Zach Bearden

here

Hares Ear Nymphs.... Different sizes and beads... Don't have to be pretty either! My top producing fly is Pheasant Tail, Hares ear body, copper wire and bead. Excellent fly!!! Try it some time. Takes 2 minutes to make it.

I don't believe the size really matters on a San Juan. The size of the fly is determined by the length of your Vernille. You can use whichever size hook you are comfortable with. If you don't think it looks proportional you can take the vernille and twist it over itself and double it. Gives it a neat segregated look.

Most members on the team use them. There is also a new box out by umpqua that is really cool and the foam is slit on both sides. They are cheaper than the C&F (20$) and some of the guys really liked them I have complete confidence in the C&F holding abilities. I dropped a box full of tungsten beaded streamers with lead underneath from about 15ft and only lost 3 flies. Of course my poor streamer box has a little scuff in the side of it but it's still in great shape! I wouldn't trade my C&Fs for anything. They're awesome. Although, I have had problems with some of the bigger waterproof boxes. While crossing the river I found a pretty deep hole and my whole pack went under. I got back and they had water in them. So they are water resistant to an extent (heavy rainfall, dropping it in the river for 2 seconds, etc.)

I don't know what happened to the stripers. I went out and caught a catfish, a drum and a largemouth one morning within one hour and not another bite. I heard a guy say that he saw some good sized bass following a pod of shad just below T&M in the shallows. Said they weren't crashing into them or anything just kinda chasing them. I guess they kinda got stuck there when the water lowered down. There are probably a good number of fish up in the river right now but I don't really like to fish down here at night, and there is no cloud coverage so it's really slow. I'll probably go night fishing tonight just because you reminded me of the bass lol

www.youthflyfishing2009.cz This will have up to date info on the teams along with individuals. I figured someone would be interested. I'm off to a practice. I'll be back sometime in about 2 weeks. Best Regards, Zach Bearden.

If you know how to fish pockets and short riffles that place can really hold a few fish. Of course, not too many people truly know how to fish it and just walk on past it. Therefore the trout will stay there because there isn't alot of pressure. I know that when fishing small (16-18) nymphs I've gotten as many as 15 out of the riffles there. That's not including the big pool up at the top of them. That piece can hold a ton of fish! The problem with indicators in that type of water is that your flies are not in immediate contact. Most of the time while the fish are in that water they see an insect and will clobber it the second they see it. It generally takes a few seconds for the fly to come intact with the indicator, it won't even register on the indicator as they've spit it if it does register. The point of that overly long post was to tell you to fish a short line and small flies.

hah, thanks guys! sorry, I don't much get down to this forum. Terry! Duane! You should make your way down to SMR next year.

Thanks guys, appreciate it.

I believe that John Wilson held a class last year that was called "advanced nymphing techniques".

Jeez! Had a bass come after it right then?! I went down there today and couldn't buy a bass.... Made me mad .

bah! Don't listen to that old man! But seriously, what he said just about sums it all up. It's not a technical place by any means. Well, if you get into some rising trout they tend to be picky in that aspect. Lots of midges. Soft hackles will take rising fish along with just about anything stripped under the surface. You can get away with 5x tippet in the riffles and when stripping buggers but 6x is a good bet for midges. You don't have to go that low but it's pretty good. Welcome to the board, you'll like all the information that is freely thrown about here lol.

SSSSSSSHH!!!!! You'll give away my secrets!

My guess is that the water will be down. I checked the status this morning and it said that there was only one generator on. I went and fished and caught a few at Marval. I'll be down there. Holler if your going to make it.

Just to, as Brian put it, "stir the pot", heres you guys a picture. If you look at it theres a fish in the tube that is broadside in the top right. Whats that fish look like to you guys? The fish also has a perfectly formed pectoral fin if you want to take the time to zoom in on it. Have fun! lol

I would love to go float up there. the only problems I would have is that I don't know when my practice is in Pennsylvania. I know its the end of June. And we might be doing a fundraiser that weekend. How many people do you put in each canoe? I've not ever paddled a canoe in a river but I have done Kayaks and have no problem.

