sheltered from the wind, while another part of the lake called the Bay of Pigs usually required extra-long casts into a headwind. One thing I can say about all of the rods is I was impressed at how well they performed when landing the large and powerful fish of Jurassic Lake. Each rod had enough flex to protect tippets from breaking and hooks from straightening out while also bringing fish to the net relatively quickly.
Helios 3F
The Helios 3F was my overall favorite in the original 6 weight review that took place in the park. That being said, it did not perform as well at...
Thinking about Fall Fly Fishing
Fall fly fishing in Pennsylvania offers anglers an awesome opportunity to enjoy cool, colorful days on some spectacular streams. Anglers will appreciate the solitude of fall fishing while others are busy with different fall activities. There are plenty of streams across the state with trout and hatches to keep you busy on familiar waters and even going after some streams you’ve been thinking about.
Just like in the spring, you’re looking for trout and good water. There are plenty of streams that have naturally reproducing trout as well as stocked waters by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC). However, the PFBC only provides very limited stocking on select streams during the fall, which starts at the end of September through the beginning of October.
Hatches
As the weather begins to change, so does the entomology or insect life in the stream. Activity will differ from region to region, stream size, summer water temperatures, and geology. The fall provides a more limited selection of insects, and often, anglers enjoy bringing a more modest selection of flies and imitations. Some of the more popular collections include Slate Drakes, BWOs, Caddis, terrestrials and egg patterns. Typical nymphs and streamers are always part of the mix.
Where to Fly Fish?
Stocked streams and Special Regulation Projects
About 40 streams are stocked after the start of fall by the PFBC. The number of trout is not close to the spring stockings, but offer increased angling opportunity to some of the more popular Special Regulation streams across the state like First Fork Sinnemahoning Creek, Lackawaxen River, Little Pine Creek, Ridley Creek, and Laurel Hill Creek, to name a few. The full list of fall stocked lakes and streams can be found at the PFBC site...
Just like in the spring, you’re looking for trout and good water. There are plenty of streams that have naturally reproducing trout as well as stocked waters by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC). However, the PFBC only provides very limited stocking on select streams during the fall, which starts at the end of September through the beginning of October.
Hatches
As the weather begins to change, so does the entomology or insect life in the stream. Activity will differ from region to region, stream size, summer water temperatures, and geology. The fall provides a more limited selection of insects, and often, anglers enjoy bringing a more modest selection of flies and imitations. Some of the more popular collections include Slate Drakes, BWOs, Caddis, terrestrials and egg patterns. Typical nymphs and streamers are always part of the mix.
Where to Fly Fish?
Stocked streams and Special Regulation Projects
About 40 streams are stocked after the start of fall by the PFBC. The number of trout is not close to the spring stockings, but offer increased angling opportunity to some of the more popular Special Regulation streams across the state like First Fork Sinnemahoning Creek, Lackawaxen River, Little Pine Creek, Ridley Creek, and Laurel Hill Creek, to name a few. The full list of fall stocked lakes and streams can be found at the PFBC site...
Idaho Sawtooth Area Fishing and Backpacking Trip
The trip to Idaho was absolutely phenomenal though. The scenery, geology, wildlife, everything was just what we were looking for. We met up with some of my girlfriend's friends from Oregon and camped for the week at Alturas Lake campground which had some extremely beautiful tent-only sites tucked next to the lake. Early week was very quiet and peaceful till later in the week when there was a music festival in nearby Stanley so there was much more drinking in the area. I only fished the lake one day and I'm not much of a stillwater guy so I didn't have much luck but enjoyed watching some families slay stockers with powerbait, nice to see the kids so excited.
We hiked up to the Alpine lakes one day and fished those however we got to the trailhead a little too late so the "w" had shown up and put all the fish don and my casts too haha. I was stubborn and would only throw a dry but it was fun and worth just the sights, we really enjoyed them and you live and learn. There was tons of bug activity up there though which was really cool to see.
We also did a float trip down the Salmon River which was my first guide trip and my first float trip proper. Man, that was a seriously good time. I could do that every day and not get tired of it. Our guide Troy lined up with our ideas on conservation and fishing in general and was a great guy to be around, I'd consider him a friend and plan on fishing with him again one day. We caught tons and tons of fish too with some being decent sized. My girlfriend had the time of her life throwing big foams and not touching a single fish haha. She hit her first fish on her own and broke off her first fish too. Several times I heard "I should have given him line Alex" haha the one that got away. Driftboat fishing is amazing though and I'm extremely interested to do it...
We hiked up to the Alpine lakes one day and fished those however we got to the trailhead a little too late so the "w" had shown up and put all the fish don and my casts too haha. I was stubborn and would only throw a dry but it was fun and worth just the sights, we really enjoyed them and you live and learn. There was tons of bug activity up there though which was really cool to see.
