Monday, February 11, 2008

Who is driving this bus anyway?

This is great, it's cold as hell outside and every one that comments (or emails me) on this random strand of thoughts wants me to expand on the political theme......

I'd quote some of the "W" comments I received, but they are not anything above an "R" rating.......man, has he seriously pissed people off. "Uh, we had a round-table discussion about the Middle-East this morning....Yes, a round-table discussion that was not really a round table, but a normal table that we had a talk around." (I'm not making this up, folks. Was he trying to be funny? Not what I would expect from the leader of my country.) In the words of Bugs Bunny, "What a maroon!"

Hillary, well she gets either the "I hate her" or "she's the only one that can set us straight" response. There is no gray area in people's minds when it comes to this manwoman. And Bill, I think I'll leave that one to your imagination.....my gut keeps saying, "Don't go there!"

And then there's Sidney, you know John Sidney McCain. The only one I know who is named Sidney is a 7-year old girl with Irish and Egyptian parents.....go figure. I can't figure out whether he wants the sympathy vote for being a POW, or the "WOW, what a great guy" vote. Stop smiling like a Dentu-Cream advert and tell us something thought provoking Sidney.

And finally, we have Mr. Obama-lama-ding-dong, the man of change. I'm sure he's very intelligent, but how the hell is he going to change anything when he is less experienced than a mother having her first child?

Yup, I have no idea right now who might be the wise choice. Talk is cheap, and there's more than enough of that to make many of us choke when we watch the evening news. I'm going to reserve judgement until just before the election in hopes that one of these clowns gets the BIG picture......

More on the important aspects of life (fly fishing) later.

Okay, it's later. I'm having dinner, so the "I'm grouchy, my stomach's empty" part of this is over and I'm on to more worldy topics.

What common Eastern mayfly gets no respect? One that the trout see, and know, and feed on throughout the year in all its forms? And if you do know, do you take it seriously? And by this I mean, do you fish both subsurface and surface imitations of it? No, I don't think you are an idiot if you answer no, I just think that some aquatic bugs get no respect from the so-called experts. Who is an expert anyway? That's one for another day, but from my perspective, in the end we're all the same....learning something about something we love. Turn up the music......

We're talking about the Isonychia (Eye-son-ick-ee-ah). That burgundy tinted, dark-brown, slender-bodied mayfly nymph with three feathery tails, that inhabits the fast-water sections of most of our trout streams. Most anglers know of it, and many even fish imitations of the adults, but I rarely see anyone fishing the nymph, let alone have one or two in their fly boxes.

Enter "Vinnie's Isonychia Nymph"

What's really funny about this is that just about every angler that fishes regularly will tell you they have seen the dried-out, empty nymphal shucks of this very mayfly clinging to the rocks of their favorite stream. But they don't seem to fish them.

While the Isonychia will hatch in the more mayfly-traditional manner of drifting in the menicus, many swim to large rocks that have portions above the water line to do so. They swim to a preferred rock, creep up the side, and once they are a few inches above the water, they split their carapace at the thorax, and wiggle out as fully-formed adults. Once they have pumped enough life fluids into their wings to fill them out, they fly away.

So, anyway, knowing all this and seeing all this, you would think more anglers would fish the nymph of this handsome bug. While I recommend you fish whatever Isonychia nymph imitation you like, fish it often and know it will take its share of trout. The fly above is my choice, and was developed by one of my fishing pals, Vincent C. "Vinnie". Without burdening you all anymore with stuff, here's the recipe:

Hook: Size 10-12, 2x long

Thread: Black

Weight: Wire - lead or substitute

Tails: Three peacock herls clipped short

Body: Mixed claret, black, brown - 2:1:1 ratio

Rib: Copper wire

Thorax: Same as body

Wingcase: Dark turkey tail

Legs: Dark speckled partridge or hen

Go get 'em!

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