12 Fly Fishing Things You Don't Need

As usual; funny, informative, and definitely entertaining!  Get huge (if you aren't already), and stay huge!

Huge Fly Fisherman YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX5H2TAWddhGYYcCR5dc3sQ

Cracklebacks! Come get your Cracklebacks!

With a little time on my hands this holiday season, I’ve been restocking the Etsy store. There is also a new listing available; the crackleback. This is a well known Missouri pattern and especially effective at Bennett Spring State Park. You can dead drift it, swing it, and even fish it like a streamer on sinking line. I’ll be honest, I don’t know what it is trying to imitate, but holy cow does it work. This was also the first pattern that I caught a trout on fishing it dry fly style so it has a special place in my heart.

Link: https://www.etsy.com/listing/764717453/crackleback-dry-fly-trout-fly-bennett

Merry Belated Christmas

I apologize for not having a Christmas themed post yesterday. To be honest, I was busy celebrating and didn’t have time to write something up so I posted something that was already written and ready to go. We had a wonderful Christmas and I hope you did too. My boys were very happy with the boxes that I made for them. My girlfriend and her family spoiled me with a pair of Redington waders and boots as well as a large tying pad. I hope your day brought you smiles, joy, and time with loved ones as well. See you tomorrow.

Improvements to a Local Lake (local being the Kansas City area)

People of Raymore, Missouri!  Howard and Tommy, I am looking at you!  Rejoice!  You have a new fishing dock on Jonhston Lake compliments of the Missouri Department of Conservation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the City of Raymore.  You now have one less excuse to use if you go there and don't catch anything!  On top of that, you can fish there NOW because MDC also stocked the very same lake with rainbow trout recently.

Link: https://mdc.mo.gov/newsroom/mdc-helps-raymore-improve-fishing-access-johnston-lake

Quick and Simple Fly Box Assembly

If you're looking for a short and fun project this winter (especially since you might currently be off work right now), this might be a good one.  I bought this simple box at Michael's.  You can find these kinds of boxes in a lot of stores and they shouldn't run any more that five dollars.  You could even use a cigar box if you want but I like a box that is sanded, clean, and easier to customize.  Anyway, all I did for this box was cut some 5 mm foam to shape, glued it down, and used a razor to cut some slits to hold flies with tension.  This works better than tearing up the foam with hooks and keeps things a little more neat and orderly.  Next, I found an image online that I liked and then printed it off.  Using carbon paper (yes, they still make it and you can find it at Office Depot), I transferred the image to the wood.  Finally, I burned the image onto the wood with a wood burning tool and then gave it a coat of stain and polyurethane.  If you want to save some time, you can use a product called Polyshades by Minwax.  It contains both the stain and poly which will save you a step and some time.  Good luck if you take on this project and I would love to see some final products.  Feel free to send me some pictures at showmeflyguy@gmail.com.

New Wooly Bugger Listing on Etsy

There is a new fly for sale at the Etsy store!  It is a conehead wooly bugger tied on a size 6 hook.  This is been my go to fly on sunny days with clear water and has caught a lot of big bluegill and bass for me.  It's even managed to catch a few winter stocked trout on different impoundments too.  As always, I would only sell it if I had fished it and if it has worked for me.  It has quite a bit of flash (at least in my opinion) but it is a bit muted to make it a little more realistic.  There's only half a dozen of them so come and get them while you can!

Link: https://www.etsy.com/listing/750567302/cone-head-wooly-bugger-streamer

Micro Crayfish - Jigged Nymph and Streamer

If you are in the market for a small and fairly simple crawfish fly, this should keep you busy at the vise this weekend!  Come on, give it a try!  Everything eats crawfish!

McFly Angler YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC88cGtLpHiHEXhyUGiXFP7g

Free Youth Trout Fishing Clinic in Lee's Summit, Missouri

If you have or know a kid that is 5 to 15 years old and would like to learn how to catch rainbow trout that have been stocked in Missouri Lakes, then you might want to attend a free clinic that is being put on by the Missouri Department of Conservation.  It will be held on Saturday, January 4, from 9 to 12 AM at James A. Reed Memorial Wildlife Area in Lee's Summit, Missouri.  The clinic will begin indoors but will then transition to Honker Pond where the kids can fish for stocked trout.  Click the link below for more details.  Registration is required so sign up before all the spots are gone!

Link:  https://mdc.mo.gov/newsroom/mdc-offers-free-youth-trout-fishing-clinic-lees-summit-jan-4

Christmas Project- Part 5- The Final Post

They are done!  After almost a month of working (alright, it didn't take a month's worth of time, I just had to find the time to work on them over the course of a month), the boxes that I have made for my sons are complete.  Since the last post, they have been disassembled, received an application of walnut stain, got a coat of polyurethane, and got reassembled.  I am really happy with how these turned out and can't wait to see the looks on my sons faces when I give the boxes to them during Christmas.  If you would like to see the previous posts, they are located below.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Devin Olsen's Blowtorch: Squirrel Style

There seems to be a current trend with flies like this in the fly fishing community, and I'll be honest, I'm on board!  However, with that being said, if I were going to attempt this fly or others like it, I would tie it on a 1/80 ounce jig head like I do all of my other jigs.  I don't see a need for fancy, barbless hooks and expensive beads, but if you're a stickler and a rule follower, then you be you and go for it.  It probably looks better your way to be honest.

