General Fly Fishing | Alberto Rey

‘General Fly Fishing’ Category

Small Stream, Small Pool / Large Fly, Large Fish

Posted on: January 6th, 2012 by alrey

Last year I documented a small pool full of steelhead in one of my favorite little streams. I had been meaning to put this little video together then but somehow the files got lost and I was just recently came across it.

The fly used was a 2/0 white marabou streamer with olive and black ostrich herl on the back. The silver tinsel is from a spool of yarn that I have been using for several years now. The hook had a clouser eye and four glass beads that made the fly heavy but it cames down into the water flat and fast. The barbless hook always rides up so and is fished just above the fish so that it minimizes foul hook-ups. This also provides some entertaining scenes of steelhead coming up to take the fly as you will see in the video. I usually use smaller, sparsely-tied flies as the water clears…. somethings using a size 12 hook.

A nice release.

Posted on: December 5th, 2011 by alrey

A couple of weekends ago, we had gin-clear water conditions on the local streams that made for some difficult fishing although we somehow managed to have a banner day. My client that day was a student that I had taught over twenty years ago outside of Boston, Massachusetts. When I saw this grown man it became clear that I was getting old. The water conditions made for some wonderful underwater footage of him releasing his steelhead.

Steelhead Log Jam

Posted on: December 5th, 2011 by alrey

This past weekend, while on a guide trip, I came across a pod of steelhead trying to moving up into the falls of a small little Lake Erie tributary. A large tree had fallen in their path and there was little I could do but take some footage of their predicament.

A seven-year old fisherman on Little Canadaway Creek

Posted on: December 5th, 2011 by alrey

I was looking for some images for a proposal and came across some interesting footage and photo of Diego and I out on a walk on Little Canadaway on brisky sunny winter day back in 2008. We found a piece of ice caught perfectly in the current so that it spun continually and a few minutes later, the young man landed a steelhead.

Sometimes nature unveils itself.

Posted on: June 18th, 2011 by alrey

Sometimes it seems that if you spend enough time in nature, you sometimes experience something rare that brings you little closer to the mystery of nature. This mystery is the unaccessible elements that seems to move away from us as we move through its environment. There are those instances, however, when if you stay long enough and remain quiet, nature moves back and envelopes you. These are those wonderful moments that remind you that you can be part of something much larger and spiritual. It brings you peace and reminds you to come back when you begin to lose perspective.

…and then there are those times when you have a camera and have a few seconds to document the moments when nature is completely accessible.

Here are a few of those events:

1. About 10 years ago, while fishing 20 Mile Creek in Pennsylvania in the dead of winter, a very rare white mink strolled down the bank, slid into the water and started chasing steelhead underneath the shelf ice in front of my feet.

After a few seconds of circling around the large rocks, he would slowly climb up the bank, shake himself off, look back at the fish and then slowly head back to the water to make another attempt at finding his dinner. This went on for about 10 minutes before he headed back into the woods to try another section of the stream.

He stay a few feet from me the entire time. I returned a week later and continued to do so for several years during the coldest days of the year in the hopes of seeing him/her again but always without success.

2. A few years later, while fishing a secluded section of Hosmer Creek, I had a fawn walk slowly through the woods and came out about 10 feet from me in the stream. We looked at each other for about 30 seconds and then she slowly started moving closer to me. I was shocked and wondered how close she would get.

She didn’t seem nervous, just curious. I slowly got my camera and took this picture as she slowly turned, crossed the stream and headed back into the woods.

3. Around 6:30pm tonight, as I was heading home after an hour or two of scouting Canadaway Creek for a guide trip on Sunday, I took a short cut through the woods. As I turned into the trees, a groundhog was right in front of me. He stood there perched on his hind legs patrolling the path.

After what seemed to be a few minutes of looking at each other, I slowly searched for my camera and began taking pictures. After a couple of shots shot , I would take step toward him and take a few more pictures.

I continued to take shots until I got a couple of feet away. We continued to look at each other. The only thing moving on him was the fur on his chest as he inhaled and exhaled. After taking a short movie, I took my final step. He slowly went down on his fours and swaggered into the tall grass.