WNY Fly Fishing Private Lessons

I offer private lessons for fly casting, the cost in $60.00 per student for two hours for casting, equipment, knots and general fly fishing. E mail me at jimguida@hotmail.com











I work with Project Healing Waters as well as Women In The Outdoors

Flies For Sale

My Patterns are as follows: Guida's Mirrored Minnows $2.50 ea, Guida's White Lighting/Black Thunder $2.00 ea, Guida's Emerald Shiners $2.00 ea, Hairballs, sucker spawn, single eggs $1.00 ea all orders must be in Qty's of 5's or 10's per style
e-mail orders to jimguida@hotmail.com

WNY Fly Fishing Trout Camps

Trout Camps are in the spring for inland trout. The classes are six hours and cover casting, fly selection, and reading the water. We provide lunch, guides, flies/leaders/tippet, rods and reels if needed, you must bring waders and wading boots, sunglasses. This is the best way to start out fly fishing and learn from some of the best instructors in WNY.

Cost is $250.00 per person $350.00 per two
Please call Brian Slavinski
716-834-4331















Tuesday, January 24, 2017

WNY Fly Fishing - Jig hooks for bead heads

Jig Hooks for Bead Heads

by Charlie Craven   |  May 29th, 2015                            



  • Jig hooks help your fly swim hook point up, and avoid snagging the bottom or dulling the hook point.
    Some new techniques and materials come onto the fly-tying scene with a bang, and others just materialize slowly over time, becoming more and more common until one day you look at something and say “Where the heck did that come from, and why didn’t I notice it earlier?”

    Using jig hooks for flies has been around for a long time now, but there has certainly been a surge in their popularity in just the past few years. It seems this is one more thing the rest of us borrowed from the international competitive fly-fishing crowd, where beadhead flies with jig hooks have been trophy winners for quite a number of years.
    There are a number of manufacturers with jig hooks for trout including Tiemco, Umpqua, Hanak, Partridge, Dohiku, and Knapek to name a few. With the hook eye situated on an upright, in-line position in relation to the hook shank, with angles varying from 60 to 90 degrees, most of these modern jig hooks are barbless, with long points to accommodate the regulations of international competition. Many of these hooks are finished in a sexy black nickel finish and all have ridiculously sharp needle points. They are as deadly as they look.
    Given the upright front end of the shank, jig hooks also require specifically designed, slotted beads to accommodate this shape. Most are tungsten in gold, black, copper, and silver, as well as smooth and faceted finishes.
    When I think of competitive fishing and flies tied on jig hooks, one Western angler immediately jumps to my mind and that is Utah’s own Lance Egan. Lance is a longstanding member of Team USA and one of our country’s few medal winners in international competition. He’s also the host of the Fly Fisherman instructional DVD series Nymphing Foundations and Expert Tactics (flyfisherman.com/store). He’s also a signature tier for Umpqua Feather Merchants, and because of that, his flies haven’t just impacted the competitive circuit, they have impacted the fly-tying minds of every fly fisher who browses through a fly shop.
    Lance is an incredibly humble guy in a world where he has every right to brag. A self-described fly-fishing junkie, Lance never passes up a chance to learn a new technique or hone his skills on any given piece of water, and his track record in competition speaks to this.
    With this in mind, I called Lance to get his insights and thoughts on the jig hooks we’re seeing today, and his answers were thoughtful and clearly practiced. Lance explained that one of the most obvious advantages of jig hooks is that they ride hook point up, and resist snagging on the bottom, a consideration of large importance for competitive anglers. Losing flies costs precious time in competitions, so anything that can keep you fishing and not re-rigging is a big advantage.
    Lance went on though, to explain that the biggest advantage of jig nymphs is that they reliably hook the fish right in the tip of the snout, rather than in the bottom jaw or side of the mouth.  He says this is a better spot for barbless hooks, because it better allows you to direct and lead the fish and quickly land them, “like a bull with a nose ring.”
    I can’t say that I ever thought of that particular advantage on my own, but once Lance brought it up, a string of memories flashed through my brain and you  know . . . he’s right. I would have guessed that the long, barbless points of these competition hooks simply penetrated deeper and held better than conventional hooks, but after considering Lance’s view, I’d have to agree. The corner of the jaw is secure, but with a big fish in particular, it leaves a lot of fight in the fish because the trout can turn its head and use the current to its advantage.
    Lance ties his patterns with tungsten beads and typically weights them with lead wire as well to keep them tight to the bottom. His Frenchie and Iron Lotus patterns are both on jig hooks so I asked him to expound a bit on their designs. While the Frenchie is tied “in the round,” that is, the same when viewed from any angle and lacking a wing case or definite topside, the Iron Lotus sports a wing case on the top of the shank.
    When I questioned him about why he would tie the fly upside down like this, he explained that the fly doesn’t always hang precisely horizontal but rather at a bit of an angle, and tying the fly with the wing case on the top of the shank shows it directly to the fish as the fly drifts. I think this guy may have fins.
    Egan told me the only disadvantage he’s seen using jig hooks was when fishing streamers, specifically in lakes, with a fast retrieve. Dead drifting or slow retrieves seem to get regular hook-ups, but he notices a distinct drop-off in hook-ups when fast stripping the fly. Perhaps there’s something to the upright angle of the hook eye that prohibits the fish from getting pinned on a fast retrieve, or perhaps Egan just has bad luck, but I’d bet he will have this puzzle figured out long before the rest of us even find the pieces.
    Now I have not seen this when I have use them, the streamers that I make I bend the hook point up just a little, and this increases hook ups as the fish's mouth cannot ride over the hook point.

