How Many Flies Does a Trout Angler Need?

Posted on April 29, 2025 by Ed Mitchell

How Many Flies Does a Trout Angler Need?

Umm, interesting question. In my first fly-fishing days, I often fished with one fly. In fact, I only had one or two flies to my name. Truth. Many times, I simply stopped in a fly shop near the stream and buy my fly du jour. How did I chose? On one wall in the shop there was a board filled with streamers in little cellophane bags. I’d look up and grab one. Often it was the name of a fly caught my fancy. For example, I liked “green ghost”.

With time, I started carrying two or three flies in a small cough drop tin box stuffed in my shirt pocket. Then as my years in the stream accumulated, I got a vest. Hey it made me look like I knew what I was doing. But I couldn’t wade around with all those empty pockets, could I?  So I got a few fly boxes, began tying flies and slowly filled the pockets up. Man I looked pro, or so I thought, until I joined a fly-fishing club and saw how many flies serious anglers were hauling on the stream. Made me felt inadequate.

Rex Richardson Chest Box

Eventually my fly vest began to bulge. Weighted around 8 pounds to be exact, and it was a shorty vest! Then things got mega serious. One day I walked into a fly shop on the upper Willowemoc, and there in a glass case was a device I had never seen. The Rex Richardson Chest Box. Man oh man I fell in love. It had a large deep tray for dries and two for nymphs and wets. Each tray easily held a hundred flies. But wait. I sent the chest box back to the maker – Rex Richardson – and had him add two more trays. Yikes. Between my vest and that chest box I was hauling over a thousand flies to the river. Crazy.

OMG! Vest and Chest Pack

Nowadays, near 60 years later, I’m coming full circle. My vest and chest box rest in the closet. And I often fish with only a lumbar pack and two fly boxes. Yeah, it’s been a long and winding road. But how many flies does a trout angler need?

 

 

Posted in Flies and Fly Tying, Fly Fishing in Freshwater, Gear | Leave a comment

Fly Fishing is a Waiting Game.

Posted on April 27, 2025 by Ed Mitchell

Fly Fishing is a Waiting Game

Yes, fly fishing is a waiting game. We wait for the fish to bite, the tide to turn, the hatch to start, the wind to stop, a thunderstorm to move, a big moon to rise, a migration to begin, the sun to drop, a warm front to push in, a cold front to pass. Waiting, waiting.

The Waiting Game

In his book The Long Silences, Tom McGuane, one of America’s most respected authors,  speaks to these intervals of waiting. He suggests that these quiet times, when no fish are biting, are a crucial and essential part of our sport. A time to easy the mind, mediate, to reflect on the natural world, a chance to understand ourselves, a time of insights.  

But some of us hate to wait. Makes us antsy, makes us restless, perhaps even angry. When on the water, we still march to the incessant drum beats of the modern world. We’re amped for action, can’t dial it out, can’t shut it off. We check our watch, check our cell phone. Armed with unrealistic expectations, we complaint about the fish, the fly, the guide, the captain, the river, the lake, the ocean. We deserve better. Don’t we?

Chill out! Never let life grab you by the short hairs.

Posted in Environment, Fly Fishing in Freshwater, Fly Fishing in Salt Water, Looking Downward, Looking Upward | Leave a comment

The Cinder Worms are Coming Soon

Posted on April 22, 2025 by Ed Mitchell

The Cinder Worms are Coming Soon

Here in Southern New England, the Cinder Worms are coming soon. At least we hope they are. I say that because these Cinder Worm spawns vary from year to year.  They can be intense. They can be a bust. And the timing is tricky.  It all depends are where you are and the weather.

In all cases, these spawns are found in areas with a mud bottom, be they river or creek mouths, or salt ponds, or bays, or marshes. But hang onto your hat, things are not that simple. In Connecticut, typically the spawn happens at the top of the drop, on a moon tide, in the dead of night. Yeah that could be around midnight. And it may repeat on the next moon in the following month. Over in Rhode Island, on the other hand, the spawn occurs during the day, as water heats up to near 60 degrees in shallow muddy bays and mud flats. You need warm weather, winds from the southwest and no rain. And expect a cold front to shut it down fast. This spawn can last several days to a week, although expect the bite to move around.

Cinder Worms

As the photo shows, cinder worms vary in size and length. A good general average would be around 2 inches. Still it is wise to carry a few flies as small as 1 inch and as large as 3 inches. In the color department, no question red or pink is king, but dirty white might be a killer. What is the best pattern? Opinions vary all over the damn place. Truth is, however, a number of difference patterns work. Still allow me to warn you. The Cinder Worm spawn can be frustrating. At times striped bass may seem to totally ignore your offering. Why? If the water is filled with naturals, your fly simply gets lost. Note too, the worms swim in an odd slow erratic manner that is tough to match.  So presentation plays a big role. Try to delivery the fly as close to a feeding fish as you can. And retrieve it slowly.

Here’s one last tip. At times a floating fly is your best bet, one that creates a small wake on the surface as it moves forward. That’s why some patterns are tied with foam bodies. Still you can tie a floating fly without foam, as you see below in a Cinder Worm fly made by Mark Lewchik. Hang on. The Cinder Worms are Coming Soon!

Mark Lewchik’s Worm Fly

Warning: Clinging Jellyfish found in the salt ponds

Posted in Flies and Fly Tying, Fly Fishing in Salt Water | Leave a comment

Removing Ticks

Posted on April 20, 2025 by Ed Mitchell

Removing Ticks

Ticks are a growing medical danger in the Northeast. And don’t think for a minute that ticks are only in Southern New England. Years ago, that seemed the case, but times have changed. Today New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine all have tick problems. And remember as well, ticks are not just in the woods. They are on lawns, bushes and often on beach grass.

The two big offenders are – the black-legged tick, better known as the deer tick. It may carry Lyme Disease. And increasingly we’re seeing a new guy in town – The Lone Star, with its distinctive white spot on the back. It is not thought to transmit Lyme disease, but it can transmit “alpha-gal syndrome,” which leaves you allergic to red meat. Yikes.

Get smart. Have a tick removal tool handy. With steady fingers, a pair of fine tweezers does the trick. Yet I prefer to have a tick removal tool right on my key chain, its always ready. My choice is the Pro-Tick Remedy. See it above, pointing to the upper right corner of the photo. But they are plenty others to pick from. Find what you like. Their cheap, get a couple. One for each car, one for your vest, one for your tacklebox. Forget lighting a match or coating the tick with Vaseline. Useless. And never squeeze a tick or twist it. Worse thing you can do. Grab it as close to the skin as you can and pull straight out.

Posted in Environment | Leave a comment

Striper Fishing Can be Tough on your Hands

Posted on April 18, 2025 by Ed Mitchell

Striper Fishing Can be Tough on Your Hands

Did you ever fish for striped bass every night for  two solid weeks? Tough on your hands. Yeah, the cold, the dampness, the salt, and roughness of a striper’s mouth turns your paws into mincemeat. And then there are those line burns caused by the backing smoking over your fingers. If one lands in the crease of a joint, it gets nasty. Back at the house we healed out mitts with Bag Balm, a cream farmers use on cow udders. Man, I miss those angling adventures.

Posted in Fly Fishing in Salt Water | Leave a comment