Snowshoe winged Light Cahill

Hook: #14 TMC 100 dry 

Thread: Orvis Primrose (pale yellow) 8/0

Tail: Cream Hackle fibers

Body: custom Light Cahill fur blend

Wing: snowshoe rabbit's foot, cream 

Hackle: cream

This is a pattern I picked up from Bob Wikoff, who incidentally also provided the dubbin and the snowshoe rabbit's foot.

Wikoff Steelie Stone

While I'm new at Salmon fishing, Bob Wikoff is not and when he makes suggestions, I listen. First and foremost, he goes towards patterns that work, are easy to tie, and cheap to make. On a given weekend during peak season, he'll hook into 80-100 fish and maybe land 25% of them. If you're going to be losing 20+ flies a day, you can't afford to spend the time and money tying up Evening Stars all off season. Beyond that, he's looking for sparse patterns that get down in the water column quickly since the salmon are about as close to bottom as you can get. The Stone Fly pattern above is a creation of Bob's that he made to attract both salmon and steelhead to increase his chances of hookups. He tied his in all black with a purple or blue wing case and he added some wood duck fibers to the 'legs' on a few. To quote Bob, "it looks like &#$%" but it did catch me an Atlantic Salmon so who am I to judge? It also worked pretty damn well on small mouth bass.

Hook: Mustad 3906
Thread: Black 70 denier
Tail: Squirrel Fur
Body: Dubbed to match
Legs: Fur or soft hackle (add optional legs - Wood Duck or rubber)
Optional Shellback: Flashabou
Wing Case: Flashabou

Beginner's Luck on the Salmon River

I'm fortunate enough to belong to a TU Chapter with some veritable legends of fly fishing. Bob Wikoff, one of the charter members, was kind enough to let me tag along for opening day on the Fly Fishing Section of the Salmon River today. He's been going for over 30 years so it's fair to say he knows a thing or two about fishing that river.

Going in, we knew the salmon run was late this year and there weren't many reports of fish in the river. In many ways, I think that was good for me as it gave me an opportunity to scout the river and learn the ropes a bit without having to compete with the obscene crowds that come with the salmon.

All in all, I didn't see much action from any of the anglers we came across. Outside of 2 Atlantic Salmon (one each for Bob and me), I only saw two other salmon hook-ups. One was a foul-hooked King in the fly fishing area, and the other a King a guy landed on a spinning rod down on the Staircase. We saw one guy chasing, and catching, Steelhead in the fast water above Church Pool as well. Seems "Sucker Spawn" was his key to success there.

In the end, there were no monster kings for me, but an Atlantic Salmon was a rare treat indeed. I'm crediting beginner's luck there. Bob said in 30 years, the male pictured below is only the second Atlantic he's ever caught in the Salmon River.

(view from below Town Pool)

(Bob at work)

(female Atlantic Salmon caught on a stonefly pattern)

(male Atlantic Salmon, also on a stonefly pattern)

(Bob and his salmon!)

Pale Evening Dun

Hook: Dry size 16-20

Thread: 8/0 Primrose (or pale yellow)

Tail: Natural Dun Hackle fibers

Body: Thread wraps

Wings: Natural Dun Hackle tips

Hackle: Natural Dun

West Branch Report/Lesson in Humility

JBP and I headed down to Hamden for some evening fishing and this time were joined by Bob Wikoff, founding member of TU Chapter 210 and all-around smart-ass and fishing legend. The weather was cool and over cast, and the stream had dropped 100 or so CFS overnight but was still a little murky. I would've thought the conditions were perfect. However, to quote Bob, there wasn't much going on tonight. That, of course, was after he had caught 20 fish in two hours. I myself caught 4 (a chub, and three browns 12" or less) and JBP caught a nice 15" brown, a 13" brown, and a small mouth. So basically, Bob out-fished us 3 to 1 all while taking time off to dole out pointers and smack talk and fly selection/tying advice.

And this is why I recommend to anyone interested in fishing, to get involved with your local TU chapter and/or Rod n Gun club. You meet some cool people and many are more than happy to show the ropes. Bob has 50 years of fishing experience from all over the globe and spent a decade or more as a guide, and yet he happily joined two rookies on a local stream just for the fun of catching stocked browns and the occasional chub and passing on a lot of knowledge and history in the process.

Beyond his knowledge of where to find the fish and which flies to use, the most impressive thing about Bob's fishing was his presentation and accuracy. When a fish rose, his fly was landing delicately a foot or two above it, first time, every time. Actually, I lied. The most impressive thing is that despite his history and skill, he was genuinely happy to be out there with us fishing and he doesn't care if it's a chub or trout, he just loves catching fish and bestowing knowledge.