don't feel sleepy yet, i could do a bit of "mise en place" for fly tying tomorrow & then i'm more likely to tie some flies if i have the requisite materials already out
oo that's lovely! i kinda need to tie everything because i have gone way too long fishing without replenishing my flyboxes.
Strangely, almost despite myself, after almost 30 years of flyfishing i've become a hardcore stillwater person & even interested in fishing chironomids, so i want to tie...
...a bunch of pupa imitations in different sizes and colours and see which ones work best on my little "backyard" lake. But i need a major restock of pretty much everything. This is also a thinly-disguised excuse to organize all my materials which have gotten pretty jumbled up
Tying for me is more of a necessary chore than a fun hobby in and of itself, but part of bringing myself back into a positive relationship with fishing means getting back into tying more, cuz honestly there's no thrill like fooling a fish with something you made!
I picked tying up as a pandemic inside hobby to avoid screens and doomscrolling, and I’ve learned a ton in that time, but it is primarily to fill the boxes, and so I’m tying for the fish not the socials.
You’re so right, It’s super cool to fool a fish with a fly that you made. It never gets old.
That's awesome! Yeah, chironomid lake fishing is its own thing, and is mostly associated with the interior of BC, which has lakes dense with insect life & the trout grow ENORMOUS. A guy named Brian Chan pioneered many of the techniques. Here's a 75-pattern playlist, LOL. chironomids are a rabbithole
I've resisted fishing them over the years for various reasons:
1. i always preferred fishing rivers to lakes
2. i don't live in the BC interior, i'm on the coast, and things are pretty different here
3. Fishing them requires patience, & i have ADHD 😹
4. My cousin (a big influence) found it boring
BUT THEN i started fishing what i call my "backyard lake" more often (cuz it's just 10 minutes up the road) & basically over the last 4 years or so have fished it more than any other body of water, in all seasons, which means i've learned A LOT about it & one thing i've learned is that...
...the trout in there really go bonkers over chironomids, especially in the spring, so it was in my best interest to suck it up and get more comfortable with fishing them. I've had some fun, enough to encourage me, but i'd still call myself a midge fishing newbie 😺