FLY SPOTLIGHT - What we currently can't keep enough of in our boxes.

The Shop Vac

For such a simple pattern the shop vac seems to deliver in every season and is one of my go to flies.  It is essentially a zebra midge with pearl midge flash, white zelon etc. that supposedly represents the air bubble of small emerging bugs.  I’m not sure about all that, but I am absolutely sure that this thing works!  It, like a zebra midge, imitates a midge pupa or other small larva, cranefly, baetis nymph etc.  I have most recently been using it in olive green to imitate the caddis larva that our local waters are currently full of.  I like to tie mine with peacock herl at the thorax as opposed to dubbing, but that is just my preference.  For the past several weeks on guided trips I have started my clients on nymph rigs in the morning hours and on pretty much every rig I have tied on a shop vac with something like a stonefly or pheasant tail as the top fly with the shop vac on the bottom.  Easily 80% of the fish have been on the shop vac and when the bugs start really hatching I go to a dry fly.  You better believe if I dropped something off of the dry it’s been the shop vac as of late, and the takes continue.  I have tied them in many colors but I personally like olive, black and red.  If you don’t have shop vac’s in your box you better change that, and trust me you won’t regret it. 

Rising Bob's Tactical Curved Forceps

Anyone that spends a lot of time on the water fishing, whether personally, or especially  guiding, understands just how easy it is to lose precious gear along the river. A couple seasons ago I was getting pretty good at losing my hemostat/scissors for some reason and went through at least 3 pairs!  The last pair I lost that season was by far my favorite, and I couldn't remember what brand they were. After another two or three pair of hemoscissors since then, I finally found and recognized "The Pair." I had been trying to find them ever since the river claimed them. I found them online at backcountry.com .  That pair just so happened to be Bob's Tactical curved scissors by Rising. They are very well built, right here in the great state of Utah. I have had similar products from Dr. Slick, Orvis, Anglers Accessories etc. Some have been okay and some have been awful, but none have come close to Rising's Bob's Tacticals.  The serrated scissors cut like a dream and don't act like they'll go dull anytime soon (which is a huge plus for me). They are comfortable with the bigger thumb loop in your hand and feel heavy duty and built to last. I have the 6 inch pair and even at that big the angled tips allows you to de barb smaller flies. Also, the tips are magnetic, which come in handy many times.Overall I am very impressed with these and hope that I don't lose them anytime soon. That being said I do guarantee I'll lose them before I wear them out because they are a quality American made product built with ingenuity and obvious dedication to doing a job right. If that's the case I will head out and find another pair to purchase. I did go with the red pair so if I drop them I will have a better shot at finding them. Rising throws in a small tube of oil to keep them oiled up and working smooth. This is the first product I've tried from Rising and wasn't let down so I'll have to check out their other products. Go check them out at risingfish.net and track down a dealer near you on their dealer locator.

Bob's Tactical hard at work

William Joseph W20 Wading Boots

     As you see by both the Current Mag pack and Squall wading jacket review, we think highly of the William Joseph brand; their packs in my opinion are second to none.  This made the decision to try out the William Joseph W20 wading boots a no brainer for me.  However, after a few months of use the results of the W20 wading boots were not up to par with the previous William Joseph products we have reviewed.

            I have mentioned that between guiding in the summer months and spending a lot of time on the water personally, I am hard on gear.  I put a lot of miles on my gear and I am not a little dude at 250 pounds, so I go through boots specifically quite fast.  When I saw that William Joseph had a wading boot I knew I had to try them. 

            My initial thought of the William Joseph W20 wading boot was that I was very impressed by the comfort and lightweight feel of the boot.  They felt like hiking boots, which was nice for a guy like me that does spend a fair amount of time hiking in to rivers and stillwaters to fish.  I wear a size 10 ½ shoe so I went with a size 11 in the boot which worked great for me.  The sole of the boots have a different combination of both rubber on the heel and toes with felt throughout the middle of the sole. I wasn’t sure about this combination at first, but the rubber toe tips and heels are nice while hiking up and down hills (including in the snow), and the felt is of course nice while wading through slippery rock bottom rivers. 

So as far as comfort, lightweight and function the William Joseph W20 wading boots worked out pretty well, but as far as durability I am not impressed. After about 4 months of use the felt started to peel off the bottom of the boot, which even with putting a lot of time on the water, 4 months is not very long.  This is very frustrating for someone who spends a lot of time fishing and hates for gear malfunctioning to slow me down.  It’s also disappointing after telling everybody how impressive William Joseph products are.  William Joseph does have a lifetime warranty of all their products which is pretty cool and not something most companies do, so I’ll be sending in my boots when I have time.  I have since moved on and went with a pair of Simms boots which will give me the opportunity to send in the W20 boots and test just how “iron clad” William Joseph’s warranty is, as they claim.

    

We love summer!

We have neglected posting for sometime and have committed to trying to stay more up to date. So here is a little update on what's been going on. The last few weeks have been anything short of phenomenal on our Southern Utah waters. The runoff has died down and the fish are hungry and very cooperative for anything looking tasty, be it on top, or subsurface. We are just now starting to see fish get a little more picky and key in on certain hatches. The caddis have been hatching in abundance several times a day with other bugs coming out to play as well. End of May there was a short couple weeks of salmon flies and large stoneflies; now we're seeing green drakes come out and play. A couple of evenings ago there was the staple caddis hatch, green drakes, yellow adult stones, and other smaller mayflies. Plenty of food + plenty of fish feeding = a lot of fun. I simply love this time of year. The fish cooperate and make you look like you know what you're doing, also making it fun to try new patterns. Interested in a guided trip? Contact us!