Thanks for sharing, but what part of the river were you fishing? I know in Arkansas but how far up? I sure hope it clears up and gets down pretty soon. I can't fish below the dam until they turn off generators so I try to make due with smallies. lol

First off.... Brian, how would you like to adopt me and let me fish all the time over there? lol jk Anyways, all your fish eat over there is Stoneflies! haha We fished right beneath Patrick Bridge on 5/28 and like I say all I could catch fish on is rubber legged stoneflies. The water was high and way off color. I really couldn't see more than a foot and a half deep. I think my end total was 7 fish for the day but I only fished maybe 4 hours in the same hole pretty much. It was my first time over so it was really cool to get to check out a new river. We are definately going to go over there again some time. Hopefully we won't get flooded like this one. And FYI, MDWC stocked 4200 trout below Patrick. There were some massive browns in those tubes! It was pretty cool! Sorry for the random post lol

Hey guys, I just got an email telling me about how much money I am going to need to raise. Its and insane amount of money and we ourselves cannot cover it. I was wondering what kind of fundraisers you have done in the past that has brought a good number of people. What kind of fundraisers would you personally attend? We had an idea of doing a fly fishing tournament. A good friend has done one or two and they have turned out quite a few people. My question is here, would you be willing to pay 25-50 dollars to fish this? Teams or no teams? We would also ask a few local buisinesses to donate a prize to the first place person or team. Thoughts? Best Regards, Zach Bearden.

I am going to the Czech Republic because of the youth world fly-fishing championships.I am currently on the 2009 US youth team. Other teams that compete are France, Spain, England, and the Czechs. This is not all of course but the only ones I could think of off the top of my head. DaddyO, I will most definately post pictures. I'll post pictures of our tryouts in the section best fit for it. When I get back from the worlds I will post pictures in the Europe part of the forums. This isn't the only competition we will be competing in. There are also the US and Canadian nationals.

I thought I would share this wth you guys. There were quite a few of you guys who were really pushing me to do this... There aren't any pictures put up yet but...... Well, check it out for yourself. www.usyouthflyfishingteam.com Thanks everyone.

Sorry DaddyO, I really didn't think about anything other than puttin' those flies in the water and hookin' up! Next time I go and find some low water I'll be sure to give you a call. I appreciate the good luck there. It was announced that I was on the team at the trials but then I got an email about 5-6 hours ago that said I was on the team to go to the Czech Republic this Summer. I can send you guys the link to the website if you'd like.

So they actually turned the water off yesterday and I got to go down and fish it. The first time I started out at the dam (right behind the island) with a march brown soft hackle and a pink frenchie. Caught my first fish on the third cast. After that it was just pretty much non-stop. I caught about 40 fish in about 2 hours. I switched around to flies that I had come up with out of boredom during the high water just to get some confidence with them. Pretty much everything I fished caught fish... Untill I started fishing really drab flies. Anything with a hot spot was awesome. The second time I went down there I decided I would fish the Kiddy Pool just for the heck of it. The water had gotten dirtier since the first time and so I czech nymphed anything pink or bright green... It was a good day. And just for the heck of it right after school I went fishing this afternoon and caught about 5 letting a big nymph drift down below me then rise up and strip it back. The water came up then I left. It was a good two days. I have been freaking out because my competition is this next weekend and I hadn't been able to fish in low water for about a month. So just about any kind of fishing was awesome!

Awesome! I love that clownfish. I have tried in the past to do deer hair but I'm not too good at it. About all the deer har work I can do is the little stuff like a wing for a dry fly.

Sorry dgames, but I couldn't tell you the directions... I know how to get there but I don't know the streets. Its down past the Murrel Home and thats all I know. I didn't fish but the guys that did got roasted by the wind. The water was too high and pushing too fast.