Fly Fish Food YouTube Channel:  https://www.youtube.com/user/frycdf

Ozarks on the Fly | VOL6 | TEASER

Sorry for the late post but between chasing my boys around and trying to keep up with orders through the Etsy store, this snow day has been a bit more of a whirlwind than you would expect.  If you're like me today, sitting somewhere indoors and looking at the snow and feeling the cold with a little bit more than a little disdain, then maybe a little fly fishing in the Ozarks is just what we both need!  Here's a teaser for a video that is scheduled to drop on Jan. 1 from Bluff Line Media.

Bluff Line Media YouTube Channel:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUTPoXFO3uClx0NCQ_ylNUA

StripinFlyWear

Recently, I received an early Christmas present (from StripnFlywear) from my amazing girlfriend.  It's pictured below.

For those of you that have read this blog for a while, you know that I'm a huge fan of Star Wars.  If you are a new reader, you are now all caught up.  I was so amazed by the design and the quality of the hoodie, I quickly looked up the brand StripnFlywear.  Wendy, my girlfriend, bought from Etsy, and specifically from a store with the same name.  There are a lot of unique, funny, and quirky designs there.  The designs are all originals which drove me to contact the store owner.  His name is Dave Hartman and he has a pretty amazing story.

Dave has turned a little side business into a full time gig where he gets to show off his creativity on hats, stickers, t-shirts and hoodies.  I also found out that he has website as well as an Etsy store to promote his business.  I highly encourage you to check out his wares because he's got a pretty good sense of humor and is really creative.

 Link: https://stripnflywear.com/

Link: https://www.etsy.com/shop/StripnFlywear

Free Fly Tying Class and Record-Setting Angler

I ran across a few announcements on the MDC site that I wanted to share with you.  The first is about a free fly tying class in St. Joseph, Missouri.  If you live in the northwestern part of our fine state, you might want to click the link for more details.

Free Fly Tying Classes in St. Joseph- https://mdc.mo.gov/newsroom/mdc-offers-free-fly-tying-classes-st-joseph-during-january

The second article is about a guy that holds the record for holding the most state record fish!  This is a pretty good read about a very driven angler.  I dream of holding just one state record and this dude has FOUR!!!

Record Setting Angler- https://mdc.mo.gov/newsroom/osage-county-angler-sets-record-state-record-fish

Fly Tying Tutorial: The Nymph-Head Heavy Metal Perdigon

What an easy little fly to tie that could be adapted to many different types of water and tied in an endless combination of colors.  This looks like it would be a killer pattern here in Missouri on just about any trout stream!

Flymen Fishing Company YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/FlymenFishing

Christmas Project- Part 4

Wow!  This took A LONG time, but the images are now burned into the boxes and turned out pretty good.  I really underestimated how long this was going to take but the end result justifies the time and patience that was required.  To look at past posts about this project, just click on the links below.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Fishing Liberty Park Pond- Sedalia, Missouri

I was fortunate enough to get down to Liberty Park Pond near downtown Sedalia, Missouri, over the weekend and catch a few rainbow trout.  They were a little finicky at times and aggressive at others but a small jug under a float did the trick a few times.  The fish either wanted a slow retrieve or a strip of about 6 inches with a 10-15 second pause between movements.  I ended up catching about 20 fish but my fishing partner Tom caught 36 and I don't doubt that number one bit.  I also got to watch a guy catch a rainbow that looked like it went about 3 pounds.  The fish is pictured below and was a fine specimen and outstanding representative of its species.

This fish must have been close to three pounds and was probably eighteen inches long.  The pictures DO NOT do it justice!

Fly Tying Tips - Deer Hair

I freaking hate working with deer hair...but I hate it less after watching this video.  I hope you learn a few things and become a better tier of deer hair flies too!

Fly Fishing the Ozarks YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCH9Ra827nueyjCl3h7aLwvA

$20,000 Poached Elk Reward

Operation Game Thief (a part of the Missouri Department of Conservation) is offering a $20,000 reward to anyone that can give information leading to the conviction of the individual(s) that have poached 6 elk in our state's wild elk herd.  You can find the full article below for more information but the bottom line is that you are encouraged to call Operation Game Thief at 1-800-392-1111 if you have information about any of these cases.  Please help bring the responsible party/parties to justice if you have any details that might be helpful to authorities.

Link to Full Article:  https://mdc.mo.gov/newsroom/ogt-offering-20000-reward-help-mdc-elk-poaching-cases