After The Hurricane

Hurricane Florence - Adios!

David Hutton, Sept 16, 2018

Today, with the passing of Hurricane Florence, we in South Carolina breathe a sigh of relief. What was, at one point, the storm of the century, turned out to be, well... we didn't get it all that bad. A lot of rain and wind, a few trees down here and there. I think our power blinked maybe 3 or 4 times.
Others are not so lucky, of course; the folks in North Carolina got it bad. To those who have fared badly, I send my sincere hopes for a speedy return to normalcy.

Since Lori, my wife, is a photographer, she thinks in terms of light exposures, and imagery. And a stormy day offers untold chances along those lines, so we went out for awhile to see what we might discover in the aftermath of Flo'.

"Where's that place you took me to with the exposed tree roots?" she asked.
"You mean Boat Ramp #3? A few miles from here. You know where your hairdressers' shop is?"
"Of course."
"It's just past that," I told her. "Take a left up there at the light..."

A Gray Day

As you can see from the above foto, the wind was down to a few knots, maybe 5. The ceiling was low, heavy, and gray. 
A misty rain covered everything in a coat of wet diamond drops. After the oppressive heat of late summer, the brisk, cool breeze was welcome.

High And Dry - Shells Galore

Exposed Rocks and Shells

Lake Murray is a reservoir serving the Dutch Fork Shoals power generating station, above Columbia, SC. It was said that Florence had the rain capacity to fill Chesapeake Bay, so the power company was drawing down the lake in advance of the rush. From the look of it, I'd say it was about 5 feet low. Areas that were once inundated, just a few weeks ago, were now bare and exposed. The dry line probably extended a good 15-18 feet between the waters edge, and the normal high water point.

Of great interest, though, from an anglers perspective, were all the exposed rocky areas near shore. 

This is a fairly rare sight to see, and it revealed large tracts of freshwater mollusk shells that would otherwise be covered. 
Off the shore, in the deeper troughs, large beds of these shellfish exist, pretty much everywhere there is open water. It is one reason why Lake Murray is a good red-ear sunfish venue. These fish have the unique ability to crack open these mollusk shells, and they grow large on the tasty meat inside. They don't call these brutes, "shellcrackers" for nothing.
They are my favorite panfish to catch.

Something else that pleased me was a crayfish. As mundane as this sounds, I never think of this lake as a home to these little lobsters. But its mostly a rocky bottom, so they are here and I'm always a little happy to see them. 
I have found them as big as your hand, out around some of the islands, and today I heard a little splash while I was walking along the rocks. When I turned to look, I saw a 2 1/2" crayfish scooting away underwater. I can only guess the thing was half in, and half out of the water, and he dove in at my passing. 
I've never heard of them doing that, but I can think of no other explanation.  

Bad Battery

No trip to the lake would be complete without collecting some trash - its a ritual with me. 

"Never Leave Without Someone Else's Trash" is sort of my motto. 

I picked up the usual plastic bottles, chip wrappers, beer cans, plastic bags...and this battery. Now I know a lot of people are slobs and I can do little about it but clean up what I find. And there could be a perfectly reasonable explanation why this was in, what would otherwise be, 5 feet of water.

But this grates my nerve, right here.

Raccoon #1

Raccoon #2

Fungus Among Us

The local raccoons seemed not to be too bothered by the weather; judging by the tracks, they were out in strong numbers around the shoreline. I guess the wind and waves brought them something worth looking for....But it seemed toadstools were not on the menu. These were on a rotten section of a downed tree that us usually just above the waters surface. 

The Gleanings

I almost always find something worth scavenging around the shore. I'm an inveterate beachcomber, and I actively look for things to bring home. Today, the Shore Side Grab Bag provided:

Large Clam Shell
1 Vienna Sausage can
10' hank of 12# Red Cajun monofilament

1 fluorescent plastic bead

1 split shot

2 #6 Aberdeen hooks

1 paint can handle

The clamshell and Vienna sausage can went in the trash; I only show then for scale. And besides, here in The South, canned Vienna sausages are a near staple food. Every angler has a soft spot for the things, or at least a passing familiarity. I normally wouldn't eat them, but gimme some Saltine crackers and these tinned weenies when out fishing, and I'm into some high dining.

The paint can handle will provide some hard wire for repairing something here at home. I was wondering just what I'd use for this job.... and the Shore Side Grab Bag provides.

The hooks and other tackle items are another thing. I try to always tie a fly from whatever hooks and other items I find along the shore. It's a sort of challenge. 

The bead and shot will probably just go into the tackle stores.

But I've been reading a piece from 1936 about bucktail flies, and I think I've got an idea for the hooks an red monofilament along these lines. Stay tuned for more.

Thanks and Tight Lines,

David Hutton

Palmetto Fly N Fish 2018©

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Palmetto Fly N Fish

Palmered Wooly

The Palmered Wooly - Will it Work?

