pennsylvania angler 1953 - Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission

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Hold hair in the same manner as was illustrated for the tail, and tie in as illustrated. After hair is secured, cut off excess on angle as (1). Hold wing up and wind tying silk around base as in (2), and continue making several more turns over wing in the usual manner. Diagram No. 38 On some hair wing patterns, topping is used. Quite often this may be peacock herl or golden pheasant crest feathers, but many others may be used, depending entirely upon the pattern. Tie in as illustrated in this diagram (No. 38) and cut off the excess. Diagram No. 39 The throat on the streamer fly is usually fibers from a large hackle, but fibers from many other feathers are used, depending upon the pattern. The length of the throat varies but usually (41) STREAMER COMBINATION BUCKTAIL a STREAMER ORDER IN WHICH MATERIAL IS TIED ON does not extend beyond the point of the hook. It will probably be easier for the beginner to take the hook out of the vise and turn the bottom side up before tying in the throat. It may be tied in by the same method as the tail. The experienced tyers never change the hook, but hold the material under the shank and tie it in from the bottom. I will describe this method. First, select material and cut to the desired length. Straddle shank of hook with thumb and finger of the left hand. Pick up throat material with right hand andtransfer to thumb and finger of left so that the tip ends of the fibers point toward rear of hook, and stump end is at position where it should be tied in (right below wing). Bring tying thread down between finger and throat material, then up on the opposite side between the thumb and throat. Squeeze thumb and finger together and tighten by pulling up. This is just the reverse of the procedure used to tie in the tail. Diagram No. 40 The shoulder, cheek, or eye are all tied on in the same manner. Select two feathers with identical markings and as near the same size and shape as possible. Strip off the fibers until the feathers are the desired size. Do not cut off the quill or mid-rib. Hold on side, and tie in by securing quill at point where fibers start with several turns of the tying thread. Now take hold of mid-rib and gently pull feather in to desired position as illustrated in this diagram. It is a good idea to pull the shoulder feather far enough so that a few of the fibers are just under the tying thread. This will help keep the shoulder from turning or twisting out of position. Follow same procedure for the other shoulder. Cut off excess stumps and complete by winding on enough tying thread to cover all visible material, and to give a nice smooth head. Finish in usual manner, and lacquer head any desired color. Diagram No. 41 The feather wing streamer is one of the most popular and one of the best "fish-takers" of all streamer flies. I believe one can more closely imitate many of the natural minnows with this type of fly because of the wide variety of feathers and numerous-colored hackles one has to choose from. In addition, the undulating action produced by the saddle hackle is very lifelike and, as a result, presents a very tempting lure for the fish. Saddle hackle—the long, tapering, fine-quilled, or mid-ribbed hackle that hang down on the flank of a mature cock bird—are the best feathers for this type of fly. If none are available, the large neck hackles may be substituted. I would recommend, when using the neck hackle, to select necks that have slender-quilled hackles if possible. The heavy quilled hackles do not have nearly the undulating action, when fished, and are harder to work with. First build body, then select matching hackles for wings. I usually use four hackles, two on each side, with the concave sides facing each other. Be sure to have ends even. Strip off excess fibers from stump end until you have the desired length. Hold in exactly the same manner as when tying in the tail. All other steps are the same as previously described. (Turn to page 23) 20 PENNSYLVANIA ANGLER
THE Basic problem of dry fly casting has changed very little since Dame Juliana Berners wrote her "Treatyse of Fysshynge Wyth an Angle." Today, as then, the problem is to present an artificial fly to the trout so that the fly will float in perfect harmony with the current and, happily, to deceive the fish into thinking it is a natural. To achieve this end result, dry fly anglers have perfected a hundred complicated casts: right hooks, left hooks, slack cast, and roll casts, tower casts and snap casts, to say nothing of the reverse cast in which the angler actually turns his back to the stream and his trout! Added to these now is a new type of dry fly cast which I worked out to meet the difficult problems of getting a good float in conflicting currents which usually exist in streams. More than a dozen expert anglers have watched me use this cast and have adapted it themselves. I think they are too enthusiastic when they say it may supplant many of the old complicated hook casts and upset a lot of established dry fly procedures. However, I have found that with this cast I can ignore many of the more or less complicated methods of casting—and take fish. For example, instead of casting in the approved manner from quiet water into swifter water, this cast allowed me to cast across the swift water and drop