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January 13, 2011 
 News from Blue Ribbon Flies
 Fish With The Best
In This Issue
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Greetings!

Welcome to another Blue Ribbon Flies weekly newsletter. Thanks for tuning in. Settle in and we'll tell you what's happening around West Yellowstone and our other favorite spots, show you the fly and the material of the week, and tempt you to plan your next trip with us.

Hope you're enjoying the new year, doing some fishing, tying up some flies, and starting to think about your 2011 trip to Yellowstone country. Take a break from work or play, grab a cup of coffee, and pretend you're leaning on the counter here at Blue Ribbon Flies. We wish you were here, but until you are we'll keep you in the loop. Thanks for stopping by.

 What's New
 What's Happening in Yellowstone Country

old Craig and Jackie's trip into Yellowstone Park and stay at Old Faithful's Snow Lodge last week was spectacular. Lots of rising trout on the Firehole and the xc skiing was great.

In Bozeman on February 18th, 19th & 20th All Cast will be holding the Fly Casting Championships at the Copper Spring Ranch. This event is for all ages and all casting abilities. So if you are looking to have a lot of fun or maybe want to either brush up or show off your casting skills and are in the area be sure and check this out. For futher information click here.

On a sad note, we should all remember Sylvester Nemes and his contributions to fly tying and fly fishing. Syl passed away last Thursday, his wife Hazel at his side. Syl was 88.

As usual in the rest of this newsletter, you'll find fishing news from Yellowstone Country in the weekly Fishing Report. You can see what's hot off the vise in the Fly of the Week, get a sneak peek at some of the best materials on our tying bench in the Fly Tying Material of the Week, and stay up to date with the guide staff and their trips in the Guide Trip of the Week.

You'll be seeing a new email newsletter most every week throughout the winter to keep you tuned in to all things fly fishing and fly tying in the greater Yellowstone area and beyond. Throughout the seasons, we'll keep sending you news of hatches and fishing holes around West Yellowstone. So without further delay, go ahead and jump right into the newsletter. And as always, don't hesitate to give us a call or shoot us an email if you have any questions, or if you just want a little fish talk.

 


 Fishing Report
 Weekly Conditions and Tips

You should have seen all of the fish rising on the Madison yesterday, well actually you can check out the link below or click the photo to watch the video. With the warm temperatures the fishing has really picked up from last week.

We have had some good reports from the Spring creeks over in Paradise Valley. Quite a few fish rising to Midges and taking small flies just underneath the surface. If you head that way you may also want to check out the Yellowstone River which has also had some good midge emergences.

The Boulder has been good in the afternoons from about 1 to 3 pm with GM's, blood midges and PT's.

The Gallatin has also been good with the warm weather. When the wind hasn't been blowing the fish have been up on midges. The nymphing has been great throughout the entire river. Be sure to not overlook the thin water just to the sides of main runs. Many fish have been holding in no more than 4 inches of water and are very willing to eat.

On the Madison the best action can be had near Raynolds Bridge during midge times, 11am-3pm daily. When you find a pool with lots of rising fish sit on the bank, put on plenty of 5x tippet and a #20-22 Zelon Skittering or standard Midge and you will take some very nice trout. Every now and then you might see a clump of mating midges come by and most will be inhaled by waiting trout. Try a standard Griffith's Gnat of Hi Vis Cluster and you will be rewarded. Yesterday a friend knotted on a #16 Flav Cripple or Sparkle Dun for a strike indicator ahead of his Zelon Midge and some very nice trout took the indicator fly, go figure! Nymphing anglers are doing well with Jackie's latest midge larvae flies along with GM Nymphs, Krystal Dips and Rick Red Blood Worms.

Watch Criag do a little midge fishing on the Madison 


 Fly of the Week
 Hot off the Vise

Mother's Day Caddis

I've been tying lots of flies lately getting some personal flies done for the coming season. I'm tying Zelon Midges and Baetis patterns as well as some Mothers' Day Caddis to fill some of the empty spaces in my fly boxes. We will show you a video later on in this report of a Mothers' Day Iris pattern, one we got from our friend Walter in Gardiner, Mt last year, it works! I like to tie it on a TMC 206BL hook, #14-16 and use a caddis gold zelon shuck, prime peacock herl body, light gray Widow Web wing, a black or peacock Ice Dub thorax and add a turn or 2 of tan dyed grizzly saddle clipped on the bottom for front hackle. This fly was incredibly effective during the early season caddis hatches on the Madison, Yellowstone and Henry's Fork Rivers last spring.

