Tossing streamers with G. Loomis and Fly of the week featuring Garcia's Mini Hot Mayfly

SPRING FISHING IS HERE!

Last week we hit the river with Brent Hermanussen, former Golden Fly Shop manager, now G Loomis rep for some much needed time on the water. 

As we move into Spring our rivers are waking up. Gone are the days where you're backed into a corner, decided between 1 or 2 options. While it's likely we will see a few more dumps of snow, a general spring warming trend is here which is effectively turning on the BWO hatch and causing the rivers to flow a little faster. 

Photo: Brent Hermanussen, @brent_hermanussen

Our day out of the shop and on the water started pretty quickly. We brought several fish to the net on natural streamer colors before we lost sight of the boat ramp. Fish were holding along deep cover in areas where prey could be ambushed near a shelf. An upstream cast with a long pause and a vertical rod twitch was producing brown trout eats consistently in knee deep water.

As the day progressed BWO's were out in full force along with a solid midge hatch but we found ourselves caught in the streamer fishing vortex. We weren't against fishing dries but after a little rod break mishap early in the float, the 7wt NRX+ and 8wt Asquith were all we had left. Watch the video below to see how the day went!    

Video: Davis James, @davisjameslens

FLY OF THE WEEK:

-- Garcia's Mini Hot Mayfly (BWO) -- 

This weeks FOTW is Garcia's Mini Hot Mayfly from Umpqua Feather Merchants.

Greg Garcia's Mini Hot Mayfly is a parachute style mayfly imitation with a twist. Incorporating a design feature from his popular Mini Hot Caddis/attractor the Garcia's Mini Hot Mayfly does a great job at enticing trout feeding on adult mayflies. If we had not broken our dry fly sticks on the last float trip this fly would have been a workhorse. Adult BWO's (blue winged olives) can be found hatching all over the state for the better part of the year so be sure to get this fly into your box! Follow @gregfgarcia to see more from the master himself.

SUGGESTED MATERIAL LIST:

• Hook: TMC 100 #14-22
• Thread: UNI 8/0 - Olive Dun
• Tail: CDL or tailing fibers - Medium Dun
• Hackle: Whiting Rooster - Medium Dun
• Body: Superfine Dubbing - Gray Olive
• Post: Para Post - White 
• Tag: Flashabou - Pearl Olive 

• Suggested Tools: vise, scissors, bobbin, bodkin, brush, whip finish, Super Glue or UV Glue

Remember that a material list is a good starting point but feel free to adapt the fly design for your needs!