my fly into the comparatively quiet water and to get an unusually good long float. Approached thus, this area is usually the "hot spot" in most streams. Besides, this cast can be used with a roll cast, which I believe can not be said of any of the hook casts. I have called it the Lazy S cast because the line makes a series of Sssss which lie, lazy-like, on the side. This Lazy S cast is extremely easy for the average fly fisherman to learn. The dry fly angler lifts his line off the water in the conventional manner and throws it high in the air behind him with a short but powerful back cast which stops at about half past one, and then as he drives the line forward —still in the orthodox manner—he stops the rod at 11 o'clock and as the line loops forward, he waggles the rod from side to side quite vigorously while he lets the line slip forward through his fingers. This cross waggle puts a series of SSSSes into the line and this waggle can be continued if necessary while the tapered line is still shooting through the guides. When these Lazy Sssses fall on the fast water MAY—1953 they are washed out by the action of this more rapid current while leaving the dry fly to float independently on the quieter water. I had the pleasure of making a rather dramatic presentation of the Lazy S cast on the North Platte river of Colorado two summers ago. The North Platte is a high meadow stream and the water glided smoothly. A feeding trout dimpled the water under some overhanging willows almost directly across the stream. After wading out, there were still 65 feet of this mirrortopped water intervening. For the benefit of Steamer Brannan who was with me, I first made a conventional cast with a slight left hook and my full palmer, Gantron-dressed light Caddis, No. 16, dry fly (tied by John Kolzer, Blue River, Oregon), floated high and dry over the trout. No response. As my fly dragged out, I retrieved it as gently as I could and, happily, the fish kept dimpling the water. "Gosh," said Steamer fervently, "that should have gotten him." "Watch this one," I said with perhaps a greater show of confidence than I should have. Then I put down my Lazy S cast dropping a dozen elongated SSSSes on the swifter mid-channel between the feeding fish and me but this time, although my light Caddis alighted in almost the same spot, it remained motionless while the SSSSes washed out of my line! Actually there was no surface current where the fish was feeding and my first dry fly had been dragged out immediately, however imperceptibly to Steamer and me but certainly not to the trout. But this time the reward was not lacking. The trout sucked under the fly and I was fast to a scrappy deep 14-inch brown. I repeated this cast throughout the day many times—and Mr. Brannon was amazed at the control I was able to obtain with the Lazy S cast. Certainly it was much more accurate and the effects were much better than using the conventional method of overcasting the spot, stopping the rod mid-air, and having the end of the line spring back. And more gratifying, the long floats the Lazy S permitted, without drag, produced trout. Once the basic rudiments of this easily-learned cast are mastered, there are many refinements. The SSSSes can be made large or small, befitting the water. Where the currents are highly conflicting, the large SSSSes seem better. These can be made by casting the line in a larger, slower loop, shak- SI HO%V cast 9/ by eugene burns ing the rod cross-ways more vigorously. Smaller SSSSes are usually better for quartering upstream and can be put in the line by driving a tighter loop and waggling the rod more gently. Better yet, with a little practice the angler can put the SSSSes into almost any part of his line he chooses—near the fly, near the centre of the line or near the angler, depending upon the swifter current. Suppose the angler has waded out into swift water and 20 feet beyond this, against the bank under some willows, a large fish is feeding. Certainly he doesn't want a lot of SSSSes to fall on the quiet water near him. It would merely handicap him in striking the rising fish. The place for these SSSSes is strictly on the swift water where they wash out. To place the SSSSes properly in this instance, the angler waits until the forward cast is almost completed, then, almost belatedly, he waggles in a half dozen large SSSSes. Properly timed, they will fall on the (Turn to page 28) 21
Page 1 and 2: •SpS , ¥ *?%!£ 1*. ^is jp mSST
Page 3 and 4: COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA HON. J
Page 5 and 6: L MAY—1953 the I. NOR'WESTER over
Page 7 and 8: There's Fish in the Old Canal Again
Page 9 and 10: CANAL WAS DRAINED in late autumn pr
Page 11 and 12: CANAL TODAY looks like this ln many
Page 13 and 14: W l fish were imprisoned to be slau
Page 15 and 16: ••^•••••m return of t
Page 17 and 18: (usually dark), with a definitely f
Page 19 and 20: k, I County. DON SHINER PHOTO beaut
Page 21: the strip lead, hence will describe
Page 25 and 26: striped bass a hook-and-line game f
Page 27 and 28: advised to accept, if offered, othe
Page 29 and 30: The line should be well greased to
Page 31 and 32: cade of cars containing sportsmen,
Page 33 and 34: %i Large trout have also been nette
Page 35 and 36: Ir ^M*ass the Worms Pappy!* 3 Yep

pennsylvania angler 1953 - Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission

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