 


 Fly Tying Material of the Week
 Unique Materials for Effective Patterns

shaprtail Bucky and I have been dying up some fresh batches of zelon in Spring Baetis, Cripple Caddis, White Miller and Caddis Tan and we are very pleased with how these colors are turning out. We've added a stronger "fixer" to our dyes this winter and it seems to freshen and brighten the colors.

Another dying project we have been working on is that of tinting mottled gray ruffed grouse a green drake/ caddis olive as well as sharptail grouse the same coloration and caddis gold. These skins are absolutely gorgeous! If you enjoy tying and fishing soft hackles as much as we do you will want one of these skins.

Jackie has gotten into the fly tying craze lately. She enjoys fishing midge larva just below the surface and has come up with some nice looking patterns using our sparkle midge body thread. Her favorite colors are violet and light olive and I can't argue with her success in catching some very nice trout on her simple pattern. She uses squirrel dubbing for the thorax which has nice spike to it. I like this dubbing sometimes for my Iris patterns as well as tiny midges I want to float. It works like miniature hackle as the spike will float flies in the surface film when greased.

Sharptails, Ruffs, Blues & More 


 SURPRISE-SURPRISE-SURPRISE!!!!
 Volume 2 of Fly Tying Yellowstone Hatches

Patience has been the key here, for those of you waiting over 2 years for Volume 2 of Fly Tying Yellowstone Hatches. Let's get ready to tie over thirty great-new-innovative flies for Yellowstone. It is nearly here! Stay tuned here and on our website and blog and you will be the first to know the minute it is released!

Keep up with us on the BRF Blog... 


 Guide Trip of the Week
 Nobody Does It Better

jenny Jenny and Patrick went fishing yesterday and caught this one on a midge pupa. They had a good number of trout eating on the surface from 1 - 4. They were fishing the slide area and had a great time.

With the cooperating weather this week it has brought several of our guides to the river. Scott Clark has also been hitting the river and had good success below Hebgen Damn. He only had an hour or two but managed to catch a few fish.

You can see that these two guides are getting the "fishing fever" and are anxious to get back to guiding and who can blame them I think that all of us are getting ready to do some trout fishing.

As for the rest of the guides Pope as far as we know is still somewhere in Mexico. Geoff is up in Big Sky running the ski program for the Yellowstone Club. Dan has kept himself busy with the never ending task of shoveling roofs and driving dump trucks for the city snow removal. Drew has been driving snow coaches into Yellowstone park for Alpine Guides, he is constantly giving us a report of the rising fish along the Firehole, reminding us that you can look but you can't touch, at least until May.

The best guides in the business! 


 It's time to get ready to fish!
 Some essential products to get you ready for the 2011 season.

fish pimp Fish Pimp line cleaning tool

All of us at Blue Ribbon have preparing for the up and coming season. Not only have we been tying flies but we have also been taking care of a few things that have been neglected since last fall. So starting this week we are going to start somewhat of a series on items that we view to be essential to gearing up for the season ahead.

We'll start off with cleaning our lines. So many times have we had customers come in and tell us they need a new line because it is sinking when all they really need is to clean their line. The Fish pimp line cleaner is one of our favorites for this. Very easy to use and also very effective. Cam has been using these for a couple years now on his saltwater trips and loves the ease and quickness of this tool. This is the only line cleaning tool that closes around your rod and line, so you can clean your fly line as fast as you can strip or reel the line in. Clean and dress your fly line quickly and completely while you continue fishing.

Fish Pimp Line Cleaner 


 
 

One last item, for those who have not read Carter Niemeyer's "Wolfer" you simply must read this book. It tells THE whole story of wolf reintroduction, and no matter what your stand on wolves is this book can clear things up, so to speak, for those reading it. Oh Yes, "Modern Midges" and "Bug Water" are both back in stock!

Wolfer? 


Hope you enjoy the latest issue. We'll keep 'em coming, keeping you up to date on the best fishing water, tips, and gear we can get our hands on. Let us know how you're fishing, and what you're up to. Keep those pictures and fish stories coming!

Thanks for spending time with us. We'll see you soon!