    No comments:

    Post a Comment

    Total Pageviews

    Search My Blog

    WNY Hatch Chart

    Name Size Dates
    Stoneflies 10-18 April - September
    B.W.O 18-22 April - September
    Hendrickson 12-14 April - May
    Black Caddis 16-18 March - May
    Caddis 14-18 April - September
    March Brown 10-12 May - June
    Grey Fox 12-14 May - June
    Sulpher 14-18 May - June
    P.M.D. 16-20 May - June
    Lt. Cahill 14-16 June - July
    Green Drake 8-10 May - June
    Isonchia 12-14 June - August
    Yellow Stonefly 12-14 June - September
    Hexagina 6-8 June - July
    Trico 20-24 July - September

    Ants 16-22 June - September
    Beetles 12-16 June - September
    Flying Ants 16-18 June - September
    Hoppers 10-12 August
    Crickets 10-12 August

    USGS Height Gage

    USGS Height Gage

    Flow Rate Guide

    Oatka Creek
    2.60 – 2.80 low water flows·
    2.80 – 3.00 moderate flows·
    3.00 – 3.20 good fishing flow·
    3.20 – 3.40 starting to rise·
    3.40 – 3.60 High Water


    Genesee River near Wellsville
    100 – 200cfs Summer Flows Low water
    200 – 300cfs Summer Flows Good Water
    300 – 400cfs Spring Flows Fishable·
    400 – 500cfs Spring Flows High Water·
    650cfs + Stay Home


    Cattaraugus Creek

    Cattaraugus in Fall
    100 – 250cfs Low Water Flow·
    250 – 400cfs Good Fishing Flow·
    400 – 650cfs Fishable Flow·
    650 – 800cfs High Water Flow·
    800 – 1000cfs Very High Water Flow·
    1000 – 1200cfs Stay Home Tie Flies


    Cattaraugus in Spring

    100 – 250cfs Low Water Flow·
    250 – 400cfs Good Fishing Flow·
    400 – 650cfs Normal Fishing Flow·
    650 – 800cfs High Water Flow·
    800 – 1000cfs Very High Water Flow·
    1000 – 1200cfs + Stay Home Tie Flies

    Followers

    Mirrored Minnow

    Mirrored Minnow

    Rainbow Runner

    Rainbow Runner

    Emilee's Spey

    Emilee's Spey

    Thunder Creek Minnow

    Thunder Creek Minnow

    Simple Sculpin

    Simple Sculpin

    Hairball

    Hairball

    Rabbit Leech

    Rabbit Leech

    Hare's Ear Wet

    Hare's Ear Wet

    Peacock Emerger

    Peacock Emerger

    Sulpher Emerger

    Sulpher Emerger

    Blog Archive

    Powered By Blogger