When simple might be better...

David Hutton Palmetto Fly N Fish©
May 21, 2018

I'm not really sure where I got the pattern described below. It may have been something off the internet, or something I tied and recorded with an eye towards posting at some point.
I expect it was the former case.

Adios Internet

See, there was a time not too long ago that I didn't have the internet. Well, for a long time really. When we moved to our current place, we got a culture shock. To say its in the middle of nowhere might be an understatement. 

You leave town miles behind, and you cant help but notice there are no power lines or poles along the way.

When you finally reach our little shack in the woods, you realize that electricity has come a very roundabout way to our crossroads - and there's no room for internet. 

At least not the hard-wired, unlimited gigabyte sort every body else enjoys these days.

So for a long time, I was a collector of internet information... an info-miner, you might say. 
Every chance I got, I downloaded whatever I found on fishing and fly fishing to a memory stick. 
I wasn't concerned about where it came from, and I wasn't scrupulous about capturing those details. Just get it on there and go for more.
Subsequently, my files are a big repository of Universal Fishing Joy and Goodness, but I don't always know where I got the content. This is most likely one of those items.

Simple Is The Word

Its the simplicity that I wanted to present here. This is really just a Wooly Bugger variation. But it lacks much in the way of embellishment. This isn't a fly pattern gypsy wagon.

I imagine some of you may wonder if something so basic can catch fish. Most pages are full of Wooly Buggers that are anything but simple. The gaudier the better, it seems. 

I saw one guy recently asking for opinions of his; it had a huge, golden bullet head, three colors of body and tail, tastefully contrasting hackle.... well, I was tempted to offer my opinion, but held my tongue. 

This has gotten easier in my older years. 
Funny how that works.

My First Wooly Bugger

But, can simple work? Well, for a long time I didn't fish a Wooly Bugger - ever. I knew of the fly, but I never got around to fishing one, and it was kind of a personal rebellion to resist its siren call. 

So, one day at the vise, the planets aligned. I grabbed a #6 hook, some scrap feathers and well, I caved in. 

Cosmic forces had risen - and I tied a Wooly Bugger.

As I recall it had a short tail of marabou fluff from the base of a feather. The body was more of this marabou stripping dubbed on, and a non-descript hobby store hackle completed the outfit. 

It was drab, grey-brown, and honestly, it looked like a turd. 

It was a passable Wooly Bugger, yes, with all the right stuff.

But it looked like a turd. A Wooly Turd.

I didn't expect it to do much.

The Proof Is In The Turd Pudding

It got its baptism one day while fishing with my friend, Donald Schmotzer. We were at the west end of Wessinger Island on Lake Murray, when I tied on that Basic Bugger and started creeping it along the bottom. I remember it like it was yesterday; I can take you to that same spot today.

I hadn't mentioned the Wooly Turd to Don, because I'm always changing flies. I fish a while with one, then try another. It's like a ritual with me. 
And since I have a lot of flies I've tied, I may as well use them, right?

Because of this, he's come to expect me always fussing with something. 
So, when I let out a whoop, he turned to see what all the commotion was about. 

The rod bent in a way I wasn't expecting, arching over into a hoop that nearly touched the water.
"What you got there?" he asked.
"I don't know, but its something..." (A loss for words, I guess)

Surprisingly, it turned out to be a stout ol' shellcracker, about a pound. It gave my little 5 wt a tussle, and it was a bit of a triumph for me. 
Up until then, I had never caught shellcrackers on anything but worms. 

Once that fish was landed and released, I spilled the beans.

"That was a Wooly Bugger of all things, Don. 

Can you believe that? 

Of all the zillion patterns, I got that on a Wooly Bugger. 

And it was the first one I've ever fished!"

"Really? Your first ever?

Man, I use to use those things some years ago, and caught a lot of fish on them. But I kinda got away from 'em, for some reason. They'll catch fish, that's for sure."

That was sort of Epiphany Moment for me, and I guess for Don, too. I've noticed he's been catching a lot of big bluegill and bass on a small, black Wooly Bugger these days. 

I've also seen him get at least one big 7lb. catfish that way. 

Another we only imagined was a catfish, as we never got to see it before it broke off... also on that same black a Woolly Bugger of his. 

I should say here he ties one of the tidiest Wooly Buggers I've ever seen. Mine never come out so neat.

They always look kinda like turds.

So here is the simple, basic Wooly Bugger pattern that popped up in my files. 
I closed my eyes, pointed the mouse and clicked.
This is what you get.

No pictures. 

No lengthy instructions.

Nothing but the basics.

Will it work? Try it, then let us now.

Materials

Hook	2xl or 3xl nymph hook, 6-12
Thread	Red
Tail	Black Marabou and a few whisps of pearl krystal flash
Ribbing	Fine Gold Wire
Body	Olive Chenille
Hackle	Grizzly Hen Neck, Palmered
Head	Black Bead