Author: crebarchak87

Up in Michigan

/ crebarchak87 / Leave a comment

Back in June I had the chance to take a family vacation up in Michigan, spending a few days on Lake Macatawa (off of Lake Michigan) before heading east to spend a few days in the Ann Arbor area on the Huron River. A few weeks before we left, I contacted the guys at Schultz Outfitters to ask about some recommended patterns for fishing the lakes (we were already scheduled for a guided trip with them when we were on the Huron). They were incredibly helpful, and I ended up filling a Fishpond Sushi Roll with some baitfish, sculpin, crayfish, and leech patterns.

A full Sushi Roll with the narrowed-down selection of boxes for the trip.
Continue reading →

Mid-April Update

/ crebarchak87 / Leave a comment

Fish are looking up! Here are some updates on what’s been happening on the streams around us:

  • Grannoms are wrapping up on lower Spring Creek, but are still on Penns Creek and the Little J.
  • Also on Spring Creek: Tan caddis are coming off, along with midges and Blue Winged Olives (BWOs) if conditions are right. Craneflies are starting, too!
  • Penns Creek has had Hendricksons, some Blue Quills, BWOs, and March Browns are just starting to be seen.
  • The Little Juniata River still has Grannoms, along with BWO.
  • Big Fishing Creek has had some BWOs, caddis, and Hendricksons starting to pop.

Nymphing is going to be your most consistent bet, unless you see rising fish. Don’t neglect the small streamers, either!

Fly Fishing Clinic: Video Playlist

/ crebarchak87 / Leave a comment

One of the (many) things that couldn’t happen in the late spring was a fly fishing clinic that typically happened for a local community. Turns out that one of my co-workers at school was looking for some help with a fly fishing portion of a course he teaches.

These are something I really enjoy doing! The goal is to get people interested in fly fishing who are brand-new to it, or to give people who have done it before a little more knowledge – either way, we want people to get out and try it for themselves!

One great book that is incredibly helpful as a tool is Dave Whitlock’s Guide to Aquatic Trout Foods. The charts and illustrations are top-notch, and it covers all kinds of aquatic life and includes some fly patterns to imitate those food types.

Introduction and Mayfly Life Cycle
Caddis Life Cycles and other aquatic insects
Anatomy of a stream (focusing on trout habitat on Spring Creek)
This covers fly patterns for this area and some tying materials

Chowtime Sculpin Pattern Recipe

/ crebarchak87 / 1 Comment

Back in the fall of 2016, I was working on a sculpin pattern that took a few different ideas from other patterns and blended them together. As Gunnar Brammer says in one of his streamer videos: “I don’t have a lot of original ideas… almost all of my bugs in general… are original compositions… different materials, different ways to build bulk, different silhouettes. It uses unique techniques or features or materials to make it different… it’s all from the people who came before me… I just take things that I like, things that I know to be successful, and then I base a composition that hasn’t been done kind of around that.”

Continue reading →