Loblers (aka the Watusi Worm)
Here in Montana the Big Hole is about the only non-tailwater river that isn’t brown right now. That doesn’t mean you can’t fish. You can sometimes coax fish right out of the willow roots at high water using large stonefly nymphs–especially so during salmon fly time. Flures that wobble and flash often work well too. When the water’s chocolate brown you can put a big Colorado spinner blade in front of a streamer, if you make use of a shock tippet and a plastic snap-on clevis from Stamina, Lakeland, Lurecraft or Cabelas.
And you can also make quick and dirty wobblers (fly rod crank baits, or Loblers as I sometimes call them) light enough to lob with a fly rod. If you throw these guys into the soft water pockets along the bank, from the front end of a drift boat, you can coax a surprising number of brown water fish. The diving bill here is made with super glue and rigid plastic sheeting from the lid of a Costco tomato box. This (years old) photo shows a flattened split shot glued to the underside of the diving bill. Now I use a big tungsten bead instead. You do need to put a small barrel swivel about 18" up the leader, to keep the line from twisting. Purists tend to frown. But purist techniques during brown water runoff tend do to be frustrating. If not fruitless. With Loblers you can actually catch a fish.
That may all be true, but where is the Bing Lempke video???
It may take me a while to figure out how to “rip” a flash or mpeg version suitable for display on the internet.
Private message me your snail mail address and I’ll send you a COPY of the DVD (I did do that much, and it plays just fine).
A freely available web version will happen eventually. But what’s the point of retiring and still allowing yourself to be in a hurry?
About anything? This will be a hot potato responsibility. Anyone else who wants a copy will have to get theirs from Byron. Byron’s one-time copy-send obligation will then transfer from Byron to the next Brobdenlempkian in line.
How do you know how big we are???
…I assumed a roughly one-to-one correspondence to chutzpah.
:=))
Hmmmmmmm … more of that …
John
John,
That box is wrong!!!
Don’t people immediately notice that???
Can’t you tell? It’s a furled cube.
Pitt:
Messing around with some different Salmon fly patterns. What do you think?
So I drove all the way from PA to MT this week so that I could go to the Bozeman Costco to get just the right plastic from one of their tomato boxes, and I couldn’t find one anywhere!
And even more distressful is that they didn’t have any yellow micro fiber cleaning cloths on hand that I use for everthing from cleaning my drift boat to waxing my truck. I can’t live without them! Thankfully, they still had a good supply of polish sausages and a soft drink for $1.50.
I’m sure your loblers would work here in the now high and dirty Yellowstone, but in the absense of the right stuff from Costco I’ll probably just continue to throw big black Crystal Buggers which have always served me well this time of year - my best friend caught a 28" brown here on one 2 years ago in June.
I like that one. Reminds me of Al Troth’s MacSalmon:
You must not have looked very hard. My wife was there today. In the Bozeman Costco. And came home with a box of greenhouse tomatoes.
Wobblers do add something no streamer really has, which is vibration. I caught a 27" brown out of Nelson’s Spring Creek on a Spruce Fly in early March one year–about 15 years back. So I still like to tie Spruce Flies. And wigglers. And Crystal Flash Buggers too. But only one of those three has the hoola-hoop wobble and vibration.
Actually one of the most rewarding things about wigglers is how effective they are at making purists squirm. I love it. I love it. I want some more of it.
Pitt:
I appreciate your posting that. I had forgotten that pattern. It has been years since I saw it.
JohnRhoades:
We should put Costco in charge of our food aid programs. If they could supply the hungry with a big hot dog and a large soda for only $1.50, we could feed many, many people.
Pitt:
I will be down in Last Chance from the 1st through the 20th of June. Any good fishing up your way at that time? Wanna show me some fishing secrets?
Shoot me an email when you get here. I can’t plan past tomorrow anymore. :=))
20th of June is Salmon Fly time on the Big Hole. But a few days too soon for Gallatin and Yellowstone. PMDs on the Mo. Everything else in early June is runoff time…although everything is early this year. Maybe I’ll come down to Last Chance and you can show me how to fish there. Can’t guarantee I’ll even be here though. I have a secret-place June trip semi-planned with a Helena buddy. We just haven’t settled on exactly when.
Pitt:
What’s the deal? Are you a homeless person? LOL
The fishing might be good (I hope) down near Last Chance then. May email you if it is good and you can come and demonstrate for me.