We also did a float trip down the Salmon River which was my first guide trip and my first float trip proper. Man, that was a seriously good time. I could do that every day and not get tired of it. Our guide Troy lined up with our ideas on conservation and fishing in general and was a great guy to be around, I'd consider him a friend and plan on fishing with him again one day. We caught tons and tons of fish too with some being decent sized. My girlfriend had the time of her life throwing big foams and not touching a single fish haha. She hit her first fish on her own and broke off her first fish too. Several times I heard "I should have given him line Alex" haha the one that got away. Driftboat fishing is amazing though and I'm extremely interested to do it...
My Journey to Catch the Frankenfish
The "Frankenfish!" Chances are you have heard this name on your local news channel or on some overdramatized fishing show. The snakehead has received a lot of sensationalism by the media over the years with a lot of it misleading or greatly exaggerated. The snakehead is just a fish. They can’t walk on land to eat your pets and they don’t spawn five times a year. Just recently, John Odenkirk, the leading biologist on the Northern snakehead's impact on the Potomac with over 15 years of research has recently stated that he does not see the Northern snakehead as an invasive species anymore.
Photo courtesy Fredrick
For a fish species to be considered invasive, it has to cause economic or environmental harm. To date, there is no scientific evidence to show that this fish is causing harm to the economy or existing fish populations. If anything the snakehead has boosted sales in fishing licenses and equipment in the area they're inhabiting. They are a blast to catch with spectacular topwater strikes and they are great table fare which makes them attractive to many anglers.
Since hearing that this fish was found in Meadow Lake in 2004 I was intrigued about this so-called devil fish. So, like any angler, I wanted to catch one. I took to the internet to do my homework and gather all the information I could to help me catch these fish on the fly. What I found was very limited: a few guys claiming to be experts but only had two or three fish caught in a period of several years. To me, catching three fish of a certain species hardly makes you an expert and the experts shared no info on what techniques to use other than they had flies for sale that would catch snakeheads.
After a disappointing search for fly fishing related information, I turned my search towards what techniques conventional fisherman were using to catch this fish. I lucked out...
Photo courtesy Fredrick
For a fish species to be considered invasive, it has to cause economic or environmental harm. To date, there is no scientific evidence to show that this fish is causing harm to the economy or existing fish populations. If anything the snakehead has boosted sales in fishing licenses and equipment in the area they're inhabiting. They are a blast to catch with spectacular topwater strikes and they are great table fare which makes them attractive to many anglers.
Since hearing that this fish was found in Meadow Lake in 2004 I was intrigued about this so-called devil fish. So, like any angler, I wanted to catch one. I took to the internet to do my homework and gather all the information I could to help me catch these fish on the fly. What I found was very limited: a few guys claiming to be experts but only had two or three fish caught in a period of several years. To me, catching three fish of a certain species hardly makes you an expert and the experts shared no info on what techniques to use other than they had flies for sale that would catch snakeheads.
After a disappointing search for fly fishing related information, I turned my search towards what techniques conventional fisherman were using to catch this fish. I lucked out...
Fly Fishing Getting Started - The Mayfly Stages of Life 101
Understand the Life Cycle of Mayflies for Trout Fishing
A mayfly hatch is the grand finale in the seasonal play that returns annually for trout and anglers. This show begins the previous season with mature female mayflies, called spinners, laying their eggs on the surface of the water. The eggs shortly hatch into small larvae, which quickly change into nymphs.
The nymph phase of the mayfly is the longest and lasts approximately one year. Different species of mayflies can be found in different parts of a stream. Some prefer faster water and rocks, while others are only found at the end of pools in deep mud. During this time, the nymph grows and molts regularly. Molting involves the mayfly breaking out of its old skin and exposing a larger one underneath to protect it during the next growth cycle. The leftover soft shells are referred to as "shucks."
The emergence stage out of the water can be quick and dangerous for the transitional nymphs. Trout can find and aggressively feed on these insects, which may normally be hiding or burrowing at the bottom of a stream. Once ready to leave the water, the hatch begins. The emerger swims to the surface film, molts its skin, and exposes its wings.
The cloudy, grayish wings that emerge give the mayflies their name: "duns." The duns sit on top of the water and prepare their wings for flight, which can take seconds or minutes, depending on how fast they can take off. During this phase, mayflies can often be seen in large numbers sailing down the stream, with trout striking an easy food source. Once the dun escapes the water, it will head for the trees for several days.
During the maturation stage, a dun may molt several more times until it becomes a spinner. As spinners, male and female mayflies seek each other out only to